Raon didn't panic, but rather lowered his gaze as he watched Denier, biting the inside of his cheek.
'As expected, that person is strange.'
Among the key figures of Zieghart, Denier Zieghart was the most difficult to understand. Karoon was sensitive and cold, but he was also a man with strong pride in Zieghart, and Balder was ignorant and gullible, but he was a man overflowing with loyalty. However, Denier was different from those two.
He seemed kind and righteous, but when it really mattered, he didn't step up, and instead showed incompetence.
'The White Blood Religion's attack was the peak of it.'
Even when the White Blood Religion invaded Zieghart, Denier was defending the Lord's Manor and ended up causing the death of the Council of Elders and a considerable number of swordsmen. Considering his strength as a Palace Master and his usual intellectual demeanor, it was strange in many ways.
'If there's a spy in Zieghart, Denier is the most likely candidate.'
Sif said he was targeting Glenn after Alice, but in Raon's opinion, that was impossible.
'The difference in power is too stark.'
Even if Sif had absorbed Alice's power and reached transcendence, he was in a completely different league from Glenn. Like wfith Alice, he might be able to swing his sword at Glenn with an extremely rare chance after exhausting Glenn's power and spirit, but Roenn or Sheryl wouldn't just stand by and watch.
In fact, it's impossible to drain Glenn's power or catch him off guard.
The chances of him trusting Sif, who returned alone after losing both the Light Wind division and Alice, were also low.
'Then there's only one way.'
Using Sif as bait, and one of the spies in Zieghart seizing that opportunity. Others might not do this because Sif's abilities were too valuable, but it was a plan entirely possible for Derus.
-So you're saying that pale bastard is the spy?
Wrath glared at Denier with eyes full of anger.
'No, it's just my intuition for now.'
Since he was young, for some reason, the images of Derus Robert and Denier Zieghart would overlap at times. Especially now, when he should be angry but instead smiles and endures, it reminded Raon of that bastard's dirty face.
-This is unusual.
Wrath turned his head and narrowed his eyes.
-Normally, you would gather information, assess the situation, and then move slowly.
'I don't want to see any more people close to me die.'
Raon bit his lip. As Wrath said, his usual self would have gathered sufficient information about the opponent before making a move. But after experiencing Rimmer's death, he realized there were times when he needed to act first, even without certainty.
The Cursed Blacksword in his hand now was an important item that could potentially restore Alice and disrupt Derus's plans.
He didn't want to hand it over to the inscrutable Denier.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Denier looked at his own hand before raising his gaze to Raon.
"Light Wind Division Leader?"
His voice was calm. He didn't seem angry or even surprised that the sword he was holding had been snatched away.
"As I said."
Raon shook his head impassively.
"This Cursed Blacksword is cursed, so not everyone can hold it."
"Are you already disregarding me because you've reached transcendence?"
Denier spoke lightly, as if making a joke. Even now, he didn't seem angry.
"R-Raon?"
"Young Master Raon..."
Instead, Vulcan and Roenn called Raon's name in low voices.
"How could that be?"
Raon shook his head as he moved the Cursed Blacksword behind him.
"There might be a dangerous curse we can't understand on this Cursed Blacksword, so the Head of House has limited the number of people who can touch it."
He raised his gaze as he said that the Wise Martial Palace Master's name wasn't on that list.
"Wise Martial Palace Master, I hope you'll focus on other tasks, as you have many things to do in the future."
Raon bowed politely, saying that he and others would take care of matters related to this sword.
-The old man didn't say anything like that!
Wrath widened his eyes as if in disbelief.
'Denier doesn't contradict the Head of House's words. He always just listens quietly.'
-What if he questions the old man about it?
'He won't.'
Unlike Karoon and Balder, who sometimes complain or question Glenn, Denier never steps forward. Using the Head of House's name was bound to work.
'Even if he does question it, I can find another way out.'
He had also thought of a method in case Denier asked Glenn, so it didn't matter how he moved. The important thing was to keep this sword out of his hands.
"But I've already touched it?"
Denier said he had held the Cursed Blacksword and smiled faintly.
"Even food that falls on the ground can be eaten if picked up within three seconds. I snatched it away immediately, so it should be fine."
Raon shook his head, telling him not to worry.
"Are you alright?"
"I even fought with Sif who was wielding this sword. If I were to be cursed, it's already too late."
He shrugged his shoulders while looking at Denier.
"I see. So you came all the way here to tell me that?"
Denier slightly lowered his lightly clenched fist.
"No."
Raon let out a small sigh as he looked at Roenn behind him.
"I came to inform everyone that Aunt has woken up."
"Sister..."
Denier frowned, letting out a murky groan.
"Is Lady Alice alright?"
Roenn lowered his eyebrows as if worried.
"Her body... is fine. She's fallen asleep again."
"Ah..."
"..."
Understanding the meaning behind the words that her body was fine, Roenn let out a groan, and Denier turned his gaze away heavily.
"Since you say she's sleeping again, I'll have to visit later."
Denier clicked his tongue briefly and turned around.
"Light Wind Division Leader. Thank you for worrying about me."
"Not at all. As a Palace Master, you should take care of your health better than anyone."
"Is that so? It seems like you need to take care of yourself more diligently than me now."
He muttered something incomprehensible and stood in front of the reception room door.
"To be honest, even if I had seen that sword, I wouldn't have been able to come up with a solution. Everyone, please work hard."
Denier politely greeted Roenn, Vulcan, and Pasirion, the shaman of the Beast Union, before leaving the reception room. As he walked down the corridor of the Lord's Manor, he opened the hand that had held the Cursed Blacksword. Woong.
Denier looked at the faintly glowing fragment of the Cursed Blacksword in his palm and briefly curled up the corners of his mouth. He seemed both pleased and bitter.
"So that's how it is..."
* * *
"Young Master. What is this all about..."
Roenn blinked his eyes as if he couldn't understand the situation.
"It just happened that way."
Raon shook his head, telling him not to ask.
"Looks like you're having some strange thoughts again."
Vulcan snorted, saying he couldn't understand.
"Yes. Please understand."
Raon looked at Vulcan and smiled faintly.
'I can't tell you.'
It was just a hunch for now. There was no evidence that Denier had done anything or leaked information so far. The reason for suspecting him was intuition, so he couldn't bring it up to others.
"So you're Raon Zieghart."
The Beast Union's shaman approached Raon and clasped his hands together.
"I, Pasirion of the Union, greet our benefactor."
He bowed his head to Raon with the utmost respect. It seemed he was referring to the time when Raon had entered the White Blood Religion and rescued Beast King Ogram.
"That was so long ago. Please don't do this."
He waved both hands, embarrassed because it was such an old incident.
"If I were to be disrespectful to our benefactor, the Beast King would rip my head off."
Pasirion bowed his head even deeper, asking him not to refuse the greeting.
"Ah, I suppose that's true."
Raon awkwardly smiled and accepted Pasirion's greeting.
"Thank you."
Pasirion bowed his head once more in gratitude and straightened up.
"So, is it impossible to break the curse on this sword?"
Raon immediately brought up the main point to prevent Pasirion from saying anything else embarrassing. He had examined this sword on his way back to Zieghart, but he couldn't break it with the magic he knew. It was fundamentally different from dungeon magic.
"How could I refuse a request from you?"
Pasirion shook his head as he looked at the Cursed Blacksword.
"It will take a lot of power and time, but we should be able to break it."
He raised his hand, saying that although it would consume a lot of manpower and time, breaking the curse was possible. It seemed as if he was saying it was possible because it was his request, not someone else's.
"Then can Aunt's power return?"
"If the curse is broken, it should naturally return. The nature of water to return to where it was; this case should be similar."
Pasirion nodded, saying it would be possible once the curse was broken.
"...Thank you."
Raon took Pasirion's hand and bowed his head. If even a bit of her power returned, it would give Alice some strength. All he could say was thank you.
"However, I think we'll need to call more shamans. I don't think I can handle this alone."
Pasirion lowered his hand, saying that they needed the power of many shamans as they also needed to investigate the source of this curse.
"You can use as much money as needed, so please do that."
"I don't think we'll need much money."
He shook his head, saying money wasn't necessary.
"Those guys will be happy to meet our benefactor too."
"Me...?"
"Yes. A swordsman who reached transcendence in his early twenties. They'll be looking forward to seeing Raon Zieghart." (E/N: Raon is 23-24 I think)
"Transcendence?"
Raon blinked his eyes as he looked at the grinning Pasirion.
"It seems you didn't know."
Pasirion tilted his chin as he saw Raon's rounded eyes.
"Right now, rumors about Raon are spreading across the entire continent."
* * *
Glenn returned to the audience chamber and sank deep into the throne.
"Huu..."
Perhaps because even Roenn wasn't there. A long sigh escaped without him realizing it.
'I'm tired.'
He felt so dizzy that he wondered if there had ever been such a mentally exhausting event. It seemed like he could faint right here and now without it being strange.
'Well...'
While he had lost many comrades before, it was the first time family had stabbed family. Sif had stabbed Alice, killed Rimmer, and eventually died at Raon's hands.
Excluding the process, a friend had died, a grandson had killed a grandson, and his daughter was in a state of mental collapse, so it wasn't strange that even he felt depressed.
Especially, the fact that he couldn't do anything for Alice, who had barely woken up, made his chest ache as if it was collapsing.
"Haaa..."
Glenn let out an even deeper sigh and covered his eyes with the back of his hand as he leaned his head against the throne. Just as he was about to close his eyes and fall asleep, not having the strength to go to bed. Chizizizik! Glenn frowned as he saw a blue spear causing sparks in front of the pillar of the Lord's Manor.
That spear was a magic for video conferencing created jointly by Chamber and the Mage Tower Master.
It was asking for permission to open the video, so it kept sparking.
"What is it now..."
Glenn clicked his tongue briefly and snapped his fingers, and four suppressed windows suddenly shot up.
"Glenn!"
"Zieghart Head of House!"
"Old man!"
"I-Is it true...?"
The images of Beast King Ogram, Silent Sword Master Lecross, Archmage Chamber of Eternal Flame, and Mage Tower Master Larian appeared simultaneously.
"W-What are you talking about."
Glenn trembled his chin with bewildered eyes, not expecting four Transcendent Warriors to cling to the screen and speak like this.
"Raon! Is it true that kid has reached transcendence!"
Ogram slammed his hand down, urging him to speak.
"I also contacted you for that reason. Is it true that the Light Wind Division Leader has touched transcendence? Rumors are rampant across the continent!"
King Lecross swallowed dry saliva, saying he was curious.
"Grandpa! Why are you keeping your mouth shut! Did our Raon really become a Transcendent?"
Chamber smacked her lips loudly, attaching the word 'our' in front of Raon's name.
"O-Our side has been talking about it all day too. It's the first time magicians have been chanting a swordsman's name..."
Larian blinked her eyes repeatedly, saying that Raon's story was circulating in the magic tower as well.
"Reaching Grandmaster in his early twenties would already be a first in the continent's history, but transcendence! It's hard to believe even for Raon."
Chamber repeatedly tapped the blue screen, telling him to speak up.
"No! Raon is capable of it! That kid's talent is different from ours!"
Ogram revealed eyes full of expectation with certainty.
"...Hah."
Glenn let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the four Transcendent who seemed like they would break through the screen. He didn't know where the rumors had spread from, but it seemed that only the story of Raon reaching transcendence had spread, excluding Rimmer's death and Alice's loss.
"Stop laughing and answer, old man!"
Chamber made a mouth shape with her hand, opening and closing it, telling him to speak.
"Yes. It's true."
Glenn looked at each of the four people in turn and nodded.
"Raon has stepped into the realm of transcendence."
"Wooooooh!"
Ogram raised both fists and roared as if he had turned into a beast.
"Huh, the history of the continent. No, the history of all dimensions has been rewritten."
Lecross laughed in disbelief.
"As expected of our Raon! I knew he could do it!"
Chamber waved her hand with a grin, seemingly forgetting that she had said she couldn't believe it.
"I... want to research..."
Larian smacked her lips longingly, saying she wanted to research Raon, who had achieved an impossible feat.
"Huu..."
Glenn let out a puff of air as he watched the four people showing various reactions.
'Is it that good?'
Usually, when one reaches transcendence, they become insensitive to most worldly matters. Seeing them making such a fuss and getting excited, he couldn't help but smile.
'No, in fact, this is the right reaction.'
Even if Raon had only reached Grandmaster at his age, the entire continent should have been in an uproar, but the kid had touched transcendence. Because of Rimmer's death, he hadn't been able to properly congratulate him, but it was certainly an amazing feat, and it wouldn't be strange to spread the news across the continent and hold a festival.
"At this rate, wouldn't we have the advantage even in an all-out war?"
Ogram laughed, saying that now they wouldn't be at a disadvantage in terms of military power.
"You need to recover for us to have an advantage. Who knows how many hidden Transcendent Warriors they have on their side. Well, Raon reaching transcendence is still cause for celebration. Celebration!"
Chamber chewed on a lollipop, shouting that it was a joyous occasion.
"Ahem, does Raon have a girlfriend? There's a fine girl in the Raman tribe who can lift two bulls with one hand."
Ogram rolled his eyes, saying he would introduce a really fine woman.
"What nonsense! There's a girl with a connection to Raon on our side!"
"That kid has no manners!"
"She's different now! She's completely changed as a person!"
Chamber shook her head, saying Raon's partner was in Balkar.
"A magician would suit a swordsman better..."
Larian rolled her eyes, saying there were many good women in the magic tower too.
"Hahaha!"
Glenn burst into laughter as he watched Ogram, Chamber, and Larian arguing over Raon's potential partner. Hearing praise for Raon, the depression and fatigue that had been constricting his heart seemed to ease a bit. It was always that child who made him laugh.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Just tell us if Raon has a girlfriend or not."
Chamber and Ogram frowned, telling him to speak.
"Not yet..."
Glenn smiled faintly and shook his chin firmly.
"I won't give him to anyone!"
* * *
In the dawn, as the wind pushed away the night.
Raon opened the door of the fifth training ground and entered.
'All the lights are off.'
In the past, even when he came at dawn, the lights in the training ground were often on. He didn't realize it then, but it seemed Rimmer had prepared it for him.
'He really was a person who didn't show off.'
Rimmer would struggle to get recognition for trivial things, but he would quietly keep his mouth shut about the important ones. Now that such a person was gone, the void felt immensely large.
-Still, it seems you've improved a bit from before.
Wrath shook his head after letting out a long yawn.
'My mind is at ease.'
He had steeled his heart, knowing that the more he grieved, the more it would be an insult to Rimmer.
-That's a good mindset. For those who wield swords and fight, death is inevitable. It's right for those left behind to focus on inheriting and moving forward with the will of those who have departed.
'I know.'
-As the monarch of the Devildom, I've seen many subordinates...
"Meow!"
Just as Wrath was about to start talking about himself while stretching his waist, a cat jumped down from the wall.
-How dare a mere cat interrupt this monarch's words? I'll tear apart its...
"Raon!"
The cat called out Raon's name with its mouth slightly open.
-Eeeeek!
Wrath, startled by the sudden words, glared at the cat before floundering like a freshly caught fish.
"Merlin?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the cat. He had thought it was Merlin from the beginning since there were no cats around here.
"What's the matter?"
"The spell is complete."
The cat possessed by Merlin extended its front paws.
"Let's wake up your sister!"