The True Swordmaster
A little while back, right after I'd rescued the blue-haired girl.
Lily greeted us as we returned to the campsite.
"You're back awfully late, young master. Not very rabbit-like of you."
"Why's she been stuck on rabbits this whole time? Should I buy her a pet bunny or something?"
Or maybe ask the capital to send a bunny girl outfit... Nah, scratch that. What kind of grief would that bring?
...Though getting chewed out once in a while might not be so bad?
"Here, got us some dinner."
"Wolf legs, huh. Of all things, you bring back something that reeks of game."
"Didn't have time to hunt anything else."
"Lily! Can you prepare one more serving for dinner?"
Lily eyed Karina, who'd suddenly jumped in, and the blue-haired girl clinging to her side.
"Pathetic. Lolita-con young master. You've really gone all the way now. Kidnapping, too?"
Why's the backlash hitting me?!
She even had this look of utter contempt on her face.
Don't look at me like that.
I might pitch a tent... No, that's not it.
"Karina. You're annoying—explain it to Lily for me."
"Y-Yes, sir! Lily, this girl... well, the thing is..."
Somehow, Lily bought the story in the end.
After devouring the Frost Wolf hind leg stew she'd whipped up, I gave Karina some instructions.
"Karina. Monsters might show up around here, so keep a good eye on that kid and play with her."
"Where are you going?"
"Just patrolling the area with Lily. Be back soon."
"Young master. Trying to leave me alone with her on purpose? What are you scheming?"
"Ow! Quit yapping and follow me!"
Leaving Karina behind cooing, "So cuuute! Want big sis to braid your hair?", I walked off with Lily to a spot a short distance from camp.
No need to beat around the bush, so I got straight to it.
"That kid. You think she's totally playing us, right?"
"Karina definitely looks like the type to get played."
Hmm... I'll bring that up with doting-dad Karl later.
"Two Frost Wolves attack, and she screams right on cue to call us over."
"I thought she was just messing around with Karina, too."
"A kid like that climbing these brutal mountains alone doesn't add up in the first place."
"'Gotta get herbs for my sick mom'—that's the kind of excuse they wouldn't even use in fairy tales these days."
The more I think about it, the more Karina's head seems like a flower garden.
I spent the whole way here pretending not to suspect her.
Anyway, Lily and I nodded at each other.
"She reeks of suspicion."
"So, what's the plan?"
"Obvious. She'll pull something while we're asleep, so keep watch."
"Meaning you won't let me sleep tonight."
"Well, yeah, but the way you put it..."
And that's how Lily and I caught that black-hearted brat red-handed.
'Though I never guessed she was the Frost Phoenix's true body.'
"Piyoooooo!!"
A roar that could shred eardrums echoed as it soared into the sky, looking exactly like I'd imagined.
A mystical blue body matching the girl's hair.
A sturdy beak and talons, feathers sharp as icicles.
A massive eagle radiating ominous mana flapped its wings.
In an instant, a fierce blizzard whipped up on the mountainside where there'd been no wind.
"This is... a blizzard?"
"Wouldn't it have been smarter to handle her before it came to this, young master?"
"Don't be ridiculous. That wasn't an option."
Honestly, anyone could see through that shady kid's crappy acting.
But nothing in the world is 100% certain, right?
What if she really was just some innocent civilian, ulterior motives aside?
As the North's acting Grand Duke, I couldn't just lop off some random commoner's head without proof.
'I knew she was something fierce, but I didn't peg her for the Frost Phoenix itself.'
As the blizzard raged, our flower-headed knight finally emerged.
"E-Edrick, young master! What in the world..."
"Took you long enough. Look up."
"Up...? Ahhh!!!"
Karina instinctively grasped the situation and drew her sword into a guard stance.
Now, what to do?
"Edrick, young master! Just use Sword Gang!"
"Good idea, huh? Blast that arrogant brat with a white beam—pew pew?"
"You knew exactly what you were saying, didn't you?!"
I'm seriously gonna grill Lily later on where she picks up this embarrassing crap.
Anyway, Sword Gang was out.
"The blizzard's too fierce—hitting a target in the sky precisely is impossible!"
"Your only real skill is marksmanship, so you're useless here, young master."
"Edrick, young master! Lily! Something's coming!!"
At Karina's shout, Lily and I sensed the ominous presence and scanned around.
There...
"A pack of Frost Giants! Edrick, young master!"
"They say the Frost Phoenix rules over every monster in the North. Looks like it's true."
In that instant.
Something clicked in my mind.
'The Frost Wolves earlier, and now Frost Giants answering the Phoenix's call...'
And the organized Frost Giants that faced my father, Bernhardt von Heiden.
'It was all that monster's doing.'
Rage filled my chest.
Yet my mind froze even colder.
Suddenly, Father's words came back to me.
"Cedric, Edrick. Do you know the most important emotion for a Sword Master of the Heiden family?"
"Cold rationality, like the North's eternal snows?"
"Half right. For a Sword Master—especially an immature one—to reach higher realms, the emotion they must master above all is anger."
"Anger...?"
"Yes. In this North, harsh environments and savage monsters claim the lives of those we love far too often. I've lost countless precious people myself, burying them in this heart each time."
Father said that such rage was the driving force amplifying the Heiden family's unique Sword Qi.
But surrendering blindly to anger didn't make one a Heiden Sword Master, dubbed the North's ice walls.
Heat the heart with fury.
Keep the mind as cold as the eternal snows of the northern peaks.
Only then could a Heiden Sword Master wield their full power. That's what he said.
'The second time.'
I'd been in a situation like this once before.
Three months ago, the day Father, Bernhardt von Heiden, passed.
Honestly, that was the first time I'd handled such potent Sword Gang so freely.
But back then, my mind wasn't this cold.
Pathetic as it is, both heart and head were consumed by rage—I just threw my body into it.
'This time's different. And now, I think I get it. The true power handed down in the Heiden line.'
As I felt the mana surging in my body fully awaken.
Karina and Lily cried out in their own ways.
"This must be the frost veil Frost Giants exhale. Yeah, my body's all locked up like I'm frozen solid."
"Nngh...! You dare humiliate me, giants?! Kill me instead!!"
Over ten Frost Giants at a glance.
If they were moving on the Frost Phoenix's orders with coordination, binding Lily and Karina with a frost veil was child's play.
But not for me.
I stepped forward, shielding Lily and Karina, raising my sword where blue Sword Qi flickered.
'Heart burning with rage, mind endlessly cold with reason.'
Right now.
I spun the sword overhead once, then slashed horizontally with fury.
Right after...
—KABOOM!!
Blue Sword Gang erupted, shredding everything in its path.
"Wrooooar!!!"
"Grooooan!!!"
The giants' death cries rang out, and the frost veil they spewed lifted.
"Edrick, young master!! That Sword Gang's power...!!"
"Not yet. The real one's still coming."
Maybe it was my imagination, but the blizzard felt a bit weaker.
I held my sword before my eyes, embracing the pulse of emotion once more.
"Prepping the next Sword Gang already? Impressive. I might actually acknowledge you as a useful man today."
"No way...! Even former Grand Duke Bernhardt couldn't fire off a follow-up Sword Gang that fast."
Like Father said, my talent must be exceptional.
In moments, blue Sword Qi rippled fiercely along my blade again.
I raised it high overhead.
'I can hit it. No—I know I will.'
Just moments ago, the blizzard hid the Phoenix completely.
But my honed senses instinctively pointed where to aim.
"Haaaaah!!!"
The sword slashed down hard, unleashing an even denser blue Sword Gang into the sky.
—KABOOM!!
A satisfying impact.
Direct hit.
Proof?
"Piyoooooo!!!"
The Frost Phoenix's agonized screech.
I didn't even turn around, just said to Lily and Karina,
"Let's go. Time to claim our prey."
Perfect justification in hand.