#147
Helmut
Episode 147
‘How strong is he?’
My heart was pounding. Darian’s great-grandson. Even if the son did not inherit Darian’s talent, did the seed of his talent come to light after skipping a generation? Helmut felt excited for the first time in a long time.
Helmut hoped the man would be strong. Just as Darian was strong, I hoped that the descendants he left behind would also be strong. It was not enough to express it as a simple desire to win.
A sense of duty that bordered on compulsion, as if it was the blood of Darian, who was the strongest human being he knew, that he had to do so.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
‘What will those who betrayed Darian think of his great-grandson?’
It is a well-known fact that Darian is isolated from his son. However, he has a lot and those in high positions do not like to leave variables.
Even if the Sword Saint’s great-grandson does not dream of revenge, they will not be at ease unless the possibility of knowing the secret is zero.
Helmut studied politics at the Academy. A swordsman’s bloodline that is useful for its symbolism alone. Now he is Basor’s knight and his full power.
However, even putting aside the truth, those who even eliminated the Sword Saint would not be happy to see a second Sword Saint appear.
‘I guess I’ll have to watch.’
Darian had a debt. Even though he is the blood descendant of the son who insulted him for being half-hearted, Darian would not mind seeing his talented great-grandson show off his sword skills. He decided to wait and see if he could tell the truth.
***
The next day, Helmut went to the mercenary guild early in the morning. The heavy documents, the size of three thick books, disappeared without a trace under the cloak.
Helmut only received the documents and immediately returned to his lodgings.
A martial arts festival will be held tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll pass the preliminaries without difficulty, but it would have been better not to run around and start a fight.
What Helmut was most wary of in this country was not Darian’s traitors, but himself, who might commit murder in a fit of anger.
An environment where the hot sun and weak people look down on him. It’s fantastic.
As soon as I returned, I swung my sword for about half a day. As I slowly got hungry and returned to the room, Michael sat up with his upper body up on the bed.
“You are practicing swordsmanship today as well. Hyde works really hard. “It’s nice to see something like that.”
“… … .”
‘This is my first time seeing such a weakling.’
He is the weakest human being that Helmut has ever seen since coming out of the Forest of Pahe. Michael, who had been lying down all day, had a pale complexion.
Helmut looked at him with strange eyes as he lay down sick, saying he had been wandering around for about half a day, not even all day yesterday. He was a curiously frail fellow.
“So, can I cheer you on?”
I thought that maintaining his position in a scorching hot martial arts venue would be an arduous ordeal for him.
“Ah, I’ll sit in a shady spot and watch it, so it won’t be a problem. “Thank you for your concern.”
‘Who was worried?’
Helmut also knows that there are times when it is better to be quiet. He closed his mouth. But Michael seemed to have no intention of ending the conversation.
“Are you coming in to eat? Sorry, but I can’t eat with you. “Because I wasn’t getting any food inside.”
“There’s no need to eat together.”
“But it gets lonely when you eat alone. “I wanted to eat with Hyde.”
Helmut glared at Michael for some reason. What can I say, this was my first time seeing a guy who spoke softly and clung to me like this.
The guys in the swordsmanship department tend to speak harshly, and neither Area nor Xian spoke in this way. I feel like I’m being tickled. However, there was an uncomfortable feeling in harshly throwing away the guy who was sticking to me.
‘You have as much talent as Xian at pretending to be friendly.’
“Like I said yesterday, you can order whatever you want.”
“Do you have a lot of money?”
“sure.”
Michael responded lightly. Just as Helmut was realizing that he was ‘out of luck’ again, Michael added:
“But even money can’t fix this body.”
A bitter smile crossed his face. Helmut had no talent for comfort. Even though I know I have to do it.
“Don’t worry. “Because it’s a familiar thing.”
“… … .”
For some reason, I become silent in front of him. The world was full of people who were of humble origin, poor, and could not even dream of living in such luxurious accommodations, and were more pitiful than Michael.
But Michael was excellent at eliciting sympathy. His angelic appearance accentuated those feelings even more.
‘This is this guy’s weapon.’
Helmut instinctively realized this. Although it is not as direct as scaring with a sword, it is perhaps an equally useful weapon.
As I first thought, it was a new type. It was interesting too.
“Ah, Hyde. Could you please lower the curtains? “My skin is so stingy from the sunlight.”
Helmut approached the window and closed the curtains. Suddenly, my eyes fell on a small object on the chair.
‘pendant?’
It looked familiar somehow. Helmut recalled the pendant he had in his pocket. His mother’s pendant. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was an item with a similar pattern engraved on it.
“Oh, there it was. I looked out the window and thought I left it there because it was heavy. “Can you tell it to me?”
Outside the window is the vacant lot where Helmut trained. It means he was watching Helmut. And for quite some time.
Helmut didn’t want to think about its meaning. As a master, it was annoying to keep ordering him to do something, but he could just call it a meal replacement.
‘This guy looks like he’s going to fall over while coming to the window to pick this up.’
Helmut placed a heavy pendant made of gold on Michael’s lap.
“What is this?”
“It’s a pendant my mother gave me.”
Helmut flinched for a moment. Michael interpreted it as a different intention and smiled.
“Ah, I know what you’re thinking. You think you carry around gifts from your mother like a child? “Something like a pendant is useless.”
Helmut did not respond. If that sounds childish, he becomes one himself. Michael explained with a smile.
“Carrying the pendant my mother gave me has special meaning in the eastern and western parts of the empire.”
“What is that?”
“It’s an old story. This is the story. In the past, there was a famous knight in the empire. I had to risk my life and go to war without knowing whether I would win or lose. As he was fighting fiercely, at one point he was hit in the chest by an arrow. He was frozen and thought he was dead, but he wasn’t dead. The pendant around his neck blocked the arrow. “The pendant was a keepsake left to him by his late mother.”
A soft voice continued.
“The surviving knight led the war to victory. As the story was told, a tradition arose of a mother giving a pendant to her newborn child. Oh, of course, in the case of nobles.”
Helmut’s pendant is probably something like that. If so, his place of origin is the eastern and western parts of the empire. Or, his mother is from the eastern and western parts of the empire. The same was true for Michael.
“This is the pendant I received at birth. “It’s a very meaningful item.”
Michael smiled as he opened the pendant. You couldn’t see inside from Helmut’s side.
“It is said that the pendant worn from birth prevents one death. I have already overcome several deaths. “This pendant may have prevented at least one of those incidents.”
Although he didn’t think the story was effective, Helmut seemed to know where, if his pendant had saved his life. Probably when I first fell into the Forest of Pahe.
“… … “Maybe so.”
Helmut responded and turned his back. Just like the day before when he learned of the existence of Darian’s great-grandson, this new knowledge shook him to his core.
But soon he calmed down.
“I’m just going to eat now.”
What was urgent now was the preliminaries tomorrow and also filling my hungry stomach.
***
The martial arts venue was busy.
‘There is no one who could be a threat to me.’
Helmut took a quick look around and came to an obvious conclusion. He had left the dormitory in the morning to take part in the preliminaries.
Around 10 a.m., he was standing at the martial arts venue as always. Applicants’ names are checked at the entrance, so everyone here is a martial arts contestant.
The number of people participating in the preliminaries reached over a hundred and dozens. The method of participating in the preliminary round, which lasted nearly a week, was simple.
Just fight and win.
The process was a bit more complicated. Divided into four groups, preliminary rounds are held, and final members are selected through a tournament. If you are among the top 10, including one or two losers, you will advance to the finals.
Today, there were two matches in the first group. It was announced at the entrance which group the preliminaries would be assigned to, so those in the first group participated, and those who did not were free to watch or go.
The number of participants in the final round is 32. Among them, 22 will be filled first with proven ability, and the remaining number will receive applicants from the knights.
Of course, when the number of applicants is excessive, they also have to go down to the preliminaries, but that rarely happens.
Usually, applicants are eligible to participate in order of ability. It is said that there is a resurrection of the loser, so even if you are unlucky, if you have the skills, you will be able to climb up somehow.
Deposit 1,000 marks. It is by no means a small amount of money. Once you advance to the finals, you will receive your deposit back and receive prize money in stages, but if you are eliminated in the preliminaries, you will just lose your money.
Because of this, people who were reasonably confident in their skills or who did not mind blowing 1,000 marks often participated in the preliminary round.
In the preliminaries filled with large men with dark, tanned flesh, Helmut was a distinctly foreign figure.
That means it appears to be the latter.
As if it was natural, the secret flew in.
“You must have a lot of money. “Are you a master trying to gain some experience?”
“Look at that sword and attire, the wealth is flowing.”
“If I sell that, it will cost a ridiculous 10,000 marks.”
There is no problem with them giggling among themselves and acting strong. I could tolerate that much. But this was a different matter.
Helmut blocked the hand that was about to hit my butt with his sword sheath.
“Oh, you’re quick-witted, aren’t you?”
I didn’t even want to be touched. The sword was drawn like lightning from her. The blade of the sword held close to her man’s neck flashed sharply.
Helmut sentenced with cold eyes.
“You’ll just have to hope you don’t meet me in the preliminaries.”
Even if I cut my limbs into pieces just by doing this right now, it wouldn’t be cool. When I moved the sword slightly, blood flowed from my neck. It was a famous sword that could cut flesh just by touching it.
“What is this?”
The other person, whose face hardened, hesitated and retreated. With that one moment, the atmosphere definitely changed.
“Is that kid pretty? “Did you see him draw his sword?”
“I could barely see it!”
“It looks like this young guy is surprisingly talented, contrary to his appearance.”
Everyone took a step back and distanced themselves from Helmut. Eyes mixed with curiosity and wariness. It was no longer an expression of disdain for him.
Basor is a country of warriors. When you recognize the strength of your opponent, you respect it.
‘I wish I could just look and find out.’
Is it unreasonable to ask for such insight from such a weak group?
Helmut looked up at the sky without thinking. He was under the scorching sun again. The sunlight is dizzyingly hot.
Soon, a member of the martial arts event organizer appeared and made an announcement.
“I would like to inform you of those who participated in Basor’s royal martial arts festival. The preliminaries will start soon. Please do not lose your strength and go to the tent and wait quietly until your turn comes.”
It was also typical of Basor not to say that they were eliminated when there was an argument or a fight.
I was glad I got to wait in the shade. Because the day was hot and dry, it wasn’t that hot as long as you avoided the sun.
Helmut waited, repeating his unfamiliar name, Hydran. Fortunately, his turn came quickly.
“Hyde! Please come up on stage.”
