Chapter 141
With the Sword Saint’s intervention, the spar between Philip and ca to an end.
However, the remark the Sword Saint made at the end was more than enough to flip the atmosphere in the hall upside down.
Perhaps because she was the Sword Saint’s granddaughter and monopolized everyone’s affection, every single Sword Master present had their eyes light up and challenged to a duel.
It almost turned into Pandemonium! once again, but the mood was brought back under control by Philip’s words as he stood in front of .
“As you all saw, he’s a man skilled enough not to be pushed back by . If you don’t want to sar my father’s na with a defeat, think carefully about how you conduct yourselves.”
A cold statent telling those who lacked confidence in their skills to know their place and back off on their own.
The Sword Masters who stood on a similar level to Philip and shrugged and said they would follow the Sword Saint’s opinion. Those below them still wore dissatisfied expressions, but in a situation like this, there was no way they could step forward.
And so, the commotion fizzled out without conclusion.
Since the gathering was set to begin tomorrow evening, the night had grown late, and the Sword Saint excused himself.
I also washed up and returned to the room I had been assigned to go to sleep, only to find two familiar won sitting atop my bed.
“…Just so you know in advance, I didn’t have a hand in this.”
Esralda spoke with a slightly sulky expression. Judging from the look in her eyes that clearly said she didn’t like this at all, it seed this whole affair had been cooked up by a grandfather and uncle who loved their granddaughter far too much.
Who could have possibly predicted it? That soone like the Sword Saint, or even his son, would go this far for the sake of his granddaughter.
When I shook my head, saying I’d been deceived without even realizing it, Petra, who was beside her, let out a small sigh.
“My heart hurts because my fiancé is too popular.”
“I agree. To think you had close ties with other won while already having a fiancée.”
“…Esralda, I don’t think you’re in a position to say that.”
A bitter smile naturally ford on my face. In response, Esralda answered with a shaless expression, saying she was an exception.
“I’ll be enrolling in the Academy before long anyway. I was planning to wait until then, but I never imagined Grandfather and Uncle Philip would do sothing like this.”
“I’ve been indebted to my Master and to Philip for quite so ti. This 정도 of trouble is sothing I can laugh off.”
I flopped straight down onto the bed.
After the Academy Closing Ceremony, I’d gone around my territory to check on things, then ca here and even sparred with Philip.
Tomorrow’s gathering would start in the evening.
Since waking up leisurely in the afternoon and preparing would still be more than enough, I lay there brushing my hair back and looked at the two perched on the edge.
“You two should go back and sleep now too. Or what, are you planning to sleep with ?”
“This guy really has no filter at all. That kind of thing is still too early!”
Esralda tugged at the skin beneath one eye with her index finger, stuck out her tongue, and told not to even dream of it. Then she grabbed Petra’s hand and headed out.
“…….”
Petra herself glanced my way with an expression that seed to linger with a bit of regret.
Still, perhaps because the place was the place, she decided to restrain herself. Swallowing her disappointnt, she carefully waved her hand so Esralda wouldn’t see. I nodded back, wishing her good night, and turned off the mana stone lighting the room.
“…….”
A dazzling light slipped through the gap in the curtains. Perhaps because a breeze was blowing in through the window I’d left open overnight, that intermittent ray of light shining on my face made frown without realizing it.
“Ugh…….”
Part of wanted to sleep a bit more, but since I was already awake, I figured I might as well move my body a little and climbed out of bed.
After a quick wash, I headed to the training ground where I’d sparred with Philip yesterday, only to find about ten people already there.
I’d heard this was a place only the Sword Saint’s direct bloodline or those holding key posts in the territory could use, so it was usually quiet. As I tilted my head in confusion, my gaze turned toward the sharp sound of friction coming from the center.
“…Petra?”
Petra was fiercely exchanging blows with an unfamiliar knight. At a glance, he seed to be around mid-level Sword Expert, roughly on par with Petra.
“Ah, you’re finally awake.”
One of the onlookers turned his head and greeted . At Philip’s greeting, I gave a slight nod and stepped closer, only to recognize several familiar faces.
“…What are you all doing here?”
“She’s your fiancée, right? She was training while being mindful of others at the estate’s shared training ground, so we brought her here and took a look at her swordsmanship for a bit.”
They were all people of the Sword Saint’s bloodline, each a Sword Master holding key positions in the territory such as knight commanders.
Still, with the gathering scheduled to begin this very evening, they should have had plenty to do. Why were they watching over Petra’s training instead?
“…Don’t tell you all ran away because you didn’t want to work?”
At my words, they all played dumb and turned their heads away. Not everyone who reached such heights devoted themselves to both martial and administrative pursuits like the Sword Saint.
Most of them had trained single-mindedly with the sword, and strongly tended to avoid fields mixed with clerical or administrative duties like gatherings.
“If we’re there, we’ll just get in the way. We filled the lower ranks with smart kids, so they’ll handle everything on their own, right?”
Philip spoke with a brazenly confident expression. The knight commander beside him and the other Masters all nodded vigorously in agreent.
‘A bunch of old n at that age trying to dodge work.’
A dry laugh escaped , but it wasn’t my problem anyway. As I shrugged with a faint chuckle, the doors to the training ground burst open and a crowd rushed in.
“You’re here!”
They were mbers of the various knight orders under those present. With urgent expressions that didn’t care whether a duel was in progress or not, they ran over and surrounded their commanders, clinging to them.
“You need to co right away. There are already dozens of guests to receive and issues to deal with.”
“The Gathering of Sword Masters is an event representing our territory. The Sword Saint personally emphasized this, so there can’t be even the slightest negligence!”
At their near-pleading 모습, the commanders opened their mouths with hollow expressions.
Though none of them could be handled even if everyone here banded together by force, the commanders only sighed heavily as they were dragged away.
“Leios…….”
Philip, one foot at the training ground entrance, looked back at with pitiful eyes, silently asking for help. I rely gave him a deep smile.
I’d said it was fine, but the grudge from what happened just last night still lingered in a corner of my heart. After offering a brief prayer for his hardships, I turned away without rcy.
“……?”
With the knights storming into the training ground, the duel was temporarily halted.
The knight who’d been crossing swords with Petra was also hauled away without protest, apparently dragged off by his commander, and soon only the two of us remained.
“Did you sleep well?”
Only then did Petra notice . With her face soaked in sweat, she smiled brightly at . I stretched and replied.
“I wanted to sleep a bit more, but my body felt too restless.”
Back in my original world, I loved lazing around and taking long naps on my days off.
But ever since coming to this world, every day had been a series of monts that forced to stay on edge.
As a result, waking up early and honing myself beca a habit, and I tried to avoid unnecessary rest.
“It feels like we were cut off halfway and you’re not satisfied. Want to spar with for a bit, just the two of us, for the first ti in a while?”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
Petra grinned and nodded. Her body was ward up already, and as if to show the成果 of her accumulated training, she swung her sword vigorously. At this rate, it seed she’d soon reach mid-level Expert.
‘Alice was on the verge of upper-tier. If she pushes just a bit more, she might catch up.’
Co to think of it, it had been a long ti since I’d sparred with Alice. While I’d been busy with various matters, she’d only dueled with Elisia, and I’d half-listened when she boasted about her progress.
‘I should pay her more attention.’
It was true that I’d been neglectful of the rest of the group while focusing on Petra, so I felt a slight pang of guilt.
Next ti I saw her, I should take her sowhere nice and buy her sothing good to eat.
“…Leios?”
“Ah, sorry. Let’s start.”
Snapped out of my brief distraction by Petra’s call, I regained focus.
Soon, we faced each other in the center of the training ground.
When sharp, real blades—not practice swords—were aid at each other, tension clearly surfaced on her face.
“Co at with everything you’ve got. I’ll just focus on blocking for now.”
“Okay.”
Petra nodded lightly and took a deep breath. Then, as if speaking to herself, she murmured softly.
“Streunde Rosen.”
The swordsmanship she’d shown before—her own style, independently refined from the Leipzig family’s vision. As thick aura began to gather over Crimson Lotus, I let out a quiet note of admiration.
‘She really must have trained hard.’
Compared to when she’d left the Academy and gone to the temple to obtain Crimson Lotus and White Lotus, her growth was on an entirely different level.
Soon, a sharp single slash pierced the air. When the long red trajectory reached right before , I stepped forward and blocked her attack head-on.
Clang—!
The piercing sound stabbed at my ears. Though I hadn’t used my full strength, perhaps frustrated that her opening strike had been stopped, Petra furrowed her brow and quickly reset her stance.
Whirr.
Crimson Lotus spun along a peculiar trajectory. Gathering montum, it then slashed toward at a speed even faster than before.
“Oh?”
That familiar movent made voice an involuntary question.
I stepped back once more and avoided the attack, but her sword clearly bore a form similar to the Sword Saint Style Secret Art: Sever that I’d taught her.
“The Sword Saint Style Secret Art you taught was too high-level for to use as-is. So I modified it on my own.”
“…That’s impressive.”
I spoke with genuine admiration.
The Sword Saint Style Secret Art was a swordsmanship created by the transcendent figure known as the Sword Saint. The underlying principles weren’t sothing one could easily grasp.
Even if its level was lowered, adapting it to suit oneself was difficult even for . Yet her sword clearly took form with a firm will behind it.
Which ant—
‘She grasped the essence of the sword technique in such a short amount of ti?’
She truly was a genius.
Not a cheat like , propped up by status windows and system assists, but a pure-blooded genius.
I felt a slight twinge of envy, but she must have her own hardships as well.
“Hah—!”
With a spirited shout, her attacks continued. But without the sa brilliance as before, they were all easily blocked by my light movents.
“…….”
Petra paused in place, steadying her roughened breathing. Seeing her look slightly strained, perhaps due to having already sparred once earlier, I was about to end it—but noticing my intent, she spoke first.
“Just once. Let try just one more ti.”
“…Alright.”
I nodded lightly at her eyes, filled with resolute determination.
Curiosity even stirred as to what she intended to show next. As I waited for her to gather herself, Petra raised her sword high, crimson aura surging thickly above it, and spoke.
“Last Stardust.”
“…You even copied that?”
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