Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Stormbringer's True Master
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The youngest son of the Kilburn Baron family, Pio, was greatly flustered.
Among the two horses he had received as a birthday gift just before his coming-of-age ceremony six years ago, the black horse Stormbringer—which had stolen Pio's heart from the very first moment he laid eyes on it—was now acting friendly toward a complete stranger.
No, it wasn't just acting friendly. It was licking him all over as if it meant to bathe him in saliva! It was like greeting a lover it hadn't seen in years.
'Lover? Ah! Could it be?'
Pio instinctively realized who the man Stormbringer was nuzzling was.
That was why, even amid his great fluster, jealousy, and slight anger, he sized up the tall, well-built man.
Though he had grown a beard covering his upper lip and entire chin, he looked no older than five or six years older than Pio himself—a young, handsome face.
The strange glint in the eyes looking back at him overlapped with Stormbringer's fawning behavior, making Pio feel even worse.
"Are you, by any chance, Stormbringer's former owner?"
Pio's tone was a bit prickly.
"......"
The man didn't answer right away. Instead, he stared at Pio with an odd gaze for a while before Sion gave a slight smile and spoke.
"Your question's off the mark."
"Huh?"
"I'm not this guy's former owner. I'm his current owner."
"What......?"
Pio's eyebrows twitched at the casual speech and the utterly absurd response.
At that, the castle subordinates who had hurriedly dodged out of the way when the black horse charged came rushing over to Pio.
"It's as the gentleman says, young master. He paid compensation to the lord and reclaimed ownership of the horse."
"Compensation? What on earth are you talking about?"
"Well, you see..."
The subordinate diligently explained the situation to the dumbfounded Pio, then glanced at Sion and lowered his voice a bit.
"And that gentleman is a member of the royal family. You might want to watch your words..."
"......!"
Pio flinched.
Now that he thought about it, the man's clothes and the sword at his side both looked far from ordinary.
"You got hurt because of this guy? As his owner, I apologize. He won't let anyone ride him except me."
"Ah... No, that's fine. I was the one who tried to force my way on, so I got hurt."
Pio's tone changed. Not just his tone—his entire demeanor became calm, unlike before.
'Hoo?'
Sion was a little surprised.
It didn't seem like his attitude had shifted just because of Sion's royal status.
"You shouldn't handle a horse like that. This guy hadn't let anyone ride him for years, so I got too frustrated that day and pushed too hard. It's my fault, so there's no reason for me to accept an apology."
Seeing Pio's wry smile, Sion understood.
He was still young, so his emotions got the better of him first, but this kid wasn't some typical noble brat who rampaged around without distinguishing heaven from earth.
'Plus 10 points. No, 30.'
Sion, who knew all too well what most highborn noble kids were like, happily gave extra points to his own great-grandson.
"Anyway, it did feel a bit off. I couldn't understand why such a fine steed's owner would sell it, and it didn't listen to me or anyone else. Turns out it had its original owner and saw this as stolen goods. Though, of course, it means I wasn't good enough to be recognized as its master."
"That's not it."
"Pardon?"
"This one's not a normal horse—it's a spirit beast. It wasn't that he didn't recognize you. From the start, he only sees me as his master and no one else."
Sion stroked the mane of the whinnying black horse and continued.
"He didn't listen to you, but he never tried to escape, right?"
"Uh... yeah. Now that you mention it, he didn't. He ate well, slept well, and played well for years."
"We'd have to ask the thief, but he probably didn't resist much on the way here either."
"Whoa! How did you know that?"
"So we never even thought of him as a stolen horse when we first brought him."
Even the castle subordinates nodded in surprise.
"He must've known I'd come back and saw this place as just a temporary stopover. It dragged on longer than expected, so he just settled in. Isn't that right, boy?"
As if understanding Sion's words, the black horse swung its neck to the side and pretended to gaze at the distant mountains.
"Now! Go bring Yellowie too."
Hiiing!
The black horse let out a long whinny and trotted off toward one spot with crisp hoofbeats.
Pio, whose tension had completely melted at the bewitching sight that was hardly horse-like, suddenly asked.
"But what's Yellowie?"
"The horse that thief stole along with this guy—my horse."
"......So Albert's real name is Yellowie? Then Stormbringer's real name is......"
"Blackie."
"......"
Pio shut his mouth.
Not just him—the castle subordinates, even Administrator Schwart, all stared at Sion with shocked eyes.
'What? So what? Sue me. Minus 10 points.'
The old monster with his terribly serious naming sense felt a twinge of annoyance but didn't voice it.
* * *
After the matter of the stolen Blackie and Yellowie was more or less settled, Sion and the Kilburn Baron family shared a meal.
Baron Kilburn, a capable lord who was not stingy with guests, treated Sion with utmost hospitality.
He didn't particularly like the odd looks directed at him, but as the victim, Sion had yielded first on what could have been a noisy issue and handled it smoothly. It would be unbecoming of a lord not to properly host him.
Thus, the meal passed in great harmony, and through it, Baron Kilburn was able to reestablish a decent relationship with Administrator Schwart, with whom they had been as distant as oxen and chickens until now.
Administrator Schwart, too, had ridden the wave of the mood. With Sion, the actual party to the horse theft, yielding first and resolving the matter smoothly, there was no room for the mediator like himself to step forward.
Besides, from an administrator's perspective, souring relations with a neighboring lord brought no benefits, and failing to improve them would be neglect of duty. He made good use of the opportunity.
And after some time had passed, Baron Kilburn and Administrator Schwart noticed one thing.
'Is that person deliberately softening the atmosphere?'
Not just Administrator Schwart—Baron Kilburn also saw Sion as a bit strange.
No, not strange—unique.
Even as a collateral royal, he could have thrown his weight around in such a remote barony, but he showed no arrogance whatsoever, consistently treating the Kilburn family with calm smiles and gentle words.
The eldest and second sons—who were meeting him for the first time and, being a few years younger, might have felt competitive—were disarmed in conversation within minutes, which even surprised Baron Kilburn inwardly.
Especially the eldest son, raised from childhood as the territory's heir, was usually curt and shy around strangers, yet in less than an hour, he was sticking to Sion's side like a brother, chatting away. It was an utterly novel sight.
'Come to think of it, they kinda look alike. No one would doubt if they said they were cousins, even if not blood brothers.'
The sudden thought made Baron Kilburn chuckle softly.
Even he had developed such feelings toward the owner of that damn horse colt that ruined his youngest son's path in just half a day—how much more so for his own children?
'Has he married? He's of age, so probably. Hmm, if not, maybe one of my nieces would do?'
With all his own daughters already married, Baron Kilburn recalled the unmarried girls among his wife's siblings' children.
"Baron Kilburn."
"Hm? Ah, Sir Sailun."
When Sion called, Baron Kilburn snapped his head up from his thoughts about how it wouldn't be bad to bind him with 'kin' if he was unmarried.
"May I ask something?"
"Go ahead."
Sion glanced at the baron's eldest son and said.
"I heard some talk earlier about the horse issue, and just now from your eldest son—something about worries over your youngest son's future?"
"Hmm. Yes. As you know, sir, a chance to squire under a Swordmaster doesn't come often."
The Swordmasters of this world weren't the type to blast sword auras or auras everywhere. This was a world without auras or sword energies to begin with.
A Swordmaster was literally one who had mastered the sword—knights who shone on the battlefield or those who had won multiple life-or-death duels with real blades.
In other words, people called someone a Swordmaster if they wielded the sword masterfully in actual combat, as others saw it.
And naturally, the vast majority of these master swordsmen and grandmasters were nobles, so becoming the squire of a recognized Swordmaster was a tremendous honor.
Moreover, there were only a handful of famous Swordmasters everyone knew by name, making their squire positions fiercely competitive. For a child from a rural barony like this, it was even harder.
Yet Pio, the youngest son of Baron Kilburn—who didn't seem like a pushover—had achieved it.
No matter who Master Lycas was, the chance of the baron being scammed was slim, so Pio truly had the talent to become a Swordmaster's squire.
That was why, after meeting Pio, Sion devised a plan.
"So I'd like to make a proposal."
"Hm? A proposal?"
Baron Kilburn tilted his head at Sion's words.
"Regardless of the circumstances, it's a fact that my horse disrupted your youngest son's path."
"Hmm. I've already put that behind me. Especially after receiving compensation—no need to dwell on it."
True to a noble who valued face, Baron Kilburn was slightly offended.
But his eyes widened at Sion's next words.
"Yes. But it's still true that a promising young man's future was derailed. So I'd like to help, even if just a little. No, I will help—for sure."
"Huh?"
"You know I'm royal, even if collateral. Then you probably know some noble houses closely tied to the crown—like those bound by blood."
"Hmm. Sure."
"There's one house I'm personally close to. And they have a Swordmaster under them."
"A Swordmaster? Who?"
"The Sion Ducal House."
"......!"
"And come to think of it, it's deeply connected to you too, Baron."
Sion smiled faintly, but Baron Kilburn stared with bulging eyes, frozen.
The Sion Ducal House was his maternal family. Of course they were connected.
But he hadn't visited his maternal side once since birth, nor even contacted them.
His mother, Maria Sion, had been disowned by her family upon marrying his father.
"Sir Sailun must know of my birth, so pretend you didn't hear that."
But Sion, who knew well why his grandson reacted this way, spoke calmly.
"You can't pretend forever. You can't fool the baron's blood."
"Sir Sailun!"
"Will you let your children live ignorant of their roots forever? It has to come out eventually—and this is the chance right now."
"......"
Baron Kilburn glared at Sion, his brow twitching.
But the moment he saw his eldest son fidgeting restlessly beside Sion, he unwittingly bit his lip.
Not just the eldest— all his sons had grown up hearing tales of their grandmother's father, the first Duke Sion.
And they admired and respected not the duke, but the hero Sion.
One of the heroes who saved the Obla Kingdom—no, the world—was their grandmother's father, and that blood flowed in them too. How could they not take pride in it?
Even if their grandmother had been disowned, the fact that Sion's blood ran in them was undeniable truth.
And unlike Baron Kilburn, whose feelings toward the Sion Ducal House mixed love and hate with more resentment, his children felt more affection.
They couldn't speak up before their father, but the sons, led by the eldest, had been curious and yearned for their father's maternal family.
"Father."
"......Pio."
At his hitherto silent youngest son's voice, Baron Kilburn turned, guessing something.
"If what Sir Sailun says is true, I want to go there."
"You......"
"There's Master Blaho in the Sion Duchy. He's the finest knight in the south, his fame in no way inferior to Master Lycas. If I could become Master Blaho's squire and restore ties to Father's maternal family... the Sion Ducal House... I'd be truly happy."
"......"
"And I see this as my duty as Father's son and a member of the Kilburn Baron family. I'll make it work. Please send me."
"Haha......"
When had he grown so much?
Faced with his youngest son's clear-eyed gaze and resolute words, Baron Kilburn could only close his eyes.
(To be continued next chapter)