“About the attackers targeting you.”

Inside the carriage returning to Cambria, Dieta began speaking with her arms crossed.

“Within Cambria, the only people who could threaten you are White Horn adventurers, right?”

Najin nodded. Apart from Sword Seeker-level opponents, there was no danger. Dozens of Experts would be dangerous, of course, but if that many people moved together, he had ways to deal with them.

Repeated hit-and-run attacks, in other words. Escape, pursuit, and turning the tide to counterattack were his specialties.

“There are five White Horn adventurers in total. Since Kaufman Theosis died, four remain. And three of those four would never target you.”

“Why is that?”

“First, Roselin Ascalo. You know from meeting her, don't you? She's pure, for better or worse. She isn't the sort to engage in dirty business like this.”

Dieta folded down one finger.

“Second, Richard Paulsen, the former commander of House Genovels' knights. The order could never recruit him. He has ties to the imperial family. His every action is reported to them... so he wouldn't get involved in something like this.”

Another finger folded down.

“Third, Bashen Corte. He's a White Horn adventurer who hasn't made his information public, but he utterly despises the order. He was stripped of his knighthood on charges of murdering one of its high-ranking priests. Again, he's unlikely to be involved.”

“More importantly,” she added, “Bashen Corte is an adventurer under exclusive contract to our trading company. We might even be able to get his help with this situation.”

Three candidates had been eliminated. Dieta pointed to her one remaining finger.

“Grizel Paramelt. This one... there's so little public information that I can't be certain. If someone within Cambria targets you, Grizel would be the likeliest suspect.”

“What weapon does that person primarily use?”

“A halberd.”

A halberd. He had never fought against one before.

“But that's only speculation... I think they'll come from outside the adventurers' city rather than from within it.”

“I've been thinking much the same thing.”

“And if I were the order, I'd unleash all my hounds this time. Kaufman has already been defeated. They'll be certain now that you aren't someone they can afford to test the waters with.”

“What happens then?” Dieta murmured, tapping her forearm with her index finger.

“You said that, though you don't know why, the Order of Star Radiance would ‘never deploy its holy knights directly,’ right?”

“That's what I expect. They won't want to be exposed.”

“Assuming that's true, there aren't all that many routes outsiders can use to enter the city.”

Dieta unfolded a map.

“For someone who has reached the Sword Seeker realm to visit the city through ‘normal’ channels, they have to go through a reporting procedure. And a visit without a reason attracts attention. It leaves a record, too. They won't want to use that method.”

She pointed to the rear gate rather than the main gate.

“So they'll disguise their identities and enter through the rear gate. Or climb over the walls. But even then, targeting you won't be easy. Your residence is near the central church, isn't it?”

“It is.”

“That district is only accessible to adventurers of Green rank or higher. Anyone whose identity isn't verified can't enter.”

In other words:

“Assassinating you inside Cambria isn't easy. Especially considering your abilities. If a fight breaks out in the central city, other adventurers will join in, and things will escalate.”

“That... certainly is true.”

“So they'll try to lure you out.”

Outside the city.

Najin rubbed his chin. Did that mean he should stay inside the city for a while? But if he did...

“But you don't have to just sit there and take it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you forgotten?” Dieta shrugged.

“I'm the head of a major trading company that dominates Cambria. In terms of the volume of gold coins and goods moving through the city, no trading company surpasses mine.”

She took a platinum coin from her clothing and flicked it into the air. Just as a swordsman swung a sword, an archer loosed an arrow, or a mage scattered mana, the merchant deftly snatched the coin from the air.

“Gold coins make more things possible than you might think.”

The Snake That Swallows Gold smiled.

2.

One day after returning to Cambria, Najin's first order of business was moving to a residence right beside the Dieta Trading Company. Dieta had firmly insisted that, while his current place was fine, he ought to move closer.

「“As it happens, a lovely property near my trading company is ‘scheduled’ to go on the market at a very low price. Why not move there?”」

「“It'll be close to the trading company, so we can see each other often. How nice! Just bring yourself. I'll have people move your belongings beforehand.”」

He had a feeling that ‘safety’ wasn't her only reason, but he couldn't deny her claim that the place was safe. Once the move was complete, Najin briefly greeted Dieta and headed out.

With Dieta's help, he had made several plans. But whatever else they did, his own strength remained important. At the very last moment, all he could rely on would be the single sword in his hand. The fact that he needed to reach the Sword Seeker realm as soon as possible hadn't changed.

'But...'

Thanks to Dieta, he had some breathing room. That had allowed him to reflect on his training so far and conclude that blindly swinging his sword wasn't doing him much good.

His swordsmanship and physical abilities were already exceedingly close to a Sword Seeker's. What he needed was something else.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

What was he lacking? To find out, Najin sought someone he could ask for advice. As it happened, there was someone perfectly suited to the task. He knocked and waited a moment before the door opened with a creak.

“What? What is it this early in the morning...?”

The person who emerged, scratching her disheveled hair, was the White Horn adventurer Roselin Ascalo. Her eyes widened when she recognized Najin.

“What is it? What's going on, rookie?”

“That one favor you promised me last time,” Najin said. “I've come to collect.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that.”

Despite his unexpected visit, Roselin told him to wait a moment and went back inside. A few minutes later, she emerged in casual clothes, shuffling along in her slippers.

“Well, what's the favor, rookie?”

“I'd like you to spar with me. As close to a real fight as possible.”

“Spar? With me?” Roselin chuckled.

“Well, look at you. Listen, kid, this lady's been a Sword Seeker for over ten years now. I'm pretty damn good, is what I'm saying.”

“I know.”

“And you want me to make it like a real fight?”

“I think that's the only way I'll get a feel for it.”

Roselin blinked. A feel for it? Come to think of it, she'd heard the rumors too. Hadn't he survived a clash with Commander Griffin? Her eyes narrowed.

“Are you going through emergence, by any chance?”

“Pardon?”

“You don't know about emergence? Like a butterfly emerging?”

“What's that?”

“Tch. I'm asking if you've awakened a fragment of your mental image.”

Najin silently raised his sword. A cluster of pure white stars blossomed over its sword aura—an aura that had moved beyond a Sword Expert's and approached a Seeker's.

“Ha. Are you fucking insane?” Roselin let out an incredulous laugh.

He was approaching Sword Seeker at that age? Hadn't he been an Expert just recently? Had he grown that much in a mere month or two?

“Start by telling me what's going on.”

Roselin sat on a bench with her legs crossed and lit a cigarette. Smoking, she listened to Najin. When his explanation was finished, she spoke.

“Well... I can see what's happening.”

As though she'd expected it, Roselin propped up her chin.

“You know that to become a Sword Seeker, you have to completely dismantle and reconstruct your sword aura, right?”

“I do.”

“Right. That process is like a butterfly breaking out of its chrysalis, so we call it emergence, or sometimes molting...”

She swept back her hair. The black strands swayed with the movement of her fingers.

“That process differs from person to person. Some are incredibly fast, others incredibly slow. Know why?”

“Why?”

“Because everyone's soul matures at a different speed.”

Red eyes appeared between the swaying strands of hair. Just as when he'd faced those eyes last time, Najin heard Merlin catch her breath in his ear.

“Sword Expert, Seeker, Master... that whole progression ultimately means one thing. Removing the soul's impurities and becoming complete. Sublimating it to reach transcendence.”

“Transcendence...”

“Yes. It doesn't show when you're an Expert, but from Seeker onward, the soul has quite a lot of influence.”

Roselin drew the sword at her waist. She spun it lightly around her fingers, and fierce sword aura blossomed along the blade—sword aura like a beast's claws.

“It has to. A Sword Seeker is someone who can imbue sword aura with their mental image. It's a realm where you can project the shape of your soul onto your sword. If your soul hasn't matured enough, of course that process will take longer, won't it?”

Roselin pointed her sword at Najin.

“As I see it, that's exactly your problem. You've awakened a fragment of your mental image, but you haven't progressed from there. That means something's holding you back.”

“Holding me... back?”

“Yep. Lingering attachments, distracting thoughts that interfere with forming your mental image—things like that.”

She withdrew her sword aura and let out a long breath.

“I know because I've been through it. It took me three years to become a Sword Seeker after awakening my mental image. For other people, that process takes a few months at most.”

With a faint chuckle, Roselin rose from her seat.

“So in this case, I can help. Shall we take a look at your sword first?”

3.

Their sword fight continued for some time. As Najin and Roselin exchanged blows, each found themselves surprised. For Najin, the surprise was that Roselin was far stronger than he had imagined.

Griffin, commander of the knights of the ducal House Arbenia.

Demon Knight Berheigen.

The Ranger, Kaufman Theosis.

Najin had fought Sword Seeker-level opponents several times. Of those, Griffin had been the strongest, and Najin was certain he still couldn't win even if they fought again now.

'But...'

Roselin, standing before him, was stronger than Griffin. He couldn't judge precisely, but it felt as though she stood one level above him. The speed of her thrusts, the trajectories her blade traced, and above all, the freedom of her sword aura were beyond comparison with Griffin's.

Najin had no way of knowing it, but his instinctive assessment was correct. There were three stages a Sword Seeker had to pass through to become a Sword Master: Sprouting, Flowering, and Full Bloom. Roselin Ascalo had completed the first of those.

CLAAAANG!

Her sword aura gouged through space as though a beast were sinking its teeth into it. Like a spread net, it ensnared prey in the area, clawing and biting. To Najin, that precise control of sword aura was astonishing.

'Huh. Look at this kid.'

At the same time, Roselin Ascalo was astonished too—by the fact that Najin was reacting to her techniques. He had been an impressive rookie when she'd first met him, but now he was on an entirely different level.

Back then, he'd merely been a Sword Expert who handled his sword well, a young genius with a few exceptional qualities. Now, he was exceedingly close to Sword Seeker, a formidable fighter who would soon stand shoulder to shoulder with her. His physical abilities and reaction speed already rivaled those of most Sword Seekers.

'This much in just two months?'

His pace was absurd.

'This kid's completely fucking insane.'

He'd said he had awakened a fragment of his mental image but made no further progress, so she'd advised him in earnest... yet to her, this looked like a problem caused by growing too quickly.

His case was different from hers.

That realization left Roselin a little bitter. Then again, who else would be in her situation? Who else had half their soul coated in soot? This damned bloodline.

'Anyway.'

Roselin marveled. Najin darted in, moved into her blind spots, and slipped out of the net of sword aura. Those weren't movements perfected through talent alone.

'What bastards has he been fighting in such a short time to end up like this?'

Experience. She could feel his experience. His movements carried the experience of facing countless powerful opponents. After their sword fight had continued for some time, Roselin wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Wow, you're one seriously interesting kid.”

Laughing cheerfully, Roselin approached Najin. He had planted his sword in the ground and was breathing hard. She crouched beside him.

“As I see it, what you need isn't swordsmanship or physical training. You need time to yourself instead—meditation to put the landscape you're envisioning in order.”

Roselin Ascalo, who had spent three years reflecting on herself in solitary confinement, patted Najin's shoulder.

“Think it through. The answer is closer than you'd expect.”