Chapter 188
Repaired the defensive walls that had collapsed from the troll invasion, and rebuilt the castle walls.
Following the reconstruction of the trampled village, the first thing Callius did upon becoming the Lord of the North was build a single annex.
An annex neither too big nor too small.
There, without any flashy decorations, a treasured sword that seemed as though it had existed for ages was planted right in the center.
The pommel, the end of the sword planted upside down, was not crude, and the leather-covered grip was practical.
A sword with one side of its straight cross-guard, meant to protect the hand, broken off.
It was Bernard.
Callius stood alone in the training hall, staring blankly at that sword.
Dim moonlight filtered through the window in the ceiling, illuminating the sword in the dark training hall.
For a long, long time, he simply stared at Bernard.
If he grasped the sword, he could meet him.
But unless he had a special reason, he didn't bother waking Bernard.
They used to bicker, but Callius had always felt indebted to him.
Yet he had died before that debt could be repaid.
But even in death.
Even after becoming a sword, it seemed Bernard still wanted to help him. The space Bernard manifested was part of a mental image created to train more efficiently.
However, that very fact made his heart heavier instead.
"Why did you think of me to that extent?"
Bernard was the very first Named Callius had sought out.
He was a figure meant to help Players train, and the Naoqingjian he possessed was also a very powerful sword among Spirit Swords.
Thus, Callius had sought him out first. To learn the sword, and later, to take his sword for himself.
After his death.
The thought of using the sword made from him to increase training efficiency was also underlying.
'Bernard's unique ability was originally a buff-type sword.'
Possessing a buff-type unique ability that showed the efficiency of striking two or three times even with a single downward strike—that was Bernard.
But it changed.
It was named the Vanished Star, and when grasping the sword, a consciousness awakened like an Ego Sword.
Callius was glad of the change, but at the same time felt bitter.
Somehow, it felt like the reason he changed was because of him.
He wondered if it had changed into such a form because he couldn't pass on the Flowing Water Transformation, which he only completed upon death, to his disciple.
"You need not worry about me."
So he built a new training hall here.
He placed Bernard at its center.
Using divine arts and demonic energy, he set it up so that if the sword was pulled out, the entire building would collapse.
So that it couldn't be drawn with just any ordinary strength.
This place would become a training hall for Northern knights with high potential to train in the future.
He intended to leave Bernard here so he could pass on his teachings to them.
So that even without him, he could meet many people and build connections.
It was his own form of atonement.
To the master whom he let die fighting alone.
Tap, tap.
"Junis went back."
The approaching footsteps and voice.
Callius knew the suddenly heard voice belonged to the Saintess, Eil.
"Is that so."
To Junis, who had spouted nonsense and clung to him as soon as she arrived, Callius had thrust his sword.
Junis's purpose in visiting was one.
To receive new land.
But Callius shook his head at her demand. Instead, he summoned the Ashen Legion and sent her back.
If it were them, it would be enough to annihilate not only the magical beasts of the White Forest but also the orc tribes beyond it.
'With Vivi there too, the average orcs will be pushed to the edge of the North or die.'
Most would die.
It wasn't that there were no strong ones among the orcs, but the ones near the border were mostly tribes that had been pushed out in terms of power.
That was why Junis, though grumbling, retreated obediently.
"That sword. You said it was your master's."
"...Who told you."
"Emily told me. She said whenever you have time, you're here looking at the sword."
Callius kept his mouth shut, his gaze still fixed on Bernard.
"Why did you build a training hall and put your master there?"
"...Because he likes to meddle."
Lest he feel lonely being alone.
Callius built the training hall and placed Bernard there.
That was all.
"Should I... hug you."
"You're spouting nonsense like Junis too."
"I-it's a joke."
It was a flustered voice.
Perhaps because of her talent called the Bard's Blessing, just by hearing her voice, he felt like he knew what emotion she held.
"Saintess."
"Yes."
"It seems you've been hanging out with Emily a lot lately."
"Ah, yes. She is a very kind child."
"She boasted about receiving a precious gift, while watching my reaction."
Subtly probing Callius as to whether it was okay for her to receive it.
"Yes..."
"Are you planning to act as her mother?"
Callius turned his back.
There stood Eil, her head bowed. Fidgeting with her fingers like a child who had done something wrong.
"N-no..."
"Saintess."
"Yes. Please speak."
"You are the Empire's Saintess."
Eil's eyes widened, and her jaw bulged as if she had clenched her teeth.
"Emily and I are nobles of Carpe."
A calm voice continued.
With the sword planted in the middle of the dark training hall behind him.
He said to her.
The Saintess understood.
What Callius's words meant.
She knew better than anyone.
Because it was what she had been constantly thinking about during the few days she stayed in the North.
Because it was what had been continuously breaking her heart.
"I know. But right now, I am merely a prisoner..."
"Are you saying you'll do as you please? Without even caring that Emily is confused? Saintess, what will you do if you meet Emily on the battlefield later?"
"That..."
She couldn't answer.
She hadn't even considered the thought of meeting Emily on the battlefield.
A child who is only fifteen.
But this ruthless world makes even children participate in the battlefield.
They consider it an honor and throw themselves into the battlefield to fulfill their duties as nobles.
Having lived in this world for over ten years and survived more viciously than anyone else, the Saintess knew this well.
Although she lacked memories, she gradually felt that the child was still her daughter.
Yet such a child on the battlefield—Eil clenched her fists tightly.
"What about Emily?"
"..."
On the battlefield, the Saintess would strike down and break Carpe's swords.
Because that was the Saintess's duty.
But if she were to confront Emily in that situation, what should she truly do?
And what on earth would Emily think when she met her on the battlefield?
Eil didn't even want to imagine.
Her long eyelashes fluttered.
"Don't do anything pointless."
His voice, pressing down heavily on her shoulders and chest, pierced into Eil.
Pointless act. His single word became a dagger and gouged out her chest.
It's not good for either of them.
It's a relationship with no benefits.
Callius concluded as such.
"I would like you to go back."
Callius, speaking with his back turned again, ordered her to leave.
With a back that still looked lonely.
Eil bit her lower lip.
"I don't have... memories."
"I know."
"But I am me."
Swish.
Callius, who had turned his back, looked at Eil with cold eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Whether I have memories or not. I am Eil. Whatever I did in the past, even if I have no memories of it, I must take responsibility. Because that is what I must bear to be me."
Her words carried a deep resonance.
A resonance that could apply even to Callius.
But it was also just bluster.
"...What can you bear?"
"That..."
"Can you betray the Empire?"
"..."
The Saintess was speechless.
Probably not.
The path to her becoming the Saintess wouldn't have been easy.
It was a path she had carved out herself.
To give that up would mean giving up not only the past years but also everything she had achieved.
Regardless of whether it was possible or not, she had no reason to do so.
"You already abandoned Emily once. And now you want to play the mother?"
Eil's mouth clamped shut.
Even with ten mouths, she would have nothing to say.
If she had memories, there might have been room for an excuse.
But she had no memories, and no matter what situation she faced, the fact that she had abandoned her child was undeniable.
Eil had no right to call herself her mother.
That was why their relationship shouldn't be.
"Saintess, nothing will change."
"..."
"You are the spear, and we are the sword."
Whatever the past, that remains the same.
It is an unchanging truth.
So the conversation ends here.
She is the Empire's spear, and now a prisoner captured by the sword.
"Don't be caught up in maternal love you don't even have memories of from now on."
In the first place.
"Emily doesn't want a mother."
The moment he said so and was about to leave.
"Then what about you?"
Stop.
Callius's steps halted.
Eil's cheeks, who had grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, turned pale red.
But her eyes were colored with panic.
As if it was an action she did without realizing.
Soon, she was startled and let go.
"..."
As he turned his head, Callius turned away from Eil's face, which seemed to be inwardly waiting for an answer.
That face, subtly resembling hers.
Looking at it reminded him of that time.
And at the same time, the pain of that time resurfaced.
Callius brushed off the hand she had grabbed and answered nonchalantly.
"The woman I wanted is already dead."
* * *
The Northern prison.
"Politan."
[Politan]
Rank - General
A simple status window.
But that was enough.
Vivi had torn Politan's corpse apart so much that it took time to restore it.
Even with only a part, making him an Ashen Knight wasn't a problem, but still, the difference between a complete one and an incomplete one was quite large.
Because the grade when made into a knight changed.
"Pull out the threads."
[Yes.]
Politan pledged loyalty to him as soon as he was summoned and undid Brans's brainwashing.
"My lord... hic! Hic!"
"Don't cry so unsightly. Useless bastard."
I don't know if he was crying because of severe emotional distress, or because he kept getting beaten while locked up in prison, saying the brainwashing would wear off soon.
His face was beaten black and blue everywhere, making Callius marvel at how much a person could swell up, and then he brought up the main point.
"Now let's hear the story. How did you get brainwashed by that guy?"
"This son of a bitch! It's because of that son of a bitch!"
Growling Brans and Politan, standing quietly with an emotionless face.
"I was receiving various teachings from Sir Cedric as you ordered, my lord, training to become a Pilgrim of the Fist. Hehe. As you said, my lord, even though I have no talent for the sword, I'm pretty good at punching, right? I made rapid progress!"
"But."
"But... one day. Sir Cedric was fighting the Crasion guys, wasn't he? I don't know the exact reason, but I helped him! But then, at some point, my body wouldn't listen to me, and I was dragged somewhere and beaten for a long time, and threads were stuffed into my body, sob sob."
Brans said he was subjected to various experiments, and because of that, his mind was so devastated he wanted to die.
Then he pleaded that the threads reached his heart and his brain, and he was brainwashed, contributing to the downfall of the North.
"Please kill me, my lord!"
"Should I? The North does not forgive traitors. Whatever the case."
"E-even so!! If there is just one way to live, please!! Please tell me!!"
Changing his words immediately and showing an utterly servile attitude, this was definitely Brans.
Callius inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Politan."
[Yes, my lord.]
"Where is Crasion's headquarters?"
[It is in Raperion.]
Raperion.
An island surrounded by the sea on all sides.
A dangerous place covered in fog all year round, where even they themselves sometimes lose their way and wander.
"Is Cedric there?"
"I don't know. We separated after that, so I'm not sure where he is..."
When he looked at Politan, he also shook his head, saying he didn't know.
If it were Cedric, it wasn't impossible that he fought an all-out war with Crasion and survived to go into hiding. Because he had headed south as he had told him and found the holy relic.
He might be in Carpe, or perhaps with those who used to worship the holy relic.
So, for now.
"Brans. I will give you a chance to be forgiven for your sins. You may refuse."
"Will you kill me if I refuse?"
"Even if you had no intention of it, being brainwashed is also your sin. As the Lord of the North, I have a duty to punish you."
There are many ways the North punishes sinners.
Freezing them to death, starving them to death. Or throwing them to the magical beasts.
Sometimes they do all three at the same time.
When he told Brans this story.
"Whatever it is, I will definitely accomplish it! Please tell me quickly!!"
"I will give you Politan and Beaty. And a High General, so go crush Crasion's headquarters and return."
Crasion has several factions.
Among them, there were a few guys even Callius didn't want to cross. But that didn't mean he could just leave them alone like this.
This was a kind of warning.
A warning from the Lord of the North.
"I would like to go myself, but unfortunately, I have a schedule."
He had to take the Saintess and have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen. He also had to go to the Order and make a deal, and there were plenty of people to meet.
And if he went, it would no longer be a warning.
"Warn them on my behalf."
Take Politan and show them clearly.
Ride Beaty and attack them. Send them a warning message.
That the North is not a place they can mess with.
The master of that place, now.
"Will not tolerate it."