The Old Man's Test
“Hmph. Call me whatever you like.”
With that grudging permission, my grand exploration of the vast, sprawling Grand Ducal residence began anew.
First, he made me memorize the labyrinthine corridors and layout of the main manor; by the afternoon, he was drilling me on the locations of the annexes tucked behind it. Dragged around like that in a whirlwind of activity, I watched the day slip away before I knew it.
Grrrrooowl. My stomach sent up its official request for food.
Old Norbert, walking ahead, glanced back at me and muttered with an expression of sheer disbelief, “It has been barely two hours since dinner.”
“And has your honored master not been dragging you around all day, Instructor?”
He grumbled something about two hours being more than enough time for a meal to digest. Then he shot me a withering look and clicked his tongue.
The truth was, Norbert wasn't at all pleased about me calling him my master.
Can't blame him. Until just recently, we were in a kill-or-be-killed sort of relationship.
Not to mention I was a person of unknown origins with a case of amnesia to boot.
No way he'd enjoy being called 'master' by someone as suspicious as me.
Still, holding my dinner hostage over it felt a little petty, didn't it?
Glaring at the back of his head, I hurried along after him.
“The fifth floor of the main manor is a restricted area. Do not so much as think of setting foot there.”
“What's up there?”
“You have no need to know that either.”
“Yes, sir.”
I answered simply. I had no idea what up there warranted a restriction, but in my current condition, I couldn't have sneaked in even if I'd wanted to.
With that final warning, Norbert and I exited through the rear door of the main manor—and the sight of the symmetrically arranged annexes filled my vision to the brim.
Lamps now glowing against the falling night, the annexes presented a scene entirely different from the one I'd seen by day. It was grand and beautiful enough to bring a small village to mind.
I'll admit it—the Grand Duke is something else.
And it wasn't just the scale of the manor and its annexes.
That's beside the point.
After a single day of trailing Norbert through the estate, I'd learned something: despite intrusions frequent enough to have killed off dozens of butlers, there wasn't a trace of unease in any of the residence's employees.
Woven into their exchanges was, if anything, a quiet undercurrent of concern for their lord, the Grand Duke himself.
Which means the loyalty and trust the staff place in him runs that deep.
Then there was the mountain of paperwork on his desk. A lord who refused to hear his people's grievances doesn't live buried under documents.
In other words, the Grand Duke is the kind of lord who hears his people out personally.
I'd heard that the Grand Duchy's territory in the Cadea Empire rivaled the capital itself in size.
They say he has no shortage of vassals who follow him despite his fearsome reputation, too.
Even the contract Norbert had slid across to me had surprised me—not with any unreasonable clauses, but with the generous monthly salary and the sheer range of benefits.
Every one of these facts pointed to the same conclusion: the territory's finances were thriving. The Grand Duke, it seemed, was not only a capable battlefield commander but an equally capable lord of his lands.
Right. It was only one day, but I felt it clearly enough.
Grand Duke Ballot lived in a world entirely apart from mine—a man like me, who had done nothing but swing a sword beneath the crown prince.
So he's not just a muscle-brained swordsman after all.
Credit where credit was due.
And just as surely, I could not afford to lower my guard around him.
There's no denying it—a man like him, left alive, would be a threat to our Tenasis Empire.
We were enemies, plain and simple. This was a war that could only end when one of the two empires knelt—and when one of the two of us lay dead.
Once I get my strength back...
I found myself dusting off the plan I had drafted early on, then deliberately erased from my mind.
At this point, once my power returns, I'll take the Grand Duke's head and carry it back to the Tenasis Empire.
Whatever forces the Grand Duke commanded, this was surely not all of them.
Serhin had been raising private soldiers on other territories behind the Emperor's back, all while holding the title of crown prince.
There was no law saying the Grand Duke couldn't be doing the same.
Besides, Serhin had secretly built an assassin corps. And I had been its commander.
The Ariad Assassins.
“Serhin. What does 'Sia' mean?”
When I asked why he'd chosen that name for me, Serhin answered flatly.
“Shadow. From this day forward, you will live as the blade within my shadow... for the rest of your life.”
That was how Serhin raised me—into the crown prince's personal guard and the head of a secret assassin corps.
The Ariad Assassins were few in number, but every last one of them was lethally skilled.
And yet.
Even they failed, every single time, at the mission of bringing back the Grand Duke's head.
For all I knew, some of the butlers who had died on these grounds had fallen to assassins Serhin sent. Simply crossing the border into the Cadea Empire was an ordeal in itself—and then they'd had to infiltrate the Grand Duke's estate, sitting at the empire's northernmost edge. No small feat, to say the least.
Which means I'm holding the best opportunity anyone's ever had.
All the more reason to recover my prime as quickly as possible.
Turning over how best to deal with the Grand Duke when the time came, I followed Norbert toward the western annex where my quarters were located.
When we reached the entrance to the servants' annex, Norbert turned to face me. “That concludes today's duties. You may return to your quarters and rest.”
Music to my ears.
“So my working hours are completely over for the day?”
Norbert nodded at my question. “They are. On days without a special event like today's, most of the work winds down around this hour.”
“Most of it?”
“The annex forge runs its rotations day and night without pause, and the knights likewise stand their watches in shifts. The main manor's kitchens finish late as well—they must prepare the ingredients for the following day's meals.”
“I see.”
As I listened to his explanation, a single thought crystallized in my mind.
I must avoid kitchen duty at all costs.
If I got assigned there, I'd never have time to train.
“Then, I shall see you tomorrow morning.”
Norbert turned to leave, and I quickly called out to stop him.
“Master.”
At the sound of my voice, he pivoted halfway back and looked at me.
“Might I ask one favor of you?”
“A favor?”
I chose my words carefully. “May I use the training grounds after my working hours are over?”
One of Norbert's eyebrows shot up, and his already sharp eyes grew sharper still. “The training grounds remain closed except during the knights' training hours. Naturally, it is out of the question for other employees to use them for private purposes.”
“Ah. So it is as I thought.”
Expected. The training grounds were tied directly to the knights, and no one was going to open them to a person of unknown origins like me.
“And yet—what is your reason for wishing to use them?”
Yes. That's the question.
I had been waiting for it, and I answered honestly. “To build my strength.”
“...”
“I confess I hate to admit it, but after trailing you all day today, I realized my stamina falls markedly short of my elderly master's.”
I added, for good measure, that using the training grounds seemed the most efficient way to raise my endurance in short order.
Norbert, who had been listening in silence, knit his brow ever so slightly. “Strength training, is it... So the employees' duties you observed all day seemed quite laughable to you.”
Hm? I raised one eyebrow. “...No, Master. I believe you've misunderstood. Strength training is purely a personal necessity of mine—not because I take the employees' work lightly—”
“Enough.”
Norbert cut me off. Apparently, he had concluded that I looked down on the servants' work.
Take it lightly? If anything—
It had been so relentless I'd nearly had the life drained out of me.
Not that I'd die before admitting I almost collapsed just following him around.
Besides, the training grounds had never been my real target in the first place. The plan had been to use strength training as an excuse to run laps around the Grand Ducal residence after hours and gather information—and instead, I'd gone and attracted the wrong kind of attention.
Maybe I should scout out another location...
But just then—
“Very well.”
“...I beg your pardon?”
Very well?
When I stared at him in bewilderment, Norbert curled one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile. “I have already sent a book to your room. It contains the most fundamental knowledge that any employee of the Grand Ducal house must commit to heart.”
“...”
“Memorize its contents in full by this hour tomorrow. Succeed in that, and the training grounds—no, wait...”
He paused to think, nodding slowly to himself. “Yes. That would be best.”
Then he looked at me squarely again and spoke. “So that you need never cross paths with the knights... I shall build you a private training hall of your very own.”
A flash. A private training hall?!
There was nothing to weigh. A space where I could train with total focus, free from interference, free from prying eyes? I answered without a moment's hesitation.
“Done.”
“You mean you can do it?”
I nodded. “By this hour tomorrow, you will have an answer worthy of your approval. In return, you will keep your promise. The private training hall.”
“Naturally. I am not a man who speaks out of both sides of his mouth.”
Norbert's answer was every bit as resolute as mine.
After parting ways with him, I hurried up to my quarters.
A private training hall. Well, well—what a windfall.
One book? I'd memorize five, ten—whatever he threw at me!
Storming into my room with my enthusiasm ablaze, I spotted the single volume sitting on the desk and muttered under my breath.
“That old man, honestly...”