That night.
After the meeting, Jamie and Count Welton spent some time together.
It had been 2 months since they met, so they wanted to relax by talking about something other than the strategy they had discussed in the meeting.
The count glanced at his son, who was walking by the side.
His son, who was slightly shorter than him 2 months ago, was now at eye level. He had grown.
“You’ve gotten taller.”
“Uh? Did I grow a little? I hadn’t noticed.”
Having never measured his height, Jamie didn’t know whether he was taller or not.
Come to think of it, unlike before, he was on the same eye level as his father.
The count was still a little taller, though.
‘Maybe the Dragon Heart influenced it.’
Last time, after killing the red dragon, he had no choice but to absorb a part of its heart because his body had gone past the limit.
In the process, the dragon heart’s life force resonated within the life orb inside him.
“Mother will be surprised.”
“Am I that tall? It has just been two months,”
“Right. A measly two months, and yet it feels like it has been two years.”
“I know. It has been a while since we were apart, but strangely, it feels like we are seeing each other after a long time.”
The count smiled and patted Jamie on the back upon hearing that.
“The lord has taken good care of his garden. Let’s go there.”
“Good. We can see the moon.”
The two sat down at a table in the middle of the garden. Even though there was a table outside, the servants seemed to clean it every day.
It seems like the lord and his wife liked having tea outside.
“Right. The news was coming. After finishing Harmonia’s work, you went to Frontier, didn’t you?”
“Yes. From there, I came here with Sir Beryl.”
“Did you get a realization there? Your swordsmanship seems to have changed.”
Again, the count noticed the change in Jamie.
Well, a man of his status would have to know it; it would be stranger if he didn’t notice. Not that Jamie was trying to hide it, either.
He naturally took out Balisada and put it on the table.
A beautiful sword with gold decorations in harmony with an overall white form.
“What’s with the sword? What happened with Scud?”
“It broke during battle.”
“I see.”
The count didn’t seem too worried.
Still, it was a sword he used when he was young too, so it was surprising that he wasn’t showing any regret.
That was something he had in common with his father, so Jamie thought he would hear something.
The count pointed to the new sword and asked.
“Can I touch it?”
“If it is father, of course you can.”
“… what is that supposed to mean?”
“You will know once you pull it out.”
At Jamie’s words, Count Welton titled his head and grabbed Balisada along with its sheathe.
And the count’s eyes widened.
“Son. This is…?”
“Pull it out.”
The count could feel the weird energy from within the sword.
It felt like a smoldering fire about to ignite.
A sword?
Or a fang of some beast?
The name of a certain race came to his mind. He grabbed the sword and pulled on it.
Wheik!
The fire was out. It wasn’t a graceful flame.
He didn’t know why the fire wasn’t going wild, but it contained the power to immortalize everything if it put its mind to it.
A sword with its own flames.
He had touched many magic swords in his life, but had never seen anything like this.
The count’s eyes were shining after drawing the sword.
The flame was covering the shape of the blade. He could feel the heat coming from it.
“…”
The count extended it out in awe.
He didn’t know who made it, but looking at it, he could feel the sharpness of a sword that would never break.
Above all, he had no idea what materials this was made of.
The one thing he knew for sure was that someone would die if this was wielded.
It was a ‘weapon’ for that purpose alone.
“It is a weapon with ‘killing’ at its core.”
“That is how it was made.”
“Looking at it, it looks like a recently made one.”
“Yes. It hasn’t been that long. But this is a sword the blacksmith made with all his strength.”
“I wonder who he was. No human has such skills in sword making… at least none I heard of.”
There are humans with excellent skills, but the count he knew none who could make such a sword.
That said, the blacksmith wasn’t a human.
“It was made by a dwarf then.”
Jamie was a little surprised. He didn’t think his father would know the race.
“I didn’t think you could tell by looking at the sword.”
“Did you think your dad only touched the swords? And with such a great sword, anyone with a knack for swords would know it was of dwarven make.”
Jamie smiled and nodded as he told about the maker of the sword.
“A dwarf named Ironlil.”
“Hearing that name, it sounds like he was born from Iron.”
“He is a member of the Five Hands.”
Upon hearing that, the count looked up. He knew about the Five Hands.
No, it would be more challenging to find a sword wielder who didn’t know that.
The gods of blacksmithing.
When the count didn’t say anything in shock, Jamie continued to explain.
“I was in Frontier, and he was there too, so I ended up asking for him to make me a sword.”
“Huh. To entrust your sword-making to the Five Hands?”
“… Uh?”
“If you didn’t want to tell me, then fine.”
Count Welton snorted a little and looked at Balisada.
Jamie was a bit startled at his father’s actions but then smiled.
“What is this? Is my father pissed?”
“Hahahah. No. Not at all.”
The count smiled as his son laughed and put Balisada back in the sheath.
Jamie took it back.
Having received the sword, Jamie still couldn’t help but smile at the count’s reactions.
Count Welton, the cold-hearted and charismatic lord of Haiss.
However, this man showed a cute side in front of his family. Jamie realized once that this was what family meant.
‘This is my family.’
A relationship where the true self can be shown without hesitation. Perhaps, the closest relationship in the world is connected by blood. 1
Of course, there will be quarrels too, but Jamie didn’t bother thinking about it.
Right now, he just wanted to see his father making faces others couldn’t see. Perhaps he felt conscious of his son’s gaze, but Count Welton coughed.
“Ahem. It is a good sword. It is so much greater than Scud that it cannot be compared. This great sword will be recorded in history when it is revealed to the world.”
“I broke Scud as I could not take care of it. Aren’t you angry?”
The count closed his eyes at Jamie’s question and shook his head.
“A sword can be broken. Scud was a meaningful sword to the Welton family, but it wasn’t an heirloom.”
At the count’s gentle response, Jamie felt glad.
“I feel a little ease when you say it like that.”
“Kid. Why are you so cheesy today?”
“Right?”
The count looked at his son, who was smiling.
“Would you like a spar?”
“Spar? Sure, but I don’t have a wooden sword on me.”
“Once that level you hit is touched, there are only real swords to use.”
Saying that, Count Welton drew his sword.
At the words of the Count, Jamie was a bit shocked.
“Are you serious?”
“Should we head to the training hall? No one should be there right now.’
Jamie looked at the back of his father, who was already walking away, and got up.
A sudden spar,
They usually were supposed to talk about recapturing Garin after talking about their wellbeing.
Jamie sighed and moved.
Count Welton explained the rules while he marked the training ground with his foot.
“Simple rule. Whoever admits defeat first loses.”
“What if both sides don’t agree?”
“Then well…”
“I will be the judge.”
On behalf of the count, who couldn’t answer the question, Beryl came in.
“Since where were you there?”
“My room is right in front of here. I came here to know what you were talking about, and it was pretty interesting.”
“Acting like a ghost.”
“It is my habit.”
At the count’s words, Beryl responded brazenly. And the two looked at each other without another word.
It wasn’t known if they had a good or bad relationship, but there was one thing he was sure of.
‘Awkward!’
They had an awkward relationship.
Their conversation sounded a bit akin to quarreling, but the overall air around them gave out the feeling.
Even if their old grudges were resolved, they were still the people who dueled for the sake of a woman.
They couldn’t be friends that easily.
So Jamie said,
“Please do.”
“Okay. I will change the rules a bit then. If one side is clearly behind the other or whoever admits their defeat first, I’ll declare a victor. Both agree?”
“Agree.”
“Me too.”
A fight between father and son in earnest. Well, the Welton family is known to bring up expert swordsmen, so this wasn’t a huge deal.
But this was no morning exercise he had with his father either, so he would have to be careful.
First, Count Welton said.
“Argeno Welton. Let’s do well.”
“Jamie Welton. Let’s do well.”
When they finished their greetings, Beryl was ready to signal, and they both held their swords.
Beryl, who checked the form of the two, nodded and lowered the raised hand to announce the start.
“Start!”
Count Welton immediately moved. He was holding the sword in both hands.
The atmosphere had changed in an instant.
“Son. You must do your best when you reach the top.”
Aura rose.
Jamie was startled by the count’s sword, which looked like it was coming in a beam.
‘What is this!’
He, too, hurriedly used his aura and deflected the sword of Count.
It was a shock; it felt like everything could be ripped apart.
His father, whom he knew till now, had been hiding his true strength from his son! And that power which he collided with once was telling that.
‘More than Hawks!’
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
It wasn’t the sound of swords clashing; it was the aura that was deflected that was tearing the space apart.
This was the complete form of ‘Futility Divide’.
It was so sophisticated that it couldn’t be compared to what Jamie would do.
“Is this all you can do?”
Jamie frowned at the count’s provocation.
‘Well, I cannot help it then.’
He tried not to show the sword’s true power, but it seemed like if he didn’t, he wouldn’t withstand this.
Jamie’s eyes shone.
[Future Walker]
“Is that your ability?”
It was then.
Something intervened between them, like countless possibilities.
Shhh.
Numerous slashings were happening.
[Dimensional Charm]
“This is my ability.”
The multiple dimensions he was seeing were all cut down. All the possibilities vanished. This was unbelievable for Jamie to understand.
“Jamie, the spar has just begun”
Count Welton’s ability.
A powerful slash that could cut down even different worlds.
