Reincarnated as the Adopted Son of a Prestigious Swordsmanship Family Chapter 3 : Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Exiled Young Lord (2)

“What about my n?”

…Of all people, even this bastard.

Exa asked about the condition of his unit mbers from the man who, until just yesterday, had been his adjutant and friend.

“…I received a promise that they would not be hard.”

Exa laughed in spite of himself. I didn’t think I had lived such a bad life.

Putting those four aside, I never thought I’d be backstabbed by soone I considered a friend.

“Don’t include yourself in that. If you have a conscience. Ah. You don’t, which is why you’re here, right?”

***

Hero.

It was true in the past, but even more so in the world today. The prestige of a family possessing a hero grew ever more brilliant.

ctera.

Honestly, I don’t dislike it that much. The sa goes for my adoptive father from my past life.

I didn’t hold any particular ill will. I was just grateful to have grown up wealthy until I was 17.

A subtle love-hate relationship. In his past life, Exa used to describe ctera that way.

‘The expulsion was because I had a flaw.’

At the ti, it was truly resentful… but now I understand. No, I understood even before I was reincarnated.

It didn't take long to co to terms with it.

‘Thanks to that, I also t my master.’

I rather like the swordsn of ctera.

I have the sword in common with them. Simurtr still rembers the goodwill they showed during the war.

‘I hate that bastard, but I heard he’s already dead.’

If there was one thing he disliked about ctera, Simurtr would, without hesitation, na the previous Sword Master.

Gerehk ctera.

The forr Duke of ctera, who was once his younger brother and truly hated Exa in his past life.

A suspect who might have engraved the na of ctera on Exa’s tombstone and participated in the betrayal.

‘I should have killed that bastard myself.’

That bundle of inferiority, who was highly likely to have betrayed him, had died long ago.

They said his injuries acted up shortly after the war ended.

‘What kind of injury was it that he croaked?’

The death of the most likely suspect.

That fact had bewildered the reincarnated Simurtr.

And not by murder, but from an injury?

Once you reach that level of mastery, you don’t just die so easily, so quickly.

‘If it weren’t for you.’

The man used to say that every ti they t. Because the reverence of the ctera swordsn was directed not at the Sword Master, but at the outsider, Exa.

‘That cowardly bastard.’

That was the reason he had constantly experienced assassination attempts during the war.

Gerehk’s inferiority complex stemd from his lack of skill.

‘I won against him every ti, even when I had my flaw.’

Passing through the castle gate, Simurtr was struck anew by the passage of ti. Not that much ti had passed, but the territory had changed quite a bit. It must be the result of recovering from the damage sustained in the Doom War.

“Would you like to look around for a bit?”

The sacred ground of the sword and the ho of swordsn.

The shops along the main street all displayed outstanding swords, and the passersby all had swords at their waists.

Even the children playing around were holding wooden swords.

For Simurtr, who had grown up in the estate of exile since he was five, it must be quite a novel sight.

That’s what ram thought, but.

“No need.”

Simurtr shook his head.

The buildings may have been rebuilt and the structure changed, but the inside wouldn’t have changed much. He had experienced it to the point of being sick of it in his past life.

“Let’s go straight in.”

Simurtr walked straight down the main road as if he were familiar with it. The castle was visible in the distance, but the main road that cut through the territory was still the sa.

The walls of the main estate also looked quite unfamiliar. The sa went for the gate, and the soldiers guarding it.

‘Never seen those faces before.’

It was only natural. When even the so-called Sword Masters had died one after another.

The Doom Species, the Doom War, was truly a terrible war. There was no way the soldiers he rembered from his past life would still be alive.

“Halt.”

As the soldiers blocked their way, ram, who was following behind, stepped forward.

“Mid-rank magician of the main estate……”

“Simurtr ctera.”

Simurtr cut her off. He reached out to stop ram and stated his na.

“Pardon?”

ctera. The soldier unwittingly spoke formally. He looked at Simurtr with a bewildered expression.

“You don’t know ?”

The soldier unwittingly nodded his head.

Was there such a person in ctera?

“Ah. Is ‘the exiled young lord’ more familiar in the main estate?”

After 11 years.

The exiled young lord had returned.

That news spread throughout the main estate in less than a few minutes.

***

“Will it be all right?”

ram bit her nails.

The bewildered faces of the soldiers, the way they had dazedly opened the gate, was still vivid in her eyes.

He had passed through the gate without any notice.

He had broken his exile without seeking permission from the main estate. That fact made ram tremble with anxiety.

“What’s the point of hiding it? It’ll be found out anyway. Mother’s annex was in the west, right?”

“…Yes.”

ram glanced at Simurtr. His steps were as light as could be. With what confidence? Was it

because he was still young and ignorant of the world?

‘No way.’

In ram’s mind, Simurtr was no longer the pitiful young master who closely resembled the unfortunate days of the hero Exa.

A detestably cunning young master. ram had revised her assessnt of Simurtr as such.

He acted friendly with the servants, knowing they were watchn but pretending not to. He acted naive while doing everything he needed to. And all the while, he ticulously hid his achievents.

He put on a show of sadness for their deaths with his expression, but his words and actions were utterly calm.

‘It must have been his first ti killing.’

He was only 16. And he had grown up in a mansion cut off from the world. But Simurtr showed no signs of any aftereffects.

ram could not understand it. This wasn’t so lawless land. Simurtr, who had been raised quite gently, seed accustod to killing.

‘What kind of 16-year-old kicks a head around like a toy?’

His detestable act aid at the servants. The way he handled the corpses. None of it was sothing a re 16-year-old could display.

That confidence could be linked to his light steps as he headed towards the west annex.

The second wife, the 3rd Sword Order, the punishnt for breaking his exile… There was no way that cunning young master was unaware of the repercussions his entry would cause.

‘Swordsman Keito might have died because he was careless.’

Though she had devoted herself to ctera, she was still ignorant of, and uninterested in, the sword.

To her, Simurtr just looked like a frog in a well.

Assu the worst.

It was the maxim of the hero Exa, who, concerned for his soldiers, always faced the enemy at the forefront of the battlefield. ram always repeated those words to herself.

‘The Young Master needs a background, a reliable backer.’

ram steeled her heart.

***

Thump.

“That guy is here!”

The second wife’s son, Beden ctera, said as he violently threw the door open.

His body was slender overall. Long limbs and uniquely flexible, elastic muscles.

He had inherited the ctera bloodline, optimized for the sword, in its entirety.

“Who is ‘that guy’?”

There were siblings in the spacious room. The eldest son, Jahar, was quietly reading a book, and only his younger sister, Ael, responded to Beden’s words.

“You know, him. The adopted son.”

“The exiled young lord?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Really. They said he just entered the castle.”

“How? Was a return order issued?”

“No. They said he just seed to have co on his own.”

“He’s crazy. So? Did you see him? What’s he like?”

“Haven’t seen him yet. I’m about to go see him now. They said he went to the west annex.”

From the start, Beden hadn’t expected a reaction from Jahar.

Jahar, who had been fortunate enough to be born the eldest son and had everything, paid no attention to him.

He was only interested in his own achievents.

“Do you have to?”

Ael said so, but her face was thick with mischief.

“Wanna go together?”

“Should I?”

Beden knew Ael’s disposition.

Though born a direct descendant of ctera, she lacked the characteristic obsession with the sword.

She prioritized her own interests and craved fun that deviated from the everyday.

“Oh, co on.”

Though she said that, her body was fidgeting. She was glancing at Jahar.

“It’s a bother.”

Ael looked back and forth between Jahar and Beden.

She didn’t like parts of Beden’s personality, but he sotis stimulated Ael’s interest as well.

“Ael, do not act rashly. The exam is near.”

It was just as Ael expected. Jahar closed the book he was reading and looked up.

“Honestly, you’re curious too, aren’t you, brother? A kid who’s been quiet all this ti suddenly returns? The timing is also suspicious. The selection ceremony is soon. No matter how much of an adopted son he is, and how he was exiled……”

“Enough. Do not ntion it. That is like a disgrace to our family.”

Jahar furrowed his brow and cut Ael off.

“It is not sothing to be ntioned so lightly. We should be ashad for keeping the youngest, who has no connections, in check. Not make fun of him.”

‘Ugh. So preachy.’

Ael avoided Jahar’s gaze and sent a look to Beden.

‘I can’t go. You go alone.’

Just as Beden was about to nod at her look, Jahar spoke again.

“Beden, the sa goes for you. It is right to turn your interest in the youngest towards yourself. If the youngest really ca to participate in the selection ceremony, you should learn from that child.”

Beden’s face crumpled.

He had not yet earned the right to participate in the selection ceremony. There was still a year left until the selection ceremony aid at the third son, Beden.

Right now, that lucky eldest son was putting him down.

Saying, why are you like this when you have a good environnt and receive so much support.

“Why is he the youngest? He’s an orphan bastard.”

“Enough. Father accepted him. Our blood may not be mixed, but he is our youngest.”

“That’s right. He is our younger brother. Adopted sons are so common in the main estate’s history. Father had one, and so did Grandfather.”

Ael interjected.

If one was a direct descendant of ctera, one should be accustod to the existence of adopted sons.

“I can’t accept him.”

It was not an ordinary ideology. When Beden denied it, Ael thought. Ordinary nobles do not understand ctera’s ideology.

Beden, who grew up under the second wife from an imperial noble family, was no different.

Though a direct descendant of the main estate, his ideology was strongly inherited from his second mother.

“That is not for you to judge.”

“And participating in the selection ceremony? A bastard who’s been exiled all this ti?

That’s bullshit. Can’t you tell just by looking? That bastard just ca here to whine because he hates being exiled. To get attention.”

“That is for the elders of the family to judge.”

I can’t even do it, so how can he? Beden bit his lip hard. He glared at Jahar, who had already turned his gaze away and opened his book.

‘What are you doing? Hurry up and go.’

Beside him, Ael kept sending looks. She pointed to the door with her chin. Though they were sowhat close, in the end, Ael was on Jahar’s side.

‘That unlucky bastard……’

What’s so great about being born first and getting strong first?

If we were the sa age, I would have been stronger.

‘If only I had been born three years, no, two years earlier……’

If only their ages, their starting points, had been the sa, he wouldn't have had to act so subserviently. Because then, he would have been stronger.

His mother would have never felt threatened by the first wife either. Rather, the first wife would have tried to get on our mother’s good side.

Bang!

Beden left the room. From inside, Ael shouted that he was being loud, but he pretended not to hear. His pride was too hurt to close the door gently.

“Fuck……”

He couldn't beat Jahar. Not in skill, not in position. His maternal family's support was superior, but that support had its limits.

In the end, what was most important in the succession structure was personal skill. The sword. That was the reason Jahar, who had no support that would make his maternal family's na pale in comparison, was so confident.

“I shouldn’t have co.”

His anger naturally turned to the cause.

If that lowly bastard hadn’t arrived today, he wouldn’t have gone to see Jahar and Ael.

He would have just t up with Ael later.

“It’s because of that bastard.”

Because of that orphan bastard who was lucky enough to get the ctera na.

Beden headed north.

***

The young Simurtr had lived in the west annex.

It was where his mother, who was of commoner origin, had resided.

When she passed away upon giving birth, Simurtr inherited that annex.

Though he had only stayed there for a little over four years. In any case. The property wasn’t what was important.

‘Tsk.’

It was an uncomfortable fact. He hadn’t even been able to pay his respects.

If she had known that the child she gave birth to rembered his past life, how would she have reacted?

Even if he idly entertained such negative thoughts, all that remained was bitterness. She had passed away from the aftereffects of childbirth. aning, it was his fault.

Simurtr felt a sense of debt towards his mother. Even though he had mories of his past life and they had never properly bonded… they were mother and son. It wasn’t easy to dismiss.

“I have been periodically sending word for it to be cleaned.”

“Thank you.”

“The grave is behind the annex. Would you like to visit?”

Even to ram’s eyes, it was a rather pitiful environnt.

Simurtr had not visited his mother’s grave for 10 years. The requests for permission to enter the castle, which he had made on every anniversary of her death, had never not been rejected.

‘It must have been the second wife.’

She must have been worried that he might catch soone’s eye in the main estate.

Especially since she was already losing in the succession competition. There was no way she would welco the birth of a new competitor.

“I’ll go.”

“Take your ti. I also have sowhere to be for a mont.”

Recalling the attack by the 3rd Sword Order, ram once again felt the need for a backer.

“Where are you going?”

“I have a benefactor in the main estate. I intend to pay my respects since I have returned.”

“A benefactor? There’s another magician in the main estate?”

ctera did not officially employ magicians. Hadn’t even ram been working as a re history teacher?

“He is a swordsman.”

“Then why is he your benefactor?”

“There are circumstances.”

“I see.”

“It may take a long ti.”

“It’s fine.”

“You must not cause any trouble until I get back.”

“What kind of trouble is there to cause here?”

“I will trust you.”

After saying that, ram left the west annex. Her rare, white hair, which reached her waist, fluttered in the wind.

“Her taste is certainly unique.”

That white hair, which resembled the color of his own, of his school’s mana… was not natural.

Simurtr knew that ram periodically applied white dye.

“You’ll see it until you’re sick of it when you get old. Why bother.”

Simurtr only started walking after ram had disappeared from sight. It seed the cleaning had been done up to the yard, as the path leading to the back of the annex was clear.

“It’s right behind.”

There was no burial mound, but the location was easy to find.

At the edge of the back garden stood a tombstone as large as a person’s torso.

“Anna.”

Simurtr read the na engraved on the tombstone.

“…She is my mother……”

Simurtr swallowed bitterly.

He had no mories… of his childhood in his past life. He didn’t even know his mother’s na from his past life.

Co to think of it, his mory wasn’t that great. Exa’s first mory began at the orphanage.

This life was not much different. Of course, this ti he rembered from the mont he was born.

He was born with mories of his past life, and his mind was already fully matured.

‘What good is that.’

The body of a newborn is utterly insignificant.

Those eyes, just beginning to see the world, could barely see a hand’s breadth in front of them, and the eardrums were ridiculously fragile.

His mother in this life had died not long after giving birth to Simurtr. She had fallen into her final rest before his eyes and ears had properly opened.

‘It’s more comfortable to be alone, but……’

It felt very unsettling. The fact that he was not connected to ctera was welco.

But the fact that his mother had died due to childbirth created a sense of debt.

“This is difficult.”

He had been born twice, but he was still clumsy with family relationships. He had never felt familial affection in his past life either.

The younger brother who appeared late in his life had disliked him throughout, and hadn’t he sent assassins several tis during the Doom War?

“Well. Thinking back to then, now is at least a bit better……”

This life is at least a bit better. At least he knows his mother’s na.

He doesn't need to worry too much about his siblings either. He has no intention of treating them as such. Strictly speaking, they were complete strangers.

“I wish she had a last will.”

He would kill all the traitors and live a long, long life. He could surely follow at least one last wish.

The mont he kills the heroes of the continent, peace will be out of the question, but anyway.

“I’ll just live with my master.”

Perhaps his comrades from his past life might take his side. He had no intention of seeking them out and being a nuisance, but. In any case.

“Since he said their safety was guaranteed by arbitrarily using my life as collateral.”

They were probably living in luxury. So he could take his ti finding his unit mbers.

“After I take care of myself.”

He was still a long way from catching up to the traitors. As he was thinking that and about to get up.

“Are you Simurtr?”

A voice ca from behind.

“I am.”

Simurtr replied as he turned around.

“You’re speaking informally. I am your superior.”

He looked young, and he really was young.

Simurtr recalled what ram had said before they arrived. There were three direct descendants of ctera.

“We’re the sa age.”

Among them… he was the third. 16 years old. Beden, the sa age.

“I am the third. You are the fourth.”

“But we’re the sa age.”

“No. Still… what. Do you know ?”

Beden was about to get annoyed, but then his eyes widened. Co to think of it, the guy knew they were the sa age. And he had lived only in the mountains until now.

“Yeah.”

“Ah. They said you lived with a spellcaster, right?”

“So what’s your business?”

Simurtr replied dismissively.

He was only 16. It would be pathetic to pluck out his eyes just because I don’t like them. This kind of argunt is cringeworthy enough as it is.

‘How old do you think I am?’

Just because his physical age was the sa didn't an his ntal age had beco younger. Just adding up the years he had lived, he was well over forty.

“Why did you co to the main estate?”

“Why do you ask, when I’m coming to my own ho?”

“Don’t tell you’re here to participate in the selection ceremony?”

The selection ceremony.

A trial of the sword held when a direct descendant of ctera turns 17.

“I guess so.”

Hearing the word after a long ti, Simurtr was reminded anew that this was ctera.

This must be the reason the second wife had attacked the estate of exile. She was already competing with the first wife, so the variable of a fourth, adopted son was botherso.

‘I have to participate too.’

In order to stay in ctera, he needed to participate in the selection ceremony. The sooner, the better.

Simurtr recalled the timing of the selection ceremony. This year was for the first and second.

Next year, the schedule would be set for Beden.

Considering his age, he would have to wait until next year with Beden, who was right in front of him, but.

‘That’s just an unspoken rule.’

If he could prove his skill, it didn’t matter if he was younger.

“Speak clearly.”

“What will you do if you know?”

“So it’s true. Do you think you’re qualified?”

“I must be, since I’m participating.”

Beden’s face crumpled.

The selection ceremony for direct descendants is held at age 17.

There was only one way to participate at an earlier age.

“You’re saying you can create sword ki? Even I can’t yet.”

“I guess so.”

Simurtr replied dismissively and looked at the tombstone. A spiderweb blowing in the wind.

An anthill right next to it. A thin layer of dust that the wind couldn’t blow away.

ram had said she periodically sent word, but it seed she hadn’t paid much attention to the back of the annex.

‘I’ll have to tell her to manage it every day from now on.’

First, he removed the spiderweb. After a quick swipe, he had a handful. He casually brushed his hands to send it flying.

“Show proof.”

“You’ll see at the selection ceremony.”

Beden’s face flushed red.

He hadn’t even proven his qualification to participate in the selection ceremony yet.

“Do it.”

The way he blatantly ignored him and went about his business was like watching Jahar. The most incompetent of the direct descendants. No, not even a direct descendant.

“……”

Now he wasn’t even answering. What was he relying on? Unlike Jahar, this guy wasn’t the eldest son.

He didn’t even have ctera blood. He was a guy whose mother, already pregnant, was lucky enough to beco a concubine, and he beca an adopted son.

He had no allies in the main estate, no maternal family to rely on. The proof was that he had been in a place of exile until now.

“Hey. Can’t you hear ?”

And yet a guy like this dares to ignore ?

“If you don’t want to be exiled again, you should be trying to get on our good side. Do you think wiping that gravestone will clean your mother’s blood? You lowly bastard……”

Simurtr stopped when he ntioned his mother. At the unfamiliar reaction, the corners of Beden’s mouth lifted.

Thinking this was the right answer, he was about to continue speaking with a smile, when.

Simurtr, who had been squatting in front of the tombstone, suddenly appeared in front of Beden.

He grabbed Beden’s face and slamd it straight into the ground. Bam! The back of his head struck the road.

Without a single twitch, his trailing limbs went limp on the ground.

“Ah.”

Watching Beden, who was twitching and had lost consciousness, Simurtr opened his mouth in realization.

ram told not to cause trouble.