074

“I can’t understand.”

Sordian swung his sword.

It was a clean and practical swordsmanship.

“Why only me?”

A short sword that came from the back of his clothes cut through the air and disappeared.

And then the short sword disappeared like magic, only to reappear in Sordian’s left hand and sweep the floor.

“Even the kids are awakening.”

His sword spun in the air and then was caught in Sordian’s hand again.

It wasn’t just catching a sword in the air.

As Sordian pulled the sword, he cut the air with it at that moment.

If there had been an enemy in front of him, it would have been a sword strike that would have cut down at least four or five people.

“But why? I really worked hard, I’m telling you!”

Finally, in a fit of rage, Sordian threw his wooden sword to the ground.

With a cracking sound, the wooden sword broke in half and rolled on the floor.

“Say something!”

Since he asked so vehemently, I answered.

“Looking at you, Sordian, it seems you don’t really know why you’re swinging your sword.”

“Damn it!”

He spat on the floor in annoyance, “Ptooey.”

“Damn.”

What flickered across his face for a moment was an old annoyance.

It wasn’t an annoyance that came from not being able to emit mana for just a few months.

It was an annoyance that had occupied his mind for at least a few years.

Was that why?

For the first time, I made him a human suggestion.

“Would you like to go for a drink?”

He had an expression as if he hadn't expected me to make such a suggestion.

“Do you drink too, teacher?”

“I don’t usually drink during the semester, but tomorrow is my afternoon class, so it’s fine.”

“Ha, I bet the moon will rise instead of the sun tomorrow morning.”

Despite saying that, Sordian seemed to be pleased with my offer of a drink.

He cleaned up his sword without any complaints and helped clean up around the training ground.

I also tidied up some things and slowly left the academy with him.

“How many of the students have entered the Walker stage?”

Outside the academy, Sordian was a surprisingly talkative and easygoing man.

Sometimes when talking, Sordian’s unique wild and macho personality would flash, but it actually blended well with his one-eyed impression, creating a unique impression.

“Seven so far.”

Pan, Bridget, and Eleveth, and a few other returning students had awakened their aura.

They had entered the Sword Walker stage.

And they all had something in common.

They were students who knew well what they had to do.

‘Although there was one student I was a bit worried about.’

Eleveth’s sword, unlike her personality or style, had a rather strong killing intent.

It seemed to be the effect of what happened when Avril took her during the last vacation.

I don't know what happened, but... anyway, since she had set her will straight, I helped her, but it was hard to erase the uneasy feeling.

‘I can refine it before she becomes a Runner or an Expert.’

Once she gets used to circulating mana through the road and can finally use aura freely, it wouldn’t be too late to adjust her sword stance little by little then.

“Seven, seven. Damn, so there are seven more people ahead of me. Damn, I shouldn’t talk about unpleasant things. And that student Freizier. The parent. What happened.”

With the visit of Viscountess Telmasier, Freizier received a one-day leave.

The two of them seemed to have walked around the town outside the school and talked a lot for a day.

The last time I saw Viscountess Telmasier, she had put down her fan and bowed her upper body completely.

‘Please take good care of my daughter.’

I still don’t know what she meant by ‘well’.

Whether it was to teach her enough swordsmanship to live outside moderately, or to teach her the sword enough to kill all her older brothers and survive.

Or if it was to teach her the sword enough to lead her own life.

Either way, it was not an easy request.

“I have to do my best.”

“That’s right.”

But I was a teacher.

I was a person who had to do it even if it was difficult.

“You said you were making a textbook.”

“Advisor Avril asked me to. But this time, the textbook is not for distribution outside, but a textbook to be used only here.”

“Of course. This Sword Aura, it’s a good technique, but if everyone can use it, it’s a technique that will change the world.”

I agree with that.

The most destructive strategic weapon in this world was the mage.

Even a 3rd-circle or 4th-circle mage could slaughter hundreds of soldiers.

The force to stop them was the swordsman.

They infiltrate the enemy camp and specialize in assassinating mages.

Those with outstanding physical abilities and excellent swordsmanship skills.

So they could clear out the guards and cut the mage’s throat in an instant.

That was the knightly order and the knight.

“But imagine a single knight just walking up, cutting down all the magic, and saying, ‘Give me the mage’s head’.”

The Empire, which had built up its military power by cooperating with the mages of the magic tower, would be in danger first.

The countries that were occupied by the Empire often had strong knightly forces.

Mercenaries who wander the world, saying they cannot be loyal to the Empire after losing their country.

The moment they learn Sword Aura, it would be a disaster for the Empire.

“I know it’s a dangerous technique.”

“Well, the crazy rich folks say the world is about to end soon, so I don’t know if we’ll have time to worry about that.”

“...?”

“Isn’t that right. The people who say they’re from the future. Whether they’ve turned back time or collectively gone insane, it’s none of our business.”

I laughed at Sordian’s nonchalance.

He was right.

It wasn't that I didn't believe Rozalin and Hati, and Avril or Yuria.

Didn't I make a swordsmanship using Mana Road just as they said?

And they said there were other people who had returned besides them, like the Wolf King or something.

‘But no one knows the real truth.’

It was possible that Rozalin, and Hati or Avril, were hiding their true feelings so well that they could even deceive my eyes.

“Well, we have no choice but to believe, don’t we. Since there’s a monster like you.”

“...?”

Not Rozalin or Hati, but me?

However, Sordian looked at me as if asking what I meant.

“Do you really not know how Rozalin or Hati think of you?”

“Well, they see me as a teacher, but…”

“Those people, the people who have been worn out from fighting demons for 10 years, why do they still see you as a teacher. Gosh, so frustrating.”

“I just have a few skills that others don’t have. Now that everyone can use aura, won’t they get used to it one by one? Then my role will also end…”

“Nonsense.”

Sordian clicked his tongue.

He was about to say something more, but we had already arrived at the village pub.

And there was an unexpected face there.

“Instructor Jessie?”

“Ah? T-Teacher?!”

Instructor Jessie, who spotted me, looked at me with a stiff face, like a student caught skipping.

She was fidgeting, not knowing what to do.

“I wasn’t trying to slack off, um, I’ve done all my training for today, so I’m just taking a short break, the alcohol, uh, no. Just!”

...No, it seemed she wasn’t just acting like it, but she really thought of herself as my student.

And Jessie also glanced at Sordian.

Sordian did bully Jessie the most after Rozalin.

“It’s not that I’m slacking off on my swordsmanship training because I’m arrogant for awakening aura.”

“What did you say, brat?”

As expected, Sordian’s eyebrows twitched at Jessie’s nonsense.

That mouth is the source of trouble.

“Let’s go in first. We came for a drink too. Is it okay to join you?”

“Yes! O-of course! I will serve you well!”

It’s not even your pub.

But Jessie, who was full of discipline, went into the pub, whether she knew my gaze or not.

In hindsight, it was a mistake.

And for good reason.

“I-I-I’m a dumbass piece of trash. I-I awakened mana for no reason… sob.”

“No. Why is it trash to awaken aura! Then what am I, not trash, but filth on the street? Huh? Yeah. I’m the filth and waste. Huh? The apprentice knight who was kicked out of the Royal Knights because he didn’t know that damn sword intent or swordsmanship, that’s me!”

The two of them, they were terribly weak to alcohol.

To get drunk on just five glasses of beer…

“But Teacher Cassian! Why don’t you seem drunk?”

When I was attending the academy in the Imperial Capital, a whiskey aged in oak barrels with about 51% corn mash was popular.

The average alcohol content was 50-60%.

My fearless friends would gulp down that whiskey in shot glasses to prove their courage, or rather, their recklessness.

‘And I used to drink with those friends.’

I wasn't a good drinker, but I wasn't a bad one either.

I could drink whiskey all night without dying.

After going through such a youth, when I see people getting drunk on just beer, I feel a little…

“Alcoholic trash?”

“Really! Is it all that matters if you can use mana!”

“T-T-Teacher, hic, yes, I thought you would be a good drinker, but I feel bad, no, can a piece of trash like me even express such bad feelings.”

I chuckled and ordered more drinks from the master of the pub.

“Oh my, if I knew Teacher Cassian was such a good drinker, I would have invited you often.”

“I had to help with security work before. I can finally drink because my work has been reduced thanks to the Goldline Merchant Guild’s large investment.”

“Those people have no heart! Still, the teacher who has worked for our village for so long is the best.”

The master, with a gentle impression, made a glass of whiskey on the rocks, saying it was good liquor, and handed it to me.

It was a good liquor with a smoky aroma and the taste of honey.

As I was savoring the whiskey, a gloomy voice came from the table.

“…Teacher.”

Sordian, with his eyes half-closed, had called me.

“Really, do I really have no hope?”

Listening to the drunken ramblings of two people who couldn’t hold their liquor was certainly a torment.

Still, it wasn't that there was nothing to hear from their drunken ramblings.

For example, Sordian’s past.

Sordian was said to have been an apprentice knight in the Empire’s Royal Knights in the past.

He received his formal commission and met the Knight Captain, Ferdius, and in that place, Ferdius shook his head and said.

‘A reckless fool who doesn’t know why he’s swinging a sword has come with cheap tricks.’

His life changed from that point on.

What seemed to be a smooth path in the knightly order was changed by Ferdius’s single word, as if it were fate or law.

No one in the knightly order cared about him, and in reality, his skills no longer improved.

So he quit the sword and threw himself into a security position at the Goldline Merchant Guild.

However, the guild master of Goldline, having somehow obtained Ferdius’s evaluation, confirmed his reputation and stuck him in a position as the youngest master’s escort.

As a result, he had drifted here and was doing academy security work that was not in his fate.

“No.”

“That’s because you don’t know, teacher. Huh? That old geezer Ferdius, his sword is just like a god’s. Fuck, it’s bad luck, he said something like that to me, but I’ve never seen his words be wrong.”

That could be.

He was the captain of the knightly order.

He was a person who had to select and take the talent needed for practical work.

“You can learn, can’t you.”

“What?”

“I said you don’t know why you’re swinging the sword, I didn’t rebuke you for the meaning being wrong.”

People are born knowing nothing.

So they live, learning one by one.

That is the same even when you become an adult, and even when you are about to die.

“You can get to know it.”

“That’s right! Let’s get to know it!”

Just then, Instructor Jessie, who was in the corner of the pub, stood up abruptly.

Looking at her eyes, it was clear that she was completely out of it and not in her right mind.

“Uh, you might not be able to use aura! So, uh, in a crisis situation, uh, you could try fighting a powerful monster! Uh! That should work!”

“Instructor Jessie? We had a terrible time with the Harpy Queen because of that, have you forgotten?”

“Aaaaaah, the Harpy Queen, our kids, I almost killed them…”

As if she were sick, with her emotions pushed to the extreme, Instructor Jessie buried her head and sobbed.

But the problem was elsewhere.

“...”

Because Sordian was looking at me with a stiff expression, as if he had realized something.

“Haha, Teacher Sordian. Surely you don't find that plausible, do you?”

“...”

“Right…?”

“...”