The place they arrived at was the outskirts of Bayanka. It was also an area where, along with the imperial hunting grounds, rows of guesthouses stood to receive foreign state guests. The place Count Lawrence was heading for was not the hunting grounds.
He was making his way toward the largest of the guesthouses. It seemed he was going to meet some important foreign dignitary.
Philip kept silent, hiding his doubts. Though his head felt as if it might burst from all sorts of thoughts.
The carriage stopped at the main gate of the guesthouse. At once, a dozen heavily armed guards approached to inspect them. As it was a guesthouse where foreign dignitaries stayed, security was strict.
“Please state your identity.”
Count Lawrence silently identified himself. At the words deputy commander of the Royal Guard Knights, the guards all snapped to attention at once.
“It is an honor to meet you. But what brings you here…?”
“I have come to see Baron Thomas, who has come from the Crosen Empire.”
“Is that so? Baron Thomas is absorbed in sword training in the rear garden.”
“Understood.”
From there on, the carriage could not enter, so Count Lawrence got out. Philip hurried after him, but not a single one of the guards cast him a glance.
Count Lawrence headed straight for the rear garden. Philip hastily followed close behind him.
“Who on earth is the person we’re going to meet this time?”
At those words, Count Lawrence stopped walking and wore a sorrowful smile.
“You’ll know as soon as you meet him.”
After that brief reply, the count began walking again. The place he headed for was the wide rear garden of the guesthouse. Since Philip had once entered it on guard duty, it was not an entirely unfamiliar place to him either. As they drew near, a rough shout rang out.
“Haaat! Hah!”
Judging by the sound of something cutting through the wind accompanying it, someone seemed to be training in swordsmanship. Most likely, that was the man called Baron Thomas.
Philip did not know why Count Lawrence wanted to meet him, but he followed in silence. In a little while, he would find out the reason. However, the moment he saw the man he assumed to be Baron Thomas, Philip was utterly shocked. The situation before him was too unexpected. It felt as if all the things that would have astonished him over a lifetime had happened in a single day.
In the wide training ground of the rear garden stood a young man, bare from the waist up, holding a sword. Broad shoulders and a tall frame—the young man possessed a firm, perfectly balanced physique at a glance. On top of that, his face, beaded with sweat, was handsome like a statue. But what shocked Philip was something else entirely.
From the young man’s sword, a long blade that looked exceedingly fine, a blue aura about three feet long was jutting forth. Philip knew all too well the identity of that power shining with a blue light so vivid it stung the eyes.
“T-that is a completed Aura Blade? Th-then…”
Count Lawrence, standing beside him, nodded.
“That’s right. He is, without a doubt, a Sword Master. And one with tremendous skill at that.”
“A-amazing. To reach Sword Master at such a young age…”
Philip clicked his tongue in admiration. It was only natural. Considering that there were only eighteen Sword Masters in all of Terbia, and that most of them were old knights well past middle age, the young man’s talent had to be considered beyond imagination. Even taking into account the tremendous power of the mana cultivation method practiced by the Crosen knights, reaching Sword Master at that age was impossible through effort alone.
Philip looked at the young man with intense envy. Unfolding a completed Aura Blade was something Philip could not even dream of doing. Count Lawrence, who had been watching him exclaim in admiration with heavy eyes, quietly opened his mouth.
“Observe carefully what happens from now on. You must not be surprised under any circumstances.”
After saying that, Count Lawrence silently walked toward the young man. Philip calmed his startled heart and quickly followed behind him.
When Count Lawrence approached, the young man slowly turned his head. Looking into the young man’s expressionless eyes, Count Lawrence spoke quietly, his own eyes filled with intense emotion.
“I apologize for interrupting you, Baron Thomas.”
“Not at all… But what brings you to me?”
What was peculiar was that a kind of hostility could be felt in the young man’s gaze. His attitude toward the count was rather challenging. It seemed he harbored ill feelings toward Count Lawrence. But Count Lawrence paid it no mind and continued speaking.
“In truth, I did not come on official business. To be honest, I came to see you for personal reasons.”
“What personal business could you possibly have with me?”
The young man was openly showing displeasure. Philip, not knowing what was going on, could only hold his breath and watch the two of them.
To his astonishment, Count Lawrence’s eyes were bloodshot red. He looked as if he might spill tears at any moment. With great difficulty, he forced out his hoarse voice.
“Thomas… no, Timi… may I call you that?”
In that instant, Philip felt as if his hair stood on end. If the young man’s name was Timi…
Amid his utter confusion, the young man’s cold reply reached Philip’s ears.
“Do not call me that. You have no right to say that name.”
“B-but I, I…”
“You wish to say that you are my father, I suppose. But it is useless. I have only one father.”
Philip’s expression hardened. Only then did he realize the young man’s identity.
The young man was his own son. The son born between him and Kate—Timi.
Philip, who had been holding his breath and listening to their conversation, had only shock written across his face. Baron Thomas—in other words, Timi—maintained a cold attitude toward Count Lawrence throughout. Hatred for the father who had abandoned him in childhood must have settled deep in his bones.
“I do feel grateful that you gave birth to me. But that is all. I already regard only the father who raised me as my true father.”
“……”
“My father took in my mother and me after we were abandoned, and cherished us dearly. He spared no help or effort in raising me into what I am today. So by what right do you call me Timi?”
“I, I…”
“The only person with the right to call me by the childhood name Timi is my father. Of course, the father I speak of is Count Bruno, who is in Crosen.”
A single tear slid down Count Lawrence’s cheek from the corner of his eye. But Timi did not waver in the slightest.
“Please leave. I have only one father. Do not come to see me privately ever again.”
Timi turned away, leaving Count Lawrence standing there blankly. From behind him burst a furious shout.
“You rotten bastard!”
It was Philip. Unable to bear watching the situation any longer, he had exploded in anger. Strictly speaking, Count Lawrence was himself twenty years later. So he simply could not let it pass. Philip rushed forward, trying to grab Timi by the collar.
“He’s still your father. He’s the father who gave you life. How can you do this?”
He shouted at the top of his lungs, but all he caught was empty air. Timi was right before his eyes, yet he could not so much as touch the hem of his clothes. Swept up in emotion, he had completely forgotten that he was a ghost.
Timi disappeared quietly into the distance as if nothing had happened. Then Count Lawrence approached Philip, who could not contain his rage, with a powerless air.
“Stop it.”
“How can he do that? To deny the father who brought him into this world…”
“I abandoned that child and his mother. So it is only natural that I receive this treatment. With what face could I claim the rights of a father from him?”
Count Lawrence’s eyes were still bloodshot red. At a glance, it was clear he was forcibly holding back tears. Philip, who had been listening, also lost his words. Strictly speaking, Count Lawrence’s fault was his own fault as well.
Facing Philip, whose expression had sunk heavily, Count Lawrence continued speaking. It was a very long story.
“You probably know well. The circumstances behind why I abandoned Kate and Timi.”
Count Lawrence’s quiet words pierced deep into Philip’s heart.
“When I did not go to them for as long as six months, the mother and child eventually had no choice but to leave Bayanka. As you know, I was so heartless that I did not even send them living expenses. In the end, Kate set out on a long journey with young Timi in her arms. As an orphan with no kin in the world, she had no relatives to seek out. But she could not go very far. With no money, even if she wanted to go, she could not. In the end, she chose to take her own life. She jumped from a cliff holding Timi. Perhaps she thought that by doing even that, she would not stand in the way of my future.”
Philip’s eyes, as he listened to the count, were slowly becoming bloodshot as well.
“But whether it was a trick of fate, Kate survived by the narrowest margin. She got caught in a tree growing out of the cliff and barely saved her life. A mercenary band that happened to be passing by rescued her.”
“Then who on earth is this man who calls himself Timi’s father?”
“You mean Count Bruno. Very well, I’ll explain. The mercenary band that rescued Kate was, at the time, escorting an important person. They were accompanying the princess of a kingdom called Carcel and her escort knight all the way to the Crosen Empire. The name of the knight escorting Princess Carcel was Michel Bruno. At the time, he was said to have been a paladin of considerable swordsmanship.”
“Th-then he and Kate…”
Count Lawrence silently nodded.
“Your guess is correct. The mercenary band decided to take Kate and Timi, who had nowhere to go, with them to the Crosen Empire. During that journey, love blossomed between that man Bruno and Kate. In the end, the two held a modest wedding in the Crosen Empire. To be exact, this is also something that will happen to you in the near future.”
“I-I can’t believe it.”
“I emphasize again, I am not trying to force you to believe. I merely want you to see and feel. In any case, that man Bruno was able to obtain qualification as a paladin in the Crosen Empire without difficulty. His swordsmanship was outstanding. It was after that that he was accepted into the Crosen Knights…”
“……”
“He cherished Kate and Timi greatly. Perhaps Bruno’s support was absolute in allowing Timi to become such a powerful Sword Master. At present, Timi belongs to the Crosen Royal Guard Knights. And as a squad commander in charge of a knightly squad at that. He is now temporarily dispatched to Terbia on official business.”
Considering the skill Timi had shown earlier, it was more than enough, so Philip had no choice but to accept his words. To think that the son he had cast aside without hesitation for the sake of success had grown into such an extraordinary being… One might have thought he would feel proud, but instead, only a suffocating heaviness settled in Philip’s chest. Coupled with the pitiable situation of Count Lawrence he had seen earlier, it made his head ache all the more.
Then, suddenly, a question surged up in Philip’s mind: how did Count Lawrence know even such minute details? Even if he had sent someone to investigate, it would have been impossible to know this much in detail. He looked at Count Lawrence with suspicion in his eyes.
“But how do you know the whole story in such detail?”
The count answered without the slightest agitation.
“Because I saw their past for myself.”
A look of doubt spread across Philip’s face.
“You saw it for yourself?”
Count Lawrence’s face had become exceedingly heavy. He looked as if he bore all the anguish in the world alone.
“In a little while, you will return to your original place. After that, I must walk a path from which I can never turn back.”
“……”
“To learn of what I explained a moment ago, and to bring you here, I
sold my soul to a black magician. This is something I am confessing only to you.”
At the thunderbolt-like words, Philip’s eyes flew open as if they would split. He knew all too well what
selling one’s soul to a black magician meant. There was only one reason a knight would sell his soul
to a black magician.
To become a Death Knight. Once that happened, until his cursed body was destroyed, he would forever
have to obey the commands of the black magician or the Demon King. It was the same as falling into a dark
abyss from which there was no salvation. In simple terms, it was the most miserable end a knight could
meet. Remembering that fact, Philip shuddered.
“Wh-why on earth would you make such a decision……”
“Did you not see it earlier yourself? Could you endure a life like that? Watching your wife
embrace another man without hesitation before your very eyes. On top of that, my son
calls someone other than me his father. I am tired now of living a life that is nothing but appearance.
The life of Count Lawrence, vice commander of the Royal Guard Knights, with no authority at all, merely an empty title……”
“……”
“When I learned that Baron Thomas was Timmy, the son I had abandoned, I went to find a black magician
without hesitation. And I made a contract, using my soul as the medium. I asked him to summon
my soul from twenty years ago, from the time I abandoned Kate, here for just a moment, only a very brief moment.
That is the reason you came to see me.”
Struck dumb by the shock, Philip could not open his mouth. He merely stared fixedly at Count Lawrence,
at himself twenty years later. Toward that Philip, Count Lawrence showed a sorrowful smile.
“That does not mean I am asking anything of you. I only wanted to tell you exactly the situation I am in
and how I feel.”
“……”
“The future is not fixed. It can change as much as it needs to depending on your actions.
To be honest, I am merely one among hundreds, thousands, of your possible future selves.
Do you understand?”
“……”
“I sincerely hope you will not follow in my footsteps. Unless, someday, you wish to become
a Death Knight doomed to live an eternally cursed life.”
Count Lawrence’s form was gradually growing indistinct. It seemed the promised time had come
to an end.
“Farewell. It is time for us to part.”
Philip stared fixedly at his self twenty years later with bloodshot eyes. A moment later,
he shouted like a thunderclap.
“I will never live like you! Never!”
With that, his consciousness grew distant.
“H-hey. What’s going on?”
Opening his eyes, Philip clenched his teeth and looked around. The first thing that caught his eye was the face of his comrade,
Ronald. Not Ronald the adjutant in his late forties with a mustache,
but Ronald, his fellow Royal Guard Knight. Dressed in full armor, he peered down at Philip’s face
with a worried expression.
“Looks like you had a nightmare. You suddenly started shouting your lungs out, so I came in.
I happened to be on duty in the corridor.”
Without saying a word, Philip looked around. The place he was in was his familiar room.
To be precise, it was the quarters where he had been staying ever since he abandoned Kate and Timmy.
Philip felt relieved when he realized he was not in the world twenty years later.
It was truly fortunate. His gaze turned to Ronald, who was wearing a sympathetic expression.
“I-I’m fine.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like you’ve been suffering terribly because of Kate. Try not to think about it
too seriously. Your shift comes up in an hour, so get a bit more sleep.”
Philip hurriedly caught Ronald, who was just about to leave.
“W-wait.”
“What is it?”
Philip looked at Ronald, his expression stiff.
“Let me ask you a favor, Ronald. I’m sorry, but could you stand my watch for me?”
“Wh-what did you say……”
Ronald’s eyes went round.