SWNOVELXO Chapter 10
Chapter 10
“Keep your promise.”
Beatrice spoke with a smile.
Heinrich was still in a dazed state.
‘How is that even possible?’
Not once.
Not even once had the sword been drawn from the crystal.
This wasn’t the first attempt to draw the sword.
For 400 years, efforts had continued.
However, no head of the Cenci Family had ever succeeded in pulling out Tyrfing.
Yet Beatrice had accomplished it.
She wasn’t reacting as if it was anything extraordinary.
“Oh, my lady!”
“Why are you shouting? You startled me.”
But Beatrice remained unimpressed.
After all, the sword had been embedded there.
She had simply pulled it out because she thought she could.
Beatrice couldn’t grasp the idea that this was a remarkable feat.
“This isn’t something to be so nonchalant about. Pulling out this sword means…!”
Heinrich was extremely excited.
The divine sword, Tyrfing.
There were countless tales surrounding it.
Most of them had faded over time.
Four hundred years was a long time.
However, one story remained.
It was a story that many of the citizens of Krapos still believed.
—The moment someone draws the divine sword Tyrfing, Krapos will regain its former glory.
During Krapos’ most glorious era.
When approximately 30% of the continent was part of its territory.
The moment Tyrfing was drawn, that splendid history would be revived.
“This is a historic event!”
Heinrich shouted in an excited tone.
“Hmm. Should I go with this one?”
Regardless of his excitement, Beatrice was focused on sword shopping.
“My lady! You just drew the divine sword Tyrfing, and now you’re looking at other swords? That’s unthinkable!”
“This one?”
Beatrice shook her head with a displeased expression.
“It’s not my style. Carrying such a flashy sword around is a perfect way to get yourself killed.”
“…Excuse me? That… that means…”
“I’ll never use a sword like this. Listening to you, it seems like it’ll cause unnecessary trouble.”
A sword was meant for cutting and stabbing, not for attracting attention.
From that perspective, regardless of its performance, the overly flashy Tyrfing wasn’t to Beatrice’s taste.
“I’ll just put it back where it was.”
Beatrice turned toward the crystal, intending to return Tyrfing to its place.
But at that moment—
[Are you the descendant of that child? At last, a suitable wielder has appeared.]
A voice echoed in Beatrice’s mind.
“…What?”
“That’s unacceptable! To be acknowledged by the divine sword Tyrfing and then to give it up—over my dead body!”
“Could you be quiet for a moment?”
‘It felt like I just heard a voice.’
Beatrice glanced around.
But there was no one.
[Where are you looking? I am in your hand.]
“…!”
Beatrice was startled and looked at the sword.
[Let’s see. Your name… Oh, fascinating. Your name is also Beatrice? To think the descendant bears the same name.]
“Impossible.”
[There’s no need to be surprised, young Beatrice. My name is Solid, the spirit of the divine weapon. You have awakened me.]
—Wooong.
A faint vibration came from the sword.
And the voice was audible again.
It was no illusion.
Beatrice’s eyes darkened slightly.
“This sword… speaks.”
She murmured as she held the sword.
It looked like a decorative piece.
But evidently, it served more than just as decoration.
‘A spirit, huh? It’s like a kind of backing.’
It wasn’t the first time she’d heard the voice of an unfamiliar entity.
In her past life, she had heard it countless times.
The call of a backing spirit requesting a contract.
“Is it true that the sword speaks?”
“Yes. Do you know anything about it?”
[There’s no need to ask that man. Is there not a spirit right here to provide answers?]
Beatrice cleanly ignored the voice in her mind.
She preferred not to deal with beings that weren’t human.
“I… I’ve never heard of such a thing. There’s nothing about it in any legend…”
“Hmm.”
Even Heinrich, who was knowledgeable, knew nothing of this.
“He said his name is Solid. Do you know anything about that?”
[What? You mean to say you don’t know the great Solid?]
“Shut up for a moment.”
[…]
“That wasn’t directed at you.”
Beatrice casually clarified to Heinrich.
But Heinrich was more shocked by the name “Solid” than by Beatrice’s blunt words.
“So… Solid. Are you saying that name has truly been passed down?”
“Yes.”
‘It feels like I’ve heard it somewhere before.’
She couldn’t remember exactly.
Since Heinrich seemed to know, Beatrice waited calmly for him to speak.
“…Solid, the God of War. That’s the only name I know.”
“The God of War?”
Beatrice scoffed.
“Is that true?”
[Hmph. I thought my name had been forgotten, but it seems that’s not the case. It’s merely that young Beatrice is ignorant.]
“What? Ignorant?”
Beatrice hated being called ignorant.
Mostly because it was true.
Her brow twitched.
Her neutral mood seemed to sour rapidly.
“Uh, my lady…”
Heinrich’s legs trembled violently.
It was a normal reaction when shocking events occurred one after another.
“My lady, you drew the divine sword Tyrfing. The sword speaks. And it identified itself as ‘Solid.’ Is all of this true? Forgive my ignorance, but I must ask.”
“Yes. That’s accurate.”
“Please… grant me a moment. I need time to think, my lady.”
“…Go ahead.”
Beatrice replied plainly and looked at the sword.
“Hey, sword.”
[My name is Solid, as I’ve told you.]
“I haven’t given you a name yet.”
[…How insolent. Didn’t you hear my explanation? I am the spirit known as the God of War. You have no right to name me.]
“I don’t know why you insist on drinking kimchi soup when I have no intention of drugging you.”
Beatrice spoke indifferently.
The unfamiliar term “kimchi soup” aside, Heinrich glanced at Beatrice with bewildered eyes.
“Sorry for waking you up. It seems like you’ve been asleep for quite a while. …I’m sorry, but you’re not my taste. Go back to sleep.”
– Whoosh!
Beatrice raised the sword high into the air.
She realized that this sword should never have been drawn.
A sword that wasn’t to her liking, to begin with.
On top of that, it spoke even though it wasn’t a person.
Beatrice had no intention of using the sword initially, but now, even less so.
[Wait! What are you doing?]
“Be quiet. Let me focus.”
Beatrice muttered as she channeled her mana.
A minuscule amount of mana.
However, putting it back into the crystal wasn’t a difficult task.
[Young Beatrice! I told you! I am Solid, the God of War!]
A voice, almost screaming, buzzed loudly in her ears.
“My lady! This is unacceptable. Please, please trust me, Heinrich!”
Solid wasn’t the only one crying out.
Heinrich was doing the same.
Both were opposed to Beatrice’s decision.
While she didn’t care about the sword’s outburst, Heinrich was different.
Beatrice paused her actions for a moment and looked at him.
She held firm beliefs that she had always cherished.
One of them was to not disregard the advice of her subordinates. Even after being possessed, that belief remained unchanged.
“Do you have something to say?”
“I-I think it would be best if you put the sword down first before speaking.”
Seeing that Beatrice seemed ready to embed the sword into the crystal at any moment, Heinrich trembled as he spoke.
“Very well.”
She obediently lowered the sword.
[Sigh.]
…Solid’s sigh could be heard.
“My lady.”
Heinrich knelt on one knee.
“The achievements you’ve shown today are greater than you think. It’s been 400 years. For the first time in 400 years, Tyrfing has emerged into the world.”
“I don’t like noisy things as it is, and this will undoubtedly cause a commotion.”
Beatrice wasn’t giving up on Tyrfing thoughtlessly.
…Though the matter of preference played a significant role.
She simply didn’t want it.
Beatrice had always achieved her status solely through her pure abilities.
‘A Spirit. I won’t be swayed by such things.’
If this sword was truly so great and symbolic…
If she became the family head or even an emperor.
People would think.
That it was all thanks to her gear.
Beatrice didn’t want to hear such remarks, even in death.
Perhaps it was an easier path.
It wasn’t her former body but the body of a young girl.
Achieving her previous level of skill would be twice as difficult.
But she didn’t want to compromise.
Even if she couldn’t regain her former prowess, Beatrice wanted to live through her own strength.
She couldn’t use such shortcuts.
That was her conviction.
“So, I won’t accept it. I’ll live by my strength. I won’t rely on a sword like this.”
A sword exists for humans, after all.
Besides, from the way this sword spoke, it seemed rather arrogant.
She couldn’t live for the sake of a sword. If the tail wagged the dog, it would lead to ruin.
“Arrogant sword. Sorry, but go find another owner.”
“M-My lady!”
“Heinrich.”
Beatrice spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t doubt my judgment any further.”
It was a metaphorical expression telling him to follow her orders.
However, Heinrich couldn’t give up either.
Tyrfing was truly a mythical existence.
A living legend.
Letting go of that legend was unthinkable for Heinrich, who had sworn eternal allegiance to Beatrice.
Even possessing Tyrfing would double their chances of surviving and returning victoriously from any war.
As a fellow sailor, guiding the captain to make better decisions was part of being a good crew member.
“My lady, even if the divine sword Tyrfing isn’t to your liking, it would be unwise to return it to its original place like this.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘impossible’ in this world.”
“At the very least, you should possess it, even if you don’t intend to use it.”
‘Possess it. That might work.’
Having it without using it.
Heinrich’s suggestion was tempting, yet…
[That man is right! Young Beatrice, you don’t yet know my power. If you disgrace me like this, you’ll undoubtedly regret it someday.]
The sword’s arrogance made her lose any interest she might have had.
“You said I can only take one sword, correct?”
“…Y-Yes. If you carry more than one weapon out, the defensive magic circle will activate.”
“Hm.”
Beatrice pondered.
‘Respecting Heinrich’s words is one thing, but I’m hung up on this. The other swords are such excellent ones.’
The swords of the Age of Magic were said to be the best.
This meant that in the current era, weapons of that caliber couldn’t be replicated.
…What she was looking at now was the best this world had to offer.
It would be too much of a waste to give them up.
Beatrice’s swordsmanship required a fine weapon to be fully realized.
‘But I don’t want to use this ostentatious sword. This is troublesome.’
Every era had its symbolic swords.
While Tyrfing wasn’t to her taste for practical use, it seemed to have other functionalities.
Especially its authority over personnel.
There couldn’t be a better tool for recruiting talented individuals.
As Heinrich said, there was no harm in possessing it.
[I can solve that problem for you!]
“You can?”
[Indeed. Isn’t the defensive magic circle the source of your concern?]
“That’s right. If I take you, I want to carry another sword as well.”
Beatrice answered honestly.
[Hahaha! You don’t have to worry about that. Do you know who created that magic circle? As it happens, it doesn’t apply to me. A measly thief couldn’t carry me off anyway. So, there’s no need for concern.]
“…Is that so.”
“That does make sense. It’s unlikely they would waste magical power setting up theft prevention for the divine sword Tyrfing.”
“Then I can choose whichever sword I like?”
“Yes! Since it’s treated as a separate entity, it won’t count toward the limitation. There should be no problem.”
‘Even if an issue arises, you are Tyrfing’s owner, so it’s irrelevant. No one could complain, even if you claimed the family head’s seat outright.’
The owner of Tyrfing.
That title carried immense weight.
One could immediately challenge for the family head position.
Heinrich’s gaze grew cold.
‘But the time isn’t right yet.’
Beatrice was still young, and her support base was weak.
Even as Tyrfing’s owner, she wasn’t invincible.
On the other hand, family head was a staunch aristocrat.
His established achievements gave him a robust foundation of support.
While it might be possible to dethrone him, the risks were still significant.
‘Soon, things will change drastically.’
Heinrich steeled his resolve.
He recalled his vow.
‘If you draw that sword, I will pledge my lifelong loyalty.’
Although he already intended to, this event further solidified his conviction.
Heinrich smiled with determination.
“This one seems good.”
Simultaneously,
Beatrice found a sword to her liking.