[264] The Ozent Family's Circumstances (3)
Since I was already coming to the school, I thought I might as well buy him a meal after so long.
Lately he'd been spending time with a young lady named Tess, and I liked that. They'd only met once, but she was warm and could put up with Rian's stubbornness—a good girl.
When I arrived at the training grounds, Rian was practicing swordsmanship.
I'd heard that because Tess brought lunch boxes, he trained even through the lunch hour.
He was hammering a dummy with a heavy club, and even from a distance the force felt overwhelming.
Tess sat on the grass drinking water, her gaze fixed on the club Rian swung with explosive power.
Ever since he came back from Heaven, he'd raised the intensity of his training, and now he spent more time running than resting.
Tess held a copy of Spirit magazine that Rian had tossed aside.
It contained an article about Shirone—the one who'd beaten Dante, the kingdom's top star.
She'd read Shirone's sections so many times the paper where he appeared was worn and the letters were faint.
There was an article about Shirone's parents on the next page, but she only glanced at it and then looked away.
'Rian... that must be hard.'
Tess knew what kind of mind drove Rian's training.
Rian was Shirone's sword, and the resolve he carried had been obvious even when he returned from Heaven.
Shirone's success would be an incomparable joy to him, but his disappointment in himself would have grown all the more.
The fact that his training increased by one and a half times the day after the article was published said it all.
One-and-a-half times might be pushing it for most swordsmen, but Rian was an exception.
He was the sort who tested his limits every day; a fifty-percent increase was practically a murderous routine.
But Rian managed it.
It was a strange, unexplainable phenomenon unique to him.
Tess clicked her tongue watching the arc of Rian's swings.
It was as if he poured his soul into a single blow.
'He's really strong. Honestly, even if I used schema against him, I don't know if I could take that.'
Rian's thoughts, however, were different.
'No. This isn't enough to fell him.'
Rian wasn't looking at the dummy.
He was seeing a vision of Imir floating behind it.
Though small for a giant, Imir's strength had dug deep into Rian's bones.
"Uaaaaaah!"
Rian slammed the club down like a man possessed.
It was a specially made club—exactly the same weight as the greatsword he'd inherited from his grandfather—yet he wielded it as if cracking a whip.
'No! No! No!'
When he first started dummy strikes, each swing made him wish he would die from the pain.
But after that torment, a thirst rose up.
Why won't it move faster? How had he done it when he cut Imir's arm?
At that moment a vision swept over him where all his attacks were destroyed by a single blow from Imir.
A giant fist flew toward his face.
Imir shouted.
'That's not it!'
"Uaaaaaah!"
Rian drove the club straight down.
The dummy took the strike on its crown; the post crumpled and exploded into splinters.
"Whoa..."
Tess's eyes went wide.
She'd seen dummies broken before, but that strike felt subtly different.
Rian himself paused in the follow-through, frozen in the stance as he replayed the sensation.
You must absorb every sense.
Talented swordsmen might grasp insights without trying, but the path he walked could only be learned through the body.
"Rian! Sis is here!"
Reina's voice made Rian's face contort.
Luckily he'd reined in some of his senses; had she called a moment earlier, everything might have been wasted.
"What's going on? Why are you suddenly at school?"
Before Reina could finish, Tess darted over.
Scoring points in advance with a future sister-in-law was the first rule in the dating guide she'd read recently.
"Hello."
"Ah, Tess, long time no see."
Rian asked again, "What is it?"
"Um, well..."
Reina hesitated.
Since Kuan had given her advice, saying she was here because of grades might backfire.
She stalled for an excuse, but suddenly a guard shouted from outside the training grounds.
"Everyone! Attention!"
Rian, Tess, and Reina turned toward the entrance.
Ozent Klump, Rian's grandfather, was approaching, teachers trailing behind him like a tail.
A certified third-rank swordsman had come to the school; it was only natural the teacher-swordsmen were nervous.
But Rian and Reina were uneasy for another reason.
Though Klump was nearing retirement, he still wielded enormous influence in the military.
If a man like that suddenly came to the school, it usually meant more than a routine matter.
Rian and Tess snapped into attention.
Even family mattered little; a student at the sword school stood at the bottom rung of the military hierarchy.
If they failed to show proper respect to Commander Klump, they could actually be punished under military law.
"At ease."
When Klump gave the order, Rian and Tess relaxed their stiff shoulders just enough to obey.
Klump looked over the training grounds. Since it was lunch hour, only Rian and Tess were here.
"You train through lunch? Very commendable posture."
"Thank you."
Tess straightened and answered.
This was her second time meeting Klump. She had greeted him once before when Reina invited him to dinner at her house.
He'd been hearty and warrior-like then and had put them at ease, but this was not the place for levity.
The teachers standing behind held their breath, watching to see how things would go.
Klump inspected Rian's balance carefully.
He knew Rian had finished last in the midterms. When Reina threatened to go to the school and complain, he'd just laughed.
How high one could rise mattered, but Klump believed Rian's refusal to give up was his greatest weapon.
Still, what he found in person was different from what he expected.
Klump took the club from Rian and swung it this way and that.
Hmmm, he mused, then reached out and squeezed Rian's shoulder and arm.
At some point his hand paused and his eyes lit.
"It's the exact same weight as the Ozent family's straight sword. You swing until the dummy breaks?"
"Yes."
Klump snorted and handed the club back.
"You really are stupidly straightforward, just like I thought."
Rian's lower lip pushed out slightly.
If not for the school, his grandfather would've shown the grandson's fearsome side, but here rank was everything.
"...Do as you like. It's your life."
"Yes, that's my plan."
When Rian snapped back curtly without overstepping, Klump shrugged and laughed.
For some reason he looked very pleased.
He nodded at the teachers as if to say they'd taught well, and the teachers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Reina now had a better sense of what Grandfather saw in Rian.
She glanced surreptitiously at Kuan; unsurprisingly, he returned a prickly look.
Embarrassed, she turned her head primly.
At least in the swordsmen's eyes, Rian didn't seem entirely displeasing—that was a relief.
Klump moved on from Rian and stepped toward Reina.
"So you were here. I found out he'd gone to the royal palace, then heard he'd come here and I came straight away."
"What? You came because of me? Is something wrong?"
Klump gave Rian a quick look and gestured that they should step aside.
The reason he'd come was that a few days ago they'd received intelligence from the Kazra Kingdom related to Shirone.
Rian should of course have been informed—he had sworn his knightly oath to Shirone—but Klump wanted to stop that.
This was not someone to be handled in a fit of temper. Calm Reina was far more suitable for this mission than hot-headed Rian.
Klump led Reina into the shade of a tree.
Rian made a sulky face at being left out, but soon stopped caring.
Both grandfather and sister were busy at the royal palace; he assumed it must be important.
Reina's eyes widened as Klump explained Shirone's situation.
"What? The first prince of the Kazra Kingdom?"
"It's not certain yet, but it seems likely. They're almost convinced. The circumstances—how Shirone was smuggled out, the timing, the place—all match. There's also the fact that the only child found abandoned near the Vale of Dawn corresponds to Shirone."
Reina fell silent for a long moment, sorting through her thoughts.
This wasn't a matter for untangling complicated cause-and-effect. If that conclusion had already been reached, what mattered now was how to respond.
"So—listen. You need to go back to the main family estate. Take Shirone to the Kazra Kingdom. There's no one else suitable."
Reina agreed she was the right choice.
She was the only member of the Ozent family of swordsmen with broad social reach—an artist who'd joined the elite 99 Artists' Association and built solid connections.
Still, she worried about Rian. If they hid the truth and acted without him, he'd be deeply disappointed when he found out.
"Shouldn't we tell Rian?"
"No. As you probably guessed, the atmosphere is fraught. A small mistake could ruin everything. And as you know, that boy can be headstrong."
"That's true."
This was a trip to a foreign throne—a meeting with a king—so reason must prevail over feeling.
In that sense, Rian was the number-one risk.
This concerns Shirone; it's so sensitive that not even a king—let alone a god—could be expected to openly intervene.
"We received the meeting date and itinerary in the intelligence. Under no circumstances must you let it be leaked until we reach Creas. Shirone must not know either."
Matters between kingdoms always involve intelligence. But only a very small circle has the authority to verify the substance of that intelligence.
The reason conspiracy theories arise is the secrecy of shadow diplomacy.
In some ways it's like playing house, but when that game runs at the scale of nations, it's different.
Even trivial issues—like choosing lodging for an envoy—can become the fuse that ignites a war, so secrecy must be absolute.
"The place is Alpheas School of Magic. They'll bring fifty armed soldiers, and Ordos, Kazra's administrative officer, will be the envoy to meet Shirone. We've sent a reply too, but now it's a game of nerves. They'll probably try to take Shirone before we arrive. Move as fast as you can. You can buy us time."
Reina felt the weight of the mission and nodded.
"All right. I understand. I'll prepare and leave immediately."
Kazra Kingdom (1)
The three days' preparation period they'd requested from Ordos had ended.
Shirone rode in the carriage with Reina to the school while she quizzed him on court etiquette.
"What is the first thing you do upon an audience?"
"Kneel, keep my gaze forty-five degrees down, place my hands on my chest, state my name and rank, and say, 'I await His Majesty's summons,' right?"
"When does the palace officially designate morning to end?"
"Thirty minutes before the lunch bell rings."
Reina nodded with satisfaction.
"Good, very good. Excellent."
"Hehe! It was easy. Many parts are similar to the Tormia Kingdom's customs."
Although there might be an era gap, the Tormia and Kazra kingdoms had both split from the Yakma Republic and were sibling states, so their cultures and lifestyles weren't that different.
Of course, for Shirone, who was not a noble, there was a lot to memorize.
But Reina wasn't worried.
He'd been bright from a young age, and she believed he would manage—and in fact he absorbed all the etiquette in just three days.
Still, Shirone looked uneasy.
"What if I make a mistake? The whole 'thirty minutes before lunch' thing is really ambiguous."
Reina stroked Shirone's head and said, "Heh heh, there's no need to be nervous. Even nobles get that wrong a lot. Of course it's best to keep it, but you won't be thrown in prison for getting the time wrong."