Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume8 Post Epilogue Part 1

Ordinary Days

That night, Minse Yuutonoru violently threw the thing beside him into the wall.

That happened to be a wooden table, which exuded extravagance and technology whether you looked at its material or its design. But with Minse’s strength the table collided with the shoji [screen door] with an intense sound before it fell to pieces.

Even that wasn’t enough to suppress the rage in his heart, but at least it was enough temporarily quell his impulses. If he didn’t do that, he definitely would have stormed into the palace and completely destroyed the ceremonial banquet which should be going on over there right now.

Not only that, he would also personally gouge out the pair of sleepy eyes which belonged to that poor looking brat who would be there.

The centre to tonight’s celebration was that child.

Minse was still very young. Somewhere in his mid teens.

But he was even younger.

That’s why Minse was so angry.

Tonight, they were commemorating the birth of the twelfth Heaven’s Blade Receiver.

That kid’s name was Layfon Alseif. Since he became a Heaven’s Blade, his name became Layfon Wolfstein Alseif.

“Why isn’t it me?” complained Minse piteously. His hair long black hair grew in a featureless messy tangle.

The Yuutonoru was one of the three Royal families in Grendan. The current Queen Alsheyra is of the Almonise family. The family that the King or Queen is from is known as the ruling house.

There was to be twelve Heaven’s Blade Receivers, as there were only twelve blades made from the Mysterious Grendan White Dite known as the Heaven’s Blades.

Before Alsheyra’s reign, there were five Heaven’s Blades Receivers. But now, all twelve have been gathered.

Minse believed that he would be the twelfth. The people also held such hopes for him. The last member of the three royal families, Ronsmier’s Tigris had already taken the title of a Heaven’s Blade Receiver. Queen Alsheyra is regarded as the strongest Royalty in history, with the purest blood running through her veins in the Royal Families, one whose existence itself demanded it be shown off proudly. Naturally, it was expected that the head of the Yuutonoru family Minse would take the twelfth Heaven’s blade title, and in fact calling it his inheritance wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

But, reality wasn’t like that.

Layfon Wolfstein Alseif. A member of a small school Psyharden, an adoptive child became the twelfth Heaven’s Blade.

What’s more was that Minse wasn’t even given a chance to challenge Layfon.

“This is a conspiracy” moaned Minse.

What he said wasn’t actually nonsense.

There was no doubt that the Almonise family and the Yuutonoru family were the current ruling houses. More accurately, it was between the Yuutonoru and Almonise families.

The three Royal Families wanted to protect the bloodline of the first King, and they wanted to make sure that any marriages would give birth to more Military Artists. The minimal requirement for a suitor was being a Military Artist. And from the aspect of retaining the purity of the blood from the first king, the suitor had to also be of royal lineage from one of the three Royal families. But purifying the bloodline too much could also lead to the passing on of inherent defects in the genes.

After much argument between the three families, they came to an agreement that every three generations, there would be an intermarriage between the three Royal families.

The current Queen Alsheyra was born of the Almonise and the Ronsmier families. And her husband is supposed to be of the Yuutonoru family.

He is Minse’s brother.

No, he was originally supposed to act as a brotherly figure.

Currently, that brother no longer existed.

He had eloped with some ordinary woman.

Alsheyra had just smiled bitterly at the news, and her next suitor had yet to be decided.

If they went in order, then in theory Minse would have been offered to take the position. There were rumours among the citizens that Alsheyra couldn’t forget about Minse’s brother, and thus was delaying her decision.

And privately, she hated he who had thrown her away, which lead to her hate of the Yuutonoru family.

Minse had believed those rumours.

Unfortunately, his bad luck didn’t end with the rumours. His parents were also successively unlucky. His father died in a battle with a filth monster, and his mother died of sickness not long after.

And Minse became the head of the Yuutonoru Family. Even though he still had many uncles, according to the laws of the three Royal Families, they were very far down the list as heirs. If the situation arose where Minse died, the person who would inherit the position as head of the family wouldn’t be his uncles but a child of the current head of another royal family. And if Alsheyra didn’t have any children, then the place would be taken by some child of the Ronsmier family.

Minse firmly believed that Alsheyra wanted use some legitimate way to annihilate the Yuutonoru family.

To stop her from succeeding, it was imperative that he become a Heaven’s Blade. It wasn’t only to spread his name as a protector [保管者] but to also show off his abilities as a descendant of the bloodline.[血缘发现者].[それをさせないためにも、ミンスは天剣授受者《てんけんじゅじゅしゃ》となる必 要があった。単なる遺伝子の保管者《ほかんしゃ》ではなく、その血の発現者とし て実力を示さなければならなかった。] xstar: tanomu!

And when there was a Royal Family marriage where the suitor was not of the royal family, then the next suitors would be chosen from the Heaven’s Blade Receivers. This way it was possible for him to reclaim the right as a suitor to the Queen and recover the status of the Yuutonoru family.

However, he didn’t get chosen for the twelfth spot. Alsheyra had taken away even the chance to show his strength.

This was a conspiracy.

Minse believed this without a shred of doubt.

“If it’s like this, I also have my own means.”

Sooner or later, Alsheyra was going to come to eliminate Minse. But he wouldn’t be sitting, waiting for his demise.

“…It’s not like you mustn’t attack the royalty no matter what.”

Things like authorities have no power over people who have been driven into a corner. In order to live on, they will bare their fang at anyone.

Minse had changed his mood for the better, but looking at his face from the side there was a miserable expression unfitting of his age upon his face.

◇

She would only be happy on that day.

The following days, she was as busy as a bee.

“I really can’t take this!”

The Psyharden Dojo was not far from the orphanage and Leerin stood outside with her hands on her hips.

Only ten years old, she was a mid-level student in elementary school. She had a steady personality and can usually be found cooking in the kitchen. Wearing clothes with attention to work and moving about, her hair was also appropriately tied up in a bun. Following the latest trends, the hair in front of her bun curled to one side.

Leerin was standing in the makeshift reception area of the dojo.

The second day since Layfon had become a Heaven’s Blade receiver, which was today, the dojo had become unusually busy. There was only an old small-scale dojo, which was the Psyharden Katana School’s dojo.

The number of people in the dojo was as small as the dojo itself. There were countless dojos like this in Grendan. Even those that taught the katana couldn’t be counted with two hands.

Of course, there weren’t many of those which could continue running for a long time. Sometimes it was because the owner of the dojo died in a fight with a filth monster, and there weren’t any successors; or some of the dojos fell to ruin after losing in fights with other dojos.

However, unlike its size, the Psyharden katana school dojo has a long history.

But it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the size of a dojo in Grendan represented its status.

A youth, which had been winning in official matches for two years straight, yesterday claimed victory in the Heaven’s Blade Receiver selection matches and officially became the twelfth Heaven’s Blade.

That youth belonged to the Psyharden School.

That is, this dojo located at the edge of the residence areas which was barely struggling by.

In the morning, before the doors of the dojo had even opened, there was already a long line of people outside the dojo hoping to get in. Leerin busily responded to them, and even though it was already after noon there were no signs of there being an end to all this.

“Leerin, take this chance and have lunch.”

“Ok~”

In an attempt to take her mind off the annoying problem, a nearby person went behind the reception area, brought a pot and started cooking.

It looked like that there was no end to the people who wanted to join the dojo, and they weren’t about to wait obediently in line either. They had obviously already gotten an admission slip but they still couldn’t line up properly.

Looking at the scene, Leerin was stumped.

“I can’t take this, I really want to just stay here instead” complained Leerin. She was drinking some warm milk, and had recovered somewhat.

Beside the reception area there were tables prepared by the street’s residents.

It’s just as you can see, it’s a small dojo, without many hands. There weren’t many staff in the kitchen either.

Seeing Leerin complaining, the person who was helping with the cooking started laughing. She was also a Nee-chan who grew up at the orphanage, and she had married recently, living the life of a newlywed.

“Well, it’s not like you can do anything about this, with Layfon doing all that.”

A Heaven’s Blade Receiver. For the military artists of Grendan, that title held great meaning.

It was equivalent to being called the strongest.

Wanting to study at the same school that trained one of the strongest is perfectly logical.

Some famous examples would the Luckens School, created by a Heaven’s Blade, and the school for the successors of the three royal families, Rivanesu. And there is the dojo currently regarded as the most prosperous, Midknot.

These three Military Arts schools all have currently serving Heaven’s Blades.

Although Grendan has twelve Heaven’s Blades, it doesn’t actually have twelve prosperous Military Arts Schools.

For example, the Psychokinesists. The only Nen-I user of all the twelve Heaven’s Blades, Delbone was the oldest of them all. There were legends that said that she had already been a Heaven’s Blade for several decades, and that perhaps she would have to step down from her position soon. As for Psychokinesis, the abilities required far outstripped those demanded of a normal Military Artist, thus there was no Dojo which was open to take in disciples and teach them.

Another example would be karenkei. Troyatte represents this school in the Heaven’s Blade, as it is also very hard to grasp, so there are very few Military Artists who are willing to learn it.

Adding these two, with the three mentioned above, and taking away Layfon, there is still six others.

Of the six, the one known as the strongest of the current Heaven’s Blades, Lintence, wasn’t born in Grendan. He was a military artist who was visiting from another city, and under the Queen’s recommendation entered the selection tournament, and became a Heaven’s Blade. So if he didn’t found a dojo, then there was no way for him to pass on his techniques to anyone else, and he had no intentions of doing so.

As for the other five, none of them fitted into any specific dojo in Grendan, and like Lintence, none of them had any intention of starting their own dojo’s either.

Putting all this into perspective, only Layfon is the only Heaven’s Blade to become one having learnt only the Psyharden Katana techniques.

So, if one was part of the Psyharden dojo, one could become a Heaven’s Blade.

Of course, that’s what everyone thought.

“But the thing is…”

Leerin gazed across at the people who were hoping to gain entry after lunch break with mixed feelings.

Wasn’t there anyone who felt suspicious?

Perhaps nobody had noticed the Dite that Layfon was holding in tournament?

That was a sword.

Psyharden was clearly a school which taught the Katana, not the sword.

Thinking back, it was the day before the decisive battle.

Inside the dojo, other than the caretaker, the two who had grown under the shelter of the Psyharden dojo; Derek and Layfon were completely alone.

The two were holding restored Dites. In Layfon’s hand, was a sword.

“I’m sorry,” said Layfon to a completely silent Derek. He then stored his Dite away and placed it within it’s sheath.

Leerin quickly realised the meaning behind it.

That was Layfon making it clear to Derek that he was giving up the way of the Katana.

And then, Layfon became a Heaven’s Blade Receiver.

“Why would Layfon…”

Even now, she still hasn’t asked him about it.

Until now, Leerin always thought that she knew everything about Layfon. They were the same age, and thus they were placed into the orphanage at almost the same time. And at the time, they were both infants.

Leerin was an abandoned child.

So was Layfon.

They two have been together before they understood anything. At that time, they didn’t know that they shared circumstances with the other. They also had many other siblings unrelated by blood in the orphanage. Some were abandoned as well, others had both their parents die, and nobody adopted the children who were sent here. There were various circumstances.

She only recently found out that Military Artists very rarely give up their children.

Perhaps there was some sort of relationship like that, but chances of that wasn’t high.

Layfon treated Derek like his real father. And Likewise, Derek treated Layfon like his own son. Of course, the other children in the orphanage also treated this kindly old Military Artists of few words as their own fathers.

But, Layfon was a Military Artist.

Everyone in the orphanage had their own surnames.

The ones who had last names kept them. Those who didn’t know had Derek give them one. All the children were siblings who had grown up in the same circumstances together, but they wished that they could share their surname with someone else.

This felt somewhat lonely.

But it was also something they could do nothing about. Derek’s last name was representative of the dojo that he was part of. Even though it was very small, even if a normal person carried the name of the dojo, it would show a deep connection with a military artist generations back.

Not knowing her two parents, Leerin obviously didn’t know her surname either.

This also meant that Layfon might not have his own surname. Layfon Psyharden. This name wasn’t too shabby.

As their continued on with their ordinary lives, perhaps it had also become reality.

Derek adopted Layfon officially, and was originally meant to be the heir to the Psyharden techniques.

But in his hands, Layfon was holding a sword.

(Why?)

She couldn’t think of any reasons. She couldn’t understand why Layfon would do this at all.

Leerin was very surprised that when it came to Layfon there were things about him that even she didn’t know about.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, yes.”

Leerin turned around after suddenly being spoken to.

In front of the reception area was a youth who was slightly older than Leerin. He stood there with a very amiable smile, with very thin eyes framed by a pair of glasses, and a head of long silver hair.

“Excuse me, is this the Psyharden Dojo?”

From his manner, you could tell he came from a family of status.

“Yes, I’m sorry, if you want to enter the dojo please get out your entry ticket…”

“Ah, it’s not like that.” The youth simultaneously cut Leerin short and spoke to those who were lining up, showing he knew what was going on.

“The thing is, I’m a foreigner.”

Foreigner here refers to those who came by roaming buses from other cities.

“I saw yesterday’s match by chance, and I was very impressed, so I wanted to meet that Military Artist personally, and came here.”

“Ha…”

Leerin nodded her head and at the same time became slightly more alert.

“Of course, I am an ordinary person; I’m not seeking to get into the dojo through meeting him. I just want to meet him.”

Again, the youth expressed his plans loudly. The hopefuls who were lining up to gain entry to the dojo realised that he wasn’t there to cut in front of them and stopped caring about what he was trying to do.

Dealing with a person younger than him by about five years, he was always very courteous. And Leerin who was always praised by others for her maturity felt that this youth in front of her seemed even more like an adult than she was.

The second day after the banquet they started preparations in order for Layfon to have the same uniform as the rest of the Heaven’s Blades.

It seemed that the adjustments to the Heaven’s Blade, the measurements to his special combat suit for use outside a city etc etc all needed confirmation.

For those things Layfon said he had to temporarily stay in the Palace.

They didn’t know when the filth monsters would come and ambush them. And Grendan had much more run ins with filth monsters than normal. For a newly appointed Heaven’s Blade Receiver, there wasn’t any time for rest.

Hearing this, the youth nodded his head with some comprehension.

“It really is a pity, it seems I won’t be able to meet him before my roaming bus leaves.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s not like it’s your fault…And anyway, this place is very welcoming to us foreigners. In the city I live in, any foreigners who wanted to leave their accommodation had to undergo a relatively thorough inspection, and it’s the same for almost every other city I’ve been to as well. This treatment really surprised me.” [It count:4 Editor help plox.]

Perhaps this youth was talking to himself, or perhaps he was simply trying to tell someone else his surprising experience here.

That’s why Leerin wasn’t about to answer his query.

“I think it’s because very few Roaming Buses come by here.”

The youth reacted with a look of surprise in response to Leerin’s answer.

“Eh? But, that can’t be the only reason can it?”

“That…We have to treat our guests with hospitality. Hoping that maybe we’ll get some sort of gift from the guests.

“If you put it like that, then I’m a complete cheapskate of a guest who doesn’t remember any favours.”

“Ah, that’s not what I meant,” Leerin explained hurriedly and stopped what she was doing, facing the laughing youth.

“Don’t mind me, I was just joking.”

“Eh?”

“Thank you, even though it’s a pity that I can’t meet that person, I still met a very interesting person.”

He was referring to Leerin.

The serious youth revealed another smile, making Leerin’s face burn with redness. But this time, the youth took no notice to her reaction, and left after saying goodbye.

“…A strange person.”

Reflecting on her judgment of the youth, Leerin returned her attention to her meal. There were still many people who wished to enter the dojo, and recording their names and addresses was something that Leerin didn’t have a choice in doing right now.

◇

As he smoked a cigarette, Lintence responded “I refuse” to this completely uninteresting topic of conversation.

“Go tell them that this is what I said.”

Lintence lived in the district in Grendan reserved for receivers of the Heaven’s Blade.

The letter he was holding left his hand, and the letter itself and the envelope it came in were in the same state as when he received them; they were defying physics and were floating horizontally in the air.

As they reached the rubbish bin, they were shredded. They were shredded so finely that even those who were used to putting together jigsaw puzzles would have trouble reassembling it, his paranoia making it nearly impossible to restore.

The floorboard was creaking. The robust male who had brought the message shrank back and retreated a few steps facing Lintence’s attitude, making the noise. It was the fate of an apartment that was built with cheap materials, and this was the sound of the floorboards ageing.

With a pair of spiritless, unfriendly eyes coupled with messy, long, uncut hair and that lazy beard covering his beard, Lintence laid on the sofa. He wasn’t looking at the messenger at all, instead staring at the smoke floating about in the room like a mist.

“Go back.”

Saying this as he exhaled more smoke, Lintence uttered the short sentence. The messenger escaped out the door, the floorboards he stepped upon making more creaking noises.

The ashes descended towards a shirt full of wrinkles.

But before they could land on the shirt, they were sent to the ash-tray in a cubic shape.

The door was just left open like that, and outside the door near the stairs were sounds of people bumping into each other. The anguished cries of women, the panicked sounds of men, the sounds of people falling from the stairs, as well as the laughter which echoed from upstairs.

“So noisy.”

As Lintence mumbled to himself, the door moved to close itself.

At the same time, a hand stopped it.

And from behind it, came a surprised sound.

“Wow, the pathetic state you’re in really is surprising. It’s only been a week, so how the hell did you manage to make this room so messy? That’s amazing in its own way.”

Pulling open the closing door, the woman walked in without reserve as she looked about the room in a dazed manner.

The woman was dressed in maid uniform and she took out vacuum cleaner and stood in front of Lintence in a proud pose.

She didn’t look to be older than twenty.

But nobody know her real age. Regardless, this woman often used her leftover kei for an internal-type kei to control her body at will. Changing her skeleton was a little difficult, so she couldn’t change her height, but she could limit her own growth. At least since the many years ago he had first met her; her height and her visage hadn’t changed at all.

“What? You can’t take it if there isn’t that much smoke in the air? You smoking addict.”

Saying this presumptuously, that woman strode past Lintence and opened the windows. Fresh air rushed passed the woman and blew in, but Lintence’s sharp sense of smell still detected the stink of the rubbish dump placed next door in the construction room.

“…I believe I told you sixty four thousand eight hundred seconds ago to leave me alone, your Crappiness.”

Lintence was still lazing on the sofa as before, but the window closed by itself, and the breeze stopped at that.

“If you’ve got a problem, then go find somewhere else to live. It’s not like that will damage that icy attitude of yours. All the maids I assigned to work here all came to me one after another crying, pleading me to let them work somewhere else.”

“So just leave me alone. We’ve already had this conversation thirty eight times.”

“If a Heaven’s Blade Receiver lives in a place like this, then the Almonise ruling house will be questioned by others. I wish you could at least make it a little tidier.”

The woman dressed as a maid…Her Crappiness…Alsheyra Almonise opened the window yet again. This time it wouldn’t be closed again. She removed all the steel threads wrapped around the window.

Looking from outside, a pair of hands darted about grasping at empty air. Alsheyra tossed the steel threads in her palm beside her. Those discarded steel threads silently returned beside their owner.

“Where are the clothes I gave you? I think they should suit your tastes.”

“You’ve watched too many Yakuza movies.”

“Look at that mean glare in your eyes. I’d like to see what kind of malicious being you are if you aren’t some hoodlum.”

As she said these rough words, she laughed gracelessly. Laughing, she kicked the accumulating pile of magazines with a well-rehearsed action and after finding the power cord, she connected the cleaner into the hidden socket and proceeded to turn it on. The unique noise of the vacuum cleaner filled the room.

“I want to kill you, you know.”

In the midst of the chaotic noise the vacuum cleaner was making, Lintence muttered quietly.

“I know that” replied Alsheyra relaxedly.

“You idiot, you really piss me off. You don’t even know your place.”

“For that, I became a Heaven’s Blade.”

“That’s why I’m saying, an idiot really is stupid. You’ve already revealed your real self. Like that, you’ve leaked the information.”

“Surely there must be some Heaven’s Blades who aren’t satisfied with you?”

When Lintence became a Heaven’s Blade Receiver, there were some who expressed their disapproval.

Lintence wasn’t actually the first foreign military artist who became a Heaven’s Blade in Grendan.

However, these military artists usually appeared about once in every King or Queen’s rule.

There’s never been a person like Alsheyra before who gave Heaven’s Blades en masse to foreigners.

Of course, it was natural for the traditional military artists in Grendan to be offended by these actions by the higher ups.

As for the isolated city, information from outside cities takes relatively high priority. Technology too, takes high priority, along with expansion of the gene pool. They welcome everything other than illnesses. But all these things needed time to fit together, and this was the new problem which cities were facing.

First was Lintence, then it was Cauntia and Reverse’s combination. Suddenly three military artists had become heaven’s blades. Even though survival of the toughest was the military artist’s motto, they weren’t very pleased about this.

But…

“So what.” Showing no signs of wavering, Alsheyra continued to ponder, calmly went on.

“There’s no problem with them harbouring discontent. If they don’t like it, there’s no problem either. If they have any problems then it’s good if they tell me and don’t hold back. Even if I am royalty, I’m merely the descendent of the bloodline of one of the strongest families in Grendan. If you think you’re strong, then do your best to do something. Keeping them all in line is my job. As for any disobedient little dogs, giving them the punishing whip is the job of the master. That’s all there is to it, is it not?” declared Alsheyra as she cleaned the room with the vacuum cleaner.

It didn’t fit her maid uniform. As he thought that, Lintence cracked a smile, looking at her face side on.

She was a Queen at birth, she was the strongest at birth. This woman’s behaviour gave off a feel of splendour, totally out of tune with the obedient feel of her maid uniform.

“Well, just let me look forward to what sort of a song an idiot can sing. It’s been really boring recently. I wanted to bully the new gentleman, but it seems he’s not strong enough yet. Lin, can you go train him?”

“Well, I guess that’ll be interesting.”

Lintence had also watched yesterday’s finals. But he only watched the opening ceremony and the participants before returning. For him, that was more than enough to predict the results.

And he didn’t guess wrong.

“Oh? That was really unexpected. I thought you would decline.”

“That’s because he’s very good at learning from others. I just want to know if he really has such a talent, so I’m going to go test him.”

“Ah, I see. That will be very interesting” whispered Alsheyra interestedly, laughing.

“There have been many like him. Children who sealed their weapon of choice and techniques while still becoming a Heaven’s Blade.”

“Anybody could do that.”

“But they wouldn’t do it like this. This is the nature of military artists, is it not?” replied Alsheyra quickly.

She revealed an expression as if Lintence had fallen for her tricks, and Lintence responded by closing his two eyes, as if an attempt to isolate himself from the noise of the vacuum cleaner.

◇

A luxurious selection of cuisines were placed on the round table.

Facing master Minse there sat three people.

“We really couldn’t get Lintence, eh?”

Washing down a mouthful of food with some wine, Minse revealed a pained expression.

He already predicted this result. But, if possible, he didn’t want to make an enemy out of him. Minse couldn’t understand him using steel threads, and that ability scared him.

“Isn’t that what I said? That guy is a foreigner. He’s a pawn under her majesty.”

The speaker was the one who was sitting in the middle of the three.

Kalvan Geordeus Midknot.

A fifty year old male. He kept a head short hair, some of which had turned grey. A portion of that had turned completely white, which was kept long and tied up. Maybe it was because he’s been working too hard, but the wrinkles on his face deeply etched.

“Lock it up, I’m afraid information here may reach her majesty’s ears.”

“There’s no need for such worries. For the next mission, the new guy and Lintence are being paired up as a team and being sent out. You think she will know about that event?”

“That’s how it should be in theory, but what I’m worried about it her majesty taking some sort of precautionary actions.”

“That’s another needless worry. I understand that woman’s personality very well. If she figures out our intensions, she’ll face us head on for sure.”

“That’s true. I think that’s how she’d react as well.”

The youth who replied smiled expectantly while nodding. He sat to the left of Kalvan, who was pulling a long face.

“Savaris. You speak as if you could win in a fight against her majesty.”

“Oh? Isn’t it because I’ve harboured such a thought that I’m sitting here right now?”

Savaris replied to Kalvan’s question in a relaxed manner.

“I’m just trying to say that Grendan’s current situation isn’t very good.”

“If that’s the case, then what things can we tell her majesty directly? Isn’t it the special privilege of the Heaven’s Blades to be able to see her majesty at any time?”

“No thanks.”

Kalvan glared at that young Heaven’s Blade extremely unhappily.

“But Her Majesty won’t listen. It’s true that Her Majesty can’t just hand out the Heaven’s Blades. But Her Majesty can choose to hold those tournaments to decide the Heaven’s Blades. It’s worth celebrating the gathering of all twelve Heaven’s Blades, but bestowing it upon a ten year old child…”

“I became a Heaven’s Blade at thirteen.”

Savaris couldn’t understand why Kalvan thought this was a crisis.

“Didn’t Kanaris become a Heaven’s Blade at fifteen? Just because he’s young, he can’t be a Heaven’s Blade? An argument like that is baseless.”

The last person…Kanaris, just watched the scene silently. She was a woman with a very ordinary visage. All the parts attached to her face seemed as if there were made to give off an impression of a total lack of personality, and if one’s eyes left her for just a moment, you wouldn’t know she was there anymore.

“There really are too many young people” complained Kalvan in a painful manner.

Just as he said, among the current Heaven’s Blades, those who were relatively young took up a large proportion. There were four Heaven’s Blades military artists who had served before Alsheyra’s reign. Excluding Delbone who was an exceptional case, the other three had all been bestowed with their Heaven’s Blades in their late twenties or early thirties.

Compared to that, starting with Alsheyra’s reign, the oldest any Heaven’s Blade had been given his or her position was Lintence, in his late twenties. The rest were usually made Heaven’s Blades in their teens, with some just over twenty.

And then there was the ten year old Layfon.

“It’s as if her majesty was attempting to crush the record of ‘Youngest Heaven’s Blade’ eh?” said Savaris, laughing.

He had held that record just a few days ago.

“Following the record back, following that is Tigris-sama or Delbone-sama. It seems getting a ten or so year old kid to carry such a burden will be very hard on him.”

“This isn’t a joke!”

Annoyed by Savaris’ tone, Kalvan slammed his hand down on the round table.

The dish on the table shook. Kanaris looked at the spilt sauce spread across the tablecloth with displeasure.

“Well…cool down for a moment.”

Minse reproached Kalvan mildly.

“I know what both of you are trying to say, and anyway, since we’re all comrades with the same goals please treat each other more cordially.”

The people who were gathered there were all Military Artists who came from Grendan’s Dojo’s.

For example, Kalvan Geordeus Midknot is one who has opened his own dojo.

And on his left, the ever smiling Savaris Qaulafin Luckens. He was a part of the Luckens dojo which had helped an early Grendan ruler set create the Heaven’s Blades, and he was also a descendant of those people.

And sitting on the right, Kanaris Aerifos Rivin. She was the successor of the three royal families…that is, she was a part of the dojo which gathered members of the royal family who hadn’t inherited any positions among royalty, Rivanesu. Among these three the one with the closest blood ties would have to be her.

“We can’t let anyone look down upon a Heaven’s Blade’s authority again. Isn’t that why everyone has gathered here today?”

Such direct words; who would dare say such a thing?

The Queen’s assassination, the passing on of the crown.

The one who would step up to the place of King would be Minse. Counting by age, it should actually be Tigris, but even before Alsheyra became Queen he had a chance yet he didn’t concern himself with such things, and let Alsheyra inherit the position.

If that were the case, he would probably do the same again this time.

Minse didn’t have the ability to become a Heaven’s Blade. Perhaps he could wait to become betrothed to Alsheyra, but right now, Minse wasn’t considering that option at all.

Even then, that was only a possibility and there was no guarantee he would become King.

“After I become king, I’ll give your dojo’s repayment in kind.”

Minse didn’t forget making his promises.

He was very clear as to why those three were here.

They were afraid that the authority of their respective dojos would be diminished. All twelve Heaven’s Blades were gathered. And none of the military artists came from their dojo. This implied that even if one trained at another dojo one could still become a Heaven’s Blade.

The Heaven’s Blade was the ultimate goal of military artist in Grendan. There wasn’t a better yardstick than that to measure one’s own strength by. For that, young military artists went to open dojos to train and refine their techniques. Purely fighting for survival really is a little tedious. Everyone also wished to calmly enjoy pleasure of Grandeur.

For that, they all yearned for that seat of the Heaven’s Blade, won through a pure competition of strength.

Of course, only people who wanted to reach the sky in one go dreamed of that. To those who had already achieved something, these up and coming rookies were nothing more than nuisances.

Naturally, the increase in Heaven’s Blades put them on guard, and until today, perhaps because they were so young, the new Heaven’s Blades never bothered set up their own Dojo’s and were never regarded as a threat.

But this time, Layfon was different.

Ten years old, a Heaven’s Blade who was too young.

He was trained by the Psyharden dojo.

A Dojo built in some corner of the city, it looked as if it would topple over if you just threw a pebble at it. Among the numerous small dojos, Psyharden was potentially dangerous to the larger dojos.

Those who had a burden, have to strive to continue carrying that burden. These people existed as military artists, in order to survive in this city. Even though they knew that strength was paramount, there were few who were willing to throw away their burdens for that power.

Kalvan was the same, and not counting the heads of the other two’s dojos they were one among many.

As soon as they learnt that Minse was unable to take part in the selection battle for the Heaven’s Blade, they began to run back and forth for today.

Which is why they were able to so quickly assemble three Heaven’s Blades before Minse now.

“Then, what should we do next?”

Savaris spoke first.

“For us, the greatest threat right now is Lintence. Wait until he leaves the palace and then do it.”

“Then I guess we’ll do it like that?”

Minse nodded in response to Kalvan’s inquiry.

“Our chance comes the next time the Heaven’s Blades need to move out for battle. When the time comes I won’t give any special signal. As soon as they start fighting, our battle starts to, and I’ll leave it to you guys.”

If it was a normal filth monster attack, it isn’t the Heaven’s Blades but squads of normal military artists which are mobilised. Perhaps Layfon would also be dispatched, but Lintence would likely be left in support.

They were waiting for the Mature Phase filth monster to attack.

When that happens, they won’t order normal military artists to sortie. Only Heaven’s Blades dispatched to welcome it in battle.

And if the Heaven’s Blades are dispatched in order, then Layfon would be first. But being his first time fighting a Mature Phase filth monster then it was almost certain that Lintence would be sent out for battle as well. In order for Layfon to quickly gain experience fighting Mature Phases in the next Mature Phase battle Layfon would definitely picked.

“That’s why your turn to step onto the battlefield will come very soon” declared Minse.