NOVGO.NET Chapter 311: Glass Flower (2)
Chapter 311: Glass Flower (2)
In the Winter Castle, within the chamber of a Freyden direct descendant—a place almost freezing—Yulie stared at her sword, her face nearly vacant as she turned the blade, examining both its flat and the hilt.
The fine metal tempered to absorb mana, the blade shaped to a fine edge through the years, the grip molded by its owner’s touch, and the sword’s grain reflecting the lamplight were all worthy of admiration.
“This is my sword…” Yulie muttered, gripping the sword with her own hand.
At that moment, goosebumps prickled along Yulie’s spine, and her hair stood on end. The sword gripped tightly in her hands made it impossible to tell whether it held her or she held it, providing irrefutable evidence of the passage of a decade.
“… Hmm.”
Yulie, shivering from a chill—no, actually trembling from the biting cold—sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the house’s clock as Josephine’s words rewound in her ears.
“Because he is your former fiancé, whose engagement was broken off because of your curse.“
The shock was so immense for Yulie that she found it difficult to comprehend everything, since she and Deculein had been strangers with no common ground from the outset.
“Deculein.”
Yulie knew Deculein, a mage of the Mage Tower and a university celebrity who, according to noble gossip, was an exceedingly bad person known for leading bullying at the academy, engaging in cartel activities, and instigating violence among other offenses…
However, the Deculein Yulie saw then was a man who definitively claimed his own things, living only for himself, while Yulie, having nothing of her own, could not help but envy him, her eyes sometimes following him whenever they chanced to meet on the street.
“But how did it come to be…?”
Yulie looked at a specific page in the house’s minutes.
Due to Deculein’s undue insistence upon a mission, Yulie found herself unable to escape from Marik. Subsequently, she was caught in a violent eruption of souls within Marik, resulting in her heart being thoroughly tainted by demonic energy and a severe curse. Despite this, her recovery was nothing short of a miracle.
However, Yukline and Deculein, rather, demanded compensation…
The content of the minutes was a paragraph describing the reason Yulie fell under the curse.
Tap—
“… Is this not a relationship that cannot lead to an engagement?” Yulie muttered, closing the meeting minutes.
Accepting the weight of a decade—a span long enough to change even mountains and rivers—in such a brief period was, as expected, too much for Yulie.
“Hoo.”
Yulie stood from her chair and looked around the room. The only furniture consisted of a bed, a chair, and knight textbooks. The scenery remained identical to ten years prior except for one difference.
“… The Empire,” Yulie muttered, looking at the renowned sword clutched in her hand.
Yulie had a purpose, one much clearer and more straightforward than the Yulie from ten years later, who had been beaten down by reality, to become the Empire’s guardian knight and accomplish another goal that had appeared relatively recently.
“Freyden.”
The spirited young Yulie wanted to protect her house, which had now entered an Ice Age.
***
Two days later, Yulie arrived in the Capital.
“The Capital… to think it has developed this much,” Yulie muttered.
The Empire’s capital, having changed tremendously over a decade, was indeed a dazzling wonderland, so much so that Yulie could not stop marveling at the scenery. As she walked, blinking like a country bumpkin, she soon found herself at the Imperial University’s affiliated Knights’ Order.
“Proceed no further. This boundary marks a restricted area where all non-authorized personnel are prohibited,” the knight said.
Unlike the Mage Tower, which was partially open to regular university students, the Imperial University’s affiliated Knights’ Order was completely under seclusion.
“I am a cadet scheduled for admission starting today, sir,” Yulie replied, approaching the knight at the entrance and presenting her letter of recommendation.
The knight, without a word, scanned the letter of recommendation before looking at Yulie.
“Your identification card.”
“Yes.”
“… You came from Freyden?” the knight asked as Yulie offered her identification card and letter of recommendation, which he read together before nodding.
“Yes, I am of the collateral branch,” Yulie replied.
“Hmm. A case of nepotism—it’s been a while. Very well, enter. If you speak to the dormitory master, they will provide you with a vacant room,” the knight said, his tone immediately turning condescending as soon as he learned Yulie was a cadet from a collateral branch of Freyden.
“Yes, sir,” Yulie replied, nodding.
Yulie, with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, walked through the corridor, since she was intimately familiar with the internal structure of the affiliated Knights’ Order.
Dormitory
Yulie soon arrived at the dormitory and unpacked her bags in Room 303, assigned to her by the dorm master.
“A case of nepotism—it has been some time,” the dorm master said, glancing at Yulie by the dormitory door. “The other cadets will only arrive tomorrow due to outdoor training, so get some rest.”
“Yes, thank you,” Yulie replied, sitting down on the bed.
Bang—!
The dorm master closed the door to Yulie’s dormitory.
Then, silence fell, and Yulie remained by herself.
“Hmm…”
It’s a wooden single room. It used to be a double room, but now it’s a single room. I guess a single room might be more comfortable? Yulie thought.
“Let’s study,” Yulie muttered after a moment of reflection.
Yulie had a long way to go before accepting the passage of ten years, as she failed not only to comprehend the house’s minutes but also how the Empire had changed, and how its political situation had developed over the past decade.
For Yulie to come to understand that…
“The library.”
***
Tick, tock… Tick, tock…
In the hushed Imperial University library, marked by the ticking of a watch, Sylvia was currently engaged in studying, not magic, but education, and indeed found it a difficult task to teach the foolish ones.
Creeeeeak—
With the sound of a chair dragging, a woman sat not far from Sylvia, and at first, Sylvia thought nothing of it.
Tap— Tap— Tap— Tap— Tap, tap, tap, tap—
However, the sound of books being piled up bothered Sylvia, as it was characteristic of students who struggled to study and merely stacked books they wouldn’t finish. Sylvia pressed her temples, glared in that direction, and at that moment, her eyes widened.
“… You,” Sylvia muttered, the word startling her as it left her lips.
The woman, who had just opened her book, looked at Sylvia and tilted her head.
Yulie. … No, looking closer, it’s not Yulie. This woman is much younger, isn’t she? Sylvia thought.
“Do you, by any chance, know me?” asked the woman resembling Yulie, breaking Sylvia’s silence.
“… My mistake.”
“Oh~ I see… But are you the Professor?”
“I am a magic professor,” Sylvia replied, nodding.
Part-time or not, a professor is a professor.
“Oh, a magic professor… that’s amazing. I am a knight cadet.”
“Are you a university student?”
“Yes, pardon me, but if you are a magic professor, may I ask just one thing?”
What is it about this child that makes her so sociable. Well, if I think about it, I was the one who initiated the conversation, after all, Sylvia thought.
“What is your question,” Sylvia replied, her features composed in a cool manner.
“By any chance, does learning magic also help with swordsmanship?”
“It does help,” Sylvia replied without hesitation, raising her index finger and gathering mana over it as a blue current formed into the shape of a sword. “Mana Resonance refers to knights forming sword qi, sword aura, or the release of a sword strike—all are related to this resonance, and its connection to magic is paramount.”
“Hmm…” the cadet murmured, raising her own index finger.
The knight cadet tried to gather her mana as Sylvia did, but naturally met with no success.
How dare a mere knight try to imitate a mage, Sylvia thought.
Whoosh…
However, the cadet’s mana manifested in a slightly different manner. For a moment, a chill swept through like wind, and the mana froze into a blue hue. It was a talent that momentarily sent a spark through Sylvia’s mind, a true talent she had not seen in a very long time, which she instinctively recognized upon sight.
“Where are you from,” Sylvia asked the cadet, her expression slightly stiffening.
“I am of Freyden’s collateral branch.”
Sylvia found the cadet—who, like that knight, was also from Freyden—somewhat suspicious, yet she stared at the knight without a word.
“Sorry?” asked the white-haired cadet, tilting her head.
“Do you want to attend my lecture,” Sylvia asked.
Sylvia could not stand by and watch true talent rot away in the library like this, especially as one destined to become a Professor…
***
Today, in the early hours of dawn, I visited the Imperial University’s affiliated Knights’ Order in my capacity as the Lead Elite Guard of the Imperial Palace.
“Haha. To think the Lead Elite Guard would honor us with a visit so early in the dawn…”
“I always report for duty at dawn,” I replied.
“Oh… As expected.”
The grand knight of the Imperial University’s affiliated Knights’ Order was a man named Bellerin who, after offering me the head seat, poured coffee into a teacup.
“… A revelation was found even within this University’s Knights’ Order?”
Bellerin’s shoulder flinched, and I watched his reaction intently while sipping my coffee.
“Yes, sir… that is so,” Bellerin replied, nodding with a serious expression. “It is with great caution that I present this report to the Lead Elite Guard, but… parts of a revelation have been found in the cadets’ dormitory.”
The Altar’s revelation was widespread throughout this Empire. Many Imperial citizens, whether knowingly or unknowingly, believed in the Altar to varying degrees.
“Should an agent of the Altar be engaged in missionary activities here… considering we do not constitute a judicial institution… Haha.”
As Bellerin spoke, he constantly tried to read my expression, clearly pretending to seek advice while actually hoping to achieve his achievements.
To think a grand knight would try to earn his achievements by selling his own cadet, I thought.
“We will dispatch an adventurer named Ria. See that the adventurer is treated appropriately.”
“Yes, sir.”
I used Telekinesis to pull the cadet list toward me, flipping through it and scanning the names, but found no particular peculiarities.
“Furthermore, I will also keep a close eye on the Knights’ Order’s events from now on.”
“Oh, yourself, the Lead Elite Guard?!”
“As a combined training session with the Mage Tower is at hand.”
Knights and mages—and mages and knights—though seemingly antithetical, shared an undeniable bond between their professions. Beyond their elitism as societal leaders, their roles in emergencies were clear—knights typically protected mages, while mages guided the knights’ battle to a favorable outcome.
Therefore, with the war against the Altar approaching, this combined training was rather important.
“Or rather, I will personally attend the combined training,” I added.
“… Pardon?” Bellerin muttered, a blank look on his face.
“Why, does my attendance cause inconvenience?” I said.
“N-No, sir. Such is not the case.”
Furthermore, I planned to utilize my Comprehension to prepare a curriculum for the knights, for even if the world were to go to pieces tomorrow, planting an apple tree would be the very nature of humanity.
“Then, with that, I will take my leave,” I said, coming to my feet.
“Yes, sir, fare you well!” Bellerin replied, bowing in a gesture of respect behind me.
I stepped outside onto the empty training ground behind the main building and looked over the earthen field for a moment, which was calm and still, perhaps because all the cadets had gone for training.
“Hmm?”
However, in the middle of the training ground, a wooden sword was stuck into the earth.
“Is this an offering to the dead, or something like that.”
I took hold of the wooden sword, which was planted in the earth like a spoon placed as an offering to the dead[1].
“… A sword, it is.”
The sword was an insignificant long stick that Yulie loved and which defined the lives of knights.
Whooosh—
Initially, I swung this insignificant wooden sword in a basic stance, executing a single horizontal cut and two vertical strikes.
However, as the basic stances continued, the sword gradually spread like a cold mist rising from ice or a chill spreading, comprising a total of thirteen forms with twenty-one strokes in each.
Therefore, the two hundred seventy-three strokes were a swordsmanship style I personally designed, thinking of Yulie and uniquely suited to her.
“… How pathetic.”
But that basic stance ended with the first form.
Thunk—!
I shook my head, then stuck the wooden sword into the earth.
***
Meanwhile, Yulie was studying history in the dormitory, her morning exercise having long since finished, for diligence and sincerity were the qualities she valued most in herself.
However, today—no, at this very moment—a strange situation happened, striking enough to draw the eyes of the diligent Yulie.
“Chairman Deculein?” Yulie muttered.
Through the window, Deculein was standing in the distant middle of the training ground—just a mere point to ordinary sight—and his image was perfectly visible to Yulie.
“… He looks just like how I remember him.”
Deculein was no different from the man Yulie had known, always in uniform during his academy days and always in a suit even after graduation.
“Hmm…?”
Yulie momentarily turned her eyes from the history book to watch Deculein, who looked at the training wooden sword she had stuck into the ground before chuckling and gripping its hilt, leaving her wondering what he intended to do.
Yulie blinked her eyes.
I had placed it there so that if I got tired, I could go back and later return to training, Yulie thought.
However, the very next moment, Yulie’s eyes widened, as if she had seen a strange phenomenon.
Whooooooosh—
It was difficult to explain in words the clean lines of the sword and the chillingly transparent currents that could be felt even from afar, so Yulie, being naturally inarticulate, merely let her mouth hang open.
Yulie’s wide eyes followed Deculein’s basic stance, a form she had never seen before. Each stroke linked within a single breath and each individual form moved organically to complete a single chapter of basic stances, flowing like a masterpiece, like a waterfall cascading down a mountainside.
“Oh!”
However, Deculein’s basic stance suddenly stopped at a certain point because he abandoned the technique.
“Why…”
Despite having just performed a most artistic basic stance, Deculein, as if deeming himself pathetic, shook his head, planted the wooden sword into the ground, and then left the training ground.
Meanwhile, Yulie recalled the recent scene before springing from her seat and rushing out of the dormitory.
Thump—! Thump, thump—!
Though Deculein had already disappeared, Yulie rushed to the center of the training ground, pulled out her wooden sword, and clutching it, remembered the basic stance Deculein had shown moments ago.
“Was it done this way…?” Yulie muttered.
Yulie, tracing each strand of her memory, started to reconstruct them.
1. The act of sticking a spoon into ritual food during ancestral rites in Korean culture is a ceremonial practice in which a spoon is placed in the offering rice so that the ancestral spirits can partake in the food. ☜