Gibraltar's Invitation (6)
Standing at the entrance, I scanned the party guests one by one, inspecting the fish that had swum into my net. There were hardly any worthwhile catches. Most had come just to see my father and mother. Some to boast about their experience attending a Gibraltar party. Others to nitpick for any flaws they might have. A few to check if the family's golden children from childhood still held their beauty. And some hoping to latch onto whatever new venture the Gibraltars might be starting, to snag a few crumbs. Amid all these motives, I found exactly one gem.
"Who would've thought I'd end up in Gibraltar's garden."
"Getting drunk the moment the party's in full swing."
"It's not drunkenness. My body just doesn't handle it well."
Her face flushed, Lady Mente spread her arms wide as she strolled through the garden.
"So... little boy. You've heard about me from Viscount Hex, right?"
"Yes. Something like that."
She probably thought Viscount Hex had explained her situation. Close enough. But I had to watch my words a bit.
"I didn't realize you were senior to my father—older than him. My apologies."
"Ha! You've heard the rumors, haven't you?"
"I'm just starting out myself."
"Hmph... Really? Then listen up. Be careful wandering the garden like this without a single escort knight..."
Whoosh.
"...or someone might just kidnap you out of nowhere?"
Lady Mente pointed a fingernail at me and grinned coldly.
"Kidnap you like this, then hand you over to some shady black mage who curses you so your body stops growing?"
"You haven't grown at all since age ten?"
"That's right. No one's been able to lift this curse. So I just live with it."
Lady Mente raised both hands and laughed playfully.
"Thanks to it, when people don't know who I am, I can play the kid and score some freebies."
"You're taking it well."
"I've lived 27 years like this."
She was older than I'd thought.
"I've lived staring at nothing but the sword."
Stubborn, too.
"So think of this as nagging from an old auntie and just let it slide."
She'd been through enough storms to twist her personality a little.
"Don't give up if they say your little brother has talent and you don't."
She could offer warm advice even to a ten-year-old—practically her nephew's age.
"At least keep challenging yourself until you're an adult. And if you decide there's no talent..."
"Find another path?"
"Yeah. Don't be some fool and stubbornly dig one hole."
Lady Mente gave a bitter smile and looked up at the sky.
"When people say it's impossible, there's always a reason."
One thing was clear.
"But you can't just steal a kid's dream like that!"
"Your drinking habits are pretty nasty."
"What?!"
This woman is incredibly weak to alcohol.
'She wasn't like this in the future.'
She hadn't been like this when she was one of the Empire's vanguard Eight Divine Generals.
"What do you mean, drinking habits? You think I look small so I can't hold my liquor? I'm 37!"
Not this reckless, all-things-abandoned, desperate yelling in front of a little kid—
"If the curse is lifted, your body will grow?"
"Huh?"
"If the curse on your body is broken, will it grow like other adults'?"
"......Well?"
Lady Mente let out a deep sigh.
"The black mage who cast it vanished, and no mage in the kingdom could lift it. You know the effect."
She fiddled with her mouth and smirked.
"This curse doesn't fix the body at the moment it's cast... Wait, why am I telling this to a kid?"
She scratched her head furiously and plopped down on a garden bench.
"I must be frustrated. Spilling my guts to a stranger like you on first meeting."
When people get too bottled up, they want to vent to anyone—even a passerby.
"It's fine. Use me as your emotional trash bin."
And I knew better than anyone how to draw it out.
"Emotional trash bin? Ha, you sure talk weird."
"Don't worry. No one comes to this garden, and what you tell me won't reach anyone else."
I touched one ear, then grabbed the other and waved my hand through the air.
"Stories from a drunk go in one ear and out the other."
"Cheeky brat."
"Thank you."
"Your father plays it cool without a word, but every sentence from his son drips with arrogance."
"Proof I'm his son, right?"
"Ha, really..."
Lady Mente hung her head.
"...Kid. I came as your party escort, but I'd just get dirty looks in there."
Sudden, but that was why she'd followed me out here as my escort. No reason a casual chat couldn't happen inside otherwise.
"Thanks, in that sense."
"Thanks for what?"
"For the consideration? Taking the Margrave's request to keep me company until the party's over."
"Sure, let's go with that."
"Let's go with that? So cheeky again. Meaning it's not?"
"Why would Father care about another woman?"
"...Hearing it now, that makes sense."
Objectively, the Margrave had no reason to care about or accommodate Lady Mente.
"Then why'd you want to meet me out here alone?"
"Because I wanted to talk to you, Lady Mente."
She pointed at me, then herself, back and forth.
"Me? What could you have to talk about with an old auntie like me?"
"I'm looking for a master."
"A master?"
"Yes. You seem to know a bit already, so I'll be straightforward."
I pointed toward the mansion, where laughter poured out.
"Father's teaching my little brother himself."
"Yeah, I heard. That's why I said what I did."
"Yes. I came out here to clear up that misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
Just then, Noir and Letar appeared beyond the window.
"My brother Noir is only seven, but he's already wielding a wooden sword."
The kids, too young to be away from Mother, looked overwhelmed by the crowd, unsure where to look.
"Father said Noir has the talent of a Sword Master."
"......"
That much was known to people—and to Lady Mente.
"But that doesn't mean I lack talent."
"Huh?"
"I'm not as good with the 'sword' as my brother."
Born a Gibraltar, the sword was one weapon I didn't handle well.
"The reason Father had him pick it up early is to make him a master."
"That's..."
"Not politics. It's a decision for national defense."
"......"
"In case the Empire breaches the canyon. Preparing for the chance Father goes down with them, he's teaching the sword to my brother—who'll wield it better than me."
"Ha."
Lady Mente let out a hollow laugh.
"What, just some pointless worry?"
She'd been fretting I'd be pushed out as heir.
"Hm, no. Maybe that's how you see it. Who knows your father's mind?"
"Want to ask him?"
"He'd say what you said."
"Yes. Probably. But with swords."
"......"
Sometimes one clash of blades settles what a hundred words can't. That's what they say about masters—and future masters.
"I hear swordsmen converse with swords. While you're at Gibraltar, spar with Father often. Test his thoughts blade-to-blade."
"......"
"Who knows? You might gain enlightenment mid-spar and open the path to mastery."
"Ha. You say 'master' like it's nothing. Think it's easy?"
"Not easy, but at least in Morgania, it's not impossible."
Grind.
The sound of teeth gnashing hit my ears.
"You telling me to betray Morgania?"
"Not betrayal. Gibraltar will formally request your dispatch from Morgania."
"On what grounds?"
"Grounds? Obviously."
This was the real goal, actually.
"How about being my swordsmanship master?"
"Your master? Wait, you're serious? For real?"
"Yes. Perfect timing with our meeting today—gives us the pretext."
"How? You know the bad blood between Morgania and Gibraltar?"
She didn't know it had flipped.
Queen Carmen too—they keep secrets tight.
They hadn't even told the family knights about our secret pact. Only those at the power core of Morgania's bloodline knew: Queen Carmen, Grand Duke Morgania, and Foreign Minister Viscount Hex.
"I know exactly how the two houses stand."
Of course, no intention of telling her now. Not until she became my master and fully Gibraltar.
"So I'll throw a tantrum."
"......What?"
"Demand Lady Mente as my master. If they refuse, I'll flop down in the banquet hall."
"S-Stop that!!"
Lady Mente shrieked.
"Are you crazy? In your right mind? How could you even—"
"Even if it takes antics, we need to recruit talented knights. For Father's grand plan."
"......"
Lady Mente tilted her head, face full of confusion. She quickly scanned the surroundings again, confirming no one was near.
"...It's a ploy, right?"
"Yes."
"You're closer to your father, the Margrave, than I thought. Did he tell you something?"
"Not official yet."
I approached her, bringing our faces as close as possible.
"Father plans to form the Gibraltar Knights."
"......!!"
Gibraltar Knights. Officially, Gibraltar had no knight order. There were people like Robert, but no organized force called a 'knight order'. Father, a lone Sword Master, had been knight order enough.
Until now.
"Why would the Margrave...?"
"Ask him with your sword?"
"...I see. Got it."
Lady Mente smacked her lips and smiled.
"You're your father Crimson Knight's invisible sword, moving in the shadows, huh?"
"Prefer 'invisible hand'?"
"Haha. What a guy. Turning his ten-year-old son into a political player."
It was an excuse to take her as master, but outwardly, it sounded plausible.
"Fine. Gibraltar Knights. The legendary order summoned only once in history. Recruiting them... does that mean crossing the canyon?"
"Don't know details. Ask Father—with your sword."
The blade's tip pointed at the incompetent king for now, but who knew what came next.
"So be my master, Lady Mente."
"Alright. Use that as pretext to enter Gibraltar? Pulling me from Morgania won't be easy."
"One letter fixes it."
I ask Father, he asks Queen Carmen—done. Or even without, before Viscount Hex leaves, just say 'we're taking Lady Mente' and they'd accept.
"True. I'm not that important in Morgania."
Lady Mente laughed self-deprecatingly.
"I volunteered this time because no one else would come to this death trap."
"Death trap?"
"To Morgania, this is a battlefield. Enemy territory, basically?"
Fair point.
"Then I'm proposing defection to the enemy's key asset."
"Thanks for calling me key. Really, I'm just average for the Grand Duke's house."
Given the rift between the Grand Duke and Margrave, 'enemy territory' fit. Though the Grand Duke's daughter and Margrave's son were in a secret political alliance now.
"Come to Gibraltar. I'll make your invitation."
"Hm..."
"Ah. No refusals. Because..."
I approached and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Talented knights who don't fall for Father are hard to recruit."
"...That's your biggest reason?"
"Obviously."
Age irrelevant.
"And I believe it. Once you break the curse, you'll be a stronger knight than now."
"Wow. No one else would say that."
"Who knows? Spar with Father, gain enlightenment, reach mastery."
"......"
Lady Mente fell silent.
"Right when you become a master, the curse breaks, and you grow much bigger."
"Haha, you... Don't say that lightly."
The root reason she'd abandoned the kingdom for the Empire.
"Don't shove hope into people's hearts recklessly. Builds expectations, leads to bigger disappointment."
The kingdom gave her only despair.
"I'm the type who flips out at just the words 'I can break your curse.'"
But the Empire gave her hope.
"Still... not bad. If I become a master, I could break the curse..."
"Grow about this much?"
The future Lady Mente had been a beauty around 169cm—far bigger than now.
"Rest assured. No matter what others say, if you reach mastery through skill growth, the curse will break."
Not via the Empire's methods—silver dust drugs, body mods, monster blood.
"Become a master on your own power, break the curse binding your body. Lady Mente."
"......"
"I believe you'll grow beyond this. Firmly."
The righteous path. Ten years would do it—with me by her side.
"I'll help. So no one points fingers at your childlike body."
I extended my hand to Lady Mente.
"Will you join me, Lady?"