Magic? It had to be magic. But then why had Leopold simply stopped where he stood?
Before he knew it, Teron was running toward him. Even as he ran, he never took his eyes off the sight. He saw Leopold swing his sword once more. A tiny light spilled out from the blade.
His heart pounded. He remembered a passage he'd read in a book.
[When light emanates from your sword, it means you have become a Sword Master. The light is a holy power that guides the sword's master. So do not be alarmed.]
Already? He'd become a Sword Master?
When he was still this young?
As Teron drew near, Leopold's eyes went wide. But then, cheeks flushed, he called out to him.
“Teron!”
“...Your Highness.”
“Did you see it too? I just went through something incredible. Light came out of the sword, and it felt like some tremendous power flooded into me... Ah, how do I even put this?”
“Sword Master.”
“Sword Master? What nonsense. Anyway, where did you run off to? Don't tell me you've developed some kind of sleepwalking-”
“Leopold, swing it again.”
“Hm?”
“Go on, quickly.”
Teron was giddy with excitement. It was such a pleasing sight that Leopold took up the sword once more.
Teron drew a magic circle and cast an illusion spell over Leopold. A monster-shaped illusion shimmered into view, and Leopold charged forward, swinging his blade to kill it.
He felt himself grow stronger. It felt as though the sword had strangely slipped free of his control and was flying through the air on its own. Even though he was swinging a heavy blade, his body felt far too light. As if he were swinging a feather rather than a sword. The feeling of flying through the sky. That strange sensation of the sword controlling Leopold.
Blue light leaked from the blade. Teron Meyer shattered the illusion spell. Leopold let the sword drop to the ground with a clatter. A metallic clang rang out.
A brief silence settled.
Leopold slowly walked over to Teron.
For a long time now, he had been blocked by his own limits. It had gone on for so long that, honestly, he'd never even imagined he could grow any stronger. The same had been true when Teron kept giving him those bizarre orders to feel the mana.
Even now, he didn't have the sense that he had felt any mana. And yet he had grown strong enough to be certain he now possessed superhuman power. The thought kept crossing his mind that he could win even against several knights at once.
Teron just stood there, blinking quietly. Leopold swallowed hard and asked.
“So this is the Sword Master you were talking about?”
“That's right. But you're weaker than I expected. This level won't cut it.”
“Weaker? This?”
Teron Meyer shook his head from side to side and let a faint smile show.
At none other than Leopold Deluah.
For the first time in his life.
That fact filled Leopold with such joy that he threw himself at Teron and shook him by the shoulders.
“The Sword Master you kept babbling about day in and day out was this? Just like that, so simply? Don't be ridiculous, Teron! It's just some strange thing that happened, right?”
He'd grown stronger. He could feel it to the marrow. The sword acted as if it had a soul of its own. He hadn't controlled it, yet it had flown through the air by itself.
Teron Meyer didn't dodge Leopold. He didn't shove him away either. He had every reason to be annoyed, yet he didn't look angry. In a calm tone, he asked.
“The mana, you still can't feel it?”
“I don't know. But I've definitely gotten stronger. It's strange. I think I need to practice more, though.”
“You won't have anyone to practice against.”
The words sounded like a joke, but his manner did not. Before he knew it, Leopold was stammering.
“I have to fight the knight commander... It's too early to make a fuss. Besides, isn't 'Sword Master' just a word you made up? You go on about it every single day, so I end up believing it for no reason.”
“Why would I make up a word like that? And I looked into it... there isn't just one or two legends about Sword Masters. It's a real, existing realm. So believe me. Go and check for yourself, properly.”
Those words lent it more credibility. A ticklish feeling spread through his stomach, and, bursting into laughter, he threw his arm around Teron.
Teron Meyer choked and struggled to wriggle free, but he wouldn't relent.
“What are you doing? Let go right now...!”
“No. Hold still. Unless you want me to kill you.”
“Insane, the nonsense just keeps coming...!”
Teron thrashed desperately to break free of Leopold, but it was no use.
He wrapped his arm around Teron's shoulders and, as though throttling his neck, pushed him down to the ground. Teron toppled over, utterly pinned.
“You damn brat, you've finally lost your-”
“Me? I have? A brat? Are you introducing yourself right now, Teron?”
Leopold snickered and released him. Teron scrambled to his feet and glared at him fiercely, face red.
Leopold had now reached the point where all the world looked beautiful to him. And so Teron Meyer, too, looked terribly cute. Everything about him, from the hair mussed up because of Leopold to the eyes that seemed to be cursing him, was cute.
That was why, for the first time in his life, he acted on impulse. He wrapped Teron up in his arms. To be precise, it was closer to crushing him.
“Thank you. It's thanks to you. I kept working at it, wondering what it meant to feel mana... If I hadn't tried, I never would have grown this strong.”
He let go right away. Expecting the black-haired boy to fly into a rage any second, Leopold covered his ears and tried to flee, only to be met with an unexpected sight.
Teron stood frozen in place. Without the slightest movement.
Their eyes met. For a moment Leopold's heart sank, and spineless as ever, he fidgeted.
“...Are you mad?”
“...”
“Did it hurt? Was I too rough? Snap out of it. I won't do it again.”
When Leopold took a step closer, Teron stepped straight back.
Rather than angry, he looked like he'd lost his mind. His already-murky eyes stared into empty space, completely clouded over.
He stayed like that for a good while, then suddenly sank down where he stood.
“Teron! Are you okay?”
Teron Meyer spoke in a rough voice.
“You're insane, Leopold. You've clearly gone completely mad.”
“What did I do?”
Leopold shrugged. He, too, sat down across from Teron. And so the two of them stayed there for a long while, bathed in moonlight. Once he'd calmed his heart, Teron said slowly,
“Try smashing that iron pillar, Your Highness.”
Leopold swung his sword. Astonishingly, light spilled out once again, and the iron pillar slowly crumpled. In the end, it went completely flat.
Leopold Deluah's jaw dropped.
“No way...”
“Then try killing that bird flying over there.”
“Teron, I can't just take a life for no reason.”
“You damn... Then throw your sword at that tree far off. Even if it looks too far to reach, just try it.”
The tree really was far away. No matter what, a sword couldn't fly on its own, so he doubted it would ever travel all that way and lodge itself in the trunk. Still, he threw it, and-
“How is this even possible?”
The sword, as if it had a will of its own, flew through the sky on its own and buried itself right in the tree. The tree split with a crack and broke clean in two.
Leopold Deluah's heart raced.
“Teron, aren't you even surprised? No, this is impossible...!”
Teron was unhurried. He even crossed his arms now and pointed a finger at a flag that looked like a mere dot in the distance.
“That one too.”
And so the two of them stayed together until the sun came up. When they trudged, worn to the bone, back to Teron Meyer's spot, the day was already growing bright.
Leopold set off for the Academy with Teron. Once they arrived, Leopold went straight back to the dormitory and turned in to sleep. When he woke a few hours later...
“Count Luden and Marquis Rapel have been murdered! They were found dead, their whole bodies rotted away!”
News like this had reached the Royal Academy.
From the next day on, there was no sign of Teron Meyer.
Nowhere at all.
Teron Meyer had vanished from the Academy.
It had already been two weeks.
The rumors began because Edmund Rappel, who had been given a mysterious suspension, hadn't returned.
Even though the term had started, he was nowhere in the Academy. By the afternoon, the information had crossed through Deluah and reached the Academy.
Marquis Rapel was dead. Count Luden was dead too.
The state of the corpses was said to be identical. Blackened and rotted as if they'd swallowed poison. And the mansion's servants had all been slaughtered too.
The information was all over the place. When word came that they hadn't even caught the culprit, most of the students took the attitude that they couldn't believe it.
Even as people were sent to find out the whole story, still no one believed the news. But it was at least good for gossip.
Many people said the marquis and the count had been joining forces to hatch a conspiracy.
