“……My little brother isn’t that friendly with me.”
“…….”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
It was true that I had deliberately kept my distance from Arwin.
“Well, this is awkward.”
So all I could do was scratch my head with an awkward smile.
Of course, I wasn’t flustered.
Because Arwin’s current reaction was exactly what I had intended.
Nothing good would come of her realizing that I really was Sigmund.
So I decided to become an illusion.
An illusion created by the Sanctuary, and the ‘final objective’ of this Trial.
“You caught me?”
I adjusted my grip on my sword with a thin, vicious smile.
Arwin immediately went on guard as well and put some distance between us.
“……I’ve heard that illusions can appear in a Trial. You must be one of those illusions too.”
“Aren’t you being a little too certain?”
“No, I’m right. Because illusions in a Trial exist to stab at whatever hurts the challenger.”
“…….”
Whatever hurt, huh.
Is that what I am to Arwin right now?
……Well, of course I am.
I admit it.
Accepting Arwin as my older sister was my duty.
By anyone’s reckoning, she and I were siblings by blood, and she cared for me as her younger brother.
It was a task entirely mine to resolve.
I didn’t deny that.
I couldn’t keep letting the guilt from my previous life control me forever and burden Arwin with it.
So.
‘Let’s make this the start.’
Trying to change everything at once isn’t good.
What matters is the resolve to change itself.
- Will you take my hand?
I still don’t know.
Whether I’m truly worthy of being the Commander’s younger brother.
That isn’t something I can easily answer or decide.
“Come.”
That was why, this time, I decided to do things my way.
Arwin needed to become stronger.
Stronger than she had been in my previous life.
And.
‘Stronger than she is now.’
For that, I was willing to play the villain as much as necessary.
It was something I was more accustomed to than anything else.
And the moment I made that decision.
THUD.
I became ‘Number One.’
The First Young Master’s hunting dog, and the finest assassin who would stop at nothing to carry out an order.
“……?!”
Arwin flinched at the sudden change in my presence.
I looked at her for a moment with emotionless eyes, then raised my sword.
“You’ll have to give it your all.”
Because I have no intention of making this easy, Commander.
***
“Well.”
Deckard, who was watching the siblings’ duel from atop a distant tree, let out a sound of admiration.
“The atmosphere around him has changed completely. He feels more like an assassin than a knight.”
“…….”
“To think he can suppress his presence this perfectly…… Frankly, it is impressive.”
He shook his head.
Even he could not conceal his presence that perfectly.
“Your Highness?”
When the Grand Duke gave no answer, Deckard glanced toward him.
The Grand Duke stood with his arms folded, his eyes fixed solely on Sigmund.
“He put some thought into this.”
“Put some thought into it…….”
Deckard tilted his head.
“It certainly seems like a good plan, since he can effectively help the young lady through her Trial…….”
“Surely a man of your caliber noticed?”
“…….”
At the Grand Duke’s words, Deckard’s mouth stiffened.
He scratched his head and said,
“Ah, my apologies. I suppose it is a force of habit from my profession.”
“…….”
When the Grand Duke gave him an indifferent look, Deckard broke into a nervous sweat and answered.
“Well…… the young master does have a remarkably clever side to him. And he is quite prudent as well—he never lets himself take a loss.”
“Continue.”
“It is not called a ‘Sanctuary’ for nothing. The Sacred Flame dwells in this land. In other words, merely breathing in this land is enough to achieve extraordinary growth.”
Deckard said that as he looked toward Sigmund in the distance.
“But this time, black magic has even intruded upon the Sanctuary.”
“…….”
“The great Sacred Flame would never simply stand by and watch that happen. Right now, the Sacred Flame is burning more vividly in this land than ever before.”
In other words, the forest was richer in Sacred Flame now than at any other time.
If they made proper use of it, they could achieve extraordinary growth during this Trial.
More than any other Messiah.
“Just as you say, if they make good use of it, not only Arwin but Sigmund as well could achieve tremendous growth.”
The Grand Duke gave a faint smile and turned his head.
“Hmm.”
Deckard also turned his head and regarded Sigmund with an interested gaze.
Arwin was being overwhelmed by Sigmund, whose entire presence had changed.
‘By common sense, the young lady is stronger than the young master in every respect. There is absolutely no reason for her to be intimidated.’
Yet Arwin was intimidated.
She could not bring her strength to bear at all in the face of Sigmund’s presence.
Why?
Deckard found the answer without much difficulty.
“……Experience?”
But he immediately had no choice but to reject it.
Experience, in a child barely ten years old!
If anyone held the advantage in experience, it should have been Arwin.
There was a full seven-year gap between the two of them.
If that were the reason, Sigmund, not Arwin, should have been the one being overwhelmed.
But why?
‘In every respect, the young master looks far more familiar with all of this.’
Even Deckard could not understand how that was possible.
It simply made no sense.
Even he, who had seen more than a few people called geniuses, could say with certainty that there was something strange about this situation.
At that moment, the Grand Duke’s gaze turned toward empty space.
‘……Hm?’
Deckard could see nothing.
But the Grand Duke gave a slight nod, as though someone were standing there.
Even with a smile on his lips.
***
SLASH—!
The sword wreathed in Aura flashed as it sliced through empty air.
Arwin’s sword did not reach me.
“Kgh……!”
Arwin glared at me with a frustrated expression.
Naturally, I remained completely unfazed as I assessed the attacks she had launched so far.
‘She’s definitely still unpolished.’
Compared to the Commander I remembered, she still had a long way to go.
Of course she did.
The Arwin of the present had not gone through countless scenes of carnage like the Commander had, and she was far younger as well.
But…….
‘She can’t be the same as in my previous life.’
In this life, Arwin had to grow stronger faster than she had in my previous life and mature further.
Only then would she be able to stand against Schubert—no, Ralke.
Arwin also needed to become accustomed to the methods used by Shadow agents.
From now on, Schubert would stop at nothing to bring her down.
“What good is it if you can’t even touch me? You were born with talent, but you don’t know how to use that talent.”
“Shut up.”
“You already know, don’t you? The First Young Master is extremely wary of your existence. Given the chance, he’d kill you without hesitation.”
“…….”
“But do you really think…….”
I gave a faint smirk.
A smile that her ‘younger brother’ would never show her.
“It’ll end with just you?”
“……!”
“Your mother, of course. And naturally, the people you cherish…….”
At that moment.
FWOOSH—!
The Aura wrapped around her sword blazed fiercely.
Arwin glared at me and said,
“I told you to shut up.”
“My. Isn’t that a little harsh to say to your little brother?”
“……Don’t say things like that with my brother’s face.”
“I’m Sigmund, Sis.”
I smiled brightly as I looked at Arwin.
“Shut up.”
FWOOSH—!
I retreated to escape the heat.
Arwin did not miss the opening and immediately closed the distance, while I threw myself into the shadow.
Shadow Step.
A concealment technique I had mastered in my previous life.
To her, it would look as though I had suddenly vanished.
“You disappeared again……!”
‘You will have to find me.’
At the very least, she needed to be capable of seeing through and locating concealment of this level if she was going to deal with the agents.
I waited.
Hidden within the shadow, I waited for her to notice my presence.
A short while later, Arwin stopped where she was and suddenly closed her eyes.
FWOOSH.
Flames sprang up around her and spread outward.
And.
“There you are.”
Arwin’s gaze turned directly toward where I was.
Then.
SLASH—!
A nearby tree fell, split in two.
The strike had nearly found my exact position.
‘That’s more like it.’
Arwin’s talent was the genuine article, beyond any doubt.
Given even a suitable environment, she would figure everything out on her own.
Now all that was left was…….
But my thought could not continue.
Something suddenly shimmered in midair.
‘What’s that?’
I rubbed my eyes and checked the spot again, but the same strange thing was still there.
“There you are.”
‘Ah, damn.’
SLASH—!
As I evaded Arwin’s attack, I continued examining the mysterious phenomenon I had just seen.
Her expression grew increasingly grim every time I dodged an attack, but I had no attention to spare for that.
‘What in the world is that?’
It was a flame-like shape about the size of a palm, and it kept circling around Arwin.
It definitely had not been visible until moments ago, so why could I suddenly see it now?
Had it revealed itself on its own?
Or had I become able to see it?
Let’s find out.
I decided to abandon my plan of staying quietly hidden.
Judging by the circumstances, it seemed to be an entity connected to Arwin, so I needed to identify it.
‘Now’s the perfect opportunity. I’m in a situation where I can intervene by force.’
Gripping my sword, I burst out of the shadow.
Feeling the wind rake across my face, I swung my sword toward Arwin like a bolt of lightning.
At that moment.
FLINCH!
The flame circling Arwin suddenly began to swell.
‘It changed?’
Then it shot toward me.
As though it were protecting Arwin.
CLANG—!
And as though it were only natural, it knocked my sword aside.
There was no doubt that the flame had been the one to deflect it.
‘……Had something like that been attached to the Commander in my previous life?’
No.
There hadn’t.
Then that meant it was a new variable this time around…….
CLANG—!
‘How did it end up attached to her?’
CLANG—!
‘A lot’s changed, so there’s no reason something like that couldn’t have been added too, but…….’
CLAAANG—!
‘Since when?’
Since when had something like that been attached to Arwin?
I needed to find out.
First, let’s provoke it a little more.
‘Dark Sword.’
A sword devoid of both sound and presence swung toward the flame protecting Arwin.
At that moment, the flame’s form changed once again.
Until then, it had felt like nothing more than a ghostly flame wrapped around Arwin, but now it looked almost like…….
‘A shield.’
CLANG—!
My sword was deflected again.
It had detected and blocked even Dark Sword.
To someone who could not see the flame, it would have looked as though I had swung my sword and then been knocked away as if I had toppled over all on my own.
“Ha……!”
Now I’m getting stubborn.
As I evaded Arwin’s sword once again, I considered how I could uncover the flame’s true nature.
And.
‘Right. There’s that.’
An interesting idea occurred to me.
I immediately put a great deal of distance between Arwin and me.
At my sudden change in behavior, she tilted her head slightly.
She looked as though she had no idea why I had suddenly reacted that way.
“……Just a little more, and I think I can land a cut.”
Arwin muttered without taking her eyes off me.
That’s the right attitude.
But.
‘My apologies, Commander.’
I believe I need to find out what that thing attached to you is.
“Hoo.”
In my previous life, I, ‘Number One,’ had honed countless killing techniques.
At times, I had even needed to kill beings that were not human.
This was one of the techniques I had used when dealing with those ‘non-human beings.’
‘<Lunar Eclipse>.’
For an instant, space warped.
Moonlike light flashed from the sword and swelled into a circle.
CRUNCH—!
Then it swallowed the flame.