episode_0033

During the day, I attend classes at the academy while simultaneously training my body.

During lunch and afterward, I spend time with Mark Bisys, sparring and doing various things together.

Today was a day like any other.

But today, I felt a strange loneliness.

My father’s gaze, which visited during my sparring with Mark, weighs on my mind.

The look he showed me, a look that said I was still far from enough.

It’s a gaze he’s shown me every time he sees me recently, one that I should be getting used to by now, but despite that, that cold gaze still remains in my memory, even now as I ride in the carriage returning to the mansion.

On the other hand, to Mark Bisys, he showed a satisfied smile full of anticipation and positivity.

Thinking about it, as he began to bloom his talent, Mark started receiving significant attention from my father, Regulus Serion.

…My father’s eye for judging the strong is clear.

Father must have discovered something shining in Mark as well.

Indeed, even though he is still a student, he possesses skill and talent that are not at all lacking compared to active knights, perhaps even higher.

If it’s my father, who only recognizes talent and skill, he would naturally react that way.

However, despite that, the loneliness remaining in a corner of my heart did not disappear.

As I was thinking such thoughts, the carriage had already arrived in front of the Serion family’s villa, the mansion prepared for commuting to the academy.

This is because the main residence of the Serion family is located quite far from the academy.

I returned to the mansion, passing through the gate I always saw, but today the atmosphere was slightly different from usual.

A subtle tension circulated among the servants, and the inside of the mansion also felt strangely noisy.

Thinking about it, when I arrived, I noticed the grand carriage that my father favors, adorned with elaborate decorations and the golden seal of the Serion family.

This wasn’t surprising as my father, who has recently taken an interest in Mark, has been staying at this mansion rather than the main residence more frequently to often visit the academy.

But now, in the noisy reception room inside the mansion, I could hear a voice that was both familiar and unexpected.

Drawn by that sound, my footsteps naturally moved towards the reception room.

And soon, I could meet the owner of that voice.

Bang!

“There’s nothing more to discuss now. Father..! Truly.. you haven’t changed at all since that incident occurred…”

Bursting out of the door was a large-built young man with the same pure white hair, tanned skin, and red eyes as me.

He is the second son of the Serion family and my older brother, Rinardo Serion.

“…? Ah.. Seraphina, it’s you.”

“..Brother”

He spotted me and awkwardly offered a greeting.

“As it happens, there’s something I need to talk to you about as well, would it be alright if we went out to the courtyard to talk?”

He took me outside the building like that.

He probably wanted to talk somewhere out of my father’s sight.

My older brother, Rinardo Serion, is essentially someone who has left our Serion family.

This is because he declared estrangement from the family after ‘that incident’ 5 years ago, when my eldest older brother, Richar Serion, the first son of the Serion family, tragically lost his life.

However, that doesn’t mean he was truly estranged.

The family elders and Father, the head of the family, couldn’t lose even the second son, who was attending the academy, in the name of estrangement, shortly after losing the eldest son in an accident.

If they had, it could have become a huge laughingstock among other noble families and damaged the prestige of the Serion family.

Therefore, they chose to outwardly continue recognizing him as part of the Serion family as he left, but within the family, they banished him and provided only minimal support.

In other words, it would be correct to say that he is living independently, having unilaterally refused our family’s support and attention.

“So, are you. Dissatisfied with this kind of life?”

However, that doesn’t mean that my relationship with my older brother is not good.

Although he has left the family now, the bond between the three siblings was good from ancient times.

Even now, we sometimes ask about each other’s well-being through letters.

But it had been a long time since we met face to face like this.

“Brother, what kind of question is that?”

“..Just as I said. Everything about living under the shadow of this family.

Isn’t it difficult? Living simply like a puppet, doing as the family dictates.”

“Perhaps so.”

“…It’s also my brother’s memorial day soon, and thinking of him, I came to meet Father after a long time.

But.. even after that incident on that day until now.. he simply hasn’t changed at all.

So I was also curious about your state. If the answer is uncomfortable, you don’t have to give it.”

“..It would be a lie to say I have no complaints. But.. this is the only way for me to achieve my dream.”

“Is that so… If you say so, then that must be it.”

“Speaking of which, how have you been doing recently, Brother?”

“It’s not much different from what I wrote in my last letter. Right now, I’ve settled into an unremarkable knight order and am just swinging my sword mindlessly.”

My older brother, who left home saying he couldn’t bear the family’s ways, hid his identity and wandered for a long time.

At times he wandered through various dungeons as an adventurer, and at other times he lived as a bodyguard for another noble.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t have a more pleasant conversation after meeting after such a long time.

There are people watching, and it seems difficult to stay for long, so I must leave now.

But keep this in mind. Your life is your own.

You don’t need to be forever suppressed by the family.

Likewise, no matter what you and Father may think, this family’s way isn’t the only right one.”

Saying that, my older brother gradually walked away from the mansion.

Without receiving a send-off from any of the mansion’s servants.

‘Are you dissatisfied with this kind of life’

That one phrase from my older brother particularly remains in my memory.

Certainly, that might be the case.

As I matured and grew older, my family gradually became chains that bound me.

To uphold the family’s name, to avoid tarnishing it, I abandoned even my own will and simply followed orders..

As a result, my emotions quickly withered, and soon I maintained only a poker face in everyday life.

Still, I must follow.

Only by doing so can I learn the sword of the Serion family.

Only by doing so can I achieve my only dream.

I am simply enduring, and enduring again.

…Suddenly, the expression of the young lady from the Tistina family whom I saw earlier today comes to mind.

That face, simply smiling happily without any worries or troubles.

Will there ever come a day when I can also make such an expression?

“Oh dear, unlike myself, I’ve been thinking useless thoughts for too long.

…Is it because I had such a conversation with my older brother after a long time?”

Whatever the reason, this is precisely when training is needed even more.

Although it’s a bit late, it would be good to go to the training ground on the academy side once.

The training ground at this villa would also be fine… but for now, I want to clear my head in a deserted place and focus on training.

“Miss, do you need anything?”

“I will go out. I plan to visit the academy’s training ground.”

“Are you speaking of now, Miss? But I think it is a bit late for that…”

“It doesn’t matter. I won’t come back too late.”

“Then I will prepare the carriage again.”

As soon as I got back into the carriage, I felt a slight fatigue, and when I closed my eyes briefly, the scene I saw as a child came to mind.

Though he has now passed away from illness, the pure sword strike shown by my father’s master, untouched by even a hint of impurity.

A single, beautiful trajectory without unnecessary flourishes, which no one else could follow.

It absolutely did not look like the sword of an old man on his last legs due to illness.

After seeing that sword, I was able to dream for the first time.

To hone my sword and martial arts to reach the realm of the continent’s one and only Sword Saint.

Although my life had always been interfered with under the shadow of a family called Serion.

That one thing, that dream, I can definitively state was a path I chose myself.

And until I reach that dream, I cannot stop swinging my sword for even a moment.

I must become strong.

I must become stronger than anyone else.

For just one thing, for my own dream.

. . .

Upon entering the training ground, as expected, it was empty.

Except for the solitary silhouette of a single person busily moving.

That silhouette had actually been seen at the training ground until late hours for a while now.

They continue training until late hours, when no one acknowledges them, a training that might have started who knows when.

It is truly a desirable attitude, both as a student of the academy and as a knight.

They are probably preparing for the sparring exam that will mark the end of the semester a few months from now.

I had thought about talking to them sometime, but I didn’t want to unnecessarily disturb their training by striking up a conversation. And I also wanted to prioritize my own training, so I didn’t.

That’s why, regrettably, I had never had a conversation with the owner of that silhouette, whether it was a he or a she, until now.

They were days spent simply acknowledging each other’s presence while focusing on our respective training.

Thinking that, it was the moment I was about to begin training, holding my own sword, a greatsword engraved with the Seraphina family’s seal.

The silhouette, whose shape I had always only vaguely seen from afar, gradually approached me.

As it was late and hidden by darkness, that face gradually became clearer.

“Uh… hello? Is this alright for a moment?”

The owner of that silhouette, who trained alone at the training ground until late every day, was the man I saw earlier today with Lillith Tistina.

It was Ropel Teufel.