Chapter 70

He said he would teach me not as the Patriarch, but as a father.

I never imagined a day would come when Arkan Winterbell would say such a thing to me. To be honest, I still couldn’t help but be suspicious of his intentions.

There was a fundamental lack of trust.

The image of Arkan Winterbell in my mind was someone who would never show me goodwill.

The look in his eyes the day my mother died.

Even when I was poisoned, became half-crippled, and confined to the annex, he showed not a shred of interest in me.

So, in a way, it was only natural for me to think this way.

[No matter how you look at it, you’re just rationalizing it as if it’s only natural. Like I said last time, you have a bad habit of reacting extremely sensitively whenever it comes to Arkan.]

“……”

Now that I thought about it, that did seem to be true.

[Keep it in check. Seriously.]

Don’t you remember how you boldly claimed you could defeat Arkan last time, only to go quiet later?

[If I could regain my original power, defeating the current Patriarch of Winterbell wouldn’t be impossible.]

Always with the big talk.

Someday, once I recovered Behemoth’s full body, I would, no matter what, confront Arkan. No matter the cost.

“Young Master, it’s time to go.”

“Right.”

With Cecil seeing me off, I left the annex.

Who would’ve thought I’d live to see the day I stepped into the Patriarch’s personal training hall?

As expected of a space reserved for the Patriarch—it was larger and more immaculately maintained than any other training ground I had ever seen.

‘This is insane. So this is the Patriarch’s training hall.’

Even the material of the floors and walls was different.

‘What is all that? No way… is that radium?’

Radium was an incredibly expensive mineral, even more valuable than gold. It was also incomparably harder than most minerals.

And that radium covered the entire place. From the floor to the walls, the whole training hall was made of it.

“…Did they really have this much money?”

I knew they were the most prestigious household in the Empire and thus wealthy, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.

‘Actually, this makes sense. Wow… How much is all this worth? Just selling what’s in this training hall could probably buy a small castle.’

While I stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape, a voice called out from somewhere.

“Haha. Look at you. Is it really that fascinating?”

The voice belonged to none other than Izumi Winterbell. Arkan Kaligo’s younger sister, a transcendent being known as the Queen of the Sword. I hadn’t sensed her presence at all, yet there she was, standing right in front of me.

“It’s been a while, Aunt.”

“Doesn’t feel like a while to me.”

I thought about what she meant, and I figured it was probably because we’d seen each other during the hierarchy battles.

“But what brings you here?”

“I got curious when I heard the Patriarch was actually going to train his youngest nephew. What kind of magic did you use? To move that stiff old man? I was honestly shocked.”

“Fortunately, it seems the way I performed in the recent hierarchy battle left a good impression on the Patriarch.”

“Hmm… It was impressive. I think I heard somewhere that you’ve been learning swordsmanship from that Darkin fellow. To think it was actually true. That sword technique you used at the end—it was Darkin Winterbell’s One-Sword Style, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“You were mimicking it pretty well. But you’re a bit strange, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were born of Winterbell blood, but the way you fight—there’s nothing Winterbell-like about it. Out of all the kids I’ve seen so far, you’re the least Winterbell-like of them all.”

“……”

“You fought while wrapped in enhancement magic, didn’t you?”

I nodded.

“That’s right.”

I figured this would come up. There’s no way the powerhouses of Winterbell wouldn’t recognize my enhancement magic.

“And they’re not ordinary enhancement spells either. They’re a kind I’ve never seen before… Who taught you? In all my years, I’ve never seen a direct Winterbell descendant fight while wrapped in enhancement magic.”

“I created it myself.”

Izumi looked at me like she couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“You made it yourself?”

“Yes.”

The symbol of Winterbell was the sword.

It wasn’t that no swordsmen used magic, but it was extremely rare.

Magical swordsmen—those who wielded both magic and the sword—tended to be awkward. They became neither one nor the other, so unless they were truly gifted to the point of being called geniuses, few chose to train both simultaneously.

Even within Winterbell, it wasn’t as though no one had ever used magic, but at least among the successive Patriarchs, there had never been one who did.

It’s important to understand—they didn’t fail to use magic; they simply chose not to. Of course, even if they chose to formally learn it, their bodies had long since been trained for swordsmanship, so it would take an enormous amount of time…

‘Somehow, though… if it were Arkan, I get the feeling he’d have mastered 10th-circle magic in no time, even if he’d chosen magic over the sword.’

Izumi, who had been looking at me with a puzzled expression, suddenly burst into a wide grin.

“Hahaha! You’re a really interesting kid, aren’t you? You didn’t seem like this before, but now that I see it—you’re absolutely hilarious. I like you.”

“Th-Thank you.”

“A swordsman who uses magic in Winterbell! Puhahaha! And your uncle knows all about this and still offered to teach you swordsmanship?”

“I… I suppose so?”

“Puhahahaha! Puhahahahahaha! Then, if we get the chance sometime, will you teach me magic too?”

I never dreamed I’d be asked to teach magic of all things. But I smiled with my best polite salesman face and answered immediately.

“Of course. Just call on me anytime.”

“How adorable.”

A voice called from behind.

“Izumi. What are you doing here?”

It was Arkan, the Patriarch.

As always, he stood with a blank, unreadable expression, gazing at Izumi and me. But Izumi just smiled and responded as if it were nothing.

“What do you think I’m doing? I came to see my cute little nephew.”

“Did you forget that entering the Patriarch’s training hall without permission is a serious offense? The Patriarch is authorized to carry out immediate execution.”

“Oh my, oh my. Do you have to say it so coldly? Your one and only little sister just came to take a peek at her little nephew and big brother—is that really not allowed? Honestly~”

“……”

“How hurtful. Truly hurtful.”

Arkan spoke.

“Just don’t cause a scene, and leave quietly after you watch.”

“Hehe. That’s just like you, Brother.”

I’d felt it before, but the two of them surprisingly seemed to get along well. Even someone as cold-blooded as Arkan might have a soft spot when it came to his little sister.

Arkan’s gaze turned toward me.

“There’s not much time left before the fools from the Imperial Family and the South arrive.”

“Yes.”

“If you want to become Patriarch, you’ll have to prove yourself clearly this time.”

“Understood.”

“From this moment on, I will not teach you as the Patriarch of Winterbell, but as your father. So refer to me not as Patriarch, but as Father.”

“……”

It felt strange.

How long had it been since I last called Arkan Winterbell Father? So long ago that I couldn’t even remember.

Did he truly hold any fatherly affection for me?

Honestly, even that was uncertain.

[If he didn’t have any affection as a father, why would he go out of his way to teach you the sword?]

So he wouldn’t be embarrassed during the upcoming spar?

[Tsk. Think about it. Winterbell has no shortage of outstanding children besides you. So why would he choose to teach you specifically?]

……

[Stop indulging in useless delusions and just accept it for what it is. What difference does it make whether he has affection for you or not? This is a chance to learn from the continent’s strongest swordsman. You only need to do your best to achieve your own goals.]

That was true.

But still, to hear something like that from Behemoth of all beings… it left me feeling oddly conflicted.

“Ran Winterbell.”

“Yes, Patri—”

“…You’re not listening. What did I just say?”

“Pardon?”

“I told you—I’m here today not as the Patriarch, but as your father.”

R-Right, but I didn’t think he’d actually call me out on it like this.

“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then you’d best address me properly.”

“F-Fa…ther?”

Damn it.

Trying to force out a word I’d never said before—it made my whole body curl up with secondhand embarrassment. It was unbearable.

I stole a glance at Arkan.

He wore the same expression as always.

But when I looked closer, there was a subtle change.

‘No way… is he pleased?’

Izumi, who had been watching the scene unfold, burst into boisterous laughter.

“Puhahahaha! Wow! I’ve really lived to see something like this! Are you really my brother? You’re not someone else? Who are you! Who dares to wear the shell of the Winterbell Patriarch! Reveal yourself, imposter!”

As Izumi taunted him in a ridiculous voice, Arkan muttered coldly.

“Izumi.”

But even so, Izumi didn’t stop her antics and kept playing around.

“You fraud! Begone, wretch! Do you even know where you are, playing around like that? Return my brother at once, you fake!”

“……”

At that moment—

Swords rained down from the sky.

They were blades conjured through Arkan’s aura.

Kwagwagwang!

Blades condensed with tremendous magical power plummeted toward Izumi’s head like meteors. The force was so overwhelming that the rising dust made it impossible to see.

‘Holy shit. She’s gotta be dead after that.’

But contrary to my expectations, Izumi stood there completely unscathed. In fact, she looked up at Arkan with a sly smile and spoke in a cheeky voice.

“So you try to kill your cute little sister just because she was joking around a bit. What a savage man. But then, why does a guy like that show such attachment to the youngest?”

“Silence.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Ran Winterbell.”

“Y-Yes, Father.”

“From now on, come at me with the resolve to kill me.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Otherwise, you’re the one who’s going to die.”

Wait.

Sir?

Weren’t you supposed to teach me swordsmanship?

Hello?

“We begin now.”

As soon as he said that, sword strikes rushed in at incredible speed.

Chwaaaak!

‘Shit…’

If I had been even slightly slower to react, my body would’ve been split clean in half.

‘Wait, is that… a tree branch?’

Arkan was holding a tree branch. Which meant—just by lightly swinging a tree branch, he had left marks on the floor of the training hall, which was made of radium.

“Focus.”

Cold sweat started dripping down my back. I was about to get killed by a tree branch before I even learned any swordsmanship.

“W-Wait a moment…!”

“The enemy won’t wait for you.”

Chwaak! Chwaak!

When Arkan swung the branch twice, a pair of X-shaped sword strikes flew in like flashes of light.

“Uaaaagh!”

“Dodging isn’t everything.”

He stomped on the ground.

With a boom, my balance collapsed.

He’d infused magic into the ground to bind me.

‘Damn it. I’m really gonna die. I’m seriously going to die.’

At this point, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d planned to kill me from the start.

‘Screw it.’

“Blood God.”