Chapter 16

〈 Episode 17 〉 Gwen Reedval

*

“Surely the exchange condition was to ask one question I wanted to ask, right?”

“Yes, anything I know.”

That’s true, but…

Could she really want to ask about something other than the relic?

As far as I knew, nothing was more important to Gwen than the relic.

“What if it’s something you don’t know?”

“Then I’ll give you another chance to ask a different question.”

For a moment, I pondered whether that counted as using a chance, but I didn’t want to be too harsh on her.

Regarding the ‘Hundred Braves,’ there wasn’t much I didn’t know.

However, I had no clue what she was planning to ask other than the location of the relic.

‘There can’t be anything more important to Gwen right now than the relic!’

Her family, the Reedval Family, was one of the renowned noble families in the Leim Kingdom—at least until they lost the relic, the Rose Sword.

The relic, the ‘Rose Sword,’ was directly tied to the trait of [Precocious] that had been passed down through the Reedval Family.

The trait [Precocious] halted physical growth in exchange for rapid skill proficiency.

To solve the downside of halted physical growth, the ‘Rose Sword’ was absolutely necessary.

Time passed without finding the sword, and the Reedval Family continued to decline. They could not overcome the limitations of a body that didn’t grow.

In the end, only Gwen Reedval, known as the Rose Knight, remained as the last hope.

The fate of the family rested in her hands.

‘But why is she asking about something other than the location of the Rose Sword?’

That was unthinkable.

If she knew how she felt about the family left in her charge, how she had overcome countless hardships to find the ‘Rose Sword,’ it would be hard to believe.

She was fundamentally warm-hearted, yet she wouldn’t compromise on anything for her family’s sake.

She dedicated everything to finding the ‘Rose Sword,’ even sacrificing her own youth and lifespan.

So why now?

“Then my question is…”

In the next moment, the question Gwen posed to me was something I had never expected.

“You, the Reedval family, right?”

“What?”

What kind of question was that?

“Why do you think that?”

It was true that I had inherited Gwen’s [Rose Emblem].

But there was no element that would stand out about that.

At least that’s what I thought. Until Gwen answered.

“I had my suspicions from the first day I saw you. No, I had a certain degree of conviction that you were related to the Reedval family.”

The first day she saw me?

I recalled that day.

I fought against a bandit, slipped a letter through Gwen’s door frame, and then struck a deal with her.

It was quite a busy day, but I couldn’t tell where she had made her conviction.

“Was it because of the rose emblem on the letter?”

“No.”

I took a shot in the dark with the most suspicious guess, but that wasn’t it.

“That was somewhat helpful, but the decisive part was something else.”

Suddenly, she drew the sword from her waist.

‘Huh?’

And then, out of nowhere, she swung it at me.

Clang

I barely managed to block her attack with the Relic Gravitas Replicant.

“What the…?”

She ignored my words and silently continued her assault.

I also kept defending against her attacks.

‘Something’s off.’

I recalled the swordsmanship she exhibited when battling golems.

Compared to the technique and speed she displayed then, her swordsmanship now was far lacking.

That could only mean one thing.

‘Is she adjusting to my level?’

I didn’t know why, but if that was the case, there was no reason to be scared.

I decided to actively utilize my [Swordsmanship (B)].

As I continued to fend off Gwen’s attacks, I finally spotted an opportunity.

This time, Gwen’s attack came at me with a sharper edge.

But my body, familiar with the feel of [Swordsmanship (B)], had a way to counter that trajectory.

I angled my sword against Gwen’s blade, leveraging my left hand to make a big swing.

‘But…’

Why was Gwen’s sword here?

The very sword I had pushed away was suddenly back in front of me.

Caught up in my counterattack against Gwen, I couldn’t block it in time.

“Haha…”

Gwen’s sword was aimed at my neck.

It was quite threatening, but fortunately, she quickly retracted her blade.

For a moment, I thought I might be able to win, but that was wishful thinking. The difference in stats was undeniable.

“So what’s with this sudden sword fight?”

“Indeed…”

Gwen said, her face full of conviction.

“That swordsmanship, a bit clumsy, but it’s definitely Reedval family swordsmanship. Given you managed to deflect that attack, it resembles what I learned back home.”

‘This swordsmanship is from the Reedval family?’

That was a revelation that shattered my previous understanding.

Until now, I had never seriously considered the skill [Swordsmanship (B)].

Of course, it wasn’t unprecedented for different swordsmanship to exist even with the same level, but I had dismissed it as merely hidden stats.

‘What if it’s not a hidden stat, but really is [Swordsmanship] itself?’

Then it would make sense why performance and compatibility varied depending on whom you inherited it from, even with the same rank of [Swordsmanship].

And my [Swordsmanship (B)] was inherited from Gwen, meaning it was a reflection of her skill.

Gwen recognized that my swordsmanship was essentially hers.

“So what’s the answer? Are you still going to deny it?”

Deny it… It seemed Gwen was already confident that I was connected to the Reedval family. But for me, it was quite the dilemma.

I wasn’t part of the Reedval family.

As I racked my brain about how to respond, it hit me.

‘Speaking of which…’

Gwen’s unexpected question.

Followed swiftly by our swordplay, I had completely forgotten something crucial.

‘Why is she asking this instead of the location of the Rose Sword?’

It didn’t make sense for Gwen to brush aside the issue of the Rose Sword.

If I were a member of the Reedval family, could this issue be resolved?

I directed my thoughts that way and tried to think as quickly as possible.

‘If I were a member of the Reedval family…’

At that moment, I locked eyes with Gwen, who seemed to be expecting an answer from me.

Her face was filled with anticipation but also overlapping with another expression I recognized.

The one I had seen in the past.

‘The expression right before giving up?’

An expression right before she threw in the towel, ready to let everything go.

As I pondered why she wore such a face, I eventually arrived at her reasoning for asking that question.

“Gwen, if you thought I would take on your duties for you… you’re mistaken.”

“What?”

“I’m not part of the Reedval family. I can’t lay my hands on the Rose Sword.”

For Gwen, the task of finding the Rose Sword was an obligation.

An incredibly heavy obligation.

Until now, she had borne it alone, but she had always been searching for a way to escape that responsibility.

And she thought she had finally found a way, only to have it denied.

Gwen’s expression began to crumble.

“Not part of the Reedval family? Don’t lie. Then what about your swordsmanship?”

“I told you before. I learned it from an adventurer. He might have been from the Reedval family.”

“Then how do you know about the Rose Emblem? How did you find out I was looking for the Rose Sword? There’s no explanation other than being from the Reedval family.”

Her usual calm and at times warm demeanor had vanished.

Her despairing expression was so painful to watch, it made me feel sympathy.

But I couldn’t divulge everything.

“I have no obligation to share that with you. After all, whether I’m from the Reedval family was your question, Miss Gwen.”

It seemed Gwen realized that too.

It was indeed true that I wasn’t from the Reedval family.

In that case, she had no choice but to return to her duties.

“I’m sorry… for that.”

She instantly reverted to her original demeanor.

Coldly dedicated to her goal, yet warm inside.

“It’s okay. This was just part of the exchange, so there’s nothing to apologize for.”

In fact, my concern was raised instead.

From the moment I realized she felt burdened by her obligation, she looked incredibly uneasy.

But eventually, I acknowledged that it was simply my misunderstanding.

“But is it fine not to know the location of the Rose Sword?”

“Yeah, anyway, I still have a certain faith in the Divine Seat. So, somehow, it will lead me to the Rose Sword in the end.”

Gwen seemed to have completely given up any lingering doubts about me.

It made me think she was strong.

And she was right. As long as the Player followed the strategies step by step, she would eventually reach the Rose Sword.

As our somewhat intense conversation started to wrap up…

“But hey, can I ask you one more thing? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Since it was optional, there was no reason to refuse.

“Of course.”

“Then you know about the [Precocious] curse placed on our family’s stigma, right? Since you also know about the Rose Sword.”

I nodded.

Up until now, it was a fact I could easily reach with some thought.

“Then tell me. If I were to break the precocity and still have over two years left of my lifespan, until when do I need to break it?”

As I tried to grasp the intent behind that question, she shifted her words.

“More specifically… until when should I lift it if I want to have a child?”

That would have been a question I wouldn’t understand back in the day.

But knowing now that Gwen wished to escape her obligations allowed me to understand completely.

She just wanted to live like a normal woman. To have at least that short amount of time after her obligations ended.

And for her, the benchmark of leading a normal woman’s life was having a child.

I had no choice but to provide an answer.

“Thirty-three. Specifically, by June of 33 years old. After that, you won’t be able to give birth.”

At that, Gwen’s expression brightened with a smile.

A smile that conveyed relief.

Perhaps it was because she had found a concrete goal.

“Thirty-three… so there are only four years left? I think I should hurry up.”

That wouldn’t be something easily accomplished.

From the Divine Seat’s viewpoint, they would want to delay Gwen obtaining the Rose Sword as much as possible to maximize her growth.

But that part was between Gwen and the Divine Seat now. I had no more place to intervene.

Suddenly, I recalled Gwen, whom I had nurtured.

The original owner of the stigma that I had inherited.

Had she harbored similar thoughts as the Gwen standing before me now?

Just a year after acquiring the relic, she lost her youth, becoming unable to fight and locking herself away in her room.

I had commanded her to level up her handicraft skill while she knitted.

Yet even though she had diligently followed my orders up until that point, she resolutely refused that one command, and as a result, her swordsmanship rank ended at S+.

The skill that had come to me was precisely this [Swordsmanship (B)].

I had often regretted that if I had persuaded Gwen to elevate her swordsmanship rank to SS, I could have inherited an even higher rank of swordsmanship.

But I had come to realize that convincing that Gwen back then would have been essentially impossible.

I recalled a line she had said during the story.

It was a line made while gazing at the children playing in the village.

‘If I can no longer fight someday, spending my remaining days in a place like this wouldn’t be too bad.’

It was a trivial wish, yet it had been her only wish.

*