It wasnât that he mentioned his grandfather's name, but the person who was trying to kill him was his grandfatherâs friend.
He couldnât believe it straight away, but at least he knew that Darius wasnât going to kill him.
âYoung lord!â
Siegfried leapt through space and stood in front of Jamie.
âAre you okay?â
âYes, wellâŠâ
âYou bastard!â
He concentrated the mana on the staff. The space which was in sync with his mana began to tremble.
Han too arrived a bit later and surrounded Darius as he aimed his spear at him.
And looking to the side he asked.
âAre you alright?â
âEverything is fine, so take back your weapons.â
âYoung lord!â
âKid?â
âIt is fine.â
When Jamie said it was fine, the two frowned.
Darius smiled.
âA kid is your leader?â
âLeader my ass!â
Han shouted from behind.
Siegfried didnât react like Han. Instead he looked at Jamie and said,
âIt seems like the young lord is too wrapped up in his idea.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âDonât you think what you said just now was a mistake? Take back your weapons.â
â⊠donât keep saying weird stuff.â
Jamie said and Siegfried called back his staff.
After some hesitation, Han too changed his spear into a bell staff.
âHmm. Now is the time to have a conversation.â
âConversation?â
âWhat is this all of sudden?â
Siegfried and Han looked at Darius with ridiculous expressions. They were just aiming to kill each other and now this man wanted to talk.
Siegfried asked Jamie.
âWhat is this?â
âHe is my grandfatherâs friend.â
â⊠sorry?â
âHuh?â
Jamie sympathized with their reaction. Attacking a kid and then saying he was friends with his grandfather was like âOh! Right! I remember!â. Wouldnât anyone have the same reaction to such people?
However, what caught Jamieâs heart was that he didnât attack.
âHe is skilled, what more can we do?â
Even a 3-1 match would end in a disadvantage for Jamie. So this was a lucky situation.
Darius was a monster.
âIt would sound absurd.â
Darius rubbed his chin.
âBut it is true. About 10 years ago, I met Chervil, not long after I became the champion of the dark arena. AndâŠâ
He took off his glasses.
âWhen I met you, I was asked to pass down a certain skill.â
Venna flapped her wings and focused on her hearing. Do not miss a single sound.
âFlying skills are a little better.â
Philion let her handle it.
Although he felt it before, he felt like Vennaâs talent in flying was the best among the Valkyries he had seen.
âStill feel the energy of elves?â
[Not far from here.]
It wasnât like Philion could explicitly feel it, but he could tell the rough direction it was coming from.
Venna sped up to the direction Philion gave her.
It was then.
Kuk!
A gust of wind blew in.
Her wings got twisted by the sudden turbulence.
At the sudden wind, Venna's body moved to and fro.
âWhat! What! What! What!?â
[Donât panic. Lift your wings and step down on the wall.]
Following Philionâs instructions, she folded her wings and then put her feet on the side wall. It was four stories high, but as she was Valkyrie, the height was nothing.
She jumped off and looked up.
â⊠Who?â
A man wearing a robe. In his hand was a dark auburn wooden staff.
She asked very carefully, but there was no answer.
[Maybe the subordinate of the human who bought the elves.]
Vennaâs eyes widened. She never thought that someone would be watching out for her.
Venna frowned and took a fighting stance. Deal with it quickly and move away, that was her plan. Although she didnât have proper battle experience, she worked well in the face of death.
Her pink hair was faintly red. Wings spreading out again.
The unknown magician clenched the staff in his hand.
In the tense air, they flew towards each other.
âWhere are the elves?!â
âWhere are the elves?â
Just before the collision, the two shouted at each other.
Swoosh!
A fierce wind blew.
Venna looked at the staff which stopped in front of her. Loaded with powerful mana to crush her right away.
It was the same with magicians. He felt the hammer stop right before the chin.
Needless to say, both would have died instantly if they hadnât stopped.
Gulping, the two pulled back their weapons.
And Venna broke the silence as she asked.
â⊠what did you just say?â
âSpeak first. Werenât you the one who bought the elves?â
Magician Alex frowned.
He was someone on the information and intelligence side of the team led by Izaya, and while searching the place to save Brahaâs people, he heard the screams of elves.
And then he found Venna flying looking for something so he attacked her. Of course, it failed.
Venna asked without answering his question.
âYou arenât the one⊠either?â
âHm.â
Alex stared at her and put back his staff. Venna put Philion back as well and asked,
âAre you also here to rescue the elves sold into slavery?â
âRight. Because they are my comrades.â
âComrades?â
âYou donât need to know that, so why are you looking for the elves?â
â⊠unfortunate.â
ââŠ. She isnât lying.â
Alex was in charge of intelligence, and always used magic which could read other peopleâs emotions.
He could see how Venna was feeling. And she was telling the truth. A person who was great at lying wouldnât be caught with the magic, but not this girl.
âI suddenly lost contact with my teammates.â
He didnât know what happened to the team, so he prioritized the mission.
And Venna seemed strong to him.
He couldnât understand how a young looking girl had such power, but if she too wanted to save the elves then joining her seemed like the right choice.
Venna too was thinking the same.
âNames later. First I want to save the elves.â
âSame here.â
The two, who knew nothing about each other, nodded and began to look for the elves.
âIf he meets me, pass it on?â
Jamie frowned.
Dariusâ words were strange. His grandfather had died the year Jamie was born.
He died on the land owned by the Welton family and not on their estate, Haiss. So Jamie never met Chervil.
He heard from his father. He was the strongest swordsman in the Seldam Kingdom. And the outstanding teacher who raised the current Count Welton to a great level.
But that was it. He never heard about his grandfatherâs personality.
And Jamie wasnât interested in it either, so he forgot untilâŠ
âFor me?â
How could that be?
Jamie couldnât believe it. A noble, whom he hadn't met before, went to Darius and asked him to teach something to Jamie?
Why not just pass it to Count Welton?
âYou donât seem to believe me.â
âObviously. Would you believe it?â
âIt would be difficult for me to.â
Darius didnât care how Jamie spoke to him. He kept smiling.
âActually. At that time. It was like Chervil was speaking nonsense.â
ââŠâ
âHow much do you know about your grandfather?â
âOnly that he was strong.â
âThat much is enough. Right. Chervil is insanely strong.â
Darius remembered the first time he met him.
âLetâs see. It was in Ruang about 8 years ago that I met him.â
Ruang was a large city located in the neighbouring nation, the Duchy of Venti and there was a dark arena there.
âI headed to my favourite pub, as usual. Even if I canât see, I have a lively tongue.â
Darius stuck his tongue out and pointed at it with his finger.
Siegfried frowned as if he thought it was dirty.
âAnyway, Chervil was drinking there alone, the moment I entered⊠we recognized each other right away.â
The Dark Arenaâs strongest fighter and the other people who were Master class.
At that time, Darius was the strongest man who maintained the champion position for over 3 years. It was a time when he was confident in his own abilities.
A strong sense of self confidence as if he was the best. And then he met Chervil Welton.
The two left the bar without a word and headed for an empty lot.
âThe sword of Chervil was amazing.â
He used spatial perception to his best. And that was why he was able to remain as the champion of the arena.
However, in the fight with Chervil, Darius was pushed back. Of course, it wasnât a one sided push. To be honest, Darius was almost pushed.
âSuch shocking skills. His sword, which not just cuts through space but also invades the essence, was the most dangerous sword I have ever encountered.â
There was no victory.
If they decided to push themselves one of them would have died, and it was likely that it was Darius who would die.
The two recognized each otherâs skills. And since then, they have turned into friends.
Chervil passed the title to his son and began to wander the world. So he stayed in Ruang for a while.
While he was there, Darius would visit him every day and the two would fight. It was a battle of words, and it was so fierce that one would think that people could die from words.
One day, Darius asked.
âWhy leave your comfortable home to be here? You could live happily in your later years in your place.â
âYes. Home isnât a comfortable place. Everyone one will see me there. And there is no one who will treat me as comfortably as you. And the wolves who want to take a bite out of me would soon come home every day. Do you know how annoying that can be?â
âI donât know since I donât have eyes.â
âRight.â
Chervil accepted the jokes of Darius.
âWell, I just want to see the world I couldnât see.â
âA world you couldnât see?â
âIf I put a wall ahead of me. And I need to cross the wall, if not for that I would have been at home like you said.â
âBut you got greedy.â
âYou are a warrior too, you should know right? So I am walking around since the wall will never come down in the place I have been. So I am walking all over the place.â
âAnd did the wall break?â
At Dariusâ question, Chervil smiled.
âShow me!â
Chervil broke down the wall. And the skills werenât shown to anyone yet.
And Darius wanted to see it.
âInstead promise me.â
âPromise?â
âShow my grandson this skill when you meet him.â
âWhat are you talking about all of a sudden?â
Show his grandson?
Before that, Darius wasnât even a swordsman. He could understand swords, but he couldnât handle them.
In particular, Chervilâs new technique must be something which involves the family swordsmanship. The skill which only a Welton blood could learn.
More than anything.
âDonât you have a son?â
âMy son doesnât know of this technique. You never know what happens. And I have no intention of passing it to him.â
Darius thought it was strange.
To which Chervil said,
âThis skill is for my grandson.â
âGrandson?â
âRight.â
âNo. Why not pass it to your son for him to pass it to his own son?â
âIt isnât his right andâŠâ
âWhat?â
âForget it. Just promise me.â
Darius didnât ask anymore.
âSo how old is your grandson?â
âNot born yet. Still in my daughter-in-lawâs womb.â
He couldnât understand it anymore.
âDonât try to understand and just accept it.â Was what Chervil said.
At that moment, Darius somehow felt as if he had climbed a huge step.
What Chervil showed gave him a new awakening.
âThe name of the technique isâŠâ
Darius finished his recollection and took the pose.
Jamie, Siegfried and Han focused on him.
Aura was brought out, and a sword was crafted in an empty hand. He still didnât understand the secret of the family sword, but the technique he saw at that time was firmly engraved in his mind.
What he was doing was just an imitation.
To be honest, he didnât know how much this little child could understand, but he wanted to keep the promise he made to his best friend 8 years ago.