The Mausoleum of the Sword (2)
About twenty minutes after the signal marking the start of the examination was given,
I was walking through the entrance of the Great Berkel Forest, taking in the magnificent scenery around me.
The contents of the exam were simple.
The final destination was the mountain visible before us: the Sword Mausoleum.
Climb that mountain and retrieve a sword from the summit.
Just as one would expect from the knights of the North—
a straightforward and unembellished test.
Of course, whether that meant it was easy was another matter entirely.
A dense forest where even trails were impossible to find.
Treacherous mountain terrain.
And wild beasts lurking everywhere.
Considering all that, the difficulty was in no way inferior to the Imperial Knight Examination.
No—in some ways, it was probably even harder.
'Haa...'
But that wasn't the reason my mood was so twisted right now.
Honestly!
I hated mountain climbing!
And yes, I absolutely hated physically exhausting things even if it killed me!
But anyway, that wasn't why I looked so irritated right now.
Definitely not.
"U-Um... excuse me, but..."
The corners of my crossed eyes twitched.
Before even the contents of the exam—
that was the biggest reason my mood had been ruined.
The knight trainees taking the test alongside me were hovering awkwardly around me, fidgeting and sneaking glances my way!
"Ah, damn it, this is so frustrating!"
"Uwaaa?!"
When I finally snapped and spun around in irritation, the startled trainees screamed in shock.
I seriously couldn't stand the sight of these giant mountain-sized guys huddling together while nervously watching me.
"If you've got something to say, then say it properly! Why are you all creeping around behind me?!"
Even after I shouted that in exasperation, their attitudes didn't change.
"W-Well, that is..."
Despite my outburst, the trainees still hesitated awkwardly.
What I sensed from their expressions was a kind of reverence.
Rather than fear, it was as though they thought speaking carelessly to me itself would be disrespectful.
'It's not like I'm Delline or anything, so why are they making such a huge deal out of this?'
To northern swordsmen, the name Leinrant was practically sacred ground.
Honestly, the only reason it stopped at this level was because I was merely the second son.
I already understood that logically, but receiving those gazes firsthand still made my stomach churn.
"Then... may I ask one thing?"
"Oh?"
Perhaps my words gave him courage, because one of the trainees finally stepped forward to ask me something.
Looks like there were at least one or two with guts.
"Young Master... why did you participate in this examination?"
My footsteps halted on the forest path, and the trainees who had been tense also stopped in place.
"We are members of the Black Shield Knights, so naturally we take the northern examination."
"And besides, we don't exactly have the option of taking another one, right?"
The moment I spoke that blunt reality aloud, their shoulders twitched.
"House Leinrant doesn't have enough money to send all of you to the Imperial Exam, and the knight order isn't wealthy enough for individuals to cover those costs themselves."
Money.
The shameful weakness of Leinrant that even they themselves struggled to mention aloud.
The trainee who had first spoken hurriedly bowed his head when I, a ducal son, directly brought it up myself.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it in that kind of way...!"
"You can mean it that way. It's the truth."
The greatest weapon that destroyed Leinrant was money.
Money overflowing within the Empire and Helian's forces—
and desperately lacking in Leinrant.
Money weakened Leinrant's once-unshakable knight order.
Money was why the branch families coveted the main house's position.
And money was what drove even those who had resisted Helian's temptations and remained loyal to Leinrant into this defeated state of mind.
'Not caring about wealth is supposedly the virtue of a knight... what utter bullshit.'
Before being knights, they were people.
Before honor, there was survival.
Every man who preached chivalry was also someone's son who had to support aging parents—
or someone's father who had to feed his children.
And yet, despite all that, they chose to remain here.
Knights who still carried the name Leinrant even in this hopeless situation.
If not them, then who would dare claim the right to criticize Leinrant?
"Right now, taking the Imperial Knight Examination definitely has benefits from every angle. Politically, and for my own future too."
As soon as I said that, the trainees who had grown gloomy looked back at me as if asking for the rest.
'You guys are going to stare holes through me at this rate.'
Compared to them, my body was far younger.
But my mind wasn't.
Feeling the anxiety all young people naturally carried, I decided to give them at least a sliver of hope.
"But what about five years from now?"
"...?"
The atmosphere of despair halted, and the trainees raised their heads to meet my eyes.
"What about ten years from now? Twenty?"
Five years would be when they had become true knights of Leinrant.
Ten years would be beyond even that.
And twenty years would place them at even greater heights.
"At that time, do you really think the value of the name Leinrant will still be what it is now?"
Even I knew it myself.
These were merely grandiose words.
A fantasy with almost no chance of becoming reality.
"I don't think so."
Strength returned to their drooping shoulders.
The trembling in their bodies stopped, and the hesitation and anxiety in their eyes gradually faded.
"That's the mindset I came here with. What about you guys?!"
I shouted with all the swagger and bravado I could muster.
These were apprentice knights of the Black Shield Knights.
The ones who would someday become the backbone of the Leinrant Knight Order.
"If you become knights and prove your swords across the continent!"
It frustrated me endlessly that these empty words were all I could offer people like them right now.
And yet, despite that, there was not the slightest wavering in my shout toward them.
"What does the Empire matter?! No one will ever dare look down on the name Leinrant!"
Because giving them pride as knights—
that was the duty of one born bearing the name Leinrant.
"The value of a knight is determined not by the armband he wears, but by the potential of his sword..."
The trainee who had first questioned me muttered those words with wide eyes.
A proverb left behind by the first duke, Berkel Leinrant.
As he repeated those words, his shoulders gradually began trembling.
'He must've had a lot bottled up inside to ask something like that directly to a son of House Leinrant...'
I sighed inwardly at the thought.
Then, clenching his teeth as though holding back tears, the trainee looked straight at me and spoke.
"Thank you, Young Master!"
I saw him shout with a clear voice.
Looking around, the other trainees also seemed to share his feelings, their expressions visibly lighter now.
"We were fools!"
"Those Imperial knight bastards aren't anything special once you actually meet them!"
With resolute shouts ringing out, some strange yet moving atmosphere spread between the trainees and me.
Was this what people commonly called camaraderie? A sense of kinship?
...Ugh, damn. Goosebumps.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey, hey, enough. Enough already! Knock it off!"
Unable to endure it any longer, I waved my hands wildly and shattered the emotional atmosphere.
The reason being that I simply couldn't withstand the gazes directed at me now, which had become twice as intense as before.
"If you guys build up this kind of atmosphere and then I'm the one who fails, how am I supposed to face you afterward?"
Brushing aside the heavy mood, I lightly punched the trainee's shoulder.
"N-No, it's just..."
"My stamina already sucks as it is. If the atmosphere gets this serious, I won't even be able to ask you guys to carry me when I collapse~!"
As I said that while clutching my lower back like an old man, several trainees whose tension finally broke hurriedly covered their mouths and burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, Young Master! You'll definitely pass!"
"And if you fail, well, I'll just brag back home that I carried a son of House Leinrant on my back."
'So you never intended to keep it secret at all?'
The trainee who first asked me the question cheered me on, while another wearing the same mischievous grin teased me openly.
"Hey, wanna bet? Will our Young Master make it to the summit or not?"
"You bastards, I've been listening quietly up until now!?"
PWAHAHAHAHAHA—!
At last, the trainees completely let go of their tension and burst into roaring laughter while clutching each other's shoulders.
'Yeah... this is much better.'
Compared to how they awkwardly fidgeted around me before, this version of them grabbing my shoulders and joking around was infinitely preferable.
No comparison needed.
"From here on, it's a competition!"
"Don't collapse halfway there, Young Master!"
Before entering the forest—the true testing grounds—the trainees shouted that to me before scattering off along their chosen routes.
—Remarkable. To think that Archimond is capable of handling people this well.
"So what? You think all those souls would've followed me if I couldn't do at least this much?"
Raven, the Death Knight who had remained silent ever since forming a contract with me, unexpectedly spoke up.
I had declared before him—the very first knight of Leinrant—that I would ensure the name Leinrant would never fall behind the Imperial Knights.
"I crushed the Pope, the Emperor, and even the Continental Allied Forces."
My past self, consumed and rampaging in vengeance.
My outstretched hand clenched tightly into a fist as though once again commanding that undead legion from long ago.
"And besides, I wasn't trying to manipulate them or anything. I just said exactly what I was thinking."
—And in doing so, you gained the trust of those young knights.
Now that the exam had begun, I couldn't afford to waste time carelessly.
As I summoned Banshees to survey the forest's overall structure and search for routes, Raven spoke again.
—What you promised them. Can you truly make it reality?
"What's stopping me?"
I answered while brushing aside his distrustful glare.
"If the great Archimond puts his mind to it, reviving one measly house isn't exactly a big deal."
After tapping Raven's shoulder armor with my finger, I walked past him toward the forest.
The Banshees had already scouted the forest and mountain paths, marking the shortest route to the summit.
All that remained was to leisurely enjoy the hike toward the testing grounds.
—Ha... well now.
Raven looked back at me with a hollow expression before dissolving into smoke as he spoke.
—When you were an enemy, you were unbearably troublesome. Yet now that you are an ally, you feel this dependable.
It looked like Raven might've smiled slightly as he said that, but I probably imagined it.
"I truly have nothing to say regarding your younger brother, Lady Siel."
Inside the carriage heading toward House Aylasis, Delline spoke to Sielwhile inwardly breaking into a cold sweat.
'No matter how little he wanted to marry, what kind of fiancé stands up his fiancée and runs away? Where in the world does that happen...?'
An absurd situation no noble child could even imagine.
And the main character of that situation was none other than his own younger brother.
Lately, Delline had been finding more and more things shocking.
"It's alright. I came rather suddenly, and I got to see him in person, so if anything, I'm satisfied."
Of course, Delline wasn't the only one struggling to understand things.
'Your fiancé ditched you, so why do you look completely fine with it...?'
Watching Sielcalmly open a book as though nothing had happened made Delline feel even more confused.
Most noble ladies would've exploded in outrage and demanded the engagement be annulled.
'I heard they hadn't even seen each other since childhood, so why go this far...?'
Thinking that, Delline let out a short sigh and pushed the thoughts away.
After all, this was a matter between Sieland Klein.
There was no benefit in him thinking about it further.
"Still, Lady Siel. Will you truly be alright?"
The one who asked with a worried expression was Duchess Priscilla.
"The intruders from Aylasis were targeting you. Yet you intend to return there again..."
"Please don't worry, my lady."
Despite being the person actually in danger, Sielinstead reassured the concerned Priscilla.
"Since they chose to act first, it only makes things easier for me."
"Easier...?"
Instead of answering, Sielquietly closed the book she had been reading and lowered her head politely.
A silent expression telling them not to ask further.
"Then, I leave it to you."
"Yes, My Lady. We will depart now."
As Sielgave the order to the coachman, the carriage carrying her left the gates of Leinrant and began heading toward the Aylasis territory.
"It's suspicious that she's traveling personally instead of using teleportation magic."
When Berkman, who had come out to see her off, said that, Priscilla nodded with a serious expression.
"You're right. It almost feels like... she's trying to infiltrate somewhere without being discovered."
Leaving Priscilla's uneasy words behind, Siellooked down at her own hand inside the carriage.
A scar stretched long across her pale white arm.
The moment her eyes settled on it, the smile on her face gradually faded away.
"I thought perhaps they might've changed at least a little during that time... but of course they didn't."
Like a doll.
Like a lifeless statue.
Like an emotionless weapon.
The emptiness within her eyes conveyed unmistakable hostility.
"Since they dared stand in my way, I'll destroy every last one of them just as planned."