A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

22 – Gibraltar’s Invitation (6)

While looking at the people attending the party at the entrance, I looked at each fish that entered the fishing grounds.

There were very few people who failed.

Most of them came to see their father and mother.

Someone wants to sell the experience of going to a party in Gibraltar.

Someone is trying to find out if there is something wrong with the father and mother.

Someone wants to check whether the handsome man and woman from childhood still retain their beauty.

If someone does something new in Gibraltar, they want to piggyback on it and get breadcrumbs.

Among those who gathered for various reasons, I was able to save only one person.

“I never thought I would come to the Garden of Gibraltar.”

“You drink too much as soon as the party starts.”

“It’s not excessive drinking. It’s just that my body doesn’t handle it well.”

Sir Mente, red-faced, walked through the garden with his arms outstretched.

“Then…Young boy. You must have heard about me from Viscount Hex, right?”

“Yes. It’s similar.”

Perhaps Mente thinks that Viscount Hex explained about him.

There is no big difference.

However, you need to be a little careful when speaking.

“I didn’t know you were older than my father. I’m sorry.”

“hahahahang! I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, right?”

“I’m just learning.”

“Huh… Really? Then, be careful. If you come into the garden without a guard like this…”

Sreuk.

“Someone might suddenly kidnap you?”

Sir Mente points the tip of his fingernail at me and smiles coldly.

“After kidnapping me like this, I could be cursed by a strange warlock so my body won’t grow?”

“You haven’t grown at all since you were 10?”

“Yes. No one has been able to break this curse. So I just live with it.”

Sir Mente raised his hands and laughed mischievously.

“Thanks to this, when people don’t know my identity, I can pretend to be a child and get a bonus.”

“You are calm.”

“Because I’ve lived like this for 27 years.”

The woman is older than I thought.

“I lived with only one sword in sight.”

Although it is somewhat old-fashioned.

“So I think it’s the older lady nagging me, and she just ignores it.”

Although I feel like my personality has been slightly distorted after going through so many ups and downs.

“You shouldn’t give up just because your younger brother has talent or you don’t.”

A person who can give at least warm advice to a 10-year-old child around the age of a nephew.

“At least try hard until you become an adult. And if you think you don’t have talent….”

“Are you telling me to find another way?”

“Yes. Don’t just dig one path like some idiot.”

Lord Mente smiles bitterly and looks up at the sky.

“When others say something can’t be done, there’s a reason.”

One thing I know for sure.

“But you can’t just take away a child’s dream!”

“You have quite a bad drinking habit.”

“What?!”

This person is very weak at drinking.

‘I don’t think it was like this in the future.’

It was not like this when he was one of the ‘Eight Gods’ who stood at the forefront of the empire.

“What’s your drinking habit? Do you think I can’t drink just because I look this small? I’m 37 years old!”

It’s not like you’ve given up on everything, like you’re desperate, or like you’re screaming in front of this kid-

“If the curse is lifted, will your body grow?”

“What?”

“If the curse on your body is lifted, will your body grow like other adults?”

“……Well?”

Sir Mente sighs deeply.

“The warlock who placed the curse went missing, and no wizard in the kingdom could lift the curse. We know the effects of the curse.”

Sir Mente touched his mouth and grinned.

“This curse is not fixed at the point when the body is cursed… No, what am I talking about with a child?”

Then he sat down on a bench in the garden, scratching his head.

“I guess I was frustrated too. Talking to a kid like you like this on our first meeting.”

When people become too frustrated, they want to vent their feelings to anyone on the street.

“It’s okay. You can use me as an emotional trash can.”

And I know better than anyone else how to bring out the emotions of such people.

“Emotional trash can? Ha, you say something really strange for once?”

“Don’t worry. No one comes to this garden, and what you tell me won’t be told to anyone else.”

I touched one of my ears with my hand, then grabbed the other ear and waved the air with my hand.

“The story of a drunk person goes in through one ear and out the other.”

“You seem like a cocky little boy.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“The father behaves rudely without saying a word, but the son shows arrogance in every word he says.”

“Isn’t this proof that you are your father’s child?”

“Ha, really….”

Sir Mente bowed his head.

“… He followed me around as the party’s escort, but I only got stares when I was there.”

It’s sudden, but that’s why Sir Mente followed my escort like this.

If it’s just a story, there’s nothing strange about doing it inside a banquet hall.

“Thank you for that.”

“Thank you?”

“Are you considerate? It was at the Margrave’s request that you at least chat with me until the party ends.”

“Let’s do it like that.”

“Let’s put it that way, right? You’re speaking arrogantly again. So you’re saying it’s not true?”

“Why does my father care about other women?”

“……After hearing that, it’s true.”

Objectively, there is no reason for the Margrave to care or be considerate of Lord Mente.

“Then why did you ask to see me here separately?”

“Because I want to talk to Lord Mente?”

Sir Mente pointed his finger at me and himself.

“With me? What is there to talk about with a lady like me?”

“I am looking for a teacher.”

“Master?”

“Yes. I think you already know a bit, so I’ll be honest.”

I pointed in the direction of the mansion where laughter never ceased.

“My father is teaching my younger brother directly.”

“Yes, I heard that. So he said what he wanted to say.”

“Yes. I came out like this to clear up any misunderstandings about that.”

“Misunderstanding?”

Just then, Noir and Letard appeared through the window.

“My brother Noir is only 7 years old, but he has already picked up a wooden sword.”

The two children, clinging to their mother, were having a hard time knowing where to focus due to so many people.

“Father said that Noir has the talent of a sword master.”

“…….”

This is the story that people and Lord Mente know.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have talent.”

“Huh?”

“As far as ‘sword’ goes, I’m worse than my younger brother.”

Although I was born in Gibraltar, swords are one of the weapons I am not good at handling.

“The reason my father quickly let my younger brother hold a sword was to make him a master.”

“That’s….”

“This is not a decision made for political reasons, but for national defense.”

“…….”

“In case the empire comes across the canyon, I am teaching the sword to my younger brother, whom I thought would be better at wielding a sword than me, in preparation for the possibility that my father would join the empire.”

“Ha.”

Lord Mente laughs.

“What? Was it a trivial worry?”

She must have been worried about me being pushed out as the heir to the family.

“Well, no. Maybe that’s what you think. How would you know what your father thinks?”

“Then would you like to ask?”

“I will answer as you said.”

“Yes. It will be similar. Instead, with a sword.”

“…….”

Sometimes a problem can be resolved by crossing swords once rather than asking and answering questions a hundred times.

If that is a master, and a talent that will become a future master.

“I heard that a swordsman communicates with his sword. When you live in Gibraltar, you often spar with your father. I think it would be a good idea to use your sword to guess what your father thinks.”

“…….”

“Do you know? Maybe I will gain enlightenment while sparring with my father and the path to becoming a master will be opened.”

“Ha. It’s easy to say that your father is a master. Do you know how easy it is to become a master?”

“It won’t be easy, but it won’t be possible, at least not within Morgania.”

Cracking.

The sound of teeth grinding hits my ears.

“Are you telling me to betray Morgania now?”

“It is not a betrayal. Gibraltar plans to formally request dispatch to Morgania.”

“In what name?”

“It’s a name. Of course.”

Actually, this is the main purpose.

“How about becoming my swordsmanship teacher?”

“Your teacher? Oh, are you serious? Really?”

“Yes. I just happened to have this fate today, so there is a justification.”

“By what method? Don’t you know what the relationship is between Morgania and Gibraltar?”

Sir Mente is unaware that the relationship between the two has changed.

‘Queen Carmen is like that, she’s really good at keeping secrets.’

You probably didn’t even tell the knights of the family about our secret pact.

Only those at the center of power among the bloodlines of Morgania will know.

Queen Carmen, Grand Duke Morgania, and Viscount Hex, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“I know what the relationship between the two families is like.”

Of course, I have no intention of telling you right now.

I wouldn’t know if you became my teacher and a true person of Gibraltar, but even if I wanted to, I can’t tell you right now.

“That’s why we’re going to go crazy.”

“……What?”

“Ask me to appoint Lord Mente as my teacher. If you don’t listen, I’m thinking of going to the banquet hall over there and lying down.”

“Stop it!!”

Lord Mente screamed.

“Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? How could you-“

“Even if you do something like that, you need to recruit a capable knight. In order to carry on your father’s legacy.”

“…….”

Sir Mente tilts his head with an expression of incomprehension.

At the same time, I quickly scan the surroundings and check once more that no one is there.

“…You mean it’s acting?”

“Yes.”

“You seem to be talking more closely with your father, the Margrave, than I thought. Did your father tell you anything?”

“It’s not official yet.”

I approached her Lord Mente, and she brought her face as close to her as she could.

“My father is planning to create a new Knights of Gibraltar.”

“……!!”

Knights of Gibraltar.

Officially, there is no Knights Templar in Gibraltar.

There are people like Robert, but there is no armed group called ‘Knights’.

Father, the sword master alone is already enough for the knights.

It was like that until now.

“Margrave, why…?”

“Why don’t you also ask your father with the sword?”

“…I see. I understand.”

Sir Mente smiled as he tasted her again.

“Are you the invisible sword of your father, Lord Crimson, who moves unnoticed?”

“Would you mind calling it an invisible hand?”

“hahahaha. He’s an amazing guy. He made my 10-year-old son become politically active like this.”

In fact, it is an excuse to treat him as my teacher rather than him, but externally, it is a very plausible justification.

“Okay. The Knights of Gibraltar. A legendary group that is said to have been assembled only once in history. Recruiting them… Can we think of it as crossing the canyon over there?”

“I don’t know the details. Ask my father with the sword.”

The direction of the tip of the sword is towards the incompetent king right now, but you never know what will happen next.

“So please be my teacher, Sir Mente.”

“Good. So you’re asking me to come into Gibraltar in the name of that? It won’t be easy to get me out of Morgania, right?”

“All it takes is a letter.”

I ask my father for a favor, and my father asks Queen Carmen for a favor, and that’s it.

In fact, there is no need for that, as long as Viscount Hex says ‘I will take Lord Mente out of Gibraltar’ before he leaves, they will accept it.

“Well, I’m not an important person in Morgania.”

Lord Mente laughs self-deprecatingly.

“The reason I was selected this time was because I did it on my own because everyone said they would not come.”

“Are you buying it?”

“For Morgania, this place is like a battlefield. It’s a kind of enemy country, right?”

Well.

“Then I am proposing conversion to someone who is the enemy’s main force.”

“Thank you for saying it’s the main force. In reality, it’s just the average anti-aircraft force.”

Considering the relationship between the Archduke and the Margrave, the analogy of them being enemies is not surprising.

The Grand Duke’s daughter and the Margrave’s son are now a secret political alliance.

“Come to Gibraltar. I will make the invitation.”

“Hmm….”

“Ah. I refuse to refuse. Because….”

I approached Sir Mente and placed my hand on her shoulder.

“It is not easy to recruit a female knight who is not in love with her father.”

“…Is that the biggest reason?”

“Of course.”

This has nothing to do with age.

“And I believe that after Sir Mente breaks the curse, he will become a stronger knight than he is now.”

“Hey. No one else would say something like that except you.”

“Do you know? Maybe I will gain enlightenment while sparring with my father and rise to the level of a master.”

“…….”

Sir Mente was silent for a moment.

“When you just become a master, wouldn’t it be possible to become much bigger than you are now thanks to the curse being broken?”

“hahahaha, this guy… I don’t say things like that carelessly.”

The fundamental reason why Lord Mente abandoned the kingdom and went to the empire.

“Don’t carelessly try to shove hope into people’s hearts. If you have expectations for no reason, you’ll only end up getting more disappointed.”

Her kingdom only gave her her despair.

“I am the woman whose eyes roll when she hears that I can break a curse.”

The empire gave her hope.

“Still… I don’t hate it. If she becomes a master, she can break the curse….”

“Won’t we grow to this level?”

The future Lord Mente was a beautiful woman, about 169cm tall, much taller than she is now.

“Rest assured. No matter what others say, if you improve your skills and become a master, the curse will definitely be broken.”

The method is not the imperial method of silver-drug, body modification, or accepting monster blood.

“You will become a master with your own skills and release the curse engraved on your body, Sir Mente.”

“…….”

“I definitely believe that you will become bigger than you are now.”

If it is the right way, 10 years is enough.

Because I am next to you.

“I will be there to help you. Make sure no one criticizes you for being young.”

I reached out to Lord Mente.

“Would you like to join me, Lady?”