How to Live as a Swordmaster of the Enemy Nation

Reino and Kylo

Reino spoke with an annoying, mocking laugh.

"Puh, puhaha! Have you finally lost your mind? Dropping honorifics to your older brothers and all."

Kylo, finding the situation funny, chimed in.

"Khahaha...."

But then, his expression suddenly turned vicious as he placed a hand on Gregory's shoulder.

"Little brother... You're going crazy because you're always locked up in your room."

In the eyes of Reino and Kylo, Gregory looked as if he had gone mad, having lashed out in his obsession with mana.

Even when Gregory continued to ignore them, pretending not to hear, Kylo, flabbergasted, stepped up.

Whack—

Kylo struck the back of Gregory's head sharply with his palm.

"Do you take us for complete weaklings?"

'Alright. I've been hit first.'

Gregory looked at Kylo, who once again placed a hand on his shoulder, and gripped it tightly.

'Older brothers, they're all the same.'

He squeezed as if to crush his hand bones.

With his other hand, Gregory punched Kylo in the face. With a loud smack, Kylo screamed and was hurled far away.

"Aaaargh—!"

Reino, witnessing the scene, shouted in rage. He blamed it on Kylo's carelessness, thinking this wouldn't have happened otherwise, and squared himself up accordingly.

"You little shit! Hitting your own brother? You want a real beating? Move one more time and you're dead."

Gregory met his eyes, taunting him with a flick of his hand. His eyes had already turned sharp, his focus perfect, leaving no openings.

For a brief moment, they stood in a standoff—a clash of nerves. The one to lose focus first would be the loser.

Seeing Kylo rubbing his cheek at the side, Reino couldn't bear it. He flicked his hand at Gregory instead.

"You come over here, you little bastard."

Worrying about someone else in the middle of a fight—he lost his concentration first. It was an obvious defeat.

Gregory seized the moment, lowering his body and quickly closing the gap to strike Reino in the abdomen.

"Urgh—"

Unlike Kylo, Reino had some endurance. Considering Gregory had put some strength into his attack, he could tell Reino was quite tenacious.

Reino straightened himself up again.

"You hit me? You're dead."

This time, he threw a punch. But to Gregory, it was a laughable attack. He immediately spotted the flaw.

'You shouldn't expose your vital points so easily.'

Gregory dodged Reino's pitiful attack and then swung his fist strongly. His solid fist struck flat at Reino's soft philtrum.

A sound even louder than before rang out.

Puh-uhng—

Reino flew back and crashed into a wardrobe, breaking the door. The broken wardrobe door tumbled down on top of him.

Side by side, both brothers lay groaning in pain—a rather spectacular sight.

Since it was an attack laced with personal feeling, they couldn't get up easily.

'Still, we'll have to live together for a while longer. Maybe I went too far.'

At that moment, a powerful presence was felt from afar. Though weaker than the one he had sensed before, Gregory thought that, at this distance, only the family head could emit such an aura.

'Well, it's not like I did anything wrong...'

Startled by the loud crash, the butler was the first to rush into the room. Magnus, shocked, shook the fallen brothers.

"Sir Reino, Sir Kylo, are you alright?"

Someone else rushed in right after. The reason for this visit was that the butler had hurried off, unsure what was happening inside.

Then came the sound of calm footsteps—someone surveying the already devastated scene. The man asked, looking at the two battered brothers,

"What have you done, Gregory?"

It was a familiar face.

The next head of the Ashborn family, a key figure Gregory had read about in the major character reports.

In his past life, this nobleman had been more formidable than any knight of the Blandi Kingdom when it came to personal prowess, infamous for tearing apart the corpses of those he defeated.

'So, Ernest was an Ashborn?'

Because of that reputation, Gregory could never forget him. Although they'd never met in person before, it was surprising to see his face now.

Even in his calm tone, Ernest's anger was palpable. Gregory estimated his aura to be around 3-stars—a tremendous talent for someone his age.

Gregory explained how things had unfolded: finishing his mana training, the events that had happened, and why he had beaten his brothers. With his current strength, taking on Ernest now would clearly mean getting beaten.

Ernest listened quietly, then rebuked him.

"You should have shown some restraint. Does that mean you go beat up your brothers?"

"......."

"That's enough. Go to the family head with Magnus. He's looking for you."

Ernest started checking on Reino and Kylo. While he did so, Gregory and Magnus made their way to the family head's audience chamber. It gave Gregory a chance to glimpse the layout of the main house.

***

When they entered the audience chamber, the maids closed the doors behind them.
A long red carpet stretched ahead, at the end of which Hemingway sat.

Gregory approached and paid his respects, following proper etiquette.

The butler led by explaining about Kylo and Reino. That must have been the main reason he came as well, to report this.

Both of the family head's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then he turned to look at the butler's face.

"If it were up to you, what would you do?"

In truth, Hemingway had no particular interest in fights among his sons.

His only concern was his own growth and the glory of the family.

Whether the fight was serious mattered less than whether his foolish son had solved his assigned task.

At this, Magnus knelt on one knee—a gesture of momentary loyalty. The family head's words had subtly told the butler to handle things as he saw fit. They'd spent years together, so the butler understood at once.

"Yes, understood. I will take care of it."

The butler exited the audience chamber.

Hemingway could sense the faint, swirling mana coming from Gregory. As soon as the butler left, Hemingway asked quietly,

"From what I see, you seem to have completed your task."

"Of course...."

Hemingway pondered for a while before nodding his head.

"If you're a member of the Ashborn family, that's only natural. Don't get too proud."

For some reason, Gregory felt nervous. He wondered why he had been summoned by Hemingway.

Stroking his beard, Hemingway spoke. Chillingly, there was even a hint of praise in his final words.

"You... broke the curse I couldn't myself.... Well done."

He clearly knew—he knew Gregory was cursed, and that it had prevented him from manifesting mana until the age of sixteen.

Extending the task deadline had been both a plan and a test—a favor for Gregory. The family head knew that by handling it this way, he wouldn't provoke open resentment from the other brothers.

For a member of a noble house not to manifest even a bud of mana by sixteen was a death sentence.

If he didn't rebuke such a brother, the others would see it as favoritism.

To Gregory-who had grown up on government rations and a lifetime of reading the room-it was a simple, transparent intention.

Hemingway's harsh attitude had been to show dignity as the family head, and his intentions—to show how much he truly loved his son—were clear underneath.

That's why Gregory answered even more confidently.

"It was only what any Ashborn would be expected to do."

"But..."

Gregory froze momentarily at the family head's meaningful demeanor.

Hemingway asked,

"How did you gain your mana? Explain it to me."

It was a heavy, forceful question. Like having a lump in his throat—stifling.

He hadn't expected this. Watching his brothers' annoyed antics after gaining mana, he had overlooked this line of questioning. The family head had spotted the inconsistency right away.

Though flustered, Gregory managed to respond cleanly with improvisation.

"A loyal hound, if its master commands, completes the task without question."

He had no choice but to deflect. Explaining the process would have raised too many follow-up questions.

Naturally, things like his true nature, the Forbidden Grimoire, and his reincarnation were things he could never reveal.

Hemingway gave a faint smile upon hearing this. Considering Gregory had defeated the curse with sheer willpower and effort, he seemed bold.

He had risked his life at a young age, not knowing what consequences would follow—a loyalty strong enough to be recognized.

So Hemingway pressed no further.

Gregory realized the family head had his eye on him. Still, he didn't let it show.

"Now you look the part. Train your body well. Don't tarnish this father's honor."

His shoulders couldn't help but straighten. It was a feeling unfamiliar to him.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going back?"

"I'll be on my way."

Creeeak—

The audience chamber doors closed, and Gregory headed for his room.

Hemingway sat in silence, lost in deep thought for a long while.

A retainer, who had been hidden like a shadow behind a pillar, now stepped out and approached the family head.

Hemingway, eyeing him sharply, asked,

"What do you think?"

The retainer knelt properly.

"To think the young master you had the highest hopes for has broken the curse himself... It's a blessing in disguise."

Hemingway had the highest hopes for Gregory for two reasons.

Boys like Ernest had shown their talent and effort from an early age, but Gregory's immediate older brothers, Reino and Kylo, were lazy and only watched each other for cues.

So he was especially curious about the youngest's sudden transformation.

Secondly, even before the change, the unbreakable determination in his eyes—his resolve to devour the strong—had always shone through.

Even if he couldn't always follow through, he would rise again and again, reminding Hemingway of his own younger self.

The retainer looked pleased. No wonder—despite secretly putting medicine in Gregory's food to break the curse, it hadn't worked, and even when Hemingway tried instilling mana in his dantian, it had been no use.

The retainer continued in a solemn voice.

"He's truly changed. More dignified now. And even... impressive."

Only then did Hemingway burst out in hearty laughter, lightly stroking his beard again.

***

Gregory returned to his room, exhaling deeply.

He'd tried to remain undaunted by the family head's pressure and to appear confident, so even the brief exchange had felt overwhelming and made it hard to breathe naturally.

Despite finally dispelling the curse and training his mana, Gregory hadn't been able to hold his head high—he was still overwhelmed.

'My body still feels like trash.'

In his past life, Gregory had never received praise from his father, the Swordmaster. As a child he had been gravely ill due to the curse, unable to manifest mana. By the time he finally joined the knights, his father had already died in war.

For the first time in his life, he received praise from the man called his father—but the condescending look in his eyes remained just as it had been when his father was alive.

He saw himself as a frog in a well. This time, he wanted to prove himself. His father, a man who defined his age, kept overlapping in his mind. That alone made Gregory's desire to reclaim his strength from his previous life surge in his chest.

First, to regain power, he had to train in mana and strengthen his body.

Gregory got to work right away, aiming to build stamina—this frail body wouldn't cut it. With a body that was hard even to drag around, how could he practice mana techniques? A vessel had to be big to hold more mana.

He also used Kylo and Reino as training dummies. Throwing his strength around let him measure how strong his punch was, and how worthless a 1-star knight really was—a valuable experiment.

There was no reason not to keep physically training.

Hmm... if I just stick to simple training, it'll take ages...
How can I push myself with more intense practice?

Just then, someone came to mind—the first son of the Ashborn family. If he could refine his current pure mana, recall his swordsmanship from before, and spar with him, Gregory could achieve rapid growth.

A grin spread naturally across Gregory's face.

"Ernest."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Hmm, will Ernest help him?
Gregory will probably get beat up quite a bit.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】