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Chapter 37
Just about twenty minutes ago.
Helbern appeared!
[Judging by his mumbling about being hungry, he’s heading straight for the dining hall!]
The butler said he barely eats there?!
I’d heard he usually eats with the knights at the training grounds.
But what kind of meal is that!
[Almost there!]
This is bad.
There’s no way I can let that crazy man get served.
And it was obvious what kind of nonsense he’d say to Dochef.
If I run away now, I could avoid him, but Dochef wouldn’t.
“This won’t do. Mei, I really need to go to the bathroom. Please handle the hospitality if His Excellency and the lady arrive!”
“Milady!”
I left the dining hall with Junel.
As he said, Helbern had just descended the stairs and was faintly visible.
I couldn’t let him run into Dochef.
No matter how good the food, if your mood is ruined, you can’t taste it properly.
Honestly, I was extremely worried about whether I could escape that madman, but there was no time to think about that.
“If I get in trouble, you have to save me.”
[Of course!]
At least that was insured.
“Hey!!”
I waved my hand toward Helbern, who was visible in the distance.
My voice echoed through the corridor, and Helbern craned his neck, trying to see who I was.
[Halala, what on earth are you doing!?]
“I’m your sister-in-law!”
Hearing that, Helbern hesitated and pointed at me.
Now he finally recognized me properly.
Then it was time to run!
Wadadada—
Behind me, my body spun as I ran, and his voice echoed:
“Hey!! Aren’t you stopping!?”
Would you stop?
“Hey, what!? Sister-in-law!”
“This!! If I catch you, you’re dead!”
I know he wouldn’t let me go even if he didn’t catch me.
I strode up the main building stairs.
The only thing I was thankful to Getty for was explaining each room carefully.
I avoided the rooms Helbern would likely go to and stepped into a quiet corner of the mansion.
Helbern chased me fiercely.
The only relief was that his pace slowed—he wasn’t in good shape.
Of course, Halala, who had no muscles, also got tired quickly.
[Halala, hide around here for a bit!]
“Mm.”
I couldn’t get caught here.
For the time being, I opened a door to a floor used as storage.
The thick curtains let in only a little light.
And piles of stacked boxes.
It was the perfect hiding spot.
I hid behind the tall stack of boxes.
Huff, huff.
Even if I tried to hold my breath, my lungs kept forcing air in and out.
[Stay here for a bit. Later, I’ll keep watch to see if that guy has left… Ugh!]
“What’s wrong? Did he come?”
I asked Junel, who had frozen in surprise, but Junel fluttered and landed on a box.
He quickly opened the lid and pulled out a sword.
[It was here!]
“A famous sword?”
Junel’s face turned bright red as he snorted with excitement.
Junel always got worked up over swords.
When Getty had shown us around the mansion recently, he had snorted at all the famous swords scattered around.
But compared to those, this sword’s scabbard was much older and worn.
It looked like it had been around for several hundred years.
[It’s in a completely different class from swords made by ordinary master swordsmiths! Far better than the swords Cracbear kept.]
“All famous swords are the same, aren’t they?”
[Halala, this is also related to you.]
“Me?”
[It’s a famous sword of the Brinihanta family.]
Junel thrust the scabbard toward me.
[Look at this,] the Brinihanta family crest!
The leather covering was peeled off like tempura batter, making it hard to recognize. And I wasn’t related to that family anyway.
“Can you put it away? It stinks.”
The worse smell was from the age and rot.
[You fool, can’t you recognize the famous sword your ancestor made?]
“How would I know after hundreds of years? I’m not a knight either. I know nothing about swords.”
[Oh my, you don’t recognize its elegance.]
Junel, lost in emotion, removed the scabbard.
“Ugh!”
The moment I saw the sword, nausea rose.
The blade inside the scabbard was rusted red, giving off a rotten stench.
“That’s not a famous sword—it’s trash.”
[Tsk tsk. How foolish.]
“Fool? You want to starve?”
[No, I mean the Bloody Mary idiots are fools. They didn’t recognize this famous sword and just tossed it in storage.]
A thousand-year-old snake.
It’s evading well.
“But it’s unusable, right? One strike and it’ll break.”
After so many years, the sword was already worn out.
Just like some famous swords Dochef received as rewards had expired, this one seemed the same.
[This isn’t just a famous sword—it’s a blood sword.]
“Blood sword?”
I’d heard of it.
A sword that feeds on the blood of its contract holder.
While a regular sword has no life, a blood sword moves like it’s alive when it flows with blood.
[If it’s the blood of the Brinihanta family, this blood sword can be awakened.]
Junel explained to me.
[Since you’re a descendant carrying that blood, it will work.]
He looked at me with hopeful eyes.
“Wait. You’re not telling me to bleed, are you?”
[Just a little, Halala.]
A little? I don’t even scratch under my nails when I’m full!
[Wouldn’t Dochef need a famous sword?]
“There are other famous swords in this family.”
[None can compare to this one.]
Junel thrust the sword toward me.
Whatever kind of sword it was, Junel wanted my blood too, so it couldn’t be ordinary.
“I can’t give much. I’m scared.”
[Then! Just three drops.]
Hmph. Compared to the blood Dochef spilled, that was nothing.
“Fine, whatever!”
Curious about the legendary blood sword treated as a myth in the novel, I pricked my fingertip in a fit of impulse.
“Ah, it hurts so much.”
[Good, our Halala!]
Junel brought the sword to my wound.
“Don’t rub it into the wound! If you get tetanus here, you’ll die instantly!”
[Tetanus? I don’t know what that is, but the blood has to touch it, right?]
“I was going to let it drip naturally.”
I was just about to squeeze my fingertip to drip the blood.
From the blood-stained rusted sword, a red light erupted.
The dark room flashed as if struck by lightning, and smoke swirled.
[Cuspis gladii in anima excitata solem findet.]
Then came a sound I couldn’t understand.
[It says, “The tip of the sword awakened in the soul will pierce the sun.”]
Junel translated.
“Wow! The color changed!”
The most amazing thing happened afterward.
Even in the dark room, the crimson blade shone brightly.
The rust disappeared, leaving only a gleaming longsword.
[…I never imagined I’d see the Brinihanta blood sword again in my lifetime.]
Junel even shed tears.
So my blood was absorbed.
“Helplessly, it really belongs to that extinct family.”
I also wondered if Junel could see me because I was possessed.
If my blood hadn’t been absorbed, I could’ve escaped anytime. But now I knew I truly carried the blood of that family.
[Halala, thank you so much.]
“…Thanks, I guess. If it helps Dochef awaken, then fine.”
If Dochef awakens quickly, I might even give a little more blood.
“Khahahahaha!”
At that moment, a mad laughter echoed.
A chill ran down my spine.
It was none other than Helbern, glaring at me with a mischievous smile.
“…How did you find me?”
I didn’t hear any doors opening, so he hadn’t checked room by room.
“I felt a strange and eerie aura here. And here you are.”
He explained kindly.
I had overlooked something.
He wasn’t an ordinary human—he was a Swordmaster.
The blood sword sensed the sword’s energy and revealed me.
“Ahaha.”
What now… this is really bad.
All around me were boxes, and the windows had bars.
[Don’t worry about him. I’ll blow him away!]
Junel said confidently, apologetic that the blood sword had revealed us.
But I shook my head quickly.
‘If we attack him here, Helbern might fully suspect me.’
At this point, pretending ignorance and negotiating seemed best.
“Hello. Long time no see.”
I greeted first.
I wanted to get closer but couldn’t because of past events.
“Long time no see. Have you been comfortable thanks to me?”
“Thanks to you, sir?”
“You mean, have you decided to be a servant because you’re a commoner?”
“No. The husband’s unmarried younger brother is commonly addressed as ‘sir.’ Surely you know that?”
She understood the title but didn’t know “sir,” right?
“Oh, I get it!”
Seems she didn’t know.
“Ah, yes.”
“And not married? I mean, unmarried?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The fact that he would remain unmarried forever and the family would face destruction was known only to me.
If the family survives in the future… no, I can’t let the woman take him, it would be too cruel.
“Do you even know where I’ve been all this time?! You don’t even know that?”
Helbern shouted, veins bulging.
“I thought you were at the family residence. The duchess told me not to touch you, so I assumed you were left alone… but today it seems not?”
“I went all the way to the border!”
The border.
I’d heard in Dochef’s secret space that he had met a super-strong knight there.
“Ah ha.”
I nodded, pretending not to know.
