Ch.192192. Clearing the Karmic Debt of the Romance Route?

Despite receiving an unexpected blow from Brynhild and Camilla, Gilbert hadn’t forgotten what he needed to do. He began to seriously tackle the sub-scenario conquest, which could be considered a karmic settlement.

Since Seraphina was in a state where her rampage was temporarily contained, his target naturally became fixed on Briana. There was one more person left besides her, but he couldn’t approach someone shrouded in question marks.

Talking about “conquest” makes it sound like playing a game.

Though he had long abandoned such sentiments since accepting this world as reality, he couldn’t help thinking that way given how things appeared.

Using the word “conquest” itself was detached from reality.

But he deliberately used the word “conquest” to reduce the sense of reality. It was his defense mechanism to prevent himself from becoming too emotionally invested in this other world that he would eventually leave.

Coming back to the matter at hand, Gilbert, having decided to pursue Briana, contemplated how to approach her. With a Golden Sun mindset, charging ahead recklessly might be the way, but contrary to his impression, this was reality.

Especially with Briana, who carried the title of Sword Saint, it would never be a good idea to throw away the goodwill he had built up with such behavior.

Or perhaps if I deliberately lower her affection, would the sub-scenario itself judge it as a failure?

[Warning! Sub-scenario – The Seekers of Twisted Possession is approaching the Integrated Bad Ending – Standing at the Crossroads of Eternal Imprisonment.]

Gilbert shook his head at the chilling warning message and discarded the thought he had just entertained.

[Integrated Bad Ending – Eternal Imprisonment has been canceled.]

Gilbert shuddered at the fact that merely thinking about it could trigger such a strange bad ending.

If the system hadn’t warned him, he might have faced a bad ending with no way out.

It was just a fleeting thought, but the moment he seriously considered that lowering affection might actually be better, this situation occurred. He wondered if it was right that such a situation would arise just from doing something that would lower affection.

Perhaps the cause is thinking about deviating from the path?

After calmly reflecting for a moment, it seemed plausible.

Given that his actions so far had woven the sub-scenario, it was possible that when he showed signs of deviating from that path, there would be movements to correct him.

Seraphina, who was even considering making him her consort, might confine him somewhere, and Briana might also lock him in a room and force him to focus solely on sword training.

Gilbert cautiously speculated that this might be why the Integrated Bad Ending was named “Eternal Imprisonment.”

Unfortunately, now that he knew about the existence of an Integrated Bad Ending, he completely ruled out the option of lowering affection to dismantle the sub-scenario itself.

In a way, it might seem appealing to prevent the world’s destruction ending with the sacrifice of just one person, but it wasn’t appealing at all when that person was himself.

Even Gilbert, who was full of thoughts about saving the world, didn’t want to sacrifice himself in this manner.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that the Eternal Imprisonment ending wouldn’t include the world’s destruction. If he were imprisoned by one of the three, the world destruction ending might still proceed due to the others.

There was no reason to mortgage his life on something unconfirmed. Though the explanation was lengthy, the conclusion was to focus on pursuing Briana.

However, he was still unsure about how to approach her, who had been unconquerable even in the game.

She was the holder of the illustrious title of Sword Saint, but in the early main scenario, she exited by sacrificing herself to protect the academy students.

In Tactical Combat, she gained popularity due to her well-designed character model and narrative, but within the game, Briana’s influence was extremely minimal.

Gilbert, as a hardcore player who had delved deeply into Tactical Combat, had thoroughly mastered all the information available about her, but he had learned much more since being reincarnated into this world.

In other words, most information about her remained as MacGuffins. Even the few official details revealed by the game developers meant he knew almost nothing about her.

The lack of information was quite painful since he had decided to pursue Briana.

Even though he had formed a master-disciple relationship with her, it was hard to say he knew her well enough.

Most of their interactions were about swords, with personal conversations being rare. The day he gave her the previous sword accounted for most of these, so there wasn’t much more to say.

In the end, Gilbert had to approach Briana through swords.

With the academy in ruins and reconstruction underway, Briana was staying in one of the undamaged buildings, the faculty quarters, honing her sword.

After asking Gilbert to become her companion, she had secluded herself, perhaps having gained some insight, and devoted herself to sword training.

The daily sword training she used to do when the academy was normal had been temporarily suspended after the Horizon incident, so it had been a while since Gilbert had gone to see Briana.

– Whoosh! Whoosh!

Without concealing his presence, he went to the courtyard of the quarters and saw Briana swinging her sword. The sword cutting through the air created a sound that formed some kind of pattern.

She’s really reached a new level.

Gilbert swallowed hard as he watched Briana’s sword dance.

Briana, who had obtained the title of Sword Saint and hit a wall, had now surpassed that wall and was beginning to reach an unprecedented level.

Even before surpassing the wall, swordsmen of her caliber could be counted on one hand throughout the continent. Now, she might be comparable to Vento man Libertas, known as the continent’s greatest knight from the Republic.

“Gil, is that you.”

Sensing Gilbert’s presence, Briana stopped her sword dance and caught her breath. Her eyes, which had been following the tip of her sword in the distance, returned to reality and focused on Gilbert.

He newly realized the deep favor or affection that could be seen in Briana’s eyes, which he had deliberately ignored until now.

“Congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to you.”

Her clear and intelligent blue eyes made it impossible to think she could reach the annihilation route.

Was that why?

Gilbert had a question.

Briana was someone who sacrificed herself to save the academy students. Her past life had been the foundation for such a noble choice.

How could someone like her suddenly turn around because of him and commit to an annihilation route she knew nothing about?

His thoughts deepened again.

In Seraphina’s case, he had thought her heart had twisted because of her deep possessiveness. He firmly believed in the system that had been helping him all along, which had generated the sub-scenario and warned him.

But thinking about it now, even Seraphina’s possessiveness was questionable. If Briana’s foundation was the sword, then Seraphina’s was the Empire.

The most important thing to her was the Empire and its citizens. It was hard to believe that someone like her would be blinded by possessiveness.

The reason Seraphina was an unconquerable character in Tactical Combat was also because of the Empire.

Seraphina was a cold-blooded imperial family member who could use even herself for the Empire.

The reason a conquest route didn’t emerge despite the protagonist Ian’s achievements was because she knew too well what the position of consort meant and what benefits she could gain for the Empire through him.

With such insight, Seraphina wouldn’t readily offer the consort position to Gilbert just based on his achievements.

This wasn’t speculation or guesswork but a conviction with valid reasons.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“Nothing. Rather, how about a sparring match after so long?”

“That sounds good. It’s time to check your achievements, Gil.”

Gilbert temporarily set aside the unsettling thoughts. While he definitely needed to think deeply about this issue, now was the time to focus on Briana.

Gilbert took the longsword Briana threw to him and drew it. Without further words, they faced each other and prepared for the sparring as usual.

Just before starting, Gilbert couldn’t help but smile bitterly at the fighting spirit that made his body tingle, realizing anew that Briana had surpassed her previous limits.

The sparring had never been easy before, but this time it seemed it would be even more challenging.

***

Briana looked contentedly at Gilbert as he caught his breath.

Seeing her disciple’s achievements with her own eyes after not being able to properly observe due to various events, she realized her judgment had not been wrong.

Just as Briana herself had surpassed her limits, Gilbert had also grown. While it was true he still had a long way to go, it was undeniable that he had become one of the continent’s most outstanding swordsmen.

Was that why?

Looking at Gilbert roughly wiping away his sweat, she felt a strange ticklish sensation. It was a scene she must have seen countless times before, but now it felt a bit awkward to look directly at him.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing. Your skills have improved remarkably.”

“I still have a long way to go to catch up to you, Master.”

Seeing his rare, faint smile made it even harder for her to look at his face.

After clearing her throat a few times, Briana pointed out the issues she had noticed during their recent sparring. As her thoughts shifted to swordsmanship, the discomfort of looking at his face disappeared.

“Pay more attention to the distribution of your strength. Having exceptional physical abilities is a blessing for a swordsman, but how well you utilize them depends on your own capabilities, Gil.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“One more thing to add, you lack subtlety. This is also because you have such outstanding physical abilities that you tend to solve problems with force. You’re already sufficient in handling a strong sword, but you lack subtlety when using a flowing sword technique. It actually feels smoother when you’re piloting a Golem Knight.”

Briana recalled Gilbert using the Winter Sword while piloting a Golem Knight.

Usually, even for skilled Golem Knight riders, there’s an inevitable awkwardness from the moment they mount because they’re not moving their own bodies.

That’s an unavoidable aspect even for excellent Golem Knight riders, but paradoxically, Gilbert often showed smoother movements when mounted on a Golem Knight.

While it was puzzling, his talent for controlling Golem Knights made it possible.

“Thank you for the advice.”

His posture of correcting himself and listening attentively was very pleasing to see. It was also commendable that despite building fame faster than his peers, he wasn’t consumed by it.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t changed since the beginning. Regardless of the unfavorable rumors and first impressions, he just kept moving forward with a consistent demeanor.

Knowing this better than anyone, Briana had decided to make Gilbert her sword companion.

She was convinced that there was no one better than Gilbert as a partner who could steadily advance on the endless path of the sword.

But until when?

As she watched Gilbert wiping his sweat and drinking water, Briana realized something she hadn’t thought of before.

While it was good that she had made Gilbert her companion on the path of the sword, the fundamental question was how long this would last.

Briana had already vowed to dedicate her entire life to the sword, but she didn’t know if Gilbert had done the same.

Even if he didn’t continue his family line, as the legitimate son of the Hart County, he had a duty to produce heirs.

This meant that someday he would have to marry, and might not be able to dedicate himself to the path of the sword.

Briana’s expression visibly darkened. For her, the sword was something she couldn’t give up, but that might not be the case for Gilbert.

Although he had declared he would walk the path of the sword with her, she hadn’t heard until when. Her intention was for a lifetime, but she didn’t know if Gilbert thought the same.

Thoughts continued to chain together.

The idea of Gilbert leaving the path of the sword at some point made her hair stand on end. To her, Gilbert was the only person in this world she could be with.

The thought of him leaving the path of the sword to start a family made her clench her fists involuntarily.

Gilbert had chosen her.

Despite knowing the rumors and reputation surrounding her, he had proudly come to her, saying he wanted to be her exclusive disciple, and had passed the test she had set to become her exclusive disciple.

Since then, without stopping once, he had moved forward and now was beginning to be called a hero within the Empire.

That was a source of pride and self-esteem for Briana as Gilbert’s master.

Yes, he chose me.

Briana’s intelligent eyes clouded. A sticky emotion that had been sleeping deep in her heart began to rise.

Thinking about it briefly, it was a very simple story.

If she was worried about Gilbert leaving, she should provide him with what he needed.

And that wasn’t difficult.

She too, though she had forgotten, was a woman who could connect with a man.

Briana decided to give herself to him.

Exhaling a hot breath, Briana stepped closer to Gilbert.

She felt as if some uncontrollable emotion was gripping her heart.

As her head rang and her reason clouded to the point where she couldn’t make normal judgments—

“Would you like to go on a date after so long?”

“Hmm?”

Her mind cleared as if cold water had been poured over her. Reason returned, breaking through the engulfing thoughts.

Briana couldn’t understand the inexplicable flow of thoughts that had momentarily possessed her.

Had some kind of demon entered her mind as she stepped into the realm of the superhuman?

It was hard to believe she had been dominated by such emotional and irrational feelings.

“Gil.”

“What is it, Master?”

Briana unconsciously stepped back at Gilbert’s concerned gaze. This was because she felt a fluffy emotion instead of the strange feeling that had been dominating her mind until just now.

At least this time, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

She even felt relieved as the unpleasant emotion gradually disappeared.

“Y-yes. As a master, I should encourage a disciple who is growing diligently.”

Briana decided to set aside the inexplicable phenomenon for now and focus on the emotion she was currently feeling. It seemed that would help her maintain psychological stability.

With an improved mood, she told Gilbert to meet her after washing up and left.

Perhaps because her senses had loosened due to the fluffy emotion unlike usual?

Until the moment she left, she failed to notice Gilbert’s gaze, which was sharper than usual, watching her intently.