Chapter 132
Chapter 132
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Wind from the West
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mayer de Rothschild.
A knight whose name I had never heard before. If he bore the name Rothschild, one might expect to have heard it somewhere.
'Who is he?'
A middle-aged man in full plate mail, his head bald. He stroked his brown mustache lightly and stepped forward to Verdandi.
[That knight was one of the Rothschild knights who climbed the tower with me.]
'With Father?'
[A guy who joined on Meteorichi's recommendation.]
'?!'
[He was called Meteorichi's disciple, but his swordsmanship was on a level comparable to us Stranges.]
I found it hard to believe Father's words. For a sword saint who had reached the realm of Sword God to acknowledge a swordsman.
"Was his swordsmanship superior to Meteorichi's?"
[I couldn't tell which of the two was superior.]
[But I knew it wasn't higher than mine.]
"Why did you think that?"
Father's soul seemed to stand before me, white smoke gathering to form a soft voice.
[Because his sword never reached me.]
"To you, Father?"
[Yes. The reason he climbed the tower after me was revenge against Strange.]
'Revenge against Strange. That's the same reason Meteorichi targeted Father and me.'
[Of course, thanks to the guardian knights protecting me, his sword never touched me.]
[Still, he succeeded in launching sword strikes within my domain. I had no choice but to acknowledge him.]
I nodded slightly.
From Father's explanation alone, I could gauge his skill level.
He could wield his power within Father's domain, but ultimately, his sword couldn't reach Father.
The only reason was that the guardian knights protecting Father reacted first.
'In that case.'
That meant he had at least 7-star level skill like Bess, able to strike amid them.
Before I could resolve my doubts, Mayer approached my mother with his hands behind his back.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Mayer de Rothschild, captain of the Rothschild guard, here to convey Apostle Orddin's words."
Verdandi shook her head in fear.
"Do you even know where this is?"
"Of course, Strange Castle."
"Do you think I don't know that? That's why I'm telling you—this is a place you shouldn't come."
"Why shouldn't I come? I climbed the tower with Lord Roys, so I have deep ties to Strange."
"A Rothschild knight climbed the tower with Lord Roys?"
"Yes, targeting his neck. Though in the end, we failed."
"...What?!"
As she raised her voice, baby Berddin burst into tears.
"Waaah!"
All eyes turned to Berddin.
Verdandi hugged the baby and patted his back lightly, speaking to Mayer.
"Leave this place at once. Or I'll tell Roys everything."
"Marquis Roys? He's not in the castle right now."
"What?"
"Not only that, there's no one in this castle who can protect you now. So come quietly with me. If you don't obey—"
Mayer glanced down at Berddin.
"—I'll have to kill that child."
The moment he finished speaking, Valentine lunged at him.
Thwack!
Her sword slipped between the gaps in Mayer's armor. No matter how young, she was a direct-line Strange swordsman.
Thud!
But she was no match.
She had superior skill for her age, of course, but it was far too lacking against a seasoned senior knight.
Mayer gripped the sword embedded in his side with his left hand and lifted Valentine by the collar with his right.
"Lady Valentine, sorry, but you'll have to sit this one out."
"Le... let go, you damned bastard... ."
"I'll let you go. Just stay out of the way until it's over."
Mayer threw Valentine out the window. His actions showed no hesitation whatsoever, executing his intent flawlessly.
Crash!
"Lady Verdandi, make your choice. Come with me, and I can spare the baby. Resist, and both of you die here."
"Is this Apostle Orddin's order?"
"Yes. God's Blood, the pure lineage of the divine—how could He not be furious that one like Him created a child in a place like this, not Ragnarok?"
"......"
"Frankly, I was ordered to kill the baby too. But if you come quietly, I'll pretend I didn't see it."
"Kill the baby?"
"Yes. Whatever it is, male or female—it shouldn't have been born into this world."
Verdandi's face flushed red, veins bulging on her forehead.
But there was nothing she could do. Resisting now would endanger Berddin's life. With Roys away, no one in the castle could help her.
She didn't know how this intruder breached the guardian knights, but the situation was undoubtedly dire.
"If I go with you, you'll spare this child?"
Mayer nodded with a faint smile.
"Yes."
"Why does Apostle Orddin want me?"
"I told you earlier. To protect you, of pure blood."
"Pure blood my ass. I was just born a bit higher up."
"That difference separates the world's masters from the masses. You're not one who looks up from below—you look down from above."
"I've never wanted that position."
"Wanting it or not doesn't matter. What matters is that you were born into it."
Verdandi bit her lip hard and hugged the baby tightly.
"...Berddin."
She stroked the baby's head lightly, then placed him on the bed, whispering softly.
"My beloved son."
Then Verdandi clenched her fists.
"Lord Roys won't let you get away with this."
"If he can manage it? Roys can't even reach where Apostle Orddin is anyway."
"What?"
"Let me tell you in advance: the place you'll arrive is the upper levels of the tower—a realm no human has ever reached."
"A realm?"
"Yes. So abandon any hope of Marquis Roys coming to rescue you."
Mayer extended one hand to her with an irritating expression and polite posture.
"Just think of it as dying here. I'll convey it well to Lord Roys—that Lady Verdandi went far away to fulfill the holy one's will."
[That's all I know of your mother's whereabouts.]
Suddenly, space warped, and the scene shifted to the castle entrance.
There, bloodied Valentine, who had fallen from the window, was speaking with Guardian Knight Captain Bess.
"L-Lady Valentine, what happened to you?"
Bess looked up at the room with the broken window.
He extended two fingers forward instead of speaking, signaling. The guardian knights beside him rushed toward Verdandi's room simultaneously.
"Mother... Mother was... taken by... the Apostle... knight... ."
She couldn't finish her sentence and lost consciousness.
'Probably.'
That Mayer guy must have used some special ability then. Sister Valentine said she had no memory of that day.
'In that case.'
The key figure that day was that Rothschild's 'Mayer.'
Shing.
Hearing Valentine's words, Bess drew his sword.
"An Apostle has infiltrated the castle."
He misunderstood Valentine's words but correctly identified an enemy in Verdandi's room.
"Declare 'Throne Shield' status within the castle. Attack any enemy on sight."
Bess raised his voice like a shout to his adjutant and continued.
"1st Platoon, with me to Lady Verdandi's room! 2nd Platoon, spread the alert! 3rd Platoon, assume defensive positions!"
The great bell atop Strange Castle rang out loudly.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The castle's knights hurried into motion, entering combat readiness and alert status.
Rushing to Verdandi's room, Bess unleashed all his power without restraint.
'I must protect Lady Verdandi at all costs.'
That was the mission of Bess, the guardian sword protecting Strange.
Bracing for death before facing the Apostle, he entered Verdandi's room. But what greeted him was an empty room, only curtains fluttering in the wind from the window.
"Lady Verdandi?"
Bess and his subordinates searched the room thoroughly. The only trace left was Verdandi's severed hair.
'Why is Mother's hair... ?'
[That's the end of the 'time of memories' I know.]
[Of all days, I was summoned by the Apostle and away, leading to this absurd incident.]
This was absolutely not Father's fault. He couldn't look away for even a moment.
[If I had been with Verdandi that day, this never would have happened.]
I replied to Father with a firm voice.
"This isn't your fault, Father."
[After losing Verdandi, I headed to the tower to find her somehow.]
"Father."
[But as you know, instead of finding her, I got stuck in the mid-layers, wasting years.]
"Then you still don't know where Mother is?"
[I do. But those who know the way there wouldn't cooperate with me.]
"Who are they?"
Father didn't answer with words. He simply opened a small space in the dream, showing me.
'...No way.'
The towering world tree, Yggdrasil, and atop it, the white dwarf star.
The land where those called children of gods reside.
'Ragnarok.'
[Take care of your mother for me. Berddin, my proud son, Roys's heir.]
With those words, light poured before my eyes.
Whoosh!
"Father."
"Who gave you permission to enter without announcing yourself?!"
I opened my eyes to someone's shout. I was back in Midgard, under a vast blue sky stretching endlessly over the plains.
'A dream?'
No, this was a vision from the guardian spirit protecting the family. The ancestors' memories etched deep in my mind.
My head throbbed with a headache.
As I sat up, Theresia stood blocking my path, arms spread wide.
"W-We just came to meet someone here!"
"Meet someone? Who?"
"Well... I don't really know myself... ."
Clank, clank, clank.
A knight with a golden lion emblazoned on his armor approached with boot steps and grabbed Theresia's collar roughly.
"Is this bitch messing around?!"
"Kyaaak!"
"Looks like I have no choice. I'll have to cut off your arms to knock some sense into you—"
Thwack!
"...Huh?"
The knight looked down at his abdomen. A sword blade protruded through his armor, dripping blood.
He slowly turned his head to look behind him. Meeting my eyes, the knight tilted his head.
"Wh... o?"
"You don't need to know who I am."
I pulled the sword from his back.
Thud.
"Keurgh!"
Grabbing the knight's head and yanking it back, I held my sword to his throat.
"You lot. If you want this guy to live, bring the knight named Mayer."