Sword Pilgrim

"The news that Miss Emily is master's daughter has spread far and wide."

"Is that so…"

Despite Bruns' words, Callius was quietly preparing to go out.

He was in the process of putting on his armour, made of lightweight leather.

Although it appeared modest at first glance, because it was Callius wearing it, he still looked like a highborn aristocrat.

It was an artifact taken from the treasury.

「Enos' Light Chainmail[1]」.

The chains were sewed inside the armour, making it sturdy yet light.

Callius' swordsmanship emphasized the swift sword style, mixed with unpredictable changes.

So he wasn't fond of heavy plate armour.

He usually made do with simple leather armour, but this time he'd found a suitable armour in the treasure vault and brought it out.

It was light and didn't restrict his movements, yet surprisingly sturdy and resistant to various types of damage.

Why so, was clear.

The enos were a species of demonic beasts. The chains sewed into the armour were made by harvesting the hard mineral growths on their backs.

The leather was also from the enos, hence the artifact was called Enos' Light Chainmail.

Callius had already confirmed that normal carcass swords couldn't even leave a scratch on it.

At least his injuries wouldn't be as serious as before from now on.

"Are you alright?"

"It's none of your business."

Emily was his daughter in truth, so it didn't matter if that fact was revealed.

He'd just never found the right timing to reveal it himself.

"People will start approaching Miss Emily."

"She's a smart kid. She can take care of herself."

Even if they approached –

They wouldn't dare do her any harm.

Was she not the daughter of the future Lord of the North?

Of course, there would be some with bad intentions.

‘Elburton will take care of it.'

Emily was his granddaughter.

There was nothing about the child that might make him unhappy.

Unlike Callius himself, she'd thrive under his shadow.

"Aren't you going to meet her at least?"

"It'll happen in its own time."

Although he said that, the word "father" from his daughter was still very awkward to hear.

‘At least everybody knows she's my daughter, so there's that.'

The child was no longer forced to keep her lips sealed and could openly call her father, ‘father', so that had to be enough for now.

Callius was the heir to the North, and in time, he would become its master.

She'd lived such a hard life so far, wouldn't it better to live in a bit more comfort?

"Oh, one more thing."

"What?"

As he finished putting the armour on, Callius grasped at the empty air and took out a cloak.

His favourite, the Cloak of Twilight.

Wearing it on top of the armour gave him the image of a fashionable knight.

"You said the arrangements about Rivan and Rinney were being entrusted to you."

"Well. They've been handed over to me, yeah."

‘Arrangements'. The arrangements about the son and daughter of a traitor.

Slowly, all these troublesome things were being thrown his way.

‘What would my knights think?'

It seemed that Elburton was trying hard to educate his successor.

What a bother.

"What are you going to do?"

Callius didn't know about Rivan, but Rinney would grow into an excellent knight.

She would not only become a strong guardian of the North, if nurtured properly, she might rise even higher.

Because Rinney's eyes were special.

"There's nothing to arrange. Just leave them alone."

Of course, their lives would now be different from before.

As the children of a traitor, they'd have to suffer through innumerable glares from their surroundings.

But even so, there was no reason for Callius to help. This was an obstacle they'd have to overcome on their own.

"Did you prepare a forge?"

"Yeah. Dexter might die of happiness if he sees it. It's better than that place he's got at Tristar."

Callius was leaving the broken sword behind.

Dexter would take care of reforging, repairing, or whatever else was needed once he arrived.

Of course, having it repaired would be nice, but if that wasn't possible, Callius would just have to live with that.

Even without the Strong Sword, he had many others, so it was enough to just find another good sword again.

‘Starting from spirit swords, they don't disappear even if they break, so it's feasible to break one up and make an artifact.'

Callius already had four swords in hand.

The more swords, naturally the better, but he didn't have too urgent a need at the moment.

It was a completely different mindset from when he'd been lugging a single life sword around.

"Hmm."

Callius took out all four swords from subspace.

Two swords had their own scabbards.

The other two, did not.

『Predator Sword – Loas』.

『Thunderbolt Sword – Rakan』.

『Judgment Sword – Medea』.

『Tyrant Sword – Karaktu』.

Just looking at them made one feel satisfied.

After contemplating for a moment, Callius tore out some fabric from the subspace and wrapped it around both the Judgment Sword and the Thunderbolt Sword.

Hanging the two of them in the notches on the belt at his waist, he put all the prepared food and items into the subspace.

"I'm ready."

"It's sad if you've got nothing to do."

With the advent of subspace, the need for a porter had disappeared. Bruns was sad as a result, but that was none of Callius' business.

"Stop spouting nonsense and start. We have a long way to go."

He'd already spent more time than expected.

It'd been a few days since Helena's arrival.

A short succession ceremony had already been held.

Usually, the succession ceremony of an aristocratic title of the Carpe Kingdom required an audience with the king, but the four great noble titles were somewhat special.

And the one in the North, even more so.

Since the northern lands had sovereignty similar to an independent state, the title succession did not require anyone else's permission.

"Everything in the North belongs to Jervain."

True to the saying, the succession ceremony for the count's title had been held in a short and quick manner by the Jervain family.

Since the signed paperwork had also been sent to the capital, Callius was now a count.

"Should I call you count now, instead of master?"

"Do whatever you feel comfortable with."

A job was just a job.

He'd indeed inherited the title, but he had no desire to rule the North yet.

Therefore, he'd merely inherited the title.

He didn't complete the formalities of succeeding as the patriarch.

It'd taken him quite a while to convince Elburton, but he'd gotten the title in the end.

Now even if he went to the Church, they wouldn't bother him with an interrogation.

Even for somebody working as a heretic inquisitor, a count title conferred many advantages.

"Should I bring a carriage?"

"No, I'll ride a horse."

He now had the Saddle of Humasys.

So Callius didn't fear horseback riding anymore.

The road to the Black Forest was pretty bumpy, so a horse was a better choice than a carriage.

Callius moved towards the stable inside the castle, which housed horses that were famously picky.

It snowed a lot in the North, so it was a place full of woolly dogs, but horses still had their place.

Because horses symbolized knights.

As they entered the stable, the stablemaster came out and politely bowed his head.

"Hmm, let's go with that one."

Callius picked one suitably modest horse.

Nothing special showed up under the Tricolour Eye.

It was all blue.

"I'll prepare it."

"Use this for the saddle."

"Yes?"

"It's only for my own use."

"Oh, yes. I see."

While they waited for the horse to be ready –

A read-headed woman fluttered close, pretending to be friendly.

"You're going hunting?"

"… How did you know?"

"I've got sharp ears."

Bullshit.

Rather, all the shadows within the reach of her sword became her ears.

Such was the ability of Helena's sword.

"Are you going to follow me?"

"Is that alright?"

"It doesn't matter."

After all, after the hunt finished, he'd have to dispose of the corpse and materials of the thunder wolf dragon.

Helena would just be able to buy it from him.

"But are you going to be fine?"

"I said it's fine.”

"No, I mean, you can't ride horses."

Callius was startled, but only for a moment.

He didn't lose his composure.

"It's a thing of the past."

"You're famous for it. The eldest son of a great noble house, famous for swordsmanship, who can't ride a horse. It's not common."

Ignoring Helena's teasing, Callius took the reins of the horse that'd been prepared.

He put one foot on the stirrup.

Before going up, he took a deep breath.

It was a tense moment.

"It's just a horse, what're you so nervous about?”

Ignoring her ridicule, he hauled himself up on the horse with a hiyaaah!

It raised its front legs up for a moment, but Callius' riding skills had already improved.

This kind of a small kick was laughable to him now.

"Hey, woah."

He grabbed the reins tight and calmed the horse down, keeping his balance.

He was sweating a little because of his fear of falling off, but the operation was a success.

As he smiled softly, Helena laughed, saying that he looked cute when he was proud.

This woman sucked.

"You don't have to follow me to the hunt."

"Did you get upset?"

"You'd better see a doctor. Those kinds of thoughts might be a symptom of some mental illness."

Helena waved away his savage words with a peal of laughter.

"What a bleak tone. Aren't going to the Church after the hunt anyway? I'm going the same way, so let's go together. I came all the way to the North, how can I just run back to work? I'm not a native, so some sightseeing would be nice."

"As you please, then."

Tugging at the reins, Callius moved towards the castle gates.

Along the way, the residents bowed their heads toward Callius when they saw him.

The children rudely waved their hands, but Callius simply ignored them.

"It's surprising."

"What do you mean?"

"A noble should draw his sword and educate the lower classes when they behave as rudely as those children. Didn't you try to teach me that?"

"… That's a thing of the past."

"They say people change only when they're about to die. You aren't sick or anything, right?"

"If you're going to keep chattering uselessly, just leave."

"Ah. See, that kid over there."

Callius glanced at the direction Helena was looking.

Among the gathered crowd –

A familiar girl appeared.

"Hey, hey. It's your daughter. You didn't even go see her, did you? Even though you're leaving today and won't be back for a while."

"You'd be better off without that rat-like hobby of eavesdropping."

"Calling a lady a rat… you're way too harsh."

Leaving behind the grumbling Helena –

Callius neared Emily who was staring at him.

Emily had a sword in her hand.

The sword that Callius had given her.

Life Sword – Lucen.

Should he say something?

Wave his hand, perhaps?

But he did neither. It still felt awkward, and he didn't know what to say.

That was then –

Emily surged out of the crowd. The silver glow of divine power enveloped her as she swung her sword at Callius.

Taeeeng–!

It was a sudden surprise.

However, Callius calmly received Emily's sword.

The startled horse again kicked up its forelegs and made a fuss, but Callius didn't fall off.

"What are you doing?"

She was indeed Callius' daughter.

Her actions so closely resembled his.

"If you're going, you could've just told me. Why didn't you?"

Once again, she raised her sword overhead and charged. Emily, jumping up to his own height with a single bound, struck at Callius' neck.

A sword so sophisticated and changeable that one couldn't even think of it as a child's.

Within that one leap, she swung the tip of the sword into four consecutive attacks.

Swift, and changeable.

‘Already at this level?'

After seeing Callius' swordsmanship, her skill had risen.

A sword continuously advancing yet comingling with countless transformations.

It was Callius' own swordsmanship.

To Emily's attack, Callius, on the contrary, responded straightforwardly.

A simple block and a simple stab.

The simple yet heavy response stopped Emily's blade cold.

The battle spanned this single exchange.

The gathered crowd were first surprised by the child's swordsmanship, and then even more by the calm swordsmanship of Callius in receiving it.

They completely forgot the fact that a pair of father and daughter were wielding their swords against each other, and their eyes were drawn instead to the dance of swords being performed.

Despite Emily's repeated attacks, Callius blocked and countered with minimal movements.

When he precisely hit Lucen's centre, Emily fell back from the air and landed.

Silence lingered in the empty space between the two.

"Take it."

Teok.

"What?"

"It's a sacred stone. Take it. Next time I see you, I'll give you a new sword."

"The sword I've got is enough."

"Is that so?"

"…"

"…"

Silence fell again between the two.

Callius just looked down at Emily, and Emily lowered her sword and looked up at him.

Then Emily, spoke first.

"… When are you coming back?"

"When the time comes."

"… Okay."

The words they exchanged felt far too bleak for a conversation between a father and a daughter, but when Helena looked at the two, the corners of her lips curved up for some reason.

So this father and daughter couldn't be honest with other?

But the pair of them still somehow looked happy.

"Why can't you be more honest? You aren't coming back anytime soon, or just be a bit more kind and ask her to wait."

"Hiyaa!"

Ignoring Helena again, Callius tugged at the reins.

Editor's Notes:

[1] ?? ?? (lit. chain light armour). This is usually an oxymoron, because medieval chainmail – made by sewing metal chains on top of leather armour – is not light armour but rather medium armour. The text emphasizes this is a leather armour, with chains hidden inside the leather. Hence calling it ‘light chainmail'.

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