I Obtained Sword God Level Talent

48 – 048. Winds of Change (4)

The audience chamber of the Imperial Palace was filled with all sorts of treasures and works of art. As the space belonging to the Emperor, the absolute ruler of the continent, it was a place with a quietly flowing, majestic atmosphere.

“Impossible.”

“Your Majesty.”

Crown Prince Friedrich, standing before the Emperor of the great empire, was sweating profusely.

‘So far, it’s going according to plan.’

Right this very day, the Crown Prince, upon returning to the Imperial Palace, sought out the Emperor.

He, the Iron-Blooded Emperor, the stern father, was met with a simple request.

The Plum Blossom Elixir.

Crown Prince Friedrich was demanding the release of the Plum Blossom Elixir. No need for further questioning; it was solely for Frey’s sake.

“This isn’t like you. Do you not understand the value of the Plum Blossom Elixir? It can increase a commoner’s lifespan by twenty years or more, and a mana user can gain a century’s worth of mana instantly upon consumption.”

“……That, I am aware of.”

The Crown Prince calmly met the Emperor’s gaze as he answered.

“I’m curious. Why would you make such an absurd request?”

“……”

The Crown Prince couldn’t open his mouth.

Without even needing to ponder deeply, it was obvious that Frey would use the ‘Plum Blossom Elixir’ to eliminate demons.

“If my assumptions are correct, he might be… testing the Imperial Family.”

“What?”

The Emperor’s brow furrowed. His father, whom he had observed his entire life. The Crown Prince knew that such a reaction meant the Emperor was deeply displeased.

However, he didn’t stop speaking. He was already filled with an important conviction.

“Your Majesty, how would he know that the Plum Blossom Elixir exists among the Imperial Family’s treasures?”

“……Could it be!”

“Yes, that’s correct. I consider the fact that he knows as, perhaps, a revelation.”

The Crown Prince’s eyes did not waver, despite his grave expression.

If Frey, the individual in question, had heard this, he’d have likely burst out laughing in disbelief, but sadly, the Crown Prince was unaware of that.

“So, the celestial being who granted this revelation is watching us. Simply put, testing this old man?”

“Yes. That’s how I perceive it, Your Majesty, with my limited abilities.”

“Troublesome.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue, his face scrunched in displeasure.

He was the Emperor, the master of ten thousand, before whom the entire continent bowed, yet, the celestial beings… the gods, were always the problem. The Emperor’s power and voice didn’t reach them.

“Friedrich.”

“Yes, your inadequate son stands before you.”

“Has your thought not changed?”

“……That is so.”

The Crown Prince bowed his head even deeper.

He’d already made up his mind. Just a few days ago, his encounter with Frey had ignited a near-fanatical faith, making such actions possible.

“Can we earn divine trust in exchange for the Plum Blossom Relic?”

The Emperor’s worries deepened.

If the Crown Prince’s words were true, then relinquishing the Relic would be a small price to pay. If his words were true, that is.

“What kind of man is this, that you met?”

After a long deliberation, the Emperor finally spoke.

“To put it simply, he is a being akin to a divine avatar.”

“Indeed. Holy Knights… they are beings of that nature.”

“That is correct. He also made a personal request of me.”

“A personal request?”

“Yes, he asked that a mansion be secured for him in the Central District of the Imperial City.”

“Hoo.”

For the first time in their conversation, a flicker of interest crossed the Emperor’s face.

“That means, he may reside in the Imperial City rather than at the Papal Palace.”

“Precisely, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, now I understand. How you, who have never once acted spoiled in your entire life, came to request the Plum Blossom Relic.”

“……”

The Crown Prince remained silent.

The die had been cast. His part was done, now all that was left was for his father, the Emperor, to give his consent and everything would be resolved.

“He feels like he dislikes being bound to any particular place, doesn’t he.”

“I am humbled, but I could not fathom the depths of his mind.”

“I understand. He, no, the heavens, are testing the Imperial Family. To see if we are a vessel capable of embracing both a god and a Holy Knight, and if we are beings who seek a truth beyond the material.”

Is…is that so?

The Crown Prince had been quiet for some time.

Seeing his father spin fantastical narratives, he thought it would be more helpful to simply stay silent.

“Friedrich.”

“……Ah, yes!”

“I grant permission for the Plum Blossom Relic.”

“Y-y-y-you mean it, for real?!”

“Yes. In return, I shall entrust you with a single task.”

*Gulp!*

The Crown Prince waited, his face tight with tension, for his father’s mouth to open.

His father was that sort of man. Appearing a sage ruler, revered by all, but in his heart, a master manipulator, raising snakes.

Surely, the task that would spill from his lips wouldn’t bear a light weight.

“Co-opt him.”

“……Pardon?”

“The world, as it is, begins and ends with talent. If we’ve given up the Plum Blossom Order, we must, without fail, make him a member of our imperial family.”

That’s true.

If the Grail Knight were to throw his lot in with a potential enemy of the empire?

It was clear the matter would be troublesome. The legendary Grail Knight held a status of that weight, after all.

“I will keep it in mind.”

The Crown Prince bowed his head once more, straightened up, and turned to leave. He intended to share this joyous fact with him immediately.

“Friedrich.”

A low voice flew at the Crown Prince’s back, as he walked away with measured steps.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How did you come to recognize his extraordinariness? Knowing your temperament, you wouldn’t have been swayed by the title ‘Grail Knight’.”

“……It’s simple.”

It was a haphazard question from the Emperor, but the Crown Prince answered directly, without even a moment of hesitation.

“Heroes recognize heroes.”

…If Frey heard that, he’d say, ‘Bullshit.’

* * *

The story of Frey defeating the Blood Lion and retrieving the Grail slowly… began to spread across the entire continent.

“Hey, did you hear? A 5th Circle Knight killed a 7th Circle martial artist.”

“That’s bullshit. Does that even make sense?”

“No, it’s true! They say he was laid up for days, then got up and even retrieved the Goddess’s Grail!”

“Stop talking crap and eat your food. That’s a story that wouldn’t even make a third-rate novel.”

“But it’s true!!!”

Even in a run-down inn in a small city in the Western Continent.

“Senior Brother. Have you heard the story of the Blood Lion, the last descendant of the Blood Sect?”

“……Blood Lion? Wasn’t he killed by the Heavenly Demon Sect?”

“There’s talk going around that it’s a false rumor.”

“A false rumor, you say?”

“Yes. From what I hear, the Blood Lion fled to the Western Continent. But there’s also information that he was brutally killed there by a martial artist at the very early stages of the Zenith Realm.”

“That’s utter nonsense. The Blood Lion is a martial artist of the Transcendent Realm. How could someone at the beginning of the Zenith Realm kill him on their own?”

“……The source of the rumor is said to be the Heavenly Demon Sect.”

“What the–?!”

Even at the inn with the towering pavilion in the Eastern Continent.

“Woo-hee… wouldn’t it be better if you wandered the Jianghu like other junior disciples?”

“No. I’ve already made up my mind. I want to study the culture and martial arts of the Western Continent.”

“Haa… that place isn’t as hopeful as you think it is. There are even b*stards who conduct live experiments on human flesh and bone. It’s a very dangerous place.”

“It’s alright, Father. I know that the sword techniques I learned at the Hwa Mountain Sect will protect me.”

“Haa…! Please, I just hope you come back safely. If anything happens, contact the alliance or the sect.”

“Hehe! I will.”

And even within some families of the Eastern Continent.

The situation flowed in a slightly different direction than anticipated.

At first, it was no more than a small flap of wings. However, the small breeze created by Frey became a gentle breeze, then turned into a strong wind with the passage of time, and after crossing the continent, it became a massive storm.

…

..

.

A dark grand hall.

On a crimson dais, a middle-aged man was sitting on a black jade throne.

His face was full of boredom. That is, until an old man with a sword appeared before him.

“Oh great master of the Ten Thousand Demons.”

The old man, Sword Demon, bowed respectfully.

The man before him was someone who deserved such respect. He was someone who had transcended human martial prowess and was the ruler of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains—the Heavenly Demon was such a person.

“….Speak.”

The Heavenly Demon, who hadn’t even bothered to cast his gaze, uttered the words quietly.

“While hunting down the remnants of the Blood Cult in the Western Continent, I encountered a man with an extraordinary aura.”

“Get to the point. This lord does not have much time.”

The Sword Demon bowed again.

To earn his ire was suicide. That was the Sect’s old truth.

“…I taught him a martial art that combined light movement and footwork.”

“Meddling again, were you.”

“However, a problem arose there.”

“Problem?”

“Yes. What I taught the boy was ‘Demon Shadow Step’, crafted by your command, my lord.”

For the first time, ‘interest’ flickered in the Heavenly Demon’s face.

“The boy, on his own, in real-time, corrected the weaknesses in the Demon Shadow Step I taught him.”

“Utter nonsense.”

It was impossible.

No matter the martial art, if the core essence is missing, it is but a hollow piece of trash. What the Sword Demon was uttering suggested a high possibility of his delusion.

“Do not be alarmed by what I speak now. What the boy unveiled… was the ＜Heavenly Demon’s Imperial Gait＞.”

And then.

“What?!”

The Heavenly Demon couldn’t help but be quite shocked by the words that followed.

“For now, I’ve managed to hide the truth. I’ve passed it off as ＜Wandering Clouds Gait＞, but the truth coming out is just a matter of time…”

It was unbelievable. Unthinkable.

That just from learning some degraded moves he could understand the ‘original’?!

“Though flawed, this old body has conjured a good method.”

“…Speak it.”

“Send the Young Sect Leader.”

The Heavenly Demon’s face contorted, turning ferocious.

“Old man. What other nonsense are you about to spew?”

“The Young Sect Leader’s talent rivals the heavens, yet, the boy I witnessed possessed an even more intense light. Fundamentally, man and woman are like Yin and Yang, meeting each other to bring forth a more harmonious result…”

*Kuuung—!*

An intangible force pressed down on the hall. A voice, like a growl, turned toward the Sword Demon.

“Your tongue grows long. Get to the point.”

“How about taking the boy as the Young Sect Leader’s partner, as your son-in-law?”

“…Do you wish to die?”

“It is said, the girl from the Mount Hua Sect has already departed to the Western Continent.”

“What?”

A child of Mount Hua?

Such a loaded phrase… Yet, the Heavenly Demon understood its meaning perfectly.

The Mount Hua Sect of this era was experiencing unprecedented prosperity. A master swordsman from the Plum Blossom Sword Arts had become the Martial Alliance Chief, and they were relentlessly targeting the Heavenly Demon Sect’s establishments.

If such Mount Hua, if the righteous martial world gained even more power from them?

…Perhaps it would be better if the Heavenly Demon Sect acquired him, as the Sword Demon suggested.

“If a future absolute master becomes the son-in-law of the Martial Alliance Chief, it will be a troublesome affair. Weakening the enemy and strengthening our own is a basic principle of strategy, is it not?”

“…Proceed with the plan.”

“Heavenly Demon’s Descent! Ten Thousand Demons Bow! Your will be done!”

The Heavenly Demon, left alone in the vast space, maintained a calm expression.

However, an unexpressed frustration burned with indescribable intensity.

…

..

.

Frey was unaware.

The fact that he manifested sword qi less than a week after picking up a sword.

The fact that a 5th-stage swordsman defeated a 7th-stage swordsman.

Even the fact that he recovered the ‘Holy Grail’ according to the Goddess’s will.

Now that these things had actually happened, he was oblivious to the reactions the characters, originally just NPCs in the game, would have.

People.

Groups.

Resources and money.

Honor, and connections…

Lastly, even fate itself.

All of these began to move towards a single point.

The breeze Frey created had become a typhoon, further, the tide of an era.

…Literally, a wind of change.

Indeed, a warped ‘Wild West era’ had just begun.