Chapter 25: Big Deal (3)

“Brother. I heard you summoned me because something important had come up.”

“Why are you training so diligently from the morning on?”

“Morning?”

Only then did Simon realize that his sense of time was very different from his younger brother’s. From the perspective of a diligent younger brother, it was practically afternoon already.

“Well, never mind. That is not important. Though it is sudden, there is something I intend to pass on to you.”

“Please speak.”

The word “pass on” was not one that came up often in ordinary conversation.

Especially among knights, it was an exceedingly weighty word. It was little different from saying one would impart the hidden subtleties of swordsmanship.

Kenard, staring at Simon, focused as intensely as a knight about to enter battle.

“You are in the Striking Sword stage now, are you not?”

“Yes.”

“And your Circles?”

“I have two.”

His younger brother answered proudly. The look in his eyes, so clearly seeking praise, was almost puppy-like in its charm.

Simon smiled.

“To have formed two Circles already—well done. I have only just reached three myself.”

“B-Brother! That is not what I meant by it......”

“It is all right. You may be proud. Few at your age have formed two Circles. Consider it the reward for your effort.”

Only then did Kenard’s expression relax. Inwardly, he resolved that he must never again misspeak before his heaven-sent elder brother.

“To come straight to the point, I intend to raise you to the Killing Sword stage. And to increase your Aura Circles by one as well.”

“......The Killing Sword stage?”

“Hard to believe, is it not?”

“I have always understood that the Killing Sword stage is a realm that cannot be reached through ordinary effort alone. The subtleties of the Arcturus Sword Techniques are boundless. To speak honestly, I have been feeling a wall before me lately.”

Simon nodded.

Whether in swordsmanship or anything else, striking a wall in the midst of training was an everyday occurrence. At such times, effort alone was useless. One had to encounter a great opportunity or attain enlightenment.

“If you break through that wall, then you will reach the Killing Sword stage.”

“It will not be easy.”

“No, it will be easy.”

With a meaningful smile, Simon continued.

“I reached the Killing Sword stage not long ago.”

“Y-you truly did?”

Kenard was thoroughly startled.

There was not the slightest trace of competitiveness in him. Nor of jealousy. He only looked at Simon with pure reverence.

“As you said, the subtleties of the Arcturus Sword Techniques are boundless. But once you discover the road that leads to the next stage, once you discover the means of overcoming the wall, then after that it is no longer so complicated.”

“You mean you are going to pass that secret on to me?”

“To be precise, I intend to bring you to the Killing Sword stage within one month.”

Kenard looked utterly unable to recover from the shock.

But then, unexpectedly, a strange thing came from his lips.

“I am...... all right as I am, Brother.”

Even Simon had not anticipated such a turn.

“Why? I thought you would be pleased.”

“You found that path only with great difficulty, Brother. The effort, the time...... I cannot even imagine it. I do not want to take something that belongs to you. The knights still do not know that you have reached the Killing Sword stage. You should make it known to all.”

To be honest, Simon felt a painful tightening in his chest.

It was not because he was moved.

‘In my previous life, I truly was a greedy man.’

Because he had misjudged a real younger brother who thought of him like this, and had sent him away as though exiling him to the far north.

Without realizing it, Simon gripped Kenard’s shoulders tightly.

As though his feelings might somehow be conveyed.

“Those are kind words, Kenard. But I will accept only the sentiment behind them.”

“Brother!”

In a serious moment like this, even joking was difficult. He could hardly say outright that Kenard absolutely had to receive this teaching if Simon was to escape inheriting the Family.

Instead, Simon used it as an opportunity.

“Kenard Arcturus. Before you are my younger brother, you are a member of the Arcturus Family and an honorable knight. Do you truly not understand that, for the sake of the Family’s honor, one must shrink from neither means nor method?”

“Brother......”

“Even if you surpass me, it does not matter. Even if one day you hold a sword to my throat, it does not matter. If it is for the sake of our Family, what could there possibly be that we may not do?”

“......”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Kenard sank to one knee of his own accord. He bowed his head deeply.

“Punish me for failing to understand the greatness of your intentions, Brother!”

“Kenard.”

Simon helped his brother back to his feet. By now, tears were glistening in both of Kenard’s eyes.

Simon used his sleeve to wipe them away.

“We are brothers. We are not in a position to punish one another. We should help each other and accomplish great things together. That is what would please Father, is it not?”

“You are right.”

“Then I will pass the subtleties of the Killing Sword on to you.”

Kenard nodded firmly. Now that the barrier in his heart had been broken, the only thing remaining was for Simon to perform his little miracle.

“Lie down here first.”

Simon motioned for him to lie on the bed. But Kenard flinched.

“Brother. I am in no condition for that right now. I would only dirty your bed. Let me wash and change into Plain Clothes first......”

“There is no time for that. Lie down. Do not think about what comes after.”

“Yes.”

Kenard lay down on the bed in full armor. He felt none of its softness in the slightest. That was how tense he was.

“First, I am going to examine your Circles and your Meridians. It may hurt a little, so prepare yourself.”

“I am prepared even to die.”

“You really must not die, even then. If it hurts, say so.”

“......Yes.”

Simon took hold of Kenard’s pulse.

Vwoooom!

Simon’s fierce Aura began to penetrate Kenard’s body.

‘Not the slightest resistance?’

Simon could not help but be startled.

Ordinarily, when another person’s Aura entered one’s Meridians, a defensive mechanism would activate. The body would begin trying to force out the foreign Aura.

‘And yet my brother’s Aura shows no sign of that at all. It is calm, almost as if welcoming a conquering army.’

A thought suddenly came to him.

‘This brat really is a genius.’

He could not help but wonder whether Kenard might actually have been more talented in swordsmanship than himself.

To be able to control even an involuntary defensive mechanism meant that his command over Aura was that exceptional.

‘I sent a genius to a harsh place. Do not worry. This life will be different. I will make you the greatest Sword Master on the continent.’

Vmmmm!

The Aura Simon used to probe Kenard’s Meridians grew stronger.

“Ghk.”

A groan escaped him. A pain many times worse tightened around his heart. And yet Kenard endured it through sheer, indomitable will.

In the midst of that, Simon was able to examine the Circles within Kenard’s heart.

‘Well, now.’

Simon was startled yet again. So startled, in fact, that it was hard to count how many times he had already been surprised in a single day.

‘The third Circle is already beginning to take shape.’

That was unquestionably a good sign.

With a foundation like this, Simon felt that even without any special intervention, he could probably create another Circle simply by making him take an Elixir.

‘And the connection points of his Meridians are excellent as well. Clear and unobstructed. It is refreshing enough to feel like running along a wide open road.’

Simon slowly withdrew his Aura. As the foreign Aura disappeared, the tension in Kenard’s face eased greatly.

“Little brother.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“When did you form your second Circle?”

“About a month ago. To be precise, it was just before you collapsed with Burning Fever, Brother.”

“Hmm.”

With growth potential like this, Simon became certain that not one month, but one week would be enough to bring Kenard into the realm of the Killing Sword.

‘No. Calm down, Simon. If you do that, I will only attract more attention and end up trapped in the tragic fate of having to inherit the Family.’

Suppressing his excitement, Simon smiled calmly.

“As I thought, one month will be more than enough. Your body is a body granted by heaven. You will absorb anything quickly.”

“Is that truly so? I still can hardly believe it.”

“I do not have the hobby of lying in matters where it would do no good. You know that very well.”

Then Simon stepped back a pace or two and beckoned.

“Draw your sword.”

“......Yes!”

Shing!

A sleek longsword slid free of its sheath. His face and armor were dirty from harsh training, yet the sword alone remained spotless. It meant he tended it diligently every day.

“The Striking Sword stage of Arcturus can be broadly divided into three parts. The cut, the downward strike, and the thrust. They are the basic movements from which all attacks are built.”

This time, Simon also drew his sword. The Phantom Sword resonated with his Circles and gave off an oppressive presence.

“Attack me with the forms of the Striking Sword.”

“Yes!”

Kenard drew up his Aura.

Vwooooo......

A resonance far from ordinary swelled up. It meant that Kenard was drawing up every bit of Aura he had in order to face Simon.

‘Brother is the one man who can fully block my attack!’

It was not on strength that Kenard relied, but on trust.

Relying on that, he charged straight forward, the distance between them vanishing in an instant. Then he slashed across.

His target was Simon’s neck.

Clang!

“......!”

It had been blocked with absurd ease. Simon had not even moved. He had merely raised his sword slightly at an angle.

“How disappointing. An attack like that makes my earlier words to you meaningless. That sort of strike would not work on even the lowest knight.”

“This time will be different!”

Kenard launched another form. This time he prepared a continuous attack that mixed the horizontal cut with the downward strike.

Whish!

Swaaash!

There was not even the sharp burst of sword meeting sword. Nor was there the sound of flesh being cut. Only the sound of steel slicing through empty air.

Having evaded both attacks lightly, Simon said with clear disappointment,“So that claim that this time would be different was only bluster.”

“H-how......”

“You are wondering how I dodged? The reason is simple. Your attack is painfully slow.”

That was, admittedly, a somewhat exaggerated statement. Simon had already possessed the experience of reaching the realm of Sword Master.

Even if Aura, being a physical thing, could not be accumulated, he had already completely mastered the realm of hand-to-hand principles—Footwork, stance, breathing, and the like.

“The current Arcturus Sword Techniques are far too dull.”

“......I cannot accept that!”

“You say the same thing Sir Hans said. Listen to the end. Do you know why I can evade your attacks?”

“I believe it is the difference in our realms.”

“If you draw the line there, you will never close the gap. You must look for the factors that can be followed, the factors by which the distance may be narrowed. For example, speed.”

“Speed?”

Simon took up a stance.

It was not the orthodox Arcturus Sword Form, the one said to have nothing left to improve.

It resembled it, yet there was something distinctly different about it.

The sword’s center of gravity was shifted farther forward, into a stance meant to press aggressively ahead.

“This will become the new form of the Arcturus Striking Sword.”

As Simon’s attack approached, Kenard also took up his stance once more.

It was a clash between old and new.

Simon’s blade slashed toward his brother’s heart. And Kenard swung his own sword in the same form, trying to block it with like against like.

Slash!

“Ghk!”

The movement of their swords was similar, and yet Kenard’s was just a little slower.

The outer shell of the armor he wore was sliced away, and fragments flew.

It was a perfect victory for the new sword art.

“What is lacking is not speed alone. The current sword art also lacks the dominating spirit that seeks to destroy everything before it. Speed and domination. If you hone those two things, then the realm of the Striking Sword will become child’s play.”

“Brother......”

“For now, train with those two principles in mind. I will check again in two weeks. And, if possible, do not train before the knights. It will only give rise to needless talk.”

“If this is truly so...... then will your teaching become a new Secret Art of the Family?”

“It will.”

But the one who will stand at the center of it will be you.

Simon left only those words unspoken, and instead smiled meaningfully.