Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Sword (4)
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Jamie slowly opened his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy, but more than that, he wondered why he was waking up here.
'My room?'
Having just woken up, he wasn't used to the darkness yet, so he couldn't see clearly, but it wasn't so dark that he couldn't recognize the room.
'What happened?'
Jamie tried to recall his last memory.
His last memory was nothing but running nonstop. His head felt a bit foggy, his legs had gone numb, and he was so exhausted he couldn't even straighten his back.
'I must have passed out.'
Since his memory cut off midway, Jamie didn't know he had passed the test.
That made him frown naturally.
From the circumstances, it seemed like he'd failed the forced march. Did that mean he wouldn't learn the sword?
'I don't think Father would be that cold... or would he?'
Seeing the Welton Count's attitude toward the sword this time, he wasn't so sure.
He worried what if he said he lacked the qualifications and to give up on the sword.
On the other hand, he thought maybe running that much was enough.
Jamie didn't know much about stamina, but he knew well that running nonstop for hours in a child's body was no easy feat.
It wasn't quitting; it was passing out. Maybe they'd take that into account?
'Who knows.'
The decision was the Welton Count's to make.
Jamie sighed deeply and turned his body to the right.
And his eyes met someone else's.
"......"
"......"
Sara was sitting by the bed, staring fixedly at Jamie.
Jamie stared back at his little sister without blinking.
The two watched each other silently for a long while.
Jamie looked away first. He saw the pink squirrel nestled in Sara's arms.
The squirrel, half-dead looking, gazed at Jamie with weary eyes. At a glance, the dark circles under its eyes made it seem quite tormented.
He shifted his gaze back to Sara.
Sara said nothing, for some reason.
Jamie was the same, but he kept quiet because he didn't know what to say.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Why was his three-year-old sister here alone without a guardian?
If the nanny had been nearby, it would make sense, but even probing for presences, there was no one around.
That was when it happened.
"Sa, Sara?"
Sara scrunched up her face and pulled her lips up tight.
Wrinkles formed on her chin, and her chubby cheeks quivered.
Tears quickly welled up in her big eyes.
"Waaah!"
Then she burst into tears.
Startled by his sister's sudden crying, Jamie bolted upright.
"Sara? Sara? Why are you crying all of a sudden? Sara?"
"O-Oppa diwed- Waaah!"
Her words were slurred from sobbing, but she clearly said her brother was alive.
So she'd been keeping vigil by his side all this time, thinking he was dead? It was absurd, but at the same time, he was proud of his sister for it.
For now, he had to stop this crying.
Jamie put on the brightest face he could and moved his hands and feet to soothe his sister as best he could.
"Sniff......"
Sara finally stopped crying.
Jamie let out a sigh of relief and stroked his sister's head.
"All better now?"
"Ung."
Sara wiped her tears with her small hands and nodded.
Seeing that, Jamie couldn't help but smile.
He felt an urge to pinch her now even puffier cheeks from crying, but he held back.
"Did you think Oppa died?"
"Thought you dwied......"
"Oppa's alive, right?"
"Ung. You'we awive. Thank you, God."
Who knows where she learned that, but Sara clasped her hands and bowed to the air.
But Sara, praying to God in front of Oppa like that is a bit...
Jamie couldn't bring himself to say it.
He just looked at his sister awkwardly. Then his eyes met the pink squirrel Bena again.
-Master......
Bena sent a telepathic message in a drained voice.
-Master...... I was so tired. I want to rest now.
Bena's voice was utterly pitiful.
If it were anyone else, they might empathize and comfort it, saying it was okay.
Not a chance.
'I was more tired. So you can endure a bit more.'
-Master!
'You were comfy sleeping while I was running hard, huh?'
-Master?
'Sara missed you too. Stay with her a bit longer.'
-Master!!
Jamie cut off the telepathy and stroked Sara's head with a smile.
Sara beamed happily.
The only one not smiling there was Bena.
"You look okay."
Then the Welton Count's voice came.
He was leaning against the half-open door.
Jamie nodded as he looked at the Count.
"Better than I thought."
"Daddy!"
Sara jumped up, tossed Bena onto the bed, and ran to the Count with arms outstretched.
In the process, Bena, freed from Sara's grasp, fled somewhere.
It would reappear once Sara's interest waned.
'Poor thing.'
Jamie, who had just cursed it to suffer more, wasn't thinking that.
The Count scooped up his running daughter.
"Why is our girl here?"
"Thought Oppa dwied. So I prayed to God saying thanks."
It was heavily abbreviated, but that was nothing new. The Count understood instantly.
"You thought Oppa died, but he's alive, so you were so relieved you prayed thanks to God?"
"Yes!"
"That's our girl. You even look after Oppa."
The Count found her so cute he rubbed his bearded face all over her plump cheeks.
"It hurts......"
Sara grimaced at her prickly daddy's face.
The Count smiled paternally and set Sara down.
"Daddy has to talk with Oppa alone, so how about Sara goes downstairs and eats yummy cookies?"
"Cookies?"
At the word cookies, Sara's eyes sparkled, and the Count nodded.
"The nanny baked some special for our Sara. Go eat them with juice."
"Yay!"
With that, Sara dashed off.
In front of cookies, worrying about Oppa was trivial. Jamie didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the reality.
The Count confirmed his daughter gone and lit the room.
It was the season where even early evening was pitch black.
"I thought you'd be wracked with muscle pain and unable to move."
As the Count said, normally he'd be suffering extreme muscle soreness.
Jamie thought himself lucky for the Orb of Life. It had recovered all fatigue and soreness while he slept, leaving him just a bit sluggish now.
"I heard you were surprised Hamilton was at the training ground instead of me."
"I naturally thought I'd learn from Father."
"You're far off. You think it's easy to learn swordsmanship for free from a Sword Master?"
"But I'm your son."
"That's why I have to be stricter. And Hamilton is an excellent instructor."
As Jamie pouted, the Count chuckled and placed a hand on his son's head.
"The basics will be from Hamilton. I have too much work to teach from the start."
"Promise?"
"Of course."
The Count hooked his finger with his son's pinky.
Seeing his son like this sometimes really made him feel like a seven-year-old kid.
"But what happened today? I was running, and when I came to, I was here."
"No memory?"
"Yeah, from midway."
He must have lost consciousness from running past his limits.
Even then, he'd kept thinking of running.
The Count felt not just proud but honored by his son.
"You finished the whole thing. Splendidly."
"Ah."
"Just like my son."
Jamie scratched his head and grinned sheepishly at the praise.
Watching his son, the Count recalled what Hamilton had said earlier.
-There's something about the Young Master.
-What do you mean?
-The march ended, but he kept trying to run, so I approached to stop him. But a ferocious power threatened me.
-Ferocious power?
-Not sure exactly, but it made me step back involuntarily.
Hamilton was an advanced Sword Expert, an outstanding knight.
For him to feel an unknown threat from Jamie was no small matter.
Perhaps that was the secret to Jamie's overwhelming magical talent.
Separately, Hamilton had added:
-Beyond that, the Young Master's physical potential is beyond imagination. You saw it too, my lord, but that's inhuman stamina and mental fortitude.
Jamie had run for a total of 5 hours and 17 minutes.
A time even veterans would struggle with, run continuously.
No seven-year-old could do that.
The Count himself had done endless marches on orders from the previous family head at that age.
His record: 3 hours 36 minutes. Nearly two hours short of Jamie's.
The previous head had rejoiced at a genius in our family.
'Not just magic, but physical talent too.'
The Count knew Jamie better than anyone. Of course, some things the reincarnated Jamie hid thoroughly were unknown, but on athletics, he knew better than Jamie himself.
Because Jamie had never done any systematic training, just walking and running.
'Incredible.'
He didn't show it, but hearing the results from Hamilton had shocked him greatly.
As the Count stared silently, Jamie tilted his head and called.
"Father?"
At his son's call, the Count spoke.
"You'll start with the sword tomorrow."
"No more marches?"
"No need."
Hearing he wouldn't have to do those boring, dull, exhausting, irritating marches anymore, Jamie jumped up.
"For real?"
"That happy?"
"Of course!"
He'd been anxious thinking he might have to do it daily.
Not knowing the true purpose of the training, Jamie could rejoice purely.
"Of course, you'll run an hour a day. To maintain stamina and build lung capacity."
"......An hour?"
"If that's too much, no sword training."
"N-No, of course I have to run!"
Jamie pretended to run on the bed.
The Count told him to sit, saying he'd kick up dust.
"For a while, learn basics from Hamilton. Don't slack just because it's not me. He's scary as an instructor."
He'd already experienced the red hat and black sunglasses, even if just mornings.
"From tomorrow, wooden swords, so he might drill you harder."
"Ugh......"
"Endure that and master the basics well. Then I'll teach you the Welton family's swordsmanship, my secret art: 'Futility Divide'."
Futility Divide.
The sword that cleaves futility.
The sword art that brought the Welton family, one of the world's top sword houses, to its position.
He learned the name of the family's secret swordsmanship for the first time.
"It won't be easy."
Words from the Welton Count, who reached the pinnacle via that path.
"But I believe you can do it."
"I showed my resolve yesterday."
He wouldn't abandon magic or sword.
The Count smiled and patted his son's shoulder.
"Rest more then. It'll be tough starting tomorrow."
As the Count left, Jamie erased his childlike expression.
"Futility Divide, huh."
The abstract name didn't click clearly, but Bayer had insisted on learning the family swordsmanship.
The Count's secret art too.
'If it's Father's secret, maybe a technique evolved from Futility Divide?'
He was still far from that truth.
Jamie got up.
The Count said to rest for tomorrow, but he had no intention.
"Let's train a bit more."
With Gremia, he could easily make a training ground perfect for physical conditioning.
Plus the Orb of Life for quick recovery from fatigue.
Jamie headed to the rooftop.
In his hand, Bena was struggling, somehow caught.
-Let me go, Master!
"Quiet. You're in hell training from today too."
-Master!!
Bena's cries echoed only in Jamie's head.