Leo looked at Adite, who stood demurely behind his mother.
Aria gazed steadily at Leo, let out a quiet breath, and slowly parted her lips.
“Even if you’ve started using mana, the fact that you noticed Adite’s presence is truly unbelievable. Even your father couldn’t detect her.”
It had been impossible for Leo in his previous life as well.
‘But now it’s different.’
He possessed keen senses honed through countless battles, and Akedos’s Mana Cultivation Method allowed him to sense mana as well.
Above all, he had once been called the finest knight on the continent. How could he possibly have failed to sense her?
“As expected of a child who inherited the blood of House Rayner.”
Those words from his mother made Leo feel as though he had been struck hard in the back of the head.
“House Rayner?”
Adite answered Leo’s question.
-Aria is the last heir of House Rayner, the only house capable of forming contracts with Spirits.
It was one shock after another.
Until now, Leo had believed his mother was the daughter of the Jamila family, a commoner family of ordinary tenant farmers.
He had thought that was why she was treated with contempt and scorned even after becoming the lady of the house.
He had also believed she had become his father’s concubine not by choice, but because she was a powerless commoner.
But House Rayner?
“It is a house that has now vanished into history. No, it is a house that left no trace even in history.”
His mother’s eyes blazed as she spoke.
It was a look Leo had never seen from her, even in his previous life.
“Our House Rayner was destroyed by an unknown organization. The history of our house was buried with it. My memories are the only historical evidence that the house ever existed.”
With bewilderment written across his face, Leo looked back and forth between his mother and Adite.
His mother was filled with resentment, while Adite wore a deeply sorrowful expression.
“……Why did you not tell me sooner?”
He wanted to ask why she had never said a single word about it in his previous life, but that was already in the past.
“I’m sorry, Leo. I did not intend to hide it. But…….”
Adite carefully placed a hand on his mother’s shoulder as her words trailed off.
The bond between them appeared quite strong.
“The secret organization left one final message declaring that it would kill everyone who commanded Spirits. I did not want you to inherit this cursed ability…….”
The moment his mother finished speaking, Leo let out a quiet “Ah-.”
His mother had died not long after he was appointed commander of the fortress in his previous life.
The cause of death had been an accident.
The explanation had been so simple that it had only made him more suspicious.
However, as an illegitimate son of House Valantes who had been appointed commander of the fortress, Leo had been unable to return to the house.
In other words, he had been unable to investigate properly.
As an illegitimate son of House Valantes, he could not leave the fortress until the new Head of House’s position was secure.
Nor had anyone else stepped forward to uncover the exact cause of her death.
As a result, the incident had quietly been buried.
But…….
‘It might have been the work of that unknown organization.’
After organizing his thoughts, Leo looked at his mother, who was resting her forehead against one hand.
“Mother. Please teach me.”
Adite’s smile glistened with emotion, while Aria slowly raised her head with a grave expression.
“Please teach me how to form a contract with a Spirit as well.”
He had to learn it, no matter what.
‘If it can make me stronger, I have to make it mine somehow.’
Aria silently studied Leo’s determined gaze, then slowly raised her hands and cupped both his cheeks.
“Leo…… This power is undeniably rare and powerful, something not just anyone can possess…… But it could also drive a dagger into you…….”
“It does not matter.”
Leo interrupted her.
At that moment, he wanted the power of the Spirits more intensely than anything else.
“Leo…….”
Aria lowered her hands from Leo’s cheeks and spoke in a weary voice.
Leo smiled at his mother.
“A mere dagger is nothing.”
A dagger?
He had been stabbed with them hundreds of times on the battlefield.
To Leo, one was merely a needle that stung a little more.
-The Spirit King is extremely favorably disposed toward House Rayner. If a new contractor of House Rayner appears, the Spirit King will actively assist them.
With Adite driving the point home, Aria wiped away the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes and composed herself.
Her gaze, once filled with sorrow, anger, and fear, became proud and resolute, bearing the strength of the Head of House Rayner.
“Come to the storeroom beneath the inner castle three days from now. I will prepare the magic circle for the contract there.”
Leo nodded at his mother’s words.
“Yes. I will do so.”
***
After they finished discussing the Spirit Contract, Leo heard the rest of House Rayner’s story.
It had been a small viscount house on the kingdom’s frontier, and it had been annihilated thirty years ago.
Afterward, the house’s history had been erased without a trace.
‘Do not tell your father.’
It was the warning his mother had given him before he left.
His father did not know that his mother was the heir of House Rayner either.
After barely escaping the attack, his mother had hidden in the home of a tenant farmer and lived as a daughter of the Jamila family.
Later, she caught his father’s eye while he was inspecting the territory and entered House Valantes as a concubine.
‘There was so much I didn’t know in my previous life.’
That thought suddenly occurred to him as he listened to his mother’s story.
He had pushed aside things like mana and swordsmanship and holed himself up in his room to do nothing but read…….
Then he had ultimately been all but dragged to the fortress.
But this time was different.
He had obtained a new power, and it would allow him to grow even stronger.
‘This time, I will use this power to protect you without fail, Mother.’
Even after agreeing to pass her power on to him, his mother had been unable to hide her unease.
But Leo was confident.
He would remain unharmed, protect the people precious to him, and ultimately protect humanity itself.
He believed that was why he had returned.
After meeting with his mother, Leo devoted himself even more intensely to his training and focused on regaining the power he had possessed in his previous life.
SWIIISH- SWISH!
The sound of a sword slicing through the air rang across the training grounds of the Valantes Inner Castle.
With only one day remaining until the three-day deadline his mother had given him, Leo was practicing swordsmanship in the training grounds as usual.
‘I’m still lacking.’
Drenched in sweat, Leo tossed his sword onto the ground and lay flat on his back.
As he trained at the 3-Star stage of the cultivation method, his Mana Sword had progressed from a mere white veil to taking on a bluish hue.
He was drawing closer to his first objective of establishing a solid foundation.
However, he had made little progress in swordsmanship.
Akedos’s swordsmanship was already inside his mind, and he also possessed a wealth of real combat experience.
That was why he had thought it would be easy.
He had believed he would quickly regain his former swordsmanship skills.
However, he had failed to account for the fact that his body had not yet developed sufficient strength.
He had thought his body would be strong enough after surpassing the 1-Star and 2-Star stages, but it appeared he would need quite a bit more time.
Moreover—
‘Are two swords still too much?’
Akedos’s swordsmanship was a dual-wielding style that used two swords.
The Mana Cultivation Method had also been designed to complement that swordsmanship, so Leo had planned to accelerate his training in both while cultivating the 3-Star stage.
However, his body had not yet developed enough to wield two swords properly.
Still, he was not impatient.
His body was visibly changing with each passing day.
‘This time, I should learn my House’s swordsmanship too.’
While practicing Akedos’s swordsmanship, Leo came to a decision.
He would learn both Akedos’s domineering, aggressive swordsmanship and the orthodox swordsmanship of House Valantes.
The reason was so that he could use whichever swordsmanship was more appropriate in battle.
He had never properly learned his House’s swordsmanship in his previous life.
He had possessed no interest in swordsmanship, and his status as an illegitimate son had sent him to the fortress.
He first learned the practical swordsmanship used at the fortress, then immediately began learning Akedos’s swordsmanship.
Akedos’s swordsmanship was virtually unmatched in a one-on-one duel.
That was how Leo had earned the title of humanity’s greatest knight.
However, when fighting multiple enemies, it had exposed a great many defensive weaknesses.
To compensate for those weaknesses, he intended to learn his House’s sword-and-shield swordsmanship as well.
‘I should go see Father later.’
Magenta had returned to the estate that morning.
When Leo went to greet him after his return, his expression had not looked particularly pleasant…….
Still, if Leo wanted to obtain what he needed, he had no choice but to confront him directly.
‘Let’s begin again.’
After lying there for some time and organizing his thoughts, Leo rose and picked up his sword again.
Then Leo’s solitary training resumed.
SWISH- SWISH-!
Meanwhile, as Leo practiced his swordsmanship, Hans stood guard outside the training grounds and secretly watched him through the partially open door.
‘Wow…… Our Young Master is incredible. He’s using two swords.’
Only a few days earlier, Leo had been reluctant even to leave his room for meals, but now he had changed.
His Deep-gold eyes had grown brighter with intelligence.
His speech and behavior had become more composed.
His once-frail body had become solid, and now he was wielding a sword—something Hans had believed he would never see before he died.
And Leo was not merely holding the swords. Even to Hans, who knew nothing about swordsmanship, his skill looked incredible.
His movements were impressive enough to draw admiration no matter how many times Hans watched them.
“What are you watching so intently?”
Hans, who had been watching Leo train, jumped at the resonant voice behind him and spun around.
“C-Commander. Good day, sir.”
The man Hans bowed to was Baron Vector Leger, the Knight Commander of the Valantes Knights.
He was considered one of the finest knights in the kingdom and was reputed to be second only to Magenta in the south.
He was also Magenta’s most trusted vassal—the only man before whom the cold-blooded Magenta revealed his emotions.
“I asked what you were watching so intently.”
“W-well, Young Master is practicing his swordsmanship…….”
At Hans’s words, Baron Vector tilted his head and approached the partially open door.
Then he peered through the gap into the training grounds.
‘Why is he acting like that?’
Hans wondered as he watched Vector Leger stare into the training grounds without moving.
‘I heard there wasn’t any training for the Valantes Knights today…….’
Leo always used the training grounds at times when no one else was present.
Leo had requested it, and Hans had arranged the schedule accordingly.
That was also why the Knight Commander’s appearance surprised him even more.
“Hmm…….”
After watching the training grounds for a long while, Vector Leger made a quiet sound and slowly turned around.
“It seems he has been training like this for quite some time?”
“N-no. It has only been two days.”
At Hans’s answer, Vector Leger’s pupils trembled.
“……Two days?”
From his perspective, it was utterly impossible.
As a vassal of House Valantes, he also knew very well what kind of personalities the two sons of the house possessed.
‘Could he have been practicing in secret? No, there’s absolutely no chance of that…….’
The illegitimate son he knew, Leonard Valantes, was not someone who would ever secretly practice swordsmanship.
No, he had detested even picking up a sword in the first place.
“By the way, Commander…… What brings you here……?”
“I was on my way to see the Count when I heard the noise, so I stopped by for a moment.”
“Ah…… I see.”
“Then I shall be going. Attend to the Young Master well.”
“Yes. Leave it to me. It is what I do best.”
After hearing Hans’s answer, Vector Leger started to walk away, only to stop.
“Ah, right…… One more thing.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Do not tell the Young Master that I came here.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“This is a promise between men.”
“Yes. Man to man!”
Vector smiled gently and patted Hans on the shoulder, while Hans assumed a resolute expression and bowed deeply.
When Vector began walking away again, Hans cautiously raised his head.
“Is he gone?”
Hans craned his neck and confirmed that Vector had disappeared completely from sight, then immediately opened the door to the training grounds and ran to Leo.
“Young Masteeer! Baron Vector Leger was heeere!”
Hans was a true man.