Chapter 20
Rattle, clatter.
Inside a carriage modified from a dog sled to run across the snow.
Callias sat in the carriage, looking at the young girl sitting across from him.
The same hair color as his.
The same eyes.
Emily von Zervan.
The two were looking at each other as if fascinated.
Emily's two attendants were whispering and gossiping about Callias. Brans found this situation a bit displeasing.
After leaving the mountain bandits' lair and traveling to the nearest village, they had purchased a carriage with extra coin and headed north.
And now, half a day later.
Callias and Emily, who kept glancing at him, had not exchanged a single word.
Anyone from the Carpe Kingdom would know of the Zervan family in the north.
Black hair.
And ash-gray eyes.
To anyone's eyes, Callias and Emily were clearly from the same house.
'Since our Lord couldn't have married, she must be a cousin or so.'
Emily's attendants seemed to roughly share the same thought.
Ahem.
This was the moment for him, Callias's attendant and confidant, to step forward.
"Ah, if I may introduce our Lord... He is a pilgrim serving the great god Valterus, and a majestic..."
It was then.
Cutting off Brans's words, Emily's cute voice drove a fact straight home.
"The scourge of Zervan."
Gasp! Not only Brans but even the attendants started back and sucked in a sharp breath.
"A dullard with absolutely no talent for swordsmanship since childhood. Arrogant enough to look down on others and try to teach them despite having nothing in that skull of his. A debauchee and profligate who frequently squanders wealth, disowned by his house and widely known as the black sheep of the Order—the greatest trash of his generation."
Brans blinked his eyes repeatedly.
Setting aside the truth of the rapid-fire words, he wasn't sure if it was reality that a child as cute as a doll had actually spat out such things.
He scratched his ear, wondering if he had misheard.
But there had been far too many words to have misheard.
Brans swallowed hard.
The Callias he had seen was a pilgrgrim without mercy in his strikes.
A man who drew his sword without hesitation, who staked everything without regret when he had to wager it all—a man among men.
'No talent for swordsmanship...'
He couldn't comprehend it.
Brans glanced at his master, Callias.
Even after hearing such insulting words from a child, his face remained calm.
"Emily. How did you know I'm the scourge of Zervan?"
"All the direct and branch family members of Zervan are currently conquering the white forests of the north."
Emily additionally pointed at Callias's neck and the back of his hand with her finger.
"And the rosario around your neck and the Divine Mark. I heard that among those who carry Zervan blood, you're the only male who became a pilgrim. Scourge."
"How clever."
"Unlike you."
Heh.
Callias let out a slight laugh.
Is she a little over twelve years old?
Clever and sharp beyond her years.
As expected of a Zervan child.
If she carries Zervan blood, she ought to be at least this much.
That's the only way it would be fitting of the great deeds of Zervan that people praise.
'Zervan, huh...'
He had come north to meet Bernard, but he hadn't expected to encounter a Zervan first.
"Then why were you captured by bandits?"
"I don't want to tell you."
Quite hostile.
It seemed she acted this way after hearing rumors and stories about him from family members.
'Well.'
Callias was precisely the scourge of Zervan who hadn't merely smeared mud on the family name but thoroughly dragged it through filth.
Even if she were a young child, if she had grown up hearing stories about him, there was no way she would view him favorably.
'This is exactly why I avoided it.'
There was no reason to cross paths, and nothing good would come of it.
Thoroughly tangled—that was the relationship between Zervan and Callias.
A relationship where cutting it away was better than trying to untangle it.
That was why, after becoming a pilgrim, Callias had not set foot in Zervan territory even once in three years.
'But who is Emily's child?'
He had no memory of such a setting.
'If she were from the direct line, I couldn't not know.'
He could only guess she was probably a child from the branch family.
'It doesn't matter much.'
It was an interesting connection, but Callias's current concern was Bernard, the owner of the Spirit Sword, not Zervan.
He was only delivering her because she was a child who roughly shared his blood—a niece of sorts.
Moreover, she had been captured by bandits, so he was a bit concerned.
'On the outside she seems clever, but why was she captured by bandits?'
He was curious about that.
"Emily."
"Don't call me familiarly. Scourge."
"Are you unable to wield a sword?"
"Better than you."
"Then why were you captured in the bandit camp?"
"I don't want to say."
"So you have no talent with the sword after all."
"I said no! You, who only brings shame to the family name, would never understand even if I told you!"
She clamped her mouth shut, as if saying there was no point in explaining.
"It doesn't sound like that great of a story."
"There's a remarkable hidden circumstances you could never understand."
"You were merely captured by bandits—what circumstances could there possibly be? The moment bandits were involved, isn't it just a trivial story?"
Carrying Zervan blood.
Captured by mere bandits.
Callias looked at Emily, who was glaring at him viciously.
"You, is your Sacred Acupoint blocked?"
At that, Emily's hands clenched into tight fists.
'Seems I'm right.'
The royal family and certain bloodlines like Zervan each possess their own characteristics.
This is the result of receiving God's baptism when the kingdom was founded.
That is why the royal family and certain founding families either have unusual colored eyes or hair, or possess a Divine Mark somewhere on their bodies.
Therefore, they possess divine power even without being baptized.
Of course, Zervan is no exception.
Ash-gray eyes are the mark received from God.
That is why those of Zervan are born with divine power and can wield a sword relatively easily.
'But Emily's divine presence is far too faint.'
It wasn't that she lacked divine power entirely, but it was strangely difficult to sense.
Just as when Callias wore [Vivi's Bracelet], Emily's presence was considerably thin as well.
But a child like this couldn't possibly possess such an artifact.
It was reasonable to assume that her Sacred Acupoint, the pathway through which divine power flows, was blocked.
"Was it an accident? Or did someone intentionally block it?"
"......"
Emily kept her mouth shut tight.
Teardrops clung pitifully to the corners of her eyes.
The sight of her desperately trying to hold back her tears was quite pitiful.
Seeing Emily trying to hold back her tears while looking at the floor, Callias turned his gaze to the scenery outside the carriage.
'There must be a story she can't tell.'
Though he was a bit curious, he didn't press further. She didn't seem to want to talk about it, and he had no desire to lend his ear to Zervan affairs.
They were temporary companions.
A relationship that would soon end.
There was no need to care.
And so, about three days passed.
Arriving at Zervan territory by carriage. Immediately visible were the massive expanse of land, the village, and at its edge, a grand castle erected majestically.
It was Zaybarsh Castle of the Zervan family.
"Well then. We part ways here."
Callias promptly said his farewell to Emily.
Emily snorted and turned her back, heading toward the castle.
"Are you sure you don't need to visit?"
Emily and the attendants pushed through the rough snowfall toward the castle.
Solid walls that forced one to look up, and a castle perched atop cliffs that seemed sheared off. Zaybarsh Castle, nothing short of a natural fortress, was precisely where Emily von Zervan belonged.
"This is Zervan territory. They would recognize me, and nothing good would come of them recognizing me."
"Our food supplies are running low... And there are items we need to sell too."
"Quiet."
The territory's people treat the Zervan bloodlines with utmost reverence. Those who guard the north are the Zervan, so the natives there couldn't possibly be unaware of them.
That was why Callias was uncomfortable setting foot in Zervan territory.
If the territory folk recognized him and offered their greetings, word would eventually flow into the family.
'Nothing good comes from the one who shamed the family lingering around Zervan.'
It would be fortunate if they didn't come at him with blades telling him to get lost immediately.
"Let's go."
The urgent matter now was not Emily's existence, but Bernard, the owner of the Spirit Sword.
"But what kind of person is this Bernard that you must find him?"
At Brans's question, the corner of Callias's mouth twisted.
His eyes sharpened, and his hand went to the sword hilt at his waist.
"A damned old bastard."
* * *
Zaybarsh Citadel.
Clatter, rattle.
Thick iron chains clanked as the enormous castle gates opened.
Rumble. What appeared was a single child and two attendants.
Black hair and ash-gray eyes.
A girl with a neat bob cut and noticeable hair ornaments.
It was Emily von Zervan.
As soon as the castle gates opened, Emily strode out roughly and headed for the chapel.
Bang—when she threw the doors open, there was a white-haired old man continuously guzzling wine in front of the Valterus statue.
"This is holy water......"
He was heavily intoxicated, his face flushed red, and wine streamed down his white beard.
Even at a glance, it was not the appearance of a proper clergyman.
"Grandfather. Do you know where I just came from?"
"Hm? Who are you?"
"It's me, Emily! Do you really not even remember me now?"
"Ah, Emily~ my cute granddaughter!"
"No, I'm not your granddaughter, I'm more like your grandniece."
"But where have you been? Your attendants were looking for you when you disappeared."
With a sulky face, Emily flopped down in one corner of the chapel.
"I drew my sword against bandits."
And then got captured.
"Dear me. Why did you do such a reckless thing? I told you it was too early for you."
"I've never killed a person before. Albert told me. That you must kill to become a true knight. He said that's the only way my blocked Sacred Acupoint will open."
The clergyman looked at Emily with pity and patted her shoulder.
"But how did you escape?"
"......Someone helped me."
"Oh, a blessed soul. Who was it? I shall offer thanks on your behalf."
"It's someone Grandfather knows too."
"Hm? I know them? Is it Gilbert? No. He's out on the front lines right now... Then Charlie? No. He should be hunting demonic beasts in the white forest too."
When she asked who it was.
"The scourge of Zervan."
The eyes of the drunken clergyman narrowed to slits.
"Ho......"
"The scourge...... saved me."
"How was he?"
"Handsome. He said I was clever."
"But rude, right?"
"Yeah...... just like Grandfather said."
Heh heh heh!
The clergyman let out a joyful laugh and stroked the hilt of the sheathed sword at his waist.
"Callias. That rascal has returned."
His name was Bernard.
A paladin who had completed a long pilgrimage and found his own sword.