I Was Reincarnated As The Brother Of A Villainous Young Lady, But I Couldn't Use Magic, So I Used My Sword To Slash Down The Doom Flag - Chapter 14

My name is Like Hartmann. I am the heir of the Hartmann Marquis Family. Even though I am called the heir, I do not have much power. No parent would give a ten-year-old child real authority, so that is understandable.
Still, I sometimes selfishly wish that I had been given more power.

After all, my father—the Marquis himself—has now suddenly fallen ill. He cannot handle the family affairs at all.

“Sigh… Today’s meeting was so pointless.”

As the eldest son, even at ten years old, I have the right to join the meetings and voice my opinions on the family’s policies. However, I do not have the strength to enforce my ideas. The moment my father became unable to lead, the retainers began to act on their own and try to control the family.

As a result, the security in our lands has become disturbed, and the taxes are visibly falling. I hoped that the retainers would notice their mistakes, change their hearts, and work together. But all they did was shift blame, and no constructive discussion took place.

If this continues, the Hartmann Marquis Family will soon collapse. Considering the importance of our trade, it would not be strange if the royal family intervened and changed everything, leaving us with nothing at all—myself and my sister, Siluria.

“Damn it.”

I feel so powerless. If only I could use magic, or had power that everyone respected, I would silence those foolish people and rebuild the family with my own hands.

“Sigh… For now, let us go and see how they are doing.”

On our way back from the town of Gast to our lands, I heard from Siluria that a baron from the Ranger Family—who had been attacked by thieves—had his only son defeat all the attackers by himself. I was surprised by her words.
But the magic of his “Clairvoyant Kureyaboyans” is real. That magic can see even the distant view beyond a wall, and it has helped many times before.

Because of that, I trusted Siluria’s eyes and recruited him as my personal subordinate. I thought that the retainers would not complain if I chose a person from a baron’s family to serve me. However, shortly after the matter was settled, I was called to a meeting, which caused some trouble.

“They say that first impressions are very important in building trust. But it is only the first day of our meeting, so there should be no big differences.”

I do not know exactly how skilled Sold Ranger is. The only person who has seen him fight against thieves is Siluria, who can use Clairvoyance.

This matter is mostly a kind of investment. I chose him with the hope that he will become one of my cards to help me take over the Marquis Family one day. The future is long, and one day’s difference will not matter.

Thinking this, I went to the infirmary where he was supposed to be. For some reason, nobody was there.

“Huh…?”

Actually, his father, Garland Ranger—the head of the Ranger Baron Family—was there. But neither Sold, nor his sister, nor even Siluria (who should have been with them) was there.

I tilted my head in confusion and found a note left on a table.

“Borrow me. Come to the training field.”

“As usual, there is no extra decoration in the message. I understand, though.”

My sister always speaks in as few words as possible, saying only what is necessary. She manages to get her point across, and that may be a kind of talent.

“So, is Sold at the training field? What is he doing there?”

The training field should be for practice, but since Siluria specifically said “borrow me,” there must be some hidden purpose. Perhaps he plans to show his skills to the knight order? That is possible. Right now, only Siluria knows how skilled he is. Even though I can decide on a retainer by my own will, it does not look good for a family that is to be inherited by an incompetent and talentless noble to choose someone like that.

But still… I wonder how well a ten-year-old boy can fight against trained knights. Even Siluria, at only nine years old, has magic skills that make her a genius. If she were born a boy, she would surely be considered the next head of the family instead of me.

Even Siluria is easily brushed aside by full-time knights in practice. How far can a child of a baron’s family, who has not even a proper master, fight against knights?

With mixed feelings of excitement and fear of disappointment, I stepped into the training field. There, I saw many knights lying around like dead bodies. In the center stood Sold, and his training scene (or whatever it was) was being watched by his sister and Siluria.

“Ah, Lord Like, has the meeting ended?”

“Ah, yes, it has ended… But what is happening here…?”

I asked Sold to clear my doubts. He answered as if it were obvious.

“This? The knights agreed to help me practice the move I have just learned. They are acting as punching bags so that I can train more easily. I am very grateful that they let me do that.”

I thought that might not be true. One or two knights might do that for a child, but not so many as to let a group of them be used as punching bags without doing anything.

I was scared to mention that directly, so I asked another question.

“The move…?”

“Yes. Well, it is faster if I show you.”

He then put his sword back in its sheath and stood with it at his waist.

Swords are meant to be decorative now, and that is the common idea of knights. There was a time when swords were the main weapon, but now magic has advanced so much that swords are used mainly as a substitute for a wand.
But what he is doing now is clearly holding his sword as a sword.

I wondered what he intended to do. Then, in front of me, Sold drew his sword, and a straw scarecrow that was a little distance away was split in two and frozen.

“Huh?”

I did not understand what had happened. If he had used magic, there would surely be signs before and after—the glow of magical power. But there were none.
It looked like he used his sword, yet there was a long distance between him and the scarecrow. Moreover, the cut was frozen, which seems impossible without magic.

“You used magic, didn’t you?”

“No, I did not use magic. I have no magic power.”

“I see.”

I wished he had used magic. I really wonder how he can freeze something using only his sword. How can he cut an object with his sword and make it freeze?

In answer to my question, Sold said with a confident look:

“This is the ‘Majin-ryu Sword Art’ that my father taught me.”

“Majin-ryu… I have never heard that name…”

“That is no surprise. It is passed down to only one child.”

I thought that being passed down to one child and never hearing the name before are two different things.

“But what I really want to know is not the name of the style but how you used only your sword to cut a distant object and freeze it.”

“You must sharpen all your senses and listen to the voice of your sword.”

I do not think that is possible.

“Brother!”

“What is it, Siluria?”

Siluria spoke with a proud look, not hiding her face.

From the outside, Siluria always seems to show no emotion. But I can tell. This is the look of complete satisfaction after a perfect prank.

“I told you so. Right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

When Siluria first recommended Sold to me, she said, “He will one day change all the rules in the kingdom.”
Now I am beginning to feel that might not be an exaggeration or a lie.