Chapter 9
"Whose body did you just lay hands on?"
Astin's eyes held the look of a beast wearing human skin.
As if she were a rabbit standing before a lion.
Azeline's breath caught in the face of that terrifying killing intent.
"A-Astin...."
Before she could even part her trembling lips.
Wham!
Astin's boot mercilessly slammed into Azeline's face.
"Aaaah!"
The noble young lady had never been struck by anyone even once.
The treasured daughter of House Rosenthal screamed and rolled across the floor.
Even then, Azeline still couldn't comprehend what was happening.
"H-how dare you kick a lady in the face...! Are you not afraid of Rosenthal!"
The instant she boldly shouted at him.
Thud!
"Aaaagh!"
Azeline writhed beneath the rain of kicks.
Dirt and blood quickly spread across her once-fair cheeks.
Astin did not stop regardless.
He mercilessly kicked the bridge of Azeline's nose, the area around her eyes, and both cheeks indiscriminately.
"Aah! Stop! Stop!"
Why?
For what reason was he taking things this far?
How did he intend to deal with the consequences?
Those thoughts were erased by the physical impact.
Her shrill screams rang out as though they would tear apart the training ground.
There was not even a hint of wavering in Astin's eyes.
With his gaze cold and sunken, he crushed Azeline's face as though he were stomping on an insect.
Crunch!
"Guhh....!"
Azeline had spent her entire life surrounded by handsome men's flattery and living in a bed of flowers.
Such merciless violence was something she could never have imagined.
The pain of her nasal bone breaking, the metallic taste of blood seeping through her torn lips.
Terrified, Azeline covered her face with both hands.
Unable to endure any longer, she clutched Astin's trouser leg and begged him to spare her life.
"Stop! Astin! Please stoooop—!"
But it was useless.
Wham—! Crack!
Astin's kicks continued without a moment's pause.
"Y-Young Master! Please restrain yourself!"
"This will become a serious problem! Calm down!"
The knights belatedly realized how serious the situation was and rushed to restrain him.
"Let go?"
When Astin irritably shrugged his shoulders, the three massive knights were flung away like autumn leaves.
Astin once again approached Azeline, who lay sprawled on the floor.
Azeline backed away on her hands and knees, her face covered in blood.
The more she retreated, the darker Astin's shadow loomed over her.
"This is the last one. Never set foot here again."
Crunch!
The last thing Azeline saw was Astin's boot before her consciousness went dark.
That day, Azeline, known as House Rosenthal's treasured daughter, was struck by a man for the first time.
***
Ancient books lined the bookshelves.
A desk without a speck of dust, revealing its owner's fastidiousness.
Neatly arranged fountain pens and documents marked with ink stains here and there.
You know how there are times like that?
When you're being sternly scolded by your parents, and you find yourself staring at the floor tiles.
I was like that too.
"Are you listening, Astin?"
"Yes, sir."
My father pressed his fingers to his brow and caught his breath.
I stood ramrod straight before him with my hands behind my back.
My legs were starting to go numb.
"The young lady alone is responsible for the broken engagement. Confiscating the dowry and betrothal gifts goes without saying, and if we add defamation and insult to the family, we could extract two or three times that amount."
"That's good."
"We had a chance to gain even greater benefits."
Bang!
My father slammed his fist onto the desk.
"We could have obtained some of Rosenthal's most valuable lands. We could even have pressured them to hand over their southern trade rights. On top of that, Rosenthal and the young lady alone would have borne the disgrace."
If only it had ended with me beating Julian senseless.
At some point, I lost control and laid hands on Azeline too. No, not my hands—my feet.
I hit the young lady in the abdomen with a front kick, then repeatedly stomped on her face after she fell.
Was it after about five kicks?
The knights saw the blood on the young lady's face and rushed out to restrain me with their entire bodies.
If they hadn't, I would have left Azeline looking just like Julian.
Though that would have caused the matter to spiral much further.
"That woman touched Celine first. I only did what I had to do."
Haa—
My father let out a pointed sigh.
Being the head of a house was a difficult position.
Streaks of gray had increased noticeably among my father's black hair, which had once seemed so majestic it could rival a mountain.
'He's suffered a lot.'
How much trouble had the past me caused him?
Remembering my past misdeeds made guilt prick at me.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with Azeline.
'That... that... that crazy bitch cheated first!'
Even if I were given two chances to regress, I would have done the same thing.
"Gossips only care about gossip and scandal. Regardless of who was at fault, you'll be left with the stigma of beating a young lady."
It was something I already knew.
The nobles would mock Azeline's infidelity while exaggerating my violence and condemning me for it.
"But honestly, she deserved the beating."
"Do you expect them to think rationally? They want to open up a young noble's wounds and see blue blood. Because that becomes a weakness."
That was simply how this world worked. I knew that better than anyone.
Before I became aware of my past life, I had been just like them.
"Our opponent is Rosenthal. Compensation and damages will not be a problem. Our prestige has been tarnished, but they are still Rosenthal."
Rosenthal was one of the Empire's two great houses, standing shoulder to shoulder with Cardenos.
As always, my father's assessment was accurate.
"This is no great gain for us either. They lost what they deserved to lose, and we received what we were owed. More importantly, Rosenthal alone should have borne the disgrace. To a noble, honor carries that much value."
My father calmly assessed the situation.
"Now it is a mudslinging fight. This incident has escalated from a lovers' quarrel into a matter between the families. Of course, the young lady's guilt is far greater, since she brought an outsider into the matter and spoke of breaking off the engagement."
My father's voice sank low.
"Those Rosenthals are thick-skinned by nature. Compensation is one matter, and the severity of the offense another. Rather than admit their guilt, they may brazenly retort that we assaulted their precious daughter."
"They won't do that right away. They'll lie low for a while."
"Rosenthal remembers debts and grudges well."
In other words, they would definitely seek revenge someday.
The Empire's renowned swordsmanship house, Cardenos. Rosenthal, its renowned magical house.
The two pillars supporting the Empire had come into unprecedented conflict.
Worse, this incident had ended with both families' reputations tarnished.
The two houses would continue their mudslinging fight, and the people around them would inevitably turn it into gossip.
I wish I could just bulldoze right through it.
"If this matter reaches that point, stay out of it. It has gone far beyond an issue between just the two of you."
His final words were steeped in paternal affection.
I firmly shook my head.
"I can't do that. This is something I caused, and a problem I started."
I was Cardenos's eldest legitimate son.
I had never intended to hide in the first place.
I had started this knowing that I would have to bear all the consequences.
"And Father, why should we be worried about Rosenthal?"
I was someone who had weathered every kind of hardship, all the way through the world's destruction.
The matter with Rosenthal could be brought under control by me alone.
"Rosenthal chose to make itself Cardenos's enemy first. They should be the ones afraid of us."
Rosenthal could not handle Cardenos, much less me alone.
As long as I was here, Cardenos had no reason to be wary of Rosenthal.
My father stared at me in silence, then slightly relaxed the line of his mouth.
"That was cathartic."
He crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair.
"I'll tell you now. I had hoped you would break off the engagement yourself."
A fool of a son who, bewitched by a woman, had handed over his very liver and gallbladder.
That was the extent of the opinion I had held of myself.
"Even if it ended in disaster, it was for the best. Better than chasing after the young lady like you used to. Giving them both a good beating was the right thing to do as a human being."
"It wasn't just one blow, was it? Julian took dozens, and Azeline took about five or six."
"Quite right. If you do wrong, you should be punished. Especially..."
Thump—
My father placed a fist against his chest.
"I saw the ring of fire you wove."
I had been wondering when he would mention it.
The look in my father's eyes at the time had been soaked in sentiment and youthful idealism.
They were the eyes of a knight who could never forget the honor and glory of his youth.
Someday, my father would weave a solar ring too.
"You set fire to this father's heart."
"Oh, yes?"
I knew exactly what he meant.
He meant that I had rekindled the ember in the firewood he had thought had gone out forever.
I understood the meaning, but his choice of words was a little questionable.
Isn't that the sort of line couples use when they're trying to set the mood?
When I looked at him strangely, my father seemed to notice something odd and cleared his throat.
"Enough. You may leave now."
"Yes, sir."
I gave him a slight bow and turned toward the door.
Just as I was about to leave, my father stopped me.
"I forgot one thing. A carrier pigeon flew in from the North this morning."
"The North?"
If it was news from the North, it was the good news I had been waiting for.
"The news has arrived. Selena, who went to serve on the northern front, will be returning soon."
Selena.
My only older blood relative and Cardenos's eldest daughter—in other words, my sister.
"When will she arrive?"
"She finished preparing in the North yesterday, so it should take a little over two weeks. If she changes horses at the relay stations along the way and rides hard, it will take ten days."
So, roughly ten days.
"If your sister sees you now, she'll be proud of you. Just as I am."
"I hope so."
Even after regressing, regret still remained.
In my first life, after becoming aware of my past life, I left the family.
I abandoned the family, turning my back on my father and Celine.
After wandering the Empire alone without any destination, I happened to encounter Selena.
-Astin, runaway loser. I don't consider you my brother. Get lost. Don't ever appear before me again.
Her final words to me remained in my mind like an auditory hallucination.
The next time I saw Selena was when I returned to the family.
Her corpse had been mutilated beyond recognition. I still could not forget its coldness.
It left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.
***
"Hup!"
"Hah!"
The Cardenos training ground was filled with shouts once again today.
Knights trained with sandbags strapped to their bodies, while others ran laps around the training ground.
Vwooom!
Among them, the knights who wielded Luna were sunk in deep thought.
'Pathetic.'
Their gazes naturally lowered to the ground.
The training ground's stone tiles had melted and hardened in places.
The traces of the desperate duel remained intact.
Though they were clearly looking at the ground, a red-gold solar ring danced before their eyes.
The afterimage of Astin's Solar refused to fade.
"Isn't the Young Master truly incredible?"
One knight cautiously began.
Then, one after another, everyone added their own comment.
"He is. I was thinking the same thing."
"I still can't believe he overwhelmed three Paths with a single ring."
They had replayed Astin's duel dozens of times in their heads.
It was an absurd feat that shattered common sense.
Setting aside the quantity and quality of his aura, his innate combat sense had allowed him to deflect attacks with minimal movement and strike at every opening.
His superhuman senses and genius intuition made him seem like a veteran who had crossed the line between life and death countless times.
"He truly must have Cardenos blood. I've heard that it takes ten one-ring knights to defeat a three-Path knight."
"He didn't merely win; he overwhelmed him. Anyone hearing that would call it bullshit, wouldn't they?"
"Of course. I saw it myself, and I still can't believe it."
"The Young Master is one thing, but that solar ring..."
Astin's martial prowess was astonishing, but something else had caused an even greater upheaval.
An outdated relic of the old era, demoted by Luna's efficiency.
The solar ring, dismissed as a ring of self-destruction that consumed its wielder's body.
A new question began to rise in the knights' hearts.
"Could Solar have been underestimated all this time?"
Their doubts bred confusion.
Had everyone spent the past twenty years wandering down a dead-end road called comfort, overlooking the fundamentals?
Endure the heat of asceticism, and the sword itself grows harder. Overcome trials that take you between life and death, and the tip of your sword grows sharper.
Every path has an end, but a ring has no end. It circulates infinitely.
Astin's words struck their hearts rather than their ears.
"...Maybe I'll weave a ring too."
Someone muttered as though bewitched.
Everyone's gaze turned toward him.
Embarrassed for no reason, he hurriedly offered an excuse as smoothly as flowing water.
"D-Didn't the Young Master say it? Whether you stop and die or die and stop, it's obvious which is the more worthwhile death."
"Yeah, the Young Master is right. I don't want to die comfortably like everyone else."
"I've already decided. Rather than take the easy path, I'll weave a ring."
"To hell with it. A man dies once, not twice. Those barbarians in the North seem desperate to die, talking about Valhalla and whatnot."
Several apprentice knights who had yet to open their Paths reaffirmed their resolve.
They would leave the safe, familiar road behind and weave rings as firekeepers.
Not long ago, such words would have been dismissed as the ravings of a madman eager to die.
Now, everything was different.
Even the senior knights were listening to them seriously.
"But does anyone know how to weave a ring?"
"""......."""
Of course, there was one fatal problem.
Igniting the fire in one's core was a process dangerous enough to require staking one's life.
It was impossible to recklessly attempt it without the proper knowledge.
At present, every elite knight of Cardenos had opened their Paths.
None of them could pass on advice or knowledge about rings.
The only firekeepers left were retired knights who had withdrawn from the front lines—old veterans who had laid down their swords.
"Can't be helped. I'll have to ask the Young Master directly when he comes to the training ground."
"I'll go with you, Senior!"
Passionate determination flared in the eyes of the apprentice knights and squires who had yet to open their Paths.
Meanwhile, the knights who had opened their Paths and were listening beside them grew strangely dejected.
'Why am I jealous of them?'
'Of all things, I opened three Paths just the other day. I really did open them. If it had been two, it might have been worth trying.'
'Damn it. I can't abandon my Paths now....'
The more Paths one opened—two or three—the stronger the resistance against a ring became.
Only a few days ago, the knights who had opened Paths had been the object of admiration.
But now, that common sense had been turned completely on its head.
By one person alone—Astin.
***
As soon as I returned to my room, I sat cross-legged.
I closed my eyes and sank into my inner world.
A solar ring pulsed faintly near the root of my heart.
A ring was not finished simply because it had been woven once.
For the sake of more rings? No.
'Maintaining it alone takes a great deal of effort.'
Solar was fundamentally destructive and unstable.
Whenever I had time, I had to contemplate my inner world and tend to it, like stirring up a fire with kindling.
Otherwise, it would die down or run wild beyond my ability to control it. I would melt to death from the inside.
In fact, I had seen hundreds of people who met that fate.
"Hoo—"
I exhaled a murky breath as I felt the flames grow smoother.
As expected, one ring was easy to handle.
It wasn't because I was special; the mortality rate for a single ring was only three percent.
Most people burned to death while weaving their first ring. Once it was complete, maintenance was relatively easy.
"Now I need to weave two."
Honestly, I had made this ring entirely on my own. Fire thistle was merely a cheap wild herb sold in the marketplace.
I had no intention of weaving my second ring through my own strength alone.
I probably could weave about four more that way.
But choosing a difficult path did not mean I was eager to die.
There were many things I needed to weave a new ring.
The hidden pieces in my memories were a given.
"It would go more smoothly if I learned from an Outer Sword."
There were a few people whose control was several levels above mine.
The one who immediately came to mind was Outer Sword Hendrickson.
I used to call him the One-Armed Swordmaster.
In my first life, he was not exactly my master, but he was someone who taught me to a certain extent.
If I formally learned from that old geezer, weaving five rings within a year should be entirely possible.
Knock knock—
The sudden knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Come in."
Creak—
The door stopped partway through opening.
The other person peeked her head through the narrow gap.
"Older Brother, is it really all right for me to come in?"
It turned out to be Celine.
She fidgeted, and tension showed in her wavering eyes.
At least her agitation was fainter than before.
"Yeah. You can come in."
I barely suppressed the laugh that was trying to escape me.
I could guess why Celine had come to see me.