Chapter 141. When Did We Ever?
I calmly gathered my thoughts.
The “Mage Tower” and the “Sword Garden” I’d cobbled together as a temporary measure.
By creating those two groups, we’d gained a certain degree of trust from the young lord and the Third Sword—only to catch the Head of House’s eye.
And the result of that was right now.
“…What will you do?”
I reined in my wandering thoughts under the Third Sword’s grave gaze.
Now that I’d heard the young lord’s message, I could understand the Third Sword’s silence.
In other words, he’d been agonizing over which of the two conflicting orders to follow—the Head of House’s, or the young lord’s.
And his choice was…
‘The young lord.’
That meant the Third Sword had decided to become wholly the young lord’s man.
Still, separate from that, I had a personal curiosity.
“Before you decide, there’s something I want to ask.”
“Ask.”
“How are we supposed to trust the young lord’s message? How can we believe you’ll keep your promise?”
“Th-that’s…”
The Third Sword was at a loss for words.
He knew it too.
How this situation looked to us.
Depending on how you interpreted it, the young lord was nothing more than an impudent fish that had slipped away after taking only what he needed.
But only for a moment.
The Third Sword bowed his head politely.
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
Honestly, I was surprised.
Lortel’s Third Sword bowing his head? No—more than that.
What the Third Sword did next was even more surprising.
“I will entrust you with my sword.”
The Third Sword undid the sword at his waist and held it out.
“…Mm.”
For once, I let out a faint, involuntary murmur.
Parun and Shine were no exception.
“…Hmph.”
“To stake your sword? You—do you truly mean it?”
“…Of course.”
At Shine’s question, the Third Sword nodded silently.
At this point, even I found it hard to say anything rash.
‘Staking his sword?’
To be honest, it meant nothing to us.
Of course, since it was the sword used by Lortel’s Third Sword, it was bound to be expensive enough that the price would be whatever you called it…
‘But it’s not like that becomes collateral for the Infinite Chain.’
In this situation, no object could serve as collateral for the Infinite Chain.
But.
What the Third Sword was holding out wasn’t simply a “sword.”
A knight’s honor.
Pride.
That itself.
‘…Of course, a pseudo-knight like Shine would be staking the sword’s price, not the sword…’
Anyway.
I stared at the Third Sword’s worn sword hilt and sank into thought.
To be honest, it really did pique my curiosity.
If the Third Sword staked his sword, then for me, it would be like staking the Mage Tower that would be built in the future.
Not some Mage Tower that didn’t exist yet—no, one already piled high, packed tight with everything inside.
Setting aside material value, that was the level of resolve it implied.
But why?
No matter that it was his liege’s promise—no. Even if it was for his liege’s honor—was it really worth staking his pride?
Just as I reached that thought—
“What will you do?”
I gathered my questions away at the sound of Shine’s voice.
And then came Shine’s added remark.
[I think this one is trustworthy.]
Somehow, Shine seemed favorable toward the Third Sword’s actions. Otherwise, Shine wouldn’t be pressing for an answer like this.
In the end, Shine really was a knight too.
But.
Obviously, I wasn’t a knight.
Parun wasn’t either.
[Parun, what do you think?]
At my question, Parun organized Parun’s thoughts for a moment and answered.
If I only stated the result, the answer was the same as Shine’s. Of course, the process of arriving at it was different.
[Leaving aside whether we truly believe him, the pride of a knight on the level of the Third Sword is not something light. If we raise doubts here, it would be no different than trampling that pride.]
In other words: even if we don’t trust him, we have no choice but to accept it.
Yeah. That’s what it is.
[The choice is yours, bastard. Wasn’t this your board to begin with?]
Handing the decision to me, Parun shut Parun’s mouth.
Before making the final call, I took a moment to整理 my thoughts.
Putting Shine and Parun’s opinions together…
‘Everyone seems to think it’s right to avoid meeting the Head of House.’
If even Shine—obsessed with the Tomb of the Sword God—was telling me to accept the Third Sword’s proposal, then that in itself was ominous.
So that must be why they were only bringing up the Third Sword’s proposal.
If so, then it really was my choice now.
“Third Sword. No—was it Zeke? Sir Zeke.”
“Speak.”
“For now, put the sword away. You look pretty awkward holding it out like that.”
This was pure goodwill.
Because—
Sir Zeke’s hand, holding out the sword with that determined expression, looked oddly lonely.
But Sir Zeke seemed to misunderstand my goodwill and let out a low sound.
“Is my pride alone not enough?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Of course, it wasn’t enough.
But that wasn’t why I was telling him to put it away.
The others were, of course, only thinking, “Do we trust Sir Zeke or not?”—but I still hadn’t decided even that far yet.
So what I was 고민ing over was this.
‘Will we meet the Head of House?’
Or avoid him.
Before choosing, I asked a question.
“It’s not my business, but I’m curious about something…”
“Ask anything.”
“If you disobey the Head of House’s order like this, can you handle what comes after? The young lord is the young lord, so maybe he gets a pass—but you, Sir Zeke, seem like you’ll be in quite a bind.”
Sir Zeke answered calmly.
“I am the young lord’s sword.”
“I thought Lortel’s knights swear loyalty only to the Head of House?”
“It is the Head of House who commanded it. To follow the young lord. Of course, the young lord does not know that.”
It was a rather ironic situation.
A knight defying the very lord he swore loyalty to—because of that lord’s order.
That was probably what Sir Zeke had been agonizing over: how far the Head of House’s order—“Follow the young lord”—was supposed to apply, even he couldn’t judge it clearly.
But.
“Even so, punishment would be unavoidable, wouldn’t it?”
“I must endure it.”
Sir Zeke replied, still calm.
Yet unlike that calm answer, the price Sir Zeke would have to endure wouldn’t be small.
Disobeying the Head of House’s command.
Disobedience was a grave matter—one that had to be made an example of.
‘Well, given the position of Third Sword, it won’t come to a disaster like his head rolling… but still.’
Anyway, the punishment wouldn’t be light.
The more I thought about it, the stronger my doubt became.
“Still, I can’t understand. From your position, it would’ve been better to follow the Head of House’s command. Do you really need to accept this much loss?”
“Didn’t I say it? I am the young lord’s sword.”
“No, that’s not an answer. Even if it was the young lord’s order—what if it was the wrong decision? Would you have followed it? Of course, you would’ve followed it. But this time, the situation feels different, so I’m asking.”
“…I don’t understand what you mean.”
“The Head of House and the young lord—their orders are colliding. Why did you choose the young lord’s order? ‘The young lord’s sword’? That isn’t an answer. If it were only the young lord’s order, fine. But when the Head of House’s order and the young lord’s order collide, you would choose the side you believe is right.”
“So…”
“I’m asking the motive.”
When my explanation ended, Sir Zeke closed his eyes halfway and fell into thought.
“Why, you say…”
And then he answered.
“Did you not believe first?”
“…?”
When did we?
I tilted my head.
Parun tilted Parun’s head too.
The only one who didn’t tilt their head here was Shine.
As our reactions split three ways, Sir Zeke continued, his voice dripping with apology.
“Even with no guarantee that we would keep our promise, you readily paid the price. It’s partly because I am the young lord’s man, yes… but in the end, that is why I followed the order. Faith. Because you gave faith first.”
Uh… mm…
Did we do that?
To be honest, I hadn’t thought much of it.
‘It’s not like we had many other options anyway…’
I’d only thought that a secret organization like a Mage Tower or a Sword Garden might lend enough presence to force the promise to be carried out.
So let me say this plainly.
We didn’t believe.
And yet—what an illusion.
No, wait.
Startled, I blurted out a question.
“…How can you believe the crap we said?”
Even if we “paid the price,” to be honest, they were prices without substance.
The magic armor Kalium did exist, but we’d only told them its location, and the background tied to the Impirga (Family) would take time to verify.
But Sir Zeke’s answer was something else.
“Leaving aside the information about the Impirga (Family), I think the magic armor Kalium alone is more than enough to trust.”
“Huh? Don’t tell me… you already checked it?”
“…?” Sir Zeke looked puzzled. “Yes. The young lord tried on the magic armor Kalium and seemed to like it very much.”
Not just checked—he already acquired it?
‘…Insane.’
At this point, I shook my head at Lortel’s cruelty.
Even using a warp gate, to acquire it in such a short time, the knights would’ve had to be worked day and night.
No—was it not a warp gate?
‘From Kuholon to Lortel is about two days on horseback…’
If, right after our meeting ended, they contacted the nearby area and drove the knights like dogs, the timing roughly fit.
But that aside—
“Just that alone? The information about the Impirga (Family) could still be a ploy to sow discord.”
“A ploy to sow discord?”
“No, it’s not that, but…”
“If the young lord decided to believe, then I only follow.”
“……”
What a stubborn, blocked-off bastard.
‘Is he stupid?’
Judging by his tone, it seemed he’d considered the possibility of it being a ploy. But just because his lord believes, he throws away suspicion that easily?
And then, for someone he’d suspected even once, he throws away his own safety?
It was a way of thinking I simply couldn’t understand.
But by now, I could at least glimpse Sir Zeke’s operating principle, even if only vaguely.
“From what I can tell, it’s not that you didn’t doubt us…”
“That’s right. I bluntly told him it might be a ploy.”
“But because the young lord believes, you cast aside doubt? And once you cast aside doubt, our actions became ‘giving faith first’?”
“You could see it that way.”
My head swam.
“Sir Zeke, are you truly a sword?”
Meaning: do you have no brain?
“I am the Third Sword, yes.”
“Mm. That’s true.”
His answer was so refreshingly straightforward that I lost what to say. Sir Zeke only fully grasped my meaning right after.
“Ah, I see what you’re thinking. But… I have my own conviction as well. You may be suspicious, but you are not evil.”
“…And if that’s a misjudgment?”
At my question, Sir Zeke gave a small snort of laughter.
But the laughter was somehow cold.
“Did I misjudge?”
“…No.”
Honorifics slipped out on their own.
Right. I’d forgotten.
The powerless can only believe—because they have no choice.
But someone with power, like Sir Zeke, can choose to believe. Even if that faith is misplaced, he has the strength to correct it.
So it was pure-heartedness born of strength!
‘…Sure. If the body is strong, the head doesn’t have to suffer. If you’re Lortel’s Third Sword, you can slack off upstairs and still be fine.’
Anyway.
“I would like you to give an answer soon. If my sword is not enough, then…”
“No. No.”
I shook my head lightly at Sir Zeke’s words.
“Then what will you do?”
What would I do?
After that exchange, I’d reached an answer to some degree.
No—actually, the answer had been decided from the beginning.
- Didn’t you believe first?
Sir Zeke repaid faith with faith.
Of course, we hadn’t given any faith… and Sir Zeke’s faith was rooted in overflowing physical force.
But the petty details weren’t all that important.
Faith for faith.
Goodwill for goodwill.
We were already people who had exchanged faith—how could I ignore the hardship he now faced?
“Guide me to the Head of House.”
There is no paradise in a place you run to.
That was how it felt.
Of course, if you don’t run, you might taste hell—still.
To be absolutely clear, it was not because I couldn’t possibly distrust Sir Zeke, the pride contained in that sword, and the young lord’s promise.
…And also.
When I calculated the material value of the sword Sir Zeke held out, it was definitely not because that estimate was disappointing.
Right. Of course not.
