Chapter 60

Viento gripped his rapier.
He lightly warmed up, rolling his shoulders.

At that sight, Serpens looked around with a flustered expression.

“Don’t tell me you want to spar here?”
“It is not as if we are going to attack each other to the death. If it is only a light clash, even this garden will allow it.”

It was not a simple question that could be brushed aside with a smile.

This was a well-tended garden.
And one whose owner was the emperor.

What did he mean by the garden’s permission?
Was it because he was an elf, so he could talk to blades of grass or something?
Unfortunately, for Serpens, who was human, the owner’s permission mattered more than the garden’s.

Because he didn’t want to pay whatever compensation the imperial family demanded.

“Since you’re the one who suggested a spar, you have to deal with the aftermath too.”
“How bold.”

Serpens also gripped his sword.

The two put a suitable distance between them and looked at each other for a moment.
The wind passed by and stirred the grass,
and the sunset, just before it hid itself, reflected off the tips of their swords and glittered.

“Now, try attacking me.”

Viento flicked the tip of his rapier.
It was so relaxed that it felt like a provocation.
Serpens didn’t refuse and swung his sword.

Their swords clashed, and a clear sound rang out.
A bird flew up from a branch above their heads.

Serpens’s eyes narrowed.
The thin blade was several times heavier than he had imagined.

“Hup!”

The boy drew in a deep breath and continued his attack.
Serpens’s sword drove down sharply.
Viento took one step back and gently pushed the boy’s sword aside.

“Your movement is good.”

With that brief praise, he thrust his sword.

“……!”

A sharp attack.
If Serpens had not dodged, a path for the wind would have opened in his neck.

Serpens swung his sword wide and opened the distance.
Cold sweat formed from the chill lingering around his neck.

Tap.

Viento leapt.

“Huh?”

At the same time, Serpens’s vision lost sight of his opponent.

The boy couldn’t move.
Through his sense, he grasped Viento’s position.
That was the reason he couldn’t move.

“I-I surrender.”

In truth, he could have known where Viento was even without his sense.
Right behind his back.
The white rapier touching his neck told him where Viento was.
And at the same time, it told him that he had lost the spar.

“You are quite skilled for your age. A promising talent with a future to look forward to, aren’t you?”

When the boy raised both hands, Viento put his rapier into its sheath.

“Thanks for saying that, at least.”

Serpens also sheathed his sword with an empty laugh.

“I meant it.”
“That seems like too much when we only exchanged one attack and defense.”
“In a spar that consists only of attack and defense, if we exchanged one attack and defense, isn’t that everything?”
“……On the next attack, I would’ve made a slightly better attack. Then your evaluation of me would have risen a little.”

Viento plopped down where he was.
Sitting on the grass with a chair right in front of him.
Serpens thought for a moment, but eventually followed him and sat on the ground.

“I think a little differently.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I believe the first attack and defense exchanged in a spar reflect that person’s skill.”
“Isn’t that judging too quickly?”
“Try thinking of it as a real battle, not a spar.”

Serpens thought for a moment.
What was this elf trying to say?
It didn’t take him long to figure out the answer.

“Do you understand a little? If this had been a real battle, you would already be dead. There is no such thing as a next attack.”
“Of course you’re not wrong, but…….”
“You want to say a real battle and a spar are different?”

Serpens hesitated, then nodded.

“You were someone I was facing for the first time, and I was certain you wouldn’t kill me, so I tried to slowly think of the best method.”
“Where in the world did that certainty come from?”
“What?”

Viento stretched as he felt the blowing wind.
He even praised the darkening sky, saying it was beautiful.

“If I had made up my mind to, I could have killed you under the guise of a spar.”

At his words, the boy frowned for a moment.

“When you can kill me as easily as swatting a fly, why bother? You didn’t seem like such a cowardly person……. Sorry if I was wrong.”

The elf burst into laughter.

“How bold.”

At that moment, his ears twitched.
After looking into the distance for a moment, Viento said it was a shame and stood up.

“I look forward to seeing you again in five months.”

Serpens looked up at him.

“It is true that I had no intention of killing you. But it is also true that such certainty is dangerous. A trusting outlook is fine, but now that you are a knight, always be suspicious.”

A hard finger tapped the boy’s forehead a couple of times.
He could feel the playfulness in it, so it did not feel unpleasant.

“If you want to become strong, that is. In both spars and real battles, you must face them thinking there is no next time.”
“…….”
“Not becoming complacent is also an important skill. Even if your opponent is thirteen.”

Serpens chuckled.
Because he thought of a man who didn’t become complacent even against a thirteen-year-old.
Sometimes, he wished that man would become complacent.
Only sometimes.

“Hup.”

Serpens also stood up, his face much clearer.

“My companion is calling me, you see. Let us meet again in five months, after you’ve grown stronger.”
“……Yes!”

With a light wave, Viento turned away.
He had only gone a few steps.

“Viento!”

Serpens called him in an urgent voice.

“……?”
“Viento, how did you become that strong?”

The boy’s eyes were sparkling.
That elf was certainly strong.
It was a different kind from Lucas, but it was clear he possessed a strength Serpens couldn’t hope to reach.
How had someone like Viento reached that level?

Viento turned back and looked up at the sky for a moment, as if thinking.

In the darkened sky, stars began to peek out one by one.
At that sight, a small smile spread across Viento’s lips.

“If I’ve held a sword for nearly two thousand years and am still weak, wouldn’t that be the real problem?”

It wasn’t the kind of answer Serpens had been expecting.
However, it was the correct answer.

An inn near the castle.
Serpens’s group was spending time over a simple meal.

The emperor had offered them rooms.
But Lucas refused, and the other two decided to follow his will.

That was why golden-brown roasted meat and bread sat on the table instead of luxurious food.

Because luxury was unnecessary.
Because the inn was more fun.
Because quantity mattered more than quality.
Each had a different reason, but not one of the three had any complaint.

“So, what did you realize?”

Lucas asked.
Serpens wiped the hand he had been eating meat with on his pants and stared at him.

“Yes?”
“…….”
“Ah. I realized I shouldn’t become complacent.”

The boy chewed the food left in his mouth and recalled the moment from earlier.
The cold sword tip that had touched the back of his neck.
As Viento had said, if it had been a real battle, he would have been dead.

“While training with Lucas, I thought I could at least block most speeds.”

He had clearly been unable to react.
It was not that he had missed him with his eyes.
At the moment the elven knight moved, he could not even follow the movement with his sense.

“That is conceit.”

Lucas said indifferently.

“I think you’re right. Conceit.”

Serpens wore a bitter expression for a moment.
But as he stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth, he smiled brightly.

“Bro. To begin with, that wasn’t an ordinary speed. That elf is at the Master level, after all.”

Lars said that while moving a huge carrot onto the boy’s plate.
The expression of the one who received the gift twisted, but the one who gave it only smiled brightly.

“Even if he had blocked the elf’s sword, conceit is forbidden.”
“That is true.”

Lars scolded Serpens, telling him not to become conceited.
The boy quickly nodded and focused on his meal.

“We already have our little knight’s training planned, so shall we discuss our own matter?”
“I thought that was already settled. Kill monsters and gather Demonic stones for five months.”
“You know that isn’t the matter I am talking about.”

A brief silence.
Lucas let out a small sigh.

The matter Lars was talking about was not about the empire.
It was something Lucas had once brought up to him.

He had entrusted the investigation of the Demonic stones to a magician from another group, not Optatum.
That group had appeared before him some years ago, when he had laid down his sword.
Judging that they hated monsters to an extreme degree, he handed over his Aura.
If he wished, he could still take back his Aura even now.
Because that was the condition of the contract.

“I do not know much about them either.”
“No way. As if you would hand over your Aura to people you don’t even know well, bro.”
“Unfortunately, that is the case.”

He had no worries about the contract.
Because the contract he made with them was no ordinary contract.
The possibility that they could cheat him was practically zero.

Also, there had been no need to use Aura.
There had never been a problem even without using it.
It was certainty, not conceit.
One could speak of what-ifs, but it was fine.
As said before, he could take back his Aura at any time.

Well, it was also true that handing over his Aura had put his mind at ease.
It was a strange thing to say, but it felt as if some burden in a corner of his heart had gone with it.

‘It was a foolish thing to do.’

It was true that he had taken a tremendous risk.
A force whose existence none of the capable people of the three empires had known.
Judging by the aura he felt from them, every one of them was a strong fighter.
For such people to suddenly appear.
Was that not far too suspicious?

But at the time, it seemed he had not wanted to think too deeply.
Because he had been so exhausted that he was occupied only with avoiding problems.

The smile began to fade from Lars’s eyes.

“Even so, you must tell me. My plan, which moved the three empires, proceeds on the premise that what you said is true, bro.”
“I said I did not know much. I did not say I would not tell you.”
“Then tell me. About the people who came to find you from beyond the vortex.”

Tap.

Lucas set down the knife he had been holding.
When he rose from his seat, Serpens hurriedly began stuffing food into his mouth.

“W-Wait! I still have three chunks of meat left!”
“Eat slowly. If you get indigestion, it will interfere with training.”
“That’s right, kid. I’ll pay plenty, so eat everything you want and come up.”
“I’ll do my best to eat as much as I can.”

Leaving behind the boy swallowing happiness, Lucas went upstairs.
As he had said, Lars gave the employee a generous payment.

Afterward, the two entered the room and sat down.

“I’ve cast soundproofing magic, so you can speak without worry.”

Lars said as he opened the window.
It was because a musty smell stung his nose.
The bed creaked, and the candle meant to light the room had already melted away.
He resolved not to visit this inn next time.

“Soundproofing magic……. You must have wanted to hear this quite badly.”
“It isn’t a matter of whether I want to hear it or not. It’s because I have to hear it.”

When Lars flicked his hand, a fist-sized sphere appeared in the center of the room.
The sphere slowly rose, and when it touched the ceiling, it gave off light and illuminated the room.

Lucas blankly looked at the light, then lowered his head.

“I do not know where to begin.”
“At times like that, it’s best to start from the beginning.”

Lucas remained silent for a moment.
It wasn’t long afterward that he opened his mouth.

“……I met them around two years ago. Not long after I laid down my sword.”