“Diiie―!”
SWI…I…I…ISH…….
I did not know what was happening, but with all my senses enhanced by leaps and bounds, I could read Walter’s movements perfectly.
‘At first glance, it looks as though he is aiming for my neck, but….’
The true target of his blade was my ‘heart.’
Watching the Longsword advance as slowly as though time itself had decelerated, I moved to the right with all my strength.
I had to escape the central axis of the thrust.
SLI…I…IDE….
‘Just a little farther. Just a little…!’
My body moved far more slowly than the approaching blade.
With my heart in my throat, I kept my eyes fixed on Walter’s sword until the very end.
An eternity seemed to pass.
SHNK.
“Ghh…!”
The cold, sharp touch of metal pierced my clothes and reached my skin.
Despite my desperate struggle, I had ultimately failed to evade the thrust completely.
However, the Longsword had pierced my left shoulder.
My highest priority had been to avoid a vital point at all costs, and I had accomplished that much.
Now it was time to counterattack.
“GRAAAAH―!”
SWI…I…I…I…ISH….
Using even the force with which Walter’s Longsword had pierced my left shoulder, I rotated my body and swung my sword.
This, too, employed the principle of Shifting Flowers and Grafting Trees.
‘Wow… I can actually do this?’
It was regrettable that the point of contact with my opponent’s weapon happened to be my shoulder, but I was astonished that I had managed to make use of even that force.
A technique that would have been unimaginable at my current level had become possible thanks to my extraordinarily sharpened ‘Hyper-Senses.’
“H…HUP!”
Walter sucked in a startled breath as he felt a chilling sensation.
The swinging Shortsword was aimed directly at his ‘neck.’
Upon seeing it, he desperately attempted to evade.
SL―ASH.
“Ghh…!”
Sword Light flashed for an instant as the blade dug into Walter’s neck.
It did not sever his head completely, but the wound cut through roughly ‘two-thirds’ of his neck.
SPLURT―!!!
A fountain of blood erupted from the gaping wound.
THUD…….
Once Walter collapsed, he never rose again.
CLANG―
‘…I somehow managed it.’
I pulled the Longsword from my left shoulder and threw it onto the ground. I was about to sit down and rest when…?
THUMP―!
A subtle wave of mana suddenly pulsed from my heart, and the strength rapidly drained from my entire body. At the same time, my vision spun as a wave of dizziness overwhelmed me.
“G-gh… what is this?”
SWAY―
I was not certain, but it seemed to be the aftereffect of the strange ‘Hyper-Senses’ that had activated earlier.
In the end, I collapsed face-first onto the ground. I desperately tried to cling to consciousness, but—
‘No… I cannot pass out…….’
My consciousness gradually faded.
My senses grew faint.
― Evan! Evan…!
I could hear someone calling my name.
That voice… Was it the marquis?
But I could no longer think.
Leaving that faint voice behind….
I fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
‘Th-this cannot be! He defeated a knight of battalion-commander rank….’
Pervan Verdin had said that he would follow Evan.
Concealing himself from sight, he had secretly watched the entire battle from the very beginning.
He had lost count of how many times the fight had astonished him.
‘He has only been properly learning the sword for a few months, yet he can already move at this level….’
Haver, who had personally taught Evan swordsmanship, had instinctively realized that the boy was no novice with a sword.
However, to Pervan, who had observed from a distance, everything Evan accomplished simply appeared to be the result of ‘talent.’
Furthermore, Pervan knew what kind of existence Evan truly was, so his thoughts could only lean further in that direction.
‘It is not merely his swordsmanship. His use of Artifacts and magic is extraordinary as well.’
It was nothing less than insane ‘Combat Sense.’
As he gazed upon his creation, Pervan’s heart once again swelled with emotion.
If Evan already displayed such ability before he had even finished growing, then what kind of magnificent existence would he become after fully awakening?
Perhaps his final form would be….
A transcendent existence akin to a ‘god.’
Yet separate from the joy inspired by Evan’s abilities, part of his heart ached when he saw the injured boy lying unconscious on the ground.
“Evan…….”
His mind knew that Hyper-Regeneration would soon heal Evan completely, but… his heart apparently refused to accept it so easily.
GRIND.
“Clana… How dare that bitch, filled with nothing but pathetic vanity!”
When he recalled the mastermind, fury and Murderous Intent flashed in his eyes.
He carried Evan back to the castle and immediately went to find the Marchioness.
* * *
BANG―!
The door to Clana Verdin’s room, the lady of the lord’s castle, was violently thrown open.
Clana had only just awakened and was having her maids apply her makeup, and she jolted in surprise.
However, that surprise lasted only a moment.
“Who dares enter my room without permission…?!”
She turned around with an irritated scowl, only to find an unexpected figure standing there.
“Y-you…?”
Indeed.
The man standing there was Marquis Pervan Verdin.
His expression was rigid, and his gaze was sharp and icy.
There was something ominous about his entire demeanor―
“What brings you here so early in the morning…?”
“Heh. You are asking why I have come?”
SMIRK.
A sinister smile appeared on Pervan’s face.
It was an expression rarely seen on a man who ordinarily revealed little emotion.
Something about that mocking smile sent a chill through Clana.
“W-we should speak later. As you can see, I have only just begun preparing myself.”
“No. My business will be brief, so I shall speak now.”
Clana found the situation deeply uncomfortable, but Pervan’s manner was unusually forceful and aggressive.
“All of you, leave until I call you back.”
“What? But my lady’s hair has not finished drying yet….”
“That does not matter. Leave immediately.”
“Y-you! What is the meaning of this rudeness?!”
The bewildered Marchioness Clana raised her voice.
Pervan did not so much as blink.
“I came because of the amusing affair you arranged throughout the night.”
“What? What in the world are you… Ah!”
Only then did she seem to understand why he had come.
All color drained from her face.
‘Could he have discovered that Sir Walter kidnapped those lowborn people?!’
“M-my lady…?”
The maids were caught between the married couple, unable to decide what to do.
The marquis naturally held the higher rank. However, they dealt directly with the Marchioness far more often, making it difficult for them to disregard her wishes….
“I do not mind discussing the matter in front of all your maids, should that be what you desire.”
“Ghh… V-very well!”
In the end, Clana had no choice but to send all the maids away.
Once the two of them were alone, Pervan placed the object he had been carrying before his wife.
THUD.
It was a crude, cube-shaped wooden box.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
CLICK―
Without much thought, she opened the lid.
The moment she saw what was inside—
“KYAAAAAA―!”
She was so horrified that her heart nearly stopped.
A human head lay inside the box.
Moreover, it belonged to someone she knew very well.
“S-Sir Walter… H-how….”
Clana’s face turned ashen, and her entire body trembled violently.
Pervan’s gaze remained cold and merciless as he looked at her.
“I believe I warned you quite clearly last time.”
He had told her not to touch Evan.
The result of ignoring that warning was Walter’s severed head being returned to her.
It all felt like a nightmare to Clana.
Her mind went blank, leaving her unable to collect herself.
SLIDE―
Pervan approached her and bent at the waist.
He then whispered into her ear.
“You appear to be causing trouble repeatedly because you trust in the support of your family. Should anything like this happen again, even being a member of House Freya will not keep you safe.”
“Wh-what did you say?! Have you said everything you wished to say?!”
Tremble, tremble….
Having finally regained her senses, Clana glared at him and shrieked in a piercing voice.
However, the fear from her earlier shock had not yet subsided, and her body continued to tremble.
Pervan found the sight rather amusing.
HEH.
“Indeed. I have said all I wished to say, so I shall take my leave.”
STEP, STEP―
The marquis turned his back on her and walked out of the room.
There was not the slightest trace of hesitation in his departing steps.
“Ghhh… Pervan Verdin!”
‘He dares treat me this way? Very well. We shall see about that!’
GRIND―
The Marchioness glared venomously at Pervan’s retreating back.
Her eyes were filled with malice.
* * *
That night.
The Head Maid was dragged before the Marchioness.
“M-my lady! Please, spare my life…!”
She had been beaten so severely that the whipping had reduced her back to ragged flesh.
Her face was swollen beyond recognition.
The Head Maid was still desperately trying to survive, but―
“Just kill her. Dispose of her properly and make certain that no traces remain.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“N-no! Please! Sir Knights! My lady!”
The Marchioness did not reverse her decision.
Weeping, the Head Maid clutched the hem of Clana’s skirt and continued begging until one of the knights mercilessly struck the back of her neck with the edge of his hand.
THWACK!
“…Ghk!”
With a single strangled cry, the Head Maid collapsed limply to the floor.
The knights stuffed her into a burlap sack and carried her out of the castle.
“Tsk! This is why lowborn trash cannot be trusted.”
PAT, PAT―
Marchioness Clana straightened the skirt the Head Maid had grasped. She then removed something from inside her clothing.
It was a crystal ball the size of a fist.
“Connect.”
VOOOOM―
It was a communication Magical Device.
A short while later, a figure appeared within the glass sphere….
[It has been a long time, my child.]
“Hoho… Have you been well, Father?”
An old man with thick white hair and blue eyes appeared within it.
He was Count Freya.
Stroking his beard, he casually asked her a question.
[Yes. I heard that there has been some trouble?]
“Yes. The truth is….”
Speaking in a secretive voice, the Marchioness explained that ever since the illegitimate child entered the household, Pervan Verdin had begun neglecting her.
“At this rate, that lowborn wretch may even inherit this house.”
[Hoho, that would be rather troublesome.]
Originally, Count Freya had not been greatly interested in the succession of House Verdin.
Recently, however, the circumstances had changed considerably.
A method of purifying monster corpses at a low cost had become known, and both the Imperial Family and the Magic Tower had decided to support the related business.
He had married off his troublesome second daughter to House Verdin as though casting her aside. It was not as though he had foreseen such a grand opportunity from the beginning, but―
‘Hohoho… Is this not also a stroke of heaven-sent fortune?’
Count Freya had firmly resolved to involve himself with Verdin and secure a sizable share of the profits.
The instincts he had developed over decades of commerce and trade were sending him a powerful ‘signal.’
This was an enormous opportunity― they declared.
‘I cannot allow such a valuable opportunity to escape because of some lowborn illegitimate child with no proper lineage.’
He had already resolved to eliminate the marquis’s illegitimate child, so he readily sympathized with his daughter’s complaints.
[You must have suffered greatly all this time. I never thought the marquis was that kind of man….]
“Exactly! Even I never imagined that such a gullible simpleton… Ah, no! That such a gentle man would suddenly become so cold and treat me this way!”
[Good heavens! My child, you need not worry any longer.]
A sinister smile formed beneath Count Freya’s beard.
[That insolent lowborn wretch whom the marquis protects so dearly… I shall personally see him dead.]
“Truly?! Thank you, Father! Charles and Ronan will surely be delighted as well!”
Charles and Ronan.
They were her children, who were currently attending the Academy in the Imperial Capital.
That made them Count Freya’s grandchildren.
[Hoho. It has been a long time since I last saw their faces.]
“Hohoho! I shall bring the children to visit you sometime.”
[Yes. Let us meet before long.]
He had lived as though those children did not exist, but the count decided that he should begin paying them some attention from now on.
Clana and Count Freya.
The father and daughter discussed their future plans for a while longer before ending the communication.