Chapter 10
I headed toward the training grounds with Rossi held carefully in my arms.
The modifications had been fairly successful.
Though, even so, it still wasn’t capable of doing anything particularly impressive.
At best, it might serve as a mechanical arm or something along those lines… But I suppose that’s still better than having nothing at all.
No matter what I brought with me, there was no way I could beat Edward Oppa, who was practically a monster at this point.
I didn’t even know what the contest would involve, but if it was some kind of duel, I would rather forfeit than risk getting a bone broken trying to fight that lunatic.
Pride didn’t put food on the table, after all.
With that thought in mind, I arrived at the training grounds—only to find an unexpected sight waiting for me.
“Father, what is this…?”
A gigantic boulder had been placed in the middle of the training grounds.
It was so enormous that I couldn’t imagine where they had even found it, much less how they had transported it. Even several knights carrying it together would have struggled to move it.
And sticking out of the top of the boulder was the hilt of a sword.
“What has been embedded in that boulder is a Silver Sword, a treasure said to have been personally blessed by the High Priest. It is particularly effective against monsters.”
The head butler began explaining in Father’s stead.
“It was lost a long time ago, but it seems the monsters had used this boulder to seal it away. This time, the family head brought the entire boulder containing the sealed Silver Sword back with him.”
I glanced at Father with a stunned expression.
Apparently, he had simply picked up and carried that enormous boulder with his bare human body.
Anyway, what does that have to do with the test?
A question arose in my mind, along with a very ominous feeling.
Don’t tell me…
The moment I thought that, Father gave a crooked smile.
“Pull it out. Any one of you.”
Excalibur, Father?
So, as it turned out, I’d been possessed into the legend of King Arthur.
Of course, the protagonist, King Arthur, was that Edward Oppa standing off to the side.
And I was probably Extra No. 3, the pathetic side character who tried to pull out the sword and got thrown flat on her face.
The boulder was enormous, and although only the hilt of the sword was visible, the hilt itself was nearly as large as my head.
I stared at the boulder with a horrified expression.
There’s no way I can do it, right?
Yep. No way.
I alternated my gaze between the gigantic Silver Sword and my slender arms, then quickly gave up.
Sometimes, knowing when to abandon something hopeless was the wiser choice.
This wasn’t something I could overcome simply by throwing myself at it with enthusiasm.
It was a pure test of physical strength.
I glanced back at my brothers.
Lawrence Oppa was glaring at the boulder with his brows furrowed.
He was exceptionally talented for his age, but apparently even Lawrence Oppa wasn’t confident that he could pull the greatsword buried deep within the rock.
And Edward Oppa…
He was smiling.
It was the smile of someone who had just discovered an interesting toy.
“Do I merely have to pull it out, Father?”
Shing.
Edward Oppa drew the sword from the sheath at his waist.
“In any manner I choose?”
He looked as though he was about to unleash sword energy and simply cut the boulder apart.
That lunatic. As expected, his fists come before his words.
I instinctively took a step backward.
It looked like pieces of the boulder might start flying at any moment.
“You may not break the boulder. You must pull it out using pure strength.”
“…How boring.”
Edward Oppa said that with a bored expression.
Apparently, the fact that this was nothing more than a pure test of physical strength, with no bloodshed involved, had killed his interest.
Seeing this, Lawrence Oppa bit his lip and clenched his fists.
“I’ll go first, Father.”
There was only one sword embedded in the boulder.
In other words, there was only one chance to pull it out and make an impression on Father.
Edward Oppa merely gave a derisive snort and didn’t stop him.
Lawrence Oppa strode toward the boulder.
His expression was completely devoid of humor, and there was a solemn determination in his eyes.
Can he do it?
No matter how gifted he was, Lawrence Oppa was only thirteen years old.
His body hadn’t fully developed yet.
Lawrence Oppa firmly closed his mouth and gripped the sword’s hilt.
The veins on the back of his hands bulged, but the sword hilt didn’t budge an inch.
Gritting his teeth, Lawrence Oppa grabbed the sword with both hands.
This time, veins bulged all the way up his forearms.
Then, a moment later, my eyes widened.
Crack.
With a bone-chilling sound, cracks began to spread through the boulder.
What? Is he actually going to succeed?
If so, it would be a major upset.
I looked toward Edward Oppa.
He was standing with his arms crossed, watching Lawrence Oppa with bored eyes.
There was even a faint smile playing around his lips.
That’s a sneer.
The instant I had that thought, Lawrence Oppa let out a shout.
“Haaah!”
His battle cry rang throughout the training grounds.
I hurriedly turned my gaze back toward the boulder.
The sword…
didn’t come out.
The cracks in the boulder didn’t widen any further, either.
Lawrence Oppa continued exerting himself to his absolute limit, but eventually lost his grip on the hilt and staggered backward.
As expected, this task was still too much for him.
And Edward Oppa had known it from the beginning.
The derisive smile he’d been wearing was proof of that.
He’s really annoying…
But there was no denying it.
Edward Oppa was several levels above Lawrence Oppa.
“Come inside.”
At Father’s command, Lawrence Oppa straightened himself.
“I can try again.”
“Wasting your strength on something with no hope of success is foolish as well. Come back.”
Father’s voice was firm and cold.
This year, Lawrence Oppa would not be given another opportunity.
The expression on Lawrence Oppa’s face twisted.
He must have understood that just as painfully as I did.
The despair in his expression was far too heavy a burden for a thirteen-year-old boy to bear.
Perhaps it was because I had regained the memories of my previous life.
At this moment, he no longer looked like the annoying brat who constantly picked fights with me.
He simply looked like what he really was.
A boy in his early teens.
Perhaps that was why, as Lawrence Oppa passed by me, I found myself speaking without thinking.
“You worked hard.”
For an instant, Lawrence Oppa’s eyes widened.
I could feel him turning to look at me.
But instead of meeting his gaze, I simply walked past him as though I hadn’t said anything.
I wanted to tell him that he’d done his best, and that was enough for today.
But, well…
There was no point in two losers comforting each other.
It would only look ridiculous.
As I stepped forward, Father raised one eyebrow, seemingly surprised.
“Are you saying you’ll try to pull it out, Lilian?”
“No, Father.”
I politely shook my head.
“Let Edward Oppa go first. I couldn’t possibly take up the precious time of someone like him.”
“…”
“…”
The training grounds instantly fell silent.
Several people were staring at me with their mouths hanging open.
It was understandable.
Lilian Sergeunev had never once used the word Oppa in her life.
Honestly, even now, I felt like hives were breaking out on my lips.
“I only came to give him this.”
I pulled a handkerchief from my clothes and held it out to Edward Oppa.
“Wipe your palms with this, Oppa. If your hand were to slip and you got hurt, it would be a serious problem.”
“…”
“Of course, something like that would never happen to someone as strong as you.”
There was one thing I’d learned painfully from the memories of my previous life.
It’s more important to know how to stay on the right side of powerful people than to have ability.
When there was a sturdy rope dangling right in front of me, there was no harm in grabbing onto it.
Edward Oppa stared at me silently for a moment.
He was probably wondering what kind of nonsense I was trying to pull.
“What the hell is this supposed to be?”
He had hit the nail almost exactly on the head.
Perhaps he thought I was mocking him, because a faint murderous intent appeared in his eyes.
I didn’t want to provoke him any further, so I quietly lowered my head.
Edward Oppa walked right past me without so much as looking at the handkerchief I was offering.
“Good luck, Oppa.”
I delivered one final blow at his retreating back.
Edward Oppa’s footsteps seemed to falter slightly.
Perhaps he had been touched by the adorable affection of his little sister…
No, probably not.
I’d shown him as much goodwill as I could, but apparently none of it had reached the heart of that psychopath.
You can’t expect to fill your stomach with your first bite.
I wasn’t disappointed.
I folded the handkerchief and headed toward the edge of the training grounds.
Lawrence Oppa, who had already stepped aside, looked at me as though he’d just seen a lunatic.
“…Hey. What the hell was that?”
“What do you mean? I was simply looking after my older brother as his little sister.”
“M-My older brother?”
Lawrence Oppa recoiled as though he’d seen something disgusting.
“You’ve never called me that before!”
“What? Would you like me to?”
If that was what he wanted, I could certainly do it.
I parted my lips gracefully and pronounced the words clearly.
“Lawrence Oppa.”
“D-Don’t!”
Lawrence Oppa hugged his own arms as though his entire body had broken out in goosebumps.
What an overreaction.
I settled down somewhere with a clear view of the boulder and looked toward Edward Oppa.
The profile of Edward Oppa was cold as the north wind.
His gaze was so fierce that it seemed capable of killing someone with nothing more than a look.
Apparently, my little act of affection had backfired spectacularly.
Hmm. I think my pride might be a little bruised…
Then again, they say that those who have tasted food are the ones who eat the most.
For an eldest brother who had probably never experienced anything resembling sibling affection, there was no way I could make him develop a positive impression of me overnight.
But if I can gradually grow closer to him…
Edward Sergeunev was, without question, the second-most powerful person in this castle after Father.
On top of that, there was a very high probability that he would become the future head of the family.
There was certainly no harm in getting on the good side of someone that talented.
“…He’s starting.”
Lawrence Oppa’s tense voice reached me.
I turned around and saw Edward Oppa gripping the sword’s hilt with his right hand.
He had clearly seen Lawrence Oppa fail despite using both hands.
And yet Edward Oppa was using only one, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Soon, vicious veins bulged across his pale arm, completely at odds with its otherwise smooth appearance.
And then, a moment later…
