The Sword Saint Faction
"Subaru, if you regret your decision today, then come find me. What I just said will always be valid."
"I won't regret it."
"Is that so?"
Roswaal closed his right eye, and with his golden eye looked at Subaru and spoke words that seemed to carry deep meaning.
Then he got on the dragon carriage at the front of the convoy.
The convoy started moving. Reinhild and Roswaal left the Astrea mansion. The two of them would head to the royal capital to wrap up the Emilia matter.
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In the large bathhouse of the multifunctional mansion, a black-haired figure was idly soaking alone in the pool.
Sometimes sinking underwater, sometimes lying on the surface, occasionally floating on the water.
Luckily, the large bath could fit half of the personal guard, and since this was a busier working time, he could afford to fool around like this.
"Ah, magic… no, I can't think about it anymore. My resolve to stay by Reinhild's side is wavering — or rather, just having this thought means I've already started to waver."
Subaru lay in the water in a daze.
Magic was undoubtedly his second greatest surprise after meeting Reinhild.
Especially Roswaal's last few words had shaken Subaru's resolve.
No need for hard training — the ultimate Yin great spirit.
Subaru, having seen Puck's true form, knew better than anyone what that meant.
So for Subaru, who had just come to this other world, it was almost a knockout blow.
"Even if I don't have magic, it's okay, right?"
A thick, deep voice startled Subaru, causing him to sink underwater instantly.
The next second, he was pulled up.
It was a blond, muscular man about Subaru's height.
The first thing that came to Subaru's mind when seeing him was the viral "muscle dog" expression online — the man's physique was just that exaggerated.
"I'm Leander Burt, Reinhild's personal guard captain. I heard what happened — you decisively refused that effeminate count's invitation. So why are you regretting it now?"
Although the man spoke very disrespectfully, he did not lower his voice.
His booming voice echoed clearly in the huge bathhouse.
"I do feel a bit of regret. After all, I lost the romantic pursuit of a man. But even if I had to choose again, my decision would remain unchanged."
"Hahaha, that's the spirit! After all, a man never goes back on his word. I respect that.
But a man's romance should be a strong body and unbeatable strength, right?
Even the strongest mage like Roswaal I could knock out with one punch.
How about it? Want me to train you? If you stick with it, I guarantee you'll reach the average level of the royal capital's knights.
Plus, you'll get personal guidance from Reinhild once a month."
Leander patted Subaru's shoulder.
At that moment, Subaru gasped sharply — he even felt like his bones might shatter.
The man seemed to notice Subaru's pained expression and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"I'm okay. Could the training volume increase gradually? I don't think I can take professional athlete-level training all at once.
By the way, you call Reinhild 'Rein-chan' but call Roswaal differently. How should I put it… it feels weird."
"No problem. About the naming: our family is actually also a count's family.
We show respect to Reinhild because of her strength and position.
Reinhild calls Roswaal respectfully because the former head of the Astrea family owed a favor to the Roswaal family.
Although the previous head cut ties with the family, Reinhild inherited his attitude towards the Roswaal family."
"You'll understand these things as time goes on. I'm going out now. Training starts tomorrow. Subaru, though I'm reluctant, I'm glad you showed up."
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"My shoulder still hurts a bit. That guy's strength is really huge."
"Well, Leander has the 'Divine Protection of Strength.' More than a year ago, Reinhild said two of him could move the 'stone' Muspel."
"What did that last thing mean? And what's the 'stone' Muspel?"
"I'm not sure about the last phrase, but the 'stone' Muspel is the empire's earth great spirit. It's so huge and heavy that there's a saying about someone not being able to lift the Quwein Stone."
"By the way, who are you, always answering my questions in stereo, miss?"
"Me? I'm Eileen, the white mage. Sorry about my brother causing you trouble earlier.
He asked me to give you these.
If you don't understand something, you can ask Mr. Winston who teaches reading and writing.
Also, this map shows some places where my brother might appear.
If you have any questions, you can go to him, but for basic stuff, it's better to ask me because my brother prefers to think about life quietly by himself."
Subaru accepted the two books the brown-haired girl handed him and thanked her solemnly.
"By the way, what are the family names of Berni and Eileen? I want to remember them for life."
"Family names? We don't have one yet. Both my brother and I come from the slums, so we don't have a family name. Although becoming the strongest mage grants a family name, we already want a family name, but for some reasons we can't legally become members of that family yet."
A fleeting anger flashed across Eileen's usually smiling face.
"But you're really good-looking, you don't look like someone from that kind of place. That goes for Felt too."
"Although I'm glad now that I have an appearance that doesn't embarrass Reinhild, being good-looking in the slums isn't a good thing. If it weren't for Reinhild, we probably would've been sold off by slave traders."
"Sorry."
"It's okay, it's all in the past.
Anyway, if you have anything, feel free to ask us.
Although our background is much lower than Lord Roswaal of the magical world, Yin attribute magic is rare, and my brother is the strongest shadow attribute mage with the title 'Black,' so
the gap might not be that big. Also, this time my brother's actually fired up — when serious, he's the strongest being besides Reinhild."
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"Are you okay?"
The night was still the butler's class, but the butler, who always stressed etiquette, had some dust on his clothes and red marks on his black leather shoes.
Having died multiple times, Subaru immediately recognized the red marks as blood.
"I didn't expect that giant to be so... Sorry, please forget what I just said. I'm fine. Today I'll explain some basic etiquette."
"Okay."
Seeing the old butler unwilling to say more and confirming he seemed fine, Subaru decided not to pry further.