The Requirements of a Swordmaster (1)

“Hoo.”

However, Riya’s gaze did not last long.

After turning her eyes away from Maria, she looked at me with a sullen face.

“Well, I’m not really in a position to say anything about Clay’s private life. I’m living in this mansion only as Clay’s guard, after all…”

“That’s a misunderstanding.”

Maria cut off Riya’s words firmly. This was quite a rare act for her.

Riya, too, seemed surprised by Maria’s unusual reaction, and she looked at her with widened eyes.

“I mentioned it before precisely because I thought something like this might happen…”

After saying this, Maria glanced at me.

She was looking at me, asking for permission to reveal everything, and I nodded.

“It’s definitely better to just tell the truth than to invite strange misunderstandings.”

With that, Maria calmly explained everything to Riya.

She spoke about why I had called Maria into my room just now, and about the effects of the abilities and strength she possessed.

“… That is incredible.”

Riya was also clearly impressed by Maria’s abilities.

It was not something you could use easily, but if the conditions were right, it could exhibit tremendous efficiency.

“I see, so that’s what it was.”

Now, Riya finally seemed relieved.

Amidst the softened atmosphere, Grancesia murmured as if surprised.

[Honestly, I thought Riya would insist on following you into the room just to check for herself, but she didn’t.]

To be honest, I had thought someone might say something like that too.

But aside from being a bit sulky, Riya didn’t fuss about it much.

Was she reading my gaze?

Riya gave me a sweet smile.

“Well, it’s not like I’m in a special relationship with Clay yet… Yes, not yet.”

Riya particularly emphasized the word “yet”.

“Alright. Then, I’ll choose to trust the two of you.”

“Don’t worry. I really don’t have any other intentions.”

When I added that, Riya nodded.

Then, as she slowly passed by me, she whispered softly into my ear.

“Clay, next time, please take care of me as well.”

Her voice was so quiet that only I and Grancesia heard Riya’s words.

As I stood there, unable to say anything, Riya walked away with a smile and disappeared. I didn’t even have the chance to ask what she meant by that.

[Hey.]

As I stared blankly, Grancesia spoke to me quietly.

[You know, someday you might truly get devoured.]

All I could do was hope that Rutia would give her the proper knowledge.

* * *

The mansion of House Bellen was in a flurry of activity due to a reply from House Vanhart.

They hadn’t expected that we would actually accept the domain war.

‘So, the plan to assassinate Clay Vanhart is useless now.’

Count Bellen let out a faint smile.

Ironically, it was much like the plan his own son, Nior Bellen, had come up with.

“F-Father, I don’t think this idea is very good. Riya Asktalin, the princess, is there…”

“Who said we would touch the princess? Our only goal, as always, is Clay Vanhart’s life. If we kill him, everything is solved!”

By doing so, they could also take the mine, and even bring back the rapidly growing Timmons merchant guild.

Having planned up to that point, Count Bellen let out a rough roar at Nior.

“This all happened because you acted so recklessly in the first place! If not for that, the Timmons merchant guild would never have left us, and the mine would still be ours!”

“T-That…”

He had no excuse. Count Bellen’s words were all true.

If they still had the mine and the Timmons merchant guild, house Bellen would not be facing their current crisis.

“But, father! Isn’t it suspicious that he accepted the domain war?”

“Suspicious?”

“Yes, yes! Their knights and soldiers are overwhelmingly outnumbered! The fact that they accepted anyway means they must have some hidden agenda!”

Count Bellen clicked his tongue in annoyance at Nior’s stammered answer.

“Recently, there have been rumors that House Vanhart is hiring mercenaries. They probably intend to substitute their lack of soldiers and knights with mercenaries.”

Count Bellen unfolded a document.

It was a report on the recent movements of House Vanhart.

Seeing that report, Nior fell completely silent. His father had already done his research about House Vanhart.

“No matter how many local mercenaries they gather, mercenaries are still mercenaries. They’re not as good as our domain’s soldiers, and there’s nothing to say about knights.”

There was no doubt that House Vanhart had become rather wealthy through the Timmons merchant guild.

So they probably thought it was doable if they hired a large number of mercenaries to fight.

A foolish idea.

“I look forward to two weeks from now.”

Although they were facing a financial crisis and the number of knights and soldiers had decreased, they were still much better off than the utterly ruined House Vanhart.

If more time passed, he couldn’t guarantee victory, but for now, he was confident of winning.

‘I’ll take care of that arrogant brat now.’

No matter how many mercenaries they assembled, mercenaries were still mercenaries.

They were no match for soldiers and knights raised directly by a noble house.

At this moment, that’s what Count Bellen believed.

* * *

The domain war was to take place in only two weeks.

This was unusually quick; normally, even after an application for a domain war, it would take several months.

This was possible only because Count Bellen and I both agreed.

Count Bellen needed to hurry the domain war because of his family’s debts, and in my case, the reason was very simple.

‘No need to waste time worrying about House Bellen.’

Dragging out time would just be annoying.

I needed to promptly take care of House Bellen’s troubles and then solve the matter concerning Lugal.

‘After that, Deoric might act as well…’

Although I was continuously receiving reports from Jade, the Deoric family remained silent.

They probably wished for us to mutually destroy each other as we fought.

‘Furthermore…’

As I checked the synopsis, I fell deep into thought.

By now, most of the episodes taking place in Vanhart territory had been resolved.

Once I finished dealing with Lugal, there would be nothing left for this story arc set here.

The problem was the next stage.

‘After Fabian returns from Eintban and learns the Moon Severing Divine Sword, he heads for the Kezmen Mountain Range…’

It was after he’d heard about a strange incident from adventurers who had happened to visit there.

‘If it’s the Kezmen Mountain Range, is it about the non-human races?’

Beyond the Kezmen Mountain Range lies a land where non-human races live together.

The nations of non-humans, including elves and dwarves: Lavantara.

That was the setting for the next episode.

However, the problem was that the place was difficult to access, albeit for different reasons than Eintban.

‘Normally, humans aren’t allowed. It’s a forbidden land.’

Humans were known to kidnap and persecute non-humans—often called demihuman race—so the restriction made sense.

Lately, the empire had been carrying out policies friendly to the demihuman race, but there was still a long way to go.

‘I’ll ask Riya about this later.’

I wondered if there might be a way if I borrowed the empire’s strength.

“Clay.”

While I was organizing my thoughts, the bored-looking blonde woman, Grancesia, spoke up sitting in front of me.

“How long are you going to keep thinking?”

“Ah, I’m done now.”

Linked by Maria’s ability, I existed within the dream shared with Grancesia.

There, I wasn’t simply sparring with Grancesia; I was utilizing the time in all sorts of ways.

“You know you can think about these things in the morning, right?”

“It’s nearly time for the domain war. And I should learn the Moon Severing Divine Sword.”

Recently, it had been necessary to train the mercenaries I’d gathered, and also to train the knights and soldiers who would control them—it was proving difficult.

“But don’t you think your knights’ morale is at rock bottom?”

“It’s not fine, but it’s inevitable.”

No matter how many mercenaries one gathered, the common belief was that knights were essentially unbeatable.

It was perfectly natural for them to be anxious since victory wasn’t assured.

“Besides, Rutia will be arriving soon.”

If the elite mercenaries from Eintban arrived, that sense of unease would be solved right away.

That was why I could brush off Grancesia’s worries so easily.

“Alright then, before we start sparring, let’s talk about the technique of the Moon Severing Divine Sword.”

Grancesia’s face, which had been edgy, instantly turned serious as soon as “training” began.

“First, the technique you’re going to learn, Falling Moon, is derived from Crescent Moon Slash. You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I’ve already seen you try to use it several times, so I won’t mention those results.”

“…”

As she said, I had tried several times to use Falling Moon.

Obviously, I’d never managed to complete the technique properly. Whenever I got it halfway done, I lost form.

Using such a technique in real battle would be tantamount to suicide.

“There are three reasons why you keep failing.”

“There are three?”

Grancesia nodded.

“Well, it’s not really your fault. The real problem lies with the Moon Severing Divine Sword itself.”

“You mean that thing you said last time—how it’s unfinished?”

“No. Rather, it’s because Damian, who created the Moon Severing Divine Sword, was just too exceptional.”

The problems she indicated were as follows.

Because the Moon Severing Divine Sword was completed only after Damian reached a considerable level, it required an extraordinarily high standard just to use it.

“First, your amount of magic power. Second, your understanding of the technique. Third, your grasp of the flow—all are lacking.”

“That’s…”

“You figured it out too, huh? From the start, to truly master this sword art, you need to be virtually a Swordmaster. Especially, if it’s a regular technique that’s one thing—but when it comes to the ‘special technique’, the difference shows even more.”

Only then did I fully understand what Grancesia meant.

And at the same time, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘What a monster.’

In other words, it meant that when Fabian returned from Eintban, he already had the skills of a Swordmaster.

‘Well, he did win over Ian Sylvest at the imperial tournament.’

Ian, whom I’d met at the imperial tournament, had already reached the level of Swordmaster.

Since Fabian defeated him, it meant Fabian had already surpassed that stage.

Of course, I didn’t know if he had learned swordsmanship separately while in the House of the Count, but for someone his age to reach the level of Swordmaster was enough to call them a monster.

“Hahaha.”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.

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