"…What? A cursed sword?"
Nicole let out a quiet laugh and leaned back in her chair with a relaxed air.
"Echi, aren't you a bit old for fairy tales?"
"Transparent blade etched with patterns, handle of some unknown black metal, about this long."
Echi raised her hand to indicate the height - roughly chest-level when held upright. Nicole's expression shifted.
The cursed sword ValderGiosa, the source of massacres wherever it appeared, was well-known within the Giosa series. Its actual appearance, however, was not. An ordinary noble girl like Echinacea shouldn't have any way to identify it - but Nicole, as the disciple and successor of one of the Seven Sages, did.
"...That sword was inside that package?"
"Yes. It was ValderGiosa."
"How do you know that?"
That was the question she had prepared for. Echi had her answer ready.
"I've had a particular interest in the Giosa series for some time. The description matched an illustration I came across in a book."
"…It's probably a replica. Giosa replicas are everywhere."
"See for yourself - your opinion might change."
"What?"
Echi slowly drew off her right-hand glove. She set it on the table and extended her palm.
Nicole's eyes widened at the black pattern. When the sword took shape at Echi's will - matching exactly what she had just described - the color drained from Nicole's face.
Echi laid the sword flat on the table.
Nicole stared at it and murmured something barely audible, a faint light rising briefly in her eyes. Detection magic, most likely.
Nicole stood up so sharply her chair scraped back, her hands shaking as she pointed.
"V-ValderGiosa...!"
"I thought you'd recognize it immediately."
Echi reached for the hilt. At that, Nicole lunged forward at a speed utterly unlike her usual self and seized Echi's wrist.
"Are you insane? Don't touch that!"
"I've already touched it, Sister."
"Oh gods. We have to report this to the tower immediately! No, to the Celestial Knights! Seal it!"
"You just watched it happen."
"Wh-What do you mean?"
Echi slipped easily out of Nicole's grip and closed her hand around the hilt. The sword dissolved into her palm as though it belonged there.
Nicole stood staring at the spot where it had vanished, then turned to look at Echi.
Echi met the unspoken question.
"Yes. It recognizes me as its master."
"H-How? So you're..."
Nicole's composure collapsed entirely. The reason a cursed sword was called cursed was because it controlled its host and drove them to slaughter. Yet the person standing in front of her looked perfectly fine, a little different from usual, but not bloodthirsty. Echi shrugged.
"Why am I still myself? Well, that's not the most important part right now."
"Not important? You held a cursed sword and you're still sane"
"Sister. Why do you think a demonic sword was left in our kitchen, wrapped this poorly?"
Nicole's gaze wavered. Echi pulled her glove back on and continued.
"What if someone else had found it before I did? What if I had been controlled? What would have been left of this house?"
"… Only corpses."
"Only the Roaz household?"
Echi's smile was cold. Nicole took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, then wiped the smudges from the lenses on her sleeve. Echi waited.
When Nicole put her glasses back on, her voice was steadier.
"Who brought the cursed sword to Roaz, how, and why? That's what matters most right now?"
"Exactly."
"Wrong. What matters most right now is how you're holding a cursed sword without losing yourself. We need to investigate that first. And then deal with the sword"
"I know the reason. And I have a plan for the sword."
"…Echi."
Nicole rubbed her eyes again, looking pained. When she spoke again, her voice was heavier.
"What are you hiding?"
"I'm sorry. I can't say. I came to ask for your help with the investigation. That's the only reason I told you about the sword. If I didn't need your help, I wouldn't have mentioned it at all."
"Investigation. The source of the sword."
"Yes. I have other matters to handle."
"What matters?"
"Dealing with the sword."
"...So while you handle the sword, you want me investigating its origin? And that's why you came?"
"Yes. And I wanted to ask you to watch over my family while I'm away."
"Away? Where?"
"Azenka."
A sound escaped Nicole that was halfway between a sigh and a groan. She dropped back in her chair and tossed her glasses carelessly aside. Her murky green eyes fixed on Echi like a swamp pulling something under.
"Do you understand how serious this situation is?"
"I do. That's exactly why I'm telling you. You're the only person I trust with it."
"...I thought it was strange. The flattery out of nowhere. Echinacea Roaz, you can't simply trust people.
Do you know what would happen if it became known you're the master of a cursed sword? You'd be isolated immediately. Even if you're fine now, no one can guarantee the future.
There might be calls to run experiments on why you haven't been consumed. There might be calls to eliminate you entirely, before anyone knows when you'll snap. Do you think people would believe you when you say you're in control?"
"You believe me right now."
"Of course I do. But do you honestly think others would? I didn't think you could be this naive…!"
"Obviously I have to hide it from everyone else. I haven't told my parents either. You are the only person who can help me investigate, which is why I'm telling you. Because I trust you."
"And where does that trust come from?"
She asked as if the answer was beyond comprehension. Echi said nothing.
'Because I've watched you face death without running. That's when a person's true character shows — and I've seen yours more than once. You're someone I can trust.'
She couldn't say it. The past she had lived through was gone now. She hoped desperately that it had turned out to mean something, and she didn't regret it but the thought that she could never share it with anyone, that no one would ever understand what she had carried, made her feel quietly and precisely lonely.
She swallowed the words and spoke instead.
"So, should I tell you not to trust me?"
"No, that's not ..." Nicole stopped. She muttered darkly, "No, don't trust me. Better that you don't trust anyone."
Then she looked up suddenly. "Wait. You said Azenka. You're not going to walk into the Celestial Knights and announce that you're a cursed sword's master?"
"Didn't you just say to report it to the tower or the Knights?"
"That's when you're not the master! This is insane. Is there even a way to separate you from it?"
Releasing the sword's ownership was, in fact, simple. But that wasn't common knowledge, by design, for a sword that controlled its host. And since Echi couldn't release it for other reasons, she left that part out and answered only the second question.
"I'm going to become a Celestial Knight."
"…What?"
"Formally. I'll become a knight through proper channels and deal with the sword from within."
Nicole's expression curdled. "A knight. You. The Celestial Knights."
"Yes. The officer cadet selection is held every spring. I'll sit the exam. Start as a cadet and advance to knight as quickly as possible."
Revealing she was already a Master would let her bypass the cadet stage entirely - but that would raise too many questions. A sheltered twenty-year-old noble girl being a Master out of nowhere was deeply suspicious.
Becoming a cadet was also suspicious, but at least less immediately so.
'If I build results as a cadet and let my swordsmanship appear to improve gradually, reaching Master around twenty-three, similar to Yurien, it should be readable as genius rather than impossibility. As long as I keep the level within range.'
Nicole stared at her. "How are you going to become a knight? You've never held a sword."
Echi smiled thinly. "In fact, I've been secretly training. For some time."
"I know you. You? Training with a sword?"
"And Sister, I'm the master of a cursed sword. I'm a Giosa owner."
Except for rare exceptions, becoming a Giosa owner required at least Master-level ability. All Giosa owners were therefore, by definition, exceptional swordspeople.
Nicole understood this - and yet she could not reconcile the image of Echinacea-the-great-swordsman with the Echi she had grown up with. She looked deeply confused.
"A Giosa owner…even if it's a cursed sword…?"
"Exactly - because it is a cursed sword. I've developed considerably because of it."
That wasn't untrue. In a manner of speaking, the cursed sword was responsible for everything she had become. Nicole interpreted it differently.
"The cursed sword does that? It controlled its owner, so is it a similar mechanism? But then the host's consciousness should vanish…what in the world…"
"Regardless - I have no intention of keeping it. So while I pursue knighthood, I need you to investigate the sword's origin and protect my family. You're the only person I can ask."
Count Roaz was someone who had stayed carefully apart from politics and intrigue - that was evident from the fact that he lived quietly in his territory without ever touching the capital's power games. The Countess was the same, and Lancel was seventeen, not yet come of age.
Nicole Sijuten was the only person capable of helping.
Nicole's face set into a hard, silent look. Echi fidgeted with the edges of her gloves and added quietly:
"I'm sorry to ask this of you."