Chapter 27
A massive explosion rippled through the battlefield, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
Caron slowly helped Hans, who had shielded him, to his feet.
"...That was actually dangerous," Caron muttered. A deep crater had formed where Zion's body had been, showing how narrowly they had escaped death. The unease Caron had felt earlier now made sense. It had been a premonition of this very moment.
"Dangerous? You almost died. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have a scrap of flesh left," a voice echoed in Caron's head.
Caron instantly recognized the voice. He remarked aloud, "I didn't know you had a voice function."
"Of course I do. I'm no ordinary sword," the voice replied haughtily.
"An Ego Sword?" Caron asked, recalling some legends he had heard. Those were swords that had been forged by mad blacksmiths using souls as material. Considering that Guillotine had been the sword of the first head of the family, it seemed plausible.
However, the sword itself didn't take kindly to the comparison. It said, "Call me an Ego Sword one more time, and I'll cut off your head on the spot."
Caron smirked and retorted, "If you were going to kill me, why didn't you just let me die? Seems like all you do is talk."
"This bastard..." the sword grumbled.
Recognizing Guillotine's irritation, Caron decided to drop the subject for now and said, "We can discuss this later. There are more pressing matters at hand."
Caron stabbed Guillotine into the ground and took a deep breath before checking on Hans. Blackened blood trickled from Hans' mouth, which was a clear sign of internal damage. But at least he was still breathing. Hans had channeled his mana to create a protective barrier just before the explosion, sacrificing himself to shield Caron.
"That explosion was way too close. I managed to contain most of it so it doesn't affect other areas, but if it weren't for that guy, you'd probably be in a coma at best," Guillotine murmured.
As Caron listened to Guillotine, he took a look at the battlefield. The battle was over, but the scene before him was odd. Only three enemy corpses remained. The rest had left small craters where they once lay.
"...A chain of self-destructions?" Caron speculated.
"It looks like the work of a dark mage, probably of at least the 7th Circle. Damn mages, they were crazy back then, and they're still crazy now. I had to waste my stored mana because of those bastards. Ugh," the sword grumbled.
One thing was clear. Just as Guillotine said, this place could have been Caron's grave. Caron frowned as he let out a deep sigh.
Not long after, the Oceanwolf Knights and Leo came rushing over.
"Young Master Caron!" the knights called out.
"Caron!" Leo shouted.
As the adrenaline subsided, fatigue began to set in.
"Caron, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Leo asked in a trembling voice. He was covered in cuts, but he anxiously checked Caron for injuries.
"Thanks to Hans, I'm fine," Caron reassured him. Then he turned to Ian, the squad leader who had arrived with Leo, and asked, "What's the damage?"
Ian responded in his usual stoic tone, "Three casualties from the last explosion. The rest of the men are still capable of fighting."
"...There are still many survivors, then. How are the people on the train?" Caron asked.
"The explosion's range was contained, so everyone on the train is safe," Ian confirmed.
"That's a relief. I'm fine, so take care of Hans first," Caron instructed as he passed Hans to Ian before sinking down to the ground, utterly exhausted. He looked at Leo and added, "Leo, help the squad leader clean up the battlefield. I need to sit for a moment. I'm completely drained."
"Alright, but call me if anything happens. Okay?" Leo replied.
"Grab a potion for those cuts on the way. There should be some on the train. Bring me one too while you're at it," Caron said.
"Just wait a bit. I'll be right back." Leo nodded, then quickly headed back toward the train.
As Leo walked away, Caron noticed the bloodstains on the other boy's sword. A small smile crept onto his face as he nodded to himself and said, "Leo has grown up."
"You've got an old soul. Not like your ancestor, Rael. Then again, you're a guy who reincarnated, so it's not that surprising, " Guillotine's voice rang in Caron's ear.
Caron gave the sword a light kick and asked, "How did you know I reincarnated?"
"I can see souls, remember? I knew from the moment you first held me," the sword replied.
"Fair enough. In a world where a sword can talk, reincarnation shouldn't be that shocking," Caron mused.
"Don't you think it's a bit arrogant to speak like that when you owe your life to me?" the sword exclaimed, its voice laced with irritation.
"Beats being the one who kept silent when they could have spoken all this time. What were you thinking?" Caron retorted. While it was a good thing to discover this new feature, he couldn't shake the unease that came with knowing the sword had been quiet until now. The sword seemed to have been awake since the Awakening Ceremony, but its motives were still unclear.
After a brief pause, the sword began to explain in a defensive tone, "It hasn't been long since I could communicate. I needed to be drenched in blood to be fully awakened, but you were holed up in Azureocean Castle, leaving me like this."
If blood was the key, the sword would only have fully awakened after the first mission. A sword that required blood to be awakened... This was definitely no ordinary blade.
"So, you're a cursed sword? Halo said that all traces of the demons' consciousness had been eradicated, but I guess that wasn't true," Caron mused.
The only thing Caron knew that used blood as the price for power was the cursed sword he'd once wielded. If that was the case, the Blue Dragon he had briefly met during the Awakening Ceremony could have been lying.
"I'm confident that you're such an idiot you don't even deserve a comparison with Rael. Congratulations, you've already surpassed your ancestors," Guillotine remarked.
"If a sword that feeds on blood isn't cursed, then what is?" Caron muttered.
"I'm nothing like those demons, you wretched... human," Guillotine retorted, though it faltered slightly at the end.
It seemed Caron would have to discuss this with Halo in more detail later.
"This is a situation in which expressing gratitude would barely be enough, and yet you're comparing your benefactor to a demonic sword... How dare you... You're just... Trash."
"What's wrong with your voice all of a sudden?" Caron asked.
The voice had noticeably become much softer compared to before. The sword's previously-glowing blade was now dimming; its energy was clearly waning.
"I'm like this because I saved you, you ungrateful... bastard... If only I could have absorbed more mana... You stupid master," Guillotine murmured with its weakening voice. It appeared the sword was running out of energy.
Caron stood and grasped the sword firmly, asking, "So, is the only way for you to regain your strength by killing enemies?"
"I need to absorb the mana from blood... Even your blood would work...," Guillotine admitted, though it sounded reluctant.
"Ah, so you expect your master to harm himself just to recharge you. You're definitely a cursed sword," Caron said.
"Crazy... bastard," Guillotine grumbled.
"Get some rest for now. I'll wake you up later. But before I let you sleep, let me ask you one more thing. Those who are approaching us right now, are they friends or foes?" Caron asked, pointing to the riders rapidly closing in from the distance.
Guillotine sighed, exasperated, "I can't feel any killing intent. They're allies."
"Alright, then one last question."
"What now?"
"Can you talk while sheathed?" Caron asked.
"That scabbard Duban was made by Rael specifically to seal me. When I'm sheathed... I can hear, but I can't talk..." the sword explained.
"Good. Then stay quiet," Caron said with a grin.
"You bastard—" Guillotine was abruptly cut off as it was sheathed with a soft scrape.
"Just as I thought, you've got a sharp tongue for a cursed sword. What kind of sword talks back to its master? You should reflect on that," Caron remarked.
Guillotine was turning out to be much more interesting than he had anticipated. Whether it was truly a cursed sword was something he would need to confirm, but deep down, he already knew it wasn't. If it was, it wouldn't have been able to withstand the pure mana of Azureocean Castle.
"Hmm, I think that reaction was pretty good," Caron murmured to himself as he thought of how the sword could be just the companion he needed, apart from Leo.
With Guillotine now at his side, Caron turned his attention to the approaching riders. The Oceanwolf Knights, who had been securing the battlefield, immediately took a defensive stance as the group neared.
Caron walked toward them with light footsteps. Ian, the squad leader who had been standing guard, stepped forward to stop him and warned, "Young Master Caron, please stand back. We haven't confirmed their identity yet."
"It's alright. They're not hostile," Caron reassured him as he recognized the trident emblem on the riders' armor. It was the symbol of the Thebe Autonomous Territory.
The soldiers dismounted, and their leader stepped forward and introduced himself. "It's an honor to meet you. I'm Hyri, Captain of the Vigilante Corps of the Thebe Autonomous Territory."
"I'm Caron Leston," Caron responded.
"I deeply apologize that the esteemed Ducal Family of Leston has been caught up in such unfortunate circumstances. The mayor has ordered us to escort you and ensure your safety by any means necessary," Hyri said earnestly.
With the train destroyed, there were no other options. The best course of action was to wait in Thebe until they could contact Azureocean Castle.
Caron nodded in agreement and said, "We have many wounded. Please take good care of them."
And just like that, an unexpected turn of events added a new leg to their journey.
***
Some of the Oceanwolf Knights, along with a few of the Vigilantes, stayed behind at the site of the overturned train to investigate the scene. The rest of the group headed directly to the city under the protection of the Vigilantes.
Inside the jolting carriage, Hans, who had regained consciousness, frowned. He said, "I'm not sure going to the Thebe Autonomous Territory is the right decision."
"You're right, but we don't have any other options. We can't move while we have dead and wounded. This is the best we can do for now, Hans," Caron replied.
Hans sighed heavily.
"At least Thebe will be safer for now. The imperial guards must have already set out from the capital, and I've already contacted Sir Zerath. So let's just wait until Sir Zerath arrives, since he's on his way," Caron added as he pulled a piece of jerky from his pocket and chewed it thoughtfully.
The fact that a direct descendant of the Duke's family had been attacked was an unprecedented emergency. Ever since Halo became the head of the family, nothing like this had ever happened. Azureocean Castle was likely in turmoil by now. It would be foolish to make any rash moves without fully understanding the situation. It was better to wait until the full picture was clear before acting.
"Leo, have some jerky," Caron said, then tore off a piece and handed it to Leo.
Leo took it with trembling hands and replied, "...Thanks."
It seemed that the reality of having killed someone had just begun to sink in for Leo. The first kill was always like that. Even if one had to kill to survive, the guilt didn't completely disappear.
This was something Leo would have to overcome on his own. No words of comfort could help him with this. It was a necessary process on the path to becoming a knight. For someone like Leo, who had been raised in comfort, this would be a painful growth experience.
Raising a kid isn't easy, Caron thought as he patted Leo's back silently before turning his attention back to Hans.
"You seemed to know the 6-Star knight who blew himself up earlier. Who was he?" Caron asked.
"Zion Hakimi. He was a knight of the Pajar Sultanate," Hans replied.
"The Pajar Sultanate... This is going to be a headache," Caron muttered.
The Pajar Sultanate was a neighboring country that shared a border with the empire through the Silent Desert in the east. As neighbors, they naturally had a strained relationship. The fragile peace had been maintained through a non-aggression pact personally negotiated by Halo. But in recent times, it wouldn't be surprising if the treaty had been broken.
But even so, this doesn't make sense, Caron thought. He and Leo were still relatively unknown, with no real significance beyond being the grandsons of Grand Duke Halo. There was no reason for the Sultanate to target them and risk proposing a war. It was sheer madness.
"What do you think, Hans?" Caron asked.
Hans sighed and shook his head, then said, "Even though relations between the empire and the Pajar Sultanate have deteriorated, they haven't reached a point where they'd do something like this."
"But the evidence we've seen could still serve as a justification for war," Caron noted. Despite the flimsy nature of the act, the fact that the attackers had not only targeted members of the Leston family but also committed treason by sabotaging the railway made it undeniably severe.
"Getting to the capital is much more difficult than expected," Caron sighed, sinking back into his seat. In truth, discussing this with Hans now held little meaning. It wasn't his decision to make. That responsibility fell to the elders of the family, including Halo.
"We're almost there," came the voice of Hyri, the Vigilante captain, from outside the carriage.
Caron turned his gaze to the window. They were approaching a bustling city filled with tall buildings, the second most prosperous place in the empire after the capital. This was Thebe, the heart of the Thebe Autonomous Territory.
As Caron looked at the grand entrance to the city, he clenched his teeth and muttered, "Damn, it's too fancy."
"...I agree," Hans responded.
A storm was going to hit this place soon, whether they wanted it or not.