Chapter 138

Reunion

Isaac’s memories of his mother were faint.

What he could vaguely recall were fragments from when he was younger—her lullabies, the times they played the piano together.
Every few months, or a year, or sometimes longer, she would wander the continent and briefly return to the estate.
After that, all that remained were memories of her collapsing from an endemic illness and the letters she sent while hovering on the brink of death.

[ …May your long nights one day come to an end. May you be at peace. ]

In truth, he could barely even remember her face.
Ash-gray hair like his own, somewhat lonely eyes, and rough hands—that was all.

That was why Isaac couldn’t adapt easily.

— Wow, it really works? Isaac, you’re really my son?
“…Y-yes.”
— I heard you were in Vinfelt. Are you really there right now?
“Th-that’s right?”
— Is it snowing there too?

“It just stopped.”

— There’s really nothing like this magic box. Jonas, can you hear him too? How in the world did they make this? Do spirits carry the sound back and forth?

After hearing Isaac’s voice, Adele became excited and made a big fuss for quite a while.
Only after that did they manage to have something resembling a proper conversation.
Even then, it was very different from what Isaac had expected.

— Are you eating well?

“Yes.”

— What do you eat? You need to eat properly while you’re still growing. You’re not eating spoiled food, are you?
“Well… bread, jerky, cheese, nuts, dried fruits—various things. We always have either soup or stew. It’s not spoiled, so don’t worry.”

— Who cooks for you?
“Sometimes Hans or Enette, sometimes the cooks or whoever’s on duty.”
— You brought Enette along too. Is she doing well these days? Oh, that reminds me… son, is that true?
“…What?”

— I heard from the servants that you’ve been fooling around with the maids. They said Enette was one of them.

“…Wh-who did I… fool around with?”

The longer Isaac continued speaking with Adele through the long-distance communication device, the more his head spun.
He had already spent the entire night fighting Besimer, unable to suppress his bloodlust.
His mind was sluggish, and his limbs throbbed with pain.

And now, unexpectedly speaking with his mother—he didn’t know how to act, how to respond, or what to say.
At the very least, this wasn’t the reunion Isaac had imagined.

— I understand you’re at an age where you’re curious about women. But if you can’t control your desires, you won’t be able to do anything. This is the same in the kingdom and in the tribe. A true leader is someone who knows how to protect the dignity of those beneath them.

As the conversation continued, decades of longing and yearning began to fade away.
For Isaac, it had been decades—but for Adele, it had been barely a year.
Since Isaac was about ten, she had left the estate and returned several times.
The past year had simply been an unusually long absence.

To Adele, Isaac was still a young and inexperienced child.

— Do you understand? Helmut inherited nobility, and I inherited valor. You carry that blood too. So act accordingly.

— Waller said you deliberately acted like a reckless troublemaker, but wrong is wrong. If Enette is with you against her will, send her back to the estate. And as for the guard you supposedly humiliated, apologize to him in person later. Understood?
“I will.”

Isaac couldn’t even properly respond—he just answered as Adele spoke.

He had stayed with his father, Count Goethe, until the man was clearly nearing the end of his life due to illness.
But the time gap with Adele was several times longer.

— ……

Even though he was well past twenty, Isaac found his mother difficult.
Unfamiliar.

And… he was glad.

— It’s a shame. It’s amazing that I can hear your voice through this magic tool, but I can’t see your face. Your voice hasn’t changed, though. But everyone says you’ve changed so much they can hardly recognize you.
“Have I?”

— I’ve heard bits and pieces. What have you been through all this time? Tell your mother.

Adele’s voice was consistent—gentle, yet firm.
It felt close, yet distant.

“Uh…”

Isaac was at a complete loss for words.
He had no idea where to even begin.

— Son?

“…How much have you heard?”

— I heard you became the independent lord of Vinfelt. That place has Baitur warriors and aggressive tribes—it can’t be easy to deal with them. Even after hearing from Waller, I still can’t quite understand it.

“Ah, well… so, in Winterband, there was a company commander named Fikel, and… he was trafficking people through the sewer, and I caught him. So with Randolph and Carlson—ah, Randolph is…”

Isaac stammered, like a child babbling.
Even he thought it was ridiculous, but if he didn’t say something, nothing would come to mind.

Strangely, talking to his father had been far easier.
Conversations with Count Goethe had always had a purpose—what needed to be done for the family, what was required for it.
They were discussions, demands, persuasion.

But conversations with his mother had no purpose, no practicality.
It would’ve been easier to debate religion and faith with Vincenzio.

Isaac could feel, in real time, his language ability deteriorating.

Meanwhile, Adele’s tone grew livelier, her speech faster.

— You defeated that giant? Oh my! Your grandfather would have been so proud.

She was emotional, too.
Soon, Isaac could hear faint sniffling from beyond the communication device.

“Ar-are you crying?”
— How could I not? Besimer took his own father’s life with his own hands.
“…Ah… well… that’s true.”

Adele was far more emotional than Isaac had imagined.
It was hard to believe she was the same person who, in his past life, had treated him harshly and refused to even see his face so he wouldn’t grow weak.

Or perhaps… it was because she was soft-hearted that she had done so.

According to Jonas, much of the food that had been sent down to the underground back then had been made by her.

“…I didn’t know anything.”

Isaac had no choice but to admit it—he knew nothing about his mother.

The cold, stern warrior who followed the traditions of the Granak tribe…
The mother he had vaguely imagined was nothing more than something he himself had constructed.

“Young master, your meal is here.”
“…So do you know what I said then?”
— What did you say?
“I told him—if Imperial magic is so impressive, then try transforming a flame right there on the spot. I said I could do it, so could the wise professor manage it? And then that Imperial professor’s face turned bright red, and he just stormed out.”

“…Young master?”

Hans, who had brought in a tray with stew, blinked in confusion.
Isaac was chuckling to himself.

“Oh, Hans. Just leave it there. But that’s not even the end of it…”

Isaac grinned widely as he spoke to Hans, then continued chattering away.
Hans set the wooden tray on the table, stared blankly at Isaac for a moment, then left.

“Did something happen inside?”

Carlson, who had been about to enter the command tent, asked Hans.

“Huh?”

“You look serious.”
“Sir Carlson… I mean, Company Commander… have you ever seen the young master smile?”
“I have.”

“No, not just smiling. I mean laughing out loud—like kids his age.

Ahaha!”

Laughter burst out from the command tent.
It was unmistakably the voice of a boy.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that before. What’s going on in there?”
“It seems he’s speaking with the madam using some kind of chest that arrived from the Academy.”
“I see.”

…

As Carlson nodded and moved to enter the tent, Hans stepped in front of him.

“If it’s not urgent, wouldn’t it be better to come back a little later?”
“Why?”

Carlson frowned.

“It seems like an important time for the young master.”

Carlson glanced toward the command tent for a moment.
Isaac’s cheerful chatter could be heard from inside.
Even for him, it was a sight he had never seen before.

“I’ll come back later, then.”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”

Carlson gave Hans a brief look and turned away.

***

— You’re eating your meals on time, right?

“……”

— He’s eating well, so don’t worry.
— You’re not overexerting yourself with magic again, are you?
— There’s no need for concern.
— And sleep? Are you getting enough? Still tossing and turning at night from worry?
— I sleep well.

Isaac, who had been dozing off at the table in the command tent, lifted his head.
A familiar voice flowed from the communication device.

— There you go again, brushing it off. I told you not to do that. You’ll collapse at this rate.
— I’m more worried about you. Adele, did you return safely?
— I’m the daughter of Brynskar. I don’t go around getting beaten up anywhere.

Adele’s bright voice and Helmut’s calm one went back and forth.
Outside, dusk had already settled.
A campfire had been lit inside the command tent—someone must have done it—and a thick blanket was draped over Isaac’s shoulders.

“Father?”

— Isaac?

“Yes. It’s me.”
— You received the same device as well?
“Yes.”

— There’s much to say, but we’ll have to postpone it until after the war.
— Helmut, have you heard what Isaac’s been up to?
— I’ve heard the general outline.

— No, really, our son…

Even after talking nonstop from midday to evening, Adele showed no signs of fatigue.
She kept going over everything Isaac had told her.

— Isn’t it amazing? In front of the kingdom’s most renowned scholars.

……

— And he even passed Mulleorn’s test. You know how incredible that is, don’t you?
— Adele.

— That’s the qualification test once used for great warriors and tribal chiefs… huh?
— Wouldn’t it be better to talk about that when we meet in person?
— Ah, you’re right. I got too excited.
— It’s because we’re on the eve of war. Please understand.
— Right… that’s true. Ahem.

Isaac could clearly feel just how well this long-distance communication device, created by Marcel Reich, worked.
He could even hear the count’s quiet sigh and Adele’s small cough.

— Isaac. I received your letter.

— What do you think?
— I share your opinion.
— Did the royalist faction contact you?
— Master Reich himself came to Winterband. He personally delivered a letter from the First Prince.
— Did you refuse?
— Yes.

At his father’s answer, Isaac nodded.
He had expected as much.

His father was a shield more unyielding than anyone.

What Botmer wanted was for the First Prince to take the field personally.
The moment the First Prince deployed his forces, the parliamentary faction would rise as if they had been waiting for it—
under the pretext that the First Prince was attempting to purge his opposition.

The First Prince knew this as well.
But fearing the loss of his own power base, Count Goethe was a card he could not discard.
For someone preparing the Second Prince’s succession war, the count was an indispensable figure.

In other words, the war between Goethe and Botmer was a massive trap laid by the parliamentary faction.
Naturally, the Second Prince stood behind it.

Once the First Prince stepped in, Botmer would lose.
That much was part of the parliamentary faction’s scheme.
The confrontation between royalists and parliamentarians would solidify, the civil war would intensify, and the conflict between the First and Second Princes would fully ignite.
And inevitably, the Empire would begin to interfere in the succession war.

All of this had already happened in the original timeline, when Count Goethe had been on the brink of death due to a spirit rampage.
With nothing else to rely on, Schuler had waged war against Botmer with the support of the First Prince and the royalist houses.
Goethe squandered his fortune and declined.

At the time, no one realized it—
that war, that scarred victory, would become the foundation of the bloody succession ceremony.

— In five days, Botmer’s army will arrive.
“How many days do we have to hold?”
— Three… or four days after that.

The count answered.

“It’s going to get busy. Mother, could you tell Waller to take that chest and go see Grandmother?”
— I’ll go myself. Waller will be busy too.

“Winter is dangerous. For you to move personally—”
— I’ll go.

Isaac tried to warn her, but Adele was firm.

“Father.”

He sought help from the count, but it was useless.

— Do as Adele wishes.

“…What?”

— There are few in the kingdom who can defeat Adele with a sword.

“…What?”

Once again, Isaac realized just how much he didn’t know about his mother.