Chapter 58
After finishing breakfast and before starting sword training, I sat at my desk and picked up a quill.
The paper I was writing on had no patterns or markings whatsoever.
That was deliberate.
I hadn’t even filled in the most basic information about the recipient or sender.
It was such a simple message that it barely even qualified as a letter.
[I want to buy your information.]
As I wrote, I consciously tried not to use my usual handwriting.
It did look a little obvious that I was trying to disguise my script, but that didn’t matter.
Meeting Truajean, the greatest information broker in the Empire, was notoriously difficult.
Nobles craved information about power, and merchants sought information about money.
You could almost say the place thrived on the greed of such ambitious people.
And because of that, Truajean maintained the strictest standards of security and confidentiality.
The letter I had just written was nothing more than the first step toward meeting him.
Once I confirmed the ink was dry, I opened a drawer, pulled out a plain envelope, folded the letter neatly, and slipped it inside.
Then, shaking the bell beside my desk, I summoned Garnet, who knocked and entered shortly after.
Normally, letters were sent together with others through the chamberlain, but this one was different.
“Take this to the fruit seller on Leryu 11th Street. He’ll give you a reply right away—bring it back to me.”
That was the only way for a first-time client like me to learn where Truajean was. The fruit shop always ran an advertisement on the last page of a monthly paper.
That was all I knew, thanks to reading the novel.
Since I couldn’t be sure which monthly paper it was—there were dozens—I had combed through every one after the Count Liebicht incident, checking their last pages for the fruit shop ad.
And there wasn’t just one candidate in the end.
I found two papers with fruit shop ads on the final page. But then, one particular ad caught my eye—it was odd. Despite being a fruit shop, it didn’t feature any delicious-looking fruit. Instead, it showed a simple apple with the shape of a key drawn on it.
Suspicious enough. I decided that was the right one and asked Garnet to take the letter there.
If it turned out wrong, it would just be another fruit shop anyway.
“Please.”
Even though Garnet was the only one listening, I spoke in a whisper.
Trying to meet the Empire’s top information guild made me feel like I needed to act secretive, too.
Watching me cup my hands over my mouth and make such a suspicious request, Garnet accepted the letter with a look that seemed to say, She’s at it again.
I couldn’t help but feel amused at how used she’d become to my shady antics.
“Thank you!”
“It’s only my duty, my lady. By the way, there’s that cake shop you liked nearby. Should I bring back some chiffon cake?”
I nodded enthusiastically.
On one of her monthly days off, Garnet had once brought home cakes from a newly opened bakery in town, thinking of me and the children, since we all liked sweets.
Why were desserts in this world all so delicious?
And never boring—each had its own charm.
The cake she’d brought back had been no exception.
Seeing me light up like that, Garnet sighed helplessly but smiled.
“It’s not far, so I’ll be quick. I’ll tell Serin to prepare your training clothes in the meantime.”
“Got it.”
After Garnet left with the letter, I carefully turned my eyes toward an object that constantly made its presence known.
Wooong—woong—!
The Crimson Sword, the “Red Sword” Luca had given me. Ever since I’d received it, it had never left its red wrapping cloth.
Usually quiet, but sometimes it wailed like that.
It reminded me of a child waking from sleep and whining.
Swords that resonated were extremely rare.
Only those that had gained wisdom over countless years could communicate with their wielders.
Which is why I could hardly bring myself to approach a sword that felt like it was talking to me.
I mean, didn’t this feel like I was a club member in a magical-tool society, trying to converse with a cake?
More than anything, though… it scared me.
Maybe because I’d left it untouched for so long, sometimes it even sounded angry. On the day Luca gave it to me, it had made a cheerful sound, but now…
Wooong! Woooo-ong! Woong!
Honestly, it sounded like it was swearing at me.
But I couldn’t leave such a fine blade abandoned out of fear forever. So, cautiously, I approached where it leaned against the wall.
Repeating in my head, It’s worth 100 gold. 100 gold.
Finally, when my pinky brushed against the hilt—
“What the?!”
The moment my hand touched it, the sword gripped me back tightly.
The cumbersome red cloth slipped away, revealing its ornate form once again.
Wooong—woong—
So what was the point of a resonating sword, anyway?
Questions swirled in my head. To me, it was nothing more than an alarm clock that rattled me awake in the morning.
And the instant I thought that, the hilt grew scorching hot.
“Ow! Okay, I’m sorry!”
I quickly apologized before it got any hotter. It seemed the sword could sense my thoughts just as I could sense its resonance.
It must have been furious that I compared it to an alarm clock—the hilt was blazing like fire, and my hand couldn’t break free.
Then, with a huffy wooong, it cooled down again, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Let go now. I need to get ready for training.”
Really, how was this any different from talking to a cake?
With that thought, I set the sword on the desk after it finally released me.
Just then, Serin entered carrying my training clothes.
“Oh my, are you finally planning to train with that sword?”
“It kept making noise. Even now.”
At my words, Serin said she couldn’t hear a thing, and helped me change.
Only a few swordsmen could sense a sword’s resonance.
Like how Luca had realized I resonated with the Crimson Sword. And I was one of them.
Dressed in training clothes, I sheathed the Crimson Sword and headed for the training grounds.
I was determined to test the worth of those 100 gold coins.
If not, then a refund…
“Ouch, hot!”
Truly, it was a foul-tempered blade.
“Is Taro not with you today?”
Hut asked gloomily. I tried to soften my reply so he wouldn’t take it too hard.
“Well… I think Taro finds you a little bothersome.”
I had sugarcoated Taro’s words as much as possible, yet the air around Hut instantly grew heavy with sadness.
“But! I do think it’s good to see you from time to time. I’ll definitely bring him next time.”
“Will you really?”
Wow, his mood rebounded fast.
“I was actually planning to replace the flag above the estate with Taro’s new portrait—I wanted him to see it.”
“Ah, he’ll love that.”
Hopefully Taro wouldn’t transform into a house-sized beast and rip it down.
Leaving Hut with his excitement, I entered the training grounds.
Running five laps was nothing now.
At first, it had felt like I would die, but these days I could do it as lightly as Miller did.
After the endurance training, I sparred lightly with a wooden sword and even managed to beat Eon.
“That makes it exactly 20 matches—10 wins, 9 losses, and 1 draw,” Hut said.
Breathing heavily, Eon declared, “Next time… I’ll even the score again.”
I too bent down, gasping for air.
That’s when I heard the Crimson Sword resonate again.
Wooong—wooong—
I couldn’t understand it, but it was probably scolding me for using a wooden sword when I had such a fine blade.
Sensing the sword’s aura from where it rested, Hut approached it.
“This sword… it’s resonating with you, my lady.”
“You noticed too, Captain?”
Eon blinked in confusion at our exchange.
“Resonating? Captain?”
“Yes. When a sword, after ages of wisdom, chooses its wielder, resonance occurs. My own sword is like that.”
The longsword at his waist was relatively quiet… unlike mine, which wouldn’t shut up.
Woooooong—
Why was mine so noisy?
“If you synchronize well with a resonating sword, your abilities will grow greatly. It would be good to spar with it in real combat.”
“But we can’t spar with live steel.”
I planned to test the Crimson Sword later, after training, in the log forest where Eon practiced daily on Hut’s orders. The place was filled with logs swinging on ropes for mock battles.
“It may still be a bit early for you to wield a real blade.”
Hut called a knight over and told him to bring “that” up from the underground prison.
“That?”
At my question, Eon burst out in alarm.
“Captain! If the lady gets hurt, we’re as good as dead! If I hadn’t been here, maybe, but now that I’ve heard and seen everything, I’ll be an accomplice too!”
Clutching his cheeks in fear, Eon’s panic only made my unease grow about this mysterious “that.”
“I had a hard time fighting that thing myself last time!” he cried.
“You’ll have to face it eventually. The time has just come sooner.”
The knight headed to the underground prison.
I had never once set foot down there, so I had no idea what was inside.
My hand, clutching the Crimson Sword, trembled with inexplicable dread.
