Looking Forward to Another World

In the queendom of Theresis stood an extraordinarily magnificent palace.

It did not glitter with gold or jewels, yet its walls, floors, and ceilings all possessed a metallic texture, making the entire structure resemble a colossal fortress carved from white stone.

It was not only grand, but also solemn.

A middle-aged knight walked down one of the palace’s corridors, his footsteps echoing clearly across the floor.

He was not particularly muscular and even appeared somewhat lean, yet the aura he exuded was incredibly imposing, making his slight frame seem far larger than it actually was. A sword hung at his waist, and although it remained sheathed, its distinctive shape revealed it to be a flame-shaped blade.

One of the knight’s hands rested on the hilt of his sword while the other swung naturally at his side. His strides were firm and powerful, giving him the bearing of a general about to charge onto the battlefield.

Before long, the knight arrived at a room.

”You’re here?”

As soon as he stepped inside, a voice greeted him.

Judging by its appearance, the room served as an office. Its interior was lavishly decorated, but the most eye-catching feature was the long desk positioned at the far end. Stacks of parchment had been arranged into neat piles across its surface, while quills, seals, ink bottles, and other writing implements lay scattered nearby.

A noble-looking man in his early thirties sat behind the desk handling paperwork, and the moment he saw the middle-aged knight enter, he immediately set aside what he was doing and greeted him with a calm smile.

”What did you call me here for?”

Looking at the elegantly dressed nobleman before him, whose appearance and bearing were both exceptional, the knight’s words were decidedly impolite.

Even though he knew this man possessed an extraordinary status and could even be considered one of the most influential and respected figures in present-day Theresis, the knight showed him very little courtesy.

It was undoubtedly disrespectful.

If it had been anyone else, such an attitude alone could have been enough to earn them an execution.

However, the knight was clearly an exception, as the nobleman sitting behind the desk did not seem to mind in the slightest. Instead, he simply picked up the nearest sheet of parchment.

”We’ve run into some trouble,” the nobleman said without beating around the bush. ”Here—this is the latest intelligence jointly submitted by the nobles led by the Varnard family. Take a look.”

As he spoke, he handed the parchment to the middle-aged knight, who accepted it without hesitation and began reading.

Before long, as soon as the knight finished reading it, he frowned.

”A mysterious magician with a Sword Saint serving as an attendant became the escort for the doll, and the people sent by every faction were almost completely wiped out?”

Honestly, the report genuinely surprised him.

”I know you’re skeptical,” the nobleman said while resting his chin on his folded hands. ”But this information has been independently verified by multiple factions, so its reliability is still guaranteed.”

”I’m starting to doubt that reliability.”

Tossing the parchment onto the desk, the knight replied bluntly.

”What kind of magician could possibly have a Sword Saint serving as their attendant?”

”Just because the report says so?”

”A Tactical-Class Magician?”

From his tone alone, it was obvious that the knight looked down on the claim.

It couldn’t be helped.

A Sword Saint was the greatest combat power of a nation, the strongest individual weapon on the battlefield, so their status was no lower than that of a Strategic-Class Magician or even a member of the royal family of a great nation.

Even the royal capital of a country had to show them proper respect, and unless absolutely necessary, no one would dare offend one.

For that reason, someone of that stature serving as an attendant to a Tactical-Class Magician was simply unthinkable.

Even serving as an attendant to the king of a great nation would leave a Sword Saint with nine parts reluctance, while the remaining one part would only exist under special circumstances where refusing simply wasn’t an option.

Take the Shadow Sword Saint Rohm, for example.

He had been personally nurtured by the royal family, and everything he possessed had been given to him by them. Naturally, he had no reason to refuse. He willingly protected the royal family and safeguarded the king.

But what about the other Sword Saints?

Aside from the One-Eyed Sword Saint Hardt, who had once been a slave and willingly devoted everything to the one who had recognized and saved him, even the weakest among the remaining Sword Saints came from count families. Yes, they were loyal to their countries, but they would never obey the royal family’s orders unconditionally.

Needless to say, their independence was exceptionally strong.

And now someone was telling him that a dignified Sword Saint had actually become the attendant of a Tactical-Class Magician?

Wasn’t that degrading?

”But that’s the truth, whether we want to admit it or not.”

The nobleman spoke calmly, showing no sign of surprise at the knight’s reaction.

”My guess is that she’s a newly promoted Sword Saint. Perhaps she became that Tactical-Class Magician’s attendant before attaining the rank of Sword Saint.”

”Now that she’s advanced, the contract between them still hasn’t ended, so she continues to serve that Tactical-Class Magician as his attendant.”

Hearing that explanation, the knight finally found it somewhat easier to accept.

If that were the case, then it made sense.

The equal contract between a magician and an attendant normally only ended once the conditions agreed upon by both parties had been fulfilled, unless it was terminated under special circumstances.

For example, if a swordsman pledged to serve a magician for ten years in exchange for the magician accomplishing one task for him, then even if the magician completed that task before the ten years had passed, the swordsman could not simply walk away.

He would still have to fulfill the promise he had made before the contract could truly be considered complete. Even if the swordsman’s strength greatly increased during those ten years, he would still be obligated to honor the agreement.

Given that, the nobleman and the others had therefore concluded that the Sword Saint must have advanced during the contract period before it had ended, which was why she remained by the Tactical-Class Magician’s side as an attendant.

If she had only been a Sword Master before signing the contract, then becoming the attendant of a Tactical-Class Magician would not have been considered degrading.

Of course, under normal circumstances, even a Sword Master seeking to become an attendant would choose a Strategic-Class Magician unless the other party possessed extraordinary wealth or an exceptionally distinguished background.

Thinking of that possibility, the knight looked at the nobleman.

”Have you found out where that Tactical-Class Magician came from?”

At the knight’s question, the nobleman nodded before slowly shaking his head.

”I’ve already had people investigate, but even after searching every nation across the northern part of the continent, we couldn’t find any Tactical-Class Magician named Riezel Brynhart.”

”However, a rumor has recently spread across the central continent.”

”Coincidentally, the protagonist of that rumor shares the same name.”

At the nobleman’s words, the knight’s eyes narrowed.

”You’re talking about that Lightning Sword Saint who’s been making headlines across the continent over the past year?”

Of course, the knight had heard of Riezel Brynhart, a young man whose reputation alone was impossible to ignore.

He was known as the youngest Sword Saint in history, having attained the title at only seventeen years old. It was said that a single flash of lightning from his blade was enough to decide victory or defeat.

He had established an arena in the royal capital of Jinas, where he fought thousands of challengers every day without suffering a single defeat. Even more surprising were the stories claiming that he had defeated the Guardian Sword Saint, Raven Mavros.

More recently, stories claimed that he had single-handedly ended the internal turmoil of that great nation and had even overwhelmingly suppressed Jinas’s strongest old monster.

Needless to say, with such overwhelming news, the knight naturally remembered the young man’s name.

”...Could it actually be him?”

Burning fighting intent appeared in the knight’s eyes.

”And if it is?”

At the question, the nobleman smiled faintly, as though he had seen through the knight’s thoughts.

”What else? I refuse to believe someone that monstrous exists,” the knight said with a cold snort. ”Becoming a Sword Saint at seventeen is already ridiculous enough. Now they’re saying he’s strong enough to suppress an entire nation. Unless I fight him myself, I’ll never accept it.”

”...If this had been before, I would’ve thought the same...” the nobleman said before his smile faded and his expression grew solemn. ”But now, everyone in Theresis has come to realize that such monsters really do exist. Some people can reach the very peak while still younger than everyone else. For example... that Valkyrie...”

As soon as those words were spoken, the knight’s fists tightened, and the fighting spirit in his eyes turned into humiliation.

An image surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.

It was a young woman as cold as ice, and she was incredibly young, at least compared to him.

He was already forty-five years old, while she was only twenty-five, a full twenty years younger than he was, yet she had placed unimaginable pressure upon him.

Even now, the knight still vividly remembered that day.

Back then, she had been even younger than she was now, yet she had already become the youngest Sword Saint in the history of Theresis. Even the legendary first-generation queen had reached that realm at an older age than she had.

At the time, the entire queendom had been shaken by her astonishing talent. Countless people had been left speechless by her overwhelming strength. Especially after she single-handedly defeated the queendom’s two Sword Saints, her prestige within the queendom had instantly reached its peak.

Not long afterward, she drew the national artifact that had been passed down through generations of the queendom and made it her own sword. From that moment onward, she had been destined to become another legend in the nation’s history.

After all, the last person to wield the national artifact and display such overwhelming power had been the first-generation queen herself.

On that point alone, had she been a princess of the royal family, she could have ascended the throne immediately and become the new queen, and Theresis would not be what it was today.

Now, she was known as Valkyrie.

Even though she was younger than everyone else, she had already come to be regarded as the queendom’s strongest existence, a pillar that upheld the entire nation.

It could be said that, in present-day Theresis, ninety percent of all the praise bestowed upon Sword Saints had been directed toward that young woman.

As for him?

Regrettably, all that remained for him was disgrace.

Because he had been one of the two Sword Saints defeated by her.

”If every rumor is true, then Riezel Brynhart is even more monstrous than Valkyrie...” the nobleman said with a helpless sigh. ”In the past several hundred, perhaps even a thousand years, not a single person like that has appeared. Yet now two have emerged at once, each more outrageous than the other. I honestly don’t know whether that’s a blessing or a disaster.”

Hearing those words, the knight clenched his fists even tighter.

”Either way, until I’ve fought him myself, I’ll never acknowledge him,” the knight said, his voice turning cold. ”So? Is it really him?”

”I don’t think so...”

At the knight’s question, the nobleman answered without hesitation.

”According to the information circulating across the continent, the Lightning Sword Saint was still in Yeluvia, the royal capital of Jinas, just a few days ago.”

”And the distance between Jinas and Theresis is so vast that even the fastest merchant caravan would need more than two months to travel between them, so he can’t have arrived in Theresis within just a few days.”

”They probably just happen to share a very uncommon name. Otherwise, there’s no reasonable explanation.”

The nobleman’s analysis caused the knight to nod, though it was impossible to tell whether he felt regret or disappointment.

Even so, he still voiced an objection.

”Didn’t the rumors also say Riezel Brynhart is a Tactical-Class, or perhaps even a Strategic-Class Magician? Maybe he has some method of reaching the queendom within such a short time.”

”And the rumors also say he has Sword Saint attendants under his command. More than one, in fact.”

”That lines up perfectly with that mysterious magician, doesn’t it?”

An unidentified mysterious magician.

Since no one in the northern nations of the Akasha Continent knew of him, he had most likely come from somewhere else on the continent. Furthermore, the intelligence report described him as an exceptionally young man, which also matched the rumors.

Honestly, the more the knight thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

As a result, the nobleman also frowned and seriously considered the possibility.

Indeed, the similarities were almost too perfect.

It was entirely possible that they were the same person.

Even so, he still found it difficult to believe that the legendary prodigy would suddenly appear in Theresis.

If it really was the Lightning Sword Saint, why had he come to Theresis?

And why had he chosen to escort the ’doll’ to Urvashi?

What exactly was his objective?

Or rather...

Was it Jinas that had a hidden agenda?

At that thought, a trace of cold light flashed through the nobleman’s eyes.

”If it really is him, then things will become troublesome...” the nobleman said in a heavy voice. ”As a Sword Saint, his own strength is already extraordinary. If he also has two Sword Saint attendants under his command, then we may end up facing three Sword Saints in total.”

”Not necessarily,” the knight said, shaking his head. ”How many Sword Saints does Jinas have? I don’t believe they’d allow that young man to bring two Sword Saints all the way to the northern continent.”

Hearing that, the nobleman’s tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed as he looked at the knight.

”You’re right... but no matter what, one thing is certain: he’s exceptionally powerful. With the strength of the Varnard family and the other families, they can no longer stop him.”

”For that reason, I’d like you to make the trip personally and meet that magician.”

”Don’t provoke him. Do your best to convince him to back down.”

”At the very least, we cannot allow that doll to reach the queen’s palace. Otherwise, we’ll have a serious problem.”

At that, the knight narrowed his eyes.

”Fine. I’ll go myself.”

He genuinely wanted to see whether the man was truly that legendary prodigy.

And if the young man was, he wouldn’t mind personally shattering that legend.

===

[A bonus Chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones]

[Support and get early access to upcoming Chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]