147 – chromel(6)

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

The current head of the Kromel family, Ludwig Kromel, was a man just like his impression.

“Contrary to what I was worried about, I’m glad that my face is very pale and it seems that I’m enjoying my academy life. I never thought you’d bring a friend.”

His manner of speaking was as soft as his soft expression. Reinhardt, who was a typical benevolent father figure, but had also been repelled by the swordsman who said the same thing, all he could do was nod quietly at Ludwig’s words.

In terms of appearance, he resembled Reinhardt enough to tell that he had a father-son relationship, but he didn’t give off a sharp atmosphere like him.

Rather than feeling that he has softened with age like the swordsman, his nature itself seems to have been limited, but thinking about the two swordsmen and Reinhardt, it feels strange.

As worthy of the name of the head of Kromel, the best among swords, the energy he possessed was quite neat, but ironically, he was a man with the atmosphere of a scholar rather than a military man, and that was the most surprising.

Anyone who wields a sword and practices martial arts can see the sword in his chest, but Ludwig’s nature made the sword look very dull.

Even if this personality is innate, it is said that it is also influenced by the environment, but Ludwig seemed to have been completely thrown out of those two factors. My family also has an example of Alphonse, but Alphonse was still young, and most of all, after watching Sword Master and Reinhardt, I didn’t understand it.

Even if he did not sharpen his sword due to his nature, the fact that he is a master sword cannot be denied. Perhaps that is why he is called and praised as a Swordsman even though he did not inherit the name of Sword Saint.

After finishing his conversation with Reinhardt, Ludwig took a look at us sitting in the seats and then nodded in agreement.

“By the way, this is true, I thought it might be like this, but they are all familiar colors, aren’t they? Father.”

“It’s a relationship, isn’t it all like that?”

“Certainly, we weren’t in a normal relationship.”

Speaking of colors, it must have seen the fathers in me and Elena.

Coincidentally, Elena and I had the color of our fathers, so Ludwig and Elena looked at me and laughed as if he recalled memories of his father. Fortunately, it seems that his memories of his father were not too bad.

He looked at me and spoke to me with the same friendly smile he had when he saw Reinhardt.

“If Reinhardt brought me a friend, I thought it would be Arthur’s son. But that’s what you think.”

“Well, I look a lot like my father, but my personality isn’t that similar.”

At this, Ludwig laughed for a moment and shook his head.

“hahahahaha… It’s not because of his personality. Arthur had the ability to attract people. I wasn’t sure, but I thought that if you were Arthur’s son, you would look alike. And, of course, you resemble Arthur a lot.”

“Uh…Thank you?”

I think this is the first time I’ve been praised for being like my father…

Of course, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

He then made eye contact with Elena and spoke to me in the same soft voice.

“Even the shy girl who used to be shy with strangers has become a full-fledged lady at some point. It’s probably because of that girl that her eyes shine more than before? I sent a letter congratulating her on the engagement, but seeing them together like this made me realize that we were destined.” It seems to fit really well.”

“Thank you for your words, Duke.”

“Since you’re here, Yoheim will of course come, and Arthur is also coming at the Holy Ghost Festival, so everyone will see each other for the first time in a while. I don’t think it’s bad to have a meal together like this when everyone gets together. What do you think, Damian?”

“Well, I think it’s good, of course.”

It was Ludwig who said that to me as if it were natural, but he seemed to think that I was already familiar with the other children. At his words, Reinhardt nodded, saying it was a good idea, and Elena didn’t seem to think badly either.

“I heard that the people of the Mage Tower have regular meetings, but it seems that we samurai don’t have such a thing.

As if Ludwig was about to be immersed in flashbacks again, the Sword Master spoke to him as if to stop it.

“Let’s talk about that later. I don’t think it’s something to bring up right now. By the way, you said you had a problem, did you solve it well?”

“Oh, yes. It wasn’t a big deal. An acquaintance almost signed a contract with a not-so-good guild, so I went to tell him all about it.”

“You didn’t bother to go and talk about that?”

“Ahahahaha…that’s um…”

Ludwig slurred and turned his gaze to Lizerote.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I know it has something to do with Lizerote. Perhaps Reinhardt didn’t speak because he cared about it. It seemed that he was worried that he would make a fuss when he heard it.

Looking towards Lizerote, the boy seemed to be interested in Alphonse and kept trying to make eye contact with Alphonse. Alphonse seemed to be avoiding this, perhaps because he was conscious of Hailey.

It seems that the two of them know each other, but since Alphonse has never left the southern part of the country, he must have met at the Islands today. If so, Alphonse would not have had anything to do with what Ludwig and the swordsman said.

I had a lot of questions, but there was something I had to do first.

“Well, shall we eat first? The food will cool down.”

It was dinner time now.

***

Ludwig looked at his son and his friend’s son holding the sword from a distance. When the meal was over, the son dragging his friend out saying that he had to exercise after dinner was the same as when he was at home.

If others had seen their childhood, would they have looked like that? He smiled quietly at the familiar sight. Of course, in his own days, unlike his son, he was attracted to his friends, but either way, there was no doubt that it was a scene that stimulated memories.

It wasn’t that I had a hobby of reminiscing about the past, but it was an exception when I saw traces of my friends after a long time.

The memories of that day were not only pleasant, but you can be sure that those days were the brightest days of your life. Now that he was recalling memories like this, Ludwig seemed to understand why people were obsessed with the past and couldn’t throw it away.

The faces of the children clashing swords with each other were smiling, just like themselves that day.

The fact that there is no superfluity in moving the body is a skill that is superior to that of oneself at that age. Even though they simply warmed up their bodies in sparring, the movements of the two went beyond those of ordinary knights, and the fact that those children are young, not even half of their lives, arouses wonder.

Ludwig is not a person who is jealous of something. Only pure admiration remained for him, as he did when his close friend suddenly rose beyond his reach one day.

Even though he knew that this indifference would not make him rise up, he was just satisfied and had no intention of changing.

As he watched this quietly, the swordsman approached him. He examined Ludwig’s face and asked softly.

“After seeing it with my own two eyes, are you relieved now?”

“Yes. Father. Did your father feel this way when he sent me to the academy?”

“No way. I thought you would take care of it. You were a better kid than me. Reinhardt, you look a lot like me, so it’s no wonder you’re worried.”

“ha ha ha…”

As the swordsman said, Reinhardt resembled his blunt father a lot, so it is true that he was very concerned about this. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s very likely that such a personality could hinder you from making friends.

Ludwig knew how enjoyable and valuable time spent with friends was, and he did not want his son to end his career at the academy without having such time.

Fortunately, contrary to his worries, Ludwig’s burden on his chest became much better now that he had made friends close enough to bring him home like that. The Sword Saint’s face also looked comfortable like him, but it was a peace he gained from a slightly different perspective than Ludwig’s.

“Friends are important, of course, but having a good opponent with similar skills is also important. Even in my time, it was impossible to find someone who could compete with me. Arthur was like that too. It might not be long before we mix them up.”

He watched the battle between the two with eyes full of anticipation and caught them with the power of his swordsman.

It was the expectation of a descendant who was rapidly following him, and the madness of a warrior named Swordsman. Conflicting with a child who has made a new path meant his growth, so his constant desire to grow as a military man still made him young.

Although Ludwig, who had no such greed, could only hear words that broke the colic of his emotions.

“Your father is really… do you really have to think that way?”

“It can’t be helped. That’s my essence. More than that, since Reinhardt isn’t here anymore, tell me. It looks like you’re worried that he’ll cause a commotion if he hears it. Did it have something to do with Rize?”

“I can say that, but it’s a bit ambiguous. Actually, Lize was walking around Luden alone today and almost got hit by a carriage.”

“what?”

Ludwig trembled at the low voice of the Sword Master. Even though I knew it wasn’t my feelings, my instincts reacted differently to it. He hurriedly continued his speech and calmed the Sword Saint.

“…Calm down for now. There was something about Rize that was careless about that. It seems that he stopped recognizing the carriage while he was frantically looking around.”

“As for the escort? No. If it were that child, he would have gone out secretly avoiding the people again because he was quick on his feet.

‘That must be my father.’

Ludwig barely swallowed the words that came up to his throat at the grumbling figure of the swordsman.

“The wagon also drove so fast that it almost hurt someone else, if not himself. The coachman came down and apologized, but the owner of the wagon didn’t get off the wagon and got angry at the coachman and left.”

“Huh…so what did you do?”

“Lizee memorized the pattern engraved on the carriage and was able to find out which guild it was. It is called Catlan Company, and they said that one of our vassals, Baron Uber, had an appointment today. So, what… I cut it.”

“Um…Yes, it’s the child’s fault, so it wouldn’t have been nice to be too scared. If it wasn’t for Rise, an accident would have happened if it wasn’t for Rise.”

“Ah, it’s not that Rize escaped, but someone saved it.”

“Huh… can’t it?”

At Ludwig’s words, the Sword Saint remembered how Lizerote showed interest in Alphonse at dinner today. It seemed that he was unusually conscious of his interest in a boy his age, but after hearing Ludwig’s words, he seemed to know who had saved Rize.

Ludwig also nodded, saying that the Sword Saint’s thoughts were correct.

“I don’t know the name, but he said he was my age, but looking at the child’s reaction earlier, it seemed like it was right.”

“…It’s such a terrible relationship. Why is it that our family doesn’t have a day that doesn’t involve them.”

“Iknow, right.”

Ludwig laughed, but the Sword Saint couldn’t bear to laugh.

It was because he remembered what he had said to Alphonse before the ceremony. Even though he wanted to pass it off as saying it was no big deal, in a situation that seemed familiar, the swordsman felt his head throb as it was spinning without any blockage when it came to martial arts.