Chapter 5: To the city.

“…S, excuse me, what did you say about our Signo?”

Minon retorted, rudely dropping her teacup onto the saucer.

“Hmm. Is this brewed with the young buds of the mist tree? It’s a simple and very pleasing fragrance.”

Regardless, Yukomis deeply savored the aroma of the teacup placed in front of her.

“Just now, that is…”

“That your brother is a genius.”

And she slightly sipped it with her eyes tightly closed.

“A genius?”

“Well. I’m just a magician by trade, and not the best expert in swordsmanship, but I’m confident that I’m at least an intermediate.”

Karat nodded slightly from behind, agreeing with her.

Another sip.

“Baroness. Your brother never closed his eyes until just before he was attacked. Moreover, there was no sign of him reflexively cowering before being hit. Even though I made a show of striking between his eyes, his eyes never closed and tracked the trajectory of my sword until the end.”

“Yes.”

“And then he boldly prepared to ‘control the damage and pain’. I can tell by his posture. As if he had experienced this kind of battle dozens of times.”

Yukomis recalled the scene where the boy had cut the arm of the kidnapper leader without any hesitation.

It was an arm.

It was an arm, but… Yukomis felt a strange sense of incongruity there.

As if the boy’s arm was long enough.

If his height was long enough. Or if his strength was enough.

That feeling that he would have stabbed the enemy’s neck without hesitation instead of his arm.

‘As much as he doesn’t hesitate to kill… maybe he doesn’t have an instinctive fear of dying either.’

“Is that so great?”

Karat shook his head at Minon’s question.

“Overcoming human instinct is not possible for someone who has not been trained. In fact, even professionally trained soldiers usually close their eyes when a sword is flying at their forehead.”

“Yes…”

“Baroness. Has your brother ever received early education in swordsmanship or any martial arts?”

“Ah, no.”

Minon couldn’t hide the shocked expression on her face at Karat’s words.

“My parents died when Signo was too young to learn such things. I only know simple self-defense, and… he was weak when he was young.”

“That’s why your brother is a genius.”

Yukomis, who was sipping tea, answered again.

“Even so, his wits are sharp, and he’s always trying to arrogantly pretend to be clumsy. I wonder if he thinks he can hide his talent by getting hit on purpose. It’s obvious what he’s thinking.”

She snorted softly while maintaining a blank expression.

He’s even bad at lying, it’s really like seeing her sister again…

‘What am I thinking?’

Yukomis was a little surprised by her own thoughts.

To overlap that kid with her sister.

Shaking her head, she continued.

“Um… excuse me, but can you really know for sure with just that? Is it certain that Signo is a genius who is one in a thousand?”

“Baroness Minon. I don’t think you understand yet.”

She sighed this time as if she was frustrated.

“I’m a very busy person. One in a thousand? I’ve trampled on so many talents that I could step on them without even trying. If he was at that level, I wouldn’t even think about taking a twelve-year-old boy under my wing. That’s already too late for youth education. But I’ve never seen this kind of talent anywhere.”

Yukomis didn’t even mention the elegant physical skills that the boy had briefly shown in the forest.

In fact, that was the biggest reason why she had decided that she had to test the boy named Signo.

“He might have thought to himself, ‘It would be appropriate to compete for one or two bout and then fall down’, but I’m the sister of ‘Thermis Solenas’, who received even a portion of her skills directly.”

And she prided herself on having a good eye for people.

“I can suppress even mediocre knights with just swordsmanship without magic before they can even blink. But a twelve-year-old? To parry my attacks? And try to re-attack?”

She shrugged as if she was speechless.

“He hasn’t received any education? You said he was completely ignorant of swordsmanship?”

“Even I, Yukomis-nim’s escort, doubted my eyes.”

Karat chimed in.

“See.”

“No, I’m just so sudden with your words, I don’t even know what this is…”

“Just understand this. Baroness Minon.”

Yukomis took out a small piece of paper from her bosom.

It was a document with the ducal family’s seal stamped on it, and it stated that ‘Yukomis Franon Solenas is designated as Signo Irendel’s godmother’.

“Sign here and stamp your seal.”

“Th, this is, this is… Oh my god…”

A godmother relationship agreement between the Baron and the Ducal family.

Minon had never seen such a huge status difference in a contract, even in books.

“Originally, I only thought of enrolling your brother in the educational institutions owned by the Ducal family, but I’ve changed my mind. I’m thinking of managing your brother directly.”

“Yes?”

Minon dropped her teacup again, and the poor teacup couldn’t withstand the second impact and shattered.

Aina, who had been listening to the conversation blankly from behind, hurriedly ran over and started wiping the liquid that had flowed onto her master’s clothes.

“My, does that mean my brother will become a student of the Princess…?”

“Yes.”

“H, but! My brother is a man. He can’t become a magician, and he won’t be able to learn anything from Yukomis-nim…!”

“How funny. What do you take me for? I’m Yukomis Franon Solenas. Magic is just a part of my talent. Your brother said he wanted to be a ‘scholar’, right? Then he will become one. Of course, ‘after becoming a knight’.”

Yukomis laughed.

“I’m the best as a scholar too.”

“…Th, that’s what it is! That’s good, isn’t it!”

“Good my ass!!!!”

I threw all the training wooden swords that I had hugged so far.

“It’s not something you can just notify me about unilaterally!”

“Hey! What kind of language is that to your sister!”

“It’s not to, you!”

“Do you know how big of an honor it is that Yukomis-nim is going to guide you directly?”

“My opinion, which is the most important, You missed it…!!”

Just now, my sister, who had approached me while I was busy organizing things outside, declared vaguely, ‘You’re going to the Ducal family now.’

I was hoping that she would say it in a way that sounded like ‘Our Signo needs to go to another academy’, but.

Of course, it didn’t sound like that at all.

“Bu, but Signo, listen! The Princess thinks you have talent!”

Looking back, my hateful ‘younger sister’ was waving her hand.

I thought I had clearly seen the ridicule flowing on her lips for a moment even though she was pretending to be expressionless.

“Bu, but, I like it here!”

“Signo. You mustn’t be spoiled! You’re already twelve years old!”

“Twelve years old is definitely not a lot!”

“Honorifics!”

“It’s not a lot!”

“Are you saying that with your own mouth?”

“Because that’s the truth!”

“This kid, does he think it’s all over if he just uses honorifics?”

“You told me to!”

“Signo! I’ll say it again, don’t be stubborn! This has already been decided!”

“Keuk…!”

“Signo, it hurts my heart, but you have to leave!”

Looking back, Yukomis’s lips were showing more obvious ridicule than before.

‘Wow, she’s still got a terribly bad personality…’

“Ah yes, yes. I see.”

If my younger sister had already finished the groundwork, this argument was meaningless.

Knowing well that monetary problems always surpass emotional arguments, I quickly gave up.

“Okay then.”

“Eh, Signo?”

My sister was embarrassed as my attitude changed 180 degrees so sullenly.

“I was really only thinking about supporting my sister, but since my sister wants to kick me out of here, it’s heartbreaking, but I can’t help it…”

“Quit bickering. Kid.”

“Ouch!”

Yukomis, who had approached without me knowing, hit the back of my head with her steel staff.

“It hurts…”

Oh my. That staff is.

Turning around to get angry, I thought that I was noticing her staff for the first time since the reunion.

It wasn’t the ornate and large staff with amethyst and gold trim that the great magicians of the imperial palace inherited.

‘That’s… the one I gave her as a child when I was ‘Thermis’…?

A simple-shaped, youth staff made of brass.

It was clearly the one that I had saved up my allowance to buy for her when she awakened as a magician.

Yukomis, who felt my gaze towards the staff, quickly hid the staff behind her back.

“What? Do you want this?”

“Are you a kid.”

When you think about it, I’m more of a kid now.

“Ah, no. I was just thinking that it’s a simple staff for the Princess to possess.”

Her expression crumpled at once.

“What?”

“Ah, it’s not that I don’t like it! It’s just that… what do you call it, the beauty of simplicity… I just thought it was a very pretty staff…”

“Is that so?”

Her expression relaxed right away.

…She’s definitely a kid. Her mental age is the same as when we parted ways.

“You have a good eye”

I had discovered a minimalist aesthetic like that of modern society in that simple staff and chose it as a gift.

Of course, there was no way that there would have been anyone in a medieval fantasy-style society who would have sympathized with my aesthetic sense.

Here, they regarded anything flashy, ornate, and anything with density packed to the brim as the best.

Yukomis clearly seemed to be in a seriously bad mood when she received it.

I haven’t seen her use it since the day she received the gift either.

‘Maybe it’s because she didn’t grow taller. The great magician’s staff that she received from the heavens was too big for her.’

I snickered, thinking of the thoughts that Yukomis would definitely beat me up if she knew.

Maybe that’s it. So she started using it again.

As for the power, well. There’s no need for that level of magical medium now.

“It seems that you have a pretty good aesthetic sense too. I’m glad that there are fewer things to teach.”

This excuse seemed to have worked better than I thought, and Yukomis seemed to be in a good mood.

“Anyway, we’re leaving tomorrow right away. Pack the necessary luggage to a minimum, and get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

“Do we have to move already? I want to rest a little more…”

“No. If you slack off, the tension will be released and it will be harder to move again.”

I was now leaving the barony to go to a neighboring city.

It was to stop by a reasonably sized base city to purchase travel supplies.

Without any time for a touching farewell with everyone in Irendel, Yukomis urged me to leave quickly.

Well, when you think about it, there were only my sister and one maid in the mansion, so it didn’t take long to say goodbye…

‘Signo, I love you! I’ll miss you! You have to be healthy!’

My sister, who was seeing me off with tears and snot all over her face without any dignity as the Baron, was a sight to behold.

I didn’t know she was such an affectionate person.

‘Sister. It’s not like we’re never going to see each other again. Yukomis-nim said that she would let me return to the barony regularly… Think of it as studying abroad.’

When it came time to leave, the person who sent me to the Ducal family was being more stubborn.

‘When is that going to beeeeee!’

‘……Once a year. The Princess is watching, so wipe your nose a little… You’re not a child.’

‘Huk! You’re the child!’

Aina, who was watching, gave a pitiful smile and wiped Minon’s face with a handkerchief.

Anyway, that’s how the atmosphere was.

‘She’s never shown this side of her before.’

When you look at it like this, she looked nothing like a cold-blooded person who had bet everything on the family’s revival.

‘I was misunderstanding her.’

Her heart to worry about her family must have been genuine.

Since most of the territory was mountains and hills, just leaving the barony was already quite a forced march.

For a twelve-year-old, sickly child.

As I realized my lack of physical strength in this way again,

I felt that the thought of trying to track down the kidnappers in the forest was incredibly reckless.

“Huff…Huff…”

“You’re pathetic one thing at a time. You’re already out of breath again?”

“Well. I… didn’t do things like… exercise… that much…Huff…”

“Should I tell Karat to carry you on his back?”

Karat, who was accompanying Yukomis, didn’t seem to be out of breath at all even though he was already carrying most of the luggage.

“No. It’s okay.”

It was a proposal that made me feel a little stubborn.

“……Alright.”

Yukomis seemed a little impressed.

“Your tenacity is good. I thought you would say ‘yes’ because you’re so shameless…”

That tenacity didn’t last long.

Thanks to Yukomis, who was pushing the moving speed ruthlessly as usual, I could hardly breathe.

She was watching me clutch my chest with a delighted expression,

and seemed to be anticipating when the unsightly words ‘carry me’ would finally come out.

“Just a moment”

“No.”

“Why!”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“Please!”

“Unlike you, who was rolling around anywhere as a low-ranking aristocrat, I’m a precious person. I hate sleeping with bugs.”

“Liar!”

There’s no way that was true.

She’s someone who has camped out and camped with me countless times during her Knight Order days.

However, Yukomis didn’t even listen to my denial.

“What if it’s a lie? Are you going to make me camp out because of you and make Karat stand guard all night?”

Karat smiled, as if he didn’t care, and thumped his chest,

but Yukomis was right.

Yeah. That’s being spoiled.

Karat. One of the knights I personally picked to escort Yukomis.

‘I thought that someone would need to protect her even after I disappeared…’

He was a friend who was boringly diligent. That’s why I picked him, actually.

You need to have one of these friends in the organization. I thought that it was necessary to have this one and moderately filled him, that is, filled with the position of ‘good guy’.

Moreover, this level of stickiness was just right to serve the terribly cold-hearted younger sister.

“Ugh…”

After coming down the mountain range for another two hours while clutching my chest.

Finally, I saw the houses where the lumberjacks lived with and the village.

Beyond those simple houses, the lights shining from the city’s magician tower were faintly visible.

“I’m glad we arrived just before sunset, right?”

“…Yes.”

Kipol, a free city that borders the Irendel barony.

Unfortunately, infertility was a relatively common side effect among magicians.

Such infertile magicians, who could not continue their lineage, and who were pushed back in the line of succession because of it…

It was not uncommon for them to become independent from their families with their followers and build their own power.

They would cooperate with magicians in similar situations to gradually increase their wealth and land for decades, and if that was successful enough, it would finally become a freedom City.

These magicians, who naturally became ‘first-generation nobles’ because they had no descendants,

also had the right to rule the territory because they were aristocrats, even if they could not create an heir.

We’re calling them Free Cities, but the political structure was really diverse.

If there was a magician who was overwhelming in terms of ability or reputation among the group, she would take responsibility and become the leader,

and if the members were mostly plain in terms of contribution or ability, they would form a magician’s council and share the rights.

Kipol was neither of those.

To be honest, two local nobles that I don’t even remember the names of were co-ruling.

‘Well, I think I’ve heard of them, it’s ambiguous…’

Anyway, the reason why that place was called a ‘free’ city was because the executives in important positions were not members of the noble family, but commoners, that is, the followers of the magicians.

Because a professional class was also needed to manage the territory.

If there were any citizens with outstanding abilities, they would be given the opportunity to become such officials.

No matter what happened, the fact that they were below the magicians did not change, but in fact, even this was very free in this class system.

This was because there was an incomparable difference between the power that magicians and ordinary humans could wield.

Usually.

The guards who were protecting the city walls were so surprised that they almost fainted as soon as they saw the morning star attached to Yukomis’s travel cloak.

“Y, youyouyou, Yu, Yukomis Franon Solenas-nim! It’s an honor to have you visit Kipol!”

“Of course it is.”

“May I ask what brings you to Kipol?”

The guard spoke like a marine.

It seemed that Yukomis was quite difficult to handle.

“To play.”

“Yes! To play…”

The words of the guard, who was full of military discipline, became blurred.

“Excuse me, can you say that again?”

“Did you hear? She said she came to play.”

“Ah, I understand!”

The guard didn’t even dare to question that reason-like answer.

‘Wow… she’s still cold…’

She hadn’t changed at all.

She was only treating me moderately because I was a kid.

“Yeah. Good work.”

Yukomis didn’t present even her introduction or identification.

She waved her hand among the stiff guards and officers and just passed by.

‘…No matter how I look at it, this feels like a chief of staff who made a surprise visit to the unit.’

Of course, no one caught Yukomis. Everyone must have known her face.

Or the meaning of that morning star emblem.

This seemed a little unfair. I’ve never received this kind of reaction even when I was active in my previous life.

At one point, one of the soldiers tried to check only me and Karat, who were part of the group, but

they backed away after seeing someone who seemed to be a senior officer shaking his head wildly from side to side with terrified eyes.

‘…Or they knew her personality.’

Following her, who had passed through the castle gates without looking back, I asked.

“Is it okay to just pass through like this?”

“I’m allowed to.”

She pointed her finger at me.

“You’re not allowed to.”

“…No, I didn’t mean that…”

Maintaining the most serious expression in the world, she took me to the biggest and best accommodation in Kipol.

‘Three Lamps Inn’

It was a luxury inn that had branches not only in Kipol but also in other free cities.

It was an inn that started from a private accommodation that a wealthy merchant had created for his acquaintances,

and there were not a few luxury accommodations in free cities for people who had a lot of money but were low in status.

Because the level of facilities was quite high, even low-ranking nobles who visited the city for personal business used it quite often.

It was almost an inn, but it was a much more pleasant place to stay than the dilapidated mansion of the Irendel barony.

Among them, the ‘Three Lamps Inn’ was a business that I was particularly familiar with.

Because the one who helped this business was myself in my previous life, Thermis Solenas.

It would be too Geochang to call it consulting, but anyway, it was true that I had given advice.

“You’re sleeping here.”

Yukomis said, rummaging through her bosom and taking out a few gold coins.

“Only me? What about Yukomis-nim?”

“I’m too good to sleep in a place like this.”

She was talking about an incredibly splendid inn that had a sign finished with gold leaf and even two security mercenaries standing at the entrance.

“I’m joking.”

“That’s not a joke.”

Yukomis didn’t deny it and just shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“I have business at the magician tower.”

“Are you saying that you’re going to lock up a twelve-year-old kid here alone and sleep in a better place yourself?”

“Well. What can I do if your status is so low?”

She sneered.

“Did you see the reaction when I passed by on the street? What kind of commotion would happen if I went in there with this face?”

Well, that was… true.

“So stop talking and sleep here.”

“Where did your sense of responsibility as a godmother go?”

“It seems to have eloped with your manners and hand in hand.”

“Keuk…”

“Be quiet and go in quickly. It’s okay to have your meals delivered to your room or order snacks or anything, but no alcohol. The employees won’t give it to you in the first place anyway.”

“I’m old enough, though.”

“Kids all say that.”

That’s the truth.

“Don’t sleep too late because I have a lot to do tomorrow.”

“Wow, you kind of sound like a godmother when you say that… Ouch!”

She hit my head with her brass staff.

It wasn’t a staff that she was gifted to hit me .

“Karat. Go in and help him with the procedures. I’ll wait here for a while.”

“I understand. Mistress.”