25-227

EP.227. [The Secret of the Sword Victoria Possesses.] 

“Haah... Having to be apart from Priscilla... I’m really not used to this!” 

A few days later, Eugene Schneider had to depart once again for the imperial capital, Helios. This was to participate in a formal investigation related to the drake subjugation. Accompanying him was the elf Priscilla, since as an Archer Seeker, she could exert strong power alongside Sword Seeker Eugene in any unexpected situation. As Priscilla finished preparing to leave, Marie was nearly in tears. Since Priscilla joined the mercenary band, Marie had hardly ever been apart from her-not even on the first Helios trip. 

“If anyone saw this, they’d think I was going away for months. It’s only a week at most, so why all the fuss?” 

Pat, pat, pat. 

Elf Priscilla, with a nonchalant air, scolded the teary-eyed Marie. But Priscilla had definitely changed from before; her hand was now on Marie’s shoulder, gently patting her. It seemed that in her younger days, Priscilla’s frustration from not having a mate for so long had led to quite a bit of pent-up hysteria. 

“Well, honestly, I trust Servant Victoria, but Victoria can’t handle the entire Imperial Knights by herself. Be especially careful. If anything feels off, run away immediately, got it?” 

Jeanne, arms crossed, watched Eugene and Priscilla together and spoke in a low voice. She wanted to show a dignified side as captain to her departing comrades, but she also meant it sincerely. The Imperial Knights wielded overwhelming power, and there was no telling how things might change internally. 

“Haha! You’ve got an Expert here, so don’t worry, Captain!” 

Eugene joked, glancing at Priscilla as if to say, “Don’t worry, she’s with me.” But it was also a reflection of his own confidence. 

“My mate really is a unique person.” 

Soon, Priscilla and Eugene set out for Helios. Once they left Pangaea Castle and there were no people around, Priscilla spoke with a curious expression. 

“What do you mean, Priscilla?” 

Eugene asked, tilting his head. He might call Priscilla by name during sex, but she was still a princess of the elves and around 200 years old, so in normal situations, he naturally used honorifics. 

“I overheard you talking with Jeanne after your conversation with Vivian. Your real name is Eugene Schneider, and your father is Ulysses Schneider, right?” 

Priscilla, with her sharp elf hearing, had picked up on Eugene’s most secret story. 

“Oh, you heard that, Priscilla. Hm... Honestly, I figured I’d have to tell you eventually anyway.” 

Eugene sighed a little, then nodded as if it was just as well. 

“It’s amazing, really. Even though I got a weird synergy with you and my stats went up, a Sword Seeker at 21? Even among elves, that’d be considered genius. Like me.” 

Priscilla marveled at Eugene’s rapid growth, while also slyly bragging about herself. 

“But to think it was because you had the genes of the continent’s greatest Swordmaster-now it all makes sense.” 

Priscilla brought up Ulysses again. Priscilla, who didn’t care much for continental affairs, knew Ulysses’ name-he was that famous. No wonder he was called the Sword Saint. 

“Did I make a mistake? For people here, Ulysses is a disgraced figure.” 

Priscilla subtly tested Eugene with her words. As a proud and aloof elf, she didn’t care much about the continent’s trends, so Ulysses’ taboo status didn’t matter to her. But since she was talking to Eugene, she wanted to check his reaction. 

“Mistake? Not at all. I got over that a long time ago. That’s why I could talk about it with Captain Jeanne, too. So there’s no reason for me to think differently just because you bring it up.” 

Eugene shrugged. As he said, he’d mostly overcome the trauma about Ulysses, the Sword Saint who walked the path of a heretic and was erased from history. He himself had become quite an immoral person, so who was he to judge? Still- 

‘Now I’m just left with questions. Besides being my father, what kind of person was Ulysses Schneider?’ 

His curiosity grew. 

‘I feel like I, his son, know the least about my father.’ 

In many ways, he felt his father was still present in the world-through Sophist, through Drake, and now through Victoria. That only made him more determined to find out what he didn’t know. 

“My mate really is bold. As befits the mate of an elf princess.” 

Priscilla smiled mysteriously at Eugene, who was lost in thought. 

“Anyway, knowing that, I now understand what Mage Elizabeth did last time.” 

She then brought up Eugene’s cheeky little sister, Elizabeth. 

“What did she do?” 

Eugene, knowing his weirdo sister, was a bit nervous. 

“When I tried to talk about the sun god Abinus, she stopped me. When the three of us were together, I was going to mention that among the things Drake talked about.” 

But what Priscilla mentioned was not weird at all, but rather deep and weighty. 

“Priscilla, you were going to mention Abinus?” 

“Yes. I know about Abinus.” 

This was a keyword Eugene hadn’t expected at all. 

“Abinus is the god worshipped in Atlantis, the so-called Divine Nation. The sun god Abinus. As an elf, whose history goes back even further than theirs, of course I know about it.” 

Elf Priscilla knew the origin of the sun god Abinus. 

‘Ah, so that’s why Elizabeth stopped her.’ 

Elizabeth had a vague idea too, and since that could have connected to the Ulysses keyword, she preemptively blocked it. 

“Did you know there’s a rumor that your mate’s father was from the Divine Nation?” 

Priscilla even knew the rumor that Ulysses Schneider was a descendant of Atlantis. 

“I’ve heard it. But I think it’s nonsense. Atlantis disappeared over 200 years ago, so it doesn’t make sense.” 

Eugene had already discussed this with Jeanne and didn’t put much stock in it. 

“Well, as someone who knows Atlantis best, I think differently. I’m not saying your father is an Atlantean, but the technology of Atlantis can’t be measured by this continent’s standards. There’s a reason for the legend that the gods punished them out of anger.” 

But Priscilla shook her head. The mysterious continent of Atlantis didn’t just vanish dramatically; it had something overwhelmingly powerful, enough to be called the Divine Nation. That’s why Priscilla said you can’t be certain about these things. 

“Do you know any specific technologies from Atlantis, Priscilla?” 

“Nope.” 

“...” 

Eugene had expected something substantial, but Priscilla just gave a brazenly blunt answer. 

“It’s good to see you again, Captain Eugene. And Elf Priscilla.” 

Because it was just Eugene and Priscilla traveling by horse, it took less time than the first Helios trip. They arrived in a day and a half. At the entrance to Helios, Farnese came out to greet them, making their entry much smoother than the first visit to the Imperial Knights’ arena. Thus, Eugene and Victoria met again. 

“Yes, it’s good to see you, Victoria.” 

There was a significant exchange of glances between the two. 

-KUAHHHHH!!!! 

But first, their next step was to coordinate together. Inside the Imperial Knights’ atelier, in the public demonstration room, Eugene swung his greatsword and struck a massive boulder. 

-CRACKKKKKK!! 

Eugene’s greatsword was filled with sword energy. The blow split a boulder half his height clean in two. 

“Oh... As expected, the strike of a Sword Expert with a greatsword is heavy and destructive.” 

Those watching in unusual Imperial Knights uniforms couldn’t help but be impressed. They were the Imperial Knights’ inspection team, conducting a detailed fact-check related to the drake subjugation. 

“As you can see, my comrades drained the drake’s mana, which allowed me to land the finishing blow. There’s nothing odd about it.” 

Clang! 

Eugene rested his greatsword on his shoulder and replied calmly. 

Judging by the corpse, the drake was finished in one blow. The cut on the corpse was from a greatsword, not a regular sword. The inspection team had initially concluded that this was impossible for a Sword Expert. Victoria rebutted this, citing the drake’s defense mechanism: a two-track system of a mana barrier and a tough shell. The regular sword Sword Experts broke the mana barrier, and Eugene, as a greatsword specialist, finished the tough shell in one blow. Eugene demonstrated this. 

“For ten whole years! Truly, if you master a single skill, your combat power is immeasurable! To dedicate yourself to the greatsword for so long, and yet look so young-who would guess you’re in your mid-thirties, haha!” 

“It runs in the family. We age well, haha...” 

This logic worked because greatsword Sword Experts are such a rare class. Victoria testified that Eugene was a Sword Expert who had mastered the ultimate strike by hiding his age, and the inspection team bought it. 

“Thank you, Victoria. Thanks to you, we got through a tough situation perfectly.” 

Afterward, Eugene thanked Victoria in a private setting. 

“So as promised, I’m willing to accept your request,” 

He quickly tried to settle their business. 

“My request?” 

Victoria sensed something unusual in Eugene’s tone. 

“I’d like to add an option of my own. There’s something I’m curious about, and I’d like you to answer it.” 

Eugene Schneider was preparing to play his own card. 

“The sword you summoned from your weapon inventory when fighting the drake-what is the true nature of that sword?” 

He directly brought up the other sword of Victoria’s that had seemed very familiar to him.