Namgung Se-ga, the warrior, was reincarnated in Romance

On Sunday, I woke up early as usual, practiced, and made sure to gather my studies before heading to the library.

Shaiden, who came out later than me, sat beside me. I told him he didn’t need to worry about me, but he loudly claimed that he had a lot of studying to do himself, so he had come to the library for that purpose, not to baby me. I just let it slide.

I spread out the Imperial genealogy pamphlet in front of me. Familiar names danced across the pages. I read through the descriptions of the two ducal families in the Yuye Mountains.

One was the Withro family, who focused on forestry by slaying the monsters coming down from the mountains and employing wizards to assist them. The other was the Grimsvein family, who mined minerals from the mountains and refined iron with seawater. I assumed that the Eldos Mountains, which I had recently visited, was the mountain range dividing the two families.

The Yuye Mountains completely blocked the upper part of the continent, making it impossible to know what lay beyond it.

My mind was a bit tangled with various thoughts, so I asked the librarian for books on monsters and wild animals and sat back down.

I first looked up the dire wolves, as Ruber had mentioned.

The book stated that a large dire wolf could exceed five meters in length. For a creature of this size, if such a tiger existed in the Central Plains, it would be treated as a mountain lord.

As I examined the guidebook, I was shocked to learn that dire wolves weren’t even the largest among the monsters.

The illustrations in the book, which had seemed innocuous at first, now appeared terrifying. I found it hard to believe that such beasts roamed in packs. It made me question the peace of this land.

Seeing me distracted, Shaiden suddenly covered my view with his notebook and started talking.

“I’m planning to bring Damien dinner again tonight. Want to come along?”

“…Is the aftereffect that severe? They said the healing artifact would make him completely better.”

“His body’s fine,” Shaiden replied.

Not quite understanding, I looked at him, and Shaiden smiled and explained.

“The horrible pain he felt is still fresh in his memory. We’ve trained with swords, and sometimes we’ve even been lightly stabbed a few times, but Damien hasn’t done anything like that.”

“…Right.”

“He’s only ever seen monsters in illustrations from a guidebook. Do you think it would be easy for him to forget what happened? He almost got dragged away, after all.”

“…”

“He didn’t fight or overcome it; he just did what he had to do. He probably thought that protecting Jenny and Marianne was his responsibility, something he needed to do. But it must have been terrifying.”

What Shaiden said made perfect sense.

Even in the Central Plains, there were many who, after surviving a great battle, could never pick up a sword again. Those who would boast of not fearing death would tremble at the deaths of their close friends and family.

I was no exception.

But that was in the past.

I had long since decided never to put down my sword. I was grateful that I had been able to strike the wolf’s neck with a single cut when it tried to drag Damien away.

I hoped that when he woke from his confused nightmare, Damien would remember that the one who had tried to harm him was already dead, vanquished by my hand.

“I wonder if there’s anything else I can do to help Damien, other than just bringing him meals.”

“Well… Damien tends to bear the hard stuff on his own. It’s just that we’re all worried about him.”

Shaiden sighed heavily, and a shadow crossed his face.

I ruffled his red hair roughly, and he did the same to me. We tussled for a while, messing up each other’s hair.

We were scolded by the librarian for fooling around in the library.

That evening, I brought the dinner to Damien’s room. Damien laughed aloud, saying it was a fuss over something trivial.

Shaiden and I learned that he had brought Damien meals during lunchtime as well.

I had received similar help from Shaiden back at the beginning of last semester.

Despite everything, I knew Shaiden had a kind and generous heart, and I made up my mind to be more generous myself.

Damien’s behavior seemed just like his usual self, laughing and chatting. It put my mind at ease, but on the way back, I saw that Shaiden’s expression had turned serious. I realized then that I had been mistaken in my assessment.

But I didn’t ask Shaiden why Damien seemed so miserable, not wanting to bother him.

That night, I went out under the moonlight and practiced with my sword.

* * *

Monday.

In the beginner swordsmanship class, Maello Sanson lectured on how to identify the weaknesses of beasts and monsters, while in the artifact class, Jurgen Kaiser went over first aid techniques we had learned before the midterms.

Throughout the artifact class, Damien complained that the other students kept glancing at him, making him feel embarrassed. Though his expression was bright, I noticed he was limping slightly as he walked, which made me uncomfortable.

It was evident that the whole academy was on high alert regarding the wolf incident from the camping class. Even though it felt like trying to pick up spilled water, their response was swift and thorough.

For now, I knew I didn’t need to step in, and once again, I was reminded that I had the luxury of not worrying. I could afford to calm myself down.

If I ended up working in the Imperial Knights after graduation, I would be dealing with such matters alongside the faculty.

Looking back, I realized there hadn’t been anyone in the Central Plains I wanted to emulate.

Of course, there were many remarkable people. The Central Plains were vast, with many famous masters and great sages. However, I had never decided to emulate anyone close to me.

I now realize that I lived only with the desire to become stronger, to become the strongest, and to make my name known. I sought honor in killing and defeating others.

In the past, saving many would earn praise, but killing many would earn praise as well. Those were the times.

Recently, I often thought about the kind of person I wanted to become.

I wanted to live like Maelo Sanson.

I wanted to live surrounded by countless children, opening their eyes to enlightenment and learning, and occasionally telling jokes, peacefully living out the rest of my days.

I also admired Douglas Mustang’s way of life.

I admired his firm resolve to research new principles and spread his name far and wide.

I sometimes thought about living like William Ernhardt.

Having a beautiful wife, many children, and maintaining a harmonious family life—something I had never experienced in my life.

Occasionally, I wished I could live like Shaiden Rose.

He was full of affection, always looking after everyone around him, and it was admirable to see how thoughtfully he cared for others.

In my previous life, I had engaged in the life of a wandering swordsman because it was the only path available to me, but perhaps I was also hungry for the recognition of others.

Back then, no matter what I did, I could never shed the label of being from the Namgung family’s collateral line.

In this life, I had received so much—too much, in fact—that I now wanted to give it all back to someone.

The love and attention being showered upon me felt like a debt I needed to repay, perhaps because I had never experienced such unconditional affection in my previous life.

In Siran, everyone cared for each other, and I was happy to be a part of that world.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mage Boulder brought in a golem to showcase.

Originally, he was supposed to bring it last week, but he apologized for not completing it by the deadline and bowed his head in regret. I remembered how I had struggled to stop him from apologizing so profusely.

I wasn’t expecting much, as I had already experienced a grotesque golem during the artifact class, one with injuries that were constantly reopening.

And the golem Boulder brought was… in many ways, beyond my expectations.

“What… is this?” I asked, horrified.

“I’ve constructed it using human bones, organs, and blood vessels, and then simulated a hypothetical blood flow! The antifreeze flowing through the veins has powdered magic stone mixed in so it will glow whenever there’s movement in mana, aura, or inner energy. Like this!” Boulder explained, demonstrating with enthusiasm.

“Ugh,” I groaned, feeling nauseous.

“Isn’t it beautiful? I’ve differentiated the colors of the blood vessels and blood flow to make them stand out!” Boulder continued, beaming.

“Ughhhh!” I couldn’t contain my disgust.

The golem wasn’t just vaguely modeled after a human form. Its skin was transparent, revealing the inner workings of its body, and the sight was so horrific it might haunt my dreams.

I had seen the insides of many people with my own eyes, but most of those were blurred by the blood, and I could quickly turn away. But this was different. Seeing the inside of a perfectly healthy human body sitting there in front of me was a whole new level of disturbing.

In fact, the golem’s height and face were strangely familiar.

“…This golem looks like your face,” I pointed out.

“Good observation, Sir Sanson! I thought that by modeling it after a human body, I could minimize errors by using the most accurate real-life model possible. If you’d permit it, I could create a similar golem modeled after you, Sir Maelo Sanson!” Boulder offered, eagerly.

“No, that’s alright. It’s… very shiny…” I said, trying to hide my discomfort.

Boulder, of course, was transparent, so at least the golem was wearing undergarments.

Seeing my discomfort, Maelo Sanson burst out laughing.

It was the first time I felt a surge of irritation while Maelo was so amused.

Douglas Mustang touched the golem’s dull, transparent skull and let out a hollow laugh.

“Did you copy the hair from the actual model?” he asked.

“Of course! I placed original hair into a Beniflabix solution, replicated it, and attached it,” Boulder explained proudly.

“Maybe it would be better if it didn’t have any hair at all for better observation,” Douglas mused.

“I made it this way, but the eyes and teeth were a bit too disturbing. I usually hide them by letting the hair fall forward…” Boulder replied.

I, who usually never cursed, couldn’t understand Boulder’s bizarre standards.

The area around the golem’s Baihui point on its skull glowed with a blue light. It was absolutely terrifying.

Boulder kept explaining various aspects of his creation. He spoke about how he placed magic stones in the nails and claws to avoid disrupting the flow of mana, or how he designed the space to simulate a virtual danjeon (energy center).

As Maelo and Douglas nodded along, I turned away from the golem, my vision clouded in horror.