"Master! Look at this! I’ve brought the official certificate proving that I’m now a sword master!"
Sylvia ca running towards with a bright smile, showing the certificate.
The certificate clearly stated Sylvia's na and her affiliation with the Vermont family.
It was a mont filled with overwhelming emotion.
"With this, Vermont now has one of the fewer than ten sword masters in the world." "No, it's not that Vermont owns . You own , Master. If you change your affiliation, I will follow you!"
Sylvia shook her head and answered cheerfully.
Her loyalty is too strong...
In the past, I had trouble with a bodyguard who lacked loyalty, but now, this intense loyalty was starting to feel burdenso.
I almost wondered if I had a dog instead of a human as a bodyguard.
"Alright, then, take care of so paperwork. I’m sure there are so things piled up from the past couple of days." "Ah... Master, I... I heard there’s sothing urgent I need to do at the training ground... I’ll go quickly!"
[The evil god, 'Cali,' says our bodyguard seems to be very busy and asks if you could spare her just this once.]
Feigning not hearing, Sylvia averted her gaze and slowly started backing away.
Then, without looking back, she ran off.
She’s running away, but her loyalty is fake...? I was speechless from the absurdity, and even a hollow laugh didn’t escape .
"Sir, sir! The mailbox is about to burst, so I quickly brought it! I did well, right? I did, didn’t I?"
Charlotte ca running toward , holding a giant mailbox, which was bigger than her own height.
Maybe because her view was blocked by the large mailbox, she kept bumping into things, but she eventually made her way to .
As soon as the lid was opened, letters poured out.
There were certainly a lot.
I wondered where all these ca from, and then I saw that they were letters from various lords congratulating the birth of a sword master.
"Count Arient, Duke of the North, and others... Wow, all kinds of places sent letters. I don’t think we ever got this many when I ascended to the master position..."
"Hehe! Looks like you’ve beco really popular, sir!" "I guess so."
When I officially inherited the title of count, Vermont was treated as a rural backwater.
But at so point, it had beco one of the most prominent territories in the Empire.
We always had military power that was second to none, and now the sword master we gained was an asymtric power.
Along with magic knights, each one of them was treated as a strategic weapon.
Sylvia was still adjusting to the aura she had just awakened,
but soon enough, she would make the use of it part of her daily life and beco a proper sword master.
Once that happened, Sylvia would be able to see thousands of ters away with her eyes closed, eavesdrop on sounds, and subconsciously defend herself and others with her aura against any incoming attacks.
Transcendent.
Sothing beyond human.
Half-human, half-god...
It was no wonder that sword masters carried so many different titles and aliases.
"Aslan! Co to the front gate! There’s a commotion! ...Hurry!"
At that mont, Yuria, panting and running, grabbed my sleeve.
Yuria, who normally hated moving, was sweating as she ran this much, so sothing urgent must have happened.
I quickly headed to the front gate, and what I saw in front of made my jaw drop.
"Hey! Lower it! Next carriage, co in!" "What’s going on...?"
Carriages lined up in front of the gate, unloading strange cargo.
I was startled and ran toward the man directing the unloading, only to be shocked when I saw his face.
This man was a ssenger from the palace...?
When I looked back at the cargo that had been unloaded, a golden glow peered through the veil covering it.
It didn’t seem like ordinary goods.
"What is all this?" "Ah, Count Vermont, listen carefully. The Emperor has sent a gift to repay the long-standing debt Vermont owes. This gift doesn’t require any conditions or paynt, so feel free to accept it."
"When did the Emperor owe anything? Take it back imdiately. I can't accept all of this." "Sir, please, just take it. If you don’t, I’ll be punished by the Emperor..."
The ssenger was now kneeling, bowing his head.
This was the first ti I had seen him act so subservient to anyone other than the Emperor.
It seed like my sister had made sure I couldn’t refuse the gift.
And the cargo that had been unloaded already piled up high.
Seeing that there were still more carriages lined up behind, I began to feel dizzy.
"This is too much. I don’t even have enough space to store all of this." "We’ve prepared an answer to that. Ahem. If you want, we can auction all of it off and send you the cash equivalent..."
"No, just give it to as is."
The ssenger spoke with my sister’s voice, and I imdiately responded.
It was clear that the treasure-filled boxes were priceless, and the idea of selling them for cash was absurd.
Besides, accepting the Emperor’s gift as cash would certainly bring unwanted attention.
Even if I didn’t take the cash, I would still be under scrutiny for accepting such a gift.
"I’m going crazy... How am I supposed to store and manage all of this...?" "Sir, the Emperor didn’t exactly say this, but... I overheard her saying sothing along the lines of..."
"Yes. Please, tell ."
It was obvious that my sister had purposely spoken loudly for to overhear.
"She said, if it’s too difficult to sell or store all these goods, there’s a way. If Vermont and the Imperial family unite, then it becos shared property and can be conveniently stored in the Imperial Palace’s vast warehouse..."
"..."
I was left speechless.
She was talking about marriage, wasn’t she?
To unite our families ant a union—marriage.
'So, because I kept rejecting titles, now she’s going for a marriage proposal...?'
It seed she was determined to get into the palace by any ans necessary.
A national husband would be a title of sorts, making a subject of the country.
The Emperor’s sister’s love call had turned into an actual love call, and the situation was so overwhelming that I felt like I might lose my mind.
"Wow! Wow, if we rge our families, we’ll beco really strong, won’t we? Sir, will you do it? Huh? Huh?" "Ch- Charlotte... rging our families isn’t that simple..." "What does it an then?" "To rge our families ans..."
Yuria and Yuri, who had been a little shy, supported the idea as well.
Charlotte ran over to them, whispered sothing in their ears, and then returned to with a shocked expression.
"Sir! I’m against it! Totally against it! Absolutely no! I’ll help with managing these treasures from now on, so please don’t rge the families, okay? Got it?" "I-I’ll help too! ...Please!" "I will also do my best as a subordinate of the Count. So please don’t make that decision..."
"Hehe. Alright, let’s endure this for now."
[The evil god, 'Cali,' is happily smiling at the sight of our necromancer and dark knight, and Yuri acting coy.]
Charlotte, who had learned what rging families ant, now turned pale and made an X with her arms.
Yuria and Yuri, though still a bit shy, expressed their support as well.
Ah, my head hurts.
These kids are pestering , but I can’t really bla them.
The sudden shift in my mood was almost overwhelming, and I had to force my lips to stop smiling uncontrollably.
'To think that even Yuria, who is usually too shy to show affection, would be actively opposing my marriage.'
I couldn’t say I disliked it.
In fact, if they showed affection like this more often, I wouldn’t mind it at all.
But then I thought, 'Wait. If Charlotte, Yuria, or Yuri tried to make jealous by pretending to get married...?'
That thought made my teeth clench, and my blood pressure shot up.
It almost felt like I could have had a stroke if I let my imagination run wild.
"Ah, Aslan!? I’m bleeding from my gums!? ...!"
"I’m fine..."
I had to admit, I couldn’t continue with that ridiculous plan.
I quickly decided to scrap that idea.
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