Ch.276Who Am I? (1)

Every person has a limit.

Just as one cannot finish a table full of delicious food when already full, humans initially show rejection when their limits are exceeded.

This applies not only to stomach capacity, but also to shock—mental shock, for instance.

Take this girl, for example, who encountered a situation where “I met a young man in an alley who was handsome, seemed special, had shining eyes, so I bought him a meal, and it turned out he was the youngest 7-star, youngest Sword Master, who pulled Excalibur—a once-in-a-millennium genius with the qualities of a great hero.”

A shock that far exceeded her tolerance threshold.

The moment she saw Excalibur gleaming before her eyes, Dieta Albania fainted with a thud.

Dieta regained consciousness a few minutes later.

Having received a shock beyond her capacity, Dieta chose to escape reality by thinking, “Ah, I must have had a really strange dream.”

“I really had a strange dream, didn’t I? About you, Najin, pulling Excalibur and all that…”

Thud, and flash.

“Faint.”

Second fainting.

Fortunately, she woke up more quickly this time. Dieta stared at Excalibur, still gleaming before her, with trembling eyes.

An incredibly shining sword.

Is that the legendary Excalibur? The holy sword and star sword that King Arthur supposedly used? With her pupils shaking like an earthquake, Dieta called for her knight escort.

“Um, Passion?”

“……”

“Passion?”

Dieta intended to ask her knight escort, “Is that really Excalibur? Am I not seeing things?” But no matter how many times she called, her knight escort didn’t answer.

Why isn’t he answering? Dieta turned around.

Tremble, tremble, tremble.

There were Passion’s eyes, vibrating twice as fast as Dieta’s pupils. Repeatedly opening and closing his mouth, gasping for breath as if hyperventilating, Passion’s appearance made Dieta tilt her head in confusion.

“Um, Passi—”

“Imperial Knight, Passion!”

Boom! Before Dieta could finish speaking, Passion knelt on the ground. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he bowed his head.

“I am in the presence of the greatest knight!”

It was a natural reaction for an Imperial Knight—no, for anyone bearing the title of knight regardless of nationality. After all, Excalibur was the symbol of Arthur, the greatest knight and king of knights.

“……”

Dieta silently looked at Najin.

Najin silently shrugged.

“That’s how it turned out.”

2.

Najin tried to dismiss it with a simple “That’s how it turned out,” but naturally, the situation couldn’t be glossed over so easily. Eventually, Najin gave Dieta a detailed account, and after hearing the story, Dieta…

“My goodness.”

She ran her hands over her face.

Thanks to fainting twice earlier, she barely managed to avoid passing out again, but she was extremely confused now. It was a story beyond her imagination.

They say a merchant’s virtue is to buy low and sell high, but there are limits. One might happily accept discovering that an oddly shaped stone picked up on the street turned out to be a diamond, but…

It wasn’t easy to accept that a stone found on the street was actually a legendary hero’s symbol lost 1,000 years ago—a priceless treasure beyond imagination. And the situation unfolding before Dieta’s eyes was even more extraordinary.

“So?”

Dieta asked with a trembling voice.

“Now you’re the youngest Sword Master?”

“Ah, only when holding Excalibur.”

“The youngest free knight, youngest 7-star, youngest candidate for Imperial Pillar, and once the situation is resolved, the Emperor himself will pay respects to you and award you the Imperial Hero Medal?”

“I did receive an invitation.”

“And on top of that, you pulled Excalibur?”

Thud. Flash.

“That’s how it turned out.”

“Ah, that’s a bit too bright…”

“Should I put it away?”

“Yes, for now…”

Najin obediently stored Excalibur away. He seemed to be enjoying her reactions, but Dieta let out a long sigh.

“I suspected you might have pulled it, but seeing it in person is just, how should I put it… it feels unreal.”

“Does it?”

“You seem quite composed.”

“It feels like what was meant to come has come.”

In truth, he wasn’t composed. After pulling Excalibur, countless knights had sought out Najin, kneeling and paying their respects, and even the Emperor had sent a handwritten letter to Najin using honorific language.

It was inevitable that he’d feel a bit proud.

Of course, he didn’t show it outwardly. Externally, he maintained his usual modest and restrained appearance. Hadn’t he displayed perfect humility before the Emperor, saying, “I merely did what needed to be done”?

The pride, satisfaction, and sense of achievement not expressed outwardly accumulated inside. Normally, such accumulated feelings would eventually burst forth, but…

Najin’s case was a bit different.

‘Merlin.’

-……

‘Merlin?’

-……What.

Najin was regularly satisfying his need for recognition. Najin wore an extremely smug expression toward the constellation in his inner world and shrugged. Look at how amazing I am. Merlin’s expression crumpled as if she’d bitten into a bug.

‘Who am I?’

She was receiving the exact same question for the 57th time.

‘See, Merlin? Who am I?’

-Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

The question repeated for the 58th time. Unable to bear it any longer, Merlin screamed. With her face turning bright red, Merlin grabbed Najin’s collar and shook him back and forth. Naturally, no one could hear her scream. Most regrettably.

“So, Najin?”

Dieta looked straight at Najin, having calmed her confusion. As if asking what he planned to do now.

“I’m thinking of staying here for a while. The Empire’s political situation needs to stabilize before I can move, and that seems to require some time.”

Najin looked at Dieta while tilting his teacup.

Flinch—Dieta’s body stiffened.

“Y-you’re staying here? I mean, at my mansion? Not a villa, but here?”

“Of course, only if Dieta is okay with it.”

“Uh, uhhh…”

Dieta stammered. Of course, the mansion was extremely spacious. After all, it was the main house of the Albania ducal family. Dieta was simply focused on the fact that she would be living under the same roof as Najin.

“Ah, if it’s uncomfortable, I could find another—”

“No, no!”

Dieta cut Najin off mid-sentence.

She stood up, banging the table.

“Passion? Prepare a room immediately. Tell the head butler. You know what to say without me explaining, right?”

“Huff, Excalibur…”

“Passion!”

“Huh!”

The dazed Passion snapped to attention, saluted Najin, and ran into the mansion.

“B-but what brings this on? Saying you’ll stay at my mansion. Of course, I’m delighted, but…”

Dieta glanced sideways at Najin, trying to gauge his intentions. It was rare for Najin to make such a request first.

“Well.”

Najin rubbed his chin and answered with a “hmm.” To be honest, the current Najin would be welcomed as an honored guest wherever he went, and many places were inviting him. The Emperor himself had offered to prepare a special place for him in the imperial palace.

Yet Najin had come to the Albania ducal family’s mansion.

After pondering the reason, Najin said:

“Because it’s most comfortable?”

“Pardon?”

“I feel most at ease when I’m with you, Dieta. I should say it feels stabilizing, and it gives me a sense of rest.”

There were several factors behind Najin’s feeling. Since the days in Cambria, City of Opportunity, Najin had sought out Dieta whenever situations concluded. Whether to report, seek help, or for various other reasons.

And if Najin didn’t visit, Dieta would come to him, and when Najin was bedridden, Dieta was always the first to visit.

This hadn’t changed much even after Najin crossed to the Outer Continent. Whenever he came to the continent, and when he decided to “rest” after finishing his business on the continent, Najin headed to Dieta’s side without much thought.

More than a friend, but not quite…

Though they couldn’t be called lovers yet, when thinking of rest, the first face that came to mind was always Dieta’s. Najin often felt familiarity and comfort with Dieta.

“Huh, ugh.”

Dieta swallowed hard. Though Najin spoke without much thought, it was a critical hit for Dieta. She covered her mouth and quickly turned her head.

‘Isn’t this as good as a confession?’

It wasn’t. It wasn’t a confession.

But either way, what did it matter? Dieta’s eyes spun with excitement. She stood up and extended her hand to Najin, saying that’s right.

She would personally guide him through the mansion.

Normally this would be the head butler’s role, but that didn’t matter now. Covering her twitching lips with her hand, Dieta began making plans in her head. What to do with Najin while living under the same roof, how to make the most of their time together…

Dieta moved forward while internally screaming.

-Stop! Stop! You, you really try that one more time?!

‘Who am I?’

-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

By coincidence, Merlin was also screaming in Najin’s inner world. With her face flushed red for a somewhat different reason than Dieta’s.

3.

A few days after Najin chose to stay at the Albania ducal family’s mansion, the entire Empire’s attention turned to the Albania estate. It was natural for attention to focus on the place he had chosen after declining countless invitations.

And in some cases, it didn’t stop at mere attention.

Numerous transcendents expressed their intention to visit the Albania ducal family. Dieta had rejected most visits to enjoy private time with Najin, but she couldn’t refuse visits from transcendents.

The first to visit was the Star of Sword, Charon.

A transcendent from the Order of the Sword visited Albania.

“Hey, Najin.”

“Yes. What is it, Master?”

“That’s right. I’m still your master, aren’t I? Ah, wait a moment. Should I use honorifics? Even the Empire’s Emperor uses honorifics with you, so I should probably…”

“We’re in private, so what does it matter?”

“I appreciate that.”

The Star of Sword, Charon, rubbed his chin.

In the middle of the Albania ducal family’s garden, two transcendents sat at a table, conversing.

“……”

And the knights of Albania watched the two with dry throats, swallowing hard. On one side was Lord Charon, the Star of Sword and master of the Order of the Sword; on the other was Lord Najin, the Empire’s hero who had been revealed to have pulled Excalibur.

What conversation were these great transcendents having?

They were extremely curious but didn’t dare approach. Surely they must be discussing something extremely important related to the fate of the world. Obviously, they were having a very high-level conversation that ordinary people like themselves couldn’t understand.

It certainly appeared that way.

Lord Charon, the Star of Sword, was continuing the conversation with an extremely serious expression. Though they couldn’t hear the voices, the expression alone revealed the gravity of the content.

…Of course, that was just the knights’ perception.

Najin looked at Charon sitting across from him.

“Remember what I said before?”

“What did you say?”

Charon was continuing the conversation with an extremely serious expression. As if nothing in the world could be more important.

“About Excalibur.”

“Yes.”

“Can’t I hold it just once? I’m begging you.”

“……”

“I can even kneel.”

It wasn’t a joke. Najin had to hurriedly stop Charon, who was getting up from his seat as if ready to kneel at any moment.