The next day, Kyle rose early as usual. After changing, he glanced out the window before leaving his room.

He had looked just in case, but there was Bruno, standing outside Rose Manor's front gate. Kyle couldn't help chuckling at the sight.

To think he would settle things with his father in a single day.

"You can do things properly when you try."

That must mean something stifling had been building up inside Bruno for a long time, becoming the kindling that had caught fire yesterday.

Ever since his previous life, Kyle had liked the word aspiration. In a way, being able to burn with desire for something, to devote yourself to it wholeheartedly, was a blessing. Whether it was something you could do well or something you couldn't, pursuing that aspiration was enjoyable in itself.

Fortunately, today he managed to kiss Arian's forehead and escape before she opened her eyes. Hurrying out of the manor, Kyle approached Bruno, who stood with a resolute expression outside the closed gate.

"Hey, Pig."

Kyle smiled and waved.

"What did Uncle say? Did he tell you not to play with me anymore?"

"I got his permission."

Bruno answered with a solemn expression.

"Father said I could do as I wished."

"And what do you wish?"

"...?"

Bruno blinked at the unexpected question. After all the persuading Kyle had done yesterday, he was now asking as though none of it had happened. Bruno couldn't immediately make sense of it.

"What I told you yesterday was what I wanted, not what you wanted."

What an exasperating pig. Kyle clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"You've been doing whatever Uncle tells you, and now you're going to do whatever I tell you?"

"Th... that's not it."

Flustered, Bruno shook his head.

"I thought you were right. That's why I decided to try it. What you suggested seemed more... than the way Father's been teaching me."

"Exactly. That's doing what I tell you."

Kyle cut him off.

"You'll do it because I say it's right, and stop if I say it's wrong? If I told you smearing shit all over yourself would make you stronger, would you try that too?"

"O-of course I wouldn't...!"

He shouted because it was absurd, but he couldn't muster a proper rebuttal. The criticism hit where it hurt. When he had raised his voice at Varkas yesterday, Bruno had believed he was speaking of his own free will. Looking back, however, the argument he had used to persuade his father had merely repeated Kyle's words like a parrot.

'No.'

That wasn't all of it. Bruno laid a hand over his churning chest and drew a deep breath. It was true that he had let himself be swayed without standing firm. But accepting those words as right had been his own decision. That resolve was why he hadn't knelt under his father's intimidating presence. Why he hadn't backed down even when threatened with disownment.

"Honestly... I don't really know either."

Bruno let out a deep sigh.

"I can't deny what you're saying. It's true I've always swung my sword the way Father told me to... and it's true that what you said yesterday appealed to me, and made me want to try swinging it your way. But..."

"But what?"

"The swordsmanship Father... made me practice, I liked it at first... but I gradually started feeling it didn't suit me. It was stifling, so swinging my sword stopped being fun. But if I try it the way you suggested... I think I might enjoy it."

Bruno hesitated, then hung his head.

"That's why I got Father's permission. Y-yes, it does amount to swinging my sword the way you tell me to. But still... I want to try it."

"Good."

He had worried Kyle would take it for a pathetic excuse rather than a clear answer, but to his surprise, Kyle nodded readily.

"If you want to try something different, and doing it is your own decision, that's fine. But, Pig, what I say isn't always the right answer."

Kyle opened the manor's front gate himself.

"Ultimately, it's your swordsmanship. You choose what's right for you. And once you've made that choice, any failure is entirely your responsibility."

"..."

"So think things through often, and ask when you don't know. You don't have to ask only me. You've got Uncle, haven't you?"

"Ask Father?"

Bruno looked incredulous.

"There's no way Father would answer..."

"Did you think you'd get his permission yesterday?"

"..."

"If you ask him because you genuinely don't know, surely he won't tell you to get lost?"

With that, Kyle headed for the cultivation room. Bruno stared blankly at his back before hurrying after him.

"Is... Lucia not coming today?"

"Lucia's at the training grounds. Starting tomorrow, you're going back too."

"What? Why?"

"There are things you can learn there. And you can't even become an apprentice knight if you don't graduate."

"That's true, but..."

"I can't fix every last thing about your pathetic attitude or your swordsmanship. All I'm doing is offering advice, suggesting things you could try."

"..."

"I've got my own things to do. So from tomorrow onward, come at night, after you finish your training for the day."

Aspiring knights flocked to Gladiheim from across the continent. Only those whose aptitude and ability had been verified were accepted as knight cadets. Those who fell short became ordinary soldiers in Gladiheim or returned home.

Kyle had heard about the cadets' routine from Lucia and Erika. They normally lived and trained at the training grounds in Hilt, the lower district, venturing outside Gladiheim for field training about once a month.

The field training varied with the schedule, but apparently it usually involved joint exercises with the empire's prospective knights. Sometimes they held exchanges with foreign knightly orders, and once every few years, even with the Demons of Erebos.

The cadets' favorite form of training, however, was exploring hidden realms. Their uncontrolled conditions made them highly dangerous, but they also offered rare resources such as spiritual herbs.

Five hundred years ago, hidden realms had appeared only very rarely. In the present age, they were no longer so uncommon.

'Five hundred years is a long time, but still...'

An organ called a spiritual root had appeared in human bodies, and the once-rare hidden realms now occurred frequently. Having lived in the distant past, Kyle found the present age truly strange.

"I'm going to practice my cultivation method."

Entering the cultivation room, Kyle sat down heavily in its center.

"Do whatever you want. If you want to swing your sword, go ahead."

With that, Kyle closed his eyes. The moment he focused on his unfinished Primordial Chaos Circulation Method, Jorm raised its head from where it lay coiled in his middle energy center.

["Master, hungry."]

People sometimes joked that someone who was always hungry must have a beggar living in their belly. In Kyle's case, the beggar—or rather, spirit—lived in his chest instead.

'Work before food.'

["Uuugh..."]

Jorm made a sulky sound but didn't disobey Kyle's command.

The Primordial Chaos Circulation Method went into motion. Breathing deeply in and out, Kyle guided the mana gathering in the cultivation room into his body. It traveled down through his circuits to his middle energy center, where Jorm refined it first.

CRACKLE...!

A prickling pain spread through his chest. Whenever Jorm mingled with the mana, it stimulated the core in his middle energy center, and his lower energy center clamored with hunger. Kyle suppressed that hunger and waited for Jorm to finish refining the mana.

This was overwhelmingly more efficient. Even as it worked, Jorm was being stimulated by Kyle's spiritual root. Once the refining was complete, Kyle guided the mana from his middle energy center to his lower one.

'Whew...'

For the past week, he had been trying to keep mana circulating through his circuits unconsciously, but it still wasn't going well. He was only managing it somehow thanks to his previous life's experience.

There was joy in accomplishing something unfamiliar. Kyle continued concentrating on the Primordial Chaos Circulation Method.

'What's that...?'

Ever since Kyle had begun using the Primordial Chaos Circulation Method, Bruno had been staring at him blankly.

'Didn't he learn the Violet Lightning Heaven-Striking Art?'

That was what he'd heard a week ago, but the mana shimmering around Kyle now wasn't lightning energy influenced by a lightning spiritual root. More precisely, lightning energy wasn't the only thing flowing.

'The mana... it's all mixed together...?'

Varkas had told him that Kyle's awakened spiritual root wasn't simply a lightning spiritual root, but he hadn't heard that it was a spiritual root of chaos.

After hesitating, Bruno sat down. Then he closed his eyes and began practicing his cultivation method.

As yesterday, he wore bracelets on both arms that interfered with the flow of mana. He didn't know if it was really all right to do this, but... he recalled Kyle's words from the day before.

["Be flexible, Pig."]

Ignoring the circuits obstructed by the bracelets, he tried sending his mana through different ones. It wasn't easy. Since awakening his spiritual root and circuits and beginning cultivation five years ago, Bruno had moved his mana only as his method prescribed. Now that he was suddenly sending it through circuits he had never used, those dried-up, shriveled pathways tore open, bringing tremendous pain.

"Ugh..."

Suppressing his groans, Bruno concentrated on controlling his mana. Kyle cracked his eyes open to look at him. It was heartening to see him trying to do something on his own.

After cultivating all morning, Kyle rose. He was drenched in sweat, but Bruno was even more thoroughly soaked. The boy had groaned and writhed throughout his cultivation, yet he hadn't stopped.

"How is it?"

"It fucking... fucking hurts. I can't move..."

"Stop whining and get up."

Kyle picked up one of the wooden swords kept in the cultivation room.

"Take out your greatsword."

"D-don't tell me you want to spar? With that wooden sword?"

Bruno asked in alarm, but Kyle wouldn't budge. Eventually, Bruno staggered to his feet and took out the same greatsword as yesterday.

"I doubt Uncle sent you here without any conditions. What did he say yesterday?"

"H-he didn't set any conditions."

"Don't lie. Tell me honestly."

Under Kyle's prodding, Bruno finally spoke.

"Once a year... he said he'd test how much I'd changed."

"And if you don't meet his standards?"

"..."

"What? Worried I'll feel responsible? I won't, so tell me the truth."

"He said he'd disown me."

"Hah."

Kyle had expected Varkas to impose some condition, but disownment? That was far too drastic a price. He shook his head with a hollow laugh.

"Then you'd better work hard if you don't want to be disowned. Or do you want that?"

"Don't be ridiculous...!"

"Right, thought not. Now, come at me."

With those abrupt words, Kyle's presence transformed. It was exactly like a week ago. Seeing Kyle standing motionless with his sword, Bruno went pale.

Those eyes. Eyes that didn't regard the person before them as an equal human being or an opponent, that showed not even killing intent, but seemed ready to mechanically butcher a human body. Though Bruno had already sweated more than enough, cold sweat now poured down his forehead like rain. He trembled, unable even to hold his greatsword properly.

"Pig."

Kyle spoke. Despite his indifferent eyes and the terrifying pressure he exuded, his voice was as calm as ever.

"Uncle isn't here to push you from behind now. The step you take will be of your own free will."

"Ugh... uuugh..."

"I won't do anything. I'll just stand here until you take a step and swing your sword at me. Of course, I won't simply let you cut me. If you swing, I'll naturally strike back."

Those whispered words only made Bruno tremble harder. Kyle's gaze and presence alone already made him envision countless deaths. What if he attacked Kyle—and Kyle struck back?

Bruno's teeth chattered. The sword in Kyle's hand was an ordinary wooden one, but to Bruno's eyes, it was anything but ordinary.

"Pig, overcome your fear. If you want to live by the sword, you're going to meet plenty of others who carry one just like you. Unless you put yours down, you'll swing at people and face their swords in return."

"..."

"I'm not telling you to stop caring about fear. I'm telling you to overcome it. If you've taken up a sword, you have to advance and swing even when you're afraid. Get angry at yourself for trembling in fear right now. Get angry at me for frightening you, too."

Yet even as he listened, Bruno couldn't bring himself to take a step. Simply facing Kyle was enough for fear to gnaw away at his mental strength.

In the end, Bruno couldn't endure it and sank to the floor. He had tried to hold out through willpower and grit, but his utterly exhausted mind and body defied him.

"Ugh...!"

Bruno clutched his buckled legs. Self-loathing and anger filled his contorted face.

"Well done."

He had expected a rebuke, but the words from Kyle's mouth were nothing like he had imagined.

"Well... done?"

"Nobody was behind you, but you didn't run away."

Kyle reached a hand toward Bruno where he sat.

"Did you really think you'd be able to attack me today?"

"..."

"Holding out was enough. Every time you come here, we'll do the same thing. If you get to the point where you can take even one step—"

Kyle grinned.

"That alone will satisfy Uncle Varkas."

Ultimately, a person was what wielded a sword. Bruno didn't need to learn some special, different sword style. If his state of mind changed, his swordsmanship would naturally change with it.

Bruno stared blankly at the offered hand, then hesitantly took it and stood.

"Th... thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for. Pig, I'm going to wash up, eat, and head to the grand library."

"Uh... right."

"You should wash up and stay for a meal too."

"Wh... what? S-stay for a meal?"

"Why? Don't want to?"

"N-no..."

He simply hadn't expected to be fed as well.

"I'm washing up first."

Kyle made that clear as he left the cultivation room.

In his previous life, he had been a mercenary and had often gone without washing on the battlefield. But after ten years as a wealthy young master, he now felt grimy if he didn't wash immediately after sweating.

* * *

A year passed. Bruno did his best, but Varkas disowned him in the end.

No longer Bruno Alastor but simply Bruno, he would leave the Sword Tower where he had lived for sixteen years and go to his mother's manor abroad.

"Goodbye, Bruno. You worked hard this past year."

"I wasn't disowned."

Bruno snapped, his face twisting.

"Father said I passed."

"See? I told you you wouldn't be disowned."

At Kyle's teasing, Bruno's tightly clenched fists trembled. Then he blurted out loudly,

"It's thanks to you."

"I did help, but you did well yourself."

For an entire year, Bruno had visited Rose Manor every single day without fail, and he hadn't skipped his training at the knight training grounds either.

The sudden changes to his swordsmanship had felt unfamiliar at first, and his decision to change his mindset hadn't immediately become second nature. His training results had initially declined. Partway through, however, that decline had turned into improvement, and now his name stood proudly on the list of candidates for appointment as apprentice knights.

That wasn't all. The boy who had initially trembled under Kyle's pressure, unable even to hold his sword properly, could now inch toward him.

'He still can't swing his sword, though.'

Kyle did moderate his pressure somewhat, but being able to approach him sword in hand at that age was an admirable achievement in itself.

"Didn't Uncle say to thank me?"

"He told me to bring you over for a meal sometime soon."

"I'd rather not. Eating with Uncle sounds suffocating."

"Are you dismissing Father's goodwill...?"

"I'm not dismissing it. It's just a little awkward. Though it's better than it used to be."

Kyle patted Bruno's shoulder as he spoke.

"Anyway, well done. Tell Uncle I'll come over for a meal soon."

"You really will come, right?"

"What's so difficult about sharing a meal? We're family, for goodness' sake."

Of course, this damned family was a bleak one in many ways. About the only time they gathered for a meal was Julius's birthday, once a year.

Even then, not everyone came. Roel and Seros, who had left to find a treatment that could awaken the lady of the house, sent occasional letters but had yet to return to the Sword Tower.

'And that bastard who's supposed to be my father still hasn't fucking come out.'

Surely going into secluded training and not emerging for eleven whole years was taking things too far? Having once been obsessed with the sword himself, Kyle had initially felt rather favorable toward his father, the Sword Maniac, who had abruptly entered seclusion after claiming to have realized something about the sword. But that had been when Kyle was five.

'Who'd have thought he still wouldn't be fucking out by the time I turned eleven?'

At this point, hadn't something gone wrong during his seclusion and killed the bastard? Kyle could hardly think of that man as his father anymore. Whenever he saw Arian sigh, his anger toward his father boiled all the more fiercely.

'Maybe I should just go find him myself.'

He had already suggested to Arian several times that they go together, but perhaps out of pride, she stubbornly refused to visit him.

"Hah..."

Turning over curses in his head for the father whose face he had never seen, whose name and epithet were all he knew, Kyle let out a deep sigh.

For the past year, Kyle had followed his routine.

He practiced the Primordial Chaos Circulation Method from morning until noon, swung his sword, and went to the grand library to read cultivation manuals and refine his method. Occasionally, he visited the Hall of Sword Pinnacles to show Julius his swordsmanship and coax gifts out of him.

In the evening, he returned to the manor, tested his revisions to the Primordial Chaos Circulation Method, crossed swords with Bruno, and fed Jorm mana before bed.

Today, Bruno had visited at noon, but that didn't change Kyle's routine. He left the manor and headed to the grand library.

"Master Kyle."

Upon reaching the grand library on the second floor, Kyle's eyes widened. Lucia stood outside its entrance in uniform, accompanied by several others.

"Lucia? What are you doing here?"

"I received the highest marks this time, so I've been granted permission to enter the grand library."

Once a year, the knight cadets underwent an annual assessment and were graded. Purebloods such as Kyle and Bruno could enter the grand library whenever they pleased, but cadets who weren't purebloods could gain access only by earning high marks.

Even then, permission was valid for a single visit, and the books they could consult were limited according to their achievements. Kyle looked at the three people beside Lucia. They were cadets wearing the same uniform as her.

"Good day, sir."

The cadets bowed deeply to Kyle.