Chapter 3
#3
Lucy, trying to act nonchalant, casually rubbed the back of her neck and said,
"Well, yeah, makes sense. There's only one Lykan in the army with black fur all over and a white cross-shaped patch on his forehead."
"What, Arsinoe? You knew too?"
Bards, who was sitting next to her, eating soup, chuckled and chimed in.
"You're the only one who didn't know. Jeronimo, you joined the army wanting to be like the Grand General, but you don't know anything about the Grand General's surroundings."
"Hey, are you going to call me an idiot again?"
"Stop fighting and eat quickly. There are only five minutes left until the end of the meal."
Lucy scolded in a small voice, and Jeronimo glared at her with a sulky face before starting to devour the food on his tray in an unsightly manner.
Lucy frowned at his inelegant table manners, which were unbecoming of the second son of a distinguished marquis family, and leaned back.
Jeronimo, who had quickly cleared his plate, pressed the bread crumbs with his fingers and licked them with his tongue, as if he was still hungry. Unable to watch any longer, Lucy snatched his tray and stood up.
"The special lecture is on a first-come, first-served basis. If you don't go quickly, you'll miss the front seats."
"Why is the lecture so important that you're in such a hurry? There's still time left, isn't there?"
"I guess you didn't hear who's giving the special lecture while passing by the adjutant's office. Never mind, just follow me quickly. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't listen to me."
Jeronimo scoffed, asking what he would regret.
Lucy pondered whether to persuade him with words or use force, and sighed, thinking that a beating was the best medicine for an idiot, and pulled up Jeronimo's collar.
"Hey! Keuk...! Let go! Hey!"
Jeronimo, choked and reluctantly got up from his seat due to the unbelievable strength of a woman. Bards, who had been watching the two of them get up, shoved food into their mouths faster than Jeronimo and followed them with a grin.
Lucy hid her anxiousness and hurried out of the cafeteria. The number of cadets heading to the lecture hall was much larger than usual, as rumors about the special lecture had spread everywhere.
"I wonder if there will be any seats left...."
Lucy quickly arrived at the lecture hall, seated Jeronimo and Bards in the front row, and moved to the very back row herself.
Ignoring Jeronimo's fussing to sit next to her, she took her seat. At that moment, the front door of the lecture hall opened.
The noise that had been filling the air vanished in an instant. At the same time, the sound of military boots echoed softly through the silence.
A man appeared where the footsteps stopped.
A gray military uniform, black epaulettes, and boots of the same color. Even the black gloves were all standard Kingdom Army attire, but the man's face was not that of a soldier.
"Is this Lecture Hall 3?"
The man, with an expression that seemed to be the embodiment of indifference, asked in a tone that lacked any color, and looked around the room.
There was no answer. The man stood silently in front of the door, looking at the trainees, then moved again and stood on the podium.
The cadets sitting in the front row glanced at the man and moved their lips.
"What. Did he come to the wrong place? As far as I know...."
"I heard he was really big and scary, but why...."
"...is what I heard. And the sword too...."
Small whispers, barely audible, rippled out. Lucy also looked at him with a surprised expression.
Unlike the rumors circulating, the man, who was neither very big nor very small, exuded a calm and intellectual atmosphere that made it hard to see him as a legendary general, let alone a soldier.
His unblemished white skin and black hair, which seemed to allow no ray of light to pass through, combined with his darker eyes to create a very intellectual and scholarly atmosphere.
Unlike the female cadets, who blushed without realizing it, the male cadets frowned and began to look around, wondering if they had come to the wrong lecture hall.
The man seemed to sense the contrasting reactions. The man, who had been looking straight ahead with clear eyes, let out a small breath with a reluctant expression.
"Greetings, soldiers."
And the hesitation from just now was gone without a trace, as he began to speak in a calm tone.
"I am Walter Heiberg, the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Command and the commander of the Golden Eagle Battalion. Perhaps the title of Grand General is more familiar to you."
As he spoke his name, the murmurs that had been wandering in the air disappeared in an instant. Walter continued to speak in a calm tone.
"Today, I happened to be visiting nearby and was invited as a senior to you all, so I am standing here. I heard that the atmosphere is chaotic due to the upcoming selection of the Royal Guard, and I would be happy if I could alleviate some of the tension."
Walter raised the corners of his mouth ever so slightly, creating something akin to a smile.
"I will answer anything as long as classified information is not leaked, so feel free to ask any questions you have about the military."
A Q&A with the Grand General, what an unexpected stroke of luck, the faces of the trainees lit up.
However, the trainees moved their lips but could not easily ask questions.
While they were all looking at each other, someone raised their hand. The first person to ask a question in the crowd was, despairingly, Jeronimo, who was famous for being the most direct and stupid.
"Grand General! Is it true that the Demon Sword you're wearing is cursed?"
The faces of the trainees turned white at the word Demon Sword.
Before he could even finish speaking, Bards grabbed his hair and dragged him away, repeatedly apologizing. No one stopped the excessive behavior. On the contrary, there were even trainees who reached out and slapped Jeronimo's cheek.
Walter, sensing the heated atmosphere, raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth.
"Everyone, stop."
Walter looked at his waist with ambiguous eyes and stopped Bards' actions. From his point of view, it was a question he had heard countless times, so there was nothing new about it.
"Unfortunately, I don't know the history of the sword, so I can't give you a definite answer. But seeing as it has strange characteristics, it's probably not a sword that was made haphazardly in any old smithy. I'm sorry that I couldn't answer your question. Are there any other questions?"
"Then how many people have you killed with that sword... Heok!"
"I heard that the Grand General is also the commander of the Royal Guard, is the atmosphere very different there?"
Bards pressed Jeronimo's stomach with his elbow and asked the question in a bright tone instead.
Walter, who widened his eyes slightly in surprise, realized that violence against Jeronimo was commonplace only after receiving the indifferent gazes of the crowd. He looked at Jeronimo, who was curled up holding his stomach, with pitiful eyes and opened his mouth in a low voice.
"As you all know, the Royal Guard is under the Royal Family, not the military. The regulations are lax, but the atmosphere is stricter than the military. If you want to apply to the Royal Guard, what you should keep in mind right now is...."
Walter stood up straight and continued the conversation in a slow voice, as if explaining to a child.
The explanation, which only listed the facts without any reasoning, would have been boring and uninteresting to a layman, but amusingly, it was able to focus the attention of the trainees because the speaker was the Grand General.
Seeing even Jeronimo, who hated theoretical lessons, listening to his words with sparkling eyes, Lucy could once again realize how high the Grand General's status was.
Walter Heiberg, the Grand General of Parnassus.
Born into the Heiberg family, famous for its iron blood, Walter became a brigadier general in his early twenties, writing the myth of the youngest general.
And the following year after becoming a brigadier general, he quelled the Lykan's Rebellion, which is referred to as Talkisin's Rebellion, and rose to the rank of Grand General in one fell swoop, becoming a symbol of the military in his own right, as if suppressing the family's reputation.
His unconventional moves were unconventional, but the sword he wore on his waist probably had a large share in his rise to a mythical figure.
Lucy rested her chin on her hand and looked at Walter's waist with interested eyes.
"That's the sword."
It just looks really ordinary.
His sword, which some call a Demon Sword and others praise as a Master Sword.
The sword, which is said to twist space-time and stop everything in the area where the sword strike reaches, was, contrary to expectations, very crude in appearance.
No, it was so plain that the word crude was not enough. The pommel, which had no decorations, and the guard, which looked like a lump of iron attached to it, looked even more shabby than the military swords that the Kingdom soldiers carried around.
Is that really the Demon Sword?
Maybe he only carries the sword in important battles? Like he usually carries a sword that he just uses roughly.
Lucy shook her head and denied her thoughts.
That's not it.
As the name Demon Sword suggests, it is said that if someone other than the owner touches the sword, they will go crazy or die from a curse. Besides, it is rare for a soldier to leave his sword behind except when he is sleeping.
Then, is that really....
...I see.
"It's real...."
The man standing in front of me is really Walter Heiberg.
Lucy's eyes narrowed at the surprise that came belatedly. Beyond the eyes that reflected reality, the regrets of the past rippled like waves.
In her previous life, and in the life before that, Walter Heiberg was a warrior famous throughout the continent.
In addition to his undefeated skills, his nobility and sacred faith were incomparable. It was no wonder that the Empire had a hard time swallowing Parnassus, since such a person was sitting as the Grand General of Parnassus.
That's why the Crown Prince used Lucy.
「Walter Heiberg, is there no way to use that damn Grand General?」
He took her hostage and led the negotiations, then betrayed her at a crucial moment, or used her as a spy from the beginning to invade Parnassus.
Perhaps if it weren't for Walter Heiberg, the Crown Prince could have easily taken Parnassus into his hands without having to use Lucy.
Walter Heiberg....
When she was loyal to her country, he felt like a hero, and when she was on the Crown Prince's side and acted as a spy, he sometimes felt like a damn enemy.
But as she lived through life after life, her feelings about him faded. Whether she denied him or affirmed him, her life never got better.
But when she actually faced him, her mouth tasted bitter at the complex feelings. She had heard stories about Walter Heiberg literally until her ears were sore, but it was the first time she had actually seen him.
Walter, alive and moving.
Walter, wearing the sword that was only talked about in rumors.
Walter, the hero of the nation.
...In this life, Walter, who will become my loyal horse.
"...Haa."
The moment she put a period on her hope, a sigh flowed out without her knowing it.
