Chapter 81 : He Has Flexibility

Chapter 81: He Has Flexibility

“Milady.”

At that single word, Daisy felt goosebumps prickle all over her body.

“Eek! I told you not to call me that! Huh? Sir Burson. I’ll beg you like this. Please!”

Milady, he said.

Daisy was on the verge of curling up and dying from embarrassment.

Everyone was glad that Burson had recovered.

But his sudden change in demeanor was nothing short of awkward.

And for Daisy, it was especially awkward.

Young Marquis Daisy Julian.

The sole heir of the Marquis House of Julian.

What on earth was that supposed to mean?

The Banroa Kingdom had collapsed when she was only three! She didn’t even remember it!

And yet, Knight Burson, who had suddenly reappeared as a changed man, stubbornly kept addressing her as “Milady.”

“Young Lady Daisy. A diamond remains a diamond, even if it is buried in mud and burned in the fire. The time has come to break free of the mud that has veiled your brilliance…”

“Argh! Even now you’re still spouting your famous quotes?!”

“…In any case, from now on, you must start getting used to it. You must rebuild the House. It won’t be long. His Highness Prince Ransen will soon establish the kingdom.”

“Wha—?! Uncle Ransen has become His Highness Prince Ransen?!”

Daisy turned pale as if she might die of mortification, but Burson would not yield on this point.

“Haa… Very well. Young Marquis. Since you dislike being called ‘Milady,’ I shall address you as Young Marquis instead. Though I would personally prefer to call you ‘Milady,’ if that is your wish, then it is only proper to comply. However, His Highness Ransen is His Highness Ransen. You too, Young Marquis, must…”

“Gaaah! I don’t like ‘Young Marquis’ either! I hate it!”

In the end, Daisy couldn’t stand it any longer and ran away.

But Burson’s expression did not waver in the slightest.

“A year? At most three? If I keep addressing her so, Young Marquis will come to realize it herself.”

To endure and push forward with patience—

That, above all, was Burson’s specialty.

Just then, someone else came into his line of sight: Mika Seitous.

The sole heir of the Ducal House of Seitous.

Burson hurried over, grasped the hilt of his sword with his left hand, and bowed deeply in the military salute of the Banroa Kingdom.

“Milady. The weather is so clear today.”

At that, Mika’s eyes sparkled.

The ever-casual Burson, who had always spoken to her informally, was suddenly addressing her with utmost courtesy?

Most of those watching looked on awkwardly. Daisy was practically dying of secondhand embarrassment.

But Mika, on the contrary, was delighted by the situation.

“Oh? And who might this be? Is it not Sir Knight Burson Valancha?”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“Enough, ‘Young Lady’? That hardly suits me.”

“Ah, yes. Young Lady of the Ducal House.”

“Hmph! I am, beyond doubt, of knightly station! To call me Sir Mikisiela is more than sufficient.”

Then, lowering her voice in a whisper—

“Heheh… To wish to hide one’s status and live as a simple knight, and yet to be shackled by the burden of being the second-most exalted in the kingdom… That is my fate, I, Mikisiela…”

He didn’t quite understand it, but in any case, Burson was pleased.

Now, I was a knight, and I could finally call the Young Duke and young ladies by their proper titles.

“Yes. Knight Mikisiela, Young Duke!”

“Ahh! You’re clinging to me so annoyingly again…! What’s so great about that bloodline…!”

That day, Burson was captured by Mika and forced to play along in a rather lengthy roleplay before he was finally released.

But he wasn’t tired at all.

There was no reason to be tired.

From the vigorous Aura Core, fresh aura surged forth, and his entire body brimmed with vitality and energy he could never have imagined before.

With that momentum, Burson entered the instructors’ meeting.

He carried himself with a presence completely different from usual.

“Um… Chief Instructor. How about we just remove this part about offense-defense unity? If we ourselves can’t even grasp the concept, there’s no way we can teach it…”

“Stand up.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said stand up.”

So Burson abruptly rose from his seat and stepped into the open space.

The instructor, who had never been able to make sense of offense-defense unity, followed him almost without thinking.

“Draw your sword.”

“…What?”

“Draw your sword.”

When Burson drew his blade first, the instructor drew his as well.

“You said you don’t understand offense-defense unity, right?”

“Yes. No matter how many times I hear it, I just don’t get it. An attack is an attack, and defense is defense. How can offense and defense be one…?”

“Try attacking me.”

“…What?”

“Attack me with all your strength.”

At those words, the instructor’s demeanor shifted.

After all, the warriors of Roberland were not ones to shy away from a challenge.

‘Oh… is this my chance? To finally beat up that old man who does nothing but sit around arguing theory?’

Even such insolent thoughts crept into his mind as he steadied his stance.

“I won’t need to hold back?”

“That’s what I want.”

“Then… Hyaaahhh!”

Though he didn’t use aura, the sword of a warrior twenty years younger than Burson carried fierce strength.

Claaang!

But…

The instructor’s vertical slash was helplessly blocked by Burson’s sword, raised high, its blade and protruding crossguard catching it with ease.

“Heeek…!”

At the same time, Burson’s sword, while parrying, was aimed directly at the younger warrior’s throat.

Those who had never experienced it could not understand—

The chilling terror of a real blade’s sharp edge touching your neck.

The instructor, shocked, stumbled back onto his rear. Burson then spoke, as though releasing a long-suppressed resentment.

“That is offense-defense unity.”

That day’s meeting became a meaningful time, imprinting upon the instructors’ bodies many concepts that words alone had failed to convey.

After successfully concluding the instructors’ meeting, Burson stepped out into the street for his next task.

He was always busy moving about the city, as he was responsible not only for training, but also for weapon production at the smithy, the management of warhorses, and the repair of castle walls.

But then, while passing by the vacant lot where children usually played, he witnessed a sight that made him frown.

“Kids, scram! Out of the way!”

“Shoo! Shoo!”

“Heheheh. Look at those brats’ eyes. If we push it, they might fight back?”

Three drunken warriors, carrying whole crates of liquor bottles, barged into the vacant lot and drove away the children who had been happily playing there.

Among the chased-off children were even young members of the Ransen Family.

“But we came here first?!”

True to the name of the Ransen Family, a thirteen-year-old child resisted. But—

Thud!

What came back was a warrior’s kick.

“Tch! How dare a little runt glare straight at me. Should I just stomp you to death?!”

The warrior threatened to crush the child sprawled on the ground beneath his boot.

I couldn’t bear it any longer.

This might have been an everyday occurrence in Roberland, but I had never once turned a blind eye to such a thing.

Not even in the past fourteen years when my core was crippled.

“If you’re going to drink, do it properly…!”

I wrapped the fallen child in my arms and checked his condition. Fortunately, the warrior wasn’t completely insane—other than scrapes from the fall, there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries.

‘So even though he kicked, it was more like a shove… is that it?’

That might be a point in his favor—but still, it wasn’t something I could forgive.

Guilty!

“What’s with this guy?”

While I passed judgment silently in my head,

the three young warriors—men in their twenties and thirties—swaggered and circled around me.

One of them seemed to recognize me.

“Huh? Isn’t this the guy? The one who always acts like he knows everyone at the tavern?”

“Oh? Ah~ that’s right. Last time I challenged him to a duel, he chickened out. Now you’re suddenly brave, huh?”

“Old man, you mad? Wanna go at it?”

I didn’t waste words on their swaggering provocations.

“You still need your legs to make a living… wouldn’t it be troublesome if you couldn’t walk?”

After uttering just that one line—

Crack!

Snap!

Crunch!

I seized one man’s arm and snapped it, twisted another’s wrist until it broke, and kicked the last one’s arm so his bone shattered with a sharp crack.

“Gaaahhh!”

“Heeeek! Aaaghhh!”

“Arghhh! It hurts too much, aaaghhh!”

As the warriors wailed pathetically like cowards, I looked down on them and asked:

“Do you really want a proper fight?”

The chilling killing intent seeping out with those words…

These mercenary warriors could do nothing but press their faces against the ground.

*         *         *

Having regained his strength—or rather, having grown even stronger—there was no one more of a workaholic than him.

He had already held many responsibilities, but now he went further, leading troops personally and carrying out military operations.

Guarding trade routes, subjugating demonic beasts, maintaining order… he accomplished all of it like a superhuman.

Burson brought me results without even being told to.

Thanks to that, I ended up receiving a gift I had never even imagined.

Burson knelt on one knee and spoke.

“Your Highness, Grand Duke. I wish to report a strange monster.”

The small shot Renajora had launched.

Now, everyone called me Grand Duke.

Hearing it so often, I had gotten used to it without realizing, so sometimes when someone said, “Young Count,” I would reflexively look back with a thought, ‘Count? Me?’

Then, the other person would turn pale and hurriedly change their words, stammering, “Y-your Highness, Grand Duke!”

Power… wasn’t this really amusing?

Anyway,

the corpse of the monster Burson had brought was something I had never expected either.

‘…I was planning to hunt this myself, but he caught it on his own?’

A newly added function in the Book of Fate—[Exploration].

The red dot marked in the Twisted Timeline there was exactly this monster before my eyes.

It was something I had been putting off lately because of battle fatigue…

So this was what it meant to have a competent subordinate?

It was truly comfortable and pleasant.

“Knight Burson. How was this monster?”

Burson answered in a grave and serious voice.

“It was truly formidable. Even when I used all my strength, it did not yield easily.”

“Even while wearing Magical Armor?”

“I did not wear the Magical Armor, partly to train myself. I only used Aura Blade. Perhaps because my aura is still weak, it was difficult to pierce its hide with that alone.”

“A monster at the level of a Swordmaster…? Then how did you kill it? Did you use some ancient Sword Energy?”

“No. Dozens of Experts engaged it in a Joint Assault, damaging its hide and wearing down its stamina, after which I delivered the final blow.”

“You went through quite a lot.”

“It even possessed the cunning to flee when the situation turned against it… Honestly, it was very difficult.”

The reason Burson spoke like that was surely to give credit to his subordinates.

Even if he himself didn’t mind, he thought his men had fought under considerable strain.

And yet there had been no casualties… this was proof of Burson’s seasoned command.

‘A monster on the level of a Swordmaster. No wonder it looked so unusual from the start… it really was a monster among monsters.’

Even just to look at, it was hideous and overwhelming.

Overall, it had the shape of a massive, muscular ox, but with two legs and arms like a man.

That much still resembled an ordinary demonic beast, but the details were truly horrific.

Its entire body bristled with thin, wormlike hairs that writhed even now, horns like those of a mountain goat sprouted from its head, and its tail resembled a snake.

It even wielded a weapon— a mace made of some lump of flesh.

A huge, grotesque mace, as though molded from kneaded human heads.

And even now, it was gaping with countless mouths, as if it were still alive.

‘So… this is what they mean by the Twisted Timeline?’

Previously, the Emperor, as a so-called gift, had captured the legendary monster called Gonggo and sent me its heart.

The Book of Fate devoured it, and in return, I obtained the ‘Twisted Timeline.’

At the Lorraine Research Institute, when we defeated an Apostle, I also gained a large amount of Twisted Timeline.

In other words, the monsters the Book of Fate consumed were not ordinary monsters.

They were the twisted ones among monsters.

New, unique beings never witnessed anywhere else.

Powerful creatures that stood apart from ordinary demonic beasts.

Only those of such a level contained the Twisted Timeline.

‘Then… are there no more Twisted Timeline nearby?’

When I pulled out the Book of Fate to check, sure enough, no more red dots could be seen.

Excellent.

It felt as though one burden pressing on my mind had been resolved.

“You did well. Knight Burson. There will be a reward. For you and for every warrior who shared in the effort.”

“It is an honor.”

Now, as a true knight, Uncle Burson addressed me as his Lord.

I knew that was his joy, but for me, it made me feel a little lonely.

Sometimes, I should invite him for a drink like in the old days.

Brrrrrr—

Just as I thought that, the damned Book of Fate once again vibrated madly, clamoring at me.

“Fine. Eat. Eat your fill.”

The place where the monster’s corpse lay was the small training ground.

I had already dismissed everyone else, so it was only Burson and me there.

Thus, without hesitation, I held the Book of Fate forward.

Crunch! Crack, crack!

The monster’s corpse began to collapse in on itself, until at last it was compressed down to the size of a bean and flew into the book.

Chomp!

The Book of Fate swallowed it in one bite.

[Absorbing a small amount of Twisted Timeline.]

Huh?

A small amount… this time?

I quickly flipped through the pages of the Book of Fate.

[Epilogue 1/1]

There was no change.

‘Hmm… so because it’s a small amount, it doesn’t work?’

Even feeding it a single Gonggo had unlocked the [Epilogue] function…

But this time, nothing changed.

‘I’ll have to feed it more to know.’

Whether it would unlock a new function, or the number of Epilogues would increase—if I kept feeding it, surely something would change.

[Epilogue].

Honestly, for now it didn’t feel like a particularly necessary function.

It said I could visit places where historical alterations had already been completed… maybe I’d go there to train when I hit a wall in swordsmanship? That was about as far as I thought of it.

But I had a certain intuition. That this was, in truth, something extremely important and precious. The more I had, the better.

‘Alright, let’s just keep feeding it steadily. Whatever happens, more will surely be a good thing.’

With that rough conclusion, I helped Uncle Burson, who was still kneeling, back to his feet.

“Uncle. You worked hard today too, how about a drink tonight?”

Ah, whatever.

I just wanted to call him in a familiar way, so I spoke casually as before.

“Heheh. Sounds good. Let’s meet after duty.”

Uncle Burson crumpled that bear-like face into a grin as he agreed.

Ah, this is why I liked this man.

He had flexibility. Yes, flexibility.

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