078

Rozalin Vürhelm was a self-proclaimed and publicly acknowledged genius of swordsmanship.

Here, “self” did not refer to Rozalin, but to the House of Marquis Vürhelm.

The Vürhelm family, a meritorious family of the Empire that had long protected it, had distinguished themselves in both civil and military affairs.

And to have distinguished themselves in the current Empire meant that they had either brought down a nation in an Empire-led war of conquest or successfully defended against the invasion of external barbarians.

The House of Marquis Vürhelm was one of the few meritorious families that had accomplished all of that in the long history of the Empire.

Their unique swordsmanship, as if embodying the spirit of the nobility, boasted an overwhelming power that was impossible to block even if you knew it was coming.

Rozalin was a swordsmanship genius recognized even within the Vürhelm family.

By the time she was 9, she had surpassed the swordsmanship skills of her knightly sword master, and at 11, she received an offer to join the Imperial Knights.

Thanks to that, she was admitted to the Empire’s Royal Academy early at the age of 12.

However, was it because her skills were too outstanding?

The children of higher-ranking nobles than the Vürhelm family were jealous and envious of Rozalin.

And Rozalin grabbed them by the collar and slammed them to the ground.

At that time, the so-called ‘genius’ swordsmen, aged 16 and 19, were slammed to the ground without being able to withstand ten moves, and the ‘publicly acknowledged’ part was added.

A swordsmanship genius of all time.

In addition to that, a delinquent of the Empire.

Rozalin was recommended a leave of absence from the Empire’s Royal Academy, and the House of Marquis Vürhelm, taking responsibility for the series of incidents, confined Rozalin to Akarind Academy in the Belmein Kingdom.

“A person like that has returned with 10 years of practical experience. According to her, her arm disappeared and reappeared, and perhaps because of that experience, her understanding of her own body is also good.”

Above all, Rozalin had awakened her aura.

It wasn't just awakening; the moment she awakened her aura, she instinctively realized how to use it and began to apply it to her entire body.

Her senses became sharper, her speed became more agile, and her strength became more powerful.

“And you want me to beat a person like that?”

Sordian let out a hollow laugh at my suggestion.

“Isn’t it a bit too much to ask for me to comfort myself?”

“I proposed it because I thought you could do it.”

“Me?”

I could feel the people sitting together in front of the bonfire focusing on me and Sordian.

And within those gazes, I could also feel a slight doubt and disbelief.

Pan, Bridget, Eleveth, and those instructors too.

Everyone here was a person who believed in me more than anyone else at Akarind Academy, but even those people didn't believe my words.

‘Is it really impossible?’

When I first made the proposal, I was unsure, but as I talked, a small conviction strangely began to stir within me.

“It’s possible.”

“…”

When I emphasized it again, Sordian’s mouth closed.

His eyes, which were looking at the bonfire again, wavered.

“Rozalin is the strongest among the swordsmen who have awakened their aura right now. If you can defeat her with pure swordsmanship, won’t you gain some courage?”

“Damn… I just complained about quitting the sword, and now I have to fight a scary person.”

The light of the bonfire flickered over Sordian’s face once again.

His voice was filled with a heat as if it had been transferred from the bonfire.

“Let’s do it.”

Behind Sordian, who had made up his mind, Yuria quietly watched the two of us.

* * *

We returned to the academy early in the morning.

It was the result of walking diligently since dawn.

Since I had a class in the morning, I had to just wash my face briefly and go straight to class.

After everyone had left to start their day.

Yuria remained alone in front of the dormitory.

“Yuria?”

“...Do you really think Sordian can win?”

Really, huh.

I pictured a few scenes in my head.

Rozalin swinging her sword with all her might, and Sordian, standing in front of her, also swinging his sword with all his might.

“As it is now, it’s a certain defeat.”

“I’m asking based on when you’ve given him your teachings.”

“Then… fifty-fifty.”

The path was long and distant, but it wasn’t impossible.

Hearing my words, Yuria stared at me without any particular reaction.

“Why?”

“...Because it’s impossible according to my common sense. The Grand Marshal is strong. When it comes to the sword, she is unparalleled, and she uses the energy of aura skillfully. And.”

Yuria rarely chose her words.

“Because Sordian is weak. He has never left his name in history, and even looking at him swing his sword and fight now, I don’t feel any particular intent.”

Of course, the evaluation that came out of Yuria’s mouth was so harsh that it didn’t feel like she had chosen her words.

“All the data is out, but I don’t know what you saw, Great Master, to make such a confident statement.”

So I think I understood.

Yuria was projecting herself onto this whole situation.

Good and evil, right and wrong.

In a situation where various values were clashing, she was asking what she should choose and how.

“I saw it. I’ll try to show it to you guys too.”

So I just answered that way without giving a definite yes or no.

Because it was a matter of proving it, not just talking.

“See you later.”

After sending Yuria back to her dormitory, I started to wash up lightly.

Although it was a short journey, it felt refreshing to wash my body, which had been dirtied by dust, sweat, and monster filth.

After showering, I got dressed to go straight to class and went to my desk.

‘Good.’

There, I picked up a few notebooks and a book.

It was the textbook for the intermediate Cassian-style swordsmanship that I would start teaching today.

I left the books and notebooks in the faculty office and took one of the notebooks with me.

When I entered the classroom, the students were waiting for me, chattering loudly as usual.

And at the very back.

‘Sordian.’

He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

He was going to take the class with us from today and learn intermediate swordsmanship.

“Last time, we learned how to cut. Starting today, we’re going to learn how to block. Instructor Jessie.”

At my words, Jessie quickly came forward.

“I think it’s impossible for us to block an opponent’s swordsmanship by just watching it.”

At my words, the freshmen started to murmur.

However, only the returning students like Pan, Eleveth, and Bridget, who had some experience, nodded their heads as if they had grasped something.

“Blocking an opponent’s attack by watching it actually requires a lot of physical ability. The eyes to see well even if the opponent attacks quickly. And the strength and agility to quickly move what you see with your eyes. Even the flexibility to change your posture freely.”

People with good abilities like this are said to have a talent for swordsmanship.

In other words, the talent for swordsmanship was in blocking well as much as cutting well.

“To block an opponent’s attack well, you need a proper way of seeing. Depending on where and how you use your body, the position you see the opponent from also changes.”

If you use your sword centered on your upper body and shoulders, you look at their shoulders, and if you use your whole body, you focus on the center line of their chest.

Based on that, you predict the opponent’s movement and plan your own.

“Basic stance.”

At my signal, Instructor Jessie held her greatsword obliquely and assumed her basic stance.

“Since the greatsword is blocking the space between me and the opponent, you have to look at the grip of the hand holding the greatsword, the direction of the feet, and the angle of the legs broadly.”

“Is it possible to have such a wide field of vision while fighting frantically?”

“It won’t be difficult.”

At my words, the students had an expression of disbelief.

It’s true, though. It’s easy.

“Cut!”

I signaled Instructor Jessie to cut her sword immediately without any other words.

Instructor Jessie took a step and swung her sword.

A horizontal cut.

I calculate the angle and step aside, deflecting the sword.

Instructor Jessie’s sword only cut the empty air.

“You just have to do this. It’s easy, right?”

There was no reaction from the students.

Did I teach something too easy?

“But even with a wide field of vision like this, it’s very difficult to catch the moment the opponent moves and move your body. So one of the important things is to match your breathing to the opponent’s. Instructor, stance again.”

Instructor Jessie took her stance again.

I faced her again and pointed to her shoulders for the students.

“From now on, I will breathe in an exaggerated manner. Check how Instructor Jessie’s breathing and my breathing match.”

The hand holding the sword, the heaving shoulders, and the fidgeting of the feet.

Instructor Jessie’s entire body came into my view, and I chose my breathing to match that view.

I could feel her breathing and my breathing slowly changing to the same rhythm.

Flinch.

As if she had noticed it too, Jessie changed her breathing to try to make a change.

Every time, her shoulders and feet would change subtly, and the trajectory the sword could be thrust would also change.

I changed my breathing again to match that.

It was a sparring match like a chess game.

Without swinging a sword once, only moves and counter-moves intertwined, leading to victory or defeat.

“Wow…”

Admiration erupted from the students.

“That’s crazy. Is Teacher Jessie sweating?”

“I can’t do anything. How can you swing a sword like that?”

“The horizontal cut was just blocked, ah, he dodged the thrust.”

It seemed there were students whose eyes were beginning to open.

“That’s all for now. It’s easy, right?”

The murmuring students fell silent again.

Was this too easy too?

“Once you understand how to place your gaze up to this point, it’s simple from there. Since you’ve cut off many of the opponent’s possible sword moves, you just have to take a stance that can block all the possible moves.”

I took my sword and stood in front of Instructor Jessie again.

And I looked at the sword paths that Instructor Jessie could swing.

“In this state, there are about 8, I guess?”

At my words, I could feel Instructor Jessie flinch.

She seemed to want to show that she had been caught by the students.

‘She’s only showing the easy sword paths.’

From the sword stance that Instructor Jessie had taken, no difficult sword paths could come out.

She must have taken an easy sword stance since she was demonstrating as a TA.

“Those sword paths are mostly aimed at my heart, waist, side, and, this is a bit strange, my mouth. In that case, like this.”

I held my sword obliquely and prepared for the opponent’s attack.

“Just by holding the sword and taking a basic stance, you can block the opponent’s attack. Instructor Jessie? Cut!”

At my signal, Instructor Jessie swung her sword.

It was an attack that came with the momentum to pierce my mouth, but.

Thud!

My sword was already guarding that sword path.

I relaxed my body and rolled backward the moment the swords met.

Thanks to intentionally falling without swinging my sword, the impact on my body was greatly dispersed.

The body that had been throbbing since I had taken the stance seemed to calm down again.

“Upsy-daisy.”

I naturally got up and dusted myself off.

“You understand well, right? Now, let’s form teams of two and prepare.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the students got up and staggered towards the training ground.

In the meantime, Instructor Jessie came over and spoke to me with a somewhat aggrieved look.

“It was 6…”

“Huh?”

“H-how on earth did you come up with 8…?”

“What do you mean, how? It’s your stance. I just said all the swordsmanship that could come from that stance.”

Sordian, who saw this, clicked his tongue.

Was he annoyed by Jessie’s complaints?

“Teacher Cassian. I saw how you taught the students today and realized something. Your teaching ability is truly disastrous.”

…?

“Damn it, can I beat Rozalin by listening to a class like this?”

No, why on earth?