Rohan entered the family's treasure vault with Leon. Leon's eyes sparkled with anticipation at getting an heirloom for the first time, but there was an anxious look in them too.
"Want to pick first?"
It seemed less like he was yielding the choice to Rohan and more like he was worried about choosing wrong.
"No thanks. If I pick first, you'll throw a fit wanting whatever I pick."
Leon's mouth opened and closed. It must have been true.
It was such a childish thought, and such a childish reaction.
"Sigh. You and I don't need to fight over anything here. You pick a spear and I pick a sword, that's all."
"A-A spear?"
Rohan narrowed his eyes without meaning to. Had he really come in here without thinking even that far?
He had known Leon was the least talented of the siblings, but.......
'I'm not one to talk, though.'
The thought made him feel pathetic about his past self, who had lagged even behind Leon.
"Yeah. You do better fighting from a bit of distance than getting too close."
The Baltran techniques taught to trainees included spearmanship as well as swordsmanship. Being a great house of swordsmanship didn't mean the Baltrans shunned other weapons. Just look at the eldest; he handled a spear as skillfully as a sword. Their martial arts were built on swordsmanship, but could be applied to spears or maces. Even to weapons like whips.
"Do I?"
Leon rubbed the back of his head as if he had no idea. In his past life, Leon had come out of this treasure vault with a fairly good spear, but seeing him now, that must have been sheer luck.
"Never mind. I'll pick for you."
Without hesitation, Rohan walked toward the spear Leon had taken out in his past life. He took it down from the wall and tossed it to Leon.
Leon caught the spear in an awkward stance. He ran his hand over the emblem engraved at the center of the spear, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.
'So he only liked it because it looked cool.'
A round plate was fitted into the middle of the shaft, and on that circle were painted two dragons breathing fire at each other. Even to Rohan's eye, it was fine, intricate craftsmanship.
"Th-Thanks! I'll take this one!"
All he had done was make the choice Leon would have made himself anyway, but Rohan nodded to accept the thanks.
Judging from his reaction, Leon wouldn't covet whatever Rohan chose next.
'Now then, shall I pick mine?'
He had already made up his mind, so he looked around the vault to find that sword. There was a truly vast number of arms in the vault. A few hung neatly on the walls, but most lay scattered carelessly across tables or even on the floor like ordinary weapons.
Rohan knew that even those swords would be hailed as famous blades anywhere outside. They were getting this shabby treatment only because they had ended up in the Baltran vault, of all places.
Among those swords, Rohan picked up one covered in dust. When he blew on it, phoo—, a faint light shone from the small patch where the dust came off.
"Huh? You're picking that?"
At some point Leon had come up behind him. Rohan had thought the spear he'd picked had captured all of Leon's attention, but Leon was still keeping an eye on Rohan's choice.
"Yeah. This is my sword."
Leon shook his head. He looked a little disappointed.
Rohan didn't know why he'd make that face, but he himself was satisfied.
'Looks aren't everything.'
The sword before him was not handsome. It wasn't long, and the middle of the blade was blunt and looked heavy.
By its looks alone, it was an ordinary sword.
'Only if you can't draw out its hidden power.'
This sword reacted to fire mana. It didn't stop at the usual wrapping of magic power; it had the power to amplify that magic power.
Blazefire Sword Sernain
A sword that blazed with roaring flame. That was how Rohan had seen it, in the hands of the man who stole it in his past life.
And he also knew what that flame meant.
Ifrit, the Fire Spirit King.
Anyone who could exert fire magic power of the 7th Stage could borrow Ifrit's fire for a short while. In that short while, flames drawing on Ifrit's fire had turned even this cold North into a sea of fire.
He hadn't seen it himself, but he'd heard that at the 9th Stage one could even summon Ifrit. Without learning any summoning arts, one would gain power equal to calling forth a summoned beast of the very highest rank.
"Hyah! Hyah!"
At some point Leon had started swinging his spear behind him. Watching him, Rohan doubted he would have coveted this sword even if Rohan had picked first.
Rohan hesitated. Once he was promoted to the advanced course, he would get another chance to come here.
Should he pick this sword then?
His siblings wouldn't pick it. Leon, who cared more about style than performance, was one thing, but even to the siblings who still had chances to come here, the sword wouldn't look special. It wasn't a question of their eye; to the direct-line Baltrans who used ice mana, this sword was no different from any ordinary one.
'Did whoever first brought this sword into the family know?'
Even if he had, its treatment wouldn't have been any different. Like the magic books shoved carelessly onto the library shelves, the people of the House of Baltran shrugged at anything that held no value to them, no matter how much the outside world called it a treasure.
Rohan sorted out his thoughts. If he chose this sword now, for the time being he wouldn't be able to draw out its full power. He couldn't let his fire mana show.
'Still no problem.'
The children from other families used ordinary swords anyway. If he got stuck right here over the lack of one little benefit, there was no point to his regression.
With it all neatly sorted out, Rohan turned around. Leon was still swinging his spear.
Should he fix his stance a bit? Rohan could see far too many openings.
'Why bother.'
Leon was not one of his people. He was still, strictly speaking, his rival. However insignificant a sibling he was now, every Baltran of the direct line had sharp fangs of their own.
Leon, too, would grow up to be a sword of the Baltrans, like Rohas or Roselin, whose names alone made people tremble.
There was no need to show pointless kindness. If anything, if he bared his fangs at Rohan, he had to be stomped down so he could never do it again.
Rohan spoke with a calm face.
"Brother, let's go out now."
"Oh, sure."
Leon stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Unaware of what Rohan was thinking, he wore a beaming smile, happy to have gotten an heirloom.
A while later.
Joanna greeted her two sons as they came out of the vault. She smiled at the spear Leon had chosen.
"The Spear of Peltaons. You chose a good weapon."
"Huh? Ah... Yes. Thank you."
Leon's eyes went round at hearing the spear's name for the first time, then he broke into a grin at being told it was a good weapon.
Joanna then looked at the sword Rohan had brought out and tilted her head.
'I don't know this sword.'
She too came from a martial house with considerable strength of its own. Bearing so many children had left her body very frail, but before that she had been a warrior of some renown in the North.
She had given up her family name when she married into the Baltran family, but her eye for arms was still alive.
The Spear of Peltaons that Leon had chosen was a fine weapon. It was made by a craftsman named Peltaons, whose name was famous across the continent.
Choosing a spear instead of a sword to suit his abilities was also praiseworthy. But she had smiled because she knew Leon had chosen it for its looks rather than its performance.
Rohan's choice, however, was unexpected. The youngest had surprised her several times within the past year. Though she had secretly expected something this time too.
"Can I... ask why you chose that sword?"
It was a disappointing enough choice that she asked why before she knew it. The youngest answered her question calmly.
"No reason in particular. It just looked sturdy? I think this should serve me well even after my training."
Was that a show of confidence? Even adults' eyes went wild at the word treasure. At his young age, perhaps that was a remarkable quality.
But if that was the only reason, Rohan had made a big mistake.
"An heirloom isn't something that ends with your training. It's something that will light your path long after. Just look at Rohas; the Storm Sword he carries is practically his symbol. Don't you think you need a weapon like that too, Rohan?"
Rohan met Joanna's eyes. They were affectionate, yet unwavering.
"Mother. A famous sword is famous partly because it's a good sword, but also because its master draws out its power. Brother Rohas, too, could raise the Storm Sword's fame higher than it was in the vault because he can use it better than anyone."
The master who wielded the sword mattered more than the sword itself.
It was something anyone raised in a martial house would hear often enough. But coming from the mouth of a ten-year-old, it meant something else entirely. Weren't there plenty of adults who, even after hearing it many times, never truly put it into practice?
Joanna looked pleased. That much alone would have been a satisfying answer.
Rohan had already shown her he had an extraordinary nature. Even so, Rohan didn't stop.
"The sword that will make a name alongside me, I'll find myself. I believe that only by obtaining it on my own can I prove I have the minimum quality to own a famous sword."
Joanna clapped her hands. The youngest had even offered the answer.
"I see. You're right. If you keep striving with that heart, before long you will become a warrior who can make the weapon in your hand shine on your own. And if you do, the family name after your own will shine too."
She tried to treat all her children equally, but right now she had turned her back on Leon beside her and was looking only at Rohan.
This child. If the youngest and the eldest joined hands, the Baltran name would shine even brighter than it did now.
Of course, it was a naive thought only a mother who had borne the heirs from her own womb could have. But Rohan didn't want to break the moment's emotion either.
"Um.... Can we eat before we go?"
At some point the youngest had turned back into a little child. Thanks to that, Joanna could shake off the uneasy feeling that crept in at the end of her happy daydream.
"Yes. Let's have dinner together tonight, the three of us."
Joanna put an arm around each son's shoulders and headed for the dining hall.
***
In their bedroom, Gion heard from Joanna about the choices their two sons had made. The spear Leon had chosen was a weapon he knew well too. The sword Rohan had chosen, on the other hand.
"I did not even know we had such a weapon."
"It didn't seem like he chose it for its performance."
"Then why did he choose that sword?"
"He said he doesn't particularly need a good sword. That his own strength is enough."
Gion burst out laughing. It was their bedroom, so there was no reason to hide his feelings.
"The youngest's confidence is soaring so high it will pierce the heavens. Every warrior who ever made a name for himself had a famous sword that shared his name."
Joanna turned and placed a hand on Gion's chest.
"He said he can finish his training without any help from a sword. And that if he needs a famous sword, he'll obtain one with his own strength. He said that's the minimum qualification for owning one."
Gion was so surprised he was lost for words for a moment. A mere ten-year-old could come up with an answer like that?
Even he had brought a famous sword out of the treasure vault in his trainee days and profited greatly from it.
'I cannot read that boy's intentions at all.'
As if she had read his thoughts, Joanna smiled and wrapped her arms around him. Then she went on bragging about their children.
Mostly she said that if the siblings joined forces, the family's name would shine brighter than ever.
But Gion knew. The more formidable rivals there were, the more blood would sweep through the family.
Gion's own childhood. Before he was even twenty, he had put all of his siblings beneath his feet. His overwhelming strength left the others not the slightest chance. Thanks to that, he had succeeded to the headship relatively peacefully.
But this generation had Rohas, and the eldest daughter was every bit as outstanding. The third was highly ambitious. His qualities as a warrior might be inferior to the eldest's, but in strategy and politics he was a cut above.
'I cannot leave out Yohan and Yohana either. And now the youngest has joined them too.'
No one had seen this coming. Rohan was only now approaching eleven.
Strife among siblings over the contest for the headship could almost be called a Baltran tradition. But as a father, it could only be a painful sight.
'I do not know whether the youngest's changed fate is a blessing for the family.'
His father had clearly said that saving Rohan was the choice for stopping the evil beyond the Wall. Only, nowhere in his words.
Was there any mention of it being for the Baltrans.
Perhaps.......
Gion himself was the head of the Baltrans. He had to put the family before anything else.
Could a moment really come when Rohan crossed swords with him?
He was going too far.
He shook his head, but he couldn't erase the uneasy feeling welling up inside.
***
Having gotten ready to head back the next day, Rohan lay down in bed. But soon a knock made him get up again.
"What is it?"
Leon was standing at the door.
"Our third brother opened a stone gate."