Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Holy Sword - 2
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"...What do you mean by that?"
Ariasfil asked with a stern expression. If it was a joke, she would erase her brother's existence with her sword.
But... what if...
"...You didn't know either...? I just heard it too...!!"
Rios, who was always so composed, was uncharacteristically flustered. It was too much to pass off as a joke or a lie.
"...No way..."
It couldn't be. After the fierce battle at the magic tower, they'd even made that promise, and they'd kissed in both dream and reality.
In that situation, for Leo to betray her was utterly incomprehensible.
"...No way... Alfred..."
Rios, crushed by an inexplicable guilt, muttered 'Alfred's' name to himself several times, but it barely reached Ariasfil, who was equally confused.
"...It can't be... Why... Leo again..."
Unwanted imaginings kept surfacing. A ominous delusion arose that perhaps his absence from this gathering was related.
"...Grandfather...!"
On the verge of spiraling into panic from the confusion, Ariasfil's eyes caught sight of her grandfather. Marken, who rarely visited the mansion, was here, filling her with an inexplicable anxiety.
"...Where is Leonardo?"
Her grandfather, Marken, also searched for Leo with a fairly grim expression. She wished he would just scold him as usual upon finding him.
"Lady Chris...!"
This time, she looked to her aunt. Chris wore not her usual flashy demeanor, but a face deeply etched with guilt.
"...No way... He still hasn't come?"
"...Why...? Why on earth are you looking for him...?"
Ariasfil was on the verge of breaking into sobs. Please, just tell her the reason...
"...I'm sorry..."
An apology emerged. Anxiety turned to certainty, squeezing out despair.
"...Leonardo... said he would resign from his knight position...!"
The confession was barely conveyed, her voice raised in strain to deliver this heavy fact.
"...Why...?"
Upon hearing it, her first thought was neither anger nor despair.
"...Why...?"
It was pure bewilderment, an utter inability to comprehend.
"...It was because of the council's reprimand. Under the pretext of paying for the sins they mentioned there..."
"...Sins...?"
Who would accuse that boy of wrongdoing?
"Leo has been working so hard..."
It was a fact no one could deny.
"He worked harder than anyone here...!"
Everyone had to admit it.
"...Why...? Why didn't anyone...!!"
Why hadn't anyone told Leonardo that it was okay for him to stay?
"Where is he...? Who did this...!"
Who had driven away her own knight, and with what right...? Who had cast out her man?
"Even the council was confused. They probably didn't expect this outcome from their reprimand."
She hadn't asked for such excuses. She didn't care about the circumstances of those old men who had trampled others' expectations.
"Where is the council...?"
For a moment, everyone present froze. Perhaps the spirits resonated with her emotions, as even the air grew chillingly cold.
"Confronting the council or forcing an apology won't mean anything. Leonardo must already be disillusioned with what we've done."
As Ariasfil had said, Leonardo had accomplished more than outstanding feats for his age.
It was just that jealous, pathetic adults had crushed that boy's efforts, and expecting him not to be disillusioned was selfish greed.
"...Is that all...? Leonardo, in any situation, for me...! He put in every effort to protect people...!!"
Ariasfil couldn't hold back her rage and began to sob.
"Are we just...! Going to abandon Leo...!!?"
"...I'm sorry for always leaving the choice to you all."
Marken held out an object wrapped in black cloth.
"If you want to hold onto that guy, take this."
"...Hold onto...?"
"We've long lost the qualifications. We're not the ones capable of persuading him either."
As the cloth was removed, a red flash illuminated the surroundings, emanating the heat of flames. A blazing fireball had been forged into the shape of a blade.
"...This is..."
"But Ariasfil, you are the only one here who has both the qualifications and the ability."
It was Hwacheong, the lava sword.
"If you've learned spirit arts, you should be able to wield Hwacheong as well. Using it would increase your chances of defeating Leonardo. So..."
Thud.
She grasped the hilt of Hwacheong.
"I'll bring him back."
As Ariasfil gripped it, the red blade of Hwacheong began to burn blue.
"No matter what it takes."
Her blue eyes blazed in tandem.
The surroundings filled with heat from her emotions and the flames.
The moon set, and the sun slowly brought tomorrow's future into today's present.
The intruding sunlight woke Leo, who was using a tree stump as a pillow, and illuminated his path.
"We do."
Brushing off the fallen leaves and dirt from his clothes, Leonardo rose to his feet. His destination was the Reinhardt mansion—his workplace and home.
Was it advice to enjoy tough situations, or just perverted nonsense? Probably the latter.
"...Hoo..."
Upon arriving at the mansion's main gate, the vast garden came into view. Even that expansive lawn-like garden now felt as familiar as a front yard.
The only unusual thing was that, instead of guards and gardeners at the gate, a single girl stood there.
It was Ariasfil. Leaning against the gate, she clearly hadn't waited just one or two hours.
He would probably get beaten until he truly dropped dead.
"You're here."
She opened her closed eyes and looked at the boy who had quit being her knight.
"It's too late to apologize for being late..."
His words were so nonchalant they bordered on brazen. Ariasfil closed her eyes briefly.
"..."
A brief silence passed, accompanied by the sound of the wind.
"Do you really intend to leave?"
Her question rode the wind to him.
"It's not about leaving—it's that I can't stay."
To him, there might be a difference, but to others, it was the same.
"...I see?"
But Ariasfil tried to understand.
Thud.
The gloves on her hand flew toward the boy like evidence of his ways, slapping into his grasp.
"...You know what this means, right?"
"With this, even I can accept it."
Pfft. Leo couldn't help but laugh at the gesture. It was too refreshing and clear to call a sneer, so Ariasfil didn't even get angry.
"Ha... Sorry. It reminded me of something from the old days."
"...When we first met, it was like this too."
Thinking back, that day had been the start of everything. Their strange, long entanglement had begun with that duel.
But Ariasfil wouldn't know. The memory Leo recalled wasn't the beginning, but an end that had happened—and shouldn't have.
"...Then, to the training grounds..."
"No. Outside would be better. Like old times."
"...Fine."
The end and the beginning connected in a circle. For a moment, the boy's finite life neared infinity.
The chosen battleground was a small courtyard in the Reinhardt estate—small in name only, plenty spacious for a duel given the family's scale.
"There are... quite a few people."
Around them were the knights leading House Reinhardt's future, and Ariasfil's family members.
Not just them—all the mansion's servants had gathered in the courtyard to watch the fight.
"Are you really... quitting?"
Alphonse, his senior, approached Leo and asked, as if unwilling to believe it. No one wanted him to leave so anticlimactically.
"I'm not certain."
But Leo concealed his true intentions and headed to the center of the courtyard.
"You'll know after this duel ends."
No one could stop such a Leonardo.
What stood there was neither knight nor mercenary, but a fiend.
Not something mere people could hold back.
"Let the falling of this glove signal the start."
Leonardo held up the glove Ariasfil had thrown and asked.
"...Got it."
"Then..."
Leonardo tossed the glove high into the sky. All eyes followed its ascent and descent.
A sudden gust shook the glove's path, making its fall irregular.
And as the glove dropped along its twisted trajectory,
KABOOM!!
A deafening roar and flash erupted—the shockwave of light exploding the moment consciousness focused on the glove.
Consciousness severed, nerves numbed. The human mind blurs momentarily in sudden change.
Especially when concentrating, and an unexpected event strikes.
CLANG!!
Having double-cast flash and sound wave magic, Leonardo followed with a sword strike. Ariasfil, caught in the surprise charge, could only scramble to defend.
"Blocking with senses alone... Still a terrifying talent."
Vision and hearing sealed by the prior shock. Normally, the mind would numb too, but Ariasfil had long left the realm of normal.
"What cowardly trick is this...? It's not like you...!"
"Cowardly? Of course."
Leonardo spun into a roundhouse kick, sending a shockwave. Her flexible counter sent Ariasfil tumbling away.
"I'm no longer a knight. There's no reason to play by your 'fair and square' rules."
This was how Leonardo fought.
"Then, when you die, can you preserve your life by claiming cowardice?"
"...When I die...? You don't mean...!"
He gave no answer. Better to show through action than words.
"...I don't care...!!"
Ariasfil rose again and drew the prepared Hwacheong. Vision and hearing incomplete, but she had to use it now or be countered.
"Hwacheong, huh? You've prepared well. Somewhat."
Whoosh.
Blue flames dwelled in Hwacheong. Its power was felt in the heat alone.
"Blue from the first time wielding it... Your talent is impressive, at least."
KABOOM!!
Soon, azure flames scorched the ground as they flew toward him, but Leonardo didn't blink.
There was no need.
A 1-circle wind defense spell modified into a 2-circle attack aid. The blue flames gradually got caught in the wind around his sword with his strikes.
And when Leonardo unleashed the wind-clad sword aura, the flames burst forth with it.
Caught in the released fireball, Ariasfil suffered another counterattack.
"Ariasfil, did you think you could block me?"
His cold tone contrasted sharply; even those around had never seen such eyes in the boy.
"Then give up. The goal I seek isn't in your sword right now."
The blade aimed at her now was chillingly cold.