Eps 264 The Ogent Family's Circumstances (3)
|Note
There’s none :)
Since she came to the academy, she thought she might as well buy him a meal after a long time.
Lately, he has been hanging out with a girl named Tess, and she like that one. She only met her once, but she had a gentle personality and seemed like a good person who could handle Rian’s stubbornness.
Upon arriving at the training ground, she saw Rian practicing swordsmanship.
She’d heard that because Tess brings him lunch, he continues training even during lunchtime.
He was striking a dummy with a baton, and even from a distance, she could feel the intense energy radiating from him.
Tess, who was sitting on the grass and drinking water, had her eyes fixed on the club that Rian was swinging with explosive force.
Since returning from Heaven, he had increased the intensity of his training to the point where he now spent more time running than resting.
Tess picked up the Spirit magazine that Rian had tossed aside.
It featured an article about Shirone, who had defeated Dante, the kingdom’s greatest star.
The parts where Shirone appears were so worn out that the letters were faint, as if they had been read so many times.
There was also an article about Shirone’s parents on the next page, but after a quick glance, she hadn’t looked at it since.
‘Rian... you must be suffering.’
Tess knows what kind of mindset Rian has when it comes to training.
Rian was Shirone’s sword, and the determination he carried was something Tess had felt the moment he returned from Heaven.
For him, Shirone's success would have been an irreplaceable joy, but the disappointment in himself would have doubled.
The fact that Rian’s training load increased by 1.5 times the day after he read the article said it all.
For a swordsman, a 1.5 times increase might be considered slightly excessive, but Rian was an exception.
Even under normal circumstances, he tested his limits daily, so for Rian, this 1.5 times increase was nothing short of a murderous workload.
But Rian did it.
It was a strange phenomenon that couldn’t be explained by talent alone—it was something unique to Rian.
Tess was amazed as she watched the trajectory of Rian’s swings.
It was as if he was putting his very soul into each strike.
‘He’s really strong. Honestly, even if I fought him with Schema, I’m not sure I could handle it.’
Rian, on the other hand, thought differently.
‘No. This isn’t enough to bring him down.’
Rian wasn’t looking at the dummy.
He was seeing a vision of Ymir rising behind the dummy.
Despite his relatively small size for a giant, Ymir’s strength had pierced deep into Rian’s bones.
"Uaaaaaah!"
Rian swung the club with a wild scream.
The specially crafted club weighed the same as the greatsword his grandfather had passed down to him. And yet, he swung it as if it were a mere switch.
'No! No! No!'
When he first started training by striking the dummy, every swing made him feel like he wanted to die from the pain.
But after getting through that stage, a craving now overwhelmed him.
Why wasn’t he moving faster? How had he cut off Ymir’s arm before?
At that moment, a vision of all his attacks being destroyed by Ymir’s strike flooded his mind.
A massive fist was flying toward his face.
Ymir’s voice roared out.
'That's not it!'
"Uaaaaaah!"
Rian brought the club down vertically with all his might.
The dummy, struck hard on the top of the head, shattered from the base up, bursting into pieces.
“Wow...”
Tess’s eyes widened in surprise.
It wasn’t the first time Rian had broken a dummy, but today’s strike felt subtly different from before.
Rian, realizing this too, stood in place in the position he had struck, reliving the sensation from moments earlier.
He needed to absorb every feeling.
A talented swordsman might have an insight without even trying, but for him, the only path forward was to learn through his body.
“Rian! Your sister’s here!”
At Reina’s voice, Rian’s face twisted in irritation.
Luckily, he had grasped the sensation just in time—if she had called him even a moment sooner, everything would have been for nothing.
“What is it? Why are you suddenly at the academy?”
Before Reina could answer, Tess hurried over.
Scoring points with her future sister-in-law in advance was the first thing written in a recent dating guide she read.
"Hello."
“Yes, it’s been a while, Tess.”
Rian asked again.
“What’s going on?”
“Uh, that’s….”
Reina trailed off.
Since she had taken Kuan’s advice, she knew mentioning his grades would backfire.
But she couldn’t think of an excuse either, so she hesitated. At that moment, a guard outside the training grounds suddenly shouted.
“Everyone! Attention!”
Rian, Tess, and Reina all turned their eyes toward the entrance of the training ground.
Ogent Klump, Rian's grandfather, was walking towards them with the swordsmanship academy teachers following him like a tail.
Since an officially recognized third rank swordsman had arrived at the academy, it was natural for the teachers, who were also swordsmen, to be flustered.
But Rian and Reina were anxious in a different way.
Although he was nearing retirement, Klump remained a powerful force in the military.
For someone of his stature to suddenly visit the academy meant it wasn’t an ordinary matter.
Rian and Tess immediately stood at attention.
Even though they were family, as students of the swordsmanship academy, they were at the lowest rank in the military hierarchy.
Failing to show proper respect to Clump, the commanding officer, could result in actual punishment under military law.
“At ease.”
As Klump's order was given, Rian and Tess slightly relaxed their stiff shoulders in compliance with the order.
Klump looked around the training ground. Since it was lunchtime, only Rian and Tess were there.
“Training even during lunch? Very commendable.”
"Thank you."
Tess straightened her posture again as she spoke.
This was the second time she had met Klump. The first time was when she was invited to Reina’s house for dinner, where she had greeted him.
She remembered his cheerful personality, fitting for a strong warrior, which had made her feel at ease. But here, she couldn’t afford to be careless.
The teachers standing behind them were also holding their breath, closely watching the situation.
Klump watched Rian's balance closely.
He knew that Rian had placed last in the midterm exams. When Reina had made a fuss about going to the academy to complain, he had just laughed it off.
How high someone can climb is important, but Klump believed that Rian’s will to never give up was his greatest weapon.
However, seeing it in person was different from what he had expected.
Klump took the club Rian was holding and swung it around.
"Hmm," he murmured, lost in thought, then reached out and massaged Rian’s shoulder and arm.
At a certain point, his hand paused, and his eyes lit up.
"This weighs exactly the same as the greatsword of Ogent Family. You’re swinging it until the dummy is destroyed?"
“Yes.”
Klump chuckled and handed back the club.
“That’s definitely an ignorant way of doing things, so typical of you.”
Rian's lower lip slightly protruded.
Had they not been at academy, he would have gladly shown his grandfather just how terrifying the youngest grandson could be, but here, rank was everything.
"Well... do as you like. It’s your life."
"Yes, I plan to."
Rian responded with a hint of defiance, though without crossing any lines, and Klump chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.
For some reason, he seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.
When he glanced around at the teaching staff and nodded as if to say that they had taught them well, the teachers finally sighed in relief.
Reina also had an idea of what her grandfather had sensed in Rian.
As she mulled it over, she sneaked a glance at Kuan, who, as expected, was watching her with his usual prickly gaze.
Feeling awkward, she turned her head away, feigning indifference.
At least it seemed that the swordsmen didn’t find Rian too troublesome, which was a relief.
Klump ignored Rian and approached Reina.
"So here you are. They were looking for you at the royal palace, and I came straight here when I heard you were at the academy."
“Huh? You came because of me? Is something going on?"
Klump glanced at Rian and motioned for her that they should move somewhere private.
The reason he had come was because a few days ago, they had received intelligence from the Kazra Kingdom regarding Shirone.
Given that Rian had made a knigh’s oath to Shirone, it would be natural to inform him, but Klump wanted to prevent that.
Rian wasn’t the type to handle this calmly. The calm Reina was better suited for this job than the hot-tempered Rian.
Klump took Reina into the shade of the trees.
Rian, seeing himself left behind, made a grumpy face but soon dismissed it.
His grandfather and sister were both busy people from the royal palace, so he figured it was probably something important.
Reina’s eyes widened after hearing about Shirone’s situation from Klump.
"What? The First Prince of the Kazra Kingdom?"
"It’s not confirmed yet, but it seems highly likely. It looks like the Kazra side is almost certain. The circumstances, timing, and location of Shirone’s abandonment all match. And Shirone is the only child known to have been abandoned near the Valley of Dawn."
Reina was silent for a long time as she gathered her thoughts.
But there was no point in overanalyzing the sequence of events. Since the decision had already been made, what mattered now was how to proceed.
"So... you need to go to the main house. Take Shirone and go to the Kazra Kingdom. It seems like you’re the only one who can do it."
Reina also thought she was the right person for the job.
As the only artist in the swordsman family of the Ogents, she had a broad social network and had connections in the elite artist group, the Assembly of 99 Elite Artists.
However, she was still concerned about Rian. If she hid the truth from him and carried out the plan, he would be deeply disappointed when he found out later.
"Shouldn’t we tell Rian?"
"No. As you probably suspect, the situation is too tense. Even a small mistake could ruin everything. But as you know, that boy can be a bit reckless."
“That’s true.”
Since they were crossing into another country and meeting the king, logic would have to take precedence over emotions.
In that sense, Rian was a major risk factor.
When it came to anything related to Shirone, not even a king—let alone a god—would be able to sway his emotions.
"Alright. I’ll go without telling Rian."
"The date and the route for the audience have been passed to us through intelligence. You must not reveal this to anyone before you reach Creas. Shirone mustn’t know either."
Between nations, important affairs were always conducted through intelligence. However, only a select few had the authority to verify the substance of that intelligence.
The secrecy and intrigue of shadow diplomacy often led to conspiracy theories.
In some ways, it was like playing pretend, but when this game played out on a national scale, the stakes were entirely different.
Even something as trivial as choosing the emissary’s lodging could spark a war, so maintaining confidentiality was essential.
“The location is Alpheas Magic Academy. Fifty armed soldiers will accompany them, and Kazra’s administrative officer, Ordos, will meet with Shirone as an emissary. We’ve sent a response from our side, but now it’s all about reading the situation. They’ll probably try to take Shirone before we arrive. You’ll need to act quickly. You’ll be able to buy us some time."
Reina nodded, feeling the gravity of the mission.
"Understood. I’ll prepare and leave immediately."
Kazra Kingdom (1)
The three-day preparation period requested from Ordos had ended.
Shirone was riding in a carriage with Reina, heading to the academy while being tested on court etiquette.
"What’s the first thing you do during an audience?"
"Kneel, lower your gaze by 45 degrees, and place your hands over your chest. Then state your name and rank, followed by, 'I answer Your Highness’s summons.'"
"What is the official morning time standard at the royal palace?"
"Thirty minutes before the lunch bell rings."
Reina nodded with satisfaction.
"Good, you’ve done very well. Impressive!"
"Hehe! It was easy because it’s similar to the customs of the Thormia Kingdom."
Though Thormia and the Kazra Kingdom had differences in eras, both had separated from the Republic of Yakma as brother nations, so their cultures and lifestyles weren’t very different.
Of course, for someone like Shirone, who wasn’t a noble, there was a lot to memorize.
But Reina wasn't worried.
She had believed Shirone could handle it, as he had been bright from a young age, and indeed, he had managed to memorize all the court etiquette within just three days.
However, Shirone, the person involved, still seemed anxious.
"What if I make a mistake? I mean, the rule about thirty minutes before lunchtime is pretty vague."
Reina patted Shirone’s head and said,
"Hehe, there’s no need to be nervous. Even nobles get that wrong a lot. Of course, it’s best to follow the rule, but if you get the time wrong, it’s not like they’ll throw you in jail."
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