I quietly steadied my breathing, training sword in hand.
In front of me stood Lady Titania, wearing a serious expression as she gripped her own practice blade.
Her posture, clad in her riding habit and holding a sword, looked so natural.
Yet, unlike her calm expression, the way she occasionally swung her blade betrayed a hint of excitement that was impossible to hide.
She must truly be delighted about this sparring match.
Then, what about me?
I slowly began to observe my own mind.
Thanks to my training with the Chamberlain this afternoon, my body was well warmed up.
The feeling of the practice sword in my hand was also just right.
Somehow, it felt as if the blade fit perfectly in my grip, as if it were made for me.
A refreshing breeze blew.
But above all, I could see Lady Titania’s every movement as if in vivid detail. It was as if someone had retraced her outline with thick, dark ink again and again.
I was in truly peak condition.
“Shall we begin?” Lady Titania asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.
“Of course,” I replied.
“Would you like the first move?”
I shook my head and raised my sword.
Words were unnecessary.
No, more than unnecessary—they would only be a distraction.
Right now, just reading the countless lines radiating from Lady Titania’s body kept me busy enough.
Should I call it a landscape of the mind?
I couldn’t actually see it with my eyes, but I could sense something all the same.
When Lady Titania tilted her sword to the right, I could sense two lines stretching out from that angle.
When she moved it to the left, five lines extended from that side.
When she lifted the blade overhead, a single, clear line appeared.
I traced my sword along the trajectory of that one line, thicker and more vivid than the rest.
Tap!
A brief tingling sensation shot through my hand, but I shook it off immediately.
Again, sliding my sword along the slanted angle, I aimed a thrust at Lady Titania’s shoulder.
No, rather than stabbing, I merely let the sword tip fall gently against her at the last moment.
“Huh?”
And with that, all the lines vanished at once, as if the match had come to an abrupt end.
“It’s over,” I said.
“What just happened?”
Lady Titania’s voice echoed, bewildered.
“Your arm was struck. Instantly.”
The Knight Commander’s voice, too, was thick with surprise.
He must have really expected Lady Titania to win.
“But I didn’t see how the sword moved at all!”
“You didn’t see it?”
From behind me, the Chamberlain muttered, sounding puzzled.
“J-Just one more time!”
Lady Titania cried out urgently.
“My lady, that’s enough…” the Knight Commander tried to stop her, but I shook my head.
“It’s alright. I haven’t even properly warmed up yet. We can go as many rounds as you like, until you’re satisfied.”
With both of us agreeing, there was nothing to be done.
Reluctantly, the Knight Commander stepped back, and Lady Titania raised her sword once more.
At the same time, my senses sharpened again.
Among countless lines, one stood out most clearly.
Truly, today my condition was perfect.
I swung my sword without hesitation.
Six matches.
Undefeated.
I collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
“Are you tired?”
“Haha, I must admit, I lack stamina.”
Well, more than stamina, it’s really an issue of my body’s overall balance.
With each spar, I felt like a part of me was burning energy at an unsustainable rate.
It was as if my unstable body was desperately using up energy to maintain some semblance of balance.
And so, when my energy was finally drained, Lady Titania was still standing, while I lay sprawled on the ground.
Lady Titania looked down at me with a bittersweet expression.
“If anyone saw this scene, they’d think I’d been winning all along.”
“Haha, it’s just a brief stroke of luck.”
“For luck, you were awfully strong.”
I took the hand Lady Titania offered and stood up.
From her expression, it didn’t look like the repeated defeats had upset her at all.
If anything, she looked refreshed, as if a weight had been lifted.
On the other hand, the one whose face was truly a mess was the Knight Commander.
His eyes darted restlessly, unable to properly look at me, the Chamberlain, or the Head Maid, his expression twisted in a complicated mixture of emotions.
What could he do? He was only paying for opening his mouth too recklessly.
As I began to wrap up the match, the Chamberlain called out to me.
“The sword moved ever so slightly ahead of time. Did you see something?”
“I saw something like lines. I just moved my sword in the direction they seemed to go.”
“So, you swung where you saw, and simply blocked it…”
At my words, the Chamberlain and the Head Maid fixed me with serious expressions.
“Did I say something strange?”
“It’s not that. Or perhaps, it is rather strange,” the Chamberlain replied.
“That speed is abnormal,” the Head Maid spoke up.
“Lady Titania said she ‘couldn’t see’ your sword at all. But from where we stood behind you, your movements seemed so slow.”
“It was like swordsmanship that was never meant to block, but simply to flow, attack and defense moving as one.”
“It wasn’t so much a sword technique as just… a line.”
The Chamberlain’s gaze grew grave.
“This ties into the realization I’ve recently gained, and also to the insight Duke Helpion has obtained.”
If that’s the case, I had a vague idea what he meant.
“I guess learning by the side of you both has made me pick up a thing or two by accident.”
“And that’s the problem.”
I tried to joke it off, but the Head Maid shook her head.
“Could a child of 140cm reach a candy jar on a cupboard 160cm high just because they’ve seen an adult do it?”
The meaning was probably different, but depending on the method, it could be possible.
“If they climbed onto a chair, maybe?”
The Head Maid shook her head.
She looked me over and said, “Right now, your body is like rubber—stretching out long limbs by itself without any help. How are you even alive?”
Ouch, that stings.
Duke Helpion, too, had often asked if I was about to die, wondering how I was still alive.
That’s why I’ve been training my body to death lately.
“I hope the Duke wakes up soon,” the Chamberlain said, wrapping up the conversation.
Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long for Duke Helpion to return.
The very next day—
“Chamberlain, Duke Helpion is calling for you.”
Early in the morning, the Head Maid knocked on my door and told me that Duke Helpion had awakened.
“He woke up during the night?”
“Around two in the morning. The Chamberlain was with him. The Duke said not to wake you, as you were sound asleep.”
“You could’ve woken me.”
“While he was coming to terms with his realization, the Chamberlain and I explained what happened. He’s preparing many things now.”
“Has he spoken with the Lady? She seemed to have been waiting eagerly.”
The Head Maid smiled faintly at my question.
“That’s another reason he didn’t wake you at night. The two of them talked together until dawn.”
“All night?”
I couldn’t help but get the wrong idea at that ambiguous nuance.
The Head Maid shook her head as if she understood.
“It was just conversation. In fact, not even much of that. Lady Titania kept asking about swordsmanship, and the Duke happily answered her questions, and that was it.”
Honestly.
Swords, swords, nothing but swords.
And they did that all night?
There are so many things to say—about love, about admiration, about beauty, about being more radiant than moonlight—so many things!
Duke Helpion, you are disqualified as a man.
Thinking so, I hastily got myself ready.
I didn’t even have time to properly wash, just threw on some clothes—couldn’t keep the Duke waiting too long.
Sure enough, I found the Duke waiting for me in the audience chamber, sipping tea.
“Chamberlain, you’ve come.”
“Congratulations, sir.”
“It’s all thanks to you. Have a seat.”
As I sat, I quietly observed the Duke.
His appearance had changed so drastically, he looked almost unrecognizable—not only younger, but more composed as well.
Where he used to stand nearly two meters tall, he was now around 187cm, his robust frame now lean and balanced.
Most of all, he looked much younger. Where he had looked to be in his thirties, now he looked to be in his mid-twenties—his prime.
Even a day after, the Duke was still filled with awe at the enlightenment he had received.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” I said.
“I don’t think words can do it justice. To remember what it feels like to understand, to have the world fall apart and be rebuilt anew. I’ve received a great blessing.”
I could feel the sincerity in the Duke’s voice.
“No, I didn’t really do anything. I just offered a few words here and there.”
“For a man dying of thirst, a sip of water is worth more than the most dazzling jewel. To me, your words were even more precious than that.”
You’re embarrassing me, praising me like that to my face.
“The old man is gone, and Lady Titania paid a visit while I was out. I hear the items she ordered are arriving one by one. If she’d come a bit later, I could’ve hosted her more properly.”
“I heard you did a great favor for the old man, too. Not to mention, you let me save face through the duel.”
“If you can call it saving face…”
The Duke shook his head, as if he could guess the truth.
“The Head Maid was very insistent. She said your growth is abnormal and that something must be done.”
Ahaha, that’s a bit embarrassing.
Not only the Duke, but so many capable retainers of the Duchy worry about my well-being.
Sometimes, receiving this level of attention—a kindness I never knew at the academy—leaves me feeling as if I’m dreaming, unsure if it’s real.
When I feel their sincere concern, a ticklish warmth fills the center of my chest, and I can never quite get used to it.
“First things first, I should reward your contribution to my enlightenment. Take this.”
The Duke handed me a prepared document.
I took it, curious, and nearly dropped it in surprise.
“It’s only symbolic, since I’m a Duke without a proper territory. I can’t give you a grand title, but I can at least grant you the rank of Count. So, I’ve arranged this.”
It was an appointment letter conferring upon me the title of Count.
[De Helpion, as Duke, hereby exercises his rightful authority to accept the Gordem family as vassals, appointing Laward Gordem as its head and conferring upon him the rank of Count.]
I had never even considered a Viscountcy or Barony, and now I was to become a Count, skipping several ranks entirely.
It was such a sudden promotion, I was more dumbfounded than overjoyed.
And, this was a title conferred directly by Duke Helpion himself.
It was as if the Duke had proclaimed to the world that he stood behind me.
That wasn’t the only gift.
“I can’t very well keep a Count as my Chamberlain. From today, your position is not Chamberlain, but Consultant General. And one more thing.”
One more thing?
The Duke smiled and went to the corner of the audience chamber, retrieving a long sword in a red scabbard.
“Take this. It’s Hellfire, the sword I used before I obtained Stormbringer.”
Hellfire—the flames of hell.
The moment I grasped the sword, I understood the terrifying nature behind the name.
From the hilt, I felt a surge of immense heat threatening to devour my hand, only for it to subside immediately.
“It seems the sword has accepted you as its new master. Good.”
“‘Accepted me as master’—wait, is this sword an Ego Sword?”
Hold on, wait a second.
With Duke Helpion heaping all these things on me, I felt like I was being swept along without time to react.
This was too much, so much that it snapped me to my senses.
The Duke smiled at my bewilderment.
“It’s not an Ego Sword with a clear consciousness, no. Just a fine Artifact, really. Rumor has it an ancient Spirit is sealed within, but that’s never been proven. Draw the blade and see for yourself.”
At the Duke’s suggestion, I drew the sword.
The blade shimmered with a silvery brilliance, every inch of the blade inscribed with runes as if each letter had been painstakingly carved by a master craftsman.
These were the Fairy’s Blessings, said to have disappeared four hundred years ago.
‘To the one who wields the blade in their heart, the flame shall light the path.’
This was no crude imitation, but a true benediction, completed with sincere intent.
Which meant this sword was made more than four centuries ago, and yet, looking over the blade, there was no sign of rust or wear.
A sword beyond compare.
“Is it really alright to give me such a sword?!”
“I have a beloved blade that’s suited to me. No matter how fine a weapon is, if left unused it will be nothing but a wall decoration, as it was until now.”
No, the strange thing is that you hung such a sword on the wall as a decoration in the first place.
A sword of this caliber could fetch at least a million gold if sold!
“The Chamberlain and Head Maid explained in detail how you defeated Lady Titania, enough to draw a picture. You are already forging your own path as a swordsman. It’s only fitting you have a worthy weapon.”
“I’m not really much of a swordsman yet. My body’s still all out of balance, I fall over easily, and…”
Duke Helpion’s expression grew serious.
“I need to talk to you about that.”
The sudden heaviness of the mood made my own face stiffen.
Good news and bad news always seem to arrive together.
Now that I’ve been made Consultant General and even received an Ego Sword… Surely he isn’t about to tell me my life is nearly over?
“When I first saw your body, I thought the imbalance could be fixed with exercise and training.”
That’s why I’ve been sweating buckets every day.
“But that’s not the case. Training has had an effect, even in a short time—your body has grown stronger, that’s clear.”
I could only nod at that.
I’ve noticed myself growing sturdier too—I can now carry several thick books at once, for example.
“Yet the imbalance has only grown worse. If the Chamberlain is right, you are growing, but with your imbalance still in place.”
Duke Helpion’s gaze swept slowly over my entire body.
“I didn’t understand before. But now, after my own realization, I think I see. It’s a strange sensation, as if you alone are twisted, existing in a slightly different world from ours.”
Duke Helpion had never said anything like that, not even when he was a Grand Swordmaster.
For something like this to be possible, it could only be the legendary space—Akashic Record.
“Do I need a new training regimen?”
“More than that… I think you need convalescence. You’re to go to the Squaret Duchy.”
A sudden trip to the Squaret Family for recovery?
Would that even count as convalescence?
Duke Squaret is so cantankerous, he’d probably snap at me for showing up.
Thinking this, I looked at the Duke.
He, too, was gazing at me with a puzzled expression.