Chapter 38

"......"

"Did you use a familiar sword technique? Or was it a sword technique that was unfamiliar even to you, who has faced many sword techniques?"

Usually, Jin obeyed the Sword Saint's orders and requests without any doubt.

However, today, Jin looked up at the Sword Saint with a slightly strange feeling.

This was due to the memory of Baron Weatherwood's words.

"Miss Jin, this is not a condition but a request. I hope that only Miss Jin will know how I moved in the duel."

Had he foreseen this moment?

The more he thought about it, the more unusual he seemed. Jin bowed humbly to the Sword Saint.

"Your Grace. I admit defeat in the duel. Therefore, I am willing to relinquish the succession rights of the Berkeley Greighton family. I am grateful for your teachings despite my inadequacies..."

"Jin."

It was a low call. Jin, sensing the chill in it, could not bring herself to raise her head.

"I am the head of the family. Whether to expel you from Berkeley Greighton will be decided after I hear your answer to my question."

"My opponent did not even draw his sword. I had no way of knowing what sword technique he used."

"Since he didn't draw his sword, you mean you didn't know how he wielded it? Are you serious?"

Jin remained silent.

A faint smile appeared on the Sword Saint's lips as he gazed intently at Jin's expression.

Swordsmanship is not just about the method of wielding a sword.

Narrowly, it includes whether one pursues a light or heavy sword, and broadly, it even encompasses the type of sword crafted by a particular artisan.

'Yet, she gives such a foolish answer, saying she doesn't know.'

Jin is not the type to avoid answering questions.

She was the most obedient among the various successors.

Moreover, she had no interests outside of swords, making her an ideal external guild master for the guild <Clone> she had been running since the end of the war.

To the Sword Saint, who could not have a private organization under the treaty with the royal family, she was the most useful disciple after Garosh.

Therefore, if possible, the Sword Saint intended to keep Jin with him even after passing the dukedom to Garosh.

The reason why such a Jin was avoiding answering the question was clear.

'Baron Weatherwood must have set it as a condition of the duel.'

This meant that there was a secret that had to be hidden from Baron Weatherwood.

The 'sword technique' used by Baron Weatherwood itself.

The Sword Saint gripped his sword.

-Strive harder.

A familiar resonance sounded.

When a swordsman grips a sword, it leaves a trace.

Even if someone else grips the sword, it leaves a trace, and by examining the trace, one can glimpse the person's inner self.

Therefore, after the resonance of his sword began, the Sword Saint never lent his sword to anyone.

Even if the trace disappeared quickly, he did not want someone else's inner self to remain on his sword.

The reason he lent his sword to Baron Weatherwood was half out of curiosity and half to investigate him.

However, there was no trace of Baron Weatherwood on his sword. It was natural since he did not even draw his sword.

-Strive harder.

'......'

Baron Weatherwood is a new, powerful figure who has never appeared before.

It seemed that a different approach was needed.

'Maybe I should focus on Baron Weatherwood himself, not the Weatherwood family.'

He had been investigating the Weatherwood family for the past two years.

There was only one reason.

The rumor that Diann Ket's relics were mixed in with the former Baroness Weatherwood's estate. He wanted to confirm the truth of this rumor.

Despite the extraordinary magic protecting the family and the countless assassins he sent, the Sword Saint failed to obtain the information about Diann Ket he desired.

At some point, the assassins he sent to the Weatherwood family stopped returning.

Sensing an ominous atmosphere, he decided to annihilate the Weatherwood family without further delay.

If Baron Weatherwood had not announced his attendance at the noble assembly, he would have certainly done so.

The Sword Saint planned to assassinate Baron Weatherwood on the Black Lagal and disguise it as an accident.

Passengers falling from airships while drunk were not uncommon in modern times.

However, he ultimately did not do it.

'Gray Weatherwood.'

Why?

The Sword Saint felt a strange familiarity from him.

Strange, yet familiar. It was a paradox, but no other expression came to mind.

Strange but familiar. The 'familiarity' he felt from him was suffocating, making him constantly ponder and delve deeper.

Uncharacteristically, he accepted Jin's request to duel Baron Weatherwood for this reason.

He thought that if Baron Weatherwood was a swordsman hiding his true strength, he might gain some small hint.

In the end, the Sword Saint failed to achieve his desired outcome in either direction. However, one thing became clear.

'There is something about that man that I have yet to discover.'

He had spent four years searching the entire continent for Diann Ket's relics.

He did not want to waste more time. The Diann Ket relics hidden by the Weatherwood family must become his.

"Jin."

"......Yes."

"If you truly wish to leave Berkeley Greighton, I will not stop you."

Jin raised her head in surprise.

The Sword Saint was not so foolish as to fail to read the mind of his innocent disciple.

The young sword demon who came to him solely to learn the sword showing great interest in a man she had never seen before.

'With Garosh clearly inheriting the dukedom, she must be planning to leave the family and find Baron Weatherwood.'

That desire was an opportunity for the Sword Saint.

"I believe you have your own reasons."

"I am sorry."

"However, there is a condition."

Jin's expression stiffened slightly.

Before stating the condition, the Sword Saint gazed out the cabin window for a moment.

The Iregel villa under the white moonlight. Dozens of heads lined up below, moving in a row.

The Sword Saint leaned back in his chair and took a slow breath.

It seemed that this night would be a long one.

* * *

A late night, with the white moon hidden behind the clouds.

As soon as I stepped into the new bedroom, I collapsed onto the massive bed that dominated one wall.

'Ah, this is it. This is a bed.'

The cabin bed was nice, but it couldn't compare to the bed in a grand noble villa.

This place, the Iregel villa by the eastern lake, was a noble assembly exclusive villa built 100 years ago.

Given the noble assembly's penchant for showing off, the villa was truly magnificent and grand, even though it was not a residence. I doubted I could afford even one room here with my maid's lifetime salary.

That's how it was.

Despite successfully identifying the assassins, we ultimately ended up staying at the Iregel villa.

There was no other choice.

"......Are you really going to stay in the villa?"

"Then what? Should I hand him over to the crew?"

Ruga, back in Morian's form, gestured to the fallen assassin and asked.

I couldn't readily agree. No, I absolutely wouldn't agree.

If we handed this assassin over to the noble assembly, things would get very complicated.

How we identified the assassin, the process of extracting a confession, where Ruga came from, the use of forbidden magic—every aspect could lead to the worst possible outcomes.

"Answer me. How is the terror supposed to be carried out?"

"Ugh... ugh..."

No matter how much we tormented the assassin, he seemed to have no idea how the assassins hiding in the Iregel villa planned to carry out the terror.

Tired of the sight, Ruga poured a lot of alcohol into the assassin's mouth and threw him into the corridor.

He seemed to plan to cover it up as a drunken rampage.

He grabbed my arm and naturally led me toward the villa.

"What are you so worried about, darling? There's the Sword Saint in the noble assembly, right? He'll take care of the villa's trash. That's what a Sword Saint is for."

"But what good would it do if they planted bombs in advance?"

"Bombs won't blow this place up. This is a villa for the noble assembly. They must have prepared for it. That's why they needed more than twelve people."

That was true, but...

'Who could be behind this?'

A character bold enough to carry out such a grand act against the noble assembly. Who could it be?

An imperial agent? Or an international terrorist?

"......"

I have no idea. I don't know how the imperial politics work, so I can't even guess.

After lying on the bed for a while, I suddenly sat up.

No matter what, it felt wrong to pretend I didn't know about the terror.

'I should check this villa myself.'

Ruga's voice stopped my feet as I headed for the door.

"Rest."

It was a firm command, as if he would not accept any objections.