Chapter 4: Ties from a Previous Life (2)

For the next few days after that, Simon scarcely left his bed.

He needed time to sort out his thoughts, and he also had to figure out how to drive away the Imperial Princess, who would be arriving in a few days.

Ranieri was right after all. Avoiding her would not solve anything.

The best outcome would be to make the words “break off the engagement” come from Princess Mercedes’s own lips.

For that, he would need a meticulous plan.

Still, I can hardly go around babbling to the Imperial Princess about regression.

Marquis Deneuve had clearly warned him. He was not to speak of that matter to anyone else.

If Father says not to do something, it is best not to do it.

Otherwise, he might end up fleeing a wildcat only to run into a tiger instead. The Arcturus Family’s traditions were strict to the core.

There was only so far he could go by blaming everything on aftereffects.

Peek.

At that moment, someone cautiously poked their head through the open door.

It was Ioline.

“Ioline.”

“Ah!”

Like someone discovered in the middle of hide-and-seek, Ioline jerked her head back in surprise. Simon called to his younger sister in a gentle voice.

“Ioline. You can come in.”

“No……”

“Come now, get in here.”

Holding the new teddy bear in her arms, Ioline stepped inside hesitantly, watching his mood. She was clutching the doll he had given her before, as though she liked it very much.

In his previous life, he had failed to look after his youngest sister.

His memory of her ended with her coming of age, entering a political marriage, and leaving the house.

After that, only the occasional letter had come.

Was your life a happy one?

The thought came to him all at once.

As her elder brother, as the head of the Arcturus Family, he should at least have asked her that much.

If only he had written even a single line in reply to the letters she had sent, it might have given his sister tremendous strength.

Regret came flooding over him like a tide.

But Simon was not so foolish a man as to do nothing but regret. His expression changed dramatically.

Do not worry. I do not know about your previous life, but in this one, I will make sure you are happy.

And so Ioline came to a stop in front of Simon.

He could still feel her fear. Tearing down the wall in her heart did not look as though it would be easy.

“What were you doing over there?”

“Well, I heard that you were very ill, Brother…….”

“From whom?”

“Father.”

It seemed that his shocking declaration that he would not inherit the Family had been transformed into a story that his illness had worsened.

And in truth, that was exactly what had happened.

He had thought the stream of visitors coming to check on him had abruptly stopped these days, and it seemed the marquis had had a hand in that.

“So Father sent you.”

“No! I came myself, because I was worried about you, Brother…….”

“Really? I am fine. Look, I am perfectly all right.”

“Y-your mind…….”

“My mind is perfectly sound too.”

Simon reached out and stroked his sister’s head. Only then did the worried look on her face ease slightly.

“Would you like a cookie?”

Nod, nod.

Ioline nodded adorably. Simon picked up one of the cookies the maid had left earlier and placed it in Ioline’s mouth.

“Tasty?”

“Yes!”

“Then what is Kenard doing right now?”

“He is training.”

“Go bring him some snacks too. Delicious things are best when they are shared. I am fine, so do not worry about me.”

“……Yes!”

After lingering uncertainly for a moment, Ioline gave him a proper greeting like a little lady. The sight was so adorable that Simon broke into a grin.

“Ioline. From now on, you do not need to greet me so formally. And come visit whenever you want.”

“Yes, thank you!”

“You do not need to thank me either.”

“Why…… not?”

“Because we are family.”

“Family…….”

Repeating the word under her breath, Ioline beamed and left the room. As if she had been waiting for that moment, a maid carefully stepped forward and reported,

“Young Master, Commander Hans has requested an audience. He is waiting outside.”

“Hans? Tell him to come in.”

Still reclining sideways on the bed with his head propped on one hand, Simon watched Hans, commander of the Second Order of Knights.

Hans had been deeply intimidated ever since the emergency-bell incident not long ago, but he still came in trying to appear as dignified as possible and gave Simon a military salute.

“I greet the Young Master.”

“Yes. How is the training going? I believe you said you would begin special training.”

“It is going well. We shall not fall behind the First Order any longer.”

“Hahaha. That is an amusing thing to say. Then again, desperate circumstances do tend to improve the results of training sometimes. But why have you come when I did not call for you? Surely not just to boast.”

“W-well…… I wished to suggest that perhaps it might be time for you to start participating in morning training again.”

“Tch. It seems the head of the Family has been putting pressure on you.”

Hans could not bring himself to deny it. After all, Marquis Deneuve was precisely the sort of man who regarded taking even a single day off from training as a sin.

If the body was exhausted, it could not indulge in idle thoughts.

It was also the marquis’s way of looking after him—using extreme training to restore his mind to health.

“What do you think?”

“Well…… if I may speak frankly, I think it would be good if you at least practiced some hand-to-hand combat. If one misses even a single day of training, the body stiffens.”

“Do I look pathetic because I have not left my bed?”

“N-no, not at all! Never!”

“I was joking.”

Hans was right. When one was in the midst of serious training, it was good to move one’s body every day.

But my case is different.

He had already reached the realm of Sword Master in his previous life. All that knowledge remained in his mind, and he only needed to train when the time actually called for it.

More than anything, he had no intention of leaving this comfortable bed.

“The aftereffects are still lingering. Besides, I do not particularly feel the need to train.”

“Pardon? What do you mean, you do not feel the need?”

“The Arcturus sword forms are rather dull.”

“……!”

To be precise, he meant the current forms. Simon had already mastered sword forms that were a level beyond them.

Shock hardened Hans’s eyes.

“I…… cannot accept that.”

“What?”

“The Arcturus sword forms are perfect! They are by no means dull! Young Master, I ask that you take those words back!”

There was pride in that cry. Then again, Hans had always been that sort of man. A steadfast knight with a fierce sense of pride.

Yawning, Simon threw off the blanket and rose.

“Taking them back will be difficult. I cannot be bothered to get up, but shall I prove it to you instead?”

Simon picked up his sword from where it rested to one side.

Shing!

It was not an especially fine blade. Just an iron sword one could see anywhere.

But Simon possessed the ability to draw out the potential hidden within that sword.

“Hans. You must have reached the Killing Sword stage of the Arcturus forms, yes?”

“I have.”

The Arcturus sword forms were broadly divided into three branches.

The most basic form was the Striking Sword. Most of the Family’s knights completed the Striking Sword stage and made use of it in actual combat. It allowed them to wield basic aura.

The Killing Sword stage was an intermediate form that only those knights chosen by the Family and members of cadet branches were permitted to learn. The intensity of the aura also rose, making it a realm one could not reach through effort alone.

Finally, the Heart Sword was the Family’s secret art, passed down only to those of the direct line. At present, within the Arcturus Family, only Deneuve himself, the head of the Family, had mastered that advanced sword form.

At this point in time, I had only just finished the Striking Sword stage.

But the knowledge in his head far surpassed even the Heart Sword stage. The question was how he could make use of that knowledge with his present body.

If I try to unleash the Heart Sword by force, it will become dangerous. I should stop at the level of the Killing Sword. Since I understand its principles, it should be enough to break down his attack appropriately.

If this had been a fight where he needed to kill the opponent, the matter would have been different.

But merely neutralizing him by making him drop his sword was relatively easy.

The moment he gripped the sword, his chest began to thrum.

Yes. This is it.

Like a man rediscovering a joy he had forgotten for a while, Simon smiled.

“Shall I come to you, or will you come first?”

“I will come to you.”

“Do not hold back. If you do, you may lose your head. Keep your wits about you and come at me properly.”

With a shout, Hans charged.

No shield, and he swings his sword with both hands. That means his balance will break.

Of course, it was no easy thing to find an opening in Hans, who had already reached the Killing Sword stage.

But to Simon’s eyes, the opening was glaringly obvious.

At the point where his breathing grew rougher and his movements broader, Simon drove his blade forward with ruthless precision.

Clang!

Tang! Clang!

Their swords collided only three times.

And yet the one who dropped his sword and collapsed to the floor was Commander Hans. Smiling with satisfaction, Simon lowered his blade to Hans’s throat and said,

“A knight commander who drops his sword and falls flat in just three exchanges? Where would you find such a thing? In the Arcturus Family.”

“Huh…….”

It was unbelievable.

Hans, commander of the Second Order of Knights, was skilled enough to teach swordsmanship even to Simon himself.

No matter the gap in skill, subduing an opponent in just three exchanges was no easy feat.

And yet that difficult thing had just become reality.

“It seems the one who needs training is not me, but you. Now then, it would be a shame to let such an amusing matter pass quietly…… shall we report it truthfully, or will you embellish it a bit and say we trained together?”

“I-I cannot acknowledge defeat!”

“Oh? That is not a very knightly thing to say so casually.”

“This time, I will come at you properly.”

When the difference in skill was overwhelming, this often happened. The one on the receiving end usually treated it as a mere mistake or misunderstanding.

“You will regret it. Those three exchanges may become two.”

“You come first!”

Hans assumed a proper defensive stance. He was following the Arcturus sword forms exactly as they were meant to be practiced.

It was so solid it was almost like looking at a rock.

But not to Simon.

“There is no need to swing twice. Your weakness is showing so clearly that one strike will be enough.”

“Do not underestimate me!”

“Fine. No sword energy. We shall do this the original way.”

The moment the words ended, Simon’s body blurred. Before Hans could even properly process what had happened, a sharp sword was already driving straight toward his heart.

Craaang!

Hans desperately knocked the blade aside, only to feel an icy chill at the nape of his neck.

Sssst.

Along with a stinging sensation, hot blood began to run. If he moved even slightly, blood would come spurting out.

“What shall we do? It seems the situation has become even worse.”

“Young Master, how did this…….”

“Do you still not understand?”

Simon withdrew his sword and stepped aside to fetch a handkerchief himself. Then he sprinkled medicine over it and pressed it to Hans’s wound.

The sharp sting jolted Hans fully awake.

“Th-thank you.”

“Sir Hans.”

“Yes…….”

“The heir’s seat is not so easy a thing. The more perfect you are, the more factions there will be to envy you or regard you with hostility. Sometimes, showing others that you are striving can be the quickest way to win their hearts.”

“Are you saying…… you were hiding your true skill?”

“Well, not exactly hiding it, just…….”

Simon trailed off vaguely. The endless reverence pouring from Hans’s eyes was far too burdensome.

“Please forgive my disloyalty!”

“Ah, no, it was not quite disloyalty…… anyway, about the training matter—you can handle it, yes? Just say the two of us were doing some secret training together.”

“I shall obey your will.”

Fortunately, Hans showed some flexibility. Simon also seemed to have gained a measure of loyalty from him.

“Do not misunderstand. I am not doing this because I bear you any ill will. I want to train too. I am itching for it. But when it is time to rest, one ought to rest properly, should one not?”

“You speak truly.”

“So stop worrying and go train.”

In truth, Hans would later render distinguished service befitting a knight commander. If one had to put it plainly, it was better to make him one of his own.

Though whether he would agree if Simon asked him to come down to the countryside together was another matter.

“Would you go and call Ranieri for me?”

“As you command!”

A short while later, Ranieri arrived. Simon, who had somehow already laid himself back down on the bed again, said,

“You know Minor Village, do you not?”

“Yes. A small village at the far edge of the territory. But why are you suddenly asking about Minor Village?”

“There is something I need you to look into for me.”