Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 140 : Dreistler Family (3)

Dreistler Family (3)

[Did you just call me a calamity?]

Grancesia expressed her bewilderment at being called a calamity.

But soon after, she began to fall into deep thought.

[No, but if I think about it... Right, if it's true that the white bird—the incarnation of Altair—was by my side, then there's definitely something more to it. I don't know if that's related to being a calamity or not, but still...]

Grancesia's voice trailed off, lacking any strength.

Since her memories weren't intact, she didn't have the conviction to firmly deny even the most absurd claims.

'But if Grancesia really was a calamity, her profile would've definitely shown it when I checked...'

As I was thinking this far, another thought suddenly came to me.

It was about Riya Asktalin.

The former calamity of the dragon.

'When Riya stopped being a calamity, the words "calamity of the dragon" disappeared from her profile.'

There had already been several cases where a character's profile changed.

In short, once the profile changed, the previous state was never recorded.

If, like Riya, Grancesia was originally a divine calamity but her status was altered for some reason, that was a definite possibility.

'Does this even make sense?'

In the original work, Altair unquestionably appeared as the divine calamity.

Especially since Grancesia, as an extra, had never played any sort of active role.

'Father, why did you go out of your way to create such a backstory?'

My head was throbbing.

But it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling.

This profile was never used in the original work, anyway.

If Grancesia had done anything of note in the original story, there'd be some record in her current profile, or at the very least, she'd be mentioned near Setram.

As I pondered all this, I suddenly realized something.

"It's only hypothetical, but you might be able to regain your original body."

[Huh? Wh-what do you mean by that?]

"It doesn't matter if, for some reason, you stopped being a divine calamity along the way. The point is, you were originally the divine calamity."

[It doesn't feel particularly great... but what does that have to do with my original body?]

"First off, if there had been no such 'reason,' then you wouldn't have become a calamity until now, at this point in time."

In this world— no, in this 'novel'—the plot was that the protagonist, Fabian, acquired the Seven Swords Under Heaven and stopped the calamity.

If Grancesia had become a calamity hundreds of years ago, that would have been long before Fabian was even born, so it wouldn't work as part of the 'story.'

In other words, even if Grancesia became a divine calamity, that event would have to happen near the current point in time.

[I get that, but... is that really important?]

"It's very important. It means that, originally, you wouldn't have lost your body even up to now."

[But I died a long time ago.]

"No, you were just believed to be dead. When I saw you in the coffin, your body looked completely fine, as if you were just asleep."

To be precise, Grancesia's body had remained perfectly intact even to this day.

It was just assumed she was dead, but her body, preserved in the coffin, seemed as if she was merely sleeping.

"What if you only thought you couldn't remember because you were never actually dead?"

This is just a hypothesis.

If the original divine calamity was Grancesia, and Altair did something to steal the calamity's power from her...

I kept examining the diary, but there wasn't much else written.

It only said he had erased every trace of Grancesia from history as she requested. And it recorded that Grancesia left the Dreistler family.

'Everything Grancesia accomplished after that nearly vanished from the records.'

All that remained was the fact that she was packaged as a Saintess and used as PR for the Altair Order.

She was called the greatest Saintess, but most of those claims were undoubtedly fabricated.

'First, I need to check the state of Grancesia's body.'

But for that, I'd have to go to the Atell Family.

However, right now, the Atell Family was under strict surveillance by Setram.

And Grancesia's remains were another problem.

Well, it didn't even feel right to call them 'remains' anymore, but whatever the case, it was highly likely they were under strict Setram surveillance.

Jerta had also said that Michelle's exile was related to the Saintess's remains.

"If those really were just ordinary remains, there'd be no reason to monitor them so heavily."

And there'd be no reason to keep the body so well-preserved, either.

But the fact that they were going out of their way to concern themselves with Grancesia's remains meant there had to be a reason.

'I guess this is the limit to the clues I can get right now.'

Now, I had to confirm if all of this was true.

I went over the possibilities I could think of.

And if my guesses were right, then surely...

* * *

After a full day of worrying, I opened my eyes to a new morning.

My mind was a bit complicated, but I'd achieved the first reason I'd come to the Dreistler family.

For the time being, I decided to stay here and see if there were any more pieces of information to uncover.

'This place really is a storehouse of knowledge.'

It was completely different from the information handled by the information guild. There was a reason they claimed to record the history of the stars.

"Hey, where are you coming from right now?"

Just then, someone called out to me.

When I turned, I saw Kaden, Marvin's son, staring at me suspiciously.

He had inherited Marvin's large build, and in terms of swordsmanship, he was advanced-rank as a Sword Expert.

He was also my age, so for his years, he had achieved an impressive state.

Even among advanced-rank Sword Experts, he was in the upper tier, so he probably had no equal among his peers.

'Well, that doesn't matter much now...'

Before, I'd have looked up in awe at an advanced-rank Sword Expert, but now, it wasn't all that impressive anymore.

Besides, the guy kept talking down to me, and I was starting to feel I had no reason to be polite.

"What do you want?"

"...!"

When I shot back curtly, his eyes widened in surprise.

"How dare you talk to me like that!"

"Who's the rude one here? I'm a noble of the kingdom, you know."

"Foreign power means nothing here!"

"And I'm a member of the Seven Heroes, just like your father. Yet you still act like this?"

I shrugged and shook my head.

I knew I'd given a bad first impression, but Kaden was excessively hot-headed. I couldn't understand how such a calm person as Marvin could have a son like this.

At my light provocation, the guy snorted and exhaled sharply, then suddenly smirked as if something came to mind.

"Yes, of course I know. But that's only because of the power of the sword, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

What the hell was this guy talking about now?

As I was a bit flustered, kaden seemed to misinterpret it and blustered proudly.

"A guy my age becoming a Hero through normal means? Impossible. But if you have the power of the Divine Sword, what would be impossible?"

"So you're claiming I only became a Hero thanks to the sword's power?"

"Are you really going to deny it?"

For a second, I seriously wondered how I should answer.

It was so ridiculous, I couldn't even be mad.

Was this really the son of Marvin, the Seven Hero?

[He doesn't look like he's joking.]

'He sounds pretty serious to me.'

Kaden, full of confidence, was like a tiger on the prowl.

Thanks to the commotion, servants from the mansion started gathering around to watch.

"Hmph, fine."

I crossed my arms and nodded.

"So you're admitting you became a Hero through the power of a sword?"

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

Even his ability to jump to conclusions was a talent.

"No point in arguing with words, since you're not the type to listen anyway. So I'll give you a special chance to fight me."

"Hah. Relying on a sword's power, you talk big."

"Of course, I won't be using a sword."

"... What?"

"No, actually, not just a sword—I won't even use my arms."

I crossed my arms and gave a sly grin.

Maybe Kaden thought I was mocking him, because his face turned bright red.

"What, you think I won't dare fight you now?!"

"No, go ahead. The spot's wide enough already, so we don't even need to go to the training ground."

I glanced around—the space was pretty open.

The servants, watching our quarrel, looked anxious, unsure if they should intervene.

"So what? Now that I told you to attack, are you scared?"

"Tch! I'm Marvin Dreistler's son! I'll never lose to a fake Hero like you!"

He shouted that and threw a massive punch at me.

He was hot-tempered and seemed oblivious to the situation, but his skills were impressive. His form was steady, and the crispness of his moves showed how much he had trained.

But that was all.

BWOOONG! BOONG!

"Hiii! Hiii!"

His attacks never even grazed me.

I dodged every one of Kaden's assaults without taking a single step.

And as promised, I didn't use my arms at all—just twisted my upper body to evade.

"Huff, huff! Huff!"

After about ten minutes of dodging, I saw that he was exhausted.

He'd poured every ounce of his strength into a relentless barrage, so it was only natural.

"You done yet?"

"...!"

I asked with a light smile, and his pupils shook.

'I guess it's time to wrap this up.'

I figured I'd shown enough respect to Marvin's family with this much.

I put strength into my legs and swept him off his feet.

"Gaaah!"

Kaden's body flew several meters before crashing into the ground.

He writhed on the floor, but couldn't manage to get up.

"I guess that's enough for you to learn your lesson."

"Hmph."

"...!"

As I muttered, watching him writhe, a low voice came from beside me.

When I turned, Marvin was standing there with his arms crossed. I didn't even notice when he arrived.

"Sorry about this."

"Sorry?"

As I was trying to figure out how to explain the situation to Marvin, he apologized first.

"Kaden grew up on this tiny patch of land, so his perspective is narrow. He has talent, but it's made him arrogant. I've warned him many times, but sometimes you just have to experience things for yourself."

"Yes, you're right. He just didn't know any better."

"Thank you for putting it kindly. But in a way this worked out. Maybe this will help fix that arrogance of his."

Marvin slowly uncrossed his arms and told the nearby servants something.

He was probably telling them to carry off the collapsed Kaden.

"Clay, I promised to help you with the Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art, didn't I?"

"Oh, yes."

"Starting today, I'll help you train. While you're here, this whole family will do everything we can to help you reach the next level."

What he'd mastered was a type of martial art developed using some of the Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art's principles.

But that didn't mean it was inferior to Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

In fact, his martial art incorporated secrets that didn't exist in Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art, so there was plenty for me to learn.

And in terms of his mastery, he was well above me, so this was nothing short of a great opportunity.

"... Then, sir Marvin Dreistler. There's one thing I'd like to ask."

"Just call me Marvin. All the Seven Heroes are on equal standing."

"Understood. Then, Marvin, there's one more thing I'd ask, if possible."

"I'll help you as much as I can."

Maybe it was because I was learning Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art, or because I was the 'sword's master' at the center of such a long history; either way, Marvin looked favorably upon me.

"Is it alright if one more person joins the training?"

"One more? Whoever you brought with you... Wait, don't tell me you mean—"

Marvin seemed to realize what I meant and his eyes widened. But only for a moment; he then nodded quietly.

"It's a little surprising, but if they're your companion, I'll trust them."

"Then..."

"All right. That child can join too."

"Thank you!"

Marvin's hearty approval made me like him even more.

With no ulterior motives and approaching me honestly, Marvin truly was the model of a 'Hero'.

[But do you think she'll actually listen? The conditions you're offering are amazing, but still...]

'What can I do if she doesn't?'

[You're becoming more of a thug by the day.]

I only laughed at Grancesia's words.

I was half-joking, but honestly, I figured Mersaya, despite all her whining, would accept my offer.

After all, she also wanted to gain true strength, just like the rest of us.