Chapter 25 : Chapter 25
Chapter 25. The Wandering Duke Aselheit (4)
'My god!'
Bartomyu instinctively reached for his waist.
However, there was only empty air in the outstretched hand; the sword he sought to grab did not exist.
It had to be so. Knight Bartomyu, the Lion of Tolome, had retired over 10 years ago.
The moment the time of the knight passed and he became the head of the Tolome family, he put down the sword. No sword hung at his waist anymore, and from then on, Bartomyu's sword was Edwin.
However, amidst the formidable spiritual pressure emitted by Aselheit, Bartomyu felt his knightly soul, which had been forgotten in his memory, awaken. Thus, following the awakened instinct of a knight, he brought his hand to his waist.
'This makes no sense!'
Looking around him, Edwin was already holding out with all his might with his sword drawn.
Even the mage Berger was closing his eyes and chanting a spell, and several knights had already fainted unable to withstand the spiritual pressure emitted by Aselheit.
'What about Blanc? Does Blanc withstand this!'
It was a single strike that even he felt fear from. There was no way his young grandson could withstand this.
Bartomyu looked at Blanc receiving that huge single strike right in front.
"Uaaaaaaah!"
His young grandson was resisting the falling World with his sword raised high.
The White Thunderbolt wrapped around Blanc's body and was burning white.
***
Batai of the Black Tooth Mercenary Corps. From him, he first learned the emotion of hatred. So he put it in his heart.
The bloodshot eyes of the dying Rakshar, he also put in his heart.
Emilia dying with an arrow stuck in her neck, he also put in.
In the past life, those who ignored him, those who helped him, my comrades, my enemies.
And her, who was becoming void, he put them all in his heart.
"Uaaaaah!"
Blanc put all of those things in and burned them white in his heart.
Blanc burned his entire past life.
He resisted the World approaching slowly but heavily.
Just like when he saw the dark and huge tree that swallowed everything in the world in his past life.
Once again, he burned his soul.
'He exceeds expectations!'
The swordsmanship learned from Edwin was indeed worthy of being called excellent. Flashing talent was visible.
However, the boy before his eyes possessed something beyond simply talent in handling a sword.
'Is this the will a fourteen-year-old can possess?'
Aselheit was genuinely surprised.
In Aselheit's long, long life, he had never seen such talent. No, this was not the realm of talent.
It was the realm of the soul.
The soul of the boy burning white right before his eyes and resisting him was strong. He was already one excellent knight and full of qualities to become a hero.
"Kuek... Keueueuk..."
However, although the spirit was excellent, Blanc's achievement was still far too lacking to parry Aselheit's single strike.
Eventually, Blanc's eyes, who had been enduring and enduring, rolled back. At the same time, foam began to bubble at his mouth.
'Oh no!'
Aselheit, feeling that Blanc's condition was unusual, quickly withdrew his sword.
As soon as he withdrew his sword, the surrounding knights gasped for breath.
Most of the knights Bartomyu brought for escort had already fainted. The knights who were at least standing on the ground with two feet were only a few knights who had much experience and recognized skills even within the Tolome family.
"Blargh,"
Even such knights were kneeling and vomiting.
"Blanc! Baron Blanc!"
Edwin quickly went up to the training hall and examined Blanc's condition.
Although Blanc had his head bowed deeply, he did not let go of the sword. Although his eyes had turned white, he was still standing upright and enduring.
"Haha. Hahahaha!"
Aselheit laughed loudly seeing the appearance of Blanc who had fainted standing up.
"Duke! Isn't it too harsh against a young child!"
Edwin, an upright knight who said what needed to be said, was unhesitating even in front of the legend Aselheit.
It was a spiritual pressure that was hard to endure even for a seasoned knight like himself. It was certainly a level that the young child Blanc could not handle.
However, Aselheit did not stop laughing even at Edwin's rough protest.
"Sir Edwin! Look at the boy's toes!"
Aselheit spoke to him as if rather enjoying it.
Following Aselheit's words, Edwin looked at Blanc's toes.
"Haa, he was really a crazy guy."
Even that grim Edwin stuck out his tongue and hoisted the fainted Blanc onto his back.
Blanc's toes had taken one step forward toward Aselheit.
Blanc did not succumb to the heavily approaching World but rather took one step forward.
***
'He is a coveted child, but a flow of fate difficult to explain is visible in that boy. I hope you raise him well to make him a pillar of this world.'
Wandering Duke Aselheit smacked his lips as if regretful even while leaving.
Bartomyu and Berger felt goosebumps and hesitated seeing that appearance, but they were still able to send off the legend with forced smiles.
"Your hands are still trembling. Count Berger."
"Haha. It is fine. There is nothing to worry about. My mind is clear and healthy."
To say that, Berger was trembling slightly not only at his fingertips but also his lips.
Somehow Aselheit found out and located the Moonlit Grass solution in Berger's bosom.
Berger had kept the solution left after saving Isellin in his bosom as if enshrining a divine object and did not let it leave his side for a moment.
"..."
"I, I will give it!"
Unable to withstand the silent pressure emitted by the legend, he ended up handing over half of the Moonlit Grass solution.
"Are you really alright? Your complexion is pale."
"Ha, ha. Still, isn't it something that I kept even half. Since I also packed things presumed to be seeds of Moonlit Grass, I am satisfied."
His eyes were not smiling, but Berger was smiling broadly with his mouth.
His behavior of trying not to show his emotions somehow. Indeed, he was worthy of being called a Meritorious Noble of the kingdom.
"By the way, when would Baron Blanc's coming-of-age ceremony be?"
"Perhaps around late summer next year."
"I see."
The two old raccoons made eye contact and grinned.
"Did you ask your daughter?"
"She said it is fine if it is Baron Blanc. Although young, isn't he already making a name for himself? Like the Knight of the Moonlit Grass."
Berger did not ask his daughter about Blanc.
He was just out of his mind with the thought of going to find the Moonlit Grass, so he didn't even have the mind to share a talk about marriage with his daughter.
However, whether his daughter liked Blanc or not, Berger's mind was already firmly set.
Baron Blanc Cadmus.
Looking only at the surface, he is just a pauper possessing only a nominal noble title. Moreover, he was no different from a miserable lot living off the Tolome family.
However, if one looks a little into his background, the evaluation changes distinctly.
First, the background surrounding him.
Blanc Cadmus was promised certain support from the Count Tolome family, a Meritorious Noble of the kingdom.
It is clear that Bartomyu is trying to change the external or internal power structure of the Tolome family centering on Blanc, not just using him as a pawn to throw away.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to drag himself into this.
And Blanc is the rightful successor of Norington, the territory of the Cadmus family.
Although three families of Gartaria currently divide and hold it, since Blanc has a legitimate justification, even if he starts a territory war against them, the Goddess Order would not excommunicate him nor would the Felix Kingdom revoke his noble title.
Furthermore, since Blanc was an orphan with no parents or anyone to look after him, if he reclaims Norington with their support, Norington would become no different from being owned by Tolome and Neudorf.
For Tolome and Neudorf, who could not possess territory as Meritorious Nobles of the kingdom, they couldn't help but drool.
Also, Blanc Cadmus had a legitimate justification to hold a grudge against the three families of Gartaria: Langketa, Kamora, and Vicious, so if things went well, he might conquer the above three families beyond recovering Norington.
If that happens, he would possess a total of four families' territories, so he might become the first Margrave of the Felix Kingdom.
If everything goes well.
But more than this background, Berger was captivated by the potential Blanc himself possessed.
Perhaps because he went through rough things, his mind was sharp and he was bold in everything despite his young age. He was on a different level from ordinary fourteen-year-old noble fledglings. He was truly a promising sprout.
In the first place, bringing the Moonlit Grass for a cousin was an absurd thing for a fourteen-year-old boy to execute.
If the criterion for judging to bring the Moonlit Grass was to solidify his position within the Tolome family, he could be evaluated as a talent with a sharp mind, and if it wasn't that but done because he pitied his cousin, it was something that could be evaluated as having a righteous heart, so either way, Berger had no choice but to give a high evaluation.
Lastly, he has outstanding talent in the sword.
Each noble family values honor, and the most certain criterion for elevating honor is exactly 'how great a knight was produced.'
Just looking at the public evaluation of Tolome and Neudorf right now shows this.
Even though they are the same Meritorious Nobles of the kingdom and Berger Neudorf is the head of the Alchemy School, people tended to rate the Tolome family a bit higher.
The symbol of the Tolome family is the lion. Because they produced lions representing the era.
The Lions of Tolome were no different from the pride of the Felix Kingdom as well as the Tolome family. Therefore, people did not hesitate to praise the name of the Tolome family.
Even now, although not a Tolome, isn't Blanc Cadmus, who inherited the blood of Tolome, showing distinct prominence?
If he grows like this, it was clear he would become a swordsman representing the Felix Kingdom within 5 years.
If Neudorf could take him, the disciple of Knight Edwin and acknowledged by Wandering Duke Aselheit, as a son-in-law, Neudorf would come to possess a knight representing the era, which they never had in family history.
'It's close.'
Moreover, his daughter to be paired with Blanc had already failed two marriages and had a seven-year age difference with Blanc, so the only time to match her with Blanc, who would raise his stock price and march on to victory, was now.
No, perhaps even now might be late.
Once people know that he was guided for a single strike by Wandering Duke Aselheit, proposals easily surpassing the trivial marriage talks coming in now will come to Bartomyu.
So Berger decided to bow his head to Bartomyu first.
"If it is late summer, we should hold the wedding immediately after holding the coming-of-age ceremony. Wouldn't autumn be the best time to hold a festival?"
"That is true."
"How about announcing it to people in advance? An engagement ceremony wouldn't be bad either. Isn't engagement possible even if not an adult?"
"Since they will marry in less than a year anyway, I wonder if holding even an engagement ceremony is a waste..."
"Is that so? Since it is a relationship that will marry in the near future anyway, there is no need to go as far as an engagement, right?"
Bartomyu wanted to tease the anxious Berger a bit more, but decided to keep his dignity.
Because the alliance with the Neudorf family would be a great help to the Tolome family, there was no reason to create ill feelings over a trivial matter.
"Of course. Let's have them marry as soon as Baron Blanc holds his coming-of-age ceremony. Since he is the last remaining Cadmus, seeing descendants quickly will be good for Baron Blanc as well."
"Regarding the wedding cost, our Neudorf will bear half."
If it were a traditional noble wedding, it was correct for the groom's side to prepare the wedding ceremony and the bride's side to prepare the dowry, but the anxious Berger was saying he would prepare even half of the wedding cost.
If he pushed a little more, it seemed he could make him bear the full cost of the wedding, but Bartomyu did not do that.
"We are bringing in the precious daughter of Neudorf, how could you try to take away the glory of us preparing it? We will bear the entire wedding cost as per tradition."
"Thank you..."
Although she was a daughter of the Neudorf family, Ciella was a flawed woman.
Among the marriage proposals conveyed to Berger, there were foreign families who offered conditions demanding excessive dowries or bearing the full wedding cost saying they would take her.
Since Berger burst in anger every time he saw such marriage proposals mixed in, there was no way he wouldn't be grateful for Bartomyu's consideration.
"I look forward to working with you."
"I look forward to working with you as well."
Tolome and Neudorf holding hands.
It was the moment the alliance of two families with Blanc's marriage as proof was concluded.