Your Country Doesn't Have This, Does It? - 2

I am a sinner. A sinner who has brought disgrace upon the household...

"I've learned the sword as a member of the Valenti line myself, but I never trained as seriously as you did, Karl. So there may well be aspects of a warrior's life I simply don't understand."

Margeta sat in her chair and spoke in that soft, measured way of hers. Yet for all the gentleness in her voice, my head sank lower and lower.

Just because she was speaking gently did not mean her anger had cooled. She had soothed her panicked fiancées before the Crown Prince summoned me, true—but that had only been to calm them out of their panic. Emotions like fury tend to arrive after the initial chaos has passed, after all.

So if I were foolish enough to say something like "Thank you for understanding!" right now, I might very well be introduced to the palm of Margeta's hand. It wouldn't hurt physically, but it would kill me spiritually.

"But Karl."

She slipped quietly down from the chair and carefully took my hands—I was still kneeling on the floor—and held them in her own.

"You're not alone anymore, Karl."

She held my hands in silence for a moment, then finally managed to speak in a voice that sounded close to tears. That damp, trembling tone sent my guilt into a frenzy, as was only natural.

"Next year I'll graduate from the Academy. Then... then I'll marry you, and... we'll have a baby..."

A soft sniffle came from beside us. I still had my head down, so I couldn't be sure, but from the position it had to be Luise.

"So is it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠selfish of me to want you to take better care of yourself?"

"No. Not at all."

I jerked my head up at once and found Margeta smiling at me with quiet sorrow.

This was driving me insane. When I came back alive from the Crown Prince, I thought it was over—being disciplined would have been easier on the heart. When someone who ought to be furious presses you with aching tenderness instead of a scolding, no one with a conscience can hold out.

"I believe I should say a word as well."

The one who spoke after the first wife (true) was the second wife (true). Even the Demon Duke, who usually wrapped me in a mother's affection no matter what I did, was looking at me with rare frost in her eyes.

"My dear. What would you have done if there had been no priest?"

Her words cut straight to the heart of the matter, and my head dropped again—

"Lift your head, child. We aren't interrogating you. We're asking because we're worried."

I lifted it again at once.

"Besides, an ordinary priest couldn't have healed a severed arm on the spot. It was only fortunate the next Saint was there. If things had gone wrong, you would have spent several days as a one-armed man."

"I'm sorry..."

Every word was true, so all I could manage was an apology.

Honestly, I had only attempted Sky Slash because Tanian was there—but I could hardly claim it had all been part of the plan while I was being scolded. That would only earn me a worse thrashing for doing it knowing I would get hurt. Mistakes and deliberate acts are entirely different matters.

After enduring Margeta's emotional appeal and the Demon Duke's merciless facts, I let my eyes slide sideways for a moment.

Those bastards.

There they were—Erich and Ryutis, lips sealed tight, wedged into a corner as if none of this had anything to do with them.

Those two had their share of the blame. Erich had asked me for instruction, and Ryutis had said that if a spar was impossible, he at least wanted to see the sword path. In other words, they were practically the ones who had set the whole incident in motion.

But thanks to the club members' defense—who could have imagined that "showing the sword path" would mean cutting the sky?—and the fact that everyone had wanted to watch me swing a sword and had gathered to spectate instead of stopping me, no one was holding the two of them accountable.

Their instincts are far too good.

Of course, not holding them responsible did not mean the emotions had been wiped clean. A person's reason and feelings do not always line up.

If either Erich or Ryutis had opened his mouth at the wrong moment, both of them would have been buried under concentrated fire. Knowing that perfectly well, the two of them kept their mouths shut. They must have judged, by pure instinct, that this was a time for silence.

If that bastard Ryutis could just stay that quiet on ordinary days—

"Um... Oppa?"

"Huh?"

Irina's sudden voice made me whip my gaze around.

"The Imperial family didn't say anything to you, did they...?"

Still patting the sniffling Luise, Irina asked with anxious eyes.

A fair question. Cleaving the sky in the middle of the Academy was no small matter, and Irina had already witnessed me being placed under house arrest and confinement with her own eyes. Of course she would worry that I was about to be disciplined again.

"It's fine. They said it elevated the Empire's honor and that I should work hard for the sake ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of future students."

The Crown Prince hadn't said those exact words, but that was more or less the idea. I had proven that the Empire possessed a warrior who could cut the sky, and if that warrior was at the Academy, swordsmen of every stripe would come flocking the way they had for the Demon Duke. If I simply went through the motions of teaching them a little, the Empire stood to gain no small advantage.

"Th-then... are you going to cut the sky again?"

But Irina was worried about my safety, not the Empire's profit.

"I don't need to teach everything, so it shouldn't happen under ordinary circumstances."

"That means it still might happen!"

I answered evenly, trying to calm her—only to realize, to my regret, that I had chosen the wrong words.

Damn it. I should have said "never in my life" instead of "under ordinary circumstances." Though I did suspect I would end up doing it a few more times before I died. Making a promise I couldn't keep and then breaking it would be just as bad.

"...I'll try my hardest not to use it."

"Oppa!"

I deliberately ignored Irina's sharp cry.

A civil servant does not say things he cannot take responsibility for.

There is a certain gentleman who rejoices in my disasters as if they were his own good fortune.

After barely escaping the fiancées who had tried to strip me to check for injuries beyond the arm, I finally reached my quarters. The moment I stepped inside, a call came from the Minister.

"You've already heard, sir?"

At those words I instinctively dropped my gaze. So more of the retired crowd were hanging around near the Academy than I had thought.

"That's exactly why I couldn't use it during the war. Anyone could tell it was a technique that would kill you if it landed—who's going to sit around politely waiting for me to charge it up?"

The Minister's snickering only made me sigh.

A downgraded version of World's End could be used by a handful of others besides me and Dorgon. But that version was strictly a performance piece, meant to crush enemy morale right before a clash—actually launching it at someone was vanishingly rare. Or rather, it was simpler to say it never happened.

If you had to go as far as World's End, it meant you were locked in a life-or-death duel with an absolute monster. How are you supposed to gather power with a thing like that standing in front of you? The rule about not attacking during a transformation only applies among magical girls.

"Karl Crassius! You and I are evenly matched! Why don't we simply finish this by exchanging our strongest blows?"

"Crazy bastard."

Of course, every so often you run into a guy who seems to live in a completely different world. That bastard Tala, when we simply could not decide a winner, suggested we just fire World's End at each other and call it done.

It was an utterly idiotic idea. So I did it immediately.

"Well..."

Admitting that I had done it to show my little brother required more courage than I had expected.

I lay on the bed and stared blankly at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ceiling. Ever since yesterday my head had refused to work properly. More precisely, the only thing that would surface was the insane spectacle my brother had put on; nothing else would come to mind. If Sera hadn't spoken to me from beside me, I might have simply fused with the floor like a layer of dust.

I had asked my brother for instruction because I wanted to learn from an outstanding master, because I wanted confirmation that the path I was walking was the right one, because I wanted to see the destination I might one day reach.

"If you keep working steadily, you'll reach my level. What I can do, you should be able to do as well."

"Ha."

Remembering what he had said, I let out a hollow laugh. If I worked steadily? That what he could do, I could do too?

Ridiculous. Growth through effort is only natural, but effort does not solve everything. People are born with talent, after all.

World's End.

The hollow laughter kept coming. My brother called it Sky Slash, but the technique was also known as World's End—the very reason the Heaven-Reverser earned that name.

World's End. A name so intuitive it was almost crude. I didn't think it was called that merely because it cut the sky.

How many must have broken?

In wartime, countless swordsmen would have gathered. Soldiers who handled blades, officers who had learned the sword as a gentleman's accomplishment, knights who had devoted their entire lives to the blade—innumerable swordsmen must have witnessed World's End.

In that moment, how many of them must have fallen into despair? A realm that no amount of ability or effort could ever let them reach unless they were reborn. The gap was so vast it was shameful to call them the same species of human; their entire worlds must have shattered. That was why the name World's End suited it with such chilling precision.

As if I could ever do it.

I was no different. Unless I was reborn, I would never reach my brother's height. A man who couldn't even guarantee a clean victory against a fellow student—how many lifetimes would it take before he cut the sky?

Impossible.

Having a goal is important. But if you are blinded by a goal too absurd, you walk a crooked path. So I gave up. I could never become like my brother.

Therefore I would set a proper goal. He and I were brothers born of the same parents, disciples who had learned the same sword. My brother had cut the sky with talent I could never match—but if the same blood ran in my veins—

I should at least be able to cut a mountain, shouldn't I?

Destroying the world might be out of the question, but a city should be possible, right?

Paradoxically, seeing the overwhelming summit put my heart at ease. I had always known there were differences in talent among people, but now I knew there was no absolute limit. When someone has already cut the sky, what is a mountain?

Let's do this.

I forced myself to steel my resolve. I would not despair at the feat my brother had shown; I would create a feat of my own.

...Though, to be honest, I was still envious. I wanted to split the sky too...

A warrior who cleaves the heavens with a single sword. Doesn't every man dream of that at least once?

Cutting the sky really is a man's romance.

"If I ask Teacher just one more time, do you think he'll show us again?"

Looking at Ryutis speaking with a completely serious face, I was certain. He was hooked on Sky Slash as well.

"Go ahead and try it if you think you can beat Her Excellency the Demon Duke."

"Tsk..."

But the moment I mentioned the realistic barrier, he gave up with a bitter expression. Unfortunately, cutting the sky was no longer something my brother could do of his own free will.

It would only be possible after persuading every one of the four future sisters-in-law surrounding him. If anyone asked my brother for Sky Slash before that persuasion was complete, they would obviously be kidnapped by the furious sisters-in-law.

I'll never see it again in this lifetime.

And while the others might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠somehow be imaginable, I simply could not picture anyone successfully persuading the Demon Duke.

"Why doesn't Armein have someone like this..."

At Ryutis's mutter, full of regret, I almost shook my head.

If every country had someone like that, it would be a sign of the apocalypse.