2. Running Away (2)
As Jaden was happily stroking the parrotbill’s head, Aiden, who had finished his training, approached with a bright smile.
“Brother! Congratulations. You finally found it.”
“Yeah. I think I found it, though it feels like it happened by accident.”
The divine beast ability he had learned about thanks to Aiden had truly awakened by chance, and the world he had been seeing all this time had changed completely.
As if he understood exactly what Jaden was feeling, Aiden gave him a peculiar smile.
He looked at Jaden with an expression that seemed to say, “I’m the senior in this field!”
“Ahem… I just haven’t adjusted yet.”
“I’m sure.”
Aiden nodded as he answered, but Jaden clicked his tongue as though he disliked that attitude and rose from his seat.
“Let’s spar.”
“Come on! You’ve contracted with a divine beast now, so you should learn some know-how from me.”
“Ugh.”
At Aiden’s words, Jaden let out a groan, then plopped back down. Aiden, with a satisfied smile, eagerly began explaining the information he had heard from the white lion and the sensations he himself had felt.
Whenever Jaden asked something in between, Aiden would snap that it wasn’t like that and explain in greater detail.
“It’s harder than I thought.”
“Right? Still, since the white lion has lived for so many years, there wasn’t much for me to do, but it’ll be difficult for you, Brother. He said the parrotbill is still young and won’t know anything, so you’ll have to guide it through every little thing.”
“I suppose so.”
“Even so, you’ll probably have it better than me. I have to find a body suited for this guy too.”
Aiden had to find a suitable body for the king of the white lions, whose physical form had vanished after living for such a long time. Considering that divine beasts became far more powerful once they obtained a body, someday he would have to hunt a lion-type monster and let the white lion reside within it.
“But do I have to keep leaving the parrotbill like this?”
“No. Once it grows a little, it’ll enter the subspace you create on its own. Of course, you’ll have to grow as well, Brother.”
“There’s something like that?”
“He said you can’t feel it because you’re so pathetic that there isn’t even a speck of space there.”
“You…”
“The white lion said it. Haha… hahaha…”
At Aiden’s words, Jaden frowned and wondered for a moment how he should punish this little brat, then sighed and called his younger brother closer.
“As you know, once you reach a certain age, you’ll also have to undergo something called the Path of the Lion.”
“Ah… I heard. That it’s an extremely dangerous training…”
“Yes. It’s training where you have to spend several days and nights in a forest full of beasts and monsters. One wrong move and you could die, but this damned family doesn’t care about that kind of thing.”
At Jaden’s words, Aiden nodded with a grave expression.
The Leonhardt family was a place that believed children who died did so because they were weak.
Conversely, it was also a place where, once one finished all the training, one was treated accordingly.
The strong are revered.
Nowhere on the continent suited that phrase better than this place.
“For the next few days, I’m going to spar with you as if it were real combat. That way you’ll be able to prepare for the Path of the Lion.”
“Uh…”
Aiden tilted his head slightly, as if something felt strange.
It was because Jaden had spoken as though it had nothing to do with him. Amid that odd sense of dissonance, Jaden continued speaking.
“There’s something else you need to keep in mind.”
“Please tell me.”
“Research the ecology of the Forest of Beasts. Learn what monsters are distributed where and in what numbers, how to distinguish edible plants from inedible ones, and the weaknesses of each monster.”
“That much?”
“Because it’s that dangerous.”
There was a world of difference between going in with a vague sense that it was dangerous and going in knowing exactly how dangerous it was.
Those madmen dropped you at random into the Forest of Beasts and left you there, so even if you prepared properly, it was dangerous.
“Aren’t you the one in the most danger, Brother? You’ll be going first.”
“I don’t intend to take the Path of the Lion.”
“Uh… how?”
“I’m planning to leave the family.”
When Jaden honestly told Aiden what he was thinking, Aiden’s eyes trembled.
Since Jaden, his only support, had said he was leaving the family, there was no way Aiden wouldn’t be shaken.
Jaden took hold of both his arms and explained calmly.
“You asked me before, didn’t you? Why I only train in basic swordsmanship?”
“…Yes.”
“Because this suits me well. You have talent for the Lion Sword Forms.”
“That’s…”
“The best place for you to grow stronger is here. But for me, it isn’t.”
At Jaden’s words, Aiden looked at him with confused eyes.
“Then where will you go, Brother?”
“The military. More precisely, I’m going to the Northern Training Camp.”
“Isn’t that… a dangerous place?”
The children who enlisted at the Northern Training Camp were all those slated to be deployed to the front lines.
On top of that, if one was unlucky, one would be assigned to the northeast, which was dangerous enough to rank among the top three most dangerous places on the entire continent.
In other words, with good luck, one was sent to the northern front lines; with bad luck, to the northeastern region.
“Brother…”
Jaden stroked Aiden’s head once as the boy looked at him with worry, then said,
“You’ve built up the basics now. From now on, if you train according to the white lion’s teachings, your skills will improve in no time. You’ll surpass someone like me soon enough.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
When Aiden spoke with his lips jutting out, Jaden smiled.
“Then shall we do some training like real combat?”
Seeing Jaden speak with a wicked expression, Aiden trembled slightly.
And a short while later, Aiden tasted hell for the first time in his life.
It was because, under Jaden’s attacks that showed no mercy, he fell and was struck countless times, experiencing all sorts of irregular sword strikes. Thanks to that, however, Aiden’s skills improved rapidly.
Watching Aiden use the formal sword paths of the Lion Sword Forms to figure out on his own how to respond to irregular attacks, Jaden realized just how terrifying the talent of a genius could be.
Until now, he had used tricks that only third-rate fighters used, but now he employed irregular sword paths even knights used, and Aiden displayed the astonishing talent of responding to several of them the very first time he saw them.
“You monstrous brat.”
“You’re the last person who should be saying that, Brother.”
From Aiden’s perspective, being beaten like a dog and then hearing that made him feel incredibly wronged.
Seeing the aggrieved expression on his youngest brother’s face, Jaden chuckled and ruffled his hair as he said,
“Don’t go around getting beaten up somewhere.”
“…I’ll try.”
Realizing that it was also a farewell, Aiden spoke with a regretful expression.
“We’ll be able to see each other again, right?”
“In about twenty years?”
“What?”
“I’m joking. When I get leave, I’ll stop by from time to time.”
At Jaden’s words, Aiden nodded with a heavy expression.
Aiden looked close to tears, upset that Jaden was leaving him behind, but he was clearly holding them back with all his might.
Finding the boy admirable, Jaden spent time simply talking with him instead of training for the first time, then returned early to the mansion.
It was because he now had to prepare to leave.
In the dead of night, with the rustle of movement, he made simple preparations to depart, then sank comfortably into sleep.
And when morning came the next day, he headed to his personal training ground.
“Hard at work, I see.”
“Brother.”
Jaden, who had come out early in the morning, was not dressed in the training clothes he usually wore.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah.”
At Jaden’s answer, Aiden nodded tearfully, and Jaden offered him a handshake as a farewell.
Aiden grasped his hand with both of his and did not let go for a long while.
“Please come back safely.”
“Yeah. You stay safe too.”
“…Yes.”
To Aiden, who forced himself to answer, Jaden handed over a letter.
“This is…”
“I left one in my room too… but if they come looking, tell them for me. It’s a copy of my enlistment application.”
At Jaden’s words, Aiden unfolded it for a moment and looked surprised.
The enlistment application was covered in red seals and crammed with legal provisions and warnings, almost as if it were telling him not to come.
“It is strange, but true.”
“I see.”
The fellow nodded slightly at the odd enlistment application, bid farewell once more, and urged Jayden to return safely.
Jayden told him once more, “You stay safe, too,” and turned to leave.
Jayden, walking through the Leonhardt mansion rather than the private training ground for the first time in a while, fell into a peculiar mood.
Because he had set out early in the morning, dewdrops clung to the grass blades, and the dim scenery of the mansion was quite magnificent.
It was a picturesque sight, the kind that would have drawn quite a bit of attention had it been photographed in the real world.
Leaving that scenery behind, he walked straight toward the main gate.
Since he had spent all his time training with the youngest at the private training ground, properly leaving the estate like this was a first since he had arrived.
“Who…… might you be the First Young Master?”
“Indeed.”
Seeing a young boy walking out, a knight who had been wary hurriedly bowed his head.
He had likely been uncertain, having never gotten a proper look at Jayden or Aiden, but with excellent instincts and tact, he bent at the waist the moment he realized.
“Where are you going so early in the morning?”
“There is somewhere I wish to stop by for a moment……. To look at weapons and sightsee.”
“I see. Have you brought your identity plaque with you, by any chance?”
In response to the knight’s question, Jayden took out a small identity plaque from inside his clothes and showed it. Then the knight nodded slightly.
“Still, going out alone is dangerous. Someone must accompany you. If not, it would be better to go when the sun has up…….”
“Blacksmiths concentrate best in the morning, no?”
“That is…… true. Even so, going alone is dangerous.”
As the knight spoke, he summoned two soldiers.
“Please let these men escort you. They are quick-witted and will not get in your way no matter what you do.”
Jayden nodded lightly at the knight’s words. Though the words were “escort,” it was in truth placing a monitor on him, but if he did not accept even this much, he would only invite needless misunderstanding.
Since it would all be over the moment he entered the Northern Army Enlistment Administration Office anyway, he did not particularly care whether they followed or not.
As the door opened with Jayden’s permission, they came outside the mansion.
“If you tell us the destination, we shall guide you there.”
“For now, toward the artisans’ street.”
“Yes!”
The soldier replied energetically and walked slowly to match Jayden’s pace.
When they arrived there, Jayden looked around briefly, then passed through the mercenaries’ street, the merchants’ street, and so on before finally reaching his destination.
“We’re here. You may return now.”
“Pardon?”
Jayden flashed them a bright smile. At that, the soldiers wore blank expressions and scratched inside their ears, wondering if they had heard wrong.
To let them know their ears had not deceived them, Jayden personally repeated himself.
“I’m going to enlist, so relay that when you return. Thank you for escorting me this far.”
“Uh…… Young Master?”
“Young Master? If you go like that, what are we to do…….”
After Jayden cheerfully waved goodbye and entered the building alone, the soldiers stood there dumbly for a long while, as if at a complete loss.
They thought for a long time about whether this situation was even reality, why the eldest son of a ducal house would volunteer for enlistment, and why they had been caught up in it.
The conclusion they reached was that there was nothing they could do at this moment.
Thinking they ought to report to their superiors as quickly as possible, both swiftly returned to the mansion.
Having confirmed through a window inside the building that they were running off urgently, Jayden smiled broadly and promptly took his place in the line of enlistment hopefuls.