"Always remember. We are the descendants of a warrior, and we must protect the magic sword he so closely sealed!"
His grandfather's nagging words echoed in Benjamin's ears.
And now, in his hand, he held Rubens.
"Ack!"
"Block! Block!"
The village was burning.
Villagers were screaming and spraying blood, and outsiders he'd never seen before were brandishing weapons.
"Benjamin, take that sword and run!"
Benjamin heard someone shout, but he just stood there, holding Rubens, wrapped in a purple cloth.
Only Benjamin, the only one who was not eroded by the magic sword's energy, could run away with it, but he did not move a single step.
'Why....'
Benjamin couldn't understand.
What the hell was this magic sword doing, killing the villagers who had been adoring him until yesterday?
And why are those mercenaries killing innocent people for this sword?
"I found it! The magic sword is there!"
A mercenary shouted, and a group of rugged men swarmed toward Benjamin.
And the villagers desperately trying to get in their way died.
"Why on earth would...."
What the hell is a sword?
Benjamin peeled the cloth off the sword and grabbed the handle of his magic sword, Rubens, with both hands.
He couldn't run away.
He couldn't abandon the land he'd been born and raised on, the people he'd lived with in this village.
Thrust.
With a hissing sound, Rubens slowly emerged from its scabbard.
Soon after, Rubens, whose sword was fully exposed, let out a cry.
Keeeeeeeee-!
A storm of magic erupted, and Benjamin felt a power he had never experienced before.
If he couldn't throw it away, he might as well kill them all.
The magic sword that broke free from its sheath shed dozens of times more magic energy than usual and eroded into Benjamin.
Chuah!
* * *
"Hmph."
Benjamin let out a ragged breath and opened his eyes.
He looked around and saw that it was nearing midday.
Though he'd had a nightmare, his body felt light from the longest sleep he'd had in a long time.
"Wake up."
Adrias greeted Benjamin and handed him a canteen of water.
Benjamin looked at Adrias with a wary expression, but soon realized the presence of the magic sword in his arms and accepted the water.
"Go, thank you."
Was it ordinary water?
Benjamin had his doubts, but if he was going to do it, he would have done it sooner or later, so he drank the water without question.
By now, the spot where they were staying was neatly tidied up, and Benjamin folded the blanket covering his body and handed it to Adrias.
"It's, it's, it's...."
"Thank you, yes. You're welcome."
"Yeah? Yeah...."
Why is this man being so nice to me?
I've been wary of my surroundings ever since I got out of town, so this is the first time I've ever received such a favor.
Is it pity or compassion?
It was hard not to pity him, given his current state.
"Since this is a connection, let me ask your name. My name is Adrias Cromwell."
"Benjamin Anicius."
"Yes. Benjamin. I don't know what's going on, but are you going somewhere?"
Adrias's question made Benjamin think for a moment.
He wasn't sure what to say, since he didn't have a destination in mind anyway.
After a few moments of silence, Adrias spoke again.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious, and to be honest, I'm more curious about why you're traveling than where you're going."
"My village was attacked... by mercenaries."
I thought about it for a moment, but decided it didn't matter.
He didn't seem like a good guy, but he didn't seem like a bad guy either.
At Benjamin's words, Adrias narrowed his brow and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"I guess we have nowhere to go."
"...Yes."
It was a simple enough explanation: the village had been raided.
Benjamin sighed, lost in thought.
"Now what do I do? I got Rubens out, but my family is dead and the village is gone.
He killed all the mercenaries who attacked, but the villagers were already dead.
It was a small village, to begin with, so by the time he drew his sword, most of them were dead.
'If only I had decided sooner....'
Regret stabbed him in the chest, but he held on.
He was a descendant of a warrior, and he had fulfilled his calling by protecting the magic sword.
It was then that Adrias spoke.
"If you have nowhere else to go, perhaps I could accompany you for a while. I'm sure I can be of no use to you out here in the middle of nowhere."
"Thank you, but why do you care about me?"
"I have a younger sister about your age, and I can't leave her alone. If you don't want to, don't."
Benjamin shook his head at Adrias's words.
He had to survive as long as he had a mission to protect the magic sword.
He didn't know when he would receive such a favor again, so he had to take advantage of the opportunity.
"I will accompany you, please accept."
"Come on. I'll assume you're headed for the Imperial capital. Whatever you do, it's easier to find work and live there."
Thus began an unexpected journey.
* * *
"Mercenaries attacked?
It seemed a bit premature to ask for the details of the attack on the village.
Perhaps I could ask after we'd gotten to know each other a little better and let our guard down.
If the future was altered, it meant that my actions had gone awry somewhere, but I had no idea where.
"We'll figure out why later, but right now the question is what to do with Benjamin.
I thought I'd get him on my side, but all I got was a headache.
There was no way I was going to have time to look after him when I had to get back to the Academy.
"The Academy?
The idea suddenly occurred to me, and I realized it wouldn't be a bad idea.
I'm out of debt to the Albengas now, and I have enough money from the two potions I'm about to patent.
It didn't seem like a bad idea to pay for Benjamin's tuition and send him to Monas Academy, Rodolen's affiliated academy.
Just being in the academy was enough protection.
Also, Benjamin would be 15 years old this year.
It was the perfect age to enroll in the three-year program.
'The problem is that Monas is probably done with the admissions process.
We'll have to work around that.
The goal was to get him into the academy somehow.
As a 'Sword Master', he could grow rapidly by practicing on his own, but if he learned at the academy, he might even grow faster than in the game.
'Come to think of it, he's only 15 years old.
He was the youngest playable character in the game.
Still, he was the second character after Louis, so if he was actually the same age as Louis, he could have been the first.
As I thought about this, Benjamin and I walked toward the village, the sky darkening.
It was the closest village to the Kratos Mountains and one that we had stopped at once on our way to the Kratos Mountains.
'We'll spend the night here, buy a horse, and then ride on to Mertheon.
I decided to drop the subject of the academy in the meantime.
As we entered the town, it was already late and the atmosphere was calm.
But I could sense the tension in the air.
"I don't feel comfortable.
Of course, it could have been my mood, but for now, I headed to the house of the village chief, who I had once owed money to.
I knocked on the door, and the village chief's face lit up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you must be the guy from the other day."
He pushed the door open, inviting me in.
But I paused.
"The chief is breaking out in a cold sweat, his breathing is unsteady, and his body is stiff.
He's tense.
For what?
As soon as I had any doubts, I immediately used Mana Detect.
I could see the figures lurking inside, as well as the popular pretenders in the woods right next to the village.
"Shit. I've been spotted! Kill them!"
The hiding figures must have sensed my mana detection, because they immediately popped out of the house, brandishing their weapons.
"What the hell? They weren't here the last time I came by.
I don't know why, but I pulled out my sword to ask them after I subdued them.
Keeeeeeeee-!
Suddenly, a bizarre noise rang out.
Benjamin, who had been nervous about encountering strangers since entering the village, pulled out Rubens without delay.
"You're in trouble.
The existence of a magic sword should be hidden as much as possible, but due to his previous experience, he drew his sword first.
As Benjamin drew his sword, the enemies rushed forward, seemingly determined to attack him first.
But Benjamin swings his sword in a storm of magic.
Boom!
The enemies, their upper and lower bodies separated, crumbled to the ground.
'That's quite a feat. Isn't a magic sword too expensive?
As it is, Benjamin is probably stronger than Luis with a magic sword.
By the way, I didn't get to ask him who he was because he killed them all.
I patted Benjamin on the head and walked over to the chief, who was cowering in the corner.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"I, I don't know, I don't know anything!"
"I'm not going to hurt you, but you'd better explain, or I'm not going to help you."
That's when I realized there were tons of them outside, swarming toward us.
That's a lot of them. What the hell are they?
"I don't know exactly, they just kept threatening me, telling me over and over again to worship Lord Jefar. Please don't kill me."
The Cult of Zephar?
These wormy bastards....
I thought maybe they were targeting Benjamin, but maybe I was the target.
"Was it because I stopped the last terrorist attack? I'll have to check that out.
Boom!
While I was interrogating the chief, I heard an explosion outside.
Benjamin must be fighting the bird.
His home was attacked, and he lost everything.
I leave the chief alone and step outside.
Then I saw Benjamin fighting with someone, with many enemies surrounding the house.
Cha-ching!
The opponent was taking it easy on Benjamin.
On the other hand, Benjamin's lip was busted open, as if he had been hit by a few blows.
"Maximus Vandam, a junior officer of the Order of Zephar.
He may be low-level, but he's an officer, and his strength is far beyond that of his assailant.
Even if Benjamin had the magic sword, Rubens, his experience and skill proved to be an insurmountable barrier.
Maximus, who had noticed my arrival, turned to me.
"There's the hero! You must be Adrias Cromwell, right?"
The fact that he turned to me in the middle of the fight and spoke to me made it clear that he was quite skilled.
He must have been looking for me because he even knew my name.
"What is this kid, an escort or something? Anyway, we have a deal."
"A deal?"
Boom!
Bam!
"Ugh."
Maximus, who had lightly blocked and kicked Benjamin, who had lunged at him while speaking, nodded.
"I promise to let you go without pain if you tell me who it was that prevented the Academy's sacrifice. There is no way you would have killed Ms. Payat, so there must have been a third party."
So this was the purpose.
Now that he said it, I could see why he'd sent a low-level officer.
"That was condescending.
Rather good.
I pulled out my Galaxur.
"Ha? What do you think you're doing? Adrias Cromwell. I thought you were a wizard?"
Whatever Maximus said, I walked slowly forward.
"Well, it's about time I put my recent learning to use.
When I was about three meters away from Maximus, I concentrated and swung my sword, which was coated in jet-black mana.
Scourge.
Tong!
There was a snap, and then silence.
Then Maximus, his neck gone, fell forward in a fountain of blood.
"No... way."
Someone muttered.
Sword Wind, applying a wave of mana, slowly colored the surroundings with horror.