Chapter 15: To the Secret Archive
“I came to see Father.”
“Would you please wait a moment? I will immediately inform the Family Head.”
To pass through the procedures required to reach the Family Head’s office, a single sentence saying that I had come to see Redin was enough.
It was a stark contrast to the past, when the audience procedures had been extremely strict.
And just like the simplified procedures, something else had changed as well—namely, the expressions of the knights who faced Hein.
“We greet the young master!”
Until yesterday, Redin’s guard knights had ignored Hein unless he entered their field of vision.
But today, the moment they caught sight of Hein from afar, they stopped in place and offered a formal salute with rigid posture.
“Father, it is your son.”
“Come in.”
Feeling the clearly changed status that surrounded me, I, Hein Reichart, arrived before Redin’s office and was able to meet him without any particular difficulty.
“What brings you to see me?”
Redin’s attitude toward me had changed as well.
Of course, his demeanor and tone toward me were still stern as ever.
However, the moment I arrived, Redin immediately turned his gaze toward me.
This was distinctly different from the Redin of a few days ago, who had kept his face buried in piles of documents.
“I have a request to make of you, Father, and so I came to see you.”
“Speak.”
“Would you grant me permission to enter Reichart’s Secret Archive?”
“…….”
At my request, Redin’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
The Secret Archive referred to the vault where the Reichart family stored various sword techniques handed down through generations, along with martial manuals that recorded the core principles of those techniques.
The Secret Archive was, by principle, managed directly by the Family Head himself, and whether or not it was opened was considered a matter of great importance.
That was why Redin reacted as he did.
“You do understand what it means to enter the Secret Archive, do you not?”
“Of course I understand.
The Secret Archive is the place that holds records that could be called the entirety of Reichart.
Under normal circumstances, is it not a place no one may enter except direct descendants of the family?”
“Yes, you know well.”
Redin nodded.
Very rarely, exceptions did occur, but in principle, only direct descendants of the family were permitted to enter the Secret Archive.
In other words, for a direct descendant to request entry into the Secret Archive meant…….
“Are you sufficiently prepared?”
It was tantamount to declaring that I would shoulder the duties of a candidate for the family’s successor.
“I do not believe I am overflowing with preparation, but I also do not believe I am lacking.”
“……Return to your quarters.”
Meeting my serious gaze, Redin fell into thought for a brief moment.
Then he ordered me to return, closed his eyes, and spoke.
“By this afternoon, a document granting you entry into the Secret Archive will be issued. Go and unfold your will.”
“Thank you for accepting the request of this lacking son, Father.”
Having obtained the result I desired, I offered Redin my respects and turned to leave the office.
Just as my hand touched the doorknob—
“There is one thing I wish to ask of you.”
“I will listen.”
“Hein, I will say this again, but since last night, the number of eyes watching your actions has increased beyond comparison to before.”
“I am aware.”
I knew it well.
Among those gazes—
‘Your own is included as well, Father.’
That Redin himself was included.
“After last night, I thought about many things. Was it truly necessary to go that far?”
Though he did not mention it directly, it was not difficult to realize that Redin was referring to the act of cutting off Alain’s arm.
“Did you perhaps wish for me to take a different course of action?”
“I am not blaming your choice. I am merely saying this because it seems you are trying to shoulder a great burden in too short a span of time.”
Until now, the one the Vispon Family had most closely watched and checked had been Family Head Redin.
But after last night’s incident, I had risen as a figure of caution equal to Redin himself.
Of course, I did not yet possess an influence comparable to Redin’s.
However, considering that since Rishu came to the Reichart family, last night was the first time she had suffered such an open humiliation, it was no wonder that Vispon would turn their attention toward me.
“Among the gazes fixed upon you, there will be some that hide blades within them.
I hope you will not forget that.”
“I will keep it firmly in mind.
However, though it may be an impertinent thing to say, I do not feel burdened merely because there are those who aim for me.”
“……!”
Once again, my answer strayed far beyond Redin’s expectations.
“If I were to feel burdened, it would not be because of wolfish packs that set their sights on me.”
“…….”
“What troubles me is only the fact that we have been unable to mete out proper punishment to those vile groups who defile the family’s authority while parasitizing this land.”
“…….”
“If my words sounded arrogant, I apologize.”
“……No. I understand your intent well enough, so you may withdraw and Belkent will soon step down from the position of commander of the Harm Knight Order.”
“I understand.”
With that brief reply, I left Redin’s office.
Left alone, Redin remained silent for a long while, his eyes closed.
Clack.
After some time had passed, Redin took out a key and retrieved a small box hidden in the deepest part of his office drawer.
Inside lay an antique-looking pendant.
With careful hands, Redin took out the pendant and opened its cover.
Inside the cover was the smiling image of a black-haired woman with an exceptionally pure-looking appearance.
And Redin spoke her name aloud, truly for the first time in a long while.
“Sophia.”
***
Thud.
That afternoon, the massive doors of the Secret Archive, which had remained shut for so long, finally opened, and I, Hein Reichart, stepped into the stacks where the weight of ages had settled like a haze of dust.
‘Let’s see. Not this way and this doesn’t seem to be what I’m looking for either.’
True to a prestigious sword family with a long history, Reichart’s Secret Archive housed many fine martial manuals.
Yet I ignored the piles of manuals and searched intently for something else.
‘If my intuition is right, it has to be here somewhere.’
Fwoosh.
As if reaffirming my resolve, I infused mana into the Family Sword.
The blade began to glow, and the spells engraved upon it revealed themselves with striking clarity.
‘There’s no way Haineph and the other blacksmiths figured out how to engrave spells of this level into a sword by their own power. The workshop masters must have simply followed the method handed down through the family.’
To the outside world, Reichart was known as a family of swordsmanship.
I had thought the same at first.
But after examining the Family Sword, my thinking changed.
If Reichart were truly nothing more than a swordsmanship family, they could not possess magical forging techniques this refined.
‘Among Reichart’s ancestors, there must have been someone with profound knowledge of magic.’
I was nearly certain.
Even if all that remained now was the forging technique, there had to have been someone among Reichart’s ancestors with considerable magical talent.
And within this Secret Archive, which remembered everything about Reichart……
‘The legacy that person left behind has to exist somewhere.’
Clenching my lips tightly once, I threw myself back into the search through the manuals.
And after exactly one full night and one full day since entering the Secret Archive……
‘Found it!’
At last, I discovered the item I had so desperately sought.
In my hands was a single ancient book tinted with a bluish hue.
On its cover were characters clearly different from those used anywhere on the continent today.
‘No wonder it was hidden so absurdly well. If it was recorded in ancient runes, how could descendants possibly understand it?’
Among all the people on the modern continent, fewer than three were capable of perfectly interpreting ancient runes.
Because of this, the legacy left by Reichart’s ancestor had simply lain dormant, forgotten among the depths of the Secret Archive.
And today, the visitor who found Reichart’s legacy was one of those three who could perfectly decipher runes.
‘Shall I savor it?’
I began reading the legacy on the spot.
Soon, within the Secret Archive where only the faint glow of the Family Sword existed, the only sound to be heard was the turning of pages.
***
“Hoo…….”
Only after spending yet another night awake did I finally lift my head from the ancient book.
Having finished reading, I was seized by excitement.
The legacy I had discovered in the Secret Archive was far more useful than I had expected.
‘Thank you, Master Herar Reichart.
Thanks to you, I can shorten the time considerably.’
I offered my gratitude to the owner of the book, Herar Reichart.
He was a knight who had led Reichart during its era of prosperity hundreds of years ago, and a swordsman with talents surpassing nearly all others of his time.
Yet the world did not grant him an opportunity to fully display those talents.
The continent during Herar’s active years was a rare age of peace.
Gentle by nature as well, he chose to hone himself rather than seek fame through conflict, and he spent most of his later years striving to harmonize magic and swordsmanship.
The crystallization of that effort was Reichart’s secret art.
Of course, Herar’s talent with the sword could not be compared to Gillian’s, and his talent in magic was never on Alexar’s level.
But even if he could not be measured against those two, it was self-evident that the records left behind by a man of such outstanding talent, who dreamed of the harmony between magic and swordsmanship, would be of tremendous help to me.
‘How long will it take to reach at least the minimum level?
Six months?
No.
With records this detailed, it might even be possible within three months…….’
According to my original plan, it would have taken about two years to grasp sword techniques to a certain level.
But thanks to Herar’s records, that time could be drastically reduced.
‘If I can reach the minimum level I want within three months, and if things continue smoothly after that, I might be able to make use of “that incident” that will happen a year from now.’
Having finished my calculations, I rose from my seat.
Fwoosh.
I picked up the Family Sword, which was still emitting light.
Looking at Herar’s legacy contained wholly within the sword, I smiled toward an old friend who was not present.
‘Gillian, it seems the heavens want my revenge after all.’