Unable to find anything to say, Julius accepted the letter Kyle held out.

‘It's heavy...?’

The envelope could contain only a few sheets of paper at most, yet it felt strangely heavy. Of course, that was merely his imagination. The letter weighed next to nothing.

The weight lay entirely in Julius's heart. He had many children, and even before Kyle arrived, he had four grandchildren.

This was not the first time he had received a letter like this. Every year, on his birthday, his children had written him letters by hand when they were young. His grandchildren had done the same.

But receiving a letter like this when it was not his birthday—that was a first.

Julius Alastor. Before he was a father or a grandfather, he was the head of House Alastor. And before he became the head of the house, he was a warrior.

Dignity and decorum came naturally to him, whether he consciously thought about them or not. His children and grandchildren treated him accordingly.

Julius acknowledged that himself. He was not particularly taciturn, but he valued dignity. As a result, the times he had openly shown affection for his children and grandchildren could be counted on one hand, and all of them found him difficult to approach.

"..."

Julius examined the letter with a stiff expression. It had simply been placed in an envelope, without so much as a wax seal. He swallowed and opened it.

Inside was just one sheet of stationery. That left him somewhat nonplussed. The letters his children and grandchildren had given him on his birthdays had all been thick.

"You can't read it now."

Kyle spoke quickly as Julius began taking out the letter to read it.

"Why can't I read it now?"

"Because I'll be embarrassed."

Kyle meant it. He had written the letter himself to express his thanks for all the elixirs Julius had sent, to cheer up his lonely-looking grandfather, and to win himself still more affection in the future. Even so, having the letter read right in front of him was more than he could bear.

"... Very well."

Julius wanted to read it immediately. But with his grandson looking so serious as he said that, he had no choice but to tuck it inside his clothes.

"What would you like to play today?"

"I want to play like we did yesterday."

A great deal had happened yesterday, and by then it had been late and Kyle had been tired. Now, however, he had taken the elixirs and was brimming with energy.

"Your gifts have made me stronger, Grandfather. We can have even more fun than yesterday."

Julius smiled warmly at that. His disappointment at being unable to read the letter immediately vanished without a trace. Nodding, he handed Kyle the wooden sword they had used yesterday and left lying out.

["Grrr..."]

The fucking mutt was acting up again. Kyle did not spare Fenris, planted in the Hall of Sword Pinnacles, so much as a glance. He gripped the wooden sword and faced Julius.

* * *

The elixirs were working well.

Julius revised the impression he had formed while watching Kyle's earlier spat with Bruno.

The elixirs were working far too well. Back in the Hall of Sword Pinnacles, now empty of Kyle, Julius chuckled softly and returned to his throne.

Outside, the sun was already setting. His vigorous grandson, who had taken so well to the elixirs, had played with Julius for half a day without a single break. They had stopped only because Julius had other engagements afterward. Otherwise, Kyle would still have been swinging that wooden sword.

‘His instincts are exceptional. His mental fortitude, too.’

As they had yesterday, they had faced each other with wooden swords, their game consisting of Julius fending off Kyle's attacks. This time, he had also tried exerting pressure with his presence, but Kyle had not been intimidated once.

Not even when Julius mixed hostility into it. Kyle had neither cried nor screamed. Instead, he had laughed and charged as though he was enjoying himself.

‘Dante and Seros were quite bold and aggressive as children, but neither was a match for Kyle.’

Far from being cowed by Bruno, who was both older and bigger, Kyle had completely dictated the course of their encounter. Even the cunning Vecius had been unable to steer him around. In Julius's judgment, Kyle's force of personality was so strong it could only be innate.

‘He isn't all talk. When it comes to combat, his natural gifts can only be called genius. And he has a thirst for the sword and a longing for strength to go with them.’

His grandson was only five, yet Julius had so far been unable to find anything lacking in him. He was even perceptive and adaptable. And he knew how to handle people, too. Chuckling, Julius took the letter from inside his clothes.

Dear Grandfather,

Hello, Grandfather. It's me, Kyle.

Thank you for sending me such wonderful gifts.

I've never received presents like these before, so I'm very happy.

Please keep giving me lots of presents.

When I become stronger than you someday, I'll be sure to repay you.

Please stay healthy for a long, long time.

"..."

It was short.

He had thought his grandson had no shortcomings, but one look at this sorry excuse for a letter had immediately revealed one.

"His writing is abysmal."

Julius muttered with a disbelieving chuckle. The contents were downright impudent, too.

When he became stronger someday?

He would be sure to repay him then?

Flabbergasted, Julius read the letter again. With only a few lines, it took him mere seconds to finish. There was no hidden meaning. It meant exactly what it said. He turned the sheet over just in case, but there was nothing more written on the back.

"What an absurd little fellow..."

The boy was only five, yet he was telling the head of House Alastor that he would one day become stronger than him. To think his young grandson would make such a bold declaration when he had never heard its like from his own children. Julius laughed again, carefully folded the letter, and put it back in its envelope.

"..."

He took out the letter he had just put away and read it again.

He read it over and over.

* * *

Kyle returned to Rose Manor utterly exhausted. It was rare for the whole family to gather for a meal as they had yesterday, so he would be eating dinner at Rose Manor tonight.

"Kyle!"

The moment he opened the manor's door, Arian came rushing over. Her startled expression told Kyle everything.

‘Looks like my uncle came over and raised hell.’

It probably had not been Cartan. Varkas, that bear-brained brute's father, must have come over to raise hell. Even as he thought that, Kyle held his head high. He had no reason whatsoever to feel cowed.

"I'm home, Mom. Did Uncle Varkas come by?"

"Uh... Huh?"

Arian's eyes widened when Kyle asked first. After a moment's hesitation, she gave a small nod.

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"He spewed a load of nonsense that wasn't worth answering."

"Do you think I did something wrong, Mom?"

Kyle blinked as he asked. Arian blinked back, then let out a small laugh.

"Bruno was the one who tried to hit you first, wasn't he?"

"That's right."

"And I hear he even used aura! Yet his father had the nerve to come here and get angry. That temperament of his is exactly why his wife divorced him."

Grumbling, Arian crouched and firmly grasped Kyle's shoulders.

"You really aren't hurt?"

"I didn't get hit once. Bruno was the one who took a hit from me."

"So you have no intention of calling him your big brother?"

"I'd call him that if he acted like one, but Bruno doesn't deserve it. Neither does Vecius."

Kyle smiled as he declared it confidently.

"Did Uncle tell you to make me call him that?"

"He did run his mouth about how I should raise my child properly."

"Did you just stand there and listen, Mom?"

"Do you really think I would? I told him to raise his own child properly. His son gets hit once by his younger cousin and resorts to aura, and he thinks he can lecture me about raising children? He should get his own house in order."

Arian had quite a temper herself. Varkas had bullied her as a child over her talent for spirit arts, but she was no longer the girl she had been back then.

And if her older brother picked on her son Kyle and found fault with him for no reason, Arian would never stand for it.

"Grandfather didn't blame me either. He actually said I did well."

Kyle grinned as he spoke. Varkas might be furious that his son had been beaten and humiliated, but he could do nothing more drastic than run his mouth.

Being beaten and humiliated was hardly something to brag about, and the head of the house had not blamed Kyle. For now, all Varkas could do was seethe with jealousy.

GROWL.

After playing with his grandfather for half a day, Kyle was ravenous. At the sound from his stomach, Arian laughed and swept her son into her arms.

"You're hungry, aren't you? Let's have dinner with Aunt Erika tonight."

"With Aunt Erika?"

"Yes. I did say we'd visit her now and then."

She probably had not meant they should visit today of all days, but she certainly would not mind them coming over. Holding Kyle's hand, Arian lightly knocked on Rose Manor's door.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

She knocked while picturing Erika's manor, and an answer came immediately.

"This is Lady Erika Alastor's residence. Who is calling?"

"Arian Alastor. We'd like to have dinner with Erika. May we visit now?"

"Please wait a moment."

Before long, the servant's calm voice sounded again.

"Lady Erika is currently training in the manor's practice hall. She says you are welcome to visit now."

"All right. We'll come right over."

Arian chuckled and whispered into Kyle's ear.

"It seems your aunt wants to show you her sword training."

Sword training! Kyle's eyes sparkled like a night sky full of stars. Five years had passed since his reincarnation, but he had yet to see any proper swordsmanship of this era.

‘What I did with Grandfather was only playing, after all.’

His sparring match with Lucia had not shown him the swordsmanship he had hoped for either. His heart pounding, Kyle swallowed.

Gazing at her excited son as though she could hardly bear how adorable he was, Arian opened the manor's door. Normally, it should have led into Rose Manor's garden. Instead, another large manor stood beyond it.

It was Erika's residence. Servants greeted Arian and Kyle respectfully from beyond the already-open front entrance.

"Would you like to wait in the drawing room?"

"Take us to the practice hall. Erika will want us to see her."

The servants smiled faintly at her chuckling words. Just as she had thought, Erika had agreed to the visit because she wanted to show off.

The practice hall was in the manor's basement. Descending the stairs with Arian's hand in his, Kyle tilted his head.

‘What's this?’

The air was cold. Because they were underground? No, this went far beyond that.

The chill cut into his skin. It was not simply a low temperature; something about it felt unnatural. As Kyle rubbed his arm in thought, Arian gently squeezed his hand. A comforting warmth enveloped his body.

"My lady. Your guests have arrived."

The servant opened the door to the underground practice hall.

WHOOSH!

The moment it opened, white frost poured out like a storm.

"...!"

Kyle flinched and hunched his shoulders. The practice hall was a veritable land of snow. Ice covered every inch of the floor and walls, and snow crystals glittered as they drifted through the air.

At the center of it all stood Erika.

SWISH!

Erika swung her sword. Each time its pure-white blade cleaved the air, flowers of ice bloomed with a clear ringing sound.

She glided forward.

Her feet moved as she swung, her steps seeming to slide across ice. Her movements were as graceful as a dance, and her sword never stopped. Ice flowers blossomed with every motion, the pure-white blade weaving among them.

SWISH, SWISH!

Aura bursting from the sword's tip traced a cross in the air. It was more than a mere afterimage: an actual cross-shaped ice crystal remained suspended there.

"Whew...!"

Finishing her sword dance, Erika let out a long breath. Then she abruptly turned, putting on an act so obvious even a fool would have noticed.

"Oh? Arian? When did you get here?"

Despite having performed the sword dance expressly for them to see, Erika put on a surprised expression as though she had intended nothing of the sort. At the sight of her youngest sister, Arian laughed and clapped.

"Erika, that was wonderful! Your swordsmanship has improved so much!"

"Ahem. Well... of course. It has been six years, after all."

Erika continued, unaware that even the corners of her mouth were twitching.

"I hadn't awakened my spiritual root yet when you were still here. Ahem. As you can see, I've awakened an ice spiritual root."

Erika may have wanted to sound nonchalant, but neither her face nor her voice cooperated. She stared at Arian, plainly awaiting praise.

"How wonderful! An ice spiritual root—that's incredibly rare!"

"Ahem. Indeed. It makes training difficult, though choosing a mana cultivation method and sword style was easy."

"You're thirteen now, aren't you, Erika? To have reached the Realm of Punishment just three years after beginning serious training... You must have worked so hard!"

"Ahem, ahem. Well, it's nothing special. Our brothers and sisters all reached that realm at my age, didn't they? Even you, when you were thirteen..."

"Excuse me."

Between what he had just witnessed and the conversation that followed, Kyle could no longer hold back his question.

"Was what you just did swordsmanship too, Aunt Erika?"

"Hm? Of course it was. It's called the Snow Blossom Sword Style."

Part of Erika's reason for demonstrating her sword style had been to inspire respect in her impudent nephew. She steadied her breathing and circulated her mana.

WHOOSH!

Erika swung her sword again.

"This is—Whirling Snow Blossoms!"

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

Her unceasing slashes brought dozens of snow blossoms into bloom. The enormous expenditure of mana made her head spin, and pain twisted through her insides. Only then did Erika stop her sword, though she let none of that pain show on her face.

Or so she thought. The corners of her mouth drooped and twitched as though she might vomit at any moment, and her brows were tightly furrowed. Even so, Erika proudly thrust out her chest and looked at Kyle.

"W-well?"

She was so short of breath that speaking was difficult, but she forced out the question.

"..."

Without answering, Kyle looked at the dozens of ice flowers blooming around Erika and thought back over the sword-swinging she had just demonstrated.

He was dumbfounded.

‘What the hell... How is this any different from a mage with a sword?’

Apparently, this was what passed for swordsmanship these days.