Notification (5)
Ian swung the sword he had snatched from the waist of a fallen knight left and right several times.
'Not bad.'
It was a heavy sword for a 14-year-old's arm to wield, but as long as he drew up aura, he could swing it effortlessly.
'It's perfect for use as a club.'
Ian tightly secured the strap attached to the scabbard to the bridge of his nose.
If he used the blade, he could subdue Hugo and the remaining knights much more easily, but if he killed them by mistake, it would become a murder case and things would get troublesome.
'I'll just beat them up appropriately and get out.'
As long as he didn't kill them, he didn't care about assault.
Hugo would surely want to prevent rumors from spreading that he was beaten up by his own son, so the other side would certainly try to cover up an assault case on their own.
Ian tapped his palm with the scabbard.
"I'll give you a choice. If you step aside quietly, I'll knock you out without pain. But if you keep coming at me, you'll get seriously hurt somewhere on your body."
Ian pointed at the knights lying collapsed behind him.
"If you don't want to end up like them, just get out of the way."
One with a dislocated jaw, one whose teeth were all smashed, and another whose cheekbone was broken and face crushed.
At the ghastly sight, Hugo and the knights swallowed nervously.
"H-How in the world...!"
Hugo's thin mustache trembled.
"How the hell did you do this!!"
Hugo screamed frantically, but Ian ignored him and continued what he had to say.
"I'll count to three."
"Talk! How could a brat who was half-witted only a week ago possibly...!"
"Three."
"Bl-Black magic!? Right! Did you use some sinister magic!?"
"Two."
"You little trash! You're always set on disgracing me!!"
"One."
"Get him! I said get him! Grab that kid and make him kneel before me!!"
"Your chance is gone."
The countdown ended.
Ian kicked off the ground.
― Bang!
It was a technique where he focused the aura to the extreme at his toes, producing a speed that transcended the limits of human ability.
A leap utilizing the principle of Frenzied Insight Style Extreme Point.
With the added strength of orc power, Ian's body shot forward at an astonishing speed.
"Ugh!"
"Damn it!"
The knights standing beside Hugo hurried to take defensive stances, but it was already too late.
'Just two knights left.'
First, the one on the right.
'Frenzied Insight Style Extreme Point.'
― Crack!
The tip of the scabbard, condensed with extreme aura, burrowed deep into the knight's groin.
"Kuh! Kuhuhk!!"
The knight, who never imagined this spot would be the target, foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
― Aagh!
The rebound from Extreme Point tore his shoulder ligament and hand, but that didn't matter.
─《Authority of Projection》─
◆Item
[Healing Potion Lv.15]
─────────
He could just project the potion onto the injured area and be instantly healed.
― Sizzle!
'Next, right away.'
Frenzied Insight Style Reversing Heaven!
With the rebound from striking the knight, and by adding the orc's power for rotational force, he delivered a high-speed sweeping blow.
"Aaaargh!"
The knight on the left quickly raised his sword, but it was useless.
― Crack!
Ian's Reversing Heaven pushed straight through the knight's sword and shattered his handsome nose to pieces.
"Kuhh! Kuhuuk!"
The knight, struck directly by Reversing Heaven, lost his front teeth and collapsed backward.
― Aagh!
― Sizzle...
The ruptured trapezius and spine from the recoil of Reversing Heaven were perfectly healed with potion projection within three seconds.
― Clack!
Ian pointed the scabbard at Hugo, now the only one left.
Behind Hugo, there were only feeble servants, so in effect, Hugo was the last opponent.
"H-huagh...!!"
Hugo couldn't even think of fighting back and fell on his butt, paralyzed with fear.
He couldn't even accept the reality unfolding before his eyes, let alone resist.
'T-There were five knights...!'
Five experts who had eaten from the Greysel's table...
All annihilated in an instant by the son he usually treated like trash and ignored.
Even for Hugo, the current head of Greysel, leisurely taking down five expert knights like this was impossible.
'What kind of nightmare is this...? No, yes! That's right! Th-this is a nightmare...!'
Hugo clattered his teeth and pinched his own cheek roughly.
But there was no way he could escape the unambiguous reality.
"U-Uuuugh!"
So this was truly reality?
Impossible!
― Scrape!
Hugo, still on the floor, frantically drew his rapier from his waist.
The gleaming blue blade flashed in the sunlight.
'Ha.'
Ian couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
Even the trained knights hadn't drawn their real swords until the end.
But the lord of a great house, frightened by a mere 14-year-old, drew his live blade.
It was utterly pathetic to see the tip of his blade tremble endlessly.
"Do you think you'll get away with this!?"
Hugo shouted in a metallic voice.
"You must have used dark magic!? Huh!? Yeah! That's it! You sold your soul to a demon or used dark sorcery! You, you bastard! Otherwise, this isn't possible! No way!"
Hugo struggled to get back on his feet, his legs shaking.
Ian merely watched his disgrace with emotionless eyes.
"Ian! You piece of garbage! You'll regret standing against me like this for the rest of your life! From today, your life will be a living hell! You are disowned! Do you hear? Disowned!"
"......!"
"Get out of my mansion right now! And never bring up the name of Greysel anywhere! Get ou—!"
As Hugo, half out of his mind, raised his blue rapier high,
― Thud!
Someone gripped Hugo's wrist firmly and spoke in a low voice.
"To disown such a talented son... You must be out of your mind."
"... What?! Who are you—! Gasp!"
When Hugo turned his head toward the voice, his face instantly turned pale.
"H-Heavenly Sword Lord...!?"
Eyes blazing with wildness stared icily down at Hugo.
Kelbian, the loyal retainer of the Heavenly Sword Lord, soon appeared as well.
"Sir Hugo. Your words are extremely rude. Please use an honorific and show due courtesy to the Heavenly Sword Lord."
"Gasp!"
In an instant, Hugo felt a crushing pressure clutch his heart.
"S-Sorry! Forgive me...!"
Hugo reflexively knelt and pressed his forehead to the ground.
His face was so pale it could be seen even from behind.
'Wh-Why is the Heavenly Sword Lord here...!?'
From Ian, who had returned as a monster in just a week, to the sudden appearance of the Heavenly Sword Lord at the mansion.
With unbelievable things happening one after another, Hugo felt he might faint and collapse at any moment.
"W-What brings you here without any formalities...?"
Darkan frowned as if looking at an insect.
"Do I have to explain that to you?"
"S-Sorry..."
"Enough. I have no business with you."
Darkan approached Ian.
"I pay my respects to the Heavenly Sword Lord."
Ian had already knelt and paid his respects the moment he saw the Heavenly Sword Lord.
"Rise."
"Yes, sir."
Darkan looked at Ian with eyes completely different from when he saw Hugo.
If he looked at Hugo as if seeing a cockroach, his gaze toward Ian was as if beholding a treasure.
"You performed splendid swordsmanship."
At those words, Ian gulped dryly.
He had seen everything.
"Who taught you such technique?"
'Technique.'
For the Heavenly Sword Lord, the absolute peak of all swordmasters for whom most martial arts didn't even register, to call someone else's technique 'technique' was truly an extraordinary thing.
"I regret to say, I have not had a master yet."
"Huh? No master?"
Darkan brushed his mouth with interest.
'Is he lying to me?'
The skill Ian had shown against the knights was well beyond what a 14-year-old could develop and master on his own.
Such technique would only be able to be properly utilized at the level of a master swordsman, perhaps even among the best as in the case of the five great Lords of Heavenly Sword.
'To master such technique alone...'
It was a ridiculous story.
Darkan's eyes, blazing like flames, fixed on Ian.
"......"
That look was undisguised suspicion.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Ian's cheek.
Meeting eyes that held both calm and wildness at once, he felt he might buckle at the presence alone.
'I-I'm telling the truth, though...'
Frenzied Insight Style, in his previous life, was a martial art Ian himself devised and developed to survive fights with powerful adversaries.
Of course, it was a technique only completed after reaching the peak master level, so the Heavenly Sword Lord's suspicion was understandable.
Then, soon...
A grin crept onto Darkan's lips.
'He's not lying.'
Once someone has attained the level of the Heavenly Sword Lord, they can judge a person's innocence simply by their energy flow.
Ian's heartbeat.
The flow of energy radiating from Ian was by no means that of someone telling a lie.
"Interesting."
The Heavenly Sword Lord's eyes gleamed as if he had discovered a rare gem.
"T-Thank you, sir."
― Gulp.
Even as he tried to answer calmly, Ian was just as flustered as Hugo.
After all, the Heavenly Sword Lord had never visited the Greysel mansion even once in Ian's previous life.
Yet now, barely a week after his regression, the Lord himself had come directly to the Greysel mansion.
If there was a cause, it must be Ian himself.
It was the result of some sort of butterfly effect from acting differently than in his past life.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't guess the reason why the Heavenly Sword Lord had come here.
'Why did the Heavenly Sword Lord come here...? And not sending someone, but in person!'
Did I make a mistake during the sword-choosing ceremony?
Or did I miss something from the time I escaped the mountain fortress?
Ian's eyes spun in confusion.
"Well. Don't be so nervous. I didn't come here to interrogate you."
The Heavenly Sword Lord waved a hand as if it was no big deal.
"By the way, I don't see your sword."
At those words, Ian blinked for a moment.
'Sword...? Ah.'
The sword from the sword-choosing ceremony.
He must mean Vladiark.
Ian bowed his head and answered.
"If you mean the greatsword I received at the sword-choosing ceremony, I hid it somewhere else."
"Hid it? Why?"
"... Because I thought my father would take it away if I brought it to the house."
To be exact, it was because it was heavy and hindered movement, so he left it behind—but that was still half true.
He also wanted to keep himself light to avoid facing Hugo, and if he had brought Vladiark, Hugo would no doubt have tried to confiscate it.
Above all, it was much simpler to blame Hugo than making a convoluted explanation.
"You—you—!"
Hugo, standing behind, glared at Ian, his face turning dark red in fury.
"How dare you speak so carelessly in front of—"
"Sir Hugo."
Kelbian stepped in.
"The Heavenly Sword Lord is speaking with Master Ian. Please lower your voice."
"U-Urgh... S-sorry..."
Hugo hung his head, as if fainting again.
"Tsk, tsk."
Even though Kelbian was the Lord's closest confidant, as the head of a noble house, Hugo shouldn't have been that low in rank compared to him.
It was a moment that revealed the essence of Hugo's weakness to the strong and strong toward the weak.
Because he only ever grovelled to those stronger than himself, his former family probably collapsed so quickly in his past life before they could do anything.
As Ian glared at Hugo like filth, the Heavenly Sword Lord also looked down his nose at Hugo, snorting.
"You have much to be sorry for."
He then turned back to Ian with a warm smile.
"It seems your family situation is rather complicated. I have no intention of getting deeply involved. However..."
Darkan put his arm around Ian's shoulder and walked in front of Hugo.
"Hugo. Since you just personally disowned your son, you won't mind if I take him with me, right?"
"Wha, huh?"
Hugo looked up at Darkan dumbly.
"Was that hard to follow? Listen well: Your disowned son. I. Will be taking him with me."
Hugo's eyes shook.
With his intellect, he couldn't comprehend at all what was happening before his eyes.
First Ian returns as a monster after only a week, then the Heavenly Sword Lord suddenly appears and says he'll take his son.
Nothing made sense, everything was incomprehensible.
However, the Heavenly Sword Lord did not care whether Hugo understood or not.
"What say you? Will you come with me?"
"......"
To Ian, the Lord's intentions were just as inscrutable.
To abruptly appear before him, with no prior connection, and say he would take him away.
But regardless of Ian's own will, the answer was already decided.
"I will obey, whatever your wishes may be."
After all, the Heavenly Sword Lord had come personally before him and said so.
It was closer to a notification than an invitation.
"Oh-ho."
Darkan looked pleased, grinning.
For a mere teenager, he showed no panic and immediately accepted, sensing that the matter was already decided regardless of his own wishes.
He was calm and composed to a degree hard to believe for a boy his age.
"You have quite a dignified son. Hugo Greysel. Oh, right. Since you disowned him, he's not your son anymore, is he?"
Was he praising or ridiculing him?
He never had much chance to talk to Darkan in his past life, but the more he listened to the Lord, the more he felt strangely reminded of Yuria from his previous life.
"Then, come to Hisperion as my guest retainer. Ian Greysel."
At those words, the eyes of everyone present widened at once.
To invite Ian as a 'guest retainer' to Hisperion meant much more than just 'taking him along'.
"Come with me. As the guest retainer of the Heavenly Sword Lord, you'll be treated appropriately. My estate will gladly become the cradle for the future you desire."
The Heavenly Sword Lord's guest retainer. A guest retainer of Hisperion!
'M-Me, being invited as a guest retainer of Hisperion...?'
Being a 'guest retainer of Hisperion' didn't simply mean someone who ate meals for free at the house.
It referred to wandering swordsmen who, under the Lord's favor, were protected by Hisperion.
'Among wanderers, only those with world-renowned fame and exploits are invited to Hisperion.'
The legendary adventurer, Kyle Wolfhart, called the Wandering Star, who mastered all sorts of mysterious sword arts.
Silence Doomraven, known as the Sword Fiend, who freely wielded terrifying demon swords and roamed the battlefield in search of live sacrifices.
There were even rumors of dragons...
As one could see, the title 'guest retainer of Hisperion' was not one anyone could receive.
One could only receive Hisperion's recognition—the Lord's patronage—after building great achievements and fame known across the continent and beyond.
Such was the title 'guest retainer of Hisperion'.
'For such an incredible honor to be granted to someone like me, with nothing...?'
Perhaps...
The Heavenly Sword Lord was saying he would take Ian and raise him directly under his care.
As a man worthy of the title 'guest retainer of Hisperion'.
But why...?
Ian furtively glanced at Lord Darkan's face.
'Gasp...!'
Darkan was watching Ian with eyes blazing like wildfire.
'To think such an uncut gem was hidden in Greysel...! That mysterious greatsword didn't appear for no reason.'
The useless-looking, broken lump of scrap greatsword that even his own Dominating Dragon Fang had feared.
'A boy with that much talent called forth a divine sword worthy of his stature.'
The Heavenly Sword Lord stared at Ian as if he would devour him.
'Shall I raise him properly? Undoubtedly, he'll become a great swordsman. Perhaps... Even greater than the 5th Heavenly Sword Lord...! If only I can nurture this boy and make him one of my closest retainers...!'
To have two, not one, thousand-year talents like Yuria in the same generation, within Hisperion's circle...
The moment those two became official swordsmen, Hisperion would surely enter an unprecedented golden age.
At that moment, the attention of the absolute pinnacle of all swordmasters was focused solely on one person—Ian Greysel.
'Ian Greysel. To think I'd meet a talent I absolutely must have by my side like this. Now you can never leave my side. From now on, we'll enjoy getting to know each other, slowly and thoroughly.'
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Ian's father-in-law is becoming obsessed?
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】