A familiar knight raised his sword above my head.
"Young master, I'm sorry."
Though I didn't know his name, I had seen his face many times within the castle. The fear in his eyes was palpable, not malice.
He wasn't part of the guards but a knight from the hunting squad. Whose order was he following to kill me?
The knight closed his eyes tightly.
Swoosh—
The blade sliced through the air.
In that fleeting moment, everything seemed to move slowly, not just his actions but the entire world. Even the birds' chirping stopped, confirming the flow of time had altered.
[Extend your hands forward.]
Brunhilde's voice echoed in my ears.
Without thinking, I extended my hands as she instructed.
Even without focusing my energy, mana swirled in my palms, forming an unknown spell. It was a mysterious shape I'd never seen before, like a blade without a hilt.
[Imagine a shield in your mind.]
She only told me to imagine a shield in my mind. Despite the lack of detailed explanation, I understood what she wanted.
I used the same method as when creating an Aura Blade. Holding the mana, I envisioned a shield of the desired shape.
Buzz.
The mana blade swelled and transformed into a round shield.
Clang!
The knight's sword struck the mana shield.
"Wha?!"
While he staggered in surprise, I jumped up and swung the shield at his head.
Thud.
The knight let out a short groan, staggering sideways and collapsing.
Thump.
I ran over and kicked his face.
Smack!
Then, I pummeled him with the shield.
Thud, thud, thud!
"Please, spare me! Spare me, young master!"
"Spare you? The man who just tried to kill me is asking me to spare him?"
"Ugh, I'm sorry!"
"Touching my body is unforgivable, but attempting to kill me is a crime that must be paid for with your life."
"Ugh... Young master!"
Blood gushed from the middle-aged knight's mouth. Despite wearing full steel armor, it was crushed and lost its shape in an instant.
Luckily, I was wielding a shield; if it had been a sword, the armor would have been torn apart, leaving him irreparably damaged.
"Hoo— I'll give you a chance to extend your life."
"Ugh..."
"Answer me, on whose orders did you come to kill me?"
The knight glanced at me with unfocused eyes, then lowered his head, groaning.
"T-That's..."
"I don't want to hear anything else. Just tell me the name of the person who ordered you to kill me. If you say anything else, I'll cut your head off immediately."
To intimidate him, I picked up the fallen sword.
As soon as I saw the emblem on the handle, I knew who was behind this.
A knight's sword typically bears the emblem of the one they serve.
And this sword had a clear depiction of a 'white tiger' at its crossguard.
The knight opened his mouth to say something.
"It's Gunter, isn't it?"
He froze at my words.
He couldn't even answer, just looked at me in fear.
"Since when have you been spying on me?"
"Y-Young master..."
"Enough. Just answer the question briefly."
"I'm sorry. Please kill me."
I grabbed the knight's hands, twisted them behind his back, and broke them.
Crack.
"Aaah!"
I then struck the back of his head with the sword's hilt.
Thud!
"Fine, I'll kill you. So no one else will ever plot something like this again. In front of everyone."
The knight's head drooped, his body going limp.
Thump.
* * *
"Left."
Siegfried turned his body to the left.
"No, right."
Brunhilde turned to the right.
They both wanted to walk in different directions, even though the signpost pointed to the same destination.
"No, it's left."
"Going right is faster."
"That's what you think. Left is much faster."
"Are you courting death by calling me 'wench'?"
The two guardian spirits glared at each other as if ready to kill. Red Aura and blue Mana flared up, pushing against each other.
I stepped between them, waving my hands and sighing.
"Hoo—"
"Stop it. No matter which way we go, we'll reach Strange Castle. Why waste emotions on this?"
Siegfried's eyebrows twitched.
"Because I'm right."
Brunhilde clenched her fist, infusing it with mana.
"Why don't you just admit it?"
"Crazy! This woman hasn't changed at all, huh?"
"Neither have you! I told you to get rid of that useless pride. Still living like this?"
"Living? You think I'm alive?"
"Hah... If only you could keep quiet."
These guys.
How could they fight every ten steps?
Even a god would be exasperated watching their bickering. Their conversations always ended in anger and conflict, no matter what was said.
And these people were called legends? The world is truly a harsh place.
"Enough already!"
I raised my voice louder than ever before.
Siegfried and Brunhilde simultaneously looked at me.
"Hey, stupid knight, what's wrong with him?"
"I don't know, foolish witch. He sometimes acts crazy when he's overly tired."
Witch?
To call Brunhilde von Glazer, the Mother of all Mages and the Great Sage, a 'witch' was nothing short of sacrilege.
Siegfried deserved to be slapped for that, but surprisingly, Brunhilde didn't get angry.
"Witch— It's been a long time since I heard that."
She nodded in acknowledgment.
'…It was true?'
She had a contemplative look on her face.
"Why? Feeling nostalgic?"
"…A bit."
"A bit, my ass. If I think about all the trouble I went through because of you!"
"What trouble? You wouldn't have made it to the tower without me."
"What did you say?!"
"You heard me!"
Listening to their conversation, I could grasp the situation to some extent.
I listened until the conversation veered into unnecessary territory, then stepped between them as they began to fight again.
"That's enough. Let's stop the pointless chatter and head back to the castle to continue this conversation."
Siegfried crossed his arms and turned his back. Brunhilde, watching him, whispered softly.
"Men can be so petty."
"Lady Brunhilde."
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you for a favor?"
"What is it?"
I formed a flame-like aura in one hand and answered her.
Whoosh—
"I am a knight."
"Indeed."
"I publicly formed a contract with Siegfried, the Sword God."
"Right."
"And you are Glazer, the arch-nemesis of the Strange family."
"I understand what you're saying. You want me to hide my identity, correct?"
"Yes. I don't want it to be easily known that I have a second guardian spirit, and that it's you."
"That's not a difficult task."
She snapped her fingers in the air.
Snap!
With a 'pop' sound and a puff of blue smoke, she transformed into a blue cat.
Meow—
The blue cat climbed onto my shoulder and licked my cheek.
Swoosh—
"How about this? No one will suspect anything now."
* * *
In a coastal village in the East.
Two men were about to clash over a member of the 'Red Worm' assassin group.
One was Gunter, the eldest son of the Strange family and one of the continent's Five Great Generals.
"I will not tolerate any more disturbances."
And on the other side, smiling leisurely, was Hysteria, the second son of Lois.
"What if you don't tolerate it?"
They gripped their sword hilts, ready to fight at any moment.
"I'll stop you by force if necessary."
"So you're saying you want to fight? You should've just said from the start that you came to kill me."
"It's not a fight. I'm here to stop your atrocities."
"Atrocities? What atrocities?"
"Didn't you kill the Glazer family mages on your way here? They are now ready to go to war to find you."
"Oh… so the Glazers are looking for me to kill me? Ha! That's interesting. I wanted to kill a few more mages anyway."
Gunter glanced at the fallen Red Worm assassin next to Hysteria.
"Stop the nonsense and head south. I'll handle him."
Hysteria grabbed the fallen assassin by the hair, forcing him up.
"Why should you handle someone I captured?"
"The East is my territory. I take responsibility for everything that happens here."
"Oh, really? So our dear eldest brother is responsible for everything that happens in the East? Then how did an assassin group dare to target our family?"
"Don't mock me."
"I'm not mocking you. It's just baffling. You claim the East as your territory, but assassins dared to target our youngest sibling. Ha! What does that mean?"
"..."
"Are you saying the eldest son of the Strange family sent assassins to kill the youngest out of fear of losing the successor's position?"
As soon as Hysteria finished speaking, Gunter swung the giant two-handed sword strapped to his back.
Whoosh—!
Hysteria blocked the strike with two swords.
Clang!
"I'll call for Valentine."
"Do as you wish. I'm acting under the Strange family's orders."
"What?"
"Do you remember what Father said after this year's ceremony?"
"After the ceremony?"
"Yes, he said under no circumstances should anyone touch the youngest. He won't forgive anyone for that."
"..."
Hysteria smirked and gestured into the air.
"Kaahahah! Hysteria, is it finally my turn?"
Simultaneously, his clown guardian spirit sprayed threads that bound the assassin.
"The one who ordered my assassination is Gunter de Strange, the eldest son of the Strange family."
The Red Worm assassin began speaking involuntarily. Despite struggling to close his mouth, his body moved against his will.
Hysteria smirked at him.
"How do you like the gift I prepared for you?"