SWS CH 37

Chapter 37

About twenty minutes earlier.

Helbern is on the move!

He’s muttering that he’s hungry. Looks like he’s heading to the banquet hall!

But the butler said he barely ever eats there!

I heard he usually eats with the knights at the training grounds.

So what’s with this sudden meal?!

[He’s almost here!]

This is bad.

There’s no food prepared for that lunatic.

And it’s obvious he’ll say something outrageous the moment he sees Docep.

If I run away now, I can avoid him—but Docep won’t be able to.

“That won’t do. May, I suddenly have a stomach emergency. Please serve the young master and the Duchess when they arrive!”

“Madam!”

I slipped out of the banquet hall with Junel.

Just as he said, Helbern was coming down the stairs.

I couldn’t let him run into Docep like this.

Even the most delicious food tastes awful if the mood turns sour.

Honestly, I was terrified about whether I could really avoid that crazy man—but I didn’t have time to think about that.

“If I end up in danger, you have to save me.”

[Of course!]

Insurance secured.

“Hey!!”

I waved at Helbern from a distance.

My voice echoed loudly through the corridor. He stretched his neck to see who was calling him.

[Halara, what on earth are you doing?!]

“I’m your sister-in-law!”

He froze for a second, then pointed at me.

Looks like he finally recognized me.

Then it’s time to run!

I spun around and bolted.

“Hey!! Stop right there!!”

As if I would.

“Don’t ‘hey’ me! I’m your sister-in-law!”

“You little—! If I catch you, you’re dead!”

As if you wouldn’t torment me even if you didn’t catch me.

I dashed up the stairs of the main house.

The one thing I was grateful to Getti for was how thoroughly she had explained the layout of the mansion.

Avoiding the areas Helbern frequented, so I headed toward a quiet corner of the estate.

He chased after me relentlessly.

At least, thankfully, he seemed slower than usual—maybe because he wasn’t fully recovered.

Of course, Halara’s body, with zero muscle, got tired quickly too.

[Halara, let’s hide around here!]

“Okay.”

I couldn’t get caught here.

In a hurry, I opened the door to a storage-level room.

Only faint light filtered through the thick curtains.

Boxes were stacked in tall piles.

A perfect hiding place.

I slipped behind a stack of boxes.

Pant, pant.

No matter how much I tried to control it, the air kept rushing in and out of my lungs.

[Let’s stay here for now. I’ll keep watch and see if he leaves—ugh!

“What? Is he here?”

I asked Junel, who had suddenly frozen.

But instead of answering, he fluttered up and landed on top of a box.

Then he hurriedly opened the lid and pulled out a sword.

[It was here all along!]

“A famous sword?”

Junel’s face turned red with excitement as he snorted.

Whenever he makes a fuss like this, it’s always about swords.

When Getti had shown me around the mansion before, he had gotten excited over the swords scattered everywhere.

But this one looked older and more worn than those.

The scabbard looked centuries old.

[This is on a different level from ordinary master-crafted swords! Far superior to the ones the Crag Bear possessed.]

“All famous swords are the same to me.”

[Halara, this sword is connected to you.]

“To me?”

[It’s a sword of the Brininhanta family.]

He shoved the scabbard toward me.

[Look—this is the Brininhanta family crest!]

The leather wrapping was so worn it was hard to make out.

And in the first place, I wasn’t connected to that family.

“Can you move it? It smells.”

It reeked of age and decay.

[Foolish child. Can’t you recognize the legendary sword your ancestors made?

“It’s been hundreds of years. How would I know? And I’m not a knight.”

[Tsk. To fail to recognize this beauty.

Junel reverently removed the scabbard.

“Ugh!”

The moment I saw the blade, I almost gagged.

It was rusted red and smelled rotten.

“That’s not a legendary sword. That’s trash.”

[Tsk. How ignorant.]

“Ignorant? Do you want to go hungry?”

[I meant the Bloodymary idiots are ignorant! They shoved this masterpiece into storage without realizing what it was.]

Sneaky old snake.

Dodging well, aren’t you?

“But it’s unusable. One swing and it’ll snap.”

Time had already eaten away at it.

Just like some legendary swords in the original novel that had reached the end of their lifespan.

This isn’t just a famous sword. It’s a Blood Sword.

“A Blood Sword?”

I’d heard of that.

A sword that feeds on the contractor’s blood.

Though swords have no life, a Blood Sword moves as if alive.

[If it’s the blood of someone from the Brininhanta line, it can be revived.]

Junel looked at me expectantly.

[Since you inherited that blood.]

“Wait. You’re not telling me to bleed, right?”

[Just a little.]

Little or not, I don’t even prick my finger when I’m sick!

[Doesn’t Docep need a legendary sword?]

“There are plenty in this family.”

[None compare.]

He held it closer to my face.

I don’t know how amazing it is, but if Junel is this desperate for my blood, it must be special.

“Not much. I’m scared.”

[Three drops will do.]

Three drops…

Compared to how much blood Docep had shed, that’s nothing.

“Fine, whatever!”

And honestly, I was curious about this legendary Blood Sword mentioned in the novel.

In a burst of reckless courage, I nicked my fingertip.

“Ow, that hurts.”

[Well done, Halara!]

Junel pressed the blade against my wound.

“Don’t rub that on me! I could get tetanus!”

Tetanus? Don’t know what that is, but it needs blood!

“I was about to drip it myself!”

I was just about to squeeze my finger—

The rusted sword glowed red.

The dark room flashed like lightning had struck.

Smoke rose from the blade.

[Cuspis gladii in anima excitata solem findet.]

A strange incantation echoed.

[It means: ‘The awakened blade within the soul shall split the sun.’]

Junel translated.

“Wow! The color changed!”

When the smoke cleared—

The blade shone vividly red even in the dark.

The rust vanished.

In its place stood a brilliant longsword.

[…To think I would see the Blood Sword of Brininhanta again in my lifetime.]

Junel even started crying.

So my blood worked.

“Guess I really am from that annihilated family.”

I’d once thought maybe I could see Junel because I was a transmigrator.

If my blood hadn’t worked, I could’ve run away anytime.

But this confirmed it.

[Halara, thank you.]

“…If it helps Docep awaken faster, then fine.”

Maybe I’d even give a little more blood later.

“Kuahahahaha!”

Suddenly, a madman’s laughter echoed.

Goosebumps shot up my spine.

There stood Helbern.

He stared at me with gleaming eyes and a crooked grin.

“…H-how did you find me?”

I hadn’t heard any doors opening.

“I sensed something strange here. And look—you’re here too.”

He explained calmly.

I had forgotten one thing.

He wasn’t an ordinary man.

He was a sword master.

The Blood Sword awakening had released sword energy he could sense.

“Haha…”

This is really bad.

Boxes blocked every side.

Bars covered the window.

[Don’t worry about him. I’ll blast him away!]

Junel sounded confident.

But I shook my head.

If we did that, Helbern would fully suspect me.

Better to act innocent and talk my way out.

“Nice to see you. It’s been a while.”

I greeted him first.

I wanted to step closer, but remembering last time, I couldn’t.

“It has been. Thanks to me, you’ve been living comfortably, huh?”

“Because of you?”

“‘Because of you’? Are you playing maid because you’re a commoner?”

“No. It’s customary to call your husband’s unmarried younger brother ‘young master.’ Surely you know that?”

He understood “sister-in-law,” but not “young master”?

“I—I knew that!”

Guess he didn’t.

“Of course.”

“And I didn’t fail to marry. I chose not to!”

“Yes, of course.”

Though I’m the only one who knows you’ll end up unmarried in a tragic ending.

“…Do you even know where I’ve been?”

Helbern shouted.

“I assumed you were here. The Duchess told you not to touch me, so I thought you were leaving me alone. But judging by today… maybe not?”

“I went to the border!”

The border.

I’d heard about that in Docep’s secret room.

He’d fought a powerful knight there.

“Ah.”

I nodded as if hearing it for the first time.