Chapter 8

The Swordsmanship Genius Possessed by a God — Chapter 8

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Bartrolo left after cursing profusely in his mind.

No matter how little respect Allen received within the family, a mere noble of the Owen Kingdom could never be treated as more important than a direct descendant of Vishken.

The Lord of Steel Castle instructed a maid to bring fresh tea.

“Have some.”

“Thank you.”

Allen silently drank his tea.

Watching him drink the hot tea without even allowing it to cool, the Lord of Steel Castle looked puzzled.

The second young master of Vishken. An unfortunate genius afflicted with the Curse of Mana Deprivation.

Having only just returned from his mission, he had come straight to see him.

“I'm glad you returned safely.”

“It's thanks to your concern.”

“Were you injured anywhere?”

“Fortunately, no.”

Allen took a sip of tea before looking behind the Lord of Steel Castle.

“I take it the gentleman behind you is your disciple, my lord.”

A young nobleman stood guard behind the Lord of Steel Castle.

Judging by his attire, he didn't seem to be a bodyguard, and his aura and bearing resembled those of the Lord of Steel Castle.

When their eyes met, the man gave Allen a slight nod and spoke.

“My name is Isolde, Master's fourth disciple.”

“A pleasure to meet you. But having you stand there makes me uncomfortable. Would you mind giving us some space?”

“Master.”

At Allen's words, Isolde looked toward the Lord of Steel Castle.

Although Allen had made the request, he was seeking permission from the Lord of Steel Castle.

It was a blatant disregard for Allen right to his face, but unless Allen became the young family head, the position of Castle Lord outranked his own. This degree of discourtesy could be overlooked.

“There's no need to concern yourself with my disciple. He's a discreet young man.”

“Since Master hasn't given his permission... My apologies. If there's something you absolutely must keep secret, perhaps you could communicate through telepathy.”

Isolde did not know that Allen had overcome the Curse of Mana Deprivation. Even so, his mention of telepathy was an insult that was difficult to overlook.

But if Allen challenged him over it, he would only be admitting, ‘I don't know how to do that.’

Unlike the earlier slight, these words were difficult to simply let pass.

However, far from taking offense, Allen smiled broadly and waved his hand dismissively.

“It's nothing particularly important, so that's fine. I only said it because standing there looked uncomfortable.”

“Is that so?”

“Why don't you sit down as well? I don't particularly mind, so don't hesitate.”

Seeing Allen kindly invite his disciple to join them instead, the Lord of Steel Castle looked puzzled.

Just what was this brat plotting?

“Sit down.”

“Then, if you'll excuse me.”

With the Lord of Steel Castle's permission, Isolde sat opposite Allen.

The Lord of Steel Castle occupied the seat of honor, while the other two sat facing each other in the guest chairs.

Looking at Isolde, Allen spoke.

“Your disciple seems quite dependable. He also appears to follow your instructions very well.”

“He still has much to learn.”

“Oh, right. This is a specialty of the Hilton Kingdom that I bought on my way here. They're coffee-flavored candies. Please enjoy one whenever you feel like having a little something.”

“...Thank you.”

After that, Allen began chatting about all sorts of things.

How magnificent the snow-covered mountains of the Hilton Kingdom had been.

What the food there was like, how he had visited a black market with his brother, and how the merchants had tried to overcharge them.

Watching Allen talk about practically everything under the sun, the Lord of Steel Castle felt something strange.

Had this brat always been so talkative?

His demeanor seemed different somehow. The gloomy atmosphere that had once surrounded him, whether consciously or not, was gone, and he appeared to have shed an old layer of himself.

“Thanks to that, I managed to get the price down to a quarter of...”

“You're right.”

At that moment, the Lord of Steel Castle suddenly spoke.

“I was the one who did it.”

“...”

“I'm talking about interfering with your mission.”

Despite making such a shocking confession, the Lord of Steel Castle leisurely sipped his black tea.

Without so much as blinking, he continued.

“I leaked a little information to one of the bandits. I told him that a suppression operation would begin soon. Then I put the kingdom's heavy crossbows into their hands.”

“Is that so?”

“Didn't you come here knowing all of this?”

“Surely not. How could I possibly have known?”

That was half a lie and half the truth. Allen already knew that the Lord of Steel Castle had been behind the interference with his mission.

In his previous life, the man had confessed exactly the same thing to him.

In fact, back then, it had been the Lord of Steel Castle who came to see Allen. The opposite of their current situation.

“If you're angry, go and tell the family head. Though I don't know whether he'll take your side.”

Allen wasn't particularly angry.

After all, he had already vented all his anger over this matter a long, long time ago.

There was no need to tell his father either. His father already knew about the incident, and the Lord of Steel Castle believed that his actions had his father's tacit approval.

This was a provocation.

He was telling Allen that since he was powerless to do anything himself, he should run to his father and complain.

But before anything else, Allen asked for the reason.

“Why did you do it?”

He already knew, but he asked anyway.

He wanted to hear it from the Lord of Steel Castle of the present, not the one from back then.

The answer was the same as before.

“Because of your brother.”

The Lord of Steel Castle was a supporter of Lucas.

“Because your brother has no interest in becoming the family head.”

“That's your reason?”

“Well, unlike your brother, don't you want to become the family head?”

Judging by this alone, the Lord of Steel Castle certainly had a good eye for people.

He knew that Lucas had no ambition to become the family head, and that Allen had never abandoned his dreams despite suffering from the Curse of Mana Deprivation.

“The older brother has the ability but lacks ambition, while the younger brother has ambition but lacks ability. I've always wondered whether your brother gave up his dream because of you.”

“And you're blaming me for that? Besides, I'm nothing more than a fool afflicted with the Curse of Mana Deprivation.”

“That's precisely what makes it worse. If you were more qualified than your brother, I might have supported you instead. But that isn't the case, is it?”

When Allen had first heard those words, he had cursed the man more times than he could remember.

Because I'm inferior to my brother, yet still dream of becoming the family head, you decided to interfere with me?

He was essentially saying that someone afflicted with a curse shouldn't even be allowed to dream. That he should simply bow his head, stay in his place, and live within his means.

But hearing those words now, Allen felt entirely different.

Was it because he had returned after living a much longer life than before? Or because, unlike back then, he had now overcome the curse?

Whatever the reason.

“Then let me change my question.”

Allen's response to the Lord of Steel Castle was different from what it had been in his previous life.

“Is the reason this bastard has been smirking all this time because he was the one who supplied the bandits with those crossbows?”

Isolde, who had been listening to the conversation between Allen and the Lord of Steel Castle, had been wearing a mocking smile the entire time rather than looking surprised.

Although the question was directed at the Lord of Steel Castle, Isolde was the one who answered.

“That's correct, Second Young Master.”

His response seemed to say, So what are you going to do about it?

An affirmative answer.

“So that's how it was.”

Allen nodded.

And at that moment—

Flash!

Allen's figure lunged forward from the opposite seat.

Whoosh!

Crunch!

Allen's foot struck Isolde's shoulder in a sudden attack. Isolde, who had instinctively tried to draw his sword in response, staggered violently.

Allen grabbed the seated Isolde's arm and pulled it backward.

Startled, Isolde shouted as though screaming.

“W-wait!”

“No.”

Crack, crack, crack!

Isolde's arm twisted in a direction that made it seem impossible for a human arm to bend that way.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

A scream echoed throughout the reception room.

Startled servants and guards opened the door and rushed inside. However, the Lord of Steel Castle simply raised his hand as though nothing serious had happened and sent them back out.

“Instead of saying, ‘That's correct,’ you should have said, ‘I'm sorry.’”

Allen released the arm he had been holding. Isolde rolled across the floor, writhing in agony.

His screams soon turned into sobs. Ignoring him, Allen asked,

“Do you still think my brother is more suited to becoming the family head than I am?”

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Allen took no special measures to treat Isolde's injuries.

To begin with, if he'd intended to treat him, he wouldn't have broken his arm in the first place. Besides, there was a high chance that the incident would be quietly buried.

‘He won't be able to make an issue of it for now.’

If they were going to argue about who was right and who was wrong, they would first have to examine why the incident had occurred.

That would expose the fact that the Lord of Steel Castle had interfered with Allen's mission, and there was no way the Lord of Steel Castle wanted that.

In the end, he would undoubtedly settle the matter with nothing more than his disciple's broken arm.

After leaving the reception room, Allen encountered Lucas on his way back to the annex.

While Allen had been meeting with the Lord of Steel Castle, Lucas had also finished his business with their father.

“Were you coming to see me?”

“You've caused quite a commotion.”

Apparently, while heading to meet Allen, Lucas had heard about the disturbance in the reception room.

“I made a point of being a little noisy. I figured it would help spread the rumor that the idiot second young master broke the arm of the Lord of Steel Castle's disciple.”

“Does it not bother you to put the word ‘idiot’ before your own title?”

“Didn't you say it yourself, Brother? That this is my current position within the family?”

Lucas certainly remembered saying something like that when they returned to the family.

And as soon as Allen returned, he had begun thinking about how to change that position. Subduing the Lord of Steel Castle's disciple was merely the first step.

“I've been meaning to ask you something for a while...”

Lucas recalled the sight of Allen subduing the bandits and asked,

“When did you become this skilled?”

“Do I seem that way?”

“It's not just that you subdued those bandits. At the black market, you also recognized that I hadn't inflicted fatal wounds on the hidden guards. And that was before you overcame the curse. Yet now you've subdued the Lord of Steel Castle's disciple?”

“He's only the fourth disciple. And I caught him by surprise.”

“Even a surprise attack requires a certain level of skill to succeed. Have you been hiding your abilities?”

“Who knows?”

Allen's answers remained vague.

Seeing that he had no intention of giving a proper answer, Lucas frowned.

“Didn't you say it yourself, Brother? That once we returned to the family, we'd be rivals?”

“That was... Yes, I did.”

“Try to understand. Shouldn't a person keep at least thirty percent of their abilities hidden?”

Although he said that, Allen's true thoughts were different.

‘Sorry. But there's no way I can explain this, no matter what.’

How could he possibly tell Lucas that he had come from the future and had therefore accumulated several decades' worth of experience?

It was better to keep it a secret. If he said something like that, Lucas would only think he was making fun of him and become even more offended.

Fortunately, Lucas did not seem particularly upset.

Instead, he let out a deep sigh and changed the subject.

“Was it that man? The one who sabotaged your mission from behind the scenes?”

“More or less.”

“Haaah.”

Lucas let out another deep sigh before speaking.

“...I'm sorry.”

“Forget it. It wasn't your fault.”

Allen smiled awkwardly. It wasn't something his brother needed to apologize for.

“Is that what you came to tell me?”

“No. Father simply asked me to pass along a message.”

“What message?”

“You'll be assigned a new mission in the near future.”

“How near?”

“I don't know that much either.”

Normally, once a swordsman successfully completed his first mission and returned, he would be formally assigned to a sword division. But Allen's mission had been neither a failure nor a success.

Because of that, it seemed a new mission would be assigned to him quickly.

“Then I'll have to hurry.”

“Hurry? What do you mean?”

“There's somewhere I need to go. Oh, right. About the money I borrowed for the elixirs...”

“Forget it. It's just a little pocket change. Consider it a congratulatory gift for overcoming your curse.”

Lucas had not sought out Allen merely to deliver their father's message.

A hint of concern crossed his face.

“Don't provoke the Lord of Steel Castle too much. He's still beyond your abilities.”

He was worried.

Worried that Allen might let his youthful recklessness get the better of him and come into conflict with the Lord of Steel Castle. Worried that Allen might get hurt as a result.

“Don't worry too much. He has something to hide too, so he won't make a public issue of it. Besides, I have no intention of fighting a battle I can't win.”

No matter how underhanded his actions had been, the Lord of Steel Castle was a giant. One whom Allen, in his current state, couldn't hope to match.

Allen felt an urgent need to become stronger.

‘And to do that...’

The reason Allen intended to hurry out again four days later.

‘Right now, I need that elixir.’