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Translator: uly
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Be Great, Warriors
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Writing continued until late into the night.
Before he knew it, it was time for dinner.
"Phew."
He felt a faint headache from how intensely he'd been focusing, but his sense of satisfaction overshadowed it.
He opened the window to let in some cool air.
Even in April, a chilly gust laced with biting cold brushed across his cheek.
"Whoa."
While hastily grabbing the papers that nearly flew away in the wind,
his eyes fell on the rose-patterned vial sitting next to the desk.
The Rose Elixir that eldest son Roengreen had handed him before departing.
Rumors said Helmunt's secret elixir boosted physical abilities when consumed.
But such potions usually strained the body, so unless one had blessed genes, drinking it recklessly could lead to serious issues.
'But it's diluted.'
While debating whether to give it a try,
knock knock knock.
A knock came from outside.
After bundling and tidying the papers he'd been working on, he opened the door.
There stood Silberna Caldias, her snow-white hair like pure white snowflakes leaving a striking impression.
"Allow me to greet you again. I'm Silberna."
"I'm Isaac Helmunt."
'A bob cut, huh.'
In his previous life, her hair had cascaded down to her waist. Now, it barely reached her shoulders.
"Your welcome was quite memorable. I could feel the spirit of the Caldias family in it."
"It was my own greed to see Helmunt's mad sword in action. Forgive my rudeness."
"That's a shame, then. As a live-in son-in-law, I neither wield greatswords nor have a mad sword to show."
"Then I've been even more rude."
Their gazes met.
Fake smiles played on their lips.
To sum up their exchange without mincing words:
'You pissed me off on the wall.'
'And you're putting up with it?'
'I won, after all.'
'What a sore loser.'
Just as the refined Silberna, smiling gracefully, opened her mouth to speak,
"Enough with the pretense, Silberna Caldias."
Isaac struck first, and her smile slowly faded into a blank expression.
Then her lips curved upward again, and a bold, competitive retort came flying back.
"You're more straightforward than I expected? I thought your cheeks would cramp from forcing that smile."
"You already made the first move back on the wall, so why bother pretending?"
"Anna advised me. She said polite speech would irritate you more right now."
'Anna?'
Isaac's gaze shifted past Silberna's shoulder.
There stood a somewhat petite woman by the door.
Anna bowed her head in greeting.
'So that's Anna.'
Silberna's closest friend, whom she'd longed for so dearly.
A maid who learned the spear and enlisted alongside Silberna.
In his previous life, he'd heard she'd tragically died when the Mallidan Wall fell.
"I heard you seduced Rianna... You're pretty decent-looking, I'll give you that. But that's not all, is it?"
Silberna flashed a meaningful smile.
"They say you're quite the smooth talker? With that silver tongue that won over the Blood Rose, could you handle tomorrow's 'encouragement speech'?"
"Encouragement speech?"
"Most of the dispatched nobles have arrived. Starting tomorrow, there'll be basic training and field assignments, so it's to rally everyone with a 'let's do our best' pep talk."
"You want me to do it?"
"You're a Helmunt, aren't you? No matter how much of a sore loser you are, who would dare oppose a Helmunt?"
"Fine, sure."
Isaac accepted readily.
A good idea had just occurred to him.
Perhaps irked by his unflappable demeanor, Silberna added one more jab.
"My father will be there too. So you'd better prepare well."
"Got it. Is that all?"
"Huh? Uh... yeah, pretty much."
"Good. Then can you let me rest? I haven't fully recovered from the journey."
In truth, it wasn't so much fatigue as a desire to get back to writing as soon as possible.
There would be plenty of time to teach Silberna later anyway.
About two months until the Sword Festival began, so delaying a bit was fine.
Silberna hesitated at Isaac's dismissal and stepped back.
"Hey, wait."
Then she suddenly shrugged and whispered conspiratorially.
"Does Rianna Helmunt, like, act all cute and coquettish around you?"
"..."
As Isaac shot her a look of utter bewilderment, Silberna hurriedly added, flushing with embarrassment.
"No, I mean! The Rianna Helmunt I know would never do anything like romance!"
"She doesn't act cute."
"What about pet names, then? Darling? Honey? Baby?"
"Isaac."
"..."
Their eyes met.
Silberna nodded as if convinced, then stepped out.
"See, Anna? I told you there's no way that woman got bewitched by a man!"
"Romance has returned to reality."
Isaac smiled faintly at their conversation echoing down the hall and picked up his pen again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next morning.
Numerous soldiers gathered in the training grounds.
Excluding those on wall duty, every soldier of the Mallidan Wall stood in perfect formation.
Their densely packed ranks resembled a thick shield.
Their grandeur was beyond words, and Isaac felt proud knowing they protected the kingdom.
"Lady Silberna said Isaac's giving the encouragement speech. I-I wouldn't even be able to step forward without shaking."
Jonathan looked around dramatically, whether from the cold or excitement.
Isaac sighed and smacked his back.
"Stay still. Don't fidget."
"Yes, sir! Sorry!"
They were in the line for dispatched nobles.
Unlike the orderly Mallidan soldiers nearby, these ones looked like a ragtag bunch.
Most lacked combat experience but were promising talents recognized for their potential.
"Wow, th-that's Uldiran Caldias."
At Jonathan's words, gazes turned sideways.
There walked a man even bulkier than Helmunt family head Arandel.
His white hair swept back and tied, with a neatly trimmed beard that stood out.
The giant of the north, Uldiran Caldias.
Following was his only daughter, Silberna.
The event began as Uldiran took his seat behind the platform.
Such ceremonies followed a standard flow.
Salute to the flag,
national anthem, drills, and so on.
"Next, representative of the nobles, Isaac Helmunt of the Helmunt family, will deliver the encouragement speech."
It was time for the encouragement speech.
The gazes pouring onto Isaac were, predictably, far from friendly.
Cold stares flew from the silent, orderly Mallidan soldiers.
As Caldias affiliates, they couldn't help but resent a Helmunt.
And it wasn't just the Mallidan soldiers.
The dispatched nobles openly grumbled.
"Ugh, what the hell is that?"
"You're kidding? Boosting him just 'cause he's Helmunt?"
"His hair's black?"
"Even Caldias is done for."
"Trying to psych us out early."
They knew Helmunt was a great house, but they were nobles from respectable families themselves.
Yet Caldias had unilaterally picked a commoner-born live-in son-in-law as their representative, so they vented their dissatisfaction at both Caldias and Isaac.
Pushed by their discontented stares and murmurs, Isaac ascended the platform.
'Heavy.'
The countless soldiers and nobles filled his vision.
But heavier still was the gaze of Uldiran Caldias pressing down on his shoulders from right behind.
'On par with Family Head Arandel.'
Common opinion held Arandel slightly superior, and likely so in reality.
But their matchup would hinge on the day's condition—they were evenly matched.
The purple gem on the platform.
Isaac leaned close to the amplification-enchanted gem and spoke his opening words calmly.
"Warriors, be great."
No preamble, not even a greeting.
A single, concise phrase.
Yet it seized everyone's attention.
"Follow your duty."
Because those words...
"Warriors, simply be great."
...were the famous words of Caldias's founding family head.
Margrave Wolfdrun Caldias, who had personally overseen the Mallidan Wall's construction.
A Helmunt representative had just uttered words akin to Caldias's creed,
despite their houses' enmity.
"As I came here, I wondered about the truth behind 'be great.' As you all know, 'great' is somewhat abstract, isn't it?"
Killing intent crushed down on him.
Oppressive pressure poured from all sides.
Especially from behind—Uldiran's aura was so ferocious that a moment's lapse in focus felt like a spear tip piercing his heart.
How dare a Helmunt mock their beliefs?
Isaac continued steadily, bearing their piercing glares amid the cold wind.
"What makes one great? I pondered endlessly. Guarding the kingdom from magic beasts with the wall at our backs?"
"Wielding a massive greatsword to cleave foes in one strike? Upholding honor and conviction to stamp out injustice? Persuading enemies to surrender with rhetoric?"
"Ah, of course that's great. Truly great."
The dispatched nobles glared daggers at Isaac.
Irritated looks urging him to read the room.
Glares begging him to just shut up.
The training grounds' atmosphere was downright murderous.
Overrun not by northern chill, but by sweltering heat.
"However, this is what I believe."
"True greatness... is fitting even the common man into that mold."
Fists clenched tight.
Sincerity filled Isaac's voice.
"Those born noble from the start, blessed by the goddess's lineage from birth. They exalt themselves for it."
"But rather than those deemed great by their lofty origins—elevating the ordinary to greatness! That is what truly merits awe."
The mood shifted strangely.
Great by birthright.
Helmunt fit that description best.
Their innate superhuman strength and prowess could only be explained as the goddess's blessing.
"And today, right here, I have witnessed that very greatness. I ask you all to see it with me."
He snatched a decorative spear from below the platform, hoisting it high as he shouted.
"This! The very thing you're all holding!"
The soldiers' eyes drifted to the spears in their own hands.
Befuddlement replaced their anger, which had quietly vanished.
Isaac flashed a faint smile and cried out.
"If someone declares they will master the martial arts! I will shout!"
"Behold the north! Upon that towering wall! Gaze upon Caldias's spear, rising as the continent's greatest!"
Public opinion on Caldias's spear was simple:
Fundamentally sound, universally accessible, easy to learn.
Suited to the sparsely populated north, where any soldier could master it.
Thus, it was dismissed.
Anyone could learn it, after all.
Even the margrave's daughter, a mere maid, had picked it up and enlisted together.
'Though I, who never properly wielded a sword, was called the Silent Sword.'
Yet as the Silent Sword, compiler of countless treatises, he declared:
When it came to martial precision,
Nothing rivaled Caldias.
"You who grasp Caldias's spear! Following Wolfdrun's last words, simply be great warriors!"
"I know—a single greatsword cannot fell hundreds, thousands of spears!"
"And I know! You great ones! Even with heads severed, hearts pierced, you never step back!"
Because it was true.
He knew all too well.
The woman who had borne all their deaths on her shoulders, living only as Caldias after discarding her own name, had told him so.
"Great guardians of Mallidan's forefront."
His voice calmed, lowering softly.
"With gratitude for your selfless devotion."
A gentle smile graced Isaac's lips.
"And to share this meaningful moment with those who have fulfilled their duty and now rest in this land—the great fallen heroes—"
Slowly.
Closing his eyes.
"A moment of silence."
As Isaac bowed his head,
for an instant, the Mallidan guardians bowed theirs.
'Thank goodness.'
Years from now,
they had held out for a full month without aid, defying the kingdom's staff who swore it'd fall in five days.
To you all before me now.
'To have this chance to express my gratitude... truly, thank goodness.'
You held strong.
You endured.
Your struggle was truly great.
Though long overdue.
Once more, with thanks.
Silence.