Before He Grows Too Strong
House Zieghart was a family of swordsmen first and foremost, but necessity had led them to maintain an independent Magic Tower of their own. The mages of the Tower were treated quite well, yet they were never the ones in charge, and so they often found themselves looked down upon by the swordsmen.
Jake, a fifth-circle mage belonging to the Magic Tower, lamented this as much as anyone. The pay was excellent, the free time generous, the research funding first-rate — but being dismissed by swordsmen, being shut out of the house's true inner circle, left him restless and frustrated.
Then, for the first time, he was summoned to the Heavy Martial Palace — the residence of Karun Zieghart, one of the most central figures in all of House Zieghart.
Jake swallowed dryly and lifted his head. Karun Zieghart was looking down at him, radiating a crushing pressure that made Jake's throat tremble of its own accord.
Why did he call for me?
The gulf between Karun's station and his own was the difference between heaven and earth. They had no connection whatsoever. He couldn't begin to understand why he'd been summoned.
"I hear you'll be providing support for the practical training at the Fifth Training Ground next week."
"Ah, yes! That's correct."
Jake bowed his head, his voice shaking. Under Vice Tower Master Bervin's orders, he was scheduled to support the practical training at the Fifth Training Ground.
"I have a favor to ask of you. That's why I called you here."
"A favor…"
Karun was one of the true powers of House Zieghart. Granting him a favor would surely pay enormous dividends down the line.
"P-please, go ahead."
Jake stammered slightly as he bowed his head.
"This practical training. I understand you'll be summoning orcs for the children to fight?"
"That's right."
"Those orcs. Can you enhance them?"
"I've already been asked to do so by the head instructor of the Fifth Training Ground. He said the trainees' combat ability is so high that ordinary orcs wouldn't make for proper training."
"Ah, that's not what I mean. I'm asking whether you can enhance them to the point that they cannot be defeated."
To the point they cannot be defeated?
Jake swallowed.
Is there a child he's targeting?
It seemed Karun intended to kill — or at least grievously injure — one of the children at the Fifth Training Ground.
"It's possible! If you tell me which trainee you're targeting…"
"Targeting? Your choice of words is rather strange."
Karun's cold voice rang through the wide, high-ceilinged hall of the Heavy Martial Palace.
"Ah, I-I'm sorry. My mana sometimes runs a little off, so I need to be careful — which trainee should I pay special attention to?"
"Hmm. Raon."
Apparently pleased with the correction, Karun gave a slow nod.
"Raon Zieghart…"
Jake's eyes lit up. Raon had once defeated Karun's own son, Burren. Now Karun's intent was perfectly clear.
He's after Raon.
Not long ago, Raon had defeated the Third Prince of Owen and earned the reputation of being the finest among the trainees. The one Karun was targeting was, without a doubt, Raon Zieghart.
"Even in training, injuries are common enough during live combat practice. And on very rare occasions, those injuries can be permanent."
"That's true. I've seen it happen a few times myself."
"Which is why I've procured a rather fine monster."
Karun snapped his fingers, and the butler standing to his right dragged forward an orc over two meters tall.
Jake swallowed. He had handled countless orcs, and he could tell. The creature before him looked ordinary, but it had already stepped into the realm of the extraordinary.
"An orc I brought back from the Dolan Mountain Range."
"The Dolan Mountain Range…"
The Dolan Mountain Range was a savage land crawling with powerful monsters. An orc that had survived there would be in an entirely different class from a common orc.
"I would like you to send this orc out and take good care of that child, so that nothing unfortunate befalls him."
Karun's lips curled into a smile. He said take care, but what he meant was to use that orc to inflict a permanent injury.
"Ah, and should the orc cause any problems, deal with it immediately so that no rumors spread. If you handle this matter well, I will recommend you as Vice Tower Master of the Magic Tower in the future."
"Th-thank you!"
"You may go."
"Yes! I will follow your instructions without fail."
Jake bowed so deeply his nose nearly touched the floor. He stored the Dolan Mountain Range orc with a monster-storage spell, then left Karun's chamber.
"No one saw him on the way here, I trust?"
Karun turned to the butler who had brought the orc.
"We came in through the inner passage. No one knows that mage was here."
"He's a sharp one. If he handles this well, give him a push."
"All the way to Vice Tower Master?"
"Hardly. Just enough that he'll be so hungry for more he'll offer up his liver and gallbladder."
"Understood."
The butler smiled faintly, bowed, and stepped out.
"Raon Zieghart…"
Karun murmured the name under his breath.
The boy had defeated his son Burren, beaten Marta, and even brought the Third Prince — Owen's so-called future — to his knees. From the standpoint of the Master of the Heavy Martial Palace and overall commander of the house's martial forces, it was nothing remarkable. But the boy's movements had begun to grate on him.
Most important of all: his father's gaze — the Patriarch's gaze — had begun to drift, little by little, toward Raon.
He wouldn't pose a true threat to Karun's path to becoming Patriarch. But anything that grated was best swept aside quickly.
Better to deal with him before he grows any larger.
That was how he had risen in this place. That was the method this frozen land had taught him.
After finishing night training at the training ground, Raon returned to the Annex. It was late, and he was passing quietly down the corridor when Sylvia's door burst open.
"Raon!"
The door slammed into the wall, and Sylvia came flying out, her eyes blazing red.
"Ugh!"
"You see your mother and you go 'ugh'? Uuuugh?"
"No, that's not—"
"Did we or did we not have a promise to walk in the garden today?"
"Ah!"
Raon's mouth fell open.
I forgot.
Yesterday's events had consumed him so completely that he'd thrown himself into training and forgotten entirely.
"You forgot! You completely forgot!"
"That's not—"
"Don't you 'that's not' me! This is the first time in three days I've seen your face while you were actually awake!"
Sylvia strode toward him and raised her hand.
"M-Mom?"
Raon frowned and stepped back.
"Do you know why I asked you to take a walk with me?"
"Huh?"
"Training is all well and good, but rest is important too. Rest is part of training."
Sylvia smiled gently and began stroking Raon's hair.
"You spend every day training at the grounds. When you come here, rest a little. Even just half a day."
"Ah… okay."
Raon hung his head.
I never know what to do when I'm standing in front of this person.
It wasn't that he disliked Sylvia, or Helen, or the maids. If he truly disliked them, he would have run away long ago. The affection he felt for these people — the ones he'd known since the moment of his birth — kept growing, and that frightened him. So he forced himself to keep his distance.
"You're not hurt anywhere?"
"You ask that every time I come home."
"My son's goal is to be a swordsman. Of course I have to ask!"
She started checking his face and body all over before he'd even answered. Even when he said he was fine, she ignored him and only let go once she'd finished her inspection.
"I told you I'm not hurt. I'll just go in and—"
"Not yet."
Sylvia shook her head and pulled Raon into a tight embrace.
"I smell like sweat."
He'd come straight from training without washing, so he was in no state to be hugged — but Sylvia didn't let go.
"It doesn't smell at all, so don't worry."
"Mm…"
"It's been so long since I hugged my son. It feels good. I can even tell how much you've grown."
Sylvia held him for a long while before finally releasing him. Her eyes sparkled like stars, bright with satisfaction.
"Have you eaten?"
"Of course I have."
"You worked hard training. Go get some rest."
Muttering that hugging her son after so long meant she'd sleep like a log, Sylvia went back into her room.
Raon shook his head and was about to return to his own room when his eyes met Helen's at the far end of the corridor.
"Young master. I'll draw a bath for you, so wash up and rest."
She smiled brightly, then vanished to the side like a ghost. A laugh slipped out of him at the sound of her receding footsteps.
"Hah…"
Whenever he set foot in this place, he lost control of both his abilities and his emotions. And yet he didn't dislike it, which left him with no word for it but complicated.
Feeling more exhausted than he had from the training itself, Raon went into his room.
"Ah, I'm tired…"
He was sitting in a chair, resting for a moment, when a knock came, and shortly after the door opened.
"Young master. I've drawn your bath."
He'd thought it was Helen, but Judiel's head poked in.
"Got it."
"I have something to tell you, if you have a moment."
He nodded and was about to stand when Judiel closed the door and stepped inside.
"It's about the Heavy Martial Palace."
"The Heavy Martial Palace?"
The Heavy Martial Palace was Karun Zieghart's domain — and the place that had sent Judiel here.
"Go on."
Raon sat back down, his red eyes gleaming.
"Yes."
Judiel knelt before him and bowed her head. It looked for all the world like a vassal kneeling before her king.
"The Heavy Martial Palace has issued orders to monitor and report your every move the moment you return to the Annex, young master."
"Meaning they're plotting something."
"It would seem so."
"…The practical training, then."
Raon murmured the word Rimer had mentioned today.
"Practical training…?"
"Instructor Rimer said there'd be practical training next week. It seems they intend to interfere with that session."
"Ah!"
Judiel's head snapped up.
"Come to think of it, when trainees do practical combat, they sometimes duel against monsters."
"I heard that too."
He remembered Dorian screaming at the end of today's training that they were probably going to fight monsters.
"So they'll either tamper with the monsters, or with the mage who handles them — or…"
Raon closed his eyes as he continued.
"Both."
The following Monday.
Jake headed to the Fifth Training Ground a full hour earlier than scheduled.
I have to do this well.
To succeed in this damned land, you had to pick the right line to follow. Until now, even the rotting ropes he'd clung to hadn't given way. But what had been lowered to him this time wasn't merely a sturdy rope — it was a ladder that could carry him all the way to the sky.
For the sake of his future, he had to inflict a serious injury on Raon, no matter what it took. Only then would he catch Karun Zieghart's eye.
No need to worry about the aftermath.
Raon Zieghart had virtually no backing, and Karun was a man who might well become the next Patriarch. Who he should be working for had already been decided.
"Hoo…"
Jake steadied his breathing and opened the door to the Fifth Training Ground. Beyond a thin haze of sand dust, trainees were practicing with their swords. Since training hadn't officially started yet, he walked along the outer edge of the grounds and watched them.
That one is Burren, and beside him is Marta, I believe.
From the descriptions he'd heard beforehand, Jake identified the key trainees he was not to touch.
Over there is Runaan, the youngest of House Sullion, and…
Finally, his gaze settled on a blond-haired boy on the right side of the training ground, bringing his sword down in a strike.
That's Raon? He's ridiculously good-looking, I'll give him that.
The way he pivoted on his foot and thrust his sword was like a painting come to life.
I'm sorry, but I have no choice. I won't kill you.
Jake bit his lip and directed a tiny thread of killing intent toward Raon. It was a faint presence that had risen without him even meaning to — so shallow that even a swordsman with keen senses, even a wild animal, shouldn't have been able to feel it.
But one person reacted.
Raon, who had been pouring his entire spirit into his sword, turned both of his eyes toward Jake.
"Urgh!"
Jake recoiled in shock, his back slamming into the wall as he collapsed to the ground. The instant he met Raon's red eyes, his heart clenched tight.
"Ghk…"
He couldn't move a single finger, as if he were standing naked before a predator.
Wh-what the hell is that kid…