-You are surely the greatest swordsman on the continent.
It was something Kalios Leon often heard from the knights who followed him as he roamed the battlefields for the kingdom.
They said that of all the swordsmen in existence on the continent, he was likely the strongest.
The knights admired his sword.
That was why, whenever he raised his sword and set out for the battlefield, the knights followed after him.
-Do you know? People are calling you a Sword Master.
It was what the Knight Commander under Kalios said as he watched him raise and swing his sword.
Sword Master.
It was an era when there was not yet any definition of a Master.
A system was gradually taking shape, and there were only the grades of Low, Mid, High, and Special.
When he, a Special-Grade Knight at the time, surmounted the wall that had been blocking his path, his martial arts became perfect.
Previously, Special Grade had been the highest realm, but at some point, a grade called Master that surpassed Special came into being, and Master became a title borne only by those who had reached the highest realm, those called superhumans among superhumans.
When had it started? By the time he looked around, people were calling him the Sword Master.
-Have you no intention of coming to the Empire? We will offer you the finest treatment.
The great powers strove to recruit Kalios.
Masters, of whom only three existed on the entire continent.
Superhumans said to be able to take on a legion single-handedly, shatter great mountains, and split the seas.
That was what those called Masters were, and Kalios was a Master.
-Are you aware that Valheim came to be called a great power because of you?
The Valheim Kingdom, the nation he belonged to as a duke, had been a weak nation.
The Empire's Third Prince had left the Empire and founded a kingdom called Valheim, and Kalios was one of the Valheim Kingdom's founding vassals as well as the duke who protected the realm.
The reason the utterly feeble Valheim Kingdom had been able to shed its status as a weak nation and become a great power lay entirely with Kalios.
Even if a Master could not take on an entire nation's army, he was a superhuman who could move alone and go for the necks of kings and emperors.
Only a Master could face a Master, and even if one searched the entire continent, only three Masters existed—yet Valheim possessed one of those three.
-Leon. Do you know that becoming your friend was the greatest stroke of luck in my life?
The man who had been born the Third Prince and become the king of a kingdom often expressed his gratitude whenever he met Kalios.
Kalios received the respect of the knights and the deep favor of the king.
People hailed him as the great Sword Master, and his family grew so powerful that even the king could not treat it lightly.
However, every favor came with a price.
The more wealth, power, and honor he gained, the more often he went out to the battlefield.
For the kingdom and for the well-being of his family, he roamed the battlefields without rest.
-People are calling Your Grace the Undefeated Knight.
Whenever he took to the battlefield, the enemy shrank back, and he never once lost a war.
A hundred battles, a hundred victories.
His wars always ended in victory and knew nothing of defeat.
Perhaps that was why he had let his guard down.
SQUELCH.
The sensation of a cold blade piercing into his stomach.
“Commander!”
The wailing of his subordinates from behind him.
“Cough.”
Kalios grimaced as he gripped the sword that had pierced his stomach.
He slowly raised his head and looked at the one who had stabbed him in the stomach.
He saw a knight holding the sword.
A knight of the Empire who, like him, was called a Master.
Kalios turned his head and surveyed his surroundings.
Beside the Sword Master stood another Master, one who wielded a spear.
Behind them, more than several hundred soldiers and more than several dozen knights had their weapons raised and trained on him.
All around, he could see mages chanting incantations for attack spells they could unleash at any moment.
Magic circles filled the space around Kalios.
Elemental attacks of fire, lightning, and water were aimed at him.
To catch Kalios, every Master on the continent had gathered in one place, and even a 9th Circle mage had appeared.
“You. Are a monster.”
Kalios did not answer the enemy's words.
After all, being called a monster was something that had always trailed him whenever he walked the battlefields.
Nor was there any reason to exchange words with the enemy.
“If only you had been with us, you would not have had to die so miserably.”
“You should have accepted our offer, then. Had you done so, you would not have been betrayed, and you could have lived in grand style alongside us, could you not?”
The voices of the Masters.
At their words, Kalios bit his lip.
Just as they said, Kalios had been betrayed by the royal family.
The king, fearing that his power would grow any greater, had cooperated with the Empire in an attempt to kill Valheim's one and only Sword Master, and the king's scheme had worked perfectly.
At present, Kalios had fallen into a trap and was dying.
“We will give you a chance, even now. Come with us.”
“Kalios, for someone like you. We will treat you as an honored guest. We will give you everything you desire. Wealth, honor, power. All of it.”
Watching them try to win him over, Kalios raised the corners of his mouth.
You want me to collude with the enemy now?
With the bastards who tried to kill me?
He had no intention of bowing his head, even if it meant death.
Kalios had only one answer for the enemy nation's Masters.
SWISH.
His hand rose feebly.
Soon, he clenched his fist and, with great effort, raised his middle finger to show them.
Seeing Kalios flip them off, the Masters' faces hardened.
“We showed you courtesy, and yet.”
Looking at their now-menacing expressions, he lowered his hand and gripped his sword.
‘Can I survive this?’
Getting back alive would be difficult.
Breaking through that many soldiers to escape was impossible as well.
His death was a foregone conclusion.
Kalios let out a heavy sigh.
If I'm given another chance once more, then this time, instead of obeying someone's orders, I'll live my own life.
Gripping his sword tightly, Kalios hurled himself at the enemy.
CRASH, CRASH, CRASH—!
At the same moment, his body was shattered.
***
For the week since he had opened his eyes, Kalios had felt as though he were dreaming.
He had clearly died on the battlefield, yet when he opened his eyes, he was in a new body.
What's more, it was an era 200 years later, and he had been reincarnated into the body of a descendant of his own family.
That the descendant's name was Kalios, the same as his own, and that he had been an irredeemable good-for-nothing did not matter.
What mattered to him was the reason he had been reincarnated.
Kalios simply could not figure out how he had come to be reincarnated.
Had the god the priests wailed and searched for taken pity on him and stepped in personally?
Or if not that, had he come across some miraculous fortune that led to his reincarnation?
For the week after his reincarnation, Kalios had worked diligently to grasp the situation he was in.
That over the 200 years, the position of family head had changed hands four times, and the current family head was the fifth.
That the Leon Ducal House, which had once held the highest standing in Valheim, no longer held the standing of a duke.
That the bastard they called the eldest son was an irredeemable good-for-nothing within the family with a body like a wreck's—and even that he himself had become that good-for-nothing.
It was something that could never happen, but absurdly, all of it was real.
Over that week, Kalios came to realize this, and he had no choice but to accept that he had been reincarnated.
Refusing to accept it would not change his situation, after all.
‘If I have to live in this body from now on, I can't just sit still like this.’
Kalios looked down at his body.
A truly pathetic body.
That body, which looked like a withered twig, was a hindrance to anything he tried to do.
Before making any moves, he first needed to train his body.
Building up a reasonable level of stamina—that was the very first goal he had to achieve.
Knock, knock.
There was a knock at the door.
Turning his head, he saw a man open the door and come in.
A knight in dress uniform.
The knight scanned the room expressionlessly until his eyes met those of Kalios, who was sitting on the bed.
Under Kalios's steady stare, a rare change came over the knight's expression.
“You are up early.”
Kalios nodded at the knight's words.
He studied the knight as he drew closer.
His confident gait and calm presence were impressive.
“Deon.”
“Yes.”
“I'd like some water.”
At Kalios's words, Deon stopped and nodded, then spoke toward the half-open door.
“You may come in.”
The moment Deon spoke, maids came in through the open door.
In their hands were a basin filled with water, a towel, a pitcher, and a cup, and the maid holding the pitcher came over and handed him water.
Perhaps there was ice in the pitcher, for the water was quite cold.
Kalios felt satisfied as he drank the cold water.
200 years ago, drinking cold water in summer had required a mage.
Only with ice created by a mage had it been possible to drink cold water.
When Kalios returned the cup to the maid, other maids came over and dabbed water on his face.
Moderately lukewarm water, neither cold nor warm, wet Kalios's face.
He looked at the maids washing his face.
Kalios was known as a good-for-nothing.
He drank every day and was the sort of person who could stir up trouble at any moment.
How many maids and butlers had suffered because of Kalios's good-for-nothing antics?
The maids beside him tried not to show it, but they couldn't completely hide that they were tense and trembling with fear.
“I'll change my clothes myself, so you can go now.”
At Kalios's words, the maids gauged his mood and then carefully left the room.
THUD.
Having watched the door close, Kalios turned his gaze to the clothes the maids had brought.
Gaudy clothes adorned with gaudy patterns.
Kalios's face twisted as he looked at them.
“To think I have to wear something like this when I'm not even a clown. Deon, what do you think?”
“...”
“It looks weird to you too, right? I think so too.”
Deon gave no answer, but Kalios didn't mind in the slightest.
Pushing the clothes the maids had brought off to one side, he sat on the bed.
“Young Master.”
“What?”
About to lie down on the bed, he turned his head at the sound of Deon calling him.
This was the same Deon who hadn't said a word even when he'd talked about the clothes.
Kalios looked with interest at Deon, who was now speaking to him.
“I believe it would be best for you to attend the family meal today.”
At the mention of a family meal, Kalios froze mid-stretch.
For the week since his reincarnation, he had not left his room.
He had gotten what he needed from Deon and concentrated on understanding and grasping his situation.
‘Right, it's about time I showed my face.’
After a week, it was indeed time to show his face to his family.
“Let's go now.”
Kalios nodded and got up.
He had been starting to get hungry anyway.
Eating with his family wouldn't be so bad.
Having Deon take the lead, Kalios followed behind him.
“Huh? Isn't that Young Master Kalios over there?”
“It really is. He's even come outside. What's gotten into him?”
“Don't pay any attention. You'll catch hell for nothing.”
With every step he took, the servants' eyes followed him.
They were looking at Kalios with fear.
At the voices coming from all directions, Kalios made a strange expression.
What on earth was with this body? It had no muscle and such pitiful stamina that he tired after walking just a little, yet its senses were sharp.
Sharp enough that he could hear even whispers from far away.
It would be hard to adjust to right away, but it wasn't an entirely bad situation.
For one who wields a sword, the senses are extremely important.
The path of the swordsman is one where even slightly dulled senses can get you killed, so having sharp senses is a good thing.
“We have arrived.”
Deon said this as he stopped in front of a door guarded by two knights.
Saying that he could not go inside, he stepped aside, and Kalios nodded and stepped forward.
“Young Master Kalios?”
“Have you come to dine?”
He gave a careless nod to the knights who were staring at him wide-eyed.
The knights, who had been looking at him with complicated expressions, then exchanged glances and opened the door.
“Young Master Leon Kalios is entering!”
Along with the knights' booming voices, the iron door opened.
“Then we hope you enjoy your meal.”
They bowed their heads briefly to Kalios as he went inside.