Was it a dream? A miracle?
Or perhaps a trick of the gods?
When I opened my eyes again, I couldn't help but be astonished.
I was sure I had died from the Red Dragon's flames.
"Waaah?"
I was alive.
In the body of a newborn baby, no less.
'What the hell is this?'
Verdin couldn't understand it.
Why was he in such a form?
However, after half a day had passed, he realized where he was.
He let out a sigh with an incredulous expression.
'No way? This place is….'
A room where everything—from the walls to the floor to the furniture—was white.
In this familiar place, babies were crying loudly, trying to outdo one another.
And among them, a baby with a fierce look on his face was crying.
The youngest son of the continent's foremost family of swordsmanship, the Strange family, and a monster with unparalleled talent.
'Verdin de Strange.'
This was the place where I, who would later be called the Sword King, was born.
My short but strong cry echoed throughout the room.
"Waaah!"
'No matter how I look at it, this is the Strange family mansion where I lived!'
After quickly scanning my surroundings, I furrowed my brow deeply.
"Waaah, waaah."
'No, no. This isn't the issue. What the hell is going on? Why am I here?'
My mind and mouth were not in sync.
No matter what words I tried to say, all that came out was 'waaah.' I clenched my tiny fists and then sighed, turning my head.
'Hah….'
Being reborn wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
For some reason, I was alive now.
But I was a baby.
"Waaah!"
'Damn it!'
My recent cry was a scream of anguish.
A nurse, misunderstanding my intent, checked my diaper and then placed a milk bottle in my mouth.
I tried to push the bottle away, screaming, 'I'm not hungry, so get it out of my face!'
"Waaah!"
But once again, all that came out of my mouth was 'waaah.'
The nurse, unable to understand my words, simply smiled brightly and patted my head.
"Oh my, why is our little Verdin so angry?"
I'm not angry; I'm just not hungry.
"Your eyes and nose look just like the master's."
Shut up! Saying I look like my father is the last thing I want to hear.
"Your eyebrows are thick, your nose is high, and your lips are like cherries. You're such a handsome boy…."
You're just spouting nonsense. If you knew I could understand you, you'd be scared out of your wits.
For the reborn Verdin, infancy was excruciatingly painful.
He hated hearing his siblings cry so loudly it hurt his ears. He also had to endure the humiliation of having a bottle shoved in his mouth and his diaper changed.
If he were just a baby, he wouldn't have had any thoughts. But for Verdin, who had lived past twenty years, these were humiliating days.
The one who was once called the Sword King now had to cry for food and diaper changes from a nurse.
'Phew….'
For a while, I denied my rebirth.
Days turned into weeks before I finally accepted reality.
The place where I stood was not a dream.
For whatever reason, I now had the opportunity to become stronger than before.
---
The continent's foremost family of swordsmanship.
At the age of five, the children of the Strange family receive a guardian spirit to accompany them.
Not only the direct descendants but also the collateral children gather at the main house for the ceremony, making it a bustling day with over a hundred children every year.
'Time flies.'
Originally, I had regretted this day.
On this day, I met what I thought was the most useless guardian spirit.
The owner of the legendary sword Valmus, which once beheaded a dragon, the Sword God Siegfried.
At the time, I believed that as long as I excelled in swordsmanship, everything would be solved.
So I chose the guardian spirit called the Sword God. As a result, everyone blessed me and said I was the next head of the family.
Being from a family known for its swordsmanship and choosing a Sword God as a guardian spirit, what better choice could there be?
But that became both my strength and my weakness.
Siegfried wanted me to follow his path as a Sword God. I, on the other hand, wanted to learn other skills besides swordsmanship.
From then on, our conversations dwindled until they eventually ceased.
'…It can't be helped.'
By the time I was fifteen, I had already mastered a level of swordsmanship higher than Siegfried.
To become stronger, I had to find other methods.
Moreover, the year of the war with the wizards taught me that simply cutting down enemies was not enough to conquer the continent.
So I resented Siegfried. Had I chosen a different guardian spirit, I could have learned special skills.
'All I learned was how to wield a sword.'
I was so furious that day that I shouted, "Useless bastard!" at my ancestor.
And so, the guardian spirit Siegfried left me. 'How dare you yell at your master!' he said, calling me an impudent brat.
'I should have held onto him back then.'
As time passed and I earned the title of Sword King, I came to understand that there was an insurmountable gap between Siegfried and me.
Siegfried was not merely a master of the sword. He had reached the divine state where he could calculate and determine every possibility that could unfold with a sword, even cutting what couldn't be cut.
In the end, as the 'Sword King,' I lost to the dragon, while 'Sword God' Siegfried triumphed.
'...That's right.'
That's why I am standing here now. Soon, the path to the divine realm will open.
Creak—
The door to the training hall opened.
Figures clad in white armor that covered their faces entered, their cloaks fluttering, and they split to both sides.
As they formed ranks and took their positions, the cries of knights could be heard from afar.
"Presenting the Lord!"
At the end of the distant hallway appeared a middle-aged man with blonde hair and a splendid beard. At his appearance, everyone bowed their heads and swallowed dryly. Some of the nurses even fainted from his overwhelming presence.
Click, clack, click, clack.
The sound of his shoes echoed.
A halo seemed to shine behind the lord's back.
He was known as the strongest swordsman of this era and the head of the Strange family.
'Lois de Strange.'
"…Prepare yourselves."
As his heavy voice, like that of the earth itself, spread throughout the training hall.
-Yes, sir!
The knights answered in unison.
Their voices reverberated throughout the castle. Women in pure white dresses began to enter, each carrying jars of various shapes, and lined them up.
There were so many jars that half of the training hall, which could accommodate more than a thousand people, was filled.
The jars, each different in appearance, were spaced evenly apart.
Behind them, the five-year-old children of the Strange family were poised, ready to dash forward at any moment.
To survive in the harsh world ahead, they needed to receive a good guardian spirit.
The parents, knowing this, had prepared their children as best as they could to ensure they could obtain a good guardian spirit.
Run forward first.
Choose the most splendid jar.
I, too, was taught this in the past and chose the largest and most splendid jar.
That was none other than the Sword God Siegfried, whom everyone desired.
Whoosh—
As time passed, the guardian spirits began to emerge from the jars like mist.
A muscular knight holding a massive mace, a gaunt man wielding two swords, an elderly man holding a staff, his face flushed as if drunk.
And among them, a man in red armor with a relaxed expression, arms crossed.
'...Siegfried.'
"Begin."
Lois de Strange said quietly.
The soldier standing at the entrance nodded and struck the drum with all his might.
Boom!
At the same time, the children began to run towards the jars.
They ran desperately, their faces contorted, striving to receive a good guardian spirit.
While everyone was doing their best to choose a guardian spirit, I stood still, observing their movements.
Swish.
I picked up the nearest jar.
Whoosh!
And threw it towards the jar containing Siegfried.
"…You will join me again this time."
Dragon Slayer, Siegfried.
Crash!