Chapter 10: I Tried a Different Path (2)

"I want to receive training!"

How would a knight react if a six-year-old kid suddenly appeared and said this? Especially if the kid was a bastard of the noble family the knight belonged to.

The result was right in front of him. Knight Miguel had a perplexed look on his face, his eyes darting around.

His expression seemed to be asking for help, but the knights around him all turned away from me and Knight Miguel.

Seeing Miguel's bewildered appearance, I smiled inwardly. Indeed, Miguel was more naive than other knights.

"You're still so young, and you need permission from the captain and others..."

He stammered, but I was already prepared.

"I already have the captain's permission."

At my words, Miguel's face became even more awkward.

He was a naive and kind knight, but he wasn't unaware of the situation around him.

I wasn't the son who received the duke's expectations from my previous life; I was just a neglected bastard.

If he were to take charge of my training, his future as a knight would likely become uncertain.

However, I couldn't ask for help from the other knights who were pretending not to notice.

"Well, if you have the captain's permission, there's nothing I can do."

In fact, the captain's permission was conditional, requiring the consent of the knight in charge. But there was no need to tell him that.

"You're still so young... but since you have the inheritance ability, let's start with the basic training that the heirs receive."

I silently received the training.

The exhausting running and the sword swinging that made my arms feel like they were falling off.

It was something I had done before, but it was still difficult.

However, knowing that I could overcome it, the pain was bearable.

My skills grew rapidly.

At first, people who had ignored my training gradually began to glance at me.

But that was all.

Unlike my previous life, where I showed extraordinary growth, I now appeared to be a diligent and talented knight-in-training.

"Are you thinking of becoming a knight? If you continue like this, you'll really become an excellent knight."

Miguel was pleased by my rapid growth.

However, I wasn't showing him all of my abilities.

The training outside was only half of what I did each day.

I continued to train even after returning to my room.

The room was large, and I still remembered the indoor exercises I had learned in my previous life, so I could train to the point of overworking my muscles.

Huff. Huff.

After finishing the training in the room, drenched in sweat.

"Let's move on to the next stage, shall we?"

I placed a chair next to the door and called out to Flora, who was dozing off.

"Flora!"

"Yes?"

Startled by the sudden call, Flora jumped up. She sighed in relief when she realized I had called her.

"Are you done with your exercise? Don't overdo it. You're still young."

Embarrassed, she placed her hands on her hips and said worriedly.

However, I stared at the chair, and her face turned red as she stammered.

Enough fooling around. I got to the point.

"I can't sleep in this room. I think I'll sleep in the guest room tonight."

At my words, Flora looked around the room.

The floor was wet in various spots, and the items were scattered due to the training.

"Ah, you've made quite a mess today. I understand."

Seeing the room in a much worse state than usual, she left to prepare a place for me to sleep.

Fortunately, she didn't notice that the room was messier than usual and that she could sleep despite the mess.

From that day on, I kept changing my sleeping room under the pretext of training.

I moved between the guest rooms and empty rooms in the mansion, and Flora and the maids accumulated complaints due to my sudden actions.

"Is your body not well because of the training? If you keep moving from room to room, you should sleep with your mother."

Even my mother expressed concern during tea time, but I shook my head.

I couldn't possibly sleep with my mother.

As I kept changing my sleeping place, rumors spread throughout the mansion. The rumors were about the awakened bastard who acted strangely at night.

His mind had become deranged due to the awakening. He had developed sleepwalking. There were even stories about him wetting the bed every night.

Moreover, the maid who informed him of his sleeping place changed every day, which made people shake their heads.

One night, a month later.

An uninvited guest entered one of the empty guest rooms in the mansion.

Outside, the sky was covered with clouds, and neither the moon nor the stars were visible. The room was pitch black as the lamp was extinguished.

Creak.

The window made a small sound as it opened.

A man dressed in black, wearing a black mask, entered the room.

Despite the darkness, he seemed to see the room clearly.

The masked man approached the bed without making a sound.

The bed, covered with a blanket, was bulging in the middle.

He stared at the bulge and suddenly pulled back the blanket.

Thud.

On the bed, there was a pillow and a rolled-up blanket.

He stared at the blanket and chuckled.

"You're smart. Were you hiding there?"

He drew his sword from his waist and stabbed it next to the rolled-up blanket.

Thud!

At that moment.

"Ugh!"

A low scream, and a small figure jumped out from under the bed.

A child. It was me, hiding under the bed.

I felt pain in my leg.

Looking down, I saw that my pajama pants were torn, and there was a hole in my leg, bleeding.

"You dodged that? Impressive."

The masked man, holding his bloodied sword, looked at me.

"You even held your breath... How did you know?"

"Holding your breath doesn't hide your presence."

His smile was visible even through the mask, but it quickly disappeared.

"From your actions and your ability to endure pain, you're not just a kid."

'No, I can be treated like a kid.'

I clenched the sword I had hidden behind my back and muttered to myself.

"But I have a question."

He slowly spoke, looking at my bleeding leg. He seemed relaxed.

"Changing rooms every night and hiding under the bed to sleep... How did you know I would come?"

His expression was hidden, but he seemed very curious.

It wasn't a situation where I could act my age, and the pain made it hard to focus.

I could tell an assassin was coming because the 'auto-save point' message didn't appear.

Since I received training at the knight's training ground, I wouldn't be attacked there like in my previous life.

I wouldn't be attacked inside the duke's mansion during the day, so the assassin could only come at night if I didn't go outside.

I moved rooms enthusiastically, as I had seen on TV, to avoid the assassin, but the assassin eventually found me.

However, there was no need to tell the assassin this.

"Then, if I ask who ordered you to kill me, will you answer?"

At my question, the assassin's eyes widened.

"You're an interesting kid. If I had more time, I would have played with you."

At that moment, I felt my body become rigid, unable to move a finger.

It was the same feeling I had when I died before.

Back then, I managed to break free just before dying, but this time was different.

I endured the pain and began to awaken the hidden power within me.

The power I felt before dying. A power called mana, which wasn't part of my awakening ability.

Over the past two months, I had worked as hard to awaken this mana as I had to strengthen my physical abilities.

Although I couldn't achieve great results in such a short time, I could awaken the power to the level I wanted.

Crack.

First, I broke the assassin's power that bound my body.

"Break that?"

As the assassin's eyes widened, I quickly moved my hidden hand.

Whoosh.

The assassin rushed forward, and I threw the sword in my hand.

Not at him, but toward the window.

Crash!

The window shattered, and the sword flew outside.

Swoosh!

The sword, imbued with mana, cut through the night sky with a sharp sound, unlike something a child could throw.

At the same time, the assassin's sword, which had approached me, pierced my chest.

Clang!

Sparks flew from my chest, and I was thrown backward.

"You blocked it?"

The assassin looked at his broken sword, half of it remaining.

Cough.

I spat blood as I hit the wall.

Damn. It's not like in the movies.

In movies, a hidden shield in the chest can block bullets.

I had worn protective gear under my pajamas and even a metal plate, yet I received a near-fatal wound.

Despite my young body, the training I had done seemed meaningless. Moreover, the assassin didn't even use mana.

A faint light began to emanate from the remaining half of the assassin's sword.

It was mana. Normally, a sword like this would be hard to block.

"Can't you just leave me alone? I'm going to die anyway."

I spat blood and muttered to him.

"Are you really six years old?"

He looked at me with disbelief but didn't stop approaching.

"It's a confirmation kill."

Damn, he's so thorough.

It wasn't a joke. It was a wound even a priest would find hard to heal. I had blocked the sword, but my young body was already a mess.

"But I need to escape quickly..."

The broken window and the thrown sword had caused a commotion outside.

"Enemy!"

"Search immediately!"

The lights in the mansion's rooms began to turn on, and soldiers and knights were rushing toward this room.

"I have plenty of time to escape."

The assassin seemed relaxed, but I could mock him.

"Really?"

Why did I insist on the guest room?

Because it was close to the duke's study. With his recent increase in work, the duke often spent the night in his study, so he wouldn't miss the commotion.

Boom!

The sound of a door breaking came from a distance.

Thump, thump, thump!

Someone was running down the hallway. The sound quickly reached the door.

Boom!

The door burst open.

"Damn!"

The assassin threw his broken sword and quickly jumped out the window.

At the same time, the duke entered the room.

He quickly scanned the room and flinched when he saw me leaning against the wall.

He took a step toward me but stopped when he saw my condition.

A young son, sitting against the wall in a pool of blood. His left chest was sunken, and a sword was embedded in his right chest.

The son looked at him with a dazed expression.

The duke's face wasn't the usual expressionless one.

Regret, pity, sorrow, darkness, conflict.

Various emotions flashed across his face before he turned his head.

"Assassin! Alex has been attacked!"

He shouted loudly, looked at me again, and ran out the window.

As he left, I spat blood again.

"Cough, even if you're my son, you're going to die, so you just leave?"

Even if he looked apologetic at the end, it would be hard to forgive him.

"Ah! Master!"

Flora, in her nightgown, rushed in.

She screamed when she saw me.

"Priest! Lady! No, how..."

I called out to her, who was panicking.

Calling a doctor or a priest wouldn't help. I had something to ask her before I died.

"Who did you tell that I was sleeping here?"

Due to constantly changing rooms, I had a maid sleep in the next room, like in my childhood.

I only told the on-duty maid where I was sleeping, and only she would know where I was sleeping that night.

This way, I could find out who had betrayed me when the assassin came.

However.

Today, it was Flora's turn.

Could it be her? No, that couldn't be.

When I died before, I had clearly seen her being stabbed.

If she hadn't been stabbed in my previous life, I might have suspected her.

At my question, she shook her head.

"No, don't say it. You can get better."

I shouted at her, who was saying something irrelevant.

"Tell me now!"

With a flustered expression, she stammered.

"W-well, Lady Elena asked..."

She turned pale as she spoke.

"No, no, that can't be."

Damn, my sister?

I couldn't believe it.

My vision grew dark.

Flora's screams grew faint, and in the last moment.

Thud.

The severed head of the masked man was thrown in front of me.

Behind the severed head, the duke was visible.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see his expression.

My vision went black.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the duke's expressionless face was looking at me.

It was the third awakening day.

I turned my head.

Several faces passed by, and I saw my sister.

Elena.

She told someone?

I looked at the woman standing next to her.

The second duchess.

Maria de Grecia was looking at me with a smile.

* * *