Chapter 65
"The fact that Lady Emily is the Lord's daughter has spread far and wide."
"Is that so."
He calmly prepared to leave, unbothered by Brans's words.
Light armor made of leather.
At first glance, it was a modest attire, but since the one wearing it was Kallius, anyone could see he looked like a noble aristocrat.
An artifact brought from the treasury.
[Inos's Chain Light Armor]
The inside is made of chains, making it sturdy and light.
Kallius's swordsmanship primarily consists of swift strikes and erratic variations.
Therefore, he does not favor heavy plate armor.
So he mostly wore leather armor, but there happened to be a suitable armor in the treasury, so he brought it.
It is light and does not hinder movement. Moreover, it is surprisingly sturdy, unfazed by ordinary swords.
The reason for this could be understood.
The magical beast called Inos grows hard minerals on its back, and the chains are said to be made from harvesting those.
Since the leather is also from Inos, it was named [Inos's Chain Light Armor].
He had already confirmed that ordinary swords wouldn't even leave a scratch on it.
Now, at the very least, the times of getting severely injured like before should disappear.
"Will you be okay?"
"It is not your concern."
The fact that Emily was his daughter could be revealed at any time; it didn't matter.
It was just that the timing hadn't arrived.
"Won't there be people approaching Lady Emily?"
"She's a smart child. She'll handle it."
Even if they approach her.
They won't be able to harm her.
Who would dare harm the daughter of the man who will become the master of the North?
Of course, there will be those who approach with ill intentions.
'Elberton will take care of it.'
Emily is his granddaughter.
A child he has no reason not to dote on.
Unlike himself, she will thrive under his shade.
"Will you not meet her?"
"When the time comes, an opportunity will arise."
He said so, but the words 'daughter and father' still felt very awkward.
'At least the world knows she is my daughter, so it should be a bit easier for her.'
He had lightened the mouth of the child who couldn't call her father 'father', so this was enough for now.
Kallius is the heir of the North, and with time, he will naturally become its master.
Since she had suffered and lived being persecuted until now, wouldn't it be okay for her to lead a slightly more comfortable life?
"Ah, and there is one more thing."
"What is it."
Wearing the light armor, he reached his hand into thin air and took out a cloak.
His favorite Cloak of Twilight.
Putting it on over the light armor gave him a dashing knightly silhouette.
"He sent word that the disposal of Rivan and Rini is left to you, my Lord."
"Hmm. He pushed it onto me."
Disposal, huh. To think he'd entrust the disposal of the traitor's son and daughter.
He's slowly pushing all the troublesome things onto me.
'Going on about my knight order and whatnot.'
It seems to be Elberton's own way of educating his heir.
How annoying.
"What will you do?"
Rivan aside, Rini would grow into a fine knight.
She would become a knight who would firmly protect the North, and if raised well, she could rise to an even higher position.
Because Rini's eyes were special.
"There's nothing to discuss about disposal. Just leaving them alone will do."
Of course, their lives will be different from before.
They will receive a lot of harsh stares as the children of a traitor.
However, even so, there is no reason for me to go out of my way to help them. That much is a mountain they must overcome on their own.
"Have you prepared the blacksmith's?"
"Yes. That guy Dexter will be thrilled when he comes. He'll like this place better than Trista."
He had kept the broken Gangsin Sword.
When Dexter arrives, he'll tinker with it and repair it or do whatever he wants.
If he can repair it, that's great, but if not, it's disappointing but can't be helped.
Even without the Gangsin Sword, there are many swords, so finding another good sword would be enough.
'From the Spirit Sword rank onwards, they don't disappear even when broken, so it wouldn't be bad to crush it and make something like an artifact out of it.'
There were already four swords in his possession.
The more outstanding swords, the better, but it wasn't that urgent.
It was a completely different mindset from before when he just carried around a renowned sword.
"Hmm."
Kallius took out the four swords from his spatial inventory.
Two of the swords had scabbards.
The other two did not.
[Predatory Sword - Roas]
[Thunderclap Sword - Rakan]
[Judgment Sword - Mida]
[Tyrant Sword - Karaktu]
Just looking at them made him fully satisfied.
After pondering for a moment, Kallius tore some cloth from his spatial inventory and wrapped it tightly around the Judgment Sword and the Tyrant Sword.
He hung those two on the grooves of his waist belt and stuffed all the prepared food and items into his spatial inventory.
"Preparations are done."
"I'm sad because I have no job left to do."
With the creation of the spatial inventory, the porter's job had vanished. Brans was sad, but Kallius didn't care.
"Stop talking nonsense and let's go. We have a long way to go."
He used more time than expected.
A few days since Helena arrived.
The succession ceremony was held informally.
Inheriting a kingdom's title usually requires an audience with the king, but the titles of the Four Great Noble Families are a bit special.
Moreover, if it's the North, even more so.
The North holds a sovereignty equivalent to an independent nation, so the succession of its title does not require anyone's permission.
[Everything in the North belongs to Zervan]
True to its prestige, the succession of the Count's title was held informally within the Zervan family.
A signature had also been sent to the kingdom, so from now on, Kallius was a Count.
"Should I call you Count-nim instead of Lord-nim now?"
"Call me whatever is comfortable."
A title is just a title.
He inherited the title, but he still had no desire to rule the North.
Because of that, he only inherited the title.
He did not become the official head of the family.
It took quite a long time to persuade Elberton, but he eventually received the title.
Now, even if he goes to the Order, they won't be able to harass him with unnecessary interrogations.
Even when acting as an Inquisitor, the title of Count would provide many advantages.
"Shall I bring out the carriage?"
"No, let's ride horses."
There was also Humasis's saddle.
He had no fear of riding a horse.
The road to the Black Forest was not flat, so a horse was better than a carriage.
Going to the castle's stables, there were fastidious-looking fine horses.
The North was a place with heavy snowfall, so it was a town with more dogs than horses, but horses still existed.
Because the horse is the symbol of a knight.
As soon as he entered the stable, the stableman came out as if he had been waiting and bowed respectfully.
"I'll take that one."
He picked a suitable one.
He looked with his Three-Color Eyes, but there wasn't anything particularly special.
They were all blue.
"I will prepare it."
"Put this saddle on it."
"Excuse me?"
"My exclusive one."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
While waiting for the horse to be prepared.
A woman with flowing red hair approached, acting unnecessarily friendly and clinging to him.
"I heard you're going hunting?"
"...How did you know."
"I have good hearing."
Nonsense.
Because all shadows that fall within the radius of her sword become her ears.
It's the ability of Helena's sword.
"Are you going to follow me?"
"Is that okay?"
"I don't mind."
Anyway, after finishing the hunt, he had to process the byproducts of the Thunder Wolf Dragon.
If it's her, she'd buy the Thunder Wolf Dragon.
"But are you okay?"
"I believe I said I was."
"No. You can't ride a horse."
He flinched, but only for a moment.
Kallius did not lose his composure.
"That was in the past."
"It's famous. A renowned swordsmanship family, the eldest son of a grand noble who can't ride a horse. That's not common."
Ignoring Helena's teasing, Kallius took the reins of the prepared horse.
Putting his foot in the stirrup.
Right before mounting. He took a deep breath.
It was a tense moment.
"Why are you so nervous about just riding a horse?"
Ignoring her mockery, he mounted in one go, and the horse neighed "Hiinng-!"
It instantly raised its front legs and caused a fuss, but Kallius's horsemanship had already advanced.
This level of struggle was laughable.
"Whoa, whoa."
He firmly grasped the reins at once, balanced himself, and calmed the horse.
He broke into a slight cold sweat fearing he might fall off embarrassingly, but it was a success.
He smiled faintly, and Helena laughed, saying it was cute how he looked so proud.
What an obnoxious woman.
"There's no need to follow me hunting."
"Are you sulking?"
"You'd better see a doctor. If you're having such delusions, it might be a mental illness."
When he said it fiercely, she let out a laugh of disbelief.
"What a dry tone. You said you're going to the Order after the hunt anyway, right? I'm on the way too, so let's go together. And since I came all the way to the North, I can't just work and go back. I'm a Northerner, so give me a tour."
"Suit yourself."
He turned the reins and passed through the castle gate.
Along the way, the territory's residents bowed their heads toward Kallius.
Some children waved their hands rudely, but Kallius ignored them.
"That's unexpected."
"What is."
"You, when the children acted rudely, you used to draw your sword first and lecture that 'educating the lower class is a natural duty of the nobles,' didn't you?"
"...That was in the past."
"They say people change when they're about to die, you're not sick or something, are you?"
"If you're going to spout nonsense, leave."
"Ah. Over there, that kid."
Looking in the direction Helena was staring.
Among the gathered crowd.
He saw a familiar girl.
"Hey, hey. That's your daughter. Don't tell me you didn't even greet her? You're leaving today and won't be back for a while."
"You'd better not make a habit of eavesdropping on others like a rat."
"Calling a lady a rat... you're really too harsh."
Leaving the grumbling Helena behind.
Kallius glanced at Emily, who was staring quietly.
Emily held a sword in her hand.
The sword Kallius had given her.
Renowned Sword - Lucen.
What should he say?
Or should he at least wave his hand?
But neither words nor his hand would easily move. It was still extremely awkward, and he didn't know what to say.
Then.
Emily jumped out from among the crowd. Silver divine power enveloped her, and she swung her sword at Kallius in one breath.
Taeng-!
A sudden surprise attack.
However, Kallius calmly received Emily's sword.
The startled horse reared its front legs and caused a fuss, but Kallius did not fall off.
"What are you doing."
As expected of Kallius's daughter.
Her actions were exactly like his.
"If you're leaving, you should say you're leaving. Why are you going without a word."
She raised her sword above her head once more and charged. With a single stride, Emily leaped as high as her own height and attacked toward Kallius's head.
A swordsmanship so precise and erratic that one couldn't think of her as a child.
With a single leap, she shook the tip of her sword endlessly, forcing four attacks.
Fast and ever-changing.
'She's already at this level.'
Perhaps she learned from watching Kallius's sword, her skills had improved.
A sword mixed with swiftness and variation.
It was Kallius's swordsmanship.
Against Emily's attack, Kallius responded with an honest, straightforward sword in contrast.
Block, and thrust.
The simple but heavy mid-sword stopped the tip of Emily's blade.
An offense and defense that unfolded in just a single exchange.
The gathered crowd was astonished by the child's swordsmanship, and even more surprised by Kallius's calm reception of it.
Completely forgetting the fact that father and daughter were crossing swords, they were captivated by the sword dance the two displayed.
Even against Emily's continuous strikes, Kallius blocked and thrust with minimal movement.
When he accurately thrust at the center of Lucen, Emily fell helplessly from the air and landed.
Silence lingered in the open space.
"Take it."
Toss.
"What is it."
"It's a holy stone. Take it. I'll give you a new sword next time we meet."
"This sword is enough."
"Is that so."
"……."
"……."
Silence fell between the two.
Kallius just quietly looked down at Emily, and Emily also lowered her sword and looked up at him.
Soon, Emily opened her mouth first.
"...When will you be back."
"When the time comes."
"...Okay."
For a conversation between a father and daughter, it was excessively dry, but Helena found the corners of her mouth rising as she looked at them.
Perhaps like a daughter and father who couldn't be honest with each other.
For some reason, the two of them felt a sense of satisfaction.
"You really can't be honest, can you. You could just say something sweet like 'I'll be back soon' or 'Wait for me.'"
"Giddyup."
Kallius ignored Helena and pulled the reins.