Chapter 168: Vacation (7)

“Your sword?”

“Come to think of it, that’s a sword I haven’t seen before.”

As expected of swordsmen, both brothers showed interest in the blade.

Carl, having wiped the blade clean, handed it to the nearby Carius.

“Hm.”

Carius tilted his head as he gripped Heavenly Thunder in his hand.

Though he felt a bit sorry to his younger brother, it didn’t look particularly special.

“Let me see it for a moment.”

Darius took Heavenly Thunder from his brother.

It was slightly heavier than it appeared, but that was all there was to it.

However, Darius, who had a better eye for swords than his elder brother, sensed something unusual.

“The forging style and the way the blade is tempered—this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

The decorations and hilt were probably customized for Carl.

But aside from that, the design was unlike anything he had encountered before.

‘Well, of course.’

Carl let out a faint smile.

Heavenly Thunder had likely come over from the Central Plains along with ‘Justice’, so their reactions were only natural.

“Would you like to try channeling your aura into it?”

“…Huh?”

Darius, following his brother’s suggestion, channeled aura into Heavenly Thunder.

The atmosphere of the seemingly ordinary blade instantly transformed, exuding a chilling cold.

Swiik!

Going further, he swung it around, getting a feel for its grip.

After stopping his movement, Darius looked at Carl with a breathless but excited expression.

“Where on earth did you get this?”

It was extraordinary.

He had handled everything from the family’s treasured swords to famed blades, but none had felt like this.

It was as if the sword and his body were one.

It was such a shock that it shook the values of Darius, who had devoted his life to greatswords.

“It is the sword of ‘Justice’. It is called Heavenly Thunder.”

“Heavenly Thunder? Is that an ancient term? …No, more importantly, did you say it’s Justice’s sword?”

“Carl, could you explain that in more detail?”

Darius and Carius widened their eyes and questioned him.

It wasn’t a conversation suited to this moment, but Carl thought the timing wasn’t bad.

‘Might as well use this to revamp the image the family has of me.’

He had solved the challenge left by ‘Justice’ in an undiscovered ancient ruin, then passed the trial in the Imperial Palace’s secret vault and obtained the sword that contained the legacy.

Carl briefly explained what had happened.

The achievements of the Ancient Ruins Exploration Club were already widely known.

However, no one yet knew that Carl had overcome the trial of ‘Justice’ and obtained his sword.

Not even his family.

“…You passed Justice’s trial and obtained the sword? Doesn’t that technically make you his successor?”

“I’m not sure myself.”

Successor of Justice.

It was a title he hadn’t considered.

Since he passed the trial and acquired the legacy and sword, it was a fitting title.

The Imperial Palace was also favorable toward him, so it seemed like a good card to use if necessary later.

“By any chance, has your rapid growth been influenced by the sword?”

“Well…”

Finally, the question he had been waiting for came out.

Carl nodded as he looked at Darius.

“That’s right. As you know, I had a frail body ever since I was young and struggled in many ways, but after I obtained the sword, all of that vanished completely.”

Carl had suffered from a plague as a child.

Thanks to that, the original Carl disappeared, and the unkillable Mu-ak entered the empty shell.

To understand the world of Artenia and gain power, the title of ‘frail young master’ had been effective.

So he had kept up the act until adulthood, but now seemed a good time to shed that shell for easier movement.

“I’m perfectly fine now. You saw for yourself in Bayern, didn’t you?”

“That I did.”

Darius nodded.

‘Now the pieces start to fit.’

Ever since Carl enrolled in Bayern, at some point he began to display a side quite different from what Darius remembered.

Not just toughness and strength, but overwhelming and explosive growth that surpassed other cadets.

“If it’s Justice, that explains everything. No wonder you became so strong. Then, what about in theory…?”

“I was always smart. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been accepted as top in theory during entrance.”

Carl let out a bitter smile.

While there were reasons why the Divine Sword was called the Divine Sword, it didn’t make someone intelligent.

“Still, it’s amazing. To think you’ve inherited Justice’s legacy.”

Carius patted Carl’s head with a proud smile.

The little brother who used to be sickly and weak had grown this much.

What’s more, he thought Carl was only interested in ancient heroes from an academic perspective, yet he had gained such a tremendous opportunity.

“Brother, you’ll have to stay on your toes.”

“Stay on my toes? Why?”

“It’s Justice. Can’t you see how strong Carl’s gotten in such a short time?”

“…Ah.”

At Darius’s words, Carius seemed to realize something and looked at Carl with a serious expression.

“Carl.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to become the Lord of Leipzig?”

“…”

Carl let out an inward snort of laughter.

He wondered what his brother was building up to with such serious tone—and it turned out to be merely the lordship of Leipzig.

‘Well, I suppose.’

Carius had been trained as the heir since childhood.

His goal was to accumulate experience as a knight, reach completion, and inherit the Leipzig lordship and the count title.

‘If I wanted that, I would have made a move long ago.’

Carl shook his head.

He had no interest in sibling rivalry.

It was inefficient to kill his brothers just for the count’s seat.

‘Leipzig is perfectly balanced as it is right now.’

To be honest, saying he had grown fond of it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

For Carl, who had spent his entire life wandering the Central Plains without a single blood relative, this family environment was something he’d never had before.

As a former assassin, it felt strange to admit, but he was genuinely grateful to them.

“I thought about it for a moment, but I’ll yield the position of lord to you, brother. I’d prefer traveling to different places like Brother Darius, or researching other fields.”

“What? Hahaha!”

Yield it to him.

Realizing soon enough that Carl was teasing him, Carius burst into hearty laughter.

“Well, I’ll gladly accept your offer. If you were interested in the lordship, you’d have needed successor training anyway.”

“If I had said I wanted it, would you have stepped aside for me?”

“I’d have done my best. Ever since I was a child, my goal was to inherit Father’s position.”

Carius shrugged his shoulders.

He would have shown respect.

His objective was to make the Leipzig territory more prosperous and powerful.

If Carl turned out to be more suitable for the role, he would have willingly stepped aside.

‘Though I do think Carl would do well.’

He had both a sharp mind and bold decisiveness.

On top of that, he seemed to be well respected by other cadets, so he surely had the qualifications.

But this was a battle Carius wasn’t ready to concede so easily.

Only after clashing to the limits and finding that nothing else worked would he accept the result.

“Then again, who knows? Carl might earn merit and receive a new title altogether.”

Darius joked as he slung an arm over Carl’s shoulder.

“You passed the trial of ‘Justice’ and obtained his sword. Even just that story spreading would shake the Empire. That’s how significant ancient heroes are. You’ll draw many times more attention than now.”

“Other than us, is there anyone else who knows about this?”

“Laysis does. She was with me at the time.”

“If it’s her…”

Carius nodded.

“Then there’s no problem. As a princess, she’ll know how to keep discretion, and she won’t bring harm to you, Carl.”

“…Haha.”

Carl let out an awkward laugh.

By now, they completely seemed to view Laysis as being in that kind of relationship with him.

“They seem to be wrapping up over there.”

“Let’s go take a look, then.”

While the brothers had been chatting, the situation in the village had largely settled.

The wounded had been treated, and the bodies had been gathered to one side.

Under the bright lights scattered around, the villagers bowed their heads to the Leipzig brothers and expressed their thanks.

“Thanks to you, Young Masters, we were able to avoid greater damage.”

“It’s only natural. More importantly, where are the demonic beast corpses?”

“Over here.”

The corpses of demonic beasts had to be handled with extreme caution after death.

Their blood and flesh attracted other beasts, and if not properly disposed of, the corpses could rise again as ghouls or zombies.

The standard procedure was to cut them into pieces and scatter them, or burn them completely to prevent resurrection.

However, this time, by their command, the corpses had been gathered in one place without being burned.

Swish.

Darius swung his greatsword and sliced open a beast’s belly.

Without hesitation, he reached inside and rummaged around before frowning and pulling something out.

“That’s…”

“This one has it too. Brother, I don’t think this is just a normal case.”

Though it was smaller than the Shabel Tiger they had slain earlier, there was a demonic energy crystal embedded in its body.

The fact that the demonic energy had formed a crystal inside meant the concentration had surpassed what naturally occurred.

Carius turned to the nearby village patrol and asked.

“Were the demonic beasts behaving differently than usual?”

“…Yes.”

A patrolman, still grieving the loss of a comrade, wiped his tears and nodded.

“They were stronger and fiercer than usual. Normally, four or five of us can take down one if we surround it, but this time, it took at least seven to handle a single beast.”

“They also don’t usually attack villages so openly. Demonic beasts are smarter than typical monsters, so they know attacking a village invites retaliation.”

“That’s true.”

Darius nodded in agreement.

“At most, one or two sneak in. But now they’re moving in packs?”

“…Could it be someone is controlling them?”

At Carl’s words, everyone turned their attention toward him.

“Controlling demonic beasts?”

“The demonic energy surpassed natural levels. Then we must consider the possibility that someone is increasing the demonic energy and commanding the beasts.”

“…Hmm.”

“Demonic beasts don’t form groups. Even the Shabel Tiger we fought was alone. Look now.”

Carl pointed at the piled-up corpses.

Beasts of various species, not even the same kind, had banded together to attack the village.

“If they were monsters, maybe—but for demonic beasts, this is unnatural.”

“That’s right. That’s what had me puzzled as well.”

“We should search the surrounding area for now. Anyone in the patrol still able to move, follow me.”

Everyone nodded.

This was likely not the end of the demonic beast attacks.

But before they could leave the village, someone came riding hard in their direction.

“Sir Luiden?”

“…Young Master Carius!! The territory!!”

With a voice loud enough to tear eardrums, the rider called out—and the three brothers instantly sensed that something had gone wrong.

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