Chapter 46: The New Castellan of Chaplin Castle (4)
Before Pan could ask again in confusion, Kyle spoke first.
“Surely, the Royal Family would move.”
“Grand General, but…….”
“They would persistently target the Head of the Family, who managed and held decision-making authority over all major and minor matters of Ragnar. They might even threaten his life.”
In truth, the reason he intended to leave the Ragnar Knight Order with Pramo was not because of their training.
That was merely an excuse.
The real intention was that even the Ragnar Knight Order had to remain by Pramo’s side so that his safety could be ensured.
“Grand General, please do not worry too much. The Head of the Family is not someone who would be unaware of that.”
At Pan’s confident voice, Kyle closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“Because I am here.”
“……!”
“The moment the Head of the Family died due to an attack by the Royal Family, Ragnar would gain justification. Since I had returned, the Head of the Family could now act without worrying about his own safety.”
Of course, Pramo was not the kind of person who would move without caring about his own safety.
However, because Kyle, who would inherit the lineage of Ragnar even if he himself died, had returned, the board had been set for bolder actions.
It seemed Elder Pan had realized this as well; his expression turned grave, and Kyle, pressing his forehead, spoke while looking at him.
“So, Elder Pan, please lead the Ragnar Knight Order and return to the Lord’s Castle.”
“……Understood.”
“And what about the Castellan of Saie, returning together with Elder Pan while leading your family?”
At Kyle’s words, which demanded a decision immediately, the Castellan of Saie finally seemed to have made up his mind and nodded strongly.
“I will do so, Grand General. Taro.”
The Castellan of Saie answered Kyle while simultaneously calling his son.
“Yes, Castellan.”
“I will move to the Lord’s Castle first, so you prepare to move while leading the family members.”
Taro bowed at the Castellan of Saie’s words and tried to leave the study.
But a low voice flew at his back.
“Wait.”
It was none other than Kyle’s voice.
Hearing Kyle’s words, Taro stopped in his tracks.
“Was it Taro?”
“That is correct, Grand General.”
“Stay at Chaplin Castle. Other family members may go to the Lord’s Castle, but you should remain here.”
It was not only Taro who was startled by Kyle’s sudden words.
The Castellan of Saie revealed a tense gaze and asked about his intention.
“Why is my eldest son……?”
“I will personally teach swordsmanship to the Castellan’s eldest son.”
“……You already have Zero by your side, Grand General.”
“I had thought it strange. I think I finally understand why you hid your eldest son so tightly and did not show him to me.”
“That is……!”
Kyle captured Taro’s figure in his eyes.
A face that did not resemble the Castellan of Saie at all, and even his spirit…….
It had been strange to begin with.
Rather than raising Zero, it seemed he should keep Taro by his side and help him grow.
Kyle looked at the Castellan of Saie and raised the corner of his lips.
“Isn’t the successor of the Saie Family Zero?”
“Grand General, my eldest son is Taro here.”
“I did not know the Castellan had taken in a descendant of the Jepiro Family.”
Having had his hidden secret exposed, the Castellan of Saie only let out a deep sigh and did not say anything.
“…….”
“If you dislike that, then I will also take in Zero as well as the successor of the Jepiro Family.”
The Castellan of Saie, who had been silent, collapsed into his seat with a thud.
Then, in a powerless voice, he spoke.
“If it were someone else, I would have said this. That your greed is excessive.”
“It is not greed. I am asking for what is only natural.”
“Taro is my son, no matter what anyone says.”
“You know that he cannot remain as your son, do you not?”
“Hoo…… The swordsmanship of the Jepiro Family has already disappeared. Taro cannot rebuild the family.”
“Are you certain? That the swordsmanship of the Jepiro Family has disappeared.”
“……It is swordsmanship that vanished together with the Frostfire a hundred years ago.”
“Castellan of Saie, have you forgotten who the Successor of the Frostfire is?”
At that moment, the Castellan of Saie’s face stiffened as he held Taro in his eyes.
He did not want Taro to inherit the mission of the Jepiro Family.
That was why he had adopted him and made Taro, not Zero—his only biological son—the successor.
“I beg you. I wish to leave that child not as a descendant of the Jepiro Family, but as the successor of the Saie Family.”
“That cannot be. I have already found the one to inherit Red Cloud and Blue Frost. Now, once I find the one to inherit Black Ice, the succession of the three sword arts will be complete.”
Kyle retorted without avoiding the Castellan of Saie’s gaze.
Faced with Kyle’s eyes, filled with chill yet brimming with fervor, he tightly shut his eyes.
“If you wanted to hide him, Castellan, you should have never shown that child to me until the end.”
Just as Kyle said, the Castellan of Saie had wanted to do exactly that.
He had wanted to hide Taro from Kyle until the end, but it was not an easy thing to do.
Because Taro had wanted to meet Kyle.
For an entire week, he had begged to be allowed to meet him.
Every time he pleaded that he wanted to see Kyle, his object of admiration as a swordsman, even just once, the Castellan of Saie had flared up in anger.
But even that had been of no use.
“……Taro wanted it. He said that if I did not let him meet you, Grand General, he would live without ever holding a sword again. What father would hide his son even at the cost of ruining his future?”
“I understand the Castellan’s heart well. However, if that is fate, accept it humbly.”
Kyle placed his hand on Taro’s shoulder.
< Taro Saie >
Talent : Swordsmanship A-rank
Potential : Swordsmanship SS-rank
Unawakened Abilities : Black Ice Sword Technique SS-rank
Unlike those he had seen so far, it was a very simple set of abilities.
However, it could not be ignored.
Kyle looked at Taro and took out a book he had not been able to pass on from within his bosom.
“Will you inherit this swordsmanship, or will you remain as the successor of the Saie Family?”
At the sight of Kyle leaving the choice to him, the Castellan of Saie looked at Taro with sorrowful eyes.
At the suddenly changed atmosphere, Taro forced open his tightly closed mouth.
“I heard that you possessed special abilities from childhood, Grand General.”
It was a very small voice, but loud enough for everyone present to hear.
When Kyle nodded, Taro quietly stared at his face.
“How far can I grow?”
“If you learn this swordsmanship from me, you would be able to break through to the Master-level Realm.”
“……Can you promise that?”
“If that is what you want, I will do so.”
Seeing Taro’s heart tilting, the Castellan of Saie shouted urgently.
“Do you think the Master-level Realm is a joke! It takes at least ten years…… no, even more than that!”
Despite his shout, Kyle did not waver and gazed at Taro with a solemn look.
“Your current realm is Exford Upper Level, so at the very least five years. Within that time, you would be able to look toward the Master-level Realm.”
The Castellan of Saie stared blankly at Kyle as if hearing this for the first time.
“What is that supposed to……?”
“It seems even the Castellan did not know. Is it the desire to become stronger? Or is it the sense of mission to raise a fallen family once more?”
At that question, Taro closed his eyes and clenched both fists tightly.
There had never been a single moment he had forgotten.
The Castellan of Saie wanted him to inherit the family, but that was something he disliked even more.
“I never intended to take Zero’s place from the beginning, Castellan.”
“Taro!”
“The grace of giving me my name and bestowing upon me the Saie surname—I have not forgotten it.”
“Do not do this. I beg you like this…….”
“But my surname is not Saie, it is Jepiro. That will never change until the day I die.”
As if firming his resolve, Taro bowed toward the Castellan of Saie.
The one who had handed over even the position of successor to someone who did not even carry the family bloodline, and had cared for him with utmost sincerity.
To Taro, the Castellan of Saie was not someone like a father.
He was his father itself.
However, reviving the Jepiro Family was a matter separate from the Saie Family.
“It is merely returning to the original place, Castellan.”
“Taro! How can you do this?!”
“You told me not to take up the sword, yet in the end I did grasp the sword. To ease your fearful and anxious heart, Castellan, worried that I might leave one day, I have concealed myself of my own will.”
“Ah…….”
Even though the Castellan of Saie staggered while clutching his head and letting out a cry, Taro’s resolve did not change.
“That grace by which you gave me everything…… I will grow properly without a hair’s breadth of deviation, and I will repay it by becoming the greatest knight of the Ragnar Family.”
Standing atop the castle walls, Kyle looked down at the long procession leaving Chaplin Castle together with Taro.
“Do you regret not being able to join that procession?”
“……Rather than regret, I only feel guilt.”
“They will not understand your choice right now. But when they see how you have changed a year from now, even Viscount Saie will accept it.”
“How can I change?”
“Exford Uppermost Level. Rise to that realm. Do that, and defeat the Commander of the Royal Knight Order.”
Excluding the Royal Family, the strongest individual in the Daon Kingdom at present was Deyra.
The successor of the Zaira Family, and at the same time the one performing the role of Commander of the Royal Knight Order.
However, he was nothing more than a half-baked Exford Uppermost Level, someone who could not grow unless another guided the path he had to walk.
‘Even so, among those who follow the Royal Family, he is the only talent I wish to keep alive.’
However, the problem was that his loyalty and pride toward the royal house were far too strong.
He looked like someone who would never follow, even if the Royal Family were to change.
Even so, killing him would be a waste of talent.
While Kyle fell briefly into thought, Taro drooped his brows with an uncertain expression.
“I wonder whether I can defeat Commander Deyra of the Royal Knight Order. He is an elite who has grown up consuming all kinds of elixirs since childhood.”
“He merely has a large amount of aura. He is nothing more than a fool who does not even know what his own talent is.”
“Do you truly believe I can close that gap?”
“You are speaking in circles. Or do you simply need certainty?”
At Taro’s roundabout way of saying he lacked confidence, Kyle showed a faint smile.
Taro was currently lacking confidence.
It was easy to guess why someone who had stood in the position of successor of the Saie Family would lose confidence.
“You must have been forced into many things. I imagine Viscount Saie was greedy to make you into a versatile successor.”
As if Kyle’s words had struck true, Taro said nothing.
Kyle placed a hand on Taro’s shoulder and continued.
“I am different from Viscount Saie. There is only one thing I want from you—to reach the pinnacle with the sword. Other elements are unnecessary.”
“……Is it truly acceptable to do just that?”
“I am not trying to raise you to be a commander. Leave the thinking to others, and you become the greatest with the sword.”
If one compared Akun and Taro, in terms of swordsmanship Taro possessed overwhelmingly superior talent.
That did not mean, however, that the potential Akun possessed was inferior to Taro’s.
The disposition of a commander who could operate armies and lead wars to victory was something Akun was born with.
Taro simply possessed exceptionally high talent in swordsmanship.
‘A commander can be raised to oversee the battlefield as a whole, but Taro is different.’
If Akun was the one who painted the picture, then Taro had to become the brush.
The element that stood at the very front, forming the foundation that drew each stroke of the picture.
A swordsman who stepped forward first, cut down enemies, and raised the morale of allies—that was precisely the role Kyle wanted Taro to fulfill.
“Do not worry. The one who will make you reach the uppermost level within a year will soon arrive to take up the post of Castellan.”
Meanwhile, Seros, who had returned to the Ragnar Lord’s Castle, wore a blank expression after hearing Pramo’s words.
“……Head of the Family, is it correct that my lord ordered me to be appointed as Castellan?”
“That is correct.”
“Why would he do that…… Head of the Family, I am a knight. Is not a castle much the same as a territory? I have never managed a territory, nor do I intend to.”
“What can be done? My elder brother told me to convey it that way.”
“Haa…….”
A sudden headache surged through Seros.
He had returned after meeting Duke Luna, but he had never imagined he would hear such news.
However, Pramo’s words did not end there.
“Here is the document of appointment as Castellan.”
Pramo handed over the appointment document for the Castellan of Chaplin Castle, which he had personally prepared.
Accepting the document in a daze, Seros stared intently at Aron.
At the sudden gaze, Aron widened his eyes.
“Commander, this is also something I did not know.”
“How could that be? There is no way my lord would decide without even telling you.”
“It is true. If my lord had given me even a hint, I would have told you immediately, Commander.”
Aron raised both hands as if protesting his innocence.
Seeing Aron’s genuinely aggrieved expression, Seros sighed once more and turned his gaze back to Pramo.
“I will decide after meeting my lord and hearing his intentions. For now, I will merely keep this appointment document.”
“You will have no choice but to take up the position of Castellan, Commander.”
“I know that as well. That my lord is not someone who retracts a decision once made…….”
Kyle had always been that kind of person.
There were many times when he acted unilaterally to achieve what he had planned.
Even when he accepted Aron’s persuasion, in the end things always unfolded according to Kyle’s will—it was not something seen just once or twice.
It was to the point that even the clever Aron would throw up both hands and feet in surrender.
“Still, my elder brother stepped back one step on my opinion this time.”
At Pramo’s proud-looking expression, Aron shook his head.
“I think the Head of the Family still does not know my lord very well. At the time, it may seem as though he yields a step, but later he creates circumstances so that things proceed according to his will.”
Seros also knew that Pramo was intelligent and skilled at planning.
However, there was no one who could follow the workings of Kyle’s mind.
Especially Aron, who knew this best, glanced around and then spoke to Pramo.
“Seeing as the Ragnar Knight Order is nowhere to be seen, I believe the Head of the Family sent them along.”
“That is correct. I made it absolutely clear to the Commander. I told him never to return.”
“……In the end, the Ragnar Knight Order will return to the Lord’s Castle.”
“What?”
At Aron’s certainty, Pramo blinked and revealed his doubt.
“They will return together with the Elders and remain by the Head of the Family’s side.”
“……Then I will send the Ragnar Knight Order back.”
“That will not be possible. I will persuade the Head of the Family. No, I must persuade him. Because my lord intended the situation to be this way.”
This was not a guess—it was certainty.
If the Ragnar Knight Order returned to the Lord’s Castle, Pramo would obviously try to send them back to Chaplin Castle once more.
Even knowing Pramo’s disposition, Kyle had readily taken the Ragnar Knight Order with him because he trusted that Aron would grasp his intent and persuade him on his own.
“Now then, I will explain why the Ragnar Knight Order must remain by the Head of the Family’s side.”
Aron’s gaze changed.
Persuading the stubborn Pramo and making events flow according to Kyle’s will—
That was precisely the duty and mission of a military strategist.