6 – 6. First Scribbles

Lately, rumors had been spreading like wildfire along the Malidien ramparts.

Enough to make one forget the chill, at least for a while.

The guard duty had gone by quickly.

And there was more chatter amongst the soldiers than usual.

There were two topics of conversation.

One, of course, the demon beast colony.

“The demon beast colony is holding up longer than expected.”

“We’re seeing demon beasts we’ve never seen before, too. They’re not very threatening, but I think we should call in a demon beast scholar from the capital for some research.”

“The rampart repairs are ongoing, but I think we should change the times. The demon beasts seem to time their attacks with the repair schedules.”

It’s not a rare sight for monster swarms to form outside the Malridan walls.

However, this time it’s been dragging on a bit, so they requested support from the kingdom’s nobles.

The second topic of conversation, naturally.

Concerned the son-in-law of Helmunt, who was coming soon in response to the request.

“Helmunt? Helmunt is really coming?”

“Aren’t they supposed to be a Sword Clan this time? And they’re still coming?”

“Heard they’re sending a son-in-law. A Helmunt, at that.”

“My goodness, what a cheap trick. Those orcs only have brute strength.”

Inside the Malridan castle, in a small tavern.

A place the Margrave himself had built, a gesture for the frontline soldiers guarding the ramparts.

It was essentially Malridan’s frontline lounge and war room in one.

Among the knights, a woman with hair as white as snow was sipping juice instead of beer.

The Margrave’s only daughter, Sylverna Caldias, clicked her tongue with a smirk.

“Too bad, I was hoping the eldest daughter would come.”

“oooh!”

“As expected, Lady!”

“Even Helmunt’s Blood Rose would have knelt to your spear in one blow, Lady!”

Cheers echoed throughout the tavern.

Sylverna held up a hand, calming them down, then grabbed her spear that lay beside her.

Anna, her adjutant, sitting across the table, hastily rose and followed.

“Going on patrol!”

“Safe travels!”

“Good luck today, Lady!”

“Alright.”

She replied nonchalantly and stepped outside.

“Achoo!”

The chilly wind rustled her cloak, tickling Anna’s nose, who followed behind.

“Ugh, it’s so cold even though it’s April.”

“It’s always like this here.”

The huge castle wall came into view as soon as they stepped outside.

The abnormal chill never quite leaves the walls of Maliduan.

Anna chattered incessantly as they walked together towards the battlements for their watch.

“But, Lady, you don’t really need to stand guard, do you?”

Ulidian Caldias, the Margrave, the master of this land.

His only daughter, so it wasn’t as if she needed to stand watch like the common soldiers.

“I’m a soldier defending the walls, too. Of course I should be on duty. And Anna, you only say that because you don’t want to stand guard with me.”

“……”

Anna’s face flushed with shame, her core pierced.

“I told you to just be my handmaiden. Why did you have to learn the spear and come with me?”

“But! It’s my duty to serve you, Lady! It’s always been like that, since we were little!”

“I didn’t think you’d follow me to the military garrison.”

Silberna and Anna, faces kissed by the biting wind, reached the battlements.

After the handover from the previous guards, they ascended onto the wall.

Unlike the forward-facing watch, guarding the rear walls was somewhat more leisurely.

Since it was unlikely that any monsters would attack.

Thus, the number of personnel was minimal.

“The rear wall duty is a bit tedious.”

“The others usually like it when it’s their turn for the rear wall. They say it’s easier here.”

“It lacks tension.”

Silberna yawned, flipping through the passage list she had received during the handover.

Most of the people on it were nobles.

It meant they had requested support from the nobles, and they had responded by coming to the Maliduan barrier.

“Tch.”

Silberna clicked her tongue skeptically.

“Look, Anna. Drake Moor, Hairendel, Blackthorn, Silverbrook. The famous families have all sent nobodies, the sort of dregs no one’s ever heard of.”

“Ha, ha…”

“The front lines are just training grounds for their hopeful youngsters, aren’t they?”

“Well, there isn’t a place as safe as Maliduan to gain practical experience. They can learn a bit of spearmanship too.”

“Tch, why even call for support we don’t need? Why should we help nobles who are always looking out for their own interests?”

“It can’t be helped, right? The law says that nobles must be mobilized if the monster nest persists for three months?”

“Is it not laughable?! Are we folk who go out there and brawl? We’re the guardians who protect these walls! All we need do here is smash the heads of monsters until this colony dies a natural death! It’ll take a bit, but—!”

“Yes, yes, we know. Everyone knows, but what can we do?”

“The royals are intentionally not abolishing the law. They’re using us to raise up those little nobles!”

“Then we’re contributing to the kingdom. Wow, that’s great.”

“…Anna, what did I say earlier to make you pout?”

Anna wordlessly checks the list. Everyone who was supposed to come is here, but the most important family is missing.

“Helmunt isn’t here yet?”

“If they were, news would’ve spread by now.”

It was such an isolated place, and everyone had been living together for years, so news spread quickly.

While they were staunch soldiers who wouldn’t budge an inch when defending the wall.

Their tongues were as light as falling snow.

“Rianna’s son-in-law… I haven’t seen him.”

“Ah, you didn’t attend the wedding, did you? Because you lost to Lady Rianna back then.”

Silberna bristled at that.

“I didn’t lose! I was just physically exhausted after fighting her eldest son!”

“But the eldest daughter was much stronger than the eldest son, right?”

“Beyond comparison.”

Silberna clicked her tongue, then a question arose.

“A commoner who melted the heart of that woman, colder than the north. Honestly, I’m a little curious.”

“I heard he was a ferryman who rowed boats across the river. Apparently, he was a handsome, talkative, popular ferryman?”

“A ferryman?”

“Yes! That’s why the social circles were in such an uproar over it being a marriage that defied social standing. It’s so romantic.”

“Romantic, huh.”

As someone who’d seen Rianna Helmunt in person, she couldn’t think of a woman for whom the word ‘romantic’ was less fitting.

“Helmunt’s carriage is entering!”

At the soldier’s shout, Silberna grinned and ran out.

“Ah, miss?! Don’t go doing anything reckless! Strictly speaking, they’re guests who have come under the Helmunt name!”

“If they come to the Malridan Wall, they’ve got to follow the Caldians, romantically.”

A mischievous smile plastered on her face.

Her gaze, before she knew it, was fixed on Helmuth’s opulent carriage.

* * *

The main gate groaned open, belching a sound like a giant’s wail.

Isaac, moving alongside the carriage, cautioned Jonathan as they advanced.

“Jonathan, don’t be scared. The moment you flinch without reason, you’ll be treated even worse.”

“Y-yes, right. I’m a rose of the great Helmuth, after all.”

It wasn’t a bad way to think, actually.

Even if it wasn’t desired, he was, after all, representing the name of Helmuth.

“Welcome to Mallidian.”

A soldier greeted them, a mocking grin twisting his lips as they entered.

In reality, these men were little more than the private army of the Caldias family.

They were bound to have a negative view of those from Helmuth.

‘Silberna even went so far as to make open disparaging remarks.’

Thanks to her, it was obvious the other soldiers here would look down on them too.

‘No wonder the Lord didn’t want to send us.’

Just imagine if the eldest son, Lohengrin, had come here instead.

The moment the gate opened, he would’ve drawn his greatsword, and immediately started a rampage.

And Silberna, subduing him, would’ve established the perfect hierarchy.

“The lodging for the dispatched nobles is in that building over there. If there are any inconveniences-“

The soldier, gesturing towards a shabby building, subtly probed them.

There must’ve been some immature nobles who’d disliked or rejected the lodgings.

But ultimately, they must’ve all meekly gone to their rooms.

This wasn’t a place where ill-behaved young nobles were tolerated.

“It’s fine. Let’s go, Jonathan.”

“Yes, sir!”

Forcing his shoulders back, Jonathan tried to project confidence as they led the carriage toward the lodgings.

“Huh?”

The soldier, well aware of Helmuth’s characteristic arrogance, was stunned by such an unexpected response. He stared blankly as Isaac walked away.

* * *

“They didn’t kick up a fuss?”

“He was, if anything, quite the gentleman. I, I was a bit taken aback.”

Upon the rampart.

Silberna, spear in hand, had been sure that the Helmund upstart would throw a tantrum, behaving like a proper insult, and now wore a perplexed expression.

“The provocation didn’t work.”

“They said he was of common birth, but he seems to possess some restraint.”

Becoming Helmund, she’d assumed he’d have a similar temperament.

“To hold his tongue after being called a cheapskate, I truly didn’t see that coming.”

“So, what will you do now? You know causing a ruckus in the envoy’s quarters would be a problem, right?”

“I know, I’m not some ruffian either. If they’re going to be gentlemen, I have no need to be rough.”

“Then-”

“But.”

Silberna, slinging her spear across her back, adds with a smirk.

“We should still make sure our great Helmund knows exactly what kind of place this is.”

“My Lady?!”

She was about to leave the rampart for the noble’s quarters when her steps came to an abrupt halt.

She turned back to her original spot and muttered.

“I was on duty. Almost made a mistake.”

“……”

“I’ll go after my shift!”

* * *

The noble’s quarters weren’t so bad.

At least he had it all to himself.

Aides like Jonathan had their own separate place in the next building.

He had seen it before coming here, and they all stayed together in one large barrack-like room.

“This is alright in comparison.”

It may have been simple, but it had all the basics.

A bed, desk, chair.

It wasn’t that different from the guest rooms at Helmund, so there was nothing to complain about.

After roughly unpacking, he took out the paper, ink, and quill he had brought.

‘Glad it didn’t freeze.’

At the desk, I sit, and write.

Wielding a sword with words.

Isaac, the Ink Blade.

Many called him that with reverence, but Isaac himself never desired such a title.

And so.

The very first book he authors in this life is, of all things,

‘My Blade.’

A manual, only for himself.

In his past life he’d written almost dozens of books, yet not one.

Not a single phrase was for himself.

‘This is fun.’

The sentences he’d pondered countless times, hundreds, thousands within his mind.

The sentences he’d abandoned bringing into the world due to his broken right leg, now begin to flow.

‘It’s fun.’

His theories, once blocked by the walls of reality, now spread out, transcending the wall of time.

Black letters, fluid script, the sound of the nib.

‘This is so fun!’

His heart thumping, the pen moves faster without him even knowing.

[You are like a child reaching for the stars. Knowing it’s impossible, yet still stretching out your hand until the very end.]

‘Great Master, you were right.’

Back then, he’d denied it.

He’d wanted to wield a sword but could only grasp a pen, he hadn’t wanted to accept such a tragedy.

‘I haven’t given up, not for even a single moment.’

The excitement of using the knowledge in his mind for himself for the first time made him lose track of time.

The sun had already set.

Even with night falling, his room wasn’t dim in the slightest.

Because Isaac’s eyes were shining more brilliantly than any star outside.