Kill the Emperor Chapter 17 : Chapter 17

Chapter 17 : The Alchemist of Adela

Clang!

The sword that slipped from the knight’s hand flew through the air and stabbed straight into the ground.

“Good work.”

“Y-you as well, Young Master.”

With that brief exchange, the seventh sparring match ca to an end.

Before the knight lost his sword, the number of tis he had clashed blades with Hein totaled eight.

Considering that the knights before him had failed to endure even five exchanges before dropping their swords, it was no exaggeration to say that the seventh knight had held out quite well.

‘With this, I won’t be able to achieve my original objective.’

In the end, it was still difficult to accomplish the initial goal of accurately gauging my own level.

Though they bore the title of knights, those present here were ordinary knights who had failed to secure positions within the knight order.

At best, they had reached the level of 2nd Star, or if particularly skilled, perhaps 3rd Star at most.

‘It’s real. The rumors surrounding the Young Master were true.’

‘As expected, a tiger wouldn’t give birth to a mongrel. The blood of the Family Head really doesn’t go anywhere.’

At the very least, I had succeeded in completely changing the doubtful gazes that had been directed at .

“Could soone hand a practice sword as well?”

“Young Master, is there sothing inconvenient for you?”

“No, it’s not that. You’re all using ordinary practice swords, but I alone am using this, and that doesn’t seem fair. Let borrow one of those swords over there.”

“Understood. Please wait a mont.”

Of course, even if I changed weapons, it didn’t seem likely that a proper sparring match between the knights and would beco possible.

Even so, there was a reason I insisted on switching swords.

‘I need to put on a bit of showmanship so the spectators will be more satisfied.’

A mont later, a knight approached while holding a practice longsword.

“Young Master, here it is.”

“Thank you.”

Just as the knight was about to hand the sword to —

“Wait a mont.”

A voice with a weight on an entirely different level from that of the knights rang out.

“W-we greet the Family Head!”

Monts later, a roar far louder than when I had appeared erupted from the knights’ mouths.

Redin Reichart, the Family Head of Reichart, had revealed himself at the Training Ground.

Because Redin had concealed his presence, the knights had not known that he had been watching the sparring while hidden.

Of course—

“Have you been well, Father?”

I, Hein Reichart, had sensed Redin’s presence long ago.

“Yes. It has been a while.”

It was a cold greeting for a father eting his son after three months, but compared to the past, it was enough to tell that his attitude had clearly changed.

Shing.

Drawing a sword in front of my father would have been discourteous, so I hurriedly tried to return the Family Sword in my hand to its scabbard.

“There is no need for that.”

“…….”

“Hein. Take up your sword again.”

With those brief words, Redin stopped my motion and threw off the ceremonial cloak draped over his shoulders.

“Here you are, Family Head.”

Like a shadow, Heinard, the vice-commander of Ares who had been accompanying Redin, received the cloak and, as if he had been waiting for this mont, handed ‘sothing’ to Redin.

Clang!

What Heinard handed to Redin was a practice longsword identical to the one the knight had been using just monts ago.

Redin drew the sword without hesitation.

Hummm.

Though it was clearly an ordinary blunt practice sword, the mont it was held in Redin’s hand, the blade began to vibrate, boasting a sharpness that rivaled any fad blade.

Gulp.

As soon as Redin took a single step forward with the sword in hand, the knights swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

Even though Redin was not aiming at them, they instinctively shrank back in response to the pressure emitted by a swordsman who had reached a high realm.

“It seems you have achieved quite a lot over the past three months. Congratulations.”

“It was rely a small realization, shaful to call it an achievent.”

At Redin’s truly rare praise, I lowered my head.

‘To think that a knight from a small nation that fell during the early days of the Unification War could possess such montum…….’

Even so, I had to bite my lip to endure the razor-sharp pressure Redin emitted.

If Redin had been a mage, I could have perfectly grasped his realm, but I still could not accurately determine the realm of a swordsman.

‘Damn. It seems the Family Head of Reichart has reached an even higher realm than I thought.’

With a calm stride that did not match his murderous aura, Redin took another step forward.

Then, staring straight into my eyes, he spoke.

“Let personally verify those results.”

Redin’s words shook the Training Ground with a resonance greater than even the pressure he exuded.

‘The Family Head and the Young Master, personally?’

‘To witness the Family Head’s sparring firsthand—am I dreaming, or is this real?’

To the knights of Reichart, Redin was their pride itself and the object of their admiration.

At the thought of being able to watch Redin spar in person, their hearts began to race.

And the ones whose hearts were pounding were not only the knights.

‘A spar against the Family Head? There’s no reason to refuse.’

I had no reason to decline a spar against soone of Redin’s caliber, so I accepted without hesitation.

“If you would grant the opportunity to broaden my horizons firsthand, Father, I will accept it with gratitude.”

“Very well. We do not have much ti, so let us begin at once. I trust you will not show aningless modesty before your father.”

With that, Redin took one side of the sparring ground, and I stood opposite him.

Hummm.

The Family Sword of Reichart and the practice sword faced one another edge to edge.

It was a familiar formation that had occurred several tis already today, yet the atmosphere was the complete opposite of before.

Gulp.

Facing Redin head-on, I swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

‘I can’t be certain, but the Family Head’s realm is at least above 7th Star.’

Magic and swordsmanship shared one common trait: the realm was clearly divided by the number seven.

A swordsman with six stacked mana engravings and a mage with six intertwined mana rings, despite their outstanding abilities, were still categorized as ‘ordinary’.

However, the mont they stepped into the realm of seven, the world began to call them ‘superhuman’.

That was how vast and deep the gap between six and seven truly was.

Judging by the pressure he emitted, there was no doubt that Redin’s sword had surpassed the realm of seven.

“I told you we do not have much ti.”

As I hesitated, unable to find an opening in Redin’s seemingly flawless stance, he spoke up to urge on.

“How long do you plan to stand there like that?”

For the first ti since eting Redin, I saw him smile.

However, the smile he wore for the first ti was unmistakably provocative.

“Hah!”

At the edge of that provocation, I threw my body toward Redin with all my strength.

***

Clang!

Once.

It did not require multiple exchanges for my body to be sent flying toward the corner of the Training Ground.

“Urgh…….”

A groan escaped my lips.

That made it the fifth ti.

Since the sparring began, my sword and Redin’s had clashed five tis, and the result was always the sa.

Before even ten minutes had passed, I had been knocked down five tis, and an old conversation I once shared with Gillian surfaced in my mind.

“A distinction that divides the realms of swordsn? To explain it simply, a 7th Star swordsman can decide the outco of a ‘battle’, an 8th Star swordsman can change the victory or defeat of a ‘war’. And a 9th Star swordsman can sotis render the war itself aningless.”

Gillian’s answer to Alexar’s question was simple, yet the aning contained within it was anything but.

Though the difference was rely a single number, there existed an imnse gap in power between each stage, and reaching those stages required indescribable effort and enlightennt.

“Then what about you? What does the 10th Star realm you’ve reached feel like?”

To Alexar’s follow-up question, Gillian answered without hesitation, then smiled.

“A swordsman who has reached the 10th Star realm can swallow the continent.”

“Like I am now.”

***

“Hoo, Father. Would it be alright if we pause for a mont?”

Catching my breath as I rose to my feet, I extended a hand toward a knight who was watching the spar with a dazed expression.

“You there. Sorry, but could I borrow your sword for a mont?”

“Ah, this sword, you an?”

“Yes. That one.”

After reaching out with my left hand to receive the sword, I took my stance.

Watching , Redin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘Dual wielding?’

Even Redin had not mastered every sword technique recorded in the Secret Art Repository.

Unbeknownst to him, the sword technique left behind by Herar that I had discovered was based on dual wielding.

Herar, who had taken interest in both magic and swordsmanship, devised dual swords so that he could easily manifest both.

I decided to test Herar’s dual sword technique against Redin.

‘Of course, I won’t be using magic.’

To fully bring out the effects of Herar’s sword technique, it was necessary to operate magic and sword simultaneously.

But I had no intention of revealing my hidden cards just yet.

“Hah!”

With a sharp shout, I divided the swords between both hands and charged toward Redin.

Clang!

Though I held two swords, only a single sound rang out through the air this ti as well.

Boom.

The sound of the blades colliding only once, and being slamd into the ground—both were no different from before.

However, there was one thing that was different.

Crack.

The practice sword Redin had been holding snapped in half.

“…….”

Was it because the practice sword could not withstand Redin’s overwhelming Blade Aura?

Or was it because my dual sword technique, revealed for the first ti, had been that sharp?

“Let’s end it here for today.”

Though only Redin knew the answer, instead of giving it, he declared the end of the spar.

“I will treasure today’s teachings with gratitude.”

Rather than extending a hand to his fallen son, Redin cast an indifferent gaze, then spoke only after I had straightened my appearance.

“Starting next week, there will be a swordsmanship guidance session hosted by Sir Bohvelt. Will you attend?”

‘Bohvelt’ was the current commander of Ares and the knight Redin trusted the most.

If the commander of Ares were hosting a swordsmanship guidance session, competition to attend would undoubtedly be fierce.

Yet the Family Head himself was directly recomnding that I attend.

No one present was foolish enough to fail to grasp the aning of that fact.

“If you permit it, I would like to leave the territory for a short outing.”

“An outing?”

Instead of accepting Redin’s offer, I requested permission to go outside the territory.

At my words, the expressions of the knights stiffened in an instant.

‘Refusing a training opportunity personally offered by the Family Head to go outside the territory?’

Has my long-dormant executioner nature resurfaced?

“I understand. If that is your decision, then do so.”

Contrary to the knights’ expectations, Redin granted permission without showing the slightest displeasure.

“Before leaving the Inner Castle, stop by the administrator. They will issue you an official pass.”

He even went so far as to say that he would provide an official pass issued in the Family Head’s na.

“Thank you, Father.”

“Then go.”

With that brief exchange, Redin left the Training Ground.

“I should be going as well. Thank you all for everything.”

Soon after, I too departed the Training Ground.

For quite so ti afterward, however, the knights remained unable to shake the lingering impression, rely staring at the traces left behind by the father and son of Reichart.

***

‘There should definitely be traces of that bastard left sowhere.’

The day after my spar with Redin.

I was searching for a certain emblem within the docunts Emily had additionally brought.

‘He was excessively proud of his own skill, so he must have left his mark on the supplied goods.’

I ticulously reviewed the records concerning enhancers and potions stored in the family warehouse once more.

And just as that arduous search reached the final portion of the docunts—

‘Bingo! Found it.’

The emblem I had been desperately searching for finally revealed itself.

‘A scale tilted slightly to one side, seven stars. No mistake. It’s him.’

I hurriedly checked the na of the supplier who used containers engraved with the scale emblem.

‘Gabriel Bastin. So you were hiding here?’

The na recorded in the ledger belonged to the continent’s greatest alchemist, the very one I had been searching for.

According to the docunts, Gabriel’s current laboratory was located in the trade city of Adela, in the southwestern part of Reichart territory.

The mont my destination for the outing was decided to be Adela.

‘What kind of state will you be in, Gabriel?’

Of course, eting Gabriel did not guarantee that everything would go smoothly.

If Gabriel had already fallen into irredeemable evil deeds beyond saving, there would be nothing I could do.

I was no moralist, but I knew that so people were beyond redemption.

‘No matter how urgent it is, you can’t aim an enemy’s throat with a sword forged from trash.’

But if—if Gabriel was still a skilled expert not yet tainted by evil deeds?

Neigh!

Monts later, the resounding cry of a fine steed echoed as it exited the Inner Castle of Reichart.

Click-clack, click-clack.

The first cogwheel that would change the fate of Reichart and the continent was turning diligently.