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Gilbert was caught off guard by Brynhild and Camilla, but he didn’t forget what he had to do. He began to seriously tackle the sub-scenario, which could be considered settling old scores.

Among them, Seraphina was temporarily restrained from going berserk, so his target naturally shifted to Briana. There was one more person left, but he couldn’t approach someone filled with question marks.

Talking about “tackling” made it sound like he was playing a game. He had long abandoned such thoughts since accepting this world as reality, but seeing things this way made it unavoidable.

Using the word “tackling” itself was already detached from reality.

But he deliberately used the word “tackling” to distance himself from reality. It was his defense mechanism to avoid getting too emotionally invested in a world he would eventually leave.

Returning to the matter at hand, Gilbert pondered how to approach Briana. With a Golden Sun mindset, charging forward without hesitation might seem ideal, but contrary to his thoughts, this was reality.

Especially with Briana, who bore the title of Swordmaster, it would be unwise to discard the goodwill he had built up and act recklessly.

Or would it? If he reduced her favorability, could the sub-scenario itself be judged as a failure?

[Warning! Sub-scenario – The Possessors of Twisted Desire are standing at the crossroads of a unified bad ending – Eternal Imprisonment.]

Shuddering at the warning, Gilbert shook his head and discarded the thought he had just entertained.

[Unified Bad Ending – Eternal Imprisonment has been discarded.]

The mere thought of triggering such a strange bad ending made Gilbert cringe.

If the system hadn’t warned him, he might have been doomed to a bad ending.

It was a fleeting thought, but for a moment, he seriously considered lowering her favorability. Was it really possible for such a situation to arise just by doing something that would reduce favorability? He began to doubt.

Perhaps thinking about going off-track was the cause?

After calming down, he realized it was a plausible scenario.

Given his actions so far, if he deviated from the sub-scenario’s path, there might be moves to correct him.

If Seraphina, who was considering the position of Consort, were to confine him somewhere, Briana might also lock him away and force him to focus solely on sword training.

Perhaps that’s why the unified bad ending was named “Eternal Imprisonment,” Gilbert cautiously speculated.

Now that he knew the unified bad ending existed, he completely ruled out the option of lowering favorability and collapsing the sub-scenario.

In a way, it seemed appealing to prevent the world’s destruction with the sacrifice of one person, but it wasn’t appealing at all if it was himself.

Even Gilbert, filled with thoughts of saving the world, didn’t want to sacrifice himself in this way.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that the world’s destruction wasn’t included in the Eternal Imprisonment ending. If he were imprisoned by one of them, the world’s destruction ending might still proceed due to others.

There was no reason to stake his life on something unconfirmed. In short, the conclusion was to focus on Briana.

However, he was at a loss on how to approach her, who was unapproachable even in the game.

She was a Swordmaster with a glorious title, but in the early main scenario, she sacrificed herself to protect the Academy cadets and exited the stage.

In Tactical Combat, her character design and narrative made her popular, but in-game, Briana’s influence was minimal.

As a hardcore Tactical Combat player, Gilbert had absorbed all available information about her, but after being transported to this world, he realized there was much more to her.

In other words, most of the information about her remained a MacGuffin. Even that was limited to a few official statements from the game developers, so it was safe to say he knew almost nothing about her.

The lack of information was quite painful, given his determination to tackle Briana.

Even though they had a master-disciple relationship, it was hard to say he knew her well.

Most of their interactions revolved around swords, and private conversations were few and far between. The day he gifted her a sword was the most significant.

Ultimately, Gilbert had to approach Briana through the sword.

With the Academy in ruins and under reconstruction, Briana was staying in one of the intact buildings, the professors’ lodgings, honing her sword.

After asking Gilbert to be her companion, she seemed to have gained some insight and had been secluded, focusing on sword training.

Since the Horizon Incident, even the daily sword training she used to do during the Academy’s normal days had been temporarily halted, so it had been a while since Gilbert last saw her.

– Swish! Swish!

Arriving at the open space of the lodgings without hiding his presence, Gilbert saw Briana swinging her sword. The blade cutting through the air created a whistling sound, drawing some form.

She’s really reached a new level.

Gilbert swallowed hard, watching Briana’s sword dance.

Briana, who had been stuck at a wall despite her title of Swordmaster, had now surpassed it and was heading towards an unprecedented realm.

Even before surpassing the wall, swordsmen of her level were rare across the continent. Now, she might even rival Bentor Libertas, the Republic’s greatest knight.

“Gilbert.”

Feeling Gilbert’s presence, Briana steadied her breath and stopped her sword dance. Her eyes, which had been chasing the distant tip of the sword, returned to reality and focused on Gilbert.

In her gaze, he noticed a deep goodwill or affection that he had previously ignored.

“Congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to you.”

Her clear, intelligent blue eyes were far from someone who might reach a destruction route.

Perhaps that’s why?

A question arose in Gilbert’s mind.

Briana was someone who sacrificed herself to save the Academy cadets. Her past life had laid the foundation for such a noble choice.

But could such a person really turn to a destruction route for his sake?

His thoughts deepened again.

With Seraphina, he thought her deep desire for possession had twisted her heart. The system, which had helped him so far, had also warned him by creating the sub-scenario, so he firmly believed it.

But now, even Seraphina’s desire for possession seemed suspicious. If Briana’s foundation was the sword, Seraphina’s was the Empire.

The most important thing to her was the Empire and its people. How could he believe that she would be blinded by desire for possession?

In Tactical Combat, Seraphina was an unapproachable character because of the Empire.

Seraphina was a cold-blooded royal who could even use herself for the Empire.

Even with the protagonist Ian’s efforts, no route opened because she knew too well what the position of Consort meant and what benefits it could bring to the Empire.

With such insight, Seraphina wouldn’t hastily place Gilbert in the position of Consort just because of his achievements.

This wasn’t speculation or conjecture but a confident belief with valid reasons.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing. How about a duel after so long?”

“That sounds good. It’s time to see your progress.”

Gilbert set aside the unsettling thoughts. He needed to think deeply about this later, but now was the time to focus on Briana.

Picking up the longsword Briana threw, Gilbert drew his sword. Without a word, they faced each other and prepared for the duel as usual.

Just before starting, Gilbert felt a shiver from the aura and couldn’t help but smile wryly. He realized anew that Briana had surpassed the wall.

Even before, the duels weren’t easy, but this time, it seemed even more challenging.

***

Briana looked at Gilbert, who was catching his breath, with satisfaction.

Seeing her disciple’s achievements, which she hadn’t properly seen due to various events, she realized her judgment wasn’t wrong.

Just as she had surpassed the wall, Gilbert had also grown. Though he still had a long way to go, it was undeniable that he had become one of the continent’s top swordsmen.

Perhaps that’s why?

Seeing Gilbert wiping off his sweat, she felt a strange embarrassment. She had seen this scene countless times, but now it felt awkward to look directly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Your skills have improved remarkably.”

“I still have a long way to go to catch up to you, Master.”

Seeing his rare faint smile made it even harder to look at him.

After a few forced coughs, Briana pointed out the issues she noticed during the duel. As the conversation shifted to swordsmanship, her discomfort disappeared.

“Pay more attention to the distribution of strength. Excellent physical abilities are a blessing for a swordsman, but how well you utilize them depends on your capabilities.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Another thing to add is your lack of subtlety. This also stems from your strong tendency to rely on strength due to your excellent physical abilities. You handle heavy swords well, but when using lighter swords, your subtlety is lacking. Ironically, you feel smoother when piloting a Colossal Mech.”

Briana recalled Gilbert using the Winter Sword while piloting a Colossal Mech.

Even for a skilled Colossal Mech Knight, moving a mech was inherently unnatural, but Gilbert paradoxically moved more smoothly when piloting one.

That was puzzling, but his talent in Colossal Mech Piloting made it possible.

“Thank you for the advice.”

His posture and attentive demeanor were pleasing. Despite gaining fame faster than his peers, he wasn’t consumed by it.

In fact, he hadn’t changed since the beginning. Despite the bad rumors and first impressions, he remained consistent.

Knowing this better than anyone, Briana had chosen Gilbert as her sword companion.

She was confident that no one else could walk the endless path of the sword with such unwavering determination.

But how long would that last?

Watching Gilbert wipe his sweat and drink water, Briana realized something she hadn’t considered before.

Choosing Gilbert as her sword companion was good, but there was a fundamental question of how long it would last.

Briana had vowed to dedicate her life to the sword, but it was unclear if Gilbert would do the same.

Moreover, as the heir to the Lion Heart Count Family, he had the duty to produce an heir.

In other words, he would eventually have to marry and might not be able to dedicate himself to the sword.

Briana’s expression darkened. For her, the sword was irreplaceable, but that didn’t necessarily apply to Gilbert.

Although he had declared he would walk the path of the sword with her, he hadn’t specified for how long. Her intention was for a lifetime, but it was unclear if Gilbert thought the same.

Her thoughts spiraled.

The idea of Gilbert leaving the path of the sword at some point made her head spin. To her, Gilbert was the only person in the world she could walk this path with.

The thought of him leaving the sword to start a family made her fists clench involuntarily.

Gilbert had chosen her.

Despite knowing the rumors and reputation surrounding her, he had boldly sought her out to become her disciple, passed her tests, and became her disciple.

Since then, he had never stopped moving forward, and now he was beginning to be called a hero within the Empire.

That was a source of pride for Briana, his master.

Yes, he chose me.

Briana’s clear eyes clouded. A sticky emotion, long buried deep within, began to rise.

Thinking about it, it was a simple matter.

If she was worried about Gilbert leaving, she just needed to provide what he needed.

And that wasn’t difficult.

She had forgotten, but she was a woman who could be with a man.

Briana decided to give herself to him.

Exhaling a hot breath, Briana stepped closer to Gilbert.

An uncontrollable emotion gripped her heart.

Her head buzzed, and her rationality faded to the point where she couldn’t make normal judgments.

“How about going on a date after so long?”

“Huh?”

Like a splash of cold water, her mind snapped back. The thoughts that had consumed her receded, and rationality returned.

Briana couldn’t understand the strange train of thought that had momentarily taken over her.

Had some demon entered her as she stepped into the realm of the extraordinary?

It was unbelievable that she had been so emotional and irrational.

“Gilbert.”

“What’s the matter?”

Briana unconsciously stepped back under Gilbert’s concerned gaze. Instead of the strange emotion that had dominated her mind, she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling.

But this time, it wasn’t unpleasant.

As the uncomfortable emotion faded, she even felt a sense of relief.

“Well, as a master, I should properly encourage my diligent disciple.”

Briana decided to set aside the inexplicable phenomenon and focus on the emotions she was feeling now. It seemed more helpful for her psychological stability.

Feeling better, she told Gilbert to meet after washing up and left.

Perhaps because her senses were dulled by the warm, fuzzy feeling?

She didn’t notice Gilbert’s sharp gaze following her until the very end.

 

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