While he was conversing with the magic sword Luci—
“Phew! I feel like I’ve lost a kilogram of weight!”
Lunacirne emerged from the brush after finishing her business and shouted. Her expression was full of the refreshing feeling of having been reborn.
“Wow, that was seriously no joke! My backside is still tingling!”
“…….”
Solacius shook his head as though he had had enough of his younger sister’s words. No matter how close siblings were, how could words like that come from the mouth of an eighteen-year-old lady?
‘Are siblings normally like that?’
He did not know. He had been an only child on Earth, so he had never had a younger sister.
[…….]
He became conscious of the magic sword Luci in his hand.
The magic sword did not react in particular.
‘Vulgar! How could she speak and behave so vulgarly!’
Though she showed no outward reaction, Lucifurne, synchronized with Wintella, criticized the witch named Rina in her heart. She had been shocked from the moment Lunacirne kept talking about poop earlier, but she had not expected her to be this bad.
“By the way, who have you been talking to since earlier?”
Lunacirne, having climbed back onto her broom, approached Solacius and asked. It seemed that she had heard everything while crouching in the brush.
“I was talking to the magic sword.”
Solacius looked up at his younger sister on her broom and spoke.
“This magic sword is an Ego Sword?! Then that woman’s voice I heard earlier was from it!”
Lunacirne’s eyes shone brightly at Solacius’s answer. Then she lowered her broom and moved closer.
“Wow!”
Lunacirne placed her left hand on her brother’s shoulder to keep her balance.
With her other hand, she touched the blade of the magic sword Solacius was holding.
‘She washed her hands, right? At least with magic.’
Solacius felt uneasy about his younger sister’s hands touching both his shoulder and the magic sword.
“I always think this, but it’s really cold!”
Lunacirne muttered as she touched the blade. When Solacius held or wore the sword, other people did not feel cold or freeze when they touched it. They merely felt an icy chill.
“But why are you so quiet? Can’t you say something?”
Lunacirne chattered as she tapped Wintella’s blade.
[Do not touch me with those dirty hands, witch!]
Unable to endure it any longer, Luci gave Lunacirne a cold warning.
“You’re saying my hands are dirty? What are you talking about!”
The magic sword’s response was cold and hostile. Lunacirne furrowed her brow.
She had been glad to find a talking magic sword, but she did not like its manner of speaking.
[What else would I call something dirty except dirty? Remove your hand at once!]
Luci spoke to Lunacirne, whose hand was still on the blade.
“Brother, this magic sword is strange.”
Lunacirne turned her head toward the sword’s owner. Her left hand was still on Solacius’s shoulder.
“……You washed your hands after relieving yourself?”
Solacius asked his younger sister with a stiff expression.
“My hands? Why would I wash them? Nothing got on them.”
Lunacirne asked back with puzzled eyes. Her hands were still touching Solacius and the magic sword, respectively.
[Take your hands off!!]
“Take your hands off!”
The Queen and the wandering knight shouted at the same time.
For the first time in a while, the medieval side of this medieval fantasy world—usually faded by magic—made itself keenly felt.
“Damn it…… They don’t even smell! I don’t use my hands. I use magic to take care of things!”
Lunacirne complained indignantly as she washed her hands with lard soap from a water bucket taken from her inventory.
“That magic sword named Luci is the strange one! You’re too picky too, Brother!”
Solacius ignored his younger sister’s explanation.
‘Ahh! Solacius took my side!’
Meanwhile, Lucifurne was immensely happy. It seemed that he trusted her words more than that ominous witch’s.
Of course, Solacius had reacted because of hygiene.
Pointing at Lunacirne, who was crouching down and washing her hands, he spoke to Luci.
“That child’s name is Lu…… Rina, Rina Shalut. She is my younger sister.”
Solacius faltered while introducing his younger sister.
‘There’s no need to tell this magic sword Luna’s real name.’
He did not yet know much about this magic sword. There was no harm in being cautious.
‘Come to think of it, I called her Luna several times while wearing this sword, didn’t I?’
He suddenly recalled the times he had called his younger sister while wearing the magic sword Luci.
[I know, Rina Shalut. Your name is Roan Shalut.]
The magic sword Luci did not show much reaction to his introduction.
Solacius decided to call Lunacirne Rina from now on, even when they were alone.
‘No one would associate the nickname Luna with the First Imperial Princess, Lunacirne. But…… no. You never know. The cunning Chancellor might notice.’
A slip of the tongue from habit could reveal their identities.
Having resolved this inwardly, Solacius turned his gaze to the magic sword Luci.
“Have you been saying nothing and only listening this whole time?”
How had it endured the boredom and frustration? Or did it not matter because its mental world was different from a human’s?
[I am not awake all the time. There are many times when I sleep.]
“Is that so? You sleep as well. You really are like a person.”
HUMM.
Startled by those words, Luci made the magic sword hum.
Leaving the small commotion behind them, the three resumed their journey.
The witch Lunacirne flew along on her broom, while the knight Solacius traveled on the black horse.
Both were fast, and the distance to their destination was neither close nor far. Still, they needed to hurry because they did not know when Volka Fortress might fall.
“So you have no memories at all?”
[That is correct.]
Solacius was not bored even while riding. He could have all kinds of conversations with the magic sword Luci.
He had just asked the magic sword about its identity: where and for what purpose it had been created, and how it had descended from the sky.
In response, Luci had answered as though she could not remember.
“You really don’t remember?”
[That is correct.]
Solacius was suspicious of the magic sword’s answer, but he let it pass for now.
[Did you say that you were freed from pain the moment you grasped me?]
This time, the magic sword asked a question. Lucifurne, synchronized with the magic sword, carefully examined Solacius’s curse first.
[May I learn more about that curse? Perhaps I may know a way to lift it.]
‘I need to see it directly to understand it properly.’
Lucifurne observed Solacius’s body as much as possible, but there were many limits through Wintella. So, she decided to learn as much as possible about his condition through questions and answers.
“You said you have no memories?”
[……I possess knowledge. The memories I lack are memories about myself.]
An amnesiac magic sword. It was simply absurd.
“It’s a curse where heat and fever surge through me whenever I use mana.”
[Are you all right now?]
“Thanks to you, I am. Of course, it comes back when I’m away from you.”
[Is that so? In any case, I am glad that I have been of help.]
Those words gave Lucifurne an immense sense of fulfillment.
HUMM.
As though expressing her emotions, the magic sword trembled and gave off a faint light.
[It has not been completely lifted yet, has it?]
“That’s right.”
[Do you know how to lift it?]
“Not yet.”
He only had a vague assumption that killing the Demon King might resolve it.
[Since when have you felt that curse?]
“Since I first came to the Kingdom of Luhan, I suppose? It started hurting little by little then, but it became severe after I fought the Necromancer.”
Solacius readily answered Luci’s questions. He wondered whether there might be another method among the magic sword’s knowledge.
‘As soon as he came to the Kingdom of Luhan?!’
Solacius’s words made Lucifurne question what she knew.
‘It started before he even came to Oski?’
Lucifurne had believed that Solacius’s curse began after his battle with the Necromancer. But hearing it directly from him, that was not the case.
‘There was nothing like this in the conversations I had with Solacius before my regression?’
She continued thinking.
‘He hid the discomfort in his body! The curse had existed already…… In this life, his fight with the Necromancer made it worsen even further!’
She reached a conclusion characteristic of herself.
‘What kind of woman am I…… On top of that, I ordered him to walk into danger. Both in the past and now…….’
Her heart ached.
[…….]
Overwhelmed by enormous guilt, Lucifurne did not dare continue speaking.
‘Why is she suddenly quiet?’
When the magic sword abruptly fell silent, Solacius looked toward his waist.
“Luci, are you sleeping?”
He called out to Luci, wondering, ‘Does a magic sword have narcolepsy too?’
[No, I am not sleeping.]
The magic sword’s tone had not changed, but it somehow seemed drained of strength.
[Your curse…… I do not know. I believe it would be better to have a mage or witch who uses the power of the snowfield examine it.]
‘As expected, I have to examine him directly to know the nature of his curse.’
Lucifurne felt regretful inwardly. After agonizing over it, she had sent him a letter containing a choice, yet he had still decided to go to Volka.
“Well, the Queen of the Kingdom of Luhan is the Grand Witch of the Snowfield. I’ll ask her when I have an audience with her later.”
Though it could not be resolved immediately, Solacius did not mind.
“Luci, you said you have a great deal of knowledge about magic, right?”
He was more curious about something else.
[That is correct. Ask whatever you are curious about.]
“Then do you know anything about dimensional travel or the Demon King’s curse?”
[Dimensional travel? The Demon King’s curse?]
At Solacius’s question, Lucifurne searched through her knowledge as thoroughly as she could.
‘Is Solacius’s curse related to the Demon King? And what is dimensional travel?’
At his question, Lucifurne put all the knowledge in her mind to work. However, there was no information that clearly seemed to be the answer.
She knew about spatial transfer but not dimensional travel. She knew about the Curse of the Snowfield but not the Demon King’s curse.
‘Dimensional travel appears only in a few myths or scriptures. I think I have seen the Demon King’s curse in scriptures as well, but it is not a curse similar to Solacius’s.’
[I do not know. I am sorry.]
Lucifurne’s voice trembled with guilt over being unable to help. However, no emotion could be heard in the voice that came through the magic sword.
Solacius shook his head at Luci’s apology.
“It’s all right. For now, I have you, Luci.”
[!!]
Those words made Lucifurne dizzy with a powerful emotion mixed with guilt.
‘I will immediately investigate dimensional travel and the Demon King’s curse!’
Solacius smiled toward her. Lucifurne’s heart ached even more as she made a firm resolve.
‘Even if I have to mobilize every resource in the Kingdom of Luhan!’
Following the search for the First Imperial Princess, investigating dimensional travel and the Demon King’s curse became national projects.
‘It is nearly time to end the synchronization.’
At a glance toward the sun, Lucifurne saw that the time for her royal duties was approaching.
[Roan Shalut.]
Before ending the synchronization, she spoke to Solacius in a serious tone. Of course, the voice heard through the magic sword was the same as ever.
[Be careful of the witch Rina Shalut.]
“Rina? What do you mean?”
[She is extremely suspicious. The aura of death and shadow around her is strong. Perhaps that witch is the reason your curse grew worse.]
Even if she explained that the witch might become the Grand Witch of Death in the future, Solacius would not understand. If anything, he would only think of her as a strange magic sword.
‘I will synchronize as often as possible to keep her in check, but Solacius needs to be wary too!’
Lucifurne was nearly certain that the young witch was behind Solacius’s worsening curse.
‘She sensed the Shadow Core and necromancy from Luna? As expected of a magic sword.’
“I know.”
Solacius calmly nodded at Luci’s warning.
[Yes, since you know, be careful from now on…… You know?]
“Yes, I know, so you don’t need to worry.”
Luci was the one who became flustered at his calm answer.
[Is that so? Impressive, Roan Shalut.]
Though initially flustered, Lucifurne recalled Solacius’s abilities and understood.
‘As expected of Solacius!’
Then she felt an unnecessary sense of pride.
‘A man like this fought for me until the very end!’
She was proud and grateful, yet even more sorry. A chest-tightening emotion surged through her.
She suppressed the emotion well enough that it did not show.
‘I should go soon.’
Looking at the sun’s position, Lucifurne decided to end the synchronization.
She wanted to remain with him longer, but she would aim for the night later.
[Roan Shalut, I must be going now.]
“Going?”
[That was a slip of the tongue. It is time for me to sleep.]
“When will you wake up?”
[At night.]
“See you then.”
Because it was not a farewell forever, Solacius did not think much of it.
[Th-that…… Roan Shalut.]
Just as Luci seemed to be falling asleep, she called to him again.
[Before I sleep, there is one last thing I am curious about. It truly is the last thing.]
“Go ahead.”
[The reason you did not seem happy when the Queen said she would grant you a title and territory. I am curious about that.]
“Suddenly?”
[Your expression looked particularly bad then. I was only curious about the reason.]
Luci hurriedly added the reason for her question.
‘An Ego Sword could be interested in human emotions and thoughts.’
Like an artificial-intelligence robot observing human thoughts and emotions.
“I heard that the Queen of the Kingdom of Luhan hates the Empire and imperial royals. The very fact that she would grant such gifts to someone like me could not be viewed as entirely positive. ……I thought it might be a trap.”
Having interpreted the reason for the question in his own way, Solacius gave a rough answer.
[A trap? Never!]
Luci hurriedly spoke.
“……?”
When Solacius’s expression turned puzzled, Luci hastily added more.
[Uh…… th-that! A magic sword’s premonition, yes, something like foresight! I can clearly feel that it is not a trap. In fact, I have a very good feeling about it!]
“Is that so? I will not be going there anytime soon anyway.”
Solacius gave a faint smile at Luci’s words.
[……!]
The smile of the blond, golden-eyed man was so beautiful.
At the sight of it, the Queen felt as though her heart were melting.