“I would like to formally greet you. I am Airak Tedley, a Holy Executioner of Pyro Church, who has been dispatched as an acting Bishop. It is an honor to meet the Sword Master.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Argeno Welton.”
“Both of you, please have your seats.”
Sears offered them, who shook their hands.
After dinner, they had gathered in the Count’s study.
As soon as Count Welton sat down, he spoke to Airak.
“I am truly sorry about the death of Archbishop Sephira. The church must be going through a lot.”
“Thank you for the concern.”
“Zenith, those filthy bastards.”
The Count mumbled with an angry expression.
He stroked Sears’ back, who was seated next to him with a sad face. He hadn’t seen the Archbishop many times, but he knew how much Sears adored him.
And it was clear to his eyes how miserable she must be.
Not just that, he heard that because of the Zenith church, his father-in-law and Jamie were nearly killed.
He was so angry that he didn’t know what he was supposed to do.
In his mind, he wanted to head over to the church of Zenith and slaughter all those inside.
The Count cleared his anger in time, opened his mouth and said with a calm tone.
“I will make them pay the price for harming my family.”
A lot was happening.
The Seldam Kingdom and others too were putting pressure on the Zenith church.
And the Count was the head of Eastern nobles.
They were also in the process of mobilizing power to apply pressure.
“Our church will never forget the Count’s help.”
“We are in the same boat.”
When the Count extended his hand at Airak, he also took the hand and nodded.
“Thank you once again for your consideration. And thank you for giving us a place here. We will never forget this grace.”
And Welton and Pyro were one now.
And he heard about the news that Jamie was made into a Saint.
At first he thought it had to be a lie, but when he saw the scale symbol on Jamie’s left hand he couldn’t help but believe it.
“Then you can go rest, I have something to talk about with my lady.”
“I will head back.”
“See you next time.”
Airak bowed and left the study.
The two of them leaned back in a more relaxed way and asked Sears.
“I heard from my father-in-law about Onyx. Did you solve it?”
Sears nodded at the mention of Beryl.
“Yes. I managed to solve it.”
The Count smiled at Sears who answered with the faintest smile.
“You did good.”
“Aren’t you angry?”
“Why would I be angry?”
“It wasn’t my problem alone, but I made the decision.”
At her words, the Count closed his eyes and then laughed out loud.
“Hahaha!”
“Why are you laughing?”
Sears narrowed her eyes at her husband.
Wiping the tears from the corner of his eyes, the Count apologized.
“Hahaha. I didn’t mean it. Sorry.”
After he stopped laughing completely, he answered Sears who was a tad bit angry.
“My lady, what I meant is. If you are happy, then that is all I need.”
“Honey…”
“Honestly, I didn't have a good opinion about Onyx, but that was because he was mean to you, for no other reason apart from that. If you are fine, that means I am fine.”
And then he said,
“Ah. That time. In the past he was called the shadow demon, I wondered how badly he felt inferior to me for doing something like that.”
“Darling you too.”
“What can you do if your husband is so good?”
“Ugh, you seriously.”
“What? Can’t I be like this? What to do if you hate me because of this?”
“You are the king of cheap stuff. Still, I will love you forever, so don’t worry.”
“What a reliable answer. By the way, is it because I haven’t seen you for a month? You look very beautiful today.”
“Ahh, wait…”
And the eavesdropping ended there.
Jamie cut off the mana connected to the study.
Anything beyond this would be an invasion of privacy.
And shouldn’t he be someone protecting his family?
“You have fun alone…”
In the meantime, Venna was blowing her nose as she looked at Jamie in disappointment.
She was one angry squirrel.
“Shut up and go away…”
“Ack!”
Jamie grabbed her by the tail and threw her away.
[Why is your Master so pathetic?]
Philion clicked his tongue at the sight of Venna being thrown away.
Jamie left them behind and thought about what he heard.
‘As expected, my father is already on the move.’
It made no sense that the news of Apton didn’t reach Count Welton.
However, it was unexpected that the kingdoms in the north were also united.
In particular, the kingdoms of northeast were the regions of Arbela the God of Wisdom and stupidity.
The fact that they joined meant that Arbela also hated Zenith.
‘Probably because of the contract with demons.’
Whatever the reason, more intense pressure was being put on Zenith.
Zenith, that bastard must be upset and kicking his legs by now. That was the kind of God he was.
‘But I can’t act out.’
Because Zenith was known to be meticulous.
And this was a bad situation for him now, but he would turn this around for sure.
‘And there are Gods on his side.’
Brahman, the Dragon God and Lily, the Goddess of Beauty.
And their places were Haron- the central continent, and eastern continent- Kariren.
And it was likely that they would move together if war broke out.
‘But it is a long way off.’
Now there is only political pressure. It would take several more years for the conflict to intensify and reach war.
War wasn’t something which could be started right away.
And Jamie was sure that the madman, Zenith, would start the war without looking back.
If the plan in Apton was successful, then Zenith would have had a big step ahead.
However, it failed and the initiative failed miserably.
‘And Ra is keeping him away.’
So there is no need to worry about Ra intervening.
And that alone would pressure Zenith to know Ra isn’t on his side.
“But master, what do we do now?”
Venna came up to him and asked.
“There is a lot to be done now.”
“Ugh!”
Jamie got up suddenly and Venna, who lost her balance, fell to the floor.
She was still in the form of a squirrel and landed safely.
And the way she landed would make people doubt if she was a squirrel.
“That was dangerous!”
“Someone is coming up?”
Jamie made a sword of mana.
And then swung it lightly in the air and said.
“Well, I am thinking of learning the sword right away.”
Tomorrow morning he planned to tell the Count that he wanted to learn the sword.
He wasn’t sure how the Count would react, but he couldn’t hate it for sure.
Thinking that, he swung his sword again.
“Master. I don’t think you have a talent for swords.”
Venna had a bump on her forehead.
The morning was bright.
Jamie, well-prepared, was ready to go for breakfast.
And he found Venna, sleeping on the bed with a fluffy stomach up.
Just looking at her sleeping with her mouth open and drooling, Jamie hated it.
“Yum, nyeom.”
And it seemed like she was having food in her dreams.
“Such a lazy one.”
So he added something delicious.
“Uhmm! Hmmmm!”
It was a large cherry and it was the perfect size for Venna’s mouth.
Smiling, Jamie left the room.
It was so amazing to hear the struggling voice from behind.
When he arrived at the dining room, his parents and Sarah were already there.
“Come on, sit.”
“Come here and have a seat next to your mother… no, our Jamie has grown so much that mother can’t have you to herself.”
“Haha…”
Sears teased him and Jamie sat down awkwardly.
The meal was served. The meal at the Marquis's was great, but the meal done by the chef who knew what the Welton family wanted tasted the best.
“Let’s eat well.”
The Count took soup first and the others started eating right away.
The taste.
Despite having delicious food on the trip, Welton’s chef is the best!
Yesterday, since they were just back home, and went to dinner right away, Jamie couldn’t relish the taste of the food.
‘This is the best.’
After a satisfying meal came a light dessert.
“It has been a while since I had such a breakfast.”
Count Welton sipped his coffee and said it with a smile. He must have felt so lonely to eat all alone for over a month.
It must have felt lonely to be left suddenly like that.
“Delicious.”
Sara said, eating the strawberry cake.
Sears wiped it for her.
Peaceful time.
Jamie looked at his half-full juice in the glass and said to the Count.
“Father. I want to learn the sword.”
The Count who was drinking coffee, stopped.
He lowered his cup thinking he heard it wrong and asked.
“What did you say?”
“I want to learn the swordsmanship of our family.”
At the sudden words from his son, the Count looked at Jamie and then turned to Sears.
Sears just had her coffee with a calm face.
He knew what Jamie was saying.
As the Count was contemplating what to say, Sarah said in a cheerful voice.
“Brother, are you going to become a knight?’
“Yes. Your brother will also become a knight.”
“Woah!”
Sarah looked at Sears with bright shining eyes.
“Mother! Brother will become a knight!”
“Yes. Mother heard it.”
“Father is a knight too! So my brother is also becoming a knight!”
Sears patted Sarah on her head thinking she was cute.
The Count asked Jamie with a worried face.
“Then what about magic?”
“I will practice magic too.”
“So you mean, so you mean to say that you want to learn a sword enough to help you in self-defense?”
“No. Like I said before, I want to learn the swordsmanship of my family.”
The Count’s expression turned stiff and asked his son hesitantly.
“You seem to think sword is easy.”
“I don’t think it is easy.”
“Family swordsmanship isn’t something which can be learned at the same time with magic. The sword isn’t something so easy.”
If it was Jamie, despite learning it later than kids his age, he was bound to cross them, because he has the blood of Welton.
However, along with magic? That is a different story.
The ancestors who couldn’t do that ended up focusing on swordsmanship alone.
No matter how talented they were in magic, there were things which couldn’t be done.
To the Count, his son’s words sounded weird.
“I never underestimated the sword.”
“No. You are underestimating the sword. I can’t teach such a guy.”
Jamie was puzzled by his father’s reaction.
Till now, Count Welton had never stopped Jamie from doing what he wanted. He would never bother Jamie when he worked hard.
And he thought it would be the same this time.
With a determined face the Count looked at Jamie.
“Don’t pretend like you didn’t hear what I just said.”
“I am being serious here!”
The surrounding air changed.
Sarah looked at her mother bewildered at the mood change.
But Sears didn’t look at them and kept sipping her coffee.
She knew better than to meddle in this matter. So she was going to wait and see how this ended.
“Mother…”
Sarah waved her arms with a worried look.
Sears said it was fine and held her daughter’s hand.
The Count stared at his son and then got up.
“Get ready and come to the training hall.”
“Father.”
“I plan to test your resolve.”
With that, the Count left.
Test his resolve.
Jamie didn’t even ask what it meant.
‘I need to be acknowledged.’
Come to think of it, he never had an in-depth conversation with his father, let it be swords or magic.
Because of that, he was never taught by his father.
Seeing his father be like this for the first time. It was quite frustrating but quickly regained his cool.
‘This better turn out good.’
He looked at Count Welton in a new light.
Seeing his father who was always friendly treating his sword this way, seemed more reliable to Jamie.
And now he had to show the Count what he wanted to see.
‘If proof is all you need.’
He had to go now.
After changing his clothes, Jamie headed straight to the training hall.
