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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Off to the Frontlines
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Early morning.
Isaac stepped out into the garden, his bag slung over his shoulder.
The rose field, the pride of House Helmunt, hadn't even budded yet—it wasn't the season.
Come June, when the Sword Festival began, the roses would burst into full bloom, scattering their seductive fragrance in every direction.
Helmunt roses were a special breed, blooming right up until the eve of winter.
'Beautiful.'
In this ugly, bitter place called Helmunt—a house filled with nothing but painful memories—the rose garden was the only thing that truly deserved the word.
In the corner of that garden.
A single sprig of purple lilac, blooming prematurely like it had no sense of timing.
"..."
That prickly eyesore making him grimace was the flower he had planted.
He had no idea why the meticulous Helmunt gardeners hadn't uprooted the damn thing yet.
'Gotta pull it out.'
The moment he approached to yank it free.
A knight appeared before him—slightly bulkier than Isaac, with a boyish face that could pass for a youth's.
He snapped a salute.
"Sir! I'm Jonathan, assigned to escort Isaac Helmunt all the way to the foremost line at Mallidan Wall! It's an honor to serve!"
"Ugh."
Isaac winced without thinking, the man's booming voice ringing in his ears.
Jonathan beamed with the innocent grin of a child, yet he was clad in heavy Helmunt plate and bore a massive greatsword on his back.
Military-cropped blond hair.
Isaac offered his hand to the guilelessly handsome fellow.
"Isaac. Nice to meet you."
"Yes, sir! I'll make sure to keep you safe until the Sword Festival, no matter what!"
He was one of Arandel Helmunt's bare-minimum conditions for sending Isaac to the frontmost line.
Just in case Isaac died out there—or bolted—they'd assigned an escort who doubled as a watchdog.
'Sloppier than I expected.'
The family head had probably ordered a knight attached, and this mediocre scrub got shoved into the role due to seniority.
No top-tier knight needed to babysit Isaac, who couldn't even swing a sword properly anyway.
"Then, let's head out—"
"Ah! Isaac."
Another interruption just as they were about to leave.
Wondering what now, he turned to see the eldest son, Roengreen, jogging over with a soft smile.
His long red hair fluttered as he approached, a crimson aura rippling around him.
He'd clearly been training up until moments ago.
Eldest son Roengreen.
To put it simply: personality disorder.
An emotional lunatic whose moods swung to extremes, who'd beaten Isaac black and blue countless times just to vent his frustrations.
And now, for the first time, he was smiling at his brother-in-law.
"Heard you're heading out. No, how could this happen? Divorce? After all our shared time and memories?"
'Psycho.'
How did the bastard make such bullshit sound so convincing?
Their so-called "memories" were nothing but beatings disguised as sparring whenever they were in a foul mood, or toying with him like a plaything.
Roengreen leaned in, whispering slyly with a grin.
"Rianna's the one who demanded the divorce from you, right? All to go after the family head seat! Father even said it's fine to have a kid, but switching to divorce? That means exactly what I think."
"..."
Eldest son and eldest daughter.
This exchange laid bare why even Arandel—despite Roengreen being a full year older—had agonized between the two.
"She can't become family head if she has a child! That's why she's forcing the divorce on purpose. No pregnancy after that, and her shot at the seat stays alive!"
"Ah, sure."
Roengreen smirked like he'd cracked some grand mystery.
"Isaac, don't you want revenge? On Rianna, who tossed you aside just for the family head spot—don't you want to hit her where it hurts?!"
"..."
"That's right. Get strong."
With that, he slyly slipped something from his pocket into Isaac's hand.
"This is—"
"You know what it is. Rose Elixir! Helmunt's secret medicine, reserved for the bloodline alone!"
Roengreen whispered with a cunning grin.
"Only I, as eldest son, could hook you up. Drink it, survive, come back stronger. I believe in you, brother."
He winked cheekily before heading back to training.
'Brother, my ass.'
Just days ago in this life, the guy had forced a sword into Isaac's hands—whining that his technique wasn't improving—then pummeled him for sport.
Pathetic, how desperate he was to backstab Rianna and lock down the family head spot.
"Uh, Isaac sir?"
"Act like you saw nothing."
Jonathan glanced around nervously.
Isaac sighed and uncorked the Rose Elixir Roengreen had handed him.
The signature scent was faint.
"Tch."
Some Rose Elixir.
This was diluted—even among the diluted stuff.
'Planning to frame Rianna by claiming she dosed the son-in-law with the family secret medicine.'
All he could muster was a sigh.
The moment Isaac left, Roengreen would probably leverage the mismatch between the ledger and stock to squeeze her.
'Pathetic.'
Honestly, Rianna wouldn't buckle to cheap tricks like that.
He glanced back.
Rianna hadn't emerged from the mansion.
She'd probably passed out deep after getting drunk yesterday.
[Stay well.]
A heartbreakingly brief send-off for someone departing.
Still.
"Let's go, Jonathan."
He just didn't want to stay in this mansion any longer.
Isaac and Jonathan set off for the front lines.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Isaac, our grandmaster said it—if only your legs were intact, you'd have become a great swordsman for sure.]
A vivid memory.
A woman with long white hair smiled at me as she spoke.
'Just lip service to console me.'
I gave a wry smile, but she turned serious.
[The grandmaster consoling someone? I feel the same. If only your legs were fine. If only you hadn't become that cursed Helmunt son-in-law...]
'Don't get so worked up and immersed—that's your flaw.'
[Those brainless, muscle-headed Helmunt idiots. Couldn't even recognize your talent.]
'Told you they won't listen.'
[Silent Sword Isaac! The man who wields blades with words and knowledge. We all know how much your training manual helped. Thanks to you, my spear technique jumped several levels.]
'Yeah, yeah. How many times I gotta say I get it.'
[I'm serious, Isaac.]
[Dead serious.]
[Thank you.]
[Regret meeting you this late.]
'You drink?'
[Maybe the decisive battle with the Transcendent Race looming. Our odds of survival? Zero, probably.]
'...'
[If I'd met you sooner, our house wouldn't have gone down so pointlessly.]
'You're overestimating me.'
[Am I? I don't think so.]
I gave a wry smile.
[It's late, Isaac. Get some rest.]
'Yeah. Don't push yourself, Caldias.'
[...Hey.]
'Hm?'
[It's Silberna.]
'...'
[The real name I discarded for the house.]
[Silberna Caldias.]
[That's my true name, Isaac.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Isaac sir!"
"Mm?"
I cracked my eyes open at Jonathan's call.
Several days had already passed.
Days cooped up in the carriage left my body aching all over.
But youth had its perks.
I stretched out my right leg—the one I still could scarcely believe worked—and listened to Jonathan.
"We're almost there! Front lines, but the roads are so well-maintained—we got here fast!"
"Yawn. Yeah. Seems like it."
White breath puffed out with my yawn.
Even bundled in the blanket, the chill seeping into the carriage gnawed at my skin.
This was the kingdom's far north.
The mighty Mallidan Wall, built to hold back the floods of magic beasts.
And those guarding it—
"Enemy territory from here on—stay sharp."
"We're fellow kingdom nobles. What 'enemy territory'?"
Spending nights camping with Jonathan these past days had shown me.
Put kindly: pure-hearted.
Put harshly: an idiot.
He even seemed like a bully magnet.
"Training" meant curfews, food rationing, outing bans, even toilet restrictions.
He'd even pissed his pants once...
"Isaac sir! This is Caldias territory, right?! Helmunt's rivals! Greatswords of Helmunt, spears of Caldias!"
He spoke with epic grandeur, like reciting a hero's saga, but at root, it was just noble pride-clashing.
Still, Helmunt and Caldias were on bad terms.
That was why Rianna had worried.
Anyone from Helmunt would face serious hazing.
"What if they beat us? I got blanket-rolled plenty at night, but here—they might really lay into us?"
"Relax. Lucky for us, we've both got plenty of experience taking hits."
"You've been hit too, Isaac sir!?"
"Didn't you see me helping with the direct-line Helmunt training?"
I took beatings all day, every day there.
No Helmunt knight could've missed it.
"Ah, I can't join training. Been a Helmunt knight for only a year."
"Then what do you do?"
"Lately, 'Knights must bond with horses!' So, horse-whinny imitation drills!"
"You little—. Ahem. Jonathan? For real—quit knighthood. At least somewhere that's not Helmunt?"
"My heart is forged of roses!"
"Then you'd have croaked ages ago."
I sighed, gazing up at the looming Mallidan walls drawing near.
I'd never seen them in person last life, but they matched the tales perfectly.
'No wonder the northerners treat the Mallidan Wall as sacred.'
A true colossus shielding humanity.
Medals and scars of ages etched everywhere spoke of how long it had defended our lands.
So when the Mallidan Wall fell in my previous life.
The kingdom's lines crumbled helplessly.
Without Helmunt's greatswords holding the breach, the capital would've fallen in days.
As we drew close to the wall.
"That piss-stink, cloying honey-flower reek only brats could love—knew it was some foul bullshit!"
A woman's thunderous voice shook the heavens.
Laughter erupted from atop the wall, mocking and shrill.
"Wafting frail flower perfume in the north?! It's so nauseating, my bear meat's gonna come back up!"
"Ah, uh, Isaac sir?"
"Stop the carriage, Jonathan."
"Yessir!"
Jonathan halted with a screech.
The woman peering down from the wall at the emerging Isaac wrinkled her nose.
"Ha! I am the spear and shield of Mallidan Wall!"
Grand self-introduction, unprompted.
"Silberna Caldias! Declare thyself!"
A hollow laugh escaped me.
She hadn't discarded the name Silberna yet, at this point.
'Right, Silberna.'
As the winds decreed.
I've come to see you.
"Who the hell are you, you little shit?!"
"..."