I had made a promise to Monty.
To be precise, to both Lily and Monty.
In order to win the war against Manggot, Zodiac's full participation was absolutely necessary. In that process, I had made promises to each of them.
To Lily, I promised to be her knight for a month.
And to Monty, I promised to become his disciple.
‘That was disciple, not adoption!’
The promise had subtly changed without my knowledge.
Or rather, should I say it was changed?
Anyway, I explained the situation to my family.
Since I had agreed to become his disciple, I had to keep that promise.
Enfer, who had been listening quietly to my words, asked.
“...So it's true that you agreed to become his disciple?”
“And you made that promise because of the war?”
“Yes. Zodiac's participation was absolutely necessary. We needed as many people as possible.”
A heavy silence descended upon the living room after my words.
Enfer crossed his arms and closed his eyes as if deep in thought, while Malia narrowed her eyes as if contemplating.
I looked around, feeling the awkward atmosphere.
Somehow, the mood was worse than I expected.
Unlike Lily, there were no strange rumors about Monty that those who entered under his tutelage never came out.
He was just a passionate and upright warrior, a man with a generally good reputation.
Above all, since he was a Zodiac, I thought Enfer would welcome the news that I would become his disciple, regardless of the scion title.
“...I see. So that's how it is.”
Finally, Enfer opened his eyes slowly. A sigh mixed with his voice.
“If that was the promise, then you must keep it.”
“...I'm sorry. The situation at the time was urgent.”
I thought Enfer was angry that I had made such a promise to him without consulting him.
But Enfer shook his head.
“You made the right choice. You deserve praise instead. Your father is proud of you.”
There was no falsehood in Enfer's eyes. Well, Enfer wasn't the type to be sarcastic in the first place.
But contrary to his words, his face was too dark.
While I was unable to guess what was going on inside him, a voice came from another direction.
It was Azier. He had become the very ‘sword’ I always compared him to. His sharp gaze swept around before piercing my heart. I didn't know why, but Azier was extremely cold right now.
“I want to talk to my brother who has returned after a long time. It's been a while since our training was interrupted.”
“Alright. We've just finished our meal.”
Once permission was granted, Azier bowed politely and stood up.
“Follow me, Frondier. It's the training ground we always use.”
I also bowed and stood up.
It felt like I was going to be scolded, but Azier would know the reason for this atmosphere.
With that thought, I followed him.
As soon as Azier arrived at the training ground,
He pulled out his treasured spear.
Was he going to kill me under the pretense of training? That thought crossed my mind for a moment, but Azier said,
It was the first time I had looked at his spear so closely.
The spear was well-maintained, and although it had an old feel, it looked sturdy. The blade was, needless to say, sharp, and the pole that stretched straight from top to bottom was straight without any bend.
“How does it look to you?”
“...I think it's a great spear.”
• Description: The spear used by Azier de Roach. He himself has not given it a name, so currently the spear has no name. In the future, depending on Azier's fame, the spear may be given an epithet. The spear itself is a high-grade Rare spear, but it has been upgraded to Unique due to Azier's touch and aura.
- Anti-Human Specialization: Azier shows his strongest side when dealing with humans, and accordingly, his treasured weapon is also affected. This effect applies to all bipedal beings.
- Disarming: Influenced by Azier's skill ‘Falling edge’, enemies facing this spear are more likely to drop their weapons even without performing Falling edge.
Originally, it was just an ordinary spear, albeit an expensive one, but because Azier had used it for so long, its grade had increased, and it had gained two abilities.
“Frondier, I haven't seen your fights in person many times, so I can't say for sure, but.”
“You were able to create weapons in the air. You did it during Constel's final exam. I also saw the video of you defeating Belphegor. And it was definitely a weapon I knew.”
I think that video is having a bigger impact on me than Quinie expected.
“Then, can you do the same with this spear?”
He asked if I could replicate this spear.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering how to answer, and eventually spoke honestly.
I thought these words would sound unpleasant to Azier.
But after hearing my answer, Azier calmly said,
“Because I had trouble finding a spear exactly one.”
What did he mean by that?
Azier lifted his treasured spear and looked at its blade for a moment. Azier holding a weapon was like a character drawn in ink, something complete.
“From now on, I will teach you the spear.”