“……Hey, say that again.”
See? I knew this reaction was coming.
“Are you saying you’ll teach me swordsmanship?”
I neither nodded nor answered. For some reason, I really didn’t want to.
Well, sure, it was me who brought it up, but it’s not like I wanted to do it.
At first, I asked the Sword Saint, but got rejected. Then the Sword Saint told me to “try it myself.”
Since it’s coming from the Sword Saint, I was a bit unsure, but I went ahead and asked anyway, and naturally, this was the kind of response I got.
It was only to be expected.
After all, the person in front of me was Lucas, who had actually managed to kill the Sword Saint in the original story.
When it came to swordsmanship, there was no way I, just recently past the novice stage, could teach him.
“You? To me?”
Lucas asked again, looking as if he couldn’t believe it.
Well, did he really need to confirm that so clearly?
I knew how ridiculous my statement was.
Realizing that I was the one saying something so ridiculous, I thought for a moment and then said to Lucas, “W-Well, the Sword Saint told me to—”
That’s right. I decided to put the blame on the Sword Saint.
I mean, why not?
After all, if the Sword Saint said so, isn’t it okay for me to push it off on them?
Originally, giving advice is just like providing a guarantee for that advice, right? Like after-sales service.
Besides, if the Sword Saint didn’t come looking for Lucas directly, he wouldn’t even hear about it, so I chose to go through with this without hesitation.
“The Sword Saint? That old man must’ve lost his marbles.”
Hmm.
If I relay this story as is, won’t the Sword Saint get all fired up and come running?
I was seriously contemplating this when Lucas opened his mouth again.
“……I really don’t get what you’re thinking.”
Right? Exactly.
“…….”
Lucas pondered for a second before speaking again.
“Fine.”
“What?”
That was the first time I made a sound after telling Lucas about the Sword Saint’s words.
“If the Sword Saint said that, it must mean something. There must be a reason behind it, right? Or am I wrong?”
I mean, I actually didn’t know.
“……There should be space for that in this mansion. Just follow me. Let’s see if you really have a way to teach me.”
“No.”
I said this, but I stood up to follow Lucas anyway.
Uh, what’s this?
I just intended to lay the blame on someone, but Lucas strangely seemed persuaded instead.
Still, the people around me, like Alice and Claire, are finally starting to figure out my personality and habits one by one, yet Lucas, who has been with me almost all the time, knows absolutely nothing about me.
Well, I guess the day I understand the lives of those who dedicate themselves to the sword will likely never come in my lifetime.
*
“Okay. Then—”
Lucas stood facing me with his sword, showing an expression that clearly said he wasn’t particularly keen on this.
I tightened my grip on my sword and looked straight at him.
I was bracing myself for Lucas to charge at me instantly—
“……Nah.”
Lucas lowered his sword.
No, he didn’t just lower it; he basically just dropped it on the ground.
“Let’s stop.”
What the heck?
Those words almost made it out of my mouth, but I managed to hold back.
“……Was that all you needed to say?”
“That was it.”
At my words, Lucas shrugged, brushed past me, and said,
“Seriously, what a foolish thing to say. That Sword Saint must’ve really lost it. How about recommending him to a nursing home?”
But even as he hurled those curses, he didn’t look back at me, making me feel a little strange.
I quietly observed Lucas’s retreating figure.
His hands were slightly trembling.
……What’s this?
I tilted my head in confusion and followed behind Lucas.
*
“Isn’t it guilt?”
The next day.
While watching the Gryphon eat, Alice asked me that.
“Guilt? About Lucas?”
With an indifferent expression, Lucas was dealing death without a care, as if he could easily take his own life. He had even attacked me, his fellow sibling, several times.
Most of those attacks were successful. While he may not have cut my neck outright, he did slice into my thigh, almost to the bone, exposed my insides several times, pierced my lung leaving me breathless, and made my arm drop to the floor…
Guess I really endured a lot.
Most of the time, I was able to rewind time before feeling the pain, so the damage wasn’t as severe as it could have been. They say if you suffer a major injury, the brain releases chemicals to buy time before you go into shock. It’s somewhat like that principle.
“So, is that not it?”
Alice asked again.
“Lucas…… well, he did point his sword at us, but he must have thought of you as a sibling, in his own way. He was the one who brought you here.”
“That’s true.”
He chose me over Claire because he thought I seemed more interesting.
In a way, he was actually a key player in how we managed to win our fight against the Emperor. Of course, it wasn’t something he intended at all.
“And…… since he chose you, he probably has some affection too. At least, that’s how I see it.”
“Lucas seemed flustered every time he called me.”
I admitted that willingly.
“Whew?”
The Gryphon lifted its head and looked at me.
“That was a long time ago.”
As I said this to the Gryphon, it tilted its head a bit before burying its face back in its food bowl.
It was a bowl filled with fresh raw meat.
It’s as if it’s almost a dog, except for the eating part. Hmm, better not talk about this in front of it just in case. It seems to understand human speech almost completely.
“Do you know how much fun it was for you to be between Jayden and Lucas? To be honest, I was a bit jealous. I tried to act annoyed to not let you know.”
“…….”
“Jayden praises every single thing you do as beautiful, while Lucas, pretending to gag, tries to distance himself from you. Honestly, if it weren’t for Father’s intentions, I would think you two were like a painting of siblings.”
“……You were jealous?”
“A bit?”
When I asked back, Alice said,
“Which is why Lucas…… probably holds a lot of guilt toward you. Much deeper than you might think. Maybe the Master sent you here for that reason?”
“……Really?”
“Yup. So, if you two can properly spar with each other, then that means you’ve restored your relationship.”
Thinking back on it, Alice’s words made sense.
I pressed my forehead and let out a long sigh.
“Then I wish I could’ve heard that from the start.”
“Well, that’s how a Master is.”
Alice said while scratching the Gryphon’s head.
“The point is, don’t leave it to others; solve it yourself. If not, it won’t mean anything.”
……Hmm.
But the problem is that Lucas absolutely won’t take hold of a sword in front of me.
As I quietly watched Alice petting the Gryphon, realization hit me.
Wait, why is he so willing to lower his head without me even needing to use honorifics?
*
Alright. I came up with a plan.
First off, if Lucas feels guilt toward me, that means he won’t let me die while I’m around him. There’s no reason for someone with guilt over not having killed me to actually go and kill me.
So, that means I can be a bit annoying beside him without worry.
What I thought of was ‘imitating the younger version of Lucas.’
Back in the day when Lucas first brought me to the Imperial Palace, he slashed his sword at me.
Of course, that was more of a form of reverence from the gods towards Baldr in Norse mythology.
Whatever way Lucas attacked me, I knew ahead of time and dodged. Naturally, Lucas was swinging his sword, assuming I would dodge.
That was why I never actually lost my head in one fell swoop.
But the difference from Baldr is that while Baldr could never die or be injured, my body was sliced through like pudding. What else could you expect from a child’s body? Besides, the sword Lucas wielded at the time was one of the finest.
As for that fact I should have completely forgotten, since Lucas recalled it, it’s now my turn to pay him back.
“……Ha!”
When Lucas was taking a stroll in the mansion’s backyard, I suddenly leaped out from behind a tree and swung a wooden sword at the back of his head.
Naturally, Lucas dodged that attack so easily it made me wonder why I even tried.
“……What are you doing, you?”
Lucas asked in disbelief, but I just put away my sword casually and turned back.
“No, seriously, what is it?”
I heard Lucas’s voice asking me from behind.
Right? Honestly, I don’t even know exactly what I’m trying to accomplish with this.
But… still, I couldn’t just do nothing.
Because I didn’t want to end things like this.
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