The Sword Master’s Son-in-Law

– Drex

The heart of the Order, the garden there.

There, with Letty and…

“It’s been a while.”

Asia, and

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Amelia.

Before departing on the journey.

We decided to gather once, to have a conversation.

And so we were, all assembled.

An awkward atmosphere filled the air.

Asia kept glancing at me, whom she hadn’t seen in so long.

Letty didn’t seem to be thinking anything at all.

And Amelia merely remained silent.

A meeting for conversation, yet conversation had stalled.

Unable to bear the situation, I spoke first.

“First… I’ll tell you about the prophecy.”

“Shall I explain, Hero?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

I spoke plainly, kept it succinct.

A prophecy was given, and its content concerns a Majin.

The Kingdom of Huernit, a realm of beastmen, perched above the Kingdom of Heivis.

The prophecy speaks of a Majin hidden within its eastern reaches.

“…And so, I plan to depart for that place as soon as possible.”

Lettie already knew, but Amelia, well, she showed no reaction whatsoever.

*Amelia is not one to wear her heart on her sleeve, I suppose it’s within reason.*

Even Asia remained unusually placid.

“…”

“Understood, Arthas-ssi.”

Even a Majin.

Information about Majin has not yet been released to the public.

So I was sure they would be shocked.

It seemed I was mistaken.

“Then… shall we depart tomorrow morning… is that agreeable to everyone?”

“Yes, Hero-nim!”

“I am indifferent.”

Amelia, wordlessly, nodded her assent.

And so, in that peculiar atmosphere, our first encounter as the Hero’s party came to an end.

*

Asia couldn’t make head nor tail of the story.

Her mind was in such a whirl, she couldn’t focus.

She was so intensely nervous.

*Hoo… Calm down.*

Responding haphazardly,

Before she knew it, the conversation had concluded.

Amelia was the first to take her leave.

Followed by Lettie.

As Arthas was about to depart,

Asia stopped him, just as he was about to stand.

“W-wait, just a moment!”

“Hmm…? Is there something more? Did you have something you wished to say?”

“Yes…”

Asia answered with her head bowed low.

“Very well.”

Because of the serious atmosphere that Asia gave off,

Arthas sat back down without a word.

Asia hesitated a long while, unsure how to begin.

She pondered for a moment.

“Which should I speak of first?”

What did it mean, “saint and lover?”

And what, then, were they to each other now?

He thought and thought, but his head only grew more muddled.

At last, Asia remembered.

The thing she had to say before all others.

“Do you recall when I turned cold for a time?”

At Asia’s words, Arthur sifted through his memories.

He wouldn’t say “cold,” but he did recall an awkwardness.

Arthur offered an excuse for it.

“That… I was still young, you know. In the end… the choice I made should have been the right one.”

“I know. But that wasn’t the reason I acted that way.”

“It wasn’t?”

“…I’ll tell you about my mother.”

Asia thought of the mother she remembered.

But she couldn’t quite conjure her face.

Her mother had passed away when Asia was so young, she had no real memories.

Only the portrait of her mother came to mind.

But she vividly remembered anecdotes related to her.

“My mother’s family is the Pastel Marquisate.”

“The Pastel Marquisate…”

Arthur recalled the time he sold magical stones.

He said he would sell them to the Pastel Marquisate, who were also from the south,

and Asia hadn’t seemed pleased.

Arthur surmised that she must have had some history with that Pastel Marquisate.

“We’re talking about the family in the south, right?”

“Yes. A family in the south, like our Messiah family.”

Asia began to tell the story of her mother.

*

Elyssia Pastel.

Her beauty was known throughout the kingdom.

Not only in appearance, but her family was also a Marquisate.

She was a woman who had everything.

She received so many love letters that they numbered in the hundreds, such was her popularity.

And her character was beyond reproach.

But Elyssia wasn’t interested in anyone else when it came to love.

Because she had a servant who had been with her since childhood.

The one who first showed her what love was.

Though their status made it impossible to meet openly,

they secretly nurtured their love.

It happened one day, quite unexpectedly.

The Marquis Pastel summoned Elisia.

And—

“You will wed the heir of the Messiah family.”

A declaration bordering on a command.

Elisia wished to refuse,

but could not bring herself to voice dissent to her stern father.

And so, Elisia was forced to relinquish her first love.

For enduring as things were would clearly benefit him not.

And—

On the day her betrothal to the Messiah family was finalized,

Elisia returned to the estate and sought her manservant.

To convey a message – that he forget her, and live happily.

But he was gone.

Nowhere to be found, no matter how much she searched.

A sense of foreboding began to settle over her.

Elisia went directly to Marquis Pastel.

And asked,

“…I cannot find Fate.”

“Fate… are you speaking of that servant boy?”

“Yes.”

Elisia met Marquis Pastel’s gaze.

Eyes of such chilling cold.

Could this truly be the look of a parent upon their own flesh and blood?

Marquis Pastel sighed, then spoke.

His expression was one of blatant displeasure.

“I had him killed.”

At those words, Elisia froze for a long moment.

A shocking revelation.

She prayed she had misheard him.

But—

“How dare a commoner presume to… and it was for your sake, Elisia.”

“For my sake?”

She could not comprehend.

That Fate’s death could somehow be for her benefit.

It made no sense, Elisia muttered to herself.

“Imagine the rumors should spread – that the young lady betrothed to the Messiahs had a servant as a lover. You would be the one to suffer, Elisia.”

Elisia clenched her fists tightly.

Not a whisper, not a hint of their liaison had ever come to light.

“There could be no rumors!!!”

“…Yes, we’ve managed to avoid being found out until now, thankfully.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter, should it!”

“What if that commoner, Fate, speaks of it? Out of spite, perhaps, for revenge.”

Fate, whom she had loved.

Elysia believed he was absolutely not a man prone to loose lips.

“He would never do such a thing!!!”

“…It’s best not to leave any loose ends.”

Elysia collapsed, wailing.

She wanted to overturn everything, to destroy it all.

But – she couldn’t.

And so, Elysia ended up marrying into the Messiah family.

At that time, Elysia was like an empty doll.

However, thanks to Count Messiah’s unwavering devotion, Elysia too began to open her heart.

And–.

“…I hope Asia never has to go through an engagement.”

On her deathbed.

Elysia thought.

Of course, it wasn’t that she disliked Count Messiah, who had become her beloved partner.

But she couldn’t help but think.

If only she hadn’t been engaged,

she wouldn’t have had to endure such suffering.

Therefore, Elysia left such a will,

and Count Messiah had decided to honor it.

*

After Asia finished speaking,

I was rendered speechless.

It was not a story easily uttered.

That Asia, or rather, her mother, held such a hidden history.

“That’s why the word ‘loose ends’… it just came out without thinking….”

A single tear streamed down Asia’s cheek.

It seemed she was overwhelmed with emotion.

“Did my attitude perhaps make you resent me?”

“No.”

“Then have you forgotten your promise to me?”

Promise.

Could it be…?

“Are you talking about the promise to wait until your coming-of-age ceremony…?”

“Yes…. But Arthas, as soon as you left… you found a lover….”

As if some pent-up resentment had finally burst, Asia began to cry in earnest.

Taken aback,

I spoke the truth, then.

“It’s… it’s part of a contract with the Saintess. That, right! Like our pretending to be engaged.”

“…A contract, you say?”

Asia, as if the tears had been nothing more than a performance, stopped crying instantly.

She questioned me.

“What do you mean, a contract? Please, tell me, Mr. Arthurs!”

“Well…”

In the end, I confessed everything honestly to Asia.

And–.

“It, it was because of me then.”

“Huh…? One could see it that way, I suppose.”

The deal with Letty.

It concerned a prophecy linked to Asia, after all.

From a broad perspective, one could definitely see it that way.

But–.

“Hehe… So that’s it. That’s how it is. It was because of me.”

Asia, who had been crying just moments before.

She hummed a cheerful tune, as if something pleased her greatly.

A faint smile graced the corners of her lips.

Her clearly changed demeanor caused me to–.

“Yeah. It was.”

Decide to simply pretend I didn’t notice.

*

Amerie, watching over the crystal ball.

A smile blossomed on her lips.

“He wasn’t the Saintess’ lover.”

Amerie, too, had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Asia and Arthurs.

And–.

“That means I can still use the second method.”

She had planned to think about it some more,

But for some reason, Amerie felt like becoming lovers with Arthurs might not be so bad.

Though, she herself had not yet realized that feeling.

*

The east of the Hewernit Kingdom.

A place where a lush forest stood tall.

But lately, at night.

Strange sounds began to echo from that forest every single night.

Like someone screaming, perhaps.

A grotesque and monstrous sound had begun to ring out.

In response, the tribes living nearby set out to investigate, but,

They could not find the source, the root of it all.

Not with the enhanced scent and hearing unique to the Beastkin.

Then – one day.

The screams that had echoed each night, ceased.

And on that day.

One tribe vanished.

A few days later, again.

Another tribe disappeared.

Seized by dread, the tribes began to leave the forest, one by one.

Until, before long, all the tribes were gone,

and in a silent cave deep in the mountains,

a man covered in blood arose.

“Finally…I live.”

His name was Drex.

Drex, pondering the use of the Magic Stone,

simply chewed and swallowed it without a second thought.

And for days he was wracked with agony,

before gaining a strength greater than he had ever imagined.

“Kuhahaha, I feel closer to my most primal instincts.”

The Majin were humans of the Demon Continent.

And even on the Demon Continent, there were many kinds of races.

Drex was a Beastkin of the Demon Continent.

A Demon Beastkin, if you will.

By a chance occurrence, Drex had awakened the primal power of the Demon Beastkin, and he shouted into the empty air,

“Even without the Demon Lord, I could kill the Hero!”

And so, in a forest in the east of the Huernite Kingdom.

The laughter of Drex began to resound.