Chapter 7
“What do you make of it, Chief Butler?”
At Yulian’s question, Dion lowered his head.
“I beg your pardon, but to what are you referring?”
“I speak of Luke.”
“If you mean Young Master Luke…… I never realized he was so adept in etiquette. To think that even those strict Cornelio folk had nothing to say.”
“Etiquette, you say…… Was that all you felt?”
“Then……?”
“It is nothing. I asked something unnecessary.”
Yulian stared blankly into empty space.
*Was it truly my imagination?*
But even now, the gaze Luke had shown him rose vividly in his mind.
That was by no means an illusion.
*And what of the chill Luke had displayed?*
When Luke reined in his killing intent, he had leaked an aura for a very brief moment.
It was such a fleeting instant that he had not noticed it at the time, but that veil-like chill was unmistakably Schnelden’s.
*But that’s impossible.*
Because of his frail temperament, Luke was someone who had not held a sword since childhood.
Naturally, there was no way he could handle mana.
Moreover, the house currently lacked even the secret manuals for him to learn.
*I know that, but I’m certain—that was definitely Schnelden’s aura.*
Thoughts of Luke would not leave Yulian’s head.
“I hear Luke has been training in swordsmanship ever since he recovered?”
“According to the attendant butler, he said he was swinging a sword because his body was aching.”
“Why would a child who laid down his sword since that day……”
“It seems he underwent a change of heart as well when he injured his head this time.”
“Hmm.”
Yulian stroked his chin as if lost in thought.
“How about formally teaching the second son once again?”
“It is a most wise thought. One of Schnelden blood cannot be separated from the sword.”
“Then let us teach Luke the sword as soon as possible.”
“Yes, please appoint an instructor.”
“Most knights are busy with wall duty and securing supply routes; the only one left would be Sir Milli.”
“If it is Sir Milli……”
His words trailed off.
Milli surely meant Rahitz Milli.
And he was the personal swordsmanship instructor of Theo Schnelden, the eldest son of the house.
“Do you mean to place the eldest young master and the second young master together again?”
“Indeed.”
“Patriarch, while it is fitting to teach the second young master the sword, having him train together with the eldest young master seems dangerous.”
Dion spoke with a worried expression.
And no wonder, for was it not Theo who had been the very reason Luke laid down his sword?
Yet now, to place them together again.
Luke, who had begun to change in a desirable direction, might regress to how he was before.
“Somehow, I feel things will be a little different this time.”
“Different, you say?”
“Perhaps it will not be Theo changing Luke, but Luke changing Theo.”
“Might I ask the reason?”
“Well…… I can only explain it as a hunch. A rather certain hunch.”
No matter how much he trusted the chief butler, he could not say that he had been frightened by his own son, even for a moment.
Fortunately, the chief butler did not inquire further.
“If the Patriarch says so, I understand.”
“Then I leave it to you.”
After Dion departed, Yulian gazed quietly out the window.
*What result will this hunch bring, I wonder……*
He too could not be certain of the outcome of this decision.
Yet there was a phrase that kept swirling in his mind.
*One can never surmount walls through ordinary means.*
It was a saying that every child of Schnelden blood had heard until their ears bled.
*Yes, the family can absolutely never be restored through ordinary means.*
Rather than sit still and watch it collapse, he had to take a gamble.
*May this choice be the path that saves the House of Schnelden.*
Yulian looked at the moonlight one last time.
* * *
That night.
Luke wandered the main estate in a daze.
He simply could not lie still in bed.
The events of the day kept floating endlessly through his mind.
*Not content with becoming a feudal house of Cornelio, now they’re bringing those bastards’ troops into the main estate?*
Living off Cornelio’s money while those bastards’ knights roamed the house.
At this point, it might be more accurate to call it a Cornelio branch office than a feudal lord’s house.
*Might as well just die, die.*
Why possess someone just to see such a miserable sight?
*No, putting that aside, just what level are the household knights at that they can’t secure a single watchtower?*
Before winter had truly set in.
Even two hundred years ago when monsters ran rampant, the ones appearing near the walls at this time were nothing but the weak driven from the food chain.
It was even said that the mountain’s monsters had grown docile after Den Hogg died.
How strong could such creatures be?
Sending just a few knights should easily be enough to secure a mere outpost.
And yet now they were helpless against those monsters and had to borrow another house’s strength.
They wouldn’t bring in Cornelio merely because they lacked a few knights, so there was only one answer left.
That a few knights were insufficient to secure the watchtowers.
“Ugh.”
Luke ran his hands through his neatly combed hair, tousling it.
*How did the family fall to such a state?*
It felt like not a single day had passed without shock ever since coming to Schnelden.
*If they had just quietly followed what was written in the annotated secret manuals, they wouldn’t be in this state.*
Though they had been pushed back by Cornelio at the time, Schnelden had still been the continent’s second-greatest house.
It was only natural for the library to be packed with top-class secret manuals and their commentaries.
Learning just a few of them properly would make one a knight renowned across the continent.
Not only that.
In this season, the watchtowers could be sufficiently secured by anyone who had properly learned even the lowest-class secret manuals.
Yet Schnelden was in a state where it could not even manage that much.
Of course, he knew Mulbin had pulled strings.
That bastard would have used every trick in the book to hinder Schnelden.
*Even so, no one asked them to advance. They should have at least held the line.*
He had resolved to restore Schnelden, yet the difficulty only seemed to rise like madness.
At this point, he even doubted whether he could do it alone.
Schnelden’s situation was just that dire.
*What can I do? This too is my karma.*
Hate it or love it, it was his family; he had to set it right with his own hands.
Even if it took a long time and arduous obstacles awaited.
*No matter how much I try to think about it, it’s just too pathetic.*
In the end, he failed to rationalize it.
Trying to rationalize such a hopeless situation was absurd to begin with.
Not even a protagonist in a novel would suffer such a plight.
To clear this chaotic mind, he felt the need to walk.
How long had he walked?
Walking wherever his feet led, he found himself standing in a familiar place before he knew it.
*White Silver Hall……. Did I come all the way here?*
White Silver Hall was a place Luke had often come to in the past for closed-door training.
Located in an extremely secluded corner of the main estate, it saw few visitors and was ideal for organizing one’s thoughts.
It was probably the most used building in the main estate aside from the main hall.
Therefore, he immediately noticed the sense of alienation here.
*Looks like someone’s been using this place.*
As far as he knew, no one used this place currently.
However, seeing it directly, he could see traces of someone coming and going recently.
*But it doesn’t seem like someone is actually living here.*
Curious, Luke peeked around the building.
*Hmm?*
Then he turned his head at a presence felt from behind.
There stood two men.
One of them was looking this way with displeased eyes.
They felt somewhat rough and rowdy, but there was a cool, refreshing aura unique to Schnelden.
That meant this man too carried the blood of House Schnelden.
*So he’s the one using this place.*
As Luke was thinking this, the man opened his mouth first.
“What kind of bastard are you?”
Before Luke could answer, the man approached, jabbing his finger.
“Hoo.”
A sigh escaped Luke first.
To think he was being cursed at by a descendant whose head wound hadn’t even dried.
Of course, that arrogant descendant wouldn’t know Luke was his distant ancestor.
But even so, look at that cocky posture.
He hadn’t been particularly polite himself, but he hadn’t been this lacking in manners.
*Or had I……?*
—No matter what, how dare you beat your uncle to a pulp like that? I’ve never seen an insolent wretch like you in my life!
The image of his father thumping his chest came to mind, but Luke decided to let it go.
*After all, I’m not the Luke of that time anymore.*
“Luke, what are you doing here? They said you hit your head; did you forget the days when you used to get beaten up by your older brother?”
From the way he spoke, this guy seemed to be his older brother.
*But the days when I used to get beaten up? What is he talking about?*
Tremble, tremble.
Before Luke could even question it, his body began to tremble first.
This was likely a reaction ingrained in the body’s memory.
He could tell how much the previous owner of this body had suffered at that guy’s hands.
Even so, with the family in such a state, instead of supporting each other as brothers, they were bullying one another.
No wonder Schnelden had fallen to being a Cornelio branch office.
He was already distressed over the Cornelio matter, but seeing that guy doubled his frustration.
*The only cure for a thoughtless bastard like this is the rod.*
The moment Luke was about to act.
“Please stop, Young Master Theo.”
The other man standing beside him stepped in first.
“Oh? Rahitz, are you looking down on me now too?”
“It is not that. Did you not just hear the Patriarch warn you to mind your conduct?”
“A big brother showing affection to his little brother, and you call that a conduct issue?”
“If you cause another problem here, the Patriarch will find out that you’ve been drinking secretly in this place.”
Theo spat on the floor, seemingly displeased with the situation.
“Luke, count yourself lucky today. If Rahitz weren’t here, you’d be dead.”
“The lucky one is you.”
“What did this bastard just say? Memory’s gone so you’ve lost all respect too?”
“Young Master.”
In the end, Rahitz forcibly led Theo inside.
Luke quietly watched them go.
*If it were really my time…….*
He thought of the knights he had taught in the past.
House Schnelden had valued skill over character, so all sorts of people had entered its gates.
Among them, those whose skills were outstanding but character deemed beyond redemption were all sent to Luke.
And within a few days, they emerged as proper human beings.
Aside from the slight side effect of flinching in surprise at Luke’s call.
Kalin, Schweitzer, Bors, Temarun.
Nostalgic names came to mind.
*But that’s all old news now.*
Luke clicked his tongue.
*Just one day and I could turn that guy into a proper person too.*
Luke returned to the Small Moon Hall, nursing his regret.
That day, Theo Schnelden had to shudder from an inexplicable chill.