Chapter 20: Date Part 2

Friday, 9 o’clock.

I waited for her at the grand fountain in Lenz.

After sitting on a bench and people-watching for a few minutes, I spotted her approaching from afar.

She was a head taller than most women.

She was even taller than most men, so it was impossible to miss her.

However, her head was lowered.

Her long black hair covered her face.

I noticed people glancing at her as they passed by.

“I’m over here…”

I stood up to call out to her but stopped mid-sentence.

Her appearance at the moment was visually shocking.

Even with a large officer’s coat, Hildegard’s glamorous figure always stood out.

Now that she was in a dress, her body line was even more blatantly exposed.

You could even see her toned abs.

But the abs weren’t the real problem—it was her chest.

I kept trying to pull my gaze away and locked eyes with her golden pupils.

When she saw me, she hurried over.

Only then did her face come into view. It was flushed red like a radish.

Her eyes, usually as serious as a hawk’s, couldn’t meet mine and darted around like a child’s.

“Hi. You… look great.”

“…This was the only outfit I had.”

She immediately offered an excuse.

She knew what her outfit looked like.

Even if she didn’t want to know, going outside made it impossible to ignore.

Everyone stared at her—especially the men.

“I get it. I’m the same. I buy a few outfits and just keep wearing them.”

I said that to make sure she didn’t feel embarrassed.

‘Only two outfits for a woman?’

If any other woman had said that, I’d think it was a lie—but with Hildegarde, I believed it.

She was the kind of woman who wore a military uniform every Friday evening.

“But… why did you bring your sword?”

I pointed at the sword strapped to her waist.

Naturally, a dress couldn’t hold a sword, so she had a separate belt on.

A dress, belt, and sword—a rather unusual combination.

“It’s the sword of my family. I always carry it with me.”

“…I see. Wanna go somewhere? Is there any place you’d like to visit?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really been anywhere.”

“Then how about the Grand Park in Lenz? They say a lot of couples go there.”

“C-Couples…”

There was something bashful in the way she said it.

It was the first time we were meeting outside of the evening.

The warm morning sun lifted the mood. The sky was clear, and the laughter of children echoed around us.

The atmosphere was bright and full of life.

I started walking.

To be honest, this was my first time dating too.

But I had seen and heard enough to figure some things out.

First, we headed to the nearby market.

After all, isn’t shared experience the foundation of a date?

We needed to try doing something together.

The market had all kinds of food on sale.

I bought two skewers—one with soy sauce and one spicy.

“Wanna try this?”

“What is it?”

“Chicken skewers. You’ve never had them?”

“No.”

“Try it. It’s good.”

Hildegarde took a bite of the skewer covered in sweet sauce.

Her eyes widened.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious…”

Her cute reaction made me offer mine as well.

It was the spicy one.

“Try mine too. It’s a different flavor.”

“Thank you.”

Chomp.

“!!!”

As soon as she took a bite, her face turned red hot.

Her fair skin flushed bright pink.

Tears welled up at the corners of her sharp eyes.

She glared at me with tear-filled eyes and began frantically fanning her mouth with her gloved hands.

“Hhak, hhak,” she made strange sounds trying to cool down her burning mouth.

I handed her the water I had prepared in advance.

She quickly grabbed it and drank in a panic.

Once she had calmed down a bit, she gave me a sharp look while I tried to hold back my laughter.

“…Leo Valentine. Are you amused?”

“Sorry. I didn’t think it would be that spicy for you.”

“If you’re sorry, stop smiling.”

Even so, the way she pouted like an angry child made it impossible not to smile.

“Okay, okay. But don’t you think you should take off the gloves? Aren’t you hot?”

I looked down at her gloves.

They were gray, matching her outfit.

“It’s fine. I’m more comfortable wearing them.”

I had never seen Hildegard take off her gloves.

Even when we met at the tavern, she had her military gloves on.

Since I always wore gloves too, I figured she had her reasons and didn’t press.

***

Next, we headed to a salon.

There was no way she’d wear that tight outfit the entire date, so we stopped by.

“Your height is…?”

“181 centimeters.”

“Just a moment… let’s see if we have something that fits.”

The salon’s madam went through the entire dressroom collection.

“Aha! There’s exactly one that fits. Would you like to try it?”

The dress was a refreshing shade of blue.

It had straps over the shoulders, leaving her neck, shoulders, and collarbones exposed.

“How much is it?”

“1.3 million Harts.”

It was a professional salon dress, so the price was steep.

Hildegarde looked troubled after hearing the price.

Though she was a major and earned about 5 million Harts a month,

she gave half—2.5 million—to her brother every month, and after giving allowance to her parents, paying for mansion maintenance and food, she barely had any money left for herself.

“Here.”

Without hesitation, I pulled out the money.

“Valentine, you don’t need to. This dress will do.”

“What do you mean ‘will do’? That outfit’s in a pitiful state. And besides, buying this is the guy’s job.”

“…I’ll definitely pay you back next month.”

***

We went to see the circus.

We got there pretty early, so we had front row seats.

Fwoosh!

An acrobat breathed fire.

He took oil into his mouth and blew it over a torch, creating a burst of flame.

It wasn’t magic.

Magicians saw themselves as noble and refused to use their powers for entertainment.

“Here, we have a man who never dies. No matter how many times this sword—whoosh!—strikes his neck, it won’t be cut.”

A woman swung a sword at a man whose neck was locked in place.

She wasn’t holding back—she put her full weight into the swing.

And the blade was real, sharp steel.

Hildegarde’s eyes sparkled in fascination.

‘He subtly wrapped the demonic beast’s carapace around his neck.’

There was a demonic beast’s carapace on the neck of the man being struck by the sword.

With that carapace, the sword would break instead.

As a mage, I could feel it.

“Now! Can’t believe it? Then come up here yourself and try cutting this man’s neck.

You there, beautiful lady! Care to come up and swing the sword?”

“…Are you talking to me?”

Hildegarde, who had been quietly watching, was suddenly pulled onto the stage.

“You’re… quite tall.”

“Do I just strike with this?”

Hildegarde nodded and accepted the sword.

A longsword with a sharp, bluish blade.

She held it with a natural grip.

“Yes! Just swing it with all your might.”

“With all my might… Understood.”

I felt a sense of unease.

In that moment, Hildegarde’s aura changed completely, and golden mana swirled from her sword.

“Huh?”

The man, calmly smiling with his neck restrained, widened his eyes.

The woman was startled, and the audience was captivated by the sight.

Ssshhk.

Just before Hildegarde, holding her breath, could truly swing at the man’s neck, I rushed forward.

I grabbed her hand and shoulder to stop her.

“Mr. Valentine?”

“Haha, sorry. Let’s go, Hildegarde.”

As she was about to swing, she looked back at me.

Apologizing to the almost-decapitated performer, I led her out of the circus tent.

“Why did you stop me? That was an important moment.”

“…Did you really think that man could withstand your strike?”

“He couldn’t?”

Hildegarde answered innocently.

If struck with the full strength of a Sword Master, anything would be cleaved.

“You’re a Sword Master. You have to be careful.”

“I’m not yet. I still have a long way to go.”

“…Not there yet?”

“What more do you want to achieve here?”

“I dream of going beyond that. To reach the level of the old Sword Masters.”

Hildegarde said, gazing at the sky.

Her golden eyes shimmered faintly.

She answered my question more seriously than expected.

“The old Sword Masters, huh…”

Old Sword Masters.

Now is the age of guns and cannons, and trains exist.

Even if you’re called a Sword Master, you’ll get crushed by a train or die from a cannonball.

But back then, in the brutal early medieval age, Sword Masters were different.

It was the era of war filled with spears, swords, blood, and hooves.

Sword Masters of that time were monsters in human form.

“As you know, modern Sword Masters are recognized just for handling mana.”

“That’s true.”

“But it wasn’t like that in the old days. Sword Masters had to wield aura.”

Old Sword Masters handled aura.

It was fundamentally different from mana.

Historically, a swordsman’s rank is classified into three categories.

Sword User, Sword Expert, and Sword Master.

A Sword User is an ordinary swordsman.

A Sword Expert handles mana.

A Sword Master handles aura.

“I’m just a Sword Expert, not a Sword Master.”

As time passed, Sword Masters who used aura disappeared.

Even after ten years of sword training, you’d still die to a soldier trained with guns for one month.

The era of swords and spears had come to an end.

Even so, a small elite force was still needed, so knight training continued.

How long it would last, no one knew.

The World Swordsmanship Association lowered the standards for Sword Masters.

Since no one uses aura anymore, handling just mana was enough to be called a Sword Master.

“Why are you so obsessed with the sword?”

I asked.

From the first moment we met, Hildegarde spoke of swords and chivalry.

“…It’s for my grandfather. He was a true Sword Master. Not a half-baked one who used mana, but a real one who wielded aura. I have to restore his honor.”

“There haven’t even been three true Sword Masters in the last hundred years. Who was he?”

“Really?”

Hildegarde avoided my gaze.

She didn’t want to say.

She wasn’t the type to lie. That must mean he truly was one of the old Sword Masters.

Who was it again…

Some names came to mind, but I shook my head.

‘Forget it.’

If she wants to keep it a secret, what good would it do to know?

She’ll tell me when the time comes.

And if she doesn’t, well, then I’ll just never know.

“I’m getting hungry. Shall we go eat? I made a reservation at a restaurant.”

I stood up from the bench and reached out to Hildegarde.

She took my hand and stood up.

The restaurant I reserved wasn’t far from the Royal Palace of Lenz.

It was famous enough that nobles and aristocrats occasionally visited.

I had made the reservation a week ago for a date.

Our seats were by the window with a great view.

“Mr. Leo Valentine, and Ms. Hildegarde von… Kürhalstein. Welcome. Right this way.”

The waiter checked our names on the reservation list.

He stared at Hildegarde a bit too long.

We sat at the seats we were shown.

We looked around the quietly elegant restaurant.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know much about places like this. May I leave it to you, Mr. Valentine?”

“I don’t really know either, but sure. I’ll order something.”

I ordered two steaks and one pasta.

As we waited for the food, chatting, someone swaggered over.

“Well, look who it is—Captain Kürhalstein, isn’t it?”

A man with blue hair and brown eyes.

“…Lieutenant Colonel Falkmart.”

“Ah, don’t be so stiff. We’re not in the army here, are we?”

Falkmart.

I’d heard of him.

Hildegarde’s ex who didn’t want marriage, just sleeping together.

“Oh my, hello? Long time no see since then, right?”

A woman clung to Falkmart’s side.

She wore revealing clothes and heavy makeup.

Hildegarde’s expression hardened when she saw her.

That was the woman Falkmart had slept with—right in front of Hildegarde.

“So that’s where you went on leave… Meeting another man? I figured as much.”

Falkmart lifted his chin slightly and looked down on Leo.

Judging his clothes, he instantly assessed Leo’s financial level.

“What a shame. I gave you a chance, you know? Considering your bloodline, I was even willing to be with you, but this is what you chose?”

Leo took a sip of wine and said to them:

“Sorry, but we’re on a date. If you want to brag about bloodlines, please leave.”

“Hey, do you even know what kind of bloodline she has?”

Falkmart sneered, glancing at Hildegarde.

Hildegarde’s face stiffened.

“She’s a Kürhalstein, isn’t she.”

I didn’t know what kind of family that was.

I’d only moved to Eichenwald three years ago.

I was too busy looking after Elizabeth to learn about all the noble families.

“Well then, do you know Maximilian the Butcher?”

“The worst butcher.”

Only 20 years ago, a single man caused a catastrophe.

It was the great massacre that happened in the city of Rheinborn, in Eichenwald.

Records say Rheinborn had a population of 50,000, and 30,000 were killed. All by blades.

The city was filled with blood up to the ankles, with torn and hacked corpses scattered everywhere.

The sight was so horrifying that the photographer who captured it took his own life from the trauma.

Afterward, for some reason, Maximilian surrendered without resistance and was burned at the stake.

People called him the Demon Knight, the Butcher Knight, the Worst Knight.

Though decades have passed, it had shocked not only Eichenwald society but the entire world.

Even the Imperial Guard took interest.

Because Maximilian was one of the old Sword Masters who wielded aura.

If he had set his mind to it, he could have stormed the imperial palace and killed the emperor.

Druber looked at Hildegard and said,

“His full name is Maximilian von Quirhalstein. He’s Hildegard von Quirhalstein’s grandfather.”

Before anyone noticed, Hildegard had bowed her head so low that her face was hidden.