Chapter 37
Whooosh.
The northern winds, as always, blew fiercely and fair upon all.
The dry winds swept away the shallow snow, creating whirling eddies before vanishing into the empty air.
Yet upon the snowfield where the winds failed to clear.
Thud-!
Orc footprints were stamped into the ground.
Before the great orc army stood a fortress with sturdy gray walls.
Jeibarshu stood imposing, as if denying them like an iron fortress.
And the soldiers and knights upon the walls gazed down at the orcs, glaring at them murderously as they faced off.
The war was as quiet as the calm before a storm, yet the tension could not be loosened like a bowstring drawn taut.
"They're not here yet."
Kallias, watching a war that could erupt at any moment, folded his telescope.
"Why do you look at me like that?"
"I told you to become a hero, not a murderer."
"I killed him to become a hero."
"You cut him down because you couldn't control your temper, and now you talk about being a hero! Do you think I taught you to wield a sword like that?"
"I didn't draw my sword because I couldn't control my temper. He kept provoking me, and in the end, he threw down his sword and challenged me to a duel."
Kallias had accepted the duel, and this was the result.
At his waist hung a new sword.
The sword's name was Zornik. A name given to honor the dead Zornik.
Poor bastard.
"And I never learned the sword from you, old man."
"Sometimes you frighten me."
Bernard shook his head.
"Truth be told, I surprise myself with my own talents sometimes."
"Is murder a talent now?"
"If murder is a talent in a situation like this, then it can't be all bad."
At Kallias's playful response, Bernard pulled out a pipe from his coat.
He drew out a flint and struck it to light the tobacco.
Soon puff after puff of smoke rose.
"Are you trying to signal the enemy by smoking here?"
"This much won't even be noticeable, you brat. I know better than you how excellent the orcs' sense of smell is!"
"…."
Kallias, at a loss for words, looked around.
Behind him stood Brans.
Emily, Allen, Aaron, and other knights lined up in formation.
Their numbers were roughly forty.
It was a count that included even the knights who had followed Zornik joining their ranks.
"Still, it was a proper duel, was it not?"
"There was no need to kill him."
"It doesn't matter. I'll just kill more orcs in his stead."
"Isn't he a distant relative of yours though?"
"I don't care about that sort of thing. Why would you hold onto such ties with a good-for-nothing?"
"…."
This time it was Bernard who was at a loss for words. At his incredulous gaze, Kallias rolled his eyes.
Honestly, there was a part of him that felt unjustly accused.
The guy picked a fight first, and he only accepted when challenged to a duel.
True, there was no need to kill him, but it just ended up that way.
'Things like that can happen when you get carried away.'
He did regret it a little.
[Zornik]
Grade: Named Sword
Imbued Soul: Zornik von Zerban.
A branch bloodline of the Zerban family.
A promising knight called Zornik of Monstrous Strength since childhood due to his innate prodigious strength.
But after losing his life in a duel with Kallias von Zerban, he became a sword.
'If I had killed him after he grew a bit more, I could have aimed for a Spirit Sword.'
Perhaps because he was killed before he could fully bloom, the Corpse Sword made from Zornik failed to reach the ranks of a Spirit Sword.
It was disappointing, but what could be done.
About what had already happened.
Was it because they were drawing closer to Jeibarshu?
The good-for-nothing's disposition kept trying to dominate Kallias.
"They say you can never have too many swords, but up to three—"
He didn't need.
Kallias put Zornik in his mouth for a moment, then spat it out when it didn't feel right.
"What kind of crazy antics is that?"
"It's nothing."
Instead, he examined the blade closely.
A short blade.
A size that fits entirely in one hand.
'For throwing.'
It was a throwing dagger.
If it had been as oversized as its former owner's build, he would have given it to any knight who wanted it.
But since it was of a decent size and easy to throw, Kallias kept it.
Oh, of course.
The sword Zornik had possessed wasn't the Corpse Sword he made, so it didn't disappear.
Thus the greatsword went to Aaron.
The longsword was handed to one of the knights who had followed Zornik.
"What was your name again?"
"It's Jack."
He was a man who served as the leader among the knights who had followed Zornik.
Kallias, anticipating their rebellion, gave him a longsword comparable to the Named Sword Zornik had possessed.
Whether pilgrim or knight, their eyes light up at a better sword all the same.
Jack received the sword and quietly followed Kallias.
Of course, that alone wasn't the only reason he followed Kallias, but the rest was something one could figure out without much thought.
More than that, he faced a different problem.
"What are we going to do?"
"What do you mean what? We either break through or trick our way into the fortress."
Even at a rough glance, the army numbered in the thousands.
Regular orcs and warriors.
And at the very end, red-haired figures who appeared to be great warriors.
Break through a legion of that size?
With barely forty knights?
Nonsense.
"We'll have to wait until dawn, I suppose."
"We'll have to. They won't be carrying on like that until the break of dawn."
Kallias carefully observed the orcs stationed in the snowfield one by one.
Among them, the red heads.
He saw the great warriors.
'Not there.'
Honestly, they all looked the same to him, so he couldn't tell which one was the guy.
The distance was too far, too.
But he would find out soon enough.
Because that wasn't someone who would die easily.
* * *
The dark night sky.
The winds of the north grew ever sharper as time passed.
The biting wind grew fiercer when the sun set.
Camping in this kind of weather?
It was the same as being told to freeze to death.
But they had to do it.
"Not being able to even light a fire is truly cruel. I feel like I'll get frostbite."
"If a northern knight gets frostbite, that's retirement right there. Bundle up tight."
It was a conversation between Allen and Aaron.
Before they knew it, the two had become quite close.
But there was no sign of them becoming friendly with the northern blizzards.
They were currently in a wartime situation.
Since they hadn't even set up a proper camp, Kallias's group couldn't even light a fire.
They had to rely on the moonlight to accustom their eyes to the darkness, stay awake through the night, and watch for an opportunity.
"Kallias."
"What."
"If you want to become a hero, how about you become the bait and hold their attention?"
"Who would do such a thing for your benefit?"
"For our benefit, of course. If you die, I'll make you into a sword, polish it carefully without letting a single speck of dust settle on it for the rest of my life, and then pass it on to Emily."
"Don't say such unlucky things."
At Bernard's joking remark, not only Kallias but even the faces of the nearby knights relaxed.
But at the biting wind that blew once more, their expressions contorted again.
"We'll freeze to death just watching for an opportunity. Has the old man's wisdom pouch run completely empty? Do something about it."
"What brilliant plan do you expect from an old man? Wisdom pouches are meant to be entirely forgotten with age. An old man can't even remember what he ate earlier, so what do you expect from me."
Tch. Kallias clicked his tongue and agonized over how to break through this situation.
'The fortress surroundings are entirely occupied by orcs.'
What should they do?
How could they safely enter the fortress with less damage?
Was there no way to safely join forces with Jeibarshu's troops?
He agonized over and over again.
But no brilliant plan came to mind. Kallias wrapped his Cloak of Twilight tighter around himself, stroked the pommel of his sword, and exhaled white breath.
It was a night of deep worry.
When he lifted his head up to the sky, stars poured down.
Even in this situation, the stars spewed out their light, and those stars gathered to form the Milky Way.
It was then.
Swish! Whoosh!
The sound of a sword cutting through the wind could be heard.
Wondering what the sound was, he walked into the forest and spotted Emily swinging her sword in the distance.
While most knights were huddled up freezing to death, Emily was swinging her sword with steam rising from her body.
"If your sweat cools down, you'll get frostbite."
"She swings her sword like that every day before going to sleep, without missing a single day."
It was Brans.
He had approached at some point and spoke as if he found her fascinating.
"Learn from her. If you're a squire, shouldn't you aim to become a knight?"
"I'm satisfied with just being a servant, sir."
"No ambition at all…."
Flashy yet practical.
Concise yet practical movements—that was the Zerban swordsmanship.
But something else was mixed within it.
A sword that valued flashy speed and unpredictable changes was blended into the Zerban style.
A sword that resembled him.
"The restrained swordsmanship of Zerban with flashy speed and changeability mixed in. It's like a single tiger tearing through a flower bed."
It was Jack.
Jack, who had a large scar at the corner of his mouth, praised Emily's swordsmanship in the manner of speech unique to nobles. But there was no small amount of exaggeration in it.
"You're praising her too much."
"Children of that age are easily influenced by those close to them."
It wasn't that he didn't understand what Jack meant.
Emily's sword bore a striking resemblance to Kallias's.
Her genius in swordsmanship was enough to imitate Kallias's sword after seeing it only a few times.
'To copy the sword I struggled for years to master…'
To so easily contain it within her own sword.
It was hard to believe it was the talent of a mere twelve-year-old.
Combined with the effort she put in, the word genius wasn't enough.
"It's a shame. I've heard of Lady Emily's genius, but seeing it up close makes it even more regrettable."
He was a talkative fellow.
Perhaps it was because his mouth was split.
Even while thinking such things, Kallias agreed with his words.
Emily's swordsmanship wasn't perfect, but without anyone teaching her, she was finding her own path.
Such talent in swordsmanship was rare. But it was regrettable that the Sacred Bloodline that would support it was blocked.
If only her Sacred Bloodline had opened, she could have wrapped divine power around her entire body and faced stronger enemies.
'With a child's body.'
Even a single orc.
Even a single demonic beast would be difficult to defeat.
Kallias agonized as he watched Emily's sword along with the approaching war.
'Annoying little brat.'
A bond that ended up entangled somehow.
It wasn't a particularly special friendship or connection, but there was still an affection that had brought them this far.
"It is a talent too precious to just leave alone."
Should he help her a little?
Even Bernard seemed to cherish Emily for some unknown reason.
"Emily. Follow me."
"…Suddenly? Where are you going?"
Emily, whose training was interrupted, furrowed her brow.
But she followed him without a second word.
In the past, she wouldn't have followed, but deep within the girl's heart full of aspiration, she had unknowingly come to acknowledge him.
He wasn't just a simple good-for-nothing.
No, in the girl's mind, Kallias was already far beyond a mere good-for-nothing.
As they passed through a quiet forest path and went deeper, a suitable cave appeared.
"Go in."
"You're not trying to lock me up, are you?"
"What benefit would I gain from locking you up? Stop talking nonsense and go in."
Even with Kallias's urging, Emily couldn't easily move her feet.
The girl bit her lower lip with her front teeth and gripped the hem of her pants.
"…You're doing this because I'll be a hindrance in the war!"
An ordinary person would have gently reassured her otherwise, but Kallias was no ordinary person.
"Well, you know that much."