“Look at him. Hey, Closet. Did you see the look in his eyes just now?”

“Why are you teasing our child like that?”

Closet giggled and hugged Wiegratz tightly as well.

Seeing Wiegratz, who was as stiff as a rock, the commander thought, ‘This bastard has a dark heart,’ and teased him once more.

Wiegratz ignored it and pointed at the commander.

“Master, what is your relationship with him?”

“A comrade, I suppose? When I was a priest of the temple, we walked the battlefield together.”

“You know how to fight too, Master?”

Wiegratz looked his master up and down, tilting his head at her slender body.

“Hahaha, it seems the young lad hasn’t tasted the mace of Closet over there yet. Haven’t you been spoiling him too much?”

The commander recounted her heroic tales, saying that priests shouldn’t take lives, but she had beaten enemies with a staff this big.

He added that the number of enemy soldiers she had knocked down was greater than the number of soldiers she had healed.

“Can’t you shut up, Butke?”

Closet brought a broom and swung it at the commander. Each time, the sound of the broom cutting through the air was tremendous.

Watching that, Wiegratz asked,

“Why can’t you just teach me, Master? Why are you entrusting me to that bandit-looking fellow?”

After that, Wiegratz had to join the mercenary group and go on an expedition.

The expedition that seemed like it would end in about half a month did not show any signs of ending even after a month, and when it passed half a year, a war broke out nearby.

‘I need to return to Master.’

It was not a situation where he could cross the border at all. It was a mistake to have innocently followed them, thinking he could earn money and learn swordsmanship.

Every night, Wiegratz lay on the hard ground and imagined Closet.

〈You’re coming now? I thought my belly was going to stick to my back without you!〉

When he recalled her, who ate the food he made with particular relish, he was convinced that one day he would be able to leave this dreadful place and return home safely.

At those times, the cold ground felt as cozy as a sleeping bag stuffed with cotton.

To Wiegratz, Closet’s existence was a kind of talisman.

Even when he lost his humanity on the battlefield full of blood and corpses and swung his sword like a monster, even when his comrades became cold corpses lying at his feet, he thought of Closet.

It was the same when the commander, affected by black magic, became a zombie.

Even though there was an elixir that could alleviate the symptoms, the nobleman leading the soldiers did not give a single bottle to the commander of the mercenaries.

“Damn… it. If I attack you, cut me down.”

“Get a hold of yourself, Commander. Overcome it!”

“You have never once called me master.”

“Closet is my only master.”

“Do you like that woman?”

“…You liked her too, Commander. I know everything.”

“Yes, I did. But it’s no good to like a woman with a harsh fate. You’ll end up taking care of brats like me.”

Damn, it hurts so much I’m dying. In my next life, I’ll become an alchemist myself.

“Urgh… now, please kill me.”

The commander left his last request to Wiegratz while shedding black tears before becoming a zombie.

But he hesitated until the end and missed the chance.

In the end, Wiegratz had to fight the commander who had become a zombie.

Barely dodging the iron mace wielded by the commander, he repeated to himself that he had to return to Closet.

And when he cut down the commander’s body, he awakened as a Sword Master.

From then on, mercy disappeared from his sword. The corpses he cut down became his merits, and those who followed him naturally grasped victory.

It took more than 5 long years for the dreadful war to end.

There was a way to desert the mercenary group and circle around the sea to return to Closet, but since that would also take who knows how long, Wiegratz silently endured on the battlefield.

In the year he turned 20, the war finally ended.

A baron title and fief were bestowed upon a mere mercenary underling, not even a nobleman. With a triumphant heart, he went to find Closet’s house.

“…Master?”

The small and neat house had completely collapsed into ruins. Wiegratz went around the village inquiring about Closet’s whereabouts.

“Ah, that priestess? Didn’t her ex-lover or someone come and cause a commotion, demanding money? I think they had a big fight and ran away. Anyway, if you have a pretty face, you’re bound to have a harsh fate.”

Wiegratz immediately started tracking Closet’s traces.

Finding her was not very difficult. She had taken refuge in a nearby monastery overlooking the sea.

‘She always liked the sea so much, so she ended up choosing a place like this.’

When Wiegratz knocked on the door of the old monastery, Closet with messy hair popped out.

She was momentarily flustered but smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.

“I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”

At that delighted greeting, Wiegratz couldn’t react at all.

Her emaciated face was pitiful, but the blue bruise marks around her eyes clawed at his heart.

Instead of the greetings he had prepared, such as ‘Welcome back,’ ‘I missed you,’ ‘Didn’t you miss me?’, an angry voice flowed out.

“Who hit you.”

“You should greet your master first.”

“Damn it, I’ll kill them all!”

Wiegratz charged towards the monks who were peeking inside from the building.

Hey, you brat! Closet stood firm, blocking him with her whole body.

There was no way a thin woman’s body could stop a sturdy man. But Wiegratz couldn’t overcome her and stopped in his tracks.

The look in his master’s eyes as she gazed up at him was more resolute than any general.

“Come with me. I can repay you now, Master.”

“Go where? You go alone. You’ve received a title, so live like a human being now.”

“No. What do you think I endured that terrible battlefield for!”

“What did you endure it for?”

When Closet asked back, Wiegratz pressed his lips together as if at a loss for words. She saw that and let out a chuckle.

Thinking, ‘You’re still a kid,’ she reached out to pat his shoulders. And the moment her palm touched his shoulders,

“…You’ve only grown in body.”

Different words came out than she had thought.

It was because a distinct masculine scent emanated from his shoulders and robust body, which had become much broader than before.

To the point where she even thought she wanted to lean on him for a moment, her disciple stood before her as a perfect man.

‘I must have gone crazy from being too exhausted.’

Feeling a strange tickle on her palm that was touching him, Closet unknowingly curled her fingers inward and withdrew her hand.

“Wiegratz, I have no intention of keeping anyone by my side now. The same goes for you.”

“Master!”

“Sorry, I’m too tired.”

Closet placed her hand on Wiegratz’s chest and put strength into it.

He looked down at her with a hurt gaze and obediently stepped back as she pushed him. When he went outside the monastery, the large wooden door slammed shut.

Wiegratz stood there, staring blankly at that door.

News of Wiegratz occasionally reached the monastery. They said he jumped into battles like a war maniac whenever they occurred in the frontier.

Before long, Wiegratz even earned the title of Emperor’s Sword.

As his merits accumulated, his position in high society rose accordingly.

Countless gossip overflowed, such as him having a marriage arrangement with some young lady, or him being popular among noble ladies.

Wiegratz also became a hot topic in the secret meetings held at the monastery.

“I heard he suppressed the hordes of heretics swarming in the western frontier this time as well.”

The abbot sitting at the round table set down his empty teacup and stared at Karzan. He smiled brightly, letting his luscious red hair drape over one shoulder.

Karzan was the 16th son of the emperor, born from the womb of a court dancer, so he was treated as if he didn’t exist in the imperial family.

By chance, he came across an ancient book in the library that only the imperial family could enter, reinterpreted it, and created a new field called black magic.

Black magic challenged the authority of the gods, so a clash with the temple was inevitable.

The high priest argued that black magic should be banned, but the emperor coveted its power and showed an ambiguous attitude.

The one who had been a ghost in the palace suddenly monopolized the emperor’s favor.

However, there was one problem.

Black magic consumed life force, and a large scale magic required many lives, so it was inefficient and failed to gain public support.

In the meantime, Wiegratz roamed the battlefields where black magic should have been used and claimed glory. The emperor’s attention was now leaning towards him.

“I support your black magic, Karzan. Who else can break the temple’s high nose if not you?”

The abbot, who was on bad terms with the temple, actively supported Karzan.

The people sitting at the round table were the same. They were all at odds with either the temple or the imperial family.

“I’ve already discovered an ingenious method, Abbot.”

Karzan pushed a black magic circle in front of the abbot.

This is! The abbot, who had been part of the central temple in the past, was startled to see the magic circle that had only been passed down orally.

“It’s a magic to summon the ancient beings who ruled over monsters. Their life force was said to be infinite.”

“But according to mythology, didn’t the ancients seal them away, calling them demons?”

The so-called ‘Demon’s Egg’. It was a kind of portal magic that connected the space where demons were sealed and this world.

“You’ve become a coward, Abbot. Demons will be an endless driving force for us to use black magic. If this succeeds, our forces will become even more solidified.”

“W-well, that may be so, but…”

The abbot and the other attendees of the meeting only glanced at each other.

At that moment, a woman wearing a hood raised her hand.

She was the chieftain who led a minority tribe in the frontier and recently lost all her family members by imperial decree.

“How much life force is required to realize this magic?”

“At least one village will have to disappear.”

Upon hearing that, the abbot showed a troubled expression.

“The orphans managed by our monastery will be far from enough.”

As it was, a priestess-turned-one named Closet who recently crawled in here had been a headache, secretly taking away the orphans.

Her divine power was quite useful, so they kept her, but they were losing more than gaining because of her.

“Then let’s target the capital of the empire. If possible, let’s strike the imperial palace as well.”

“How could you!”

“Then we’ll be in danger too!”

The participants opposed with troubled faces. But the woman didn’t care.

“Don’t you know that all gambles have to have a big pot for greater gains?”

At that moment, there was a shattering sound of something breaking outside the door.

At the abbot’s signal, a guard quickly checked outside the door.

On the floor was a broken teapot. Steam wafted from the tea that had spilled from it.

“She couldn’t have gone far yet.”

The abbot ground his teeth.

The woman had caused problems from time to time, but she was useful for greeting guests because of her pretty face. Did she finally cause trouble?

“If you find her, kill her.”