He knew too well, from the last fight, just how troublesome an opponent those things were.

Enemies who didn’t get tired, and couldn’t even feel pain! He’d felt more than enough back then just how terrifying a force that became.

“Haah... haah...!”

“Kgh!”

Just as expected, the knights and soldiers were starting to tire little by little.

Arsian was helping while even using magic, but at the sight of enemies that didn’t know pain, morale dropped even faster.

SHEEEK!

“......!”

That was when it happened. Someone lightly sliced an enemy’s arm with a sword.

And yet, from that light attack, the enemy collapsed straight to the ground. Enemies that, up until just moments ago, hadn’t even flinched at wounds like that.

“Camilla?”

The one who, in an instant, cut down five enemies was Camilla.

At the sight of her swinging her sword toward the enemies without hesitation, everyone around her blanked out for a moment, forgetting even to swing their own blades.

But the shocking part wasn’t over.

KWA-RAAANG! FWOOOOSH!

The moment Camilla stabbed her sword into the ground, a huge blast rang out, and a light as bright as the sun burst from the sword.

FLOP.

Those who had instinctively shut their eyes at the blinding light blinked again ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) and again at the scene that spread out before them a moment later.

“...What is that?”

Had something gone wrong with their eyes from that bright light just now? Were they seeing things?

“Why are they....”

All the enemies that had been charging in fiercely just moments ago were sprawled on the ground.

Watching the enemies toppled over and over like puppets with their strings cut, everyone hung their mouths open, dazed.

They weren’t even wounded—so why were they like that?

“What in the...!”

As if they’d all promised it, everyone’s gaze turned to one place. The sword in Camilla’s hand looked strangely familiar.

“That sword...?”

And only then did people recognize the sword she was holding.

“T-the Guardian’s Sword! It’s the Guardian’s Sword!”

WUUUUNG—

The Guardian’s Sword, still giving off a faint glow, began to hum quietly, as if it were deeply grateful that its existence had been recognized.

Facing that sight, they had no choice but to go blank all over again.

Chapter. The Emperor’s Birthday

“Those who were caught?”

“We dealt with them.”

“Things are getting tangled again.”

From within the darkness, the sound of someone clicking their tongue kept ringing out.

“The Guardian’s Sword regained its power?”

“...Yes.”

Priest Daniel bowed his head even lower, his body trembling.

With this incident, they had lost far too much.

He’d had to deal with, with his own hands, every last person they’d planted inside Ducal House of Jevillan over a long time—and they’d lost countless troops as well.

“You’re saying you couldn’t use the Guardian’s Sword’s power at all.”

“I’m told the scene from long ago was reproduced exactly.”

Their troops. Those were the ones who had been offered as sacrifices—and failed.

The soul had escaped, but the body couldn’t properly accept a new soul.

Bodies with only flesh left.

You could call them a kind of doll—created by engraving sorcery into those bodies under the Order.

They couldn’t feel pain, and their physical strength had been pushed to its limit—so it had been that way long ago, and even now, they were still the Order’s main combat troops.

The problem was that those dolls couldn’t use any strength at all in front of the Guardian’s Sword. They crumbled under the light the sword emitted.

Just like long ago—hadn’t they all collapsed like puppets with their strings cut before the Guardian’s Sword Mars wielded?

“To think that sword would awaken again.”

“I don’t know the reason.”

“And this time too, it’s that child.”

“That’s correct.”

The Guardian’s Sword.

The fact that the one who awakened that long-sleeping sword was none other than Lady Camilla of Ducal House of Sorpel had already spread through the entire capital.

“Every time, that child gets in the way.”

Strangely, in everything they did, Camilla Sorpel—that child—kept getting brought up.

Was all of this really just a simple coincidence?

“Certainly... she’s an obstructive presence.”

“Hm.”

“What should we do?”

At Priest Daniel’s question, an answer didn’t easily come from within the darkness.

“Shouldn’t we deal with her?”

“Didn’t we fail last time, too?”

“That was......”

They were talking about what happened with Rania. When they’d tried to eliminate Camilla, hadn’t all the plans they’d laid for so long ended up going up in smoke instead?

We threw away such a terribly precious material. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The material called the Duke of Sorpel’s daughter. Hadn’t they invested an extremely long time just to obtain that body?

“For now, I’ll meet her myself.”

“...Pardon?”

“To see what that child knows. Whether what she’s done until now was truly just coincidence.”

At the words that they would meet Camilla personally and confirm it, Priest Daniel’s eyes widened.

But he immediately bowed his head and quietly followed their will.

“And the Guardian’s Sword?”

“For now, it’s still at Ducal House of Jevillan.”

“It’ll be noisy for a while.”

“A new owner has appeared, after all.”

Another long sigh flowed from Daniel’s mouth. It had only been a few days since they’d rejoiced at finding the holy relic, and yet what in the world was this?

“Be more cautious with handling that child.”

“I understand.”

*****

“Hold it.”

“Do I really have to?”

Nod.

“Back then it was such an urgent situation, so maybe the sword only helped for a moment, wasn’t it? It’s the Guardian’s Sword. Maybe it really wanted to protect Ducal House of Jevillan. I’m absolutely not special—”

“Hold it.”

“.......”

This is driving me insane.

At the Duke of Jevillan’s unyielding gaze, Camilla kept letting out sighs inside.

Her eyes flicked to the side. She saw Zeno standing there, staring blankly as if it had nothing to do with him.

If there was one difference from before, it was that the Guardian’s Sword was no longer stuck in his chest.

It was something I made him do, so I can’t even complain.

How could she have possibly expected the Guardian’s Sword to react to Zeno’s soul?

She’d only hoped to move the Guardian’s Sword somewhere else, that was all!

Yeah. There’s no way it’ll happen again.

Back then, Zeno had been inside her body, so of course it reacted. Zeno had been the sword’s owner, so it made sense.

But I’m not.

Camilla forced herself to keep a calm expression as she reached out toward the Guardian’s Sword lying in front of her.

Look. I’m not your owner.

WUUUNG—!

She flinched.

No way....

For a moment, it sounded like the sword was crying—did nobody else hear that?

With an unsettled feeling, Camilla slowly picked up the sword.

FWOOOOSH!

...This, you bastard!

From the sword—out of that damn sword—bright light poured out.

Hey! Why are you reacting to me?!

I’m not Zeno!

Camilla hurriedly put the sword back where it had been and quickly stepped back. The sword calmed down in an instant.

At that reaction, an awkward smile slipped across her face. Under the stunned gazes staring at her, cold sweat was about to break out.

Did that damn sword get heatstroke or something? Why can’t it tell who its owner is?!

“This can’t be....”

The most shocked of them all was the Duke of Jevillan.

As if he couldn’t believe it, he stared at Camilla for a long time, then strode forward to stand before the Guardian’s Sword. And then, with a deeply reverent posture, he picked it up.

“.......”

But no matter how much time passed, the sword gave no reaction at all. It was nothing more than a well-honed blade.

“Why... why!”

The Duke of Jevillan was stricken.

Why not him... no, no! Even if not him, fine—but shouldn’t that kind of reaction at least come from Jevillan blood?

Why was the sword reacting to that girl of all people?!

He’d cherished it for so long, more carefully than any precious treasure!

The Duke of Jevillan even felt betrayed.

“Seems your Guardian and this sword alike... prefer my daughter over you.”

“You rotten...!”

The Duke of Jevillan, who was about to shout at the Duke of Sorpel to shut up as he snickered and scratched at his own outfit, barely clamped his mouth shut.

He still had dignity—there were too many eyes watching to start a filthy brawl like usual.

“Then does that mean this sword becomes the property of our House of Sorpel now?”

“Shut up! You bastard!”

But at the next words, he couldn’t help exploding. The fact he didn’t grab him by the collar was praise-worthy on its own.

“Do you even know what kind of sword this is?!”

It was practically the symbol of Ducal House of Jevillan! And he was talking about doing what with it? How could he possibly give something that precious to another house?!

“Then what do you propose?”

“What do you mean, what do I propose?!”

“Are you going to put it on display again like a dead sword?”

“Ugh.”

A groan spilled out on its own. The word dead dug in like a thorn. Either way, he was a swordsman too—he didn’t want a fine sword to be buried without ever showing its true power.

But as the head of Ducal House of Jevillan, he absolutely could not hand that sword over to another house.

“Haah.”

Letting out a long sigh, the Duke of Jevillan turned his gaze to the side. At the same time, his brow crumpled hard.

That bastard kid!

Does he seriously not understand what kind of situation this is?

Unlike him, who felt like he was about to burst, his son Petro kept smiling brightly—and just looking at him made his insides burst twice as hard.

“.......”

And then he froze at the fact that his son was looking at Camilla.

The Duke of Jevillan looked anew at her, who was avoiding his gaze with an awkward smile. Then his lips curled crookedly.

“There’s not no way.”

“Hm?”

“If we do that... yeah. Even after handing over the sword, we can still use its power under our family name.”

“There’s something like that?”

Toward the faces staring at him in curiosity, the Duke of Jevillan tossed out a bomb.

“If we make that child part of our family, doesn’t that solve it?”

“...What did you say?”

“If your daughter and my son—”

“Shut up! You bastard!”

This time, a rough curse flew straight out of the Duke of Sorpel’s mouth.

Pouring out sincere Killing Intent, he tried to grab the Duke of Jevillan by the collar, and the others hurriedly restrained him.

“D-Duke! Please, calm down!”

“Oh, Duke!”

“How dare you covet—, you—!”

Slide.

But in that moment, someone quietly pressed something into the raging Duke of Sorpel’s hand. It was a sword.

When the Duke of Sorpel lifted his head, he saw the Duke of Sephra standing there with a blank expression.

“The bastard spewing nonsense... kill him.”

“H-hey! Hey!”

Why are you suddenly taking that guy’s side?!

Up until now, he’d just been watching—so when he abruptly took the Duke of Sorpel’s side, it felt like betrayal.

“If you gang up and exclude me, I’m calling the Guardian!”

“Call it! Call it! You think you’re the only one with a Guardian?! We have a Guardian too!”

...Are they children?

“Haah.”

Why am I the one who feels embarrassed?

Watching the dukes start a fight that only elementary school kids would pull, Camilla softly covered her face with both hands.