I stared intently at the magic sword.
Ever since I listened to Brother Henry and forced the blade into submission, it felt much more natural in my grip—unless I was just imagining things.
With that in mind, another thought occurred to me.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Since I went to the trouble of subjugating it this far, I was thinking I'd like to carry it around with me."
"I see. However, that will be difficult. It is impressive that you suppressed its nature as a magic sword, but physically it is simply too large. Hanging it from your waist is out of the question, and it is far too long to carry on your back as well."
"Yes."
"Well, just wait a few more years. His Majesty and all your other brothers are tall; you will grow quickly too."
"I suppose so."
Even as I said that, I could not bring myself to give up.
That was how remarkably well Leviathan felt in my grip after swinging it.
Just then—
—
A voice resonated inside my mind.
Something was making itself heard. It was not human speech, yet curiously, I could comprehend its meaning.
"What is the matter? You have a strange look on your face."
"Excuse me for a moment, Brother."
I did not know what the process would look like, so I gave Brother Henry a brief word of warning first.
Then, I gripped Leviathan tightly, closed my eyes, and focused my thoughts.
Just as I desired, and just as it wished.
"Mmh."
Brother Henry groaned.
Opening my eyes, I looked at Leviathan in my hands.
The magic sword had shrunk.
Leviathan, which until moments ago had been greatsword-sized for six-year-old me, had shrunk while keeping its original form, reducing itself to a child-sized yet perfectly proportioned longsword.
"Yeah."
I readjusted my grip several times to test the feel.
The fit was just as good as before—no, even better.
I tried bringing it down to my waist; the length was just right.
After checking everything over, I looked up and spoke to Brother Henry.
"Now I can carry it with me."
"..."
"Brother?"
For some reason, my brother stood there with his mouth agape. I tilted my head and peeked up at his face from below.
"...Ah, no, it was just so unexpected."
"Unexpected?"
"You were the one who changed that magic sword's size, weren't you, Noah?"
"Yes."
"This is unprecedented. It has been sequestered for two hundred years under the guise of a national treasure, and even in the records preceding that, nothing like this has ever happened. It is simply magnificent—I take my hat off to you."
"It was this fellow who suggested it to me."
"I see."
Brother Henry smiled gently.
"So you have tamed that mad dog to such an extent, then?"
"Yes, I suppose that's what it means."
My brother looked at me with even greater admiration in his eyes.
At any rate, this meant I could now equip Leviathan.
I decided I would carry it with me from now on.
☆
As the sun set and my brother was preparing to return home, I left the room to see him off.
Just then, a parlor maid approached, bowed first to Brother Henry, and then delivered a report to me.
"Master, an invitation has arrived from the Third Prime Minister."
"An invitation?"
"Yes. He is hosting a banquet at his residence tonight and cordially requests your presence."
With those words, the maid presented the Third Prime Minister's calling card and the invitation.
I did not take them; in situations like this, a noble did not read the contents with their own hands.
Maintaining the pride expected of nobility, I asked the maid:
"What is the scheduled time?"
"He said, 'Please come at your convenience.'"
"I see."
After six years since being reincarnated, I had become mostly capable of reading between the lines in these situations.
In other words, I was tonight's guest of honor, and the start time was whenever I arrived.
An invitation of that magnitude, and from the Third Prime Minister no less.
Naturally, turning it down was out of the question.
"Would you like to come along as well, Brother?"
"I shall pass. I am not fond of noisy gatherings."
"Is that so? Understood."
In that case, I would go alone.
Giving only the order for the maid to prepare the arrangements, I stepped outside alongside Brother Henry to see him off.
I walked beside my brother as he boarded his carriage, accompanying him until it reached the exterior of the estate grounds.
"Hm?"
"What is the matter, Brother?"
"Are those the ones?"
I followed the line of sight Brother Henry directed outside the carriage window.
Ahead of his gaze were several men prostrating themselves on the ground.
Ah, the debt collectors from earlier.
"Yes, they are."
I gave a simple nod and looked away to see my brother off.
Having nothing to do with the matter in the first place, my brother looked away from them as well.
At that moment—
"I can't take this anymore! Don't you dare ignore us!"
One of the prostrating men flew into a rage.
Scrambling to his feet, he glared in our direction.
His shoulder was wrapped in bandages; it was a familiar face.
The man who had been enforcing the debt collection against Alice.
"Someone like you—"
"..."
The man who tried to lash out at us, shaking off the restraints of his companions to lunge forward, suddenly went limp and collapsed to the ground with a dazed, hollow expression.
His companions grabbed him from behind, pressing his head into the dirt to force him back into a prostrating posture.
"What did you do?"
Brother Henry, discerning that the man's sudden collapse just now was my doing, inquired.
"Pardon me."
Offering a brief excuse first, I subjected my brother to the same thing I had done to the man.
An intimidation releasing only a fraction of Leviathan's power; that was how I had brought the man to his knees.
Of course, the amount directed at my brother was far weaker by comparison.
My brother seemed to realize this as well.
"To be able to wield it to that extent... Truly remarkable."
He praised me even more than when I had first subjugated the magic sword.
☆
After riding in the carriage and being gently swayed for several dozen minutes—
Having traversed halfway across the imperial capital, I arrived at the destination mansion.
Because the carriage bore the crest of the Thirteenth Imperial Prince, there was no interrogation; rather, the welcoming atmosphere was obvious even from inside the carriage.
When the carriage came to a stop and I hopped down, the mansion's double doors swung wide open, revealing an elderly gentleman standing directly in front of them.
While not to my personal taste, he was a rather dapper, older man with a beard groomed into the currently fashionable style.
Third Prime Minister Jean-Brad Reidouk.
A man possessing a compound name, hailing from a distinguished lineage of prestige.
Waiting until I had firmly stuck my landing, Reidouk strode forward with long steps, dropped to one knee before me, and offered a respectful bow.
"Welcome, Prince Noah."
"Thank you for the invitation. It looks to be an enjoyable evening, doesn't it?"
"We shall entertain you to the utmost of our ability. Come, please step inside."
Reidouk rose, and despite his station as a prime minister, followed a step behind me almost as if he were a personal servant.
With me leading the way, we began walking and entered the mansion.
Proceeding down a corridor formed by a flanking line of servants, we arrived before the doors of a ballroom, a staple of estates of this caliber.
Reidouk exchanged a glance, and the servants pushed open the heavy-looking double doors—and then.
A storm of applause erupted.
Inside the ballroom, several hundred men and women dressed in formal attire and elegant dresses had gathered.
Every single one of them was applauding toward me.
I was slightly taken aback, but I immediately recognized this as Reidouk's orchestration.
It was his way of giving tangible form to the grand welcome prepared for me—a preemptive strike of sorts.
Well, it did not feel bad, regardless.
Accompanied by Reidouk, I walked down the path cleared through the applause.
"Is that the Thirteenth Prince?"
"How remarkably dignified, despite his tender age."
"Far from being overwhelmed by the occasion, he remains utterly calm and composed. Truly a child of His Majesty."
I advanced amidst the voices echoing from every direction.
Upon reaching the center of the hall, the crowd swarmed forward.
That said, it was not chaotic.
This was a banquet hosted by the Third Prime Minister with the Thirteenth Imperial Prince—me—as the guest of honor; every attendee was a member of high society.
Precisely because of that, a strict hierarchy was in place, and the order in which they would greet me seemed to have been determined in advance.
Though it appeared as if they were swarming, they addressed me in an impeccably orderly sequence.
"By the way, Your Highness... The adornment at your waist was not present when we last met, if I recall correctly?"
After one person finished greeting me and before the next could speak, Reidouk inquired.
"This? I was granted this by the Crown Prince. It is called Leviathan."
In an instant, the entire room gasped in unison, followed by a sudden wave of murmurs.
They were all likely harboring the same doubt, hence the commotion.
As if giving voice to the collective question of the crowd, our host, Reidouk, inquired further.
"By Leviathan, you mean that Leviathan...?"
"That one."
Since they were astonished to this extent, it meant they already knew what it was, so I answered with a simple affirmative nuance.
"O-Ohhh... To think that ma—that national treasure..."
So you did know it was a magic sword after all, Reidouk.
"To receive that directly from the Crown Prince himself..."
"Come to think of it, the Thirteenth Prince's fief is Almeria..."
"I see, so that's the connection!"
Because the surrounding voices were entirely aligned in tone, a stray whisper that differed immediately stood out.
"Hmph, a toy like that. It's obviously a fake."
The speaker likely thought he had merely muttered it under his breath, but in that singular moment, the room fell into a dead silence.
Every set of eyes instantly turned toward the person who had spoken.
It was a young man in formal wear, appearing to be in his early twenties.
The young man flinched for a moment, but perhaps feeling he could no longer back down, forced an unpleasant, sneering smile even as his face twitched.
Hmm, how should I handle this—
In that instant, the atmosphere in the room shifted violently once more.
Every single person turned pale at once.
The women in dresses collapsed to the floor right where they stood.
It was a reaction shared by all, as though they had just laid eyes on something unimaginably horrifying.
"Stay."
I muttered softly under my breath.
Perhaps "sit" would have been more fitting, but I figured "stay" worked well enough.
At that, the tense air loosened.
Leviathan had lost its temper.
Remaining a mad dog at its core, it had become a loyal dog.
Consequently, it had reacted with fierce hostility to an insult directed at its master.
The bloodlust unleashed by the magic sword Leviathan, which overwhelmed its surroundings simply by existing, had completely suppressed everyone present.
While that was fine in itself, it could also be called an overreaction.
Though many were relieved to be freed from the murderous intent, a great number remained pale-faced.
That was just how potent the bloodlust Leviathan had emitted was.
Just as I was wondering how to smooth things over, Reidouk tossed out a lifeline.
"My word, truly magnificent, Your Highness!"
"Hm?"
"In that brief moment, every person gathered here undoubtedly felt the very same thing—the sensation of 'death.' That is the true power of a national treasure. And yet..."
Reidouk turned briskly toward the crowd, gesturing toward me with a theatrical flourish as though introducing a spectacle.
"To command even such overwhelming power with ease... Truly, such is the greatness of the Thirteenth Prince!"
It was a forceful way to wrap things up, yet remarkably effective.
Having stared death in the face, the crowd's response came straight from the depths of their hearts.
An applause even more thunderous than when I had entered erupted, and every last person sang praises of me for having tamed the magic sword.