Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Oath

The first thing we did after reaching the clearing was send everyone else away.

“Mercenary King.”

“What is it?”

When Rose called to him, the Mercenary King smiled and looked at her.

“Could only you watch our training?”

The lord and the Mercenary King’s grandson frowned slightly, but the Mercenary King soon nodded.

“Very well. You two stay. Everyone else, could you give us some space?”

“Understood.”

“Grandfather!”

“Grandson, it’s fine. Some people are embarrassed to show themselves to others, and some can’t display their full ability while being watched.”

After saying that, he sent the two of them away again and even confirmed that they had truly gone far enough.

“Then show me what you can do. I’m slightly curious now.”

“Okay.”

“Understood.”

We faced each other and stood in the middle of the clearing.

“Henry.”

“Yeah, Rose.”

“Do you think he’ll keep quiet after seeing what we can do?”

“We can’t hide it anyway, and we can’t kill him. If my guess is right, he’ll keep quiet on his own.”

The Mercenary King frowned as he listened to our conversation.

“Go easy on me, Rose. I should get at least a little benefit from you.”

“Henry, when have I ever gone easy on you?”

“Wow. What character!”

As we traded pointless banter, we both moved at the same instant. Our swords collided in a flash, and our free hands and feet moved with them.

“Henry, you know me too well.”

“And vice versa. Maybe I should’ve grabbed your hair first.”

Neither of us held back. We moved seriously, searching for openings and thrusting our swords toward them. And because the other knew exactly what was coming, they reacted immediately.

It was a technique possible only because we knew each other so well. We were frogs in a well who had only ever crossed swords with each other and knew nothing of real combat.

But in another sense, because we understood each other perfectly, mind games were useless. We could only rely on instinct and intuition, trusting both ourselves and the other as we traded attacks.

To an amateur, it looked like an elaborate choreographed performance. To someone knowledgeable, it looked like two moths trying desperately to devour one another.

***

The Mercenary King could only watch the two with an incredulous laugh.

When they first mentioned secrecy, he had felt slightly disappointed. But once their swords clashed, he finally understood why they had said it.

He had expected the two to fight with simple foundational swordsmanship. But that wasn’t what happened at all.

‘Rather than swordsmanship, this is closer to something designed purely to win.’

They swung their swords. At the same time, they used their free arms, legs, and entire bodies against each other. If given the chance, they would probably bite an opening with their teeth. If they fell, they would throw sand in the other’s face. If they lost their swords, they would pick up a rock and smash it into the other.

That wasn’t a technique that should have emerged from a tiny territory like this. It was born from survival, from doing absolutely anything necessary to win.

‘Why? Why in a place like this? Or are they preparing for something?’

And even more shocking was how naturally they were using mana. The young lady used it first, and the boy followed immediately.

That alone was astonishing. No, it was absurd.

In ordinary noble families, children reached Stage 1 around the ages of ten to thirteen. Only among great nobles did they barely reach Stage 2 at that age, and anyone who reached Stage 3 was called a genius.

‘But this isn’t an ordinary noble house. It’s merely the lowest-ranking noble family in some countryside borderland. And the other one is nothing but a commoner. Yet... yet!’

All he could do was watch. He felt almost blinded by the light of talents that shouldn’t exist.

Their mana usage was not crude, but polished through training.

He had called his grandson a genius. Then what exactly were these two, who had achieved this in an even worse environment?

The boy was standing before the wall of Stage 2. That alone would be enough for everyone to call him a genius, even enough for the Mercenary King to invite him into his mercenary band.

But the girl...

‘Oh, gods above. How can something like that exist in this world?’

Fear crept in. Not at mere genius, but at something beyond understanding.

“Henry.”

“Ha. You only got that today.”

“Whenever I pulled ahead, you always came chasing right behind me. I suppose that’s the result of you forcibly surviving in order to catch up.”

“Damn it.”

“So, Henry. Show me your growth.”

“We’re in front of someone, you crazy girl.”

Sword aura. He could see it. And it wasn’t the aura of some clumsy beginner who had only just entered the realm. It was the refined aura of someone who had properly entered Stage 4.

Even talented children raised on the highest-grade elixirs and the finest training were considered geniuses if they reached sword aura by nineteen.

Then what was this? The Mercenary King could not easily find an answer.

And when the two finished training and walked toward him, he finally understood what the boy had meant.

“Mercenary King.”

“...”

“Do you understand why we acted like that?”

“What exactly are you two? Does the lord know about this?”

“No. And we don’t intend to tell him.”

“What made this possible? No, what made you do this?”

The boy thought for a moment, met the young lady’s eyes, then looked back at him.

“Preparing for romance fantasy, I guess.”

“Are you sure you can tell him that?”

“Well, there isn’t any restriction or curse preventing us.”

“Romance fantasy? What is that... some sort of Demon King?”

“You could say it’s similar. It drives people mad with love, makes them blindly obsessed with love... Ugh, terrifying.”

‘Romance fantasy... What in the world is that? What could make him wear an expression like that...’

The boy took a short breath and looked directly at him.

“Mercenary King. I highly respect your nobility and heroism. From what I’ve heard, you’ve saved and protected countless people from danger.”

“I have.”

“I believe you’re a fortuitous encounter. And so...”

“Wait? You!”

“This was the plan from the start. The more allies we have, the better.”

The Mercenary King did not understand the young lady’s reaction or the boy’s words. Perhaps part of him wanted to refuse to understand.

But he saw faith in the boy. Absolute faith directed toward the Mercenary King. So he steadied himself and had no choice but to listen. Because that was who the Mercenary King was.

“Do you know about romance fantasy?”

***

Honestly, this plan was something I had come up with rather impulsively.

Rose had received early education as a child, but what about other people?

In that sense, I was in a pretty absurd position myself.

Other people might despair at being told they were characters in a novel, while for me, paradoxically, that knowledge only made this place feel even more real.

Still, I trusted the Mercenary King of ancient cliché, and also the Mercenary King I had heard about and read about here. So I told him about romance fantasy.

“I see. Hahahahaha!”

After hearing the story, the Mercenary King burst out laughing.

“Tell me more! More!”

He laughed like a child and became even more absorbed in the story.

“How fascinating. So I’m a character in a novel.”

“This is reality.”

“Right. Definitely reality.”

“Yes, reality. And at the same time, a world from a novel. Do not tell mages this story. They might truly lose their minds. No, don’t limit it to mages. Don’t tell anyone else either. Some information is more valuable when only you possess it. This is one such thing.”

“That’s...”

“I know. I know. Even so, what you did was reckless, foolish, and insane. You could have disguised it as prophecy, and there was no need to tell me any of this. This was your mistake. Remember this. Some information is only useful when you alone know it.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Good.”

The Mercenary King nodded, then looked up at the sky.

“It’s still difficult to accept. Heh. And you aren’t even certain yourselves, yet you wager this much on a mere possibility.”

“But with talent like this, doesn’t she seem like a romance-fantasy heroine?”

“Ugh, terrifying. Even so, to me, this place is reality.”

“Right?”

“Can you prove that it’s a romance fantasy?”

“If the Demon King suddenly revives someday and Rose pulls out the Holy Sword, then that proves it instantly. Until then, who knows?”

“Tch, aren’t you making promises you can’t possibly back up? And if what you say is true, then my grandson...”

“Won’t he make a complete fool of himself? Unless he manages to seduce Rose!”

Rose silently chopped me on the head. I think I grew a lump.

“That hurts!”

“I hit you because I wanted it to hurt.”

“This really is... amusing! Very amusing. Even if it’s false, it’s entertaining. If it’s true, even more so.”

Still laughing, he lightly flicked me on the forehead.

“Henry! Are you okay? What are you doing!”

“I’m fine... It didn’t hurt.”

“Young Lady, calm down. I barely touched him. Boy, what would you have done if I had stolen someone else’s accomplishments, or if I were secretly an evil bastard?”

“I told you. Clichés and everything I’d heard.”

“Right. If I had merely heard this story from someone else, I probably wouldn’t have believed it either. Normally, this would be where I lecture you with something pretentious like, ‘What if you had told this to an evil man?’ But...”

The Mercenary King stood up and lifted the axe he had carried since leaving the lord’s manor.

“What are you doing?”

“Henry, what did you do?”

“Me? You saw that I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re Henry! You could’ve done something!”

“What does that even mean?”

Watching us, the Mercenary King smiled, then spoke with an endlessly serious expression.

“I, the Mercenary King Lorik Wolfson! By this axe that has accompanied me for half my life, by my honor and my name, before the names of the gods, I swear!”

“What?”

Gods existed in this other world. Therefore, an oath sworn in their names was a covenant. Something that had to be upheld.

Clouds gathered in the sky and formed a vortex, and a circle born within it seemed to watch us.

A phenomenon visible only to those included in the oath. Which meant the targets of that oath were us.

“I swear to protect the secrets of those who shared this knowledge with me, and the secrets I learned today! When the time truly comes for them to speak, I shall protect them! I, the Mercenary King, shall become the fortuitous encounter they speak of!”

It made no sense. This was only a possibility. I couldn’t even prove this world was a romance fantasy. He could have simply laughed the entire thing off.

“Why are you doing this?! This place might not even be a romance fantasy!”

“Boy.”

“Yes.”

“With abilities like yours, the country could indeed take notice, just as you predicted, and the world might become wary of you. And knowledge like this could be branded heresy and earn you persecution. Yet you still told me. Why?”

“Cliché...”

“No. I saw the truth in your eyes. Perhaps that played a part, but you trusted the man called the Mercenary King.”

He looked seriously at Rose and me.

“What is a man! Shouldn’t he repay the trust of those who believe in him with trust of his own? Therefore, I, the Mercenary King, will believe you.”

At the final moment, the gods watched us. The covenant was established, and they would continue to observe it. Then a voice brushed past my ear.

[You may be correct. Even so, never forget that this place is real.]