“Are you feeling all right?”
As soon as she entered the room, Arwin said that and placed a hand on my forehead.
“Mm, you don’t seem to have a fever.”
“I told you. I’m fine now.”
“You always pretend you’re fine.”
Arwin stared at me expressionlessly as she spoke.
Arwin was already seventeen, but she was still poor at expressing her emotions.
‘The Commander was like that too.’
The Commander had been rich in emotion, but she had never known how to express it.
“You’ve always kept everything bottled up inside without actually saying anything. If you’re having a hard time, tell me, little brother.”
“It’s not really…….”
“You’re doing it right now.”
Arwin cut me off.
“You say you aren’t, but it feels like you’re keeping your distance from me.”
“…….”
“Of course, maybe I’m just being oversensitive…… but I don’t think you’ve ever truly let me get close to you.”
I had nothing to say to that.
Because it was true.
I had stood by and allowed the Second Wife to die in my previous life, and I still remembered betraying the Commander.
How could I easily grow close to them after that?
It had been nearly ten years since I was reborn in this body, yet Arwin was still Commander Arwin to me, not my sister Arwin.
“I think…… you’re imagining it.”
“……Okay.”
Arwin nodded at my answer.
She did not look convinced.
She had probably decided that saying anything more would only make us go around in circles.
As always, we silently let the subject drop.
‘Putting that aside.’
Noise was still brazenly wandering around the room.
Apparently, Arwin could not see him.
-■■■……!
I had said it countless times, but I could not understand him.
Yet whenever he had the chance, Noise would make his presence known around me like that.
Of course, it was not a problem.
All Noise ever did was wander around and occasionally help with my breathing.
“Anyway, what brings you here today? Normally I wouldn’t ask, but you should be busy preparing for the Trial these days.”
Tomorrow, Arwin would undergo the most important test of her life.
Messiah’s Trial.
It was a rite that every member of Messiah’s bloodline was required to challenge upon turning seventeen.
The challenger had to undertake and pass the Trial entirely alone.
It was an extremely symbolic rite.
There were only a handful of direct descendants of Messiah, and the Trial revealed each one’s talent.
“Yeah, I’m busy. But there was something I wanted to ask.”
“……Hmm?”
“Has the First Young Master approached you lately?”
“No, he hasn’t.”
The moment Schubert came up, my nerves sharpened on their own.
“Did something happen?”
“I feel like there have been some suspicious movements around you lately.”
“…….”
“If you notice anything, tell me at once. No matter what it takes, I’ll get to wherever you are.”
A chilling light passed through Arwin’s eyes as she said it.
“I’m fine.”
I suppressed the bitter smile threatening to surface and nodded.
There had indeed been some troublesome people around me.
I had already eliminated them.
This time, however, I could not simply let the matter pass.
“You have a wound.”
“What?”
I checked where she was pointing and found a shallow cut on my cheek.
It seemed to have happened while I was subduing Number Eight.
“Is there something you haven’t told me?”
Arwin’s entire demeanor changed.
The warm atmosphere from moments ago vanished in an instant.
“That wound wasn’t made by getting scratched on a tree branch or something. It’s thinner than that. You were definitely cut by some kind of sharp blade. If some bastard actually hurt my little brother…….”
She did not seem to realize it, but a terrifying pressure was pouring from her.
If I let her leave like this, she would probably turn the entire House upside down searching for the culprit.
There was no need for that, so I calmly gave her the excuse I had prepared.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Actually…… I tried swinging a sword, but I’m still not used to it and ended up cutting myself.”
“……!”
Arwin’s eyes widened in shock.
The cold light in them vanished without a trace.
“Why would you do that?! I told you it wasn’t time for you to wield a sword yet……!”
“It’s all right, Sister.”
I spoke while playing the role of her sickly little brother.
“But…… I can’t avoid holding a sword forever. I’m a member of Messiah too.”
“Y-Yeah, that’s true…….”
Arwin nodded dejectedly.
I quickly changed the subject.
There was something I needed to tell her anyway.
“Ah, that reminds me, Sister.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to observe your Trial tomorrow.”
“Observe it? No. What are you planning to do when you’re already in poor health?”
“I’d only be observing. Nothing should happen, and the Trial is something I’ll eventually have to undergo myself anyway.”
“Th-That’s true, but…….”
“There shouldn’t be any problem with me just observing, right? Sir Deckard will be guarding me anyway, so I’ll be safe no matter what happens.”
Deckard Lamont.
He was the sworn brother of my maternal grandfather, Viscount Haksen, and a knight of exceptional skill.
Once I even brought up Sir Deckard, Arwin apparently could not find any further reason to refuse and eventually nodded.
“……All right.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I smiled brightly as I thanked her.
“Take care of yourself.”
“Don’t worry.”
Arwin started to leave and close the door, but hesitated before adding one more thing.
“You can be more comfortable around me, little brother. I don’t know why you keep your distance from me…… but we’re family.”
After saying that, Arwin closed the door and left.
I could only smile bitterly.
“Family, huh.”
……You’re right, Commander.
It really is not easy, though.
***
After Arwin left the room, I spent a moment lost in thought.
‘Tomorrow’s Trial is practically a trap set by Schubert.’
A black mage had already infiltrated the Messiah Sanctuary where my sister would undergo the Trial.
How had a black mage managed to hide inside ‘Messiah’s’ Sanctuary?
Because the First Wife and Schubert had given him their full cooperation.
If the Grand Duke’s wife and eldest son put their minds to it, something like that was not difficult.
The reason I wanted to observe tomorrow’s Trial was not simply because I was curious whether my sister would perform well.
It was to prevent anyone from interfering with or attacking her.
I had been given another life.
I needed to bring about a different result from my previous one.
‘Back then, she was struck by the black mage’s curse and couldn’t even wield a sword for almost half a year.’
I was preparing for tomorrow based on my memories of the past when—
-■■.
Noise tapped me on the shoulder.
I had been seeing Noise consistently for ten years, so by now I could roughly understand what he meant.
“Ah, another summons today?”
-■■…… ■!
“Ah, he’s waiting there as usual? Yes, yes. I understand.”
At this point, even I was starting to be impressed with myself for making perfect sense of his dog-rice-cake gibberish.
Either way, I should go immediately.
I held out a hand toward Noise.
“Then take me there.”
-■■!
Noise’s flames flickered and enveloped me in an instant.
I closed my eyes, then opened them.
“You’re here.”
I was standing in a completely different room.
And inside it was a man with such a clean-cut face that he could easily have passed for a young man…….
“Yes. I’m here, Father.”
Raiber Messiah.
The lord of the Grand Ducal House of Messiah and the Greatest Sword of the Empire.
***
“Progress?”
The moment Father saw me, he immediately got straight to the point.
To the rest of the world, I was known as a sickly young master.
But that only applied to everyone except Father.
Father had never bought into any of it.
“There has been some progress, but haven’t you already received a report through Noise?”
“My relationship with him is not like that. He tells me things if he wishes to. I cannot simply demand information from him.”
“I see.”
If Father said so, then that was how it was.
Still, there was something I noticed every time I saw Father…….
‘I can’t sense anything from him.’
As expected of the Greatest Sword of the Empire.
Even in my previous life, when I had been called Number One and was the strongest Shadow, I had been second to none when it came to concealing my presence.
But even I had never reached this level.
At a glance, Father looked like someone who had never trained with a sword in his life.
“Well, anyway, I’ve found a clue to reaching the Third Stage.”
“That was fast.”
Father nodded and silently extended a hand toward me.
At that moment, an unprecedented force pulled me toward him.
“You could just tell me to come over.”
“It is a lesson.”
“…….”
So he wanted me to watch and learn from this too.
I had thought this for a long time, but Father truly had no talent for teaching others.
After examining my body, Father nodded.
“The Sacred Flame is certainly more stable than before. At this rate, you could reach the Third Stage within a month at the earliest.”
“Will it really take that long?”
“You believe you can do it faster?”
“I can do it within a week.”
Father frowned briefly at my answer.
From the perspective of the Greatest Sword of the Empire, my claim could easily have sounded laughable.
“If you say so, then you are probably right.”
Yet he accepted it more readily than I expected.
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“Do you have any intention of telling me about Noise? I’ve been able to see him for years, but I still can’t begin to guess what he is.”
“There would be no point in me telling you.”
Father answered firmly.
The same answer as always.
And the same advice.
“If you become worthy one day, you will be able to see and understand him perfectly.”
“Then let me ask one more thing.”
I asked Father something I had wondered about for years.
“What exactly does it mean to be able to ‘see’ Noise?”
Ever since I was young, Father had shown considerable interest in the mere fact that I could perceive Noise.
The reason the Grand Duke still treated me specially enough to secretly meet with me like this was simple.
I could perceive Noise’s existence.
That alone was enough to provoke this kind of reaction, so naturally I was curious.
But Father’s answer to this question was no more satisfying.
“You will naturally learn that as well once you become worthy.”
“I see.”
“Have you not noticed? The greater your control over the Sacred Flame becomes, the clearer his form appears.”
“I have. I still can’t understand him, but I’ve started being able to hear his voice, at least.”
“Exactly. You will understand naturally. And when the day comes that you can hear his voice clearly…….”
Father’s eyes gleamed as he continued.
“Perhaps ‘he’ will explain his true name and everything about Messiah to you himself.”
“…….”
Noise was apparently an even greater existence than I had thought.
Even Father could not treat him carelessly, and it seemed Father himself did not know everything about him.
Father ended his explanation there and changed the subject.
“I have confirmed that your growth is progressing smoothly. That is enough. The Sacred Flame shows no particular sign of running wild either.”
“You don’t need to worry.”
“And.”
Father stared at me.
“I shall overlook your nocturnal escapades. They, too, will become nourishment for your growth.”
“…….”
So he knew everything after all.
It was not entirely unexpected, so I nodded and asked,
“Do you have no intention of intervening personally? Depending on how you look at it, an outside House is attempting to interfere in Messiah’s internal affairs.”
“It is still fine.”
Father nodded without bothering to name who we were discussing.
“It is also necessary.”
……Necessary?
In my previous life, it had been precisely these neglected problems that grew until they brought Messiah down.
The Grand Duke disappeared, and Schubert ran rampant before seizing control of the House.
Was all of this truly still within the range Father had anticipated?
“It is fine because you are here.”
As though he knew exactly what I was thinking, Father waved a hand and said something I could not make sense of.
I would investigate that later.
For now, I needed to mention what I had discussed with Arwin earlier.
“Ah, and Father, tomorrow…….”
“You have permission to observe the Trial.”
“Hmm.”
His Grace the Grand Duke saw straight through me as if it were nothing.
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
Before I knew it, I was back in my room.
“……Hoo.”
As always, Noise stood before me.
“What exactly are you, Noise?”
-■■
“Ah, you’re an orc?”
-■■!
FWOOSH!
Noise’s flames suddenly flared larger.
At least one thing was certain.
Noise was surprisingly fun to tease.
Even if I still had no idea what he actually was.