46. Old Tale (11)
One of the twelve disciples of the Founding Mage, a descendant of the great Morf, and an 8-Class mage—
Isaac Morf, Grand Duke of Morf.
The aide who had sworn loyalty to him, Wilhelm, possessed a rather businesslike and upright personality.
To put it nicely, that was.
To put it less nicely, he was stiff and inflexible.
“…This is the place.”
With a face full of displeasure, Wilhelm led him to his private lodging.
There was no way a mere escort could arrogantly stay in the same grand estate as Lady Eizel, so Baek Yuseol had instead been assigned a dormitory outside.
Still, it seemed this was the sort of high-grade lodging only someone at the level of a knight captain would normally be allowed to use.
I still can’t believe it, Your Grace! Entrusting the young lady’s escort to an outsider, and even granting him a status like this…!
Baek Yuseol could still remember when Isaac had introduced him to Aide Wilhelm.
The sight of Wilhelm objecting so fiercely he nearly foamed at the mouth had certainly been admirable in its firmness of conviction, but being on the receiving end of it had felt rather odd.
Still, Wilhelm was the normal one here.
Who in the world would approve of suddenly assigning some unknown outsider as Lady Eizel’s “direct escort”?
Honestly, Baek Yuseol himself had been startled when he first received the request.
But since the Grand Duke had declared it so, most people had simply kept their mouths shut.
Only Wilhelm, the loyal retainer, had protested hotly.
Though Wilhelm had shown him no particular goodwill, the man was unquestionably loyal, so Baek Yuseol did not have a bad impression of him.
“Yes. It’s a fine room. I’ll make good use of it.”
Wilhelm glared at him for a long moment before speaking.
“That mask.”
“…Yes?”
“It is suspicious beyond words.”
What was he supposed to do about that?
Even if Wilhelm said that, it wasn’t as though Baek Yuseol could take it off.
Grand Duke Isaac had already allowed it, so Wilhelm could hardly order him to remove it.
Besides, a mask was practically the trademark symbol of hidden strength types.
Not that Baek Yuseol had any hidden strength to speak of…
“That will be all.”
When Baek Yuseol didn’t so much as twitch, Wilhelm turned away and said in a low voice,
“I warn you—do not place the young lady in danger. I will not forgive you.”
And with that, he disappeared with quiet footsteps.
Not a bad Ahjussi, but…
how to put it.
He felt like the sort of person it would be a little uncomfortable to get close to.
“Huu…”
Flop.
Lying on a bed far better in quality than the one in the Stella Academy S-Class dormitory, Baek Yuseol stared blankly at the ceiling and organized his thoughts.
“The rules of time travel…”
One of the strongest laws of all—a dilemma in its own right.
Never change a “confirmed event” that happened in the past.
Suppose the fact [Tonight, Eizel eats strawberry cake] was fixed history.
If, knowing that fact, he changed history so that she could not eat strawberry cake, then the future could mutate drastically.
There was, however absurdly small, still a 0.00001% chance that Eizel, unable to eat the strawberry cake, would suddenly go astray and run away from home.
And then what would happen?
When he returned to the present…
it would have become an entirely different future, a different world.
There might be a world where Eizel never enrolled in Stella.
Or a world where Flame did not exist.
Or a world where Ma Yuseong had become a complete Dark Folk.
In other words, it meant that a storyline that did not even exist in the original game could suddenly emerge.
And that world…
would not be my world—the world I know, the world I love.
They might not remember him at all.
Or it might be a world in which a person called Baek Yuseol had never existed.
From now on, while living here, he must not change any future whatsoever.
Fortunately, there were almost no confirmed records from this time.
Hardly any story from this era of the Morf Grand Ducal House had been properly recorded.
Perhaps Eizel had kept a diary, but since Baek Yuseol as a time traveler had never read it, the contents of that diary did not count as confirmed history.
All “confirmed history” was determined by the knowledge of the observer—that is, the time traveler.
And the only confirmed history he knew was one thing.
The betrayal and death of the Morf Grand Duke.
That fact alone.
Of all things, the history he most wanted to change was the very one he could never change.
Wasn’t this what people called irony?
The word fit his situation so perfectly that it made him laugh bitterly.
“Sigh… whatever.”
Living by Eizel’s side was unsettling, but if he stayed as quiet and unobtrusive as possible, then nothing about the future should change.
So then—
just lie low as if you were dead.
Until it is time to go back.
…The resolve to live quietly lasted exactly one night.
Morf Grand Ducal House.
Training ground of the Blue Mane Knight Order.
“I heard that you are Lady Eizel’s new escort knight.”
“Yes…”
Though they were called knights, in truth they all wore swords as little more than symbolic accessories, while wands were their primary weapons.
Seeing men who had probably barely ever used a blade strutting around with swords purely for style was honestly laughable.
“…The previous escort knight was the one who protected His Grace in his childhood and continued protecting Lady Eizel until recently. Although he set off on a far journey after failing to overcome illness, none of us have forgotten him.”
So that was the story.
“And yet! Someone like you, a drifter of unknown identity, is taking that man’s place…! His Grace may have acknowledged you, but we cannot!”
Thunk!
Carmen, captain of the Passion Third Assault Unit of the Blue Mane Knight Order.
He pointed his wand at Baek Yuseol and shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“I dare not strip you from your post. But I can at least test your ability!”
Whoosh!
The glove Carmen threw flew toward him.
Was this the legendary duel challenge of the knights?
Thanks to his increased sensory stats, the flying glove looked so slow that he had time to entertain all sorts of thoughts.
Should I catch that, or not?
To be honest, with Silver Age November’s blessing upon him, beating Carmen right now would be no problem.
The important thing was who was watching.
Could he really afford to swing a sword in front of Eizel?
As far as he knew, future Eizel first learned of swordsmanship and blinking as a strange style of combat only when she met him ten years later.
But if his past self suddenly showed Blink in front of her now…
history would be overturned.
That can’t happen.
Fwish!
He simply shifted lightly to the side, and the glove Carmen had thrown flew uselessly past and dropped to the ground.
“What are you doing?”
“I am not a knight, so I do not accept duels.”
“Ha, nonsense. You are an escort kni—”
“Not a knight. A direct escort. Shall I show you the contract? I was hired as a mercenary, and in that I do not care by what means or method I accomplish the task, my role itself is different from yours. Please do not mistake me for being the same as you.”
Baek Yuseol turned away coolly.
…And then, inside, he panicked a little.
No matter where he looked, there were huge, intimidating knights glaring at him with murderous eyes.
If that didn’t make a person nervous, then what would?
Still, drawing even upon Crimson Spring March’s blessing, he kept himself as calm as possible and said,
“I have no intention of indulging your knightly culture.”
“Y-You bastard…!”
“You dare insult knights!”
Once he said that and turned away, he heard the knights cursing him behind his back, but most of it was easy enough to ignore.
“Cowardly bastard.”
Ignore it.
“Obviously he’s running because he has no skill. Understood.”
He tried to ignore it.
“A street-drifting mercenary like you—who knows if you’ve ever even fought a proper magic battle.”
…Still, having his pride poked like that did irritate him a little, so Baek Yuseol turned back and said to Carmen,
“A duel? So all I have to do is beat you down, right?”
The moment he took the bait to such a low-level provocation, Carmen’s lips curled upward in satisfaction.
“That’s right. If you have confidence in your ability, draw your wand and face me proudly!”
A wand, huh.
His real main weapon was a sword, and the only magic he could use was Blink.
In other words, all he had to do was not show either of those two things.
When he approached the wand rack, he found a silver staff of decent length.
It looked to be one used commonly by the knight order; the weight was just right, and the sturdiness seemed fine too.
“Mm, I’ll use this.”
“You use a staff. A bishop, then.”
“Yes… well, something like that.”
Strictly speaking, he was a knight-position type, but since he was holding a staff right now, there was no real need to correct him.
“The duel will begin.”
One of the knights stepped between them as a mediator.
“Salute.”
Each country had its own salute.
The Morf Grand Ducal House’s salute consisted of lifting the wand in the right hand so that it pointed toward the left shoulder.
Baek Yuseol almost reflexively did Stella’s salute, then awkwardly imitated Morf’s instead—but it was sloppy enough that laughter broke out around him.
“Duel, begin!”
At last the duel began, and a blazing red magic circle flared to life before Carmen.
Carmen’s position was knight.
A type centered on close combat.
If Carmen believed Baek Yuseol to be a bishop type who specialized in ranged fighting, then he would probably…
“Hup!”
…charge in.
That wasn’t a wrong judgment, but unfortunately for him, Baek Yuseol was only carrying a staff—he was utterly hopeless at ranged combat.
If anything…
he was far more confident in close combat.
Crack!!
The action he took was simple.
He swung the staff straight into Carmen’s head as the man rushed in, both fists wreathed in flame, preparing to strike.
“Urk!”
A short scream escaped Carmen, and the shield protecting his body shattered violently.
Though it was not a Terriphon Sword, Baek Yuseol at the moment was at a level matching a 7-Class mage.
That was more than enough to break through the shield of Carmen, who was estimated to be no more than around 5-Class.
“W-What is this…!”
Carmen, who had fallen disgracefully to the floor, rolled quickly backward and performed the trick of instantly deploying another magic circle before him—
but Baek Yuseol simply rushed in, smashed it apart with the staff, and struck him across the head again.
Smack!!
This time the impact felt proper.
Proof that the shield had fully broken.
Smack! Crack! Smack! Crack! Smaaaack!
Judging by how quickly the shield regenerated each time it shattered, Carmen’s battle sense was quite good.
But that didn’t matter against someone boosted by Silver Age November’s blessing.
He makes another shield?
Then I’ll just break it again.
“Argh! Kgh! Aagh! Guh!”
He swung, then swung again.
To be perfectly honest…
this was less a magic duel and more a straight beating.
Baek Yuseol wasn’t using magic at all, merely swinging the staff like a machine, while Carmen curled up and tried as hard as possible to get hit a little less.
“T-This is insane!”
“That’s not a duel at all…!”
“He’s vicious… he’s hitting places he already hit on purpose…!”
“No, look closely—he’s making sure there aren’t any places he hasn’t hit, evenly distributing it… but then he’s going back and hitting those evenly distributed places again…”
“He’s a devil!”
“Hahahahaha.”
Receiving the knights’ exclamations (?) as applause, Baek Yuseol cheerfully beat down Carmen.
And by the time evening came—
“I heard a story that you beat one of my knights.”
He was called in for an interview with the Grand Duke of Morf.
It didn’t feel especially pleasant.
After all, he was in the wrong… though the other side had definitely started it.
“There was a reason.”
“Let me hear it.”
“I was curious whether dust really comes out if you beat someone like a dog on a rainy day.”
“Hoho.”
Grand Duke Isaac let out a dry chuckle and nodded.
“So? Did dust come out?”
“No. I suppose I didn’t beat him enough.”
“I see.”
He answered like that, then fell silent for a moment before quietly speaking again.
“I imagine some of the knights who do not care for you picked a fight, yes? They may even have insulted you personally first. You could have simply reported it to me… and yet you did not. Were you trying to protect my knights from me?”
Not really…
He just liked joking around.
“I see you in a new light. You think quite deeply, and you’re considerate too. If only you were truly one of my knights…”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Haha. In any case, I did not summon you here to scold you. Isn’t it common for injuries to happen during a duel?”
“In that case…?”
“I summoned you because I wish to take you with me on tomorrow’s schedule.”
He held out a single sheet of paper in front of Baek Yuseol.
Honestly, even if he read it carefully, he wasn’t sure he’d understand all of it, but one thing stood out immediately.
The seal of the Adolevit royal family.
“This is…!”
“You recognize it. It’s not something an ordinary person gets to see.”
“Is this a request for cooperation from the Adolevit royal family?”
“Yes. It is nothing particularly extraordinary—they have requested access to Morfran Forest, the very place where you first met me. As you know, Morf territory borders Adolevit’s frontier.”
“That’s true.”
“They claim the time is nearing when the magical beast in Morfran Forest will begin to awaken. From a magical perspective, it is not an incorrect claim. I understand the reasoning. But…”
Removing his monocle, Isaac Morf pinched the bridge of his nose as if nursing a headache.
“I cannot help but wonder whether there is any real need for them to force their way into our territory to hunt that magical beast.”
Baek Yuseol read the document once more.
It was written in respectful and bold language, but the substance was practically international blackmail.
There was no way something of this level would truly shake Morf territory, but Isaac clearly wished to avoid needless friction.
Or perhaps—
“If I refuse to allow this, they seem ready to start a war.”
“…They’ve lost their minds.”
“Yes. I heard that the one commanding the operation is a mere seventeen-year-old girl named Hong Si-hwa. Her level of magic is not yet very high, but apparently she is a genius of strategy and command.”
Even so, strange was strange.
“Why is Adolevit… so obsessed with the magical beast of Morfran Forest?”
Isaac Morf did not answer.
He only smiled bitterly and continued what he had been saying earlier.
“In the end, I had no choice but to permit it. Of course, since it is my land, I imposed the condition that I and my knights would participate directly on-site in the operation. They did not refuse even that.”
“I see…”
“So I wish to ask. Do you have any interest in this operation?”
So that was the real point.
Taking someone whose abilities had now been verified into the operation.
Baek Yuseol did not especially doubt Isaac Morf’s character, but still, for a moment, a thought flashed through his mind—had even the duel with Carmen somehow unfolded according to Isaac’s intentions?
“Hmm…”
Was it really right for him to involve himself in something so important?
Especially when it was an unknown event, one not properly recorded in history, much less in the Jikbakguri Glasses.
Then, on second thought, perhaps it was precisely because it was an unknown event that it worked to his advantage.
If it was truly an unknown event that no one knew anything about,
then no matter what happened there, it might have no effect on the future at all.
Maybe this was better.
He had wanted to learn more deeply about the mystery surrounding Isaac Morf’s betrayal, too.
“Yes. I’ll go.”
“That bold answer pleases me greatly.”
And so…
Baek Yuseol ended up getting deeply entangled in the great incident unfolding between the Morf Grand Ducal House and the Adolevit royal family.
Even now,
he still did not know whether it was the right thing to do.
