"Fellow Kings? Who are you supposed to be?"
"Hahaha! Don't be so hostile. Your control over your Sword Aura is far too green. Look around you."
I forced myself to calm down and surveyed my surroundings.
Before I realized it, everyone in the room had fallen onto their backsides, staring at me in sheer terror.
Damn it. In response to the old man's fleeting burst of killing intent, I had reflexively unleashed my own Sword Aura at full strength.
The woman standing right next to me was actually foaming at the mouth.
She was just an ordinary person without a Crest; she couldn't withstand that kind of pressure at such close range.
I hurriedly suppressed my aura and looked around for help.
A moment later, several Knights rushed into the room.
"What's the meaning of this?!"
"I-I'm sorry..."
A stern-faced man—likely the ship's Knight Commander—sprinted up to me and glared.
"Just because you’ve been promoted to Knight Commander, don’t think you can go around brandishing your power!"
"Yes, sir. I’m sorry."
"Now, now, there’s no need to be so angry."
"And who do you think you're—sh...!!!!???"
The stern-faced man’s face turned deathly pale. He looked as if he were about to perform a sliding prostration right there on the floor.
Is this old man someone important? Fellow Kings... wait. Could he be?
"I'll leave the rest to you. I have business with this boy."
"Y-Yes, Sire!!!! Leave it to us!!"
The Knights snapped into a line and saluted in unison.
The old man looked at me and beckoned me to follow.
Flare and Deskis-senpai hurried over to join us.
"Leo! What happened? And who is this old guy?"
"Oh! Flare-chan! My, you’ve grown... You’re a beauty, just like Rose. Yes, yes, and your panties are red today, too."
It wasn't that I'd let my guard down. It happened in the blink of an eye.
The old man who had been standing right in front of me simply vanished. Before I could process it, he was crouching at Flare's feet.
"Fue!?"
"Rose liked red, too. How nostalgic... Oh, and that angry face! You’re the spitting image of her..."
"Die, you lecherous geezer!!"
Flare launched a kick. The old man dodged effortlessly. It was incredible—he was evading every single strike from that range with impossible agility.
Then, Deskis-senpai dropped to one knee before him.
"It has been a long time, Arcadia Sword King. I am profoundly honored to see you in such high spirits today."
"Umu, it's been since the day I granted your Crest. I'm pleased to see you've been making a name for yourself, Deskis."
"Sir!!"
...Did he just say Arcadia Sword King?
"T-The Sword King!? M-My apologies!! I-I've done something unforgivable!!"
Flare hurriedly bowed her head in a panic.
"It's quite alright, provided you show me your panties."
"...Ugh... Y-Yes. As you command..."
With tears welling in her eyes, Flare reached for the hem of her skirt.
If it was a direct order from the Sword King, she likely felt she had no choice but to obey.
With a face on the verge of sobbing, she started to lift the fabric, but the Sword King reached out and stopped her.
"Flare-chan, you mustn't. This old man can only communicate with young girls through harassment. You shouldn't take it so seriously. Kicking me into the dirt is the only correct response."
"Sword King... but you are the King."
"What, do I look like the type of man who would get offended by a little kick?"
"No. But it's genuinely disgusting, so please stop. It's hurtful."
"I am truly sorry. I won't do it again."
The Arcadia Sword King actually apologized to Flare.
I was starting to lose track of whether he possessed any true dignity or not.
But... he seemed like a good person at heart.
After that, the Sword King told me to follow him.
He specifically told Flare and Deskis-senpai that they didn't need to come along.
In other words, it was just the two of us.
The meaning behind that was likely—
"...How did you know I was a King?"
"I heard it from Gaia. On the day you took the Knight Commander Exam."
"......So that's how."
It wasn't some mystical story about how Kings are naturally drawn to one another.
And I understood why Gaia-san had reported it.
From this point forward, as a Knight Commander, I would have to receive my Master’s Crest from this man.
It would inevitably be discovered then. That must be why Gaia had passed the information along.
"Hup."
"Where are we?"
He led me into a cavernous, empty room.
"This is a special chamber. To put it simply, it's a training room. It won't break from a little roughhousing, so rest easy."
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I thought I’d share a bit of history with you. Go on, have a seat."
I sat down. The old man took a seat opposite me.
"First, introductions are in order. I am Eldorado Arcadia. The First Sword King of the Arcadia Sword Kingdom."
"......The First!?"
"What, you didn't know? Arcadia is a nation I built from nothing in a single lifetime."
"......I had no idea."
"It brings back memories... the days spent galloping across blood-soaked fields. It was so long ago that none of the current Five Star Swords had even been born... The world... was hell back then."
"Why?"
"Day after day, year after year, it was the Warring States period. Constant, senseless slaughter. Someone died every single day, and everyone believed that peace would never find this world. I believed it too; I was just another orphan in the mud, after all."
This was a long time ago... probably sixty or seventy years in the past.
I had heard that the War of Kings had lasted for a millennium.
Compared to that scale of history, his reign seemed brief. But... it must have been a conflict of unimaginable intensity.
"I wanted to create a world of peace. A world where anyone could spend their days with their loved ones and good friends. And so, I killed. I wonder how many tens of thousands I put to the sword? I killed and killed... until finally, this country was born."
As the Sword King spoke, a shadow of sorrow crossed his face.
"Is the reason Arcadia is surrounded by the other four nations because..."
"Indeed. Look at it another way: from this position, this country can keep a watchful eye on every other nation. I grew too old to unify the entire world. This was the extent of my reach. However, thanks to that, war has been drastically reduced. I can't call it true peace... but even so, the world bleeds far less than it once did."
"......I think it's truly incredible that you achieved all that from nothing."
"But now... no, for a long time, there has been someone seeking to tear it all down."
"Is it... Dragonia?"
"Exactly. The Former Dragon King. And the Current Dragon King. Whether it was a revolution or something else remains unclear, but both the former and current Kings have sought to dominate the world. We need a power capable of opposing them... but I... don't have much time left."
"You seem perfectly healthy to me."
"Hahaha! That's the power of the Crest. But inside, my body is falling apart. Yet, I still haven't found my answer... Scarlett is the ideal. Haurezel is reality. But in my heart, I love the ideal."
"Then shouldn't you choose Lady Scarlett as your successor?"
"But Scarlett is weak. And for a King, that is fatal."
"............"
The Sword King stood up slowly.
"Now then, Leo. As someone who has become a King, you should understand. A King is one who resists destiny. One who defies the world and rewrites reality with their own ideals. I heard what happened on Valhalla Island—how you defied Osiris to force your ideals onto the situation."
"......My ideals... yes. I don't want to kill prisoners. I don't want to kill those who have laid down their swords."
"Fufu... Good. Truly excellent!!"
The Sword King laughed with genuine delight.
"Sweet, naive, and completely blind to reality. It’s the nonsense of a child; you’ll be mocked and ridiculed on any battlefield. Osiris must have been livid. That is precisely why I like it. A King should be arrogant. A King is one who can stand before the masses and say 'no' when everyone else says 'yes.' Therefore—"
In that heartbeat, the Sword King drew his sword.
I drew mine in response. And yet.
"—Gofuh!?"
Why?
I saw it.
I saw the strike coming, and my body reacted... so why couldn't I block it?
My consciousness buckled under an impact that felt as if my stomach had been detonated. I crashed to my knees.
"—A King must be stronger than anyone else. And so, little Leo, since you’re still just a toddler finding his feet, I suppose I’ll have to forge you myself."
"......Ugh... ah..."
As the world faded to black, a final thought drifted through my mind.
"I'm deathly strict, so consider yourself warned. After all, even Gaia and Osiris were reduced to sniveling wrecks when I trained them. Don't you worry."
"That sounds... deathly... brutal..."
I collapsed.
This man is terrifying.