Chapter 142

〈 Chapter 143 〉 Reedval Mansion (3)

*

“The study is quite spacious.”

It wasn’t an empty statement.

The Reedval Family’s study was indeed larger than one would expect given the size of the mansion.

At this, the head of the family smiled bittersweetly and replied.

“Yes, since our mansion is outside the royal castle. It’s difficult to visit the library inside the castle. However, books can be quite expensive, so there probably aren’t many recent publications. Most of them are ancient texts handed down from our ancestors.”

Ancient texts, huh.

I thought it might not be a bad idea to read some later.

But that would be after saving the Leim Kingdom.

‘Actually, there are likely more ancient texts around the Central Sea System.’

Ultimately, the information I needed right now was very specific.

The last knight of the Leim Kingdom.

The story of Libero.

‘Libero…’

Just as I was recalling him for a moment…

“Here it is.”

The head of the family retrieved a book from a corner.

Elsie, meanwhile, had already taken out a few books and was reading them.

“However, the stories related to the last knight will come up around the middle.”

“Thank you.”

I accepted the book from the head of the family and opened it.

But I couldn’t help but frown.

“The writing…”

It didn’t mean it was badly written.

It was just that some of the characters were different from the ones I knew.

The head of the family seemed to understand this as well and said, “Ah, now that I think about it, this book contains quite a bit of the kingdom’s archaic language… Could you hand it to me for a moment?”

Reluctantly, I handed her the book.

She flipped through a few pages and said, “I remember the general content. I read this book several times with my sister when we were younger. So, should I summarize it for you?”

Summarize.

As much as I would have liked to read the book thoroughly, given its thickness, I’d say it was impossible to finish it in one day.

Plus, it seemed the book contained more than just Libero’s story.

“Yes, please do.”

She then began speaking about the last knight.

“He was originally supposed to be part of the Royal Knights. His father was also a member of the Royal Knights. But since his encounters with the princess were too frequent, the royal family expelled his father to the Black Knights.”

“Is that princess the Nameless King?”

“Yes, that princess would later become the Nameless King. Therefore, while this book doesn’t mention her name or appearance, there are suspicions that the last knight continued to meet the princess while being part of the Black Knights.”

The story continued, and at last, it reached the era of ‘Chaos.’

“At the time when chaos was approaching the kingdom, the kingdom internally split. There were the pro-queen faction that insisted on resisting to the end as advocated by the Nameless King, and the faction that wanted to abandon the kingdom as soon as possible.”

The queen could not force the pro-faction to stay in the kingdom and eventually allowed them to leave.

Thus, excluding the Royal Knights, only the Enemy Knights, White Knights, and Black Knights remained in the kingdom.

Those who remained in the kingdom fought desperately against the invasion of the Chaos Beasts.

“Before chaos struck, the Enemy Knights were at the forefront. In particular, the Rose Sword wielded by the head of the family at that time could be considered the only hope of the Leim Kingdom. The previous king, who could wield the Royal Sword, was already too old to remain on the throne, and the Nameless King had no talent in martial arts.”

However, in addition to the Enemy Knights, there was one more knight on the battlefield.

“The last knight. While it was said that the hope of the Leim Kingdom lay with the head of the Reedval Family, in reality, he must have slain the most Chaos Beasts. This is certain since it’s a record left by the head who stood on the front lines with him.”

He had slayed an unbelievable number of Chaos Beasts.

“At that time, the sun rose and set in the Leim Kingdom. Yet the last knight fought tirelessly against the Chaos Beasts day and night, collapsing from exhaustion when he finally fell asleep, and when he regained consciousness, he returned to battle again.”

It continued even as chaos approached the very doorstep of the Leim Kingdom.

He continued to slay Chaos Beasts.

“He struck where swords couldn’t reach. He struck what should not be able to be struck. Yet chaos could not be struck down. The head of the family seemed to realize that the last knight’s body was undergoing changes. Considering from today’s perspective, it must have been the accumulation of chaos.”

The accumulation of chaos.

Now, being inside a barrier, I was safe, but most people would accumulate chaos in their bodies just by being near it.

And the moment that accumulated chaos surpassed the threshold…

“The last recorded state of our ancestor was not so favorable. Therefore, the fact that he rampaged due to chaos was not known to the public. However, it seems he was engulfed by chaos but took dozens of Chaos Beasts with him. That must have shown incredible willpower.”

That will was likely due to the promise with the Nameless King.

And I could start to guess the content of the promise, which I had rather vaguely thought was just a matter of granting my descendant’s wish.

‘Whether Libero slayed chaos or not, the Nameless King would sacrifice his existence to save the Leim Kingdom.’

This was why Libero was so desperate.

He had held onto swordsmanship so tightly that he even forgot why he was trying to reach the end of swordsmanship.

But in the end, he could not slay chaos.

“He ultimately disappeared beyond chaos. That is the end of his story.”

In fact, the story I knew was not the end.

But the end I knew wasn’t much different either.

He had not reached the end of swordsmanship even after 500 years and had not slain chaos.

‘But…’

There was one thing that was different.

He disappeared, yet his swordsmanship had not completely vanished.

I had inherited his swordsmanship and carried on his will.

“The end of swordsmanship lies in will…”

Those were the words he left me.

“Pardon?”

At my muttering, the head of the family tilted her head and looked at me, and I shook my head.

“No, I just remembered something someone once said. I’ve heard enough about the last knight. This should be sufficient.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

She closed the book and looked at me warmly.

More precisely, it seemed she was looking at Elsie behind me.

Elsie was deeply engrossed in a book, though I had no idea what it was.

“That over there is my sister’s disciple. You are my sister’s companion, right?”

She scrutinized me for a moment before speaking.

“Well, she has always been quite strict with her expression.”

“Excuse me?”

“Of course, her standards for skill were even higher.”

She was smiling joyfully.

“My sister… was not particularly lucky. The Stigma manifested in her.”

“What does that mean?”

“The Rose Stigma. It bestows incredible talent but curses, causing physical growth to stop and drastically shortening lifespan. If she can find the Rose Sword, her physical growth might occur, but the faster she grows, the shorter her lifespan.”

“But what do you mean by she was not particularly lucky?”

I was a bit puzzled.

Due to Gwen’s tendency to leave her family and travel the world, other members of the family barely appeared in the story, and most didn’t possess the Rose Emblem.

Even the head of the family was like that.

“Typically, Stigmas are inherited through blood, and thus other families often try to guard their bloodlines. In the royal family, incest was common until the current king. However, our family had to desperately dilute this cursed bloodline. No matter how much devilish talent one possessed, and even if one became capable of using the mighty Rose Sword, there would be no happiness to be found.”

Beneath her happy expression lay an undercurrent of bitterness.

“We tried everything possible. We sought out various bloodlines across the world for marriage. Fortunately, those efforts bore fruit, as now in the Reedval Family, the proper Rose Stigma hardly manifests. They may have slightly shorter lifespans, but they can give birth, raise children, and live proper lives. Except for the occasional exception, of course.”

“That would be Miss Gwen.”

“Yes, my sister was not particularly lucky. Everyone in the family thought so. But it seems she was different.”

She did not despair.

Rather, she set out to recover the lost Rose Sword, resolve her own precociousness, and restore her family.

It was during that time of wandering that she and I met at a dilapidated inn of Basilium.

A small frame with long red hair.

And those sharp-looking eyes that seemed to be cold.

As I recalled her appearance when we first met…

“Please take good care of my sister.”

“Well, of course. I intend to be responsible till the end.”

I had also received a lot of help from her.

And now, having properly become companions, I would take that responsibility seriously.

On one hand, I felt a little guilt.

‘I had also insisted on continuing sword training with Gwen in her old age.’

Though she refused, the guilt still lingered.

Of course, it had been Sung Yoo-rang’s idea.

But even for me now, Sung Yoo-rang’s significance was not nonexistent, so I held some responsibility, I suppose.

“May I call you brother-in-law?”

“Pardon?”

At that moment, Elsie, who had been engrossed in her book, turned her head.

A chill of sweat began to run down my back.

“No, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. When I said I would take responsibility, I meant it in a different sense…”

I was desperately trying to explain myself to the head of the family when…

“Well, if it’s the Master, she said she might overlook it once or twice.”

“Elsie? What was that just now?”

I felt like I had misheard something.

But Elsie grinned and shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

Nothing, huh?

It was clear that they must have had some strange conversations when I wasn’t around.

The only moment that could have led to such discussions was during our graduation tournament, and it was unbelievable that they would have had those kinds of conversations in such a short time.

“Could it be…”

The head of the family looked back and forth between me and Elsie and said,

“I must have said something impertinent. I apologize.”

“No, I’m the one who should apologize for saying something that could be misunderstood.”

Thus, the series of commotions came to an end with the head of the family’s apology.

With that, my business at Reedval Mansion was coming to a close.

Before nightfall, I had to buy something delicious and return to the dormitory so Yusera wouldn’t sulk. It was time to leave the mansion.

*

“Well then, it seems we should be heading out slowly.”

Two heroes were leaving the Reedval mansion.

One was the disciple of Gwen, and the other was said to be a companion.

Their arrival was perhaps a stroke of good fortune for the head of the family.

‘She almost lost everyone in the family due to the Nameless Festival.’

What the man had said, introducing himself as Allen Pleuk, a high-ranking hero, was shocking enough.

But he also clearly possessed evidence to back it up, and ultimately, she had no choice but to trust him.

Moreover…

‘That over there…’

Her gaze lingered on the female hero walking alongside the man.

Then, she recalled the pressure that radiated from her.

There was no doubt about the identity of that familiar pressure.

‘It was the Princess…’

She wondered why the princess, who should have been inside the royal castle, had become Gwen’s disciple and was now adventuring as a hero.

Yet the head of the family’s instincts were telling her that she was indeed the princess.

And she had intended to help not only the princess but the royal family from the very start.

‘Yet the princess is the one who decided to trust and help me first.’

What else could it be but a stroke of good fortune?

…No, it was all due to that man.

It would be better to thank him sincerely rather than attributing it to the heavens.

‘Thank you.’

She expressed her gratitude to the man’s back as he moved further away.

*