Chapter: 28
I was led by Kylo and Seria to the VIP lounge located on the top floor of the faculty building.
“Here. Black tea.”
“Heh. Thank you.”
Kylo accepted the tea Seria offered him with a gentle smile.
“Then I’ll excuse myself now. I hope you have a pleasant conversation…”
After placing a cup of black tea in front of me as well, Seria bowed politely and left the VIP room.
Just like that, only Kylo and I remained.
“……”
“……”
Kylo lifted his teacup expressionlessly and took a sip of the black tea.
I did the same, drinking moderately while observing him.
‘What exactly is my relationship with Kylo?’
Kylo Maxinert.
A character who appears in the latter half of The Hero’s Chronicle, assisting the protagonist.
Level: 86.
In terms of pure swordsmanship, he surpassed even Lionel.
Affiliation: Independent.
‘Did Kylo take me in as a disciple without knowing that I’m Zeraion’s new vessel?’
There was no way someone not affiliated with Black Night would know the full story.
So he must have accepted me without knowing.
‘This body’s talent is insane, after all. Maybe he discovered it by chance and took me in?’
No—if that were the case, Kylo discovering me wouldn’t have been a coincidence.
It would mean that Zeraion intentionally sent Jian to Kylo, guiding him to take Jian in as a disciple.
‘But would Zeraion really handle things so sloppily?’
Given Zeraion’s meticulous personality, there was no way he would place someone uncontrollable in a mentor’s position.
‘Does Kylo know that I am Zeraion? Or does he not?’
Judging solely from the game’s information, he shouldn’t know.
Judging from Zeraion’s personality, he should.
‘Which one is correct?’
I continued sipping my tea, mulling over the two possibilities.
Ziiing!
At that moment, a transparent barrier spread out around Kylo and me.
“Long time no see, Master.”
At the same time, Kylo stood up, moved to the side of his chair, and knelt on one knee, bowing his head.
“I heard from Reaper that your body has entered a stable phase. Congratulations.”
That respectful attitude.
The title Master.
And the fact that he heard it from Reaper.
‘…Kylo. Are you part of Black Night?’
It seemed that the Kylo Maxinert of this world was one of Black Night’s executives.
Some time after Jian left the classroom with Seria and Kylo, the lesson ended.
“Whoa… unbelievable. His master is Kylo Maxinert…”
“No wonder he was that strong…”
“Now it finally makes sense.”
As soon as class ended, everyone began talking about Jian and Kylo.
Kylo Maxinert.
A swordsman respected by all swordsmen—and by all citizens.
“Do you think we could greet him properly later? My father’s alive thanks to Sir Kylo.”
“Me too! I want to thank him! My mother said that if it weren’t for Sir Kylo, our city would’ve been wiped out ten years ago.”
Students without noble titles—or with low-ranking ones—lavished Kylo with praise.
Hearing this, the high-ranking nobles clicked their tongues in irritation.
“Kylo Maxinert.”
“That wretched demon who only undermines the nation’s system!”
A sword swung for the people is a sword likely aimed at nobles.
That was why most nobles hated Kylo.
“Jian Bellomata. I didn’t like him from the first time I saw him. So that’s why—he’s Kylo’s disciple.”
“He’s unpleasant.”
The nobles’ hatred for Kylo transferred directly onto Jian.
Their eyes burned with the desire to deal with him immediately.
But none of those thoughts turned into action.
‘He has Kylo backing him.’
‘And he’s close to the Third Princess.’
‘If we touch him, the Academy might step in.’
As unpleasant as it was, leaving him alone was the only option.
Between his connection to the Third Princess, the Academy’s favoritism, and Kylo as a powerful backer, there wasn’t a single fool in that classroom reckless enough to touch Jian.
“Did you hear? That swordsmanship prodigy—his master is Kylo Maxinert.”
“Seriously? My god…”
The rumor quickly spread throughout the Academy.
“But why did Sir Kylo come here?”
“He said Jian wasn’t contacting him, didn’t he?”
“Come on. He hasn’t even been enrolled that long. That was probably just an excuse.”
As rumors flew, one student voiced a sudden doubt.
“Wait. It hasn’t even been a week since enrollment. So he didn’t come because he missed Jian.”
“And Sir Kylo isn’t the kind of person to interrupt a class like that.”
“That’s true.”
As everyone wondered about Kylo’s uncharacteristic actions, one student answered as if it were obvious.
“What are you all acting surprised for? His treasured disciple enters the Academy and starts learning magic instead of swordsmanship. Wouldn’t any master be furious?”
“Oh…!”
“So that’s why he came!”
That explanation spread rapidly across the Academy.
“They say Sir Kylo came to send Jian back to the Swordsmanship Department.”
“I heard their relationship isn’t good.”
“Apparently Jian left after telling Kylo he’d stop learning the sword.”
The rumor snowballed.
Passing through the mouths of those who bore Jian ill will, it was maliciously twisted.
“They say Jian told Kylo Maxinert this: ‘I have nothing more to learn from you, so I’m leaving! And I think I’m more talented in magic than swordsmanship!’”
The story warped into one where Jian rejected Kylo and mocked swordsmanship.
Naturally, the rumor reached Princess Aris and Lionel.
“Nonsense.”
“Yes. Just baseless rumors.”
Neither of them believed it.
Disregarding the sword or speaking rudely to one’s master was completely out of character for Jian.
“Still… Kylo Maxinert as his master…”
Aris’s expression darkened.
The Sword of the People despised the ruling class—including nobles.
“Claiming Jian for myself won’t be easy.”
Kylo would never tolerate his disciple serving under royalty.
Trouble was inevitable.
“Yes. I thought persuading Jian would be enough, but there was an unexpected obstacle.”
Lionel gave a bitter smile.
Jian seemed to harbor feelings for Aris, so he thought it would be relatively easy.
Apparently, it wouldn’t be.
“Lionel, I’m sorry to ask, but could you investigate the Sword of the People as thoroughly as possible? What he likes, what he hates, how to earn his favor—everything.”
“Ah, I’ve already conducted an investigation into the Sword of the People.”
“Hm? You already did?”
“Yes.”
Aris tilted her head.
There shouldn’t have been any reason to investigate him before.
“Do you remember the incident two years ago, when an entire village vanished?”
“Nenla Village, wasn’t it? Everyone disappeared overnight.”
“Yes. A total of 723 people vanished without a trace.”
“And that relates how?”
“The Sword of the People was among the suspects.”
“…What?”
“Of course, he wasn’t the culprit. During the investigation, substantial evidence proved his innocence.”
“Oh… I see.”
For a moment, Aris had imagined the Sword of the People as a mass murderer.
“He escaped that well. Given how many in the kingdom hate him, they must’ve wanted to pin it on him.”
“Yes. Several nobles tried desperately to frame him, but the evidence was too solid.”
Lionel recalled a small child he had met during the interrogation two years ago.
“Among all the evidence, the decisive testimony came from his granddaughter, who was with him at the time.”
A child with skin so pale it looked as though she had never felt sunlight.
Kylo planned to stay for about a month and teach me swordsmanship.
‘I was surprised. I was told my deployment would be at least half a year away. I never expected your body to stabilize so quickly.’
‘When I first heard it from Reaper, I was worried you had overexerted yourself, Master. It seems my concern was unfounded. Haha.’
‘Good heavens… Your body has already surpassed the human category. I knew stabilizing the factor of an Ancient Spirit would elevate your physical tier, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.’
Before beginning my training, Kylo examined my condition and said those things.
From that, I could grasp the situation.
‘Reaper already knows that I absorbed mana from the Ice Golem’s core and awakened and stabilized the factor of an Ancient Spirit.’
I had no idea how he figured it out.
‘How did he know? Don’t tell me he’s put some kind of watcher on me?’
As I pondered that—
Bang!
The door burst open, and a girl who looked about nine or ten years old rushed in.
A cute child with lively, radiant pinkish skin.
“Grandpa!”
She ran straight into Kylo’s arms.
“Hoh. Didn’t I tell you to wait until we were finished?”
“Hng… but no matter how long I waited, you didn’t come…”
Kylo scolded her briefly, then smiled helplessly at her sulky expression.
“Yes. Grandpa was gone too long. I’m sorry.”
“…Mm.”
“We’re really done now. It’ll only take ten more minutes, so wait outside—just ten minutes.”
Kylo gently patted her head.
“Really? Just ten minutes?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Okay! Then I’ll wait outside for ten minutes!”
The girl beamed, slipped out of Kylo’s arms, bowed politely to me, and left the room.
Watching her, I tilted my head inwardly.
‘Kylo lost his entire family thirty years ago. He should’ve been alone…’
There was no way he could have a granddaughter.
What was this? An adopted granddaughter?
“Thank you.”
While I was still wondering, Kylo spoke with a deeply moved expression.
“Thanks to you saving my daughter, I can live with a smile like this.”
…His daughter? More importantly—saved?
“You are my lifelong benefactor, Master. If you ever have an order for me, please give it.”
Kylo’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“No matter how inhumane or cruel the order may be, if it is your command, I will carry it out without fail.”
Those were the eyes of a father who had thrown everything away for his child.
Of a man who chose to descend into hell for his offspring.
The eyes of someone who had sold his soul to a demon.
‘Now that I think about it, in the game, Kylo lost his entire family due to noble scheming, came to resent the nobility, and became the Sword of the People.’
Kylo didn’t become the Sword of the People for some grand ideal.
He simply sided with the people because he hated nobles.
‘If Zeraion approached him with an offer to save his daughter…’
Kylo wouldn’t have been able to refuse.
He had lived his life wearing the noble mask of serving the people, but inside burned an intense hatred:
‘I can never forgive the nobles who killed my family.’
‘That’s why Kylo became part of Black Night.’
Zeraion saw straight through Kylo’s true feelings and struck precisely at that weakness.
That was why Kylo had become a Black Night executive.
‘But how does Zeraion know these things?’
This wasn’t the only case.
There had been countless moments where I’d wondered how Zeraion could possibly know certain things.
Knowing the princess’s value in advance.
Changing the target merchant guild to acquire Rosaline.
Even knowing that the mana within the Ice Golem’s core was connected to an Ancient Spirit.
None of this was common knowledge.
Where—and how—did Zeraion acquire all this information?
‘Did the Zeraion of this world come back from the future or something?’
As I gazed up at the sky, lost in those thoughts—
“You came early.”
Kylo appeared behind me.
From nine o’clock, ten minutes from now, I was scheduled to begin sword training with him.
“The night breeze feels nice.”
“Haha. The moon is bright too. A perfect night for a walk.”
Kylo stood beside me.
I looked at his profile as he gazed up at the sky, smiling broadly.
“Stars are more visible than usual tonight.”
In the game, he had always been expressionless.
Perhaps the existence of his revived daughter had changed him entirely.
“Kylo.”
“Yes.”
Watching his bright expression, a sudden question came to mind.
“If someone were to kill me… what would you do?”
“If someone were to kill you, Master…?”
Kylo chuckled softly.
“What a strange question.”
His mouth was smiling.
His eyes were not.
“I would kill them.”
[An overwhelming killing intent floods the surroundings!]
[Mind EX-Rank negates ‘Killing Intent’!]
“No matter where they run. No matter where they hide. I would hunt them down…”
Moonlight glinted ominously in Kylo’s eyes.
I could tell.
“I would kill them with my own hands.”
This wasn’t flattery meant to curry Zeraion’s favor.
It was genuine.
Kylo truly respected Zeraion.
I looked away from his gaze and back up at the sky.
“…I see.”
That was the moment I gained yet another reason to never let my true identity be exposed.
