The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family

Chapter 081

The clue was Mana.

Up until now, I had been using Mana as though it were truly my own. There was no reason not to make use of an ability I had been given.

It had been the same whenever I faced an enemy. Whether the situation was dangerous or not, I relied on the Mana Pistol, and at times I even infused Mana into my sword to shatter or disable my opponent’s weapon.

But what about now?

I was still shackled by Mana. Whenever my body grew tired, my heart reacted on its own and tried to pour it out. Just like the habits of a modern man, I had been unconsciously choosing the fastest path, the easiest path.

But what if I stopped relying on Mana and used nothing but my own physical strength?

“Even if it doesn’t bring about a dramatic change, there’s still a chance I’ll find a new path.”

The moment I arrived at that thought, my mind grew calm like a still lake.

Just then, my eyes met Arthas’s. Interest flickered in his gaze. It seemed he had noticed that I had reached some kind of realization.

“All right. Shall I give it a try?”

Having made my decision, I took my Sword Form.

I did not think in the slightest about what pose Arthas had taken, or about how he had swung his blade. I simply aimed in the direction my sword wished to go, and brought it down.

Whoosh!

“Huh?”

The exclamation came from Arthas. But both he and I were startled alike.

The sound had changed. It felt as though if I went just a little farther, I would find the answer. I loosened the shackles of Mana even more and swung again.

Swish!

The sound was similar. The force behind it was considerable too. It felt less like swinging a Wooden Sword and more like wielding a live blade.

“How in the world......?”

Naturally, it was Arthas who asked.

He was staring at me with undisguised shock.

What had begun as a single clue had now transformed into a firm theory. For most people, it would have taken decades. I had done it in a matter of minutes.

You said that if time was short, I should become a genius, didn’t you?

I wanted to answer him that way, but now was not the time. I needed to focus more deeply on this sensation. Somehow, I felt that if I let this moment pass, the exhilaration would vanish completely.

So I kept swinging the sword.

I cast aside the rigid posture and simply let the blade go where it wished to go.

At the same time, I drove the physical abilities I had gained after reincarnation to their very limits. And in order to push beyond those limits, I sealed off my Mana completely.

This time, I swung again and again in succession.

Swish! Swish swish! Swish!

I do not know how many times I swung.

But just as I had once been struck by a truck and abruptly awakened in another world, an even more sudden and astonishing change came over me.

It felt as though everything around me were gradually receding into the distance. Every motion looked slow, as though submerged underwater, and the world around me grew faint and blurred.

In the end, the entire world was filled with fog.

Having lost all sense of direction, I nevertheless kept swinging the sword without cease, as though my very purposelessness had become a purpose in itself.

That was how I fell into a state of selflessness.

......

......

CLACK!

A sharp pain shot through my fingertips.

“Hah!”

Startled, I stumbled backward. The distant world around me returned to normal. The thick fog also began to thin away.

Everything had happened in but an instant, like a dream.

How much time had passed? Regaining my senses, I looked around. For one thing, I was still holding the exact same Sword Form I had taken at the beginning.

“Hey, are you all right?”

Arthas asked.

My palm hurt as though it were about to split open from how many times I had swung the sword.

And yet pain was not the only thing I felt.

I felt remarkably good. It was like stepping into a sauna after working up a satisfying sweat.

“Hey! Dilen! Get a grip!”

“Huh?”

Only then did I snap back to myself.

Arthas was holding a Wooden Sword. He must have swung it and struck my blade. It seemed that sound and impact were what had pulled me out of that state of selflessness.

The moment I fully returned to reality, an overwhelming fatigue came crashing down on my body. Arthas hurried over and caught me.

“Are you all right?”

Even so, I could not resist at all and simply collapsed where I stood. My head swam. It felt as though all the internal energy in my body had been drained away.

“What the...... why am I suddenly like this?”

When I placed a hand over my chest, my heart was beating irregularly.

And that was not all.

The Mana gathered in my heart was also surging unstably. Worse still, part of the Mana Circuit closest to my heart had been damaged.

That was when I realized that I had just come very close to a truly dangerous situation.

In martial arts novels, they always said you must never interrupt someone who had entered a state of selflessness. If Arthas had woken me even a little later, I might actually have died while training.

“Are you really a genius? How can this even happen? What in the world did I just see? Huh? What was that? Say something! Tell me what you did and how you did it!”

Arthas still looked utterly unable to believe it. But there was only one answer I could possibly give him.

“What did I do?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Nothing.”

Even through the terrible fatigue, there were only two changes I could clearly feel.

My body felt far lighter than before.

And the hand that held the sword was full of confidence.

Arthas raised his voice, still sounding excited.

“You were swinging the sword! With incredible speed and force! Like a madman possessed by the blade itself!”

“I don’t remember any of that...... Did I really do that?”

Arthas merely nodded.

He did not seem to be lying.

“I did that?”

I stared blankly at the Wooden Sword in my hand. Who would have thought I would once again find myself in a moment where I wished for a CCTV camera? Even a camcorder would have done.

Relishing the confidence flowing from the hand that gripped the sword, I forced myself to stand again.

“Hey, don’t overdo it! Sit down!”

“I’m fine.”

Shaking Arthas off, I took up the Sword Form he had taught me.

Tight.

My grip naturally tightened around the handle, and the blade path drew itself in my mind. No, rather, the moment I recognized that it had been drawn, the sword was already flowing along it.

Ssshaaaak!

A fearsome strike. The sound of the Wooden Sword cutting through the air was a work of art. Judging by force alone, it had surpassed Arthas’s.

“This is impossible......”

Arthas was no fool. He too had held a sword since the age of four, and he was a hard-working genius who had made greater effort than anyone else.

But after witnessing a scene this unbelievable, he could no longer help but acknowledge me.

I had, without question, crossed into an entirely new stage.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You told me that if time was short, I should become a genius.”

Only then was I finally able to ask him that.

Arthas stood there for a long while with his mouth open, then let out a quiet laugh. After that, he shook his head several times.

“You really are an incomprehensible bastard.”

“There’s no need to strain yourself trying to understand what can’t be understood.”

“Is that so? In any case, that movement you just learned is the basic Sword Form handed down in our House of Merdiang. Merdiang Sword Art, First Form: Diagonal Slash.”

“That’s quite a grand name. Then what about the Second Form?”

“The Second Form is best learned only after the First Form has been completely mastered, but somehow I feel like I ought to teach it to you right now. What do you think? Can you handle it?”

Arthas asked the question provocatively while twirling the Wooden Sword in his hand. I twirled mine as well before replying.

“If we stop here, it’ll only leave a bad taste in my mouth. Let’s see this through to the end. I want to find out just how extraordinary your family’s swordsmanship really is.”

“And if you collapse, that’s on you.”

“What’s the worst that could happen? I die?”

Right now, I was like a dry sponge, capable of absorbing water without limit.

“Then watch closely. The Second Form of the Merdiang Sword Art is Horizontal Slash. It carries over the movement of the First Form and flows into a strike like this. Hup! Haaah!”

Arthas demonstrated it several times in succession, and I copied his posture exactly.

I do not know how much time passed after that.

But by the time we finally collapsed from exhaustion, the morning sun was already rising in the far distance.

“I’ve...... burned it all away.”

Muttering that, I sprawled flat on my back in the Training Ground and closed my eyes.

It was not as though there had been no results.

With a profound realization, I had learned all the way up to the Fifth Form of the Merdiang Sword Art.

At a level that had already surpassed Arthas himself, who was its very source.

***

My entire body ached.

It felt as though I had come down with a brutal fever, like the sort that drove one’s temperature up to forty degrees.

“Even Mana won’t work. Haa...... this is the worst.”

I tried using Mana to restore my condition, but failed. It felt as though I should not strain the damaged Mana Circuit near my heart any further.

Though it was healing at an extremely slow pace, the damaged circuit was gradually recovering. By tomorrow or the day after, it would likely be back to normal.

“Until then, I’d better not overdo it. I wonder if I can get some medicine?”

Naturally, the Adeline Marquis House had an infirmary within the mansion. There were even a few doctors there, along with all sorts of precious medicinal ingredients.

But the problem was that none of those facilities were made available to apprentices.

If I asked Arwen, I felt as though she might somehow manage something. I would probably need to speak with her over breakfast later.

It was not a situation where I could simply call in sick and take leave. Of course, I possessed more than enough reward leave thanks to all the bonus points I had earned in various training sessions and practical exercises. Unfortunately, however, it was difficult to use leave on the very day itself.

On top of that, I was not doing ordinary work, but serving in support of Young Lady Sapiela. That meant I could not simply rest whenever I pleased.

“Let’s eat first. Maybe I’ll feel better once I fill my stomach.”

I went to Rosetta, but there was no room.

More precisely, there were simply too many high-ranking people there. I had no desire to eat breakfast in discomfort while minding everyone around me.

So I changed locations and went instead to Alio, the Fifth Dining Hall, where I began my meal slowly and in peace.

But that peace did not last long.

“Dilen! Is it true?”

“They’re saying you’re going to duel Sir Lorenz. Everyone’s going wild over it right now. When’s the duel? Huh?”

A sigh escaped me. I set my fork down for a moment and forced a smile toward them.

“Sorry, but could you let me eat first? I’m a little tired.”

“Oh. R-right......”

Had my expression really looked that terrible? My companions awkwardly smiled and stepped aside. They were good people, usually. Somehow, I felt a little sorry toward them.

After finishing breakfast, I returned my dishes, went back to my quarters, and straightened my clothes once more.

Only then did I head for the Young Lady’s residence.

And there, standing in wait, was the star of this entire rumor.

Sir Lorenz.

“So, you’ve come.”

I would not deny that there was killing intent in the way he looked at me. He seemed on the verge of drawing his sword then and there.

“Good morning, Sir Lorenz.”

“A fine morning indeed. Just what sort of stories have you been spreading, you damned apprentice?”

“You go too far, Sir. I would hate for the Young Lady to overhear.”

“Hah!”

Sir Lorenz let out a snort.

Fingering his sword, he strode toward me.

“Who exactly are you calling a coward? You truly are a fool who does not know his place. Do you really not understand that I could cut you down in a single strike? Do you not understand that the only reason I have endured your insolence is because I have chosen to show you mercy?”

“To be honest, I don’t understand at all. I still haven’t lost my desire to spar with you.”

If I curved my lips into a smile here, he would have no choice but to step right into my trap.

Grin.

The moment I smiled, Lorenz flew into a rage. He tore off his glove and hurled it into my face. Naturally, I did not simply let it hit me. I raised a hand and caught it.

Good.

With that, the duel had been formally established.

“Tomorrow, I will personally take your head! I hope you don’t run away in fear.”

“A chance to learn from you. I look forward to it.”

“What is there to learn? By tomorrow, you won’t even be a man of this world anymore!”

Just then, the sound of a door opening came from behind us. A maid peeked out with a tense expression.

“M-my lord. Forgive me, but the Young Lady wishes to know whether something has happened.”

“Hmph, nothing at all!”

Lorenz returned to his place.

Smiling with perfect ease, I followed the maid who had opened the door and entered the Young Lady’s residence.

The die had been cast.