Yuder swept a glance, indifferent, over the man with reddish hair threaded with a little gray and dark-red eyes.
A face that no one could deny bore the blood of House Ta-in.
He had seen him a few times from afar, but this was the first time seeing him this close. And for the other side to recognize Yuder first and call his name—this was, truly, an encounter he had not expected in the least.
'...Why would the Captain of the Imperial Guard be here at this hour?'
Could this meeting also have been Kishiar’s design? He had suddenly suggested going to a café, and if so, that would have made sense.
Yuder glanced back at Kishiar, who was standing beside him with feigned innocence. Kishiar shook his head as if wronged and sinuously twisted his body.
'So it wasn’t a planned meeting.'
Nor did the Captain of the Imperial Guard seem to recognize Kishiar. His gaze pursued only Yuder, relentlessly.
Yuder opened his mouth to answer the Captain of the Imperial Guard, who was waiting for a reply.
“...I am Yuder Aile, yes.”
It was an acknowledgment that left unsaid: I won’t pretend to know who you are first, and what’s your business. Theorado van Ta-in fell silent for a moment, then let out an “Ah,” and introduced himself curtly.
“I am Theorado van Ta-in, Captain of the Imperial Guard. I came out to verify the clearing-up after the mass arrest of a criminal group that occurred near here a short while ago, and stopped in at this place. You, as a member of the Cavalry, would know that matter better than I.”
“Ah, yes.”
The “arrest of a criminal group targeting Awakeners” that had occurred in this vicinity, of course, referred to the incident with the Southern merchant caravan that had targeted Fay. The information about the crimes committed by the Southern Nation’s hardline tribes was still being kept under wraps and controlled, not yet brought openly to the surface.
They had overturned a fairly large inn and, in the span of a night, screened every resident nearby, rooting out the enemy and their sympathizers—there needed to be a reason that could cover that on the surface. Thus the name attached to it: a somewhat vague yet not entirely false label, “a criminal group targeting Awakeners.”
Those who needed catching had all been caught and confined, but the clean-up was not yet complete. Yuder had assumed that, as usual, the Emperor’s side’s security force would be handling that part; surprisingly, it seemed the Imperial Guard was also lending a hand.
'Well, since it happened right on their own doorstep, it would be stranger if they didn’t step in.'
In the old days, the Imperial Guard would have ignored it regardless. But the present Imperial Guard stood in a somewhat different position than before.
To begin with, the Captain of the Imperial Guard himself had thrown weight behind the downfall of the Ta-in ducal house and dispatched support to the South, showing himself taking the Emperor’s side. Though that support had been at Kiole la Diarca’s suggestion, support was support.
'Then the Captain himself being out like this is also part of showing he’s joined hands with the Emperor’s side?'
Such subtle power-struggle matters were not something Yuder needed to care about. What mattered here was only why such a lofty personage, upon seeing Yuder, had come over at once.
And with such a dogged gaze at that.
“I’ve heard much of your renown. That you use abilities like a Great Mage, yet don’t put down the sword and employ it in combat—I’ve thought you quite an intriguing man.”
“Is that so.”
“Then, when I belatedly heard that in the South you sparred with Deputy Meghna Curlieva to a near stalemate, I was very surprised.”
The tone of Theorado van Ta-in was calm, like that of someone with little change in emotion, but from the moment the bout with Meghna came up, it turned curiously quicker and higher. His eyes seemed to gleam even more doggedly than before.
“Curlieva was a person long at a standstill. Rumor has it that one who seemed as if she would never break through the blocked wall broke through it at last and became a Master after sparring with you.”
“Rumors tend to be exaggerated by nature.”
“No. Every member of the Imperial Guard who went to support the South said the same. That Curlieva’s final insight most certainly took its lead from her match with you. They said everyone in the South said so.”
Theorado’s gaze grew even more relentless.
“Can you imagine how much I regretted it when I heard that? That during the harvest festival parade, or when I escorted His Majesty to receive and honor the Cavalry, I did not speak with you—nothing has felt so regrettable.”
“I see.”
“With the Cavalry and the Imperial Guard located on the same grounds, and with my nephews serving in the Cavalry, I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to gain an opportunity.... Yet somehow my nephews alike did not send me any proper reply. After I heard His Majesty had granted a holiday to the entire Cavalry, I kept sending letters requesting a meeting to the Cavalry’s side, but regrettably, the only answer I received was that you had already gone far away.”
“Ah.”
Naturally, Yuder had never received such letters.
“After I heard of your return, I sent another letter, but it seems the post of aide to the Cavalry Commander is so busy that I could not receive a proper answer. Well, that was the same on the side of the Duke of Peleta’s aide. Although I requested a bout no fewer than five times, the only answer was that he was away on business.”
“I see.”
A faint memory flickered and faded in Yuder’s mind—Nathan Zuckerman saying he had no interest because “the Captain of the Imperial Guard’s skill is already obvious.”
“At this point I had begun to wonder whether this Yuder Aile was a person who truly lived, but at last I meet you here—what good fortune. So, my apologies, but I first asked to confirm that you were indeed yourself.”
At last, Yuder understood Theorado van Ta-in’s purpose.
He had no interest in political aims. He simply could not restrain his curiosity about Yuder’s swordsmanship.
“The sword at your waist—is that the sword you usually use? From the scabbard alone, it looks as if you’ve used some extraordinary material; I’d like to know what it’s made of. How do you usually conduct your sword training? With Meghna Curlieva, in what manner did you—”
Yuder said nothing, but Theorado van Ta-in, eyes taking on a peculiar heat, kept pouring out words while staring only at the scabbard at Yuder’s waist. When Yuder glanced past him, he saw Imperial Guardsmen in blue uniforms wearing stricken expressions. Most of them were stealthily putting coffee money on their tables and slipping out as if fleeing.
Two or so couldn’t bring themselves to leave and, from a distance, floundered, repeatedly calling, “Captain...!” From the look of it, they were the subordinates who had accompanied Theorado van Ta-in here.
Be that as it may, Theorado himself seemed to have no interest whatsoever in any existence but Yuder.
'...I knew the Captain of the Imperial Guard liked swords, but to this extent?'
In his previous life, Theorado van Ta-in had also been Captain of the Imperial Guard.
In that life, the Imperial Guard was a unit thoroughly broken, overshadowed by the Cavalry. Whenever the Cavalry achieved merit, Emperor Kachian would ostentatiously strip others of what they had and bestow it as reward, and the place that lost the most was the Imperial Guard.
The grounds they used became, for the most part, the Cavalry’s within about five years, and the duties they held likewise became almost nominal. Truthfully, from the start they’d often been treated as a dress unit where young noblemen joined just to wear splendid uniforms, so it hadn’t changed much.
The Captain of the Imperial Guard, Theorado van Ta-in, simply kept his mouth shut and held his post as if only the survival of his position mattered. As Duke Ta-in had allied with Southern merchants and seized power, even if the Imperial Guard itself had become a shell, no one openly made light of it.
A captain who lived quietly as one of House Ta-in.
A man of no presence who seemed to have no will at all.
In this life, Yuder had learned that he had yielded training grounds to the Cavalry, yet he had not particularly felt it as goodwill. Theorado was always one who cleverly maintained a curious balance and kept to his place.
'That was all....'
The gap between what he’d heard—that he merely loved the sword—and the reality before his eyes was truly great. Could a person change this drastically?
'It’s curious, but I don’t want to deal with him right now.'
How to make him go away? He couldn’t very well strike the Captain of the Imperial Guard in the middle of a café. While he was considering it, Kishiar, behind him, gently took Yuder’s shoulder and stepped forward.
“Leave it to me.”
After whispering so, Kishiar spoke, utterly composed.
“I understand you’re pleased to have found the hero of the Cavalry, but thanks to you, it has become quite difficult to enjoy a cup of coffee. Captain.”
“...Who are you? He had company?”
Theorado van Ta-in furrowed his brow and asked. It seemed he had only now realized that Yuder had someone with him.
“Regrettable as it is, no matter how much you speak, it will be difficult for you to get what you want.”
“What?”
“Your wish to hear about Deputy Meghna Curlieva is a mere secondary desire; what you truly want is a bout in person, isn’t it? Your yearning to experience the same as Deputy Curlieva is so obvious it makes me embarrassed for you.”
“......”
Theorado’s expression changed. Separately, the Imperial Guardsmen behind him flushed with shame and shouted things like, “How dare you say such—!” Of course, to Kishiar, such words weren’t even a tickle.
“But the hero of the Cavalry already has a prior appointment for a bout.”
“...What? With whom?”
“With none other than the Sword Emperor of the North Wind.”
For a moment, Theorado’s eyes flew open wide. The Imperial Guardsmen causing a commotion behind him, the customers nearby rolling their eyes, the anxious staff and the owner—everyone was the same.
In the tense silence, Kishiar flung his arms out theatrically and cried:
“Amazingly, His Majesty has granted permission as well. In one week, at La Orrban, the bout of the century will unfold!”
“La Orrban?”
“Isn’t that where the royal cemetery and villa are? If it’s there, there’s plenty of open ground...!”
“My word. What a tremendous piece of news!”
“If you wish to see his skill, see it there. If you want a place, even starting now may be too late.”
Yuder watched Kishiar, with a single remark, upend the world and succeed in driving out Theorado van Ta-in.
It was not what he had wanted.