Chapter 51

Chapter 51. Recommendation Letter (1)

Because time had repeated so many times, it felt as though an incredibly long while had passed, but when all was said and done, it had only been a single day’s worth of events.

And though all that chaos had unfolded underground, nothing in the territory had changed except that water had filled the abandoned well in the forest once more.

When I returned to the estate late in the day, it was no different from how it had been that morning, and neither were the people.

The servants greeted me, but still tried to keep their distance, and even the soldiers looked at me with troubled expressions.

They were no longer ignoring me as they had before the journey, but I still felt like an outsider here.

The people around me had not changed from that morning, but I had.

I was still in a child’s body, but now I had both a new weapon and a new ability.

On top of that, I had come to possess two inherited abilities, something no one had ever done before.

Back in my room, I took out the dagger.

The shield and sword she had carried away, along with this dagger, were almost certainly one set.

At the moment, even when I held the dagger, there was neither a voice nor a vision of the firebird. I could not even see so much as a chick.

But—

Ziiing.

A long blade of mana, visible only to my own eyes, stretched from the dagger’s tip.

Whenever I decided to change my mana, as though flipping a switch inside my mind, the once-placid mana burst into flame and a sword made entirely of mana took shape.

Of course, I could only do it while holding this dagger, and I had no idea why it worked that way, but one thing was certain: it was an ability that would help me.

And...

Had my way of thinking changed as well?

The recommendation letter that Young Lady Katrine had spoken of.

In the past, I would have avoided it simply because it sounded as though it would drag me into trouble.

But now I thought differently.

Instead of rejecting it out of hand from the start, I now found myself considering whether I ought to accept it or not.

If my ability was truly important, as she said, then she would surely send the letter.

Would it be better to refuse it and remain here, or to accept it and head for the capital instead?

If I went to the capital, my status as a half-noble would likely become even more of a problem than it was here.

I might do nothing but suffer, and then end up swept into political strife besides.

In the worst case, rather than dying, I might be thrown into a prison cell and spend the rest of my life there.

"Urgh, now that I think about it, this is seriously dangerous...."

It seemed I needed to get a proper grasp of the state of our kingdom first, rather than relying on the vague things I had heard before.

"Well, whether I accept the letter or not probably has nothing to do with my own wishes anyway...."

The Duke would surely decide as he pleased, but I could not simply sit still and do nothing.

---

"Hm, I do not think this is the sort of education Your Young Mastership particularly needs...."

That was what I heard from the scribe several days later, when I asked him to explain the politics of the kingdom to me in greater detail.

Though he was my teacher, it was not easy to get him to speak openly.

"The Duke’s blood flows in me as well. This is a study I will surely need in the future, for the Duke and for the territory!"

It was only because I desperately acted the part of the duke’s son worrying over the future of the territory that I was finally able to hear anything.

"...Well, if you insist."

I had felt it before, but he was astonishingly well informed about the kingdom for a mere scribe.

"As I told you before, the country is divided between the factions of the two princes. But now...."

He really did know a remarkable amount for someone in his position.

"There is still a noble faction as well, but with His Majesty’s health declining, the struggle between the two factions supporting the respective princes has grown fierce in recent times. The disputes between territories have worsened as well."

I had experienced those disputes directly in my previous life.

Because of them, I had been forced to live through several years again, and even travel to the Marquess of Hierro’s territory.

Of course, the battle that had taken place in our territory had become something that never happened, and what had occurred at the marquess’s house had been covered up as the heir’s death by illness.

Still, just as he said, it was clear enough that the factional struggle had grown severe.

"The marriage between Young Master Simon and the marquess’s daughter was meant to prevent conflict between the factions of the two princes, but under the current circumstances, it won’t be easy to contain things."

"And even if the First Prince, who is the Crown Prince, is named the next king and His Majesty passes away after doing so, it would be difficult for the Second Prince’s side to accept that quietly."

It seemed several territories had already seen bloodshed while I was away at the marquess’s house.

'Could it be that whoever was pulling strings behind what happened at the marquess’s house has been meddling elsewhere too?'

That thought crossed my mind, but with no further information yet, all I could do was keep it in the back of my head.

While I was briefly distracted by that thought, the scribe kept talking.

"The balance would tilt sharply depending on which side the noble faction chose to support, but the matter becomes terribly complicated because the leader of the noble faction is Grand Duke Julian, the king’s younger brother. Since he has become a grand duke, it would look better if he stayed out of the kingdom’s politics altogether, but the circumstances have turned rather absurd."

As he said that, the scribe clicked his tongue quietly.

He had quite a rebellious streak for a scribe.

To click his tongue while speaking of the royal house.

It was probably only because I was still young, but it was still something he should never have done before the Duke or any other noble.

In any case, if what the scribe said was true, our kingdom would fall into civil war before long.

And, from the sound of it, a civil war over the succession did not seem all that rare here.

"What a waste of the kingdom’s strength, and of so many lives. Frankly, it might be better if one of the two were assassinated in advance...."

Dangerous. Truly dangerous.

The scribe teaching me was a far more dangerous man than I had expected.

He was saying it as though it were a joke, but if he said something like that in the wrong place, it would be enough to cost him his head.

At that moment, he was looking at me with a meaningful smile.

That smile was clearly meant to test me.

I had thought he was simply treating me like a child, but that was not it at all.

While I studied him, he had been studying me as well.

Had I underestimated this world and the people living in it once again?

"Haha, I’m joking. Someone like you would never repeat a joke like that elsewhere, Young Master."

As he said, it was not the sort of thing that could be said anywhere else.

Least of all by someone half-noble like me.

That was how he turned the subject, and I agreed with him silently.

But at the words that followed, a chill ran down the back of my neck.

"Well, there are also people who say that even the princess’s side, who were expected to be married off into another kingdom, is beginning to gather supporters, and that things are starting to resemble a three-way struggle.... Though honestly, that’s nonsense, isn’t it?"

Good grief, this means accepting that letter is even more dangerous than I thought! No wonder that knight looked worried the other day!

A sigh escaped me on its own. Nothing ever ended simply and quietly.

"...In any event, this is roughly all I know. As a mere scribe, it is difficult to know more than this. There are, of course, all sorts of bits of gossip as well, but those are no more than rumors."

He spoke of various other matters after that, and ended with those words.

No, he had already gone far beyond what a mere scribe ought to know.

When he finished and looked at me, I met his gaze.

Come to think of it, though he was my teacher, I knew very little about him.

All I knew was that his name was Ivan, and that among the scribes handling the territory’s administrative affairs, he was considered one of the younger ones.

But this teacher of mine knew a great deal about me.

Just as in other places, he wore a mask during lessons with me, but because education required real interaction, that mask was bound to slip sooner or later.

Of course, he had not uncovered my secret, but the things he had spoken of today were secrets that ought to remain between the two of us.

He was a dangerous man, dangerously so. Whether he would become someone useful to me, or an obstacle that would force me to repeat life again, was something I could not yet tell.

Not long ago, I would have changed teachers at once and put distance between us, but now I intended to watch him a little longer.

Several months passed, and then, one day after the year had turned,

now eleven years old, I was sparring with Miguel in the training ground surrounded by forest.

Miguel, who was facing me again for the first time in a long while now that he had returned to the main body, was staring at his sword with a look of disbelief.

The blade had been cleanly cut in half.

"Your sword must have been getting old."

At my words, he narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

"That is not a sword that should be cut through by a little dagger like that. No, more than that, I’m not even sure the sword actually struck the dagger in the first place."

He was right.

To test the new ability, I had poured the new mana into the dagger, and Miguel’s sword had been cut through before it ever even touched my own blade.

His sword had not been properly infused with mana, and it had not been a serious match to begin with, but the mana carried by my dagger had severed his weapon all the same.

Still, I could hardly agree with him so readily.

"It did strike properly. Still, I think the dagger I picked up this time is just that good."

"Honestly...."

He shook his head several times, then did not press the matter any further. From the look on his face, he clearly did not want to ask more and end up entangled in some bothersome affair.

"Is this the dagger you acquired when you went out with Juan yesterday? I do not know where you found it, but even to my eyes, it is an excellent dagger. Still, it is a bit of a shame. With your current build, it is merely a slightly short sword, but once you grow larger, I think you’ll only be able to use it as a dagger."

He was right, but I did not feel much regret.

I pointed to the greatsword leaning against a tree at one side of the training ground.

"I already have another sword for when I’m grown."

At my words, Miguel nodded.

"True, there is that sword. It is not well suited for finesse, but a blade that sturdy is close to a lifelong companion."

With curious eyes, he glanced back and forth between the greatsword leaning against the tree and the dagger in my hand.

"I really do not know whether to call it remarkable or merely strange. Every time you go somewhere, you come back with another weapon, some incomprehensible technique, and skill that has risen by yet another level...."

After sheathing the broken sword, he fell briefly into thought.

Then he said something unexpected.

"I think my training of you must end here. There is nothing more I can teach you."

"No, if you say that so suddenly...."

"No. Even before you went to the marquess’s house, there was not much difference between us, was there? I had already been thinking about it since then. And today, the moment our blades met, I realized it. You are now unmistakably stronger than I am. There is nothing left for me to teach a disciple who has surpassed me."

At his words, I found myself unable to say anything.

Because I had felt the same thing.

The physical difference between us was still great, but in my heart, I felt I could now defeat him even in a real fight.

"Then who am I supposed to learn from now...? Should I ask the Knight Commander?"

But the Knight Commander would never agree to teach me. Nor could I go directly to the Duke and ask.

"Then perhaps, in a few years, you should go to the capital together with the Second Young Master?"

"Ah, Manuel... Has Brother Manuel’s study in the capital been decided?"

"Yes. I heard the Duke made the decision after seeing that Young Master Simon had returned safely."

"But... I do not think Manuel, or the Duchess, would permit me to go with him."

"That is true, but... if the Duke were to learn of your skill, might it not be possible?"

Who knew. Would the Duke truly make such a decision? He valued honor more than anyone. Would he really send someone half-blood like me to the capital?

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed impossible. Miguel must have realized it was a difficult matter as well, because he made an awkward face.

Even so, there was one possible way.