"Hmm, right now seems good."
"Alright."
He nodded. Beramund started walking, and Karsus followed behind.
When they arrived at the training ground, Sigrid and Alkerto were already there. Karsus looked at Alkerto's firmly secured right arm and said softly:
"Why don't you just give up?"
"I can't give up until the very end."
"Aren't you going to stop him?" Karsus asked, looking at Sigrid, but she shook her head.
"I tend to respect my friends' opinions as much as possible."
"I suppose so."
Seeing that she wasn't stopping a man with a broken arm from fighting, Karsus placed his hand on his sword hilt and stood loosely.
"So? Are you going to fight with a broken arm, or use incompetent swordsmanship with your left arm?"
"I'll try both."
At Alkerto's words, Karsus narrowed his eyes.
"I won't go easy on you."
"That's what I want."
Alkerto took a deep breath and held a sword in his left hand. His right hand was gripping the hilt of the sword sheathed on his right side. So he had two swords, in a sense.
Karsus glanced at this and said to Beramund:
"Give the starting signal."
Beramund lowered his hand and then raised it. At this signal, Alkerto darted forward like an arrow. Karsus frowned as he clashed swords with Alkerto. Naturally, due to the lack of balance and strength in the left arm, Alkerto's sword was deflected.
The sword clattered as it rolled on the ground, and Karsus blinked. A dagger held in Alkerto's right hand was touching his side.
"Your right arm seems fine?"
"Yes, it's fine."
"And despite wearing a longsword scabbard, what ca out was a dagger—"
"I tricked you."
"You got ."
Karsus chuckled and stepped back, and Alkerto also retreated. Karsus looked at Beramund and frowned.
"That's unfair. How did you fix it?"
"Magic."
At Beramund's answer, Karsus's eyes widened, then he nodded.
"I see, so that's how it is."
Pretending he couldn't use his healthy right arm, and putting a short dagger in a long scabbard. So he could easily draw the sword from the right scabbard with his right hand.
And then distracting attention with the left arm, drawing the dagger and thrusting it into the side.
It was a strategy that would only work once, but once was enough.
If anything, Alkerto's sincere participation in the duels until now had served as the perfect setup.
"I'm sorry for deceiving you, but—"
Karsus grinned at Alkerto's words.
"No, that's natural. I lost because I was fooled."
Saying this, Karsus slowly sheathed his sword and spoke languidly.
"If you go quite far south from here, there's a forest owned by Baron Fret. There are a lot of magical beasts there, and he asked
for help— he's a miser who didn't even want to pay well."
He's a bad one.
Alkerto pricked up his ears at Karsus's words.
"I see."
"It seems he wants to sell that forest, but who would want to buy a forest where you can't hunt or gather crops because of the magical beasts?"
"That's true."
"But I would buy it."
Karsus said with a grin. Alkerto stared at him blankly and said:
"You'd buy it?"
"Yes."
"Is that all?!"
Marie-Chez suddenly burst out from the bushes. She had been anxiously watching this exchange while hiding. To be precise, she hadn't been able to see properly.
"Buy that useless land?"
As Marie-Chez asked, panting, Karsus nodded.
"Yes. Just pretend to be fooled and buy it. That's my advice."
"I understand."
Alkerto nodded, and Marie-Chez asked:
"Why? What's in that forest?"
"A mine."
Karsus answered lightly. Silence fell. Marie-Chez cleared her throat and asked quietly:
"What kind of mine?"
"It's better to check that yourself."
At Karsus's words, Marie-Chez nodded. For so reason, she couldn't find the words to say next.
In fact, it didn't even feel real.
"Can we have breakfast now?"
As Karsus asked cheerfully, Beramund laughed. Marie-Chez whirled towards Alkerto, and he smiled silently, opening his arms. Without hesitation, Marie-Chez ran and fell into his embrace.
Lowengrin muttered, "Oh my."
"It's just like the final scene of a play."
"Happy ending, happy ending~" Sigrid whispered in a sing-song voice beside her, making Lowengrin laugh.
They all went to the dining room and had a more boisterous breakfast than usual.
Both Seria and Raymon always put in extra effort for the guests from the capital to judge which food tasted better, so even breakfast was luxurious.
In the middle of the al, Arkana entered. Seeing him, Karsus pouted and said:
"If I had known a magician was cooperating, I would have responded differently."
"It's stranger that you didn't guess. It's Siri's business, after all. More importantly, there's been a ssage from the Tower."
At these words, Karsus jumped to his feet.
"That's faster than I expected. So? What have they decided?"
Instead of answering, Arkana handed over the letter he was holding. Karsus took the letter, opened it, and sighed.
"I guess I should thank you for your cooperation."
"I'm not sure if you should thank us yet."
Arkana said aningfully, making Karsus look at the letter again before closing it with a grin.
"Anyway. Hey, Beramund, I'm leaving then. Countess Ankertna, thank you for your hospitality."
"Already?" Beramund asked in surprise, then shook his head.
"Well, that's just like you."
Coming like the wind and leaving like the wind.
True to his epithet, the Wanderer.
Sigrid also tried to persuade Karsus to stay.
"Wouldn't it be better to stay at least until today?"
"No, it's better to leave as soon as possible."
"I understand. In that case, please finish your breakfast. I'll have your horse and luggage prepared in the anti."
Sigrid said this as she called for a servant.
Karsus said, "I'll pack my own luggage. Just prepare the horse for ," and picked up a sandwich.
"Well then."
Leaving a brief farewell, he left the dining room.
Arkana sat down and said:
"He's quite a restless person."
Alkerto stood up and said:
"Excuse
for a mont."
He left the dining room and caught up with Karsus. Karsus swallowed his sandwich and asked:
"What? Want
to tell you the exact location?"
"It's not that, I wanted to say thank you."
"What are you thanking
for?"
"For giving
the opportunity."
Karsus made a strange face, then grinned.
"Don't ntion it. Then buy
a al next ti we et."
"I'll treat you to a big one."
"Alright, take care."
Karsus patted his shoulder and walked away. Alkerto stood still, slightly bowing his head to Karsus's retreating figure.
Back in the dining room, Sigrid said seriously once more:
"He really ca and left in a flash."
"That's why that guy is popular," Beramund said with a laugh. Among the four strongest Masters in the Empire, the Wanderer was probably the most popular among commoners.
Not interested in wealth or honor, living as he pleased here and there, creating plenty of heroic tales.
While there were so stories of trouble and mistakes, these actually made him seem closer to ordinary people.
Unlike the other three who were nobles and knights, only he wandered around without any constraints.
"I understand. But—"
Sigrid looked at Beramund with a faint smile.
"I'm happiest right now."
" too," Beramund replied.
It wasn't that he hadn't dread of such a life himself. But he's happier now, being with Sigrid.
A few days later, Alkerto also left the mansion. Marie-Chez said she would go up with him, and when Lowengrin said, "Then shall we all go together?" the friends ended up leaving earlier than planned.
"I feel sorry that everyone's leaving because of ," Alkerto said, but Sigrid shook her head and said:
"Give my regards to Morris."
"You should co up to the capital."
Alkerto said with a grin, and Sigrid replied with a smile, "Ah, I will co up, but pass on my regards before that."
After sending off the group for half a day's journey, Sigrid started heading back to the mansion.
In fact, even though only a few people had left, the returning procession was incredibly quiet.
"It's gotten quiet," Beramund said, and Sigrid nodded.
"They ca in a rush and left in a rush."
"Hmm, I thought Siri's friends would stay longer, but things turned out like this."
At his words, Sigrid giggled and said:
"Who could have known things would turn out like this. By the way, a mine..."
"Finding it is just the beginning. It'll take a while before it starts generating real profit, right? Besides, does he even have enough money to mine it anyway?"
"Oh? That's true. I wonder if Alkerto has enough money to buy that land in the first place."
"I'm sure Lady Inglet will take care of that."
"I suppose."
"And they could borrow investnt funds with profit-sharing conditions, or— ah, the Ankertna County would like to get a piece of the action too."
"We're already busy with what's right in front of us."
"That's what I an."
After looking at Beramund for a mont as he replied, Sigrid asked:
"Ber."
"Yes?"
"So how does the story end?"
"What story?"
"About Karsus and Beramund and Utulu, that winter back then."
"Ah."
Beramund wondered where to start, then slowly began the story. The road back to the mansion was long anyway, so he could take his ti telling it.
"Back then, there was a really strong magical beast. It was a situation where magical beasts were calling other magical beasts."
"I know. They call it 'calling,' right?"
That was why high-ranking magical beasts needed to be killed as quickly as possible when they appeared. That's why the West was so anxious about it.
"That's right."
Beramund let out a long sigh. His breath scattered like a fluffy cloud. He pulled down his scarf slightly and said:
"So, the unit was almost completely wiped out."
Karsus lifted up a corpse and then tossed it back to the ground.
"He's dead."
"How many are left?" Beramund asked, and Utulu said in a low voice:
"Not many, I can tell that much."
Utulu didn't look unscathed either, and the sa was true for Beramund and Karsus. Karsus's long hair was soaked in blood.
Beramund took a deep breath and said:
"Utulu, take them and retreat. If this is all that's left, take them back to the main force."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay behind. I need to see if there are any more survivors, and I'll go after Master Aran who went inside."
"If you're going to die, let's go together."
Karsus said in a cold voice. Ignoring him, Beramund said to Utulu:
"If you retreat without leaving anything behind and without a leader, you'll just be prey for the magical beasts. I'll hold them off as much as I can."
"How about you take them back and I stay?"
At Utulu's words, Beramund chuckled and shook his head.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't let it be said that the second son of the Lunatil family ran away."
"You have to die honorably?"
"No, not necessarily die."
"Then what about ?"
To Utulu's question, Beramund replied in a light tone:
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