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Originally, the Gradas were a family of assassins.

Even before the founding of Carpe, they’d been famous, and their signature techniques and weaponry were all geared towards assassination.

If Jervain of the North is famous for upright swordsmanship that shines under the light of day –

Then Gradas of the East is famous for how it strikes from the cover of darkness.

The first patriarch of the Gradas family had founded their footwork technique, which had been inherited by the wife of the founding king of Carpe, who’d also been a contemporary saint of Valtherus.

It was said that even Stella couldn’t have kept up with her speed.

“What’re you thinking so hard about?”

Click.

Bruns put the teacup down on the table and said, giving Callius a puzzled look.

“Bruns.”

"Yeah? Would you like something el-”

“You’re really useless.”

“… What a horrible thing to say…”

“Didn’t you tussle with a pilgrim recently?”

“Ah, haha, how did you know?”

Just from that unlucky-sounding laughter, one could guess that the battle had ended in a ridiculous way with Bruns’ victory.

Apparently, the duel had resulted from him trying to chat up a sister of the Church.

Callius didn\'t even want to know any further details.

“I hear you grappled him with some kind of strange technique and wrestled him to the ground, is that what you’re laughing about? A servant of the Jervain family threw away his sword to win a fight? Are you feeling proud?”

“… I\'m sorry. It’s just, swords don’t seem to fit in my hands, and I get heated up really easily when the fighting starts, so…"

Callius shook his head.

He already knew Bruns had no talent for swordsmanship.

His physique had almost been sculpted to perfection because he’d gone through a lot of hardship following after Callius, but he still couldn\'t do anything with a sword.

Forget about two-handed longswords, he couldn\'t even use the dagger he’d been given.

“Useless bastard.”

"Sorry…”

How was he supposed to whip this useless idiot into shape?

Really, no answers sprang to mind.

“What’s Orcal doing?”

“He’s out gathering information using his bugs, from what I heard. He’s sniffing around the mansions of the nobles you tipped him off about, Boss.”

“He’s doing a good job.”

For a moment, Callius’ anger spiked as he compared Orcal and Bruns in his mind, but it soon subsided.

‘It\'s rude to compare Orcal with this guy.\'

Orcal was a paladin and a captain of the Heretic Inquisition.

It wasn’t polite to compare him with a back-alley thug like Bruns.

Rather…

"Hmm."

Vivi, who was curled up under his feet, sleeping, might be a better comparison.

“No, it’s a little different for Vivi, too.”

Vivi was cute, after all.

What was the point of comparing such a cute child with an ugly adult like Bruns?

Callius drank a mouthful of tea, letting the taste cover his tongue.

Gulp.

It was bitter.

Naturally, because it was black tea, but come to think of it…

Ah, I got it.

“The tea’s poisoned.”

"Eh?! P-, poison!? Is there?”

“Want to know how I know?”

“I’ll call a doctor right away!”

Seeing Bruns start making a fuss, Callius started massaging his temple with this free hand.

"Get out."

"Yes?! You mean I should get out and call someone right now, right?”

“Just get out.”

“But the poison…”

“Already detoxified.”

“R-, really… You’re awesome, Boss!”

Did this guy really have a screw or two loose? Callius didn\'t know what to say.

Just the sight of that stupid face was enough to make his anger boil over.

“Bruns. I’m going to give you a task that only you can do.”

“T-, task!!”

“Find the one who poisoned my tea, no, my teacup. They should still be nearby. You must find them.”

“But there’s nobody around other than you and me though?”

Now that Callius thought about it, that seemed correct.

After becoming the captain of the sixth squad, he was originally supposed to go to the office he’d been assigned, but he’d refused directly.

Whenever he stayed close to the Church, his traits kept popping out, and he’d keep talking nonsense to any sister who wandered nearby.

There were already enough nuns chasing after him.

Now, they were in a villa at the edge of a forest, a little far from the Church.

Occasionally, it was for the use of the knights of the Jervain family who came to the royal capital, so it was well-maintained and ready for immediate use.

There was a forest very close, and the house had a large yard, too.

It wasn’t too far from the Church headquarters, and it was the perfect place for raising Vivi.

There was even a training room in the villa, and there was no lack of rooms in general, so it was a good place to live in, in general.

“There’s no way somebody could’ve put poison in my teacup if there’s no one around. Find them.”

"I see! Got it!!"

Seeing Bruns hastily rush out, Callius clicked his tongue.

“Even though he was captured by Viole so recently, he hasn’t started using his head at all.”

Even such a great ordeal hadn’t managed to nudge him awake.

If it’d been Callius in his place, he would’ve become more alert and started putting more effort into his training.

“I could’ve just made him clean the villa, though.”

He’d ended up playing a stupid prank on him instead.

Anyway. Continuing his thoughts on the Gradas family…

“How far was I?”

He’d forgotten because of Bruns.

“Anyway, what’s important is the footwork.”

Anivo, of the Gradas.

As the best footwork technique in the kingdom, it’d be very useful if he could learn it.

“It’s a shame that there’s no way to learn.”

Even Stella, who’d been called a once-a-century genius, couldn’t catch up with the Anivo.

She’d made a similar technique, but hadn\'t left it behind because she hadn’t deemed it good enough to pass on to the future generations.

“But there’s no way I can get a Gradas to teach me. Hmm… then let’s forget it."

Even when he gave it some thought, no reasonable answers[1] came to mind, so it was better to just quickly erase the idea.

“What’re you thinking about? Looking at your face were you just thinking of me? Perfect! Did I get it right?”

“… What is it, sir?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

A man appeared out of nowhere.

Since Callius had been busy thinking of something else, he didn\'t really notice.

Until just before Genos spoke.

“What do you mean, what? I\'m here to see if my new subordinate is doing well. You’re using honorifics today, I see? Very nice!”

“You’re my boss at the moment, so I’m just treating you accordingly.”

“What if I take off my badge?”

Genos brushed his hand against the insignia on his uniform.

“I’ll treat you accordingly.”

Genos lifted the hand that’d covered his badge.

“Too bad! I’ll wear it for the rest of my life.”

“But what did you come here for? I don’t remember inviting you.”

“I told you. I just came to see if you’re settling in properly. There’s no other reason.”

“Are you here to observe?”

“You can take it that way if you want. Oh, is it you pet beast? Cute! Can I touch it?”

“If bites.”

“Even cuter. Then can I talk to it?”

“I’d like it if you shut up and left, actually.”

"Hahaha! A perfect comeback.”

Was this off his rocker?

He really might be.

Bump.

"Boss! I found some traces of the bastard who poisoned your teacup…”

Bruns ran in with a pair of shoes.

Genos happened to be barefoot.

‘This guy’s crazy.\'

It looked like he’d left his shoes elsewhere in the villa to quieten his footsteps.

This venerable official was far too serious in some very useless ways.

“Wait, who’re you?”

“This man’s superior officer. On your knees, servant.”

“Yes, I’m kneeling. These shoes here…”

“Bruns.”

"Yes?"

“He poisoned my teacup. Now you have to fight him and win.”

Bruns\' pupils trembled like reeds in the wind.

He seemed to be contemplating, which of them to listen to.

“You dare doubt my words?”

“Oh, no, never, Boss!! And you! You villain! You dare try to fool me?!”

Bruns barrelled forward.

“This guy’s got some talent for comedy, I see.”

Shhh. Swish! Swiiiiiish!

“B-, Boss, he’s too fast!!”

Genos flashed around the office, as if playing a game of tag with Bruns.

“Whoo…”

It was an unexpected opportunity.

Callius carefully took observed Genos and tried to understand the Anivo.

“Huh! When…?!”

“Your body’s pretty good. But you can\'t use those well-trained muscles properly, and your head is too dense to use. You seem like a back-alley thug, to be honest.”

"Huh… that, that’s right.”

Genos saw through the Bruns’ essence in a very short time. Bruns\'s face flushed red with shame, but no one cared.

“The Anivo of the Gradas. I got a good look. It’s great.”

Looking through the eyes of a spectator, Callius could see the greatness of the Anivo.

To be honest, the technique was so quick that it was difficult to properly track the positions or trajectories of the feet.

“I haven’t seen yours yet.”

Genos was talking about the swordsmanship of the Jervain family.

“You’ll see it soon.”

“You’re going to duel your lieutenant?”

“It’s not a duel, per se. He said he can\'t accept me, so I decided to fight for my insignia tomorrow."

“It’d be a good spectacle. The lieutenant of the sixth squad, Diego, huh? Then I should go see him instead of staying here."

When Callius asked why –

“Sticking with Diego should show me a more interesting spectacle.”

“Do you want me to lose?”

"Yeah. I\'d really like to see you lose. I’m a little envious of that nickname, ‘the Judge’. If you give me the Judgement Sword, I can give you my position as the chief."

“I refuse.”

“Tch.”

His nickname was ‘Cat Walk’ Genos, for reference.

“You’re so honest that I’m not even mad.”

Genos had really just come to see Callius without any official business, so he simply opened the office window and put a foot on the sill.

“Oh, by the way, why did you send an application to the Royal Academy? Do you have any disciples?”

It didn’t particularly matter.

Because the academy was managed by one of the only five Masters in the kingdom –

Fire Demon (火魔).

“I have a daughter.”

"Daughter? I heard you\'re single?"

But before Callius could respond –

Genos nodded his head as if he understood.

“That’s why you aren’t using the office the Inquisition gave you. Are you intentionally avoiding women?”

“… Yes."

He wasn\'t wrong.

It was better to stay away from them.

"Right. Was that it… I didn\'t know you were a father. So…”

He seemed to be misunderstanding something.

“…”

“I\'m not married yet, but I know being a father with children is a great thing. You’ve had a hard time.”

Looking at Genos jumping out of the window, Callius murmured.

“What a weirdo.”

A street outside Karradi.

Genos was walking while munching on a loaf of bread as large as his face, and muttering as he thought back on his conversation with Callius.

“He was weird.”

He’d heard various rumours about the man, but seeing him face to face, he was a neater guy than expected. His face was as handsome as if he’d been drawn with a brush, and he possessed extraordinary aura and vitality.

But something was strange.

It was weird, like he’d kept trying to hide something.

To be honest, it could be called wondrous, rather than strange.

“He seems good at hiding his energy. He might be stronger than I thought.”

Callius seemed to be training to move and act while controlling his own spiritual power.

‘I haven\'t seen anything other than Masters who hide their power.\'

Callius couldn’t be a Master already, but he was definitely a strange one.

A sneaky bastard who hide many things.

But there was also another surprise.

“I never heard he has a daughter. If only I’d gotten married earlier, I would’ve had a daughter just like him by now. Or a son.”

Why couldn\'t he get married?

His face was good enough, wasn’t it?

Citizens were surprised to see Genos suddenly take out his sword right there on the crowded street and look at the reflection of his face.

“Aah, what…!”

Genos bowed his head and apologized to the startled woman.

"Sorry. My apologies."

"Ah, it\'s alright."

After apologizing, Genos suddenly turned his head. The voice of the woman who’d answered echoed in Genos\' ear.

Beautiful.

A lilting, melodious voice like a jade bell.

Genos couldn\'t stand the impulse.

“I want you to have my son.”

"Yes?"

Desolation filled the woman\'s eyes.

At the sight, Genos held back his tears and retreated.

“Excuse me.”

Oh, it was another failure!

Genos ran, burying inside the pain of his shattered heart.

“Orphin? What just happened? Who was that?”

“… Some crazy pervert.”

Editor\'s Notes:

[1] 뾰족한 수 (lit. sharp method) is used in the negative form to mean you have no reasonable measures to a problem. It comes from the Chinese idiom 囊中之錐 (lit. awl in the sack) – just like an awl in a sack will always puncture the sack and show its sharp tip to the world, a wise man’s talent would one day inevitably be revealed. Not having the sharp tip in the negative form means you, ahem, aren’t very wise, so to speak.