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Chapter 12
A man who said he was chopping firewood was holding a sword, not an axe. And not just any sword, but the one famous throughout the land.
That wasn’t all. Walter, with no fear of the cold whatsoever, had stripped off his upper garments. His well-built chest was drenched in sweat, and, setting aside how good it looked, it was exactly the kind of state that would give him lung disease once the sweat cooled.
Lucy, staring at his roughly heaving chest, moved her mouth haltingly.
“The axe is over there, you know.”
“I know.”
“You’ll catch a cold like that.”
“I’ve trained in places colder than this and been fine. Please don’t worry.”
“No, it’s just… it’s a little embarrassing. I’d like you to put some clothes on.”
Only then did Walter lower his eyes and realize what state he was in.
Looking around, Lucy spotted his clothes lying on a pile of dry branches and hurriedly handed them to him.
“I suppose I woke you. I tried to keep the noise down as much as I could, but I apologize if it was loud.”
Once dressed, Walter rubbed the back of his neck and walked toward Lucy.
Lucy stood an unsplit log upright and gestured for him to sit. Telling him to wait a moment, she ran into the house and came back out with warm mushroom tea.
“Here, drink this. You’ll warm up soon.”
He signaled his reluctance with a glance, but she kept holding out the tea. Walter, looking down at the cup with some hesitation, eventually took it carefully.
Beyond the rising steam, the sun, which had climbed without notice, shone brightly and announced the sunrise. Squinting against the unfiltered light, Walter tilted the cup.
Pretending to watch the sunrise, Lucy moved her eyes to study him.
She had felt it when they first met, too, but he truly was a man whose appearance didn’t suit the profession of soldier. His softly fluttering hair, his lashes casting deep shadows, and his especially large eyes gave off a clear aura, as though he couldn’t kill so much as an ant, let alone a person.
Above all, Walter had none of the rough, intimidating presence typical of soldiers.
As if deliberately hiding it, she couldn’t sense any atmosphere or presence from him at all. Like a heron standing on a riverbank, quietly observing its surroundings, only an indescribable, detached solitude drifted around him.
No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t seem like a soldier at all.
Feeling both uneasy and fascinated, Lucy watched him quietly, then swallowed a hollow laugh and let the thought go.
Doesn’t suit him? Hardly.
His movements that left no trace and his footsteps that made no sound were, in themselves, his history. He must have been born a genius, yet through silent, ceaseless training had become a man who could even hide his presence.
And then there was that sword.
She couldn’t even imagine what else would suit a man who had become the master of a sword so worn with legend that it had come to be regarded as mere myth, if not a soldier.
Smiling bitterly as she studied him, Lucy shifted her attention elsewhere.
“Is it all right to stick a sword in the ground like that?”
The sight of it jabbed into the frozen ground like a toothpick looked rather pitiful to her. Unlike her worried question, Walter nodded with a composed face.
“It’s fine. It’s a sword whose edge never gets damaged.”
“I did hear it was a rather unusual sword. But if you leave it lying around so carelessly, what if someone steals it?”
“No one but its master can easily touch it, so it’s fine. But if it bothers you, I’ll put it away.”
Sipping his tea, Walter extended his right hand forward. With his palm spread open, he flicked his wrist once, and the sword stuck in the ground trembled,
Whiiing!
then flew through the air and landed in his hand.
“Oh…”
Lucy’s eyes went round as she looked back and forth between Walter and the sword.
She had heard so much about it being a demon sword and a famed blade that she thought she’d be fine, but seeing it with her own eyes left her speechless. Having sheathed the sword, Walter finally glanced at her and let a sheepish smile rise.
“I apologize if I startled you.”
“The sword… just came back on its own? How… um, well. That’s really amazing.”
“It’s very convenient, since it returns by itself no matter how far I throw it away. It’s a creature with many little tricks, but personally I think that’s its most useful one.”
“So it has other tricks as well?”
Walter, who had been lost in thought with his mouth closed, drew the sword out again.
Setting down his teacup and getting to his feet, he looked around, picked up one of the logs he had split, and stood some distance away.
Gazing at the log with a careful look, Walter tossed it into the air without any warning.
The log flew straight upward, lost its momentum at some point, and fell back down along the same path. Just as it plunged toward the crown of Walter’s head,
“Gasp…”
a bluish light shimmered along the blade, and at the same instant the log stopped in midair.
Walter slowly reached out a hand toward it. As he tapped it, the log was pushed to the side. The piece of wood floating in the air looked like nothing but something utterly unreal.
“Good heavens.”
So that was what they meant by “demon sword.”
Lucy stared wide-eyed at the piece of wood and froze in that state. Walter, slowly turning his head to meet her gaze, pushed the drifting log a little further aside.
“It drains my strength, so I can’t use it for long, but it’s great for boosting the soldiers’ morale.”
The blue light coloring the sword abruptly went out, and at the same moment the log floating in the air fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Walter kicked the log up into the air with the tip of his foot, caught it naturally, and then sat back down next to Lucy with an unruffled face.
Lucy, wondering how she should react, decided to follow her instincts. So she clapped and cheered.
“Wow! That’s amazing. It’s really incredible. What exactly… how, um, what…?”
“You’re asking how it’s able to stop objects?”
When she nodded, Walter furrowed his brow and let out a low hum.
“I focus my mind on the sword and emit my ki. Then I can briefly stop surrounding objects or living things. Of course, it can’t cover a wide area. I’d say the range is about ten feet or so.”
That’s a completely broken ability.
Muttering this to herself, Lucy fiddled with the corner of her mouth.
“That’s ridiculous… then could you, Grand General, charge into an enemy camp all by yourself? Like bringing back an enemy commander’s head?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t make use of it that effectively. Three seconds… five at the longest. Beyond that, my ki falls apart.”
Lucy opened her mouth and nodded, “Ahh.”
Despite her accepting attitude, she hadn’t actually understood any of it. What dominated her mind was only the mysterious scene Walter had just shown her.
Focusing his mind, emitting ki, every sentence was vague and failed to sink in. The only thing certain was that titles like legendary master general and reincarnation of the god of war were not exaggerations at all.
Was this why the crown prince had been so wary of Walter Heiberg?
“You’re truly remarkable.”
“You flatter me.”
“Not at all. To have this kind of talent on top of his martial prowess, honestly, it’s a waste for him to be in Parnas.”
Though born in a small country like Parnas, his stature had spread across the continent. Had a man like Walter been born into a powerful family of the Empire, the course of history might have been overturned.
Yes.
He might even have beaten down that insufferable crown prince and founded a new dynasty.
But a supposition was only a supposition. Walter had become the representative of Parnas, and was now urging her to take the throne.
An ambiguous smile, impossible to tell as good or bad, rose at the corner of Lucy’s mouth.
“Grand General.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been thinking carefully about the proposal you gave me yesterday.”
Trailing off, she looked down at the teacup in her hands. Turning the cold cup round and round, she carefully chose her words.
“No matter how I think about it, I don’t understand. Why are you trying to put me forward as king? I have no foundation and my legitimacy is weak, so persuading the lords would be impossible.”
“Her Highness is without doubt His Majesty’s blood.”
“I think you know well that that reason alone can’t even convince me.”
Walter stroked his chin, lost in thought. Glaring at the ground at his feet with an impassive face throughout, he ran his thumb over his lower lip and began in a grave tone.
“I made this decision after much thought, but now that I try to put it into words, I’m troubled over how to begin. Simply… if I put it my own way, I think it’s because I rather like the situation in which Your Highness is committing crimes.”
“You like that I’m a criminal?”
“Yes.”
What is he talking about?
Lucy faced him with a troubled look, unsure what to say, and let out an unconscious “Ahh.”
