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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“What are you up to? Don’t tell me you enjoy being beaten up?”
Fiore confronted me the next day, frowning. She couldn’t understand why I would want to continue training with her after being beaten unconscious.
“Are you admitting that your training was biased?”
I had no intention, nor the means, to explain myself to her. I couldn’t tell her it was for experience points.
“Wh-What are you talking about? I wasn’t biased!”
Fiore looked away. Her thoughts and feelings were always transparent. While her constant nagging was annoying, she was easier to deal with than Sophia or Roland, as she didn’t play mind games.
“Anyway, the spar isn’t over yet.”
“Huh? What nonsense are you spouting? Have you forgotten that you lost consciousness?”
“That doesn’t mean I gave up.”
Fiore’s face crumpled like a piece of paper.
“You knew I wouldn’t give up easily.”
“…You’re so annoying.”
“You’ve always known that. So, are we doing this or not?”
“That attitude is what’s annoying!”
“Aren’t you grateful that your ban from the guild was lifted thanks to me? Snapping at me is rather ungrateful, don’t you think?”
Fiore had incurred Andrei’s wrath yesterday. If I hadn’t asked for her as my instructor, she would have been banned from the Swordsmanship Guild for real this time.
“Ugh. I’m not a good teacher.”
“I didn’t expect you to be.”
“Argh! You’re infuriating!”
Fiore pursed her lips and let out a deep sigh. Despite her sharp tongue, she wasn’t inherently malicious. Perhaps she still had feelings for me.
‘She liked me?’
Remembering what Andrei had said before I regained consciousness yesterday, I scanned Fiore from head to toe.
Her lightly tanned skin, freckles, and short brown hair gave her a healthy glow, and her tall stature and toned physique, unusual for a woman in this era, were uniquely attractive.
And her husky voice? I felt a surge of desire. What kind of expression would this constantly nagging woman make beneath me?
While I was lost in thought, Fiore started the lesson.
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“First, I’ll teach you the basic stances. You heard my father, right? The essence of our guild’s swordsmanship is the unity of offense and defense. You need to be able to seamlessly transition between stances while attacking and defending simultaneously. Your first goal is to master all the stances.”
Fiore’s movements were so slow that they almost looked like still frames. She was being considerate, giving me time to memorize them. She even corrected my posture as I practiced.
It was unexpectedly kind of her.
“You were so eager to kill me yesterday.”
“I’m just separating business from personal feelings. I haven’t forgiven you, so don’t get any ideas.”
“Your father didn’t scold you too much?”
Fiore flinched and averted her gaze. It seemed I had hit a nerve.
“By the way, why did you bring her?”
Fiore’s finger pointed towards Jin, who was sitting in the shade of a tree. Many people had seen her with me yesterday. I had allowed her to come, thinking it would be more suspicious to leave her behind.
Things were deviating from my original plan. Perhaps it was arrogant of me to think I could use someone as independent as Jin as a pawn.
“I’m also learning swordsmanship.”
“Who said you could?”
“Isn’t Sir Andrei the guild master?”
“My father allowed it? Don’t lie!”
Fiore didn’t believe it. Would Andrei, the epitome of stubbornness, accept a whore who would disrupt the training environment? I was also puzzled by that.
I had asked Jin earlier, but she had avoided the question. Though I had a hunch…
Andrei must have recognized Jin’s skills. A skilled warrior from the East? Any knight would be intrigued.
“It’s true. I received Sir Andrei’s permission after you ‘ran away’ yesterday. Ask him yourself when he comes.”
“I didn’t run away!”
Fiore shouted, but Jin simply shrugged. A vassal knight wasn’t so low in status as to be used for a whore’s lies, so Fiore would have to believe it.
“Ugh, seriously. One Allen is enough to deal with, and now a clueless whore as well? What is Father thinking?”
Fiore’s frown deepened throughout the training session.
“This is just absurd! How can a scoundrel like you have such talent?!”
Having keen eyes meant having excellent observation skills. Moreover, Fiore had demonstrated the movements slowly for my benefit.
I memorized her every move and perfectly replicated her sword techniques. That’s what prompted her outburst.
“What’s so surprising?”
I knew I was talented. I hadn’t been sent to the royal court like the other vassals’ children, but remained at the manor to train with a swordsmanship instructor. I hadn’t been stripped of my position as heir despite all my reckless behavior. It wasn’t just because I was the only son.
“That nonchalant attitude! That’s what’s annoying! Damn it.”
It seemed I had provoked her too much. Fiore, her irritation reaching its peak, started poking me with her scabbard, making up excuses about my incorrect posture and lack of focus. By the end of the training session, she was claiming to be out of breath.
“If you don’t get winded after training for half a day, that means you’re not training properly.”
“Th-That’s… Are you going to use that excuse on the battlefield?! Do you think the enemy will stop and offer you water just because you look tired?! A knight should always conserve their stamina! Of course!”
Fiore, rambling on, seemed to believe her own excuses, her voice rising in volume.
I shook my head and turned away. I opened my status window, and my stats, which had been at the level of an elite soldier, had increased slightly. Was it because my initial stats were so low? Or was it talent? Or perhaps Fiore was actually a good teacher.
I didn’t get carried away. Physical growth would become increasingly difficult, and my stat gains would gradually slow down.
Anyway, the time to allocate my bonus stat points would be when my physical growth reached its limit and training no longer yielded any results.
Fiore had already resumed her own training. I glanced at the position of the sun. The sky was painted in hues of orange, signaling the imminent arrival of nightfall.
It was time I usually returned to the manor, but I stayed and watched Fiore train. I was curious to see how a skilled warrior like her trained. Her training was similar to what she had taught me.
Four basic stances and thirteen supplementary stances. Three attack patterns derived from those stances.
However, each strike had numerous variations, and Fiore repeated them hundreds, thousands of times. The same went for the thrusts and slashes she demonstrated afterwards.
I could replicate her movements after seeing them just a few times, so initially, Fiore’s repetitive practice seemed pointless. I changed my mind a short while later.
‘There was a reason for her efficient movements.’
My keen eyes noticed the subtle adjustments she made to her sword path with each repetition. As she shed unnecessary movements, her sword became faster and sharper, a testament to her dedication and hard work.
Her perfectly straight sword seemed almost sacred. Fiore, drenched in sweat, maintained her focus throughout the session.
I couldn’t help but be impressed.
“That’s impressive.”
Fiore, who had been wiping her sweat with her sleeve, frowned and glared at me.
“Are you mocking me? Do you find it funny that someone without talent is struggling to catch up?”
“I’m being sincere.”
I looked Fiore in the eye, my gaze filled with sincerity. Fiore, who had been mocking me, flinched and averted her gaze.
“H-Humph! What’s so impressive about this! Just laugh! It won’t hurt me. No matter what anyone says, I will become a knight like my father. I will…!”
“It won’t be easy.”
There were no mana-wielding swordsmen or magic like in games or novels. A witch’s power was closer to a superpower. That’s why there were fewer than ten named female characters besides the witches.
And Fiore wasn’t one of them.
“Tell me something I don’t know. Father keeps nagging me about it. No noble would appoint a woman as a knight, and even the few knightly orders that accept women limit their roles to chores, administration, and medical care. He said I’d have a better chance of joining a knightly order by studying grammar, logic, and rhetoric.”
A bitter smile spread across Fiore’s face. Once she started talking, she couldn’t stop.
“The other trainees look down on me as well. If I weren’t Father’s daughter, they would insult me to my face. Damn it. And their skills are worse than mine.”
“Don’t let the words of those who find satisfaction in belittling others bother you. They’re not worth your time.”
Fiore, who had been staring blankly at the wall, turned to look at me. When our eyes met, she quickly averted her gaze.
“What about Father? He thinks the same way.”
“Sir Andrei is simply worried because he knows better than anyone how difficult your path will be. A parent always wants the best for their child.”
Rustle-
We both turned towards the wall at the same time. We had heard a noise from behind it. Since we were discussing a private matter, our reaction was quick, but there was no one there.
Fiore climbed down from the wall and sat next to me, still looking away.
“What about you? What do you think…?”
“It’s admirable that you’re pursuing your dream, even though you know it won’t be easy.”
Fiore’s head snapped towards me.
“A-Admirable?”
But only for a moment. She then frowned and snapped,
“Wait, so you’re also saying it’s impossible!”
“Reality is often cruel.”
“Hey, you…!”
Just as Fiore was about to shout at me, a shadow fell over her.
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She instinctively jumped forward and drew her sword, pointing it at the owner of the shadow.
However, her sword quickly lowered. Fiore sheathed her sword and straightened her posture.
“You surprised me! When did you get here?”
It was Andrei who had approached silently from behind. He stroked his beard with a strange smile.
“Just now.”
“Master Andrei.”
I also stood up and greeted him. Andrei waved his hand dismissively.
“I’m not sure if you trained properly. My offer to assign you a different instructor is still valid.”
“He trained properly today!”
Fiore spoke up. Andrei ignored her and waited for my answer. Fiore pouted and glared at me.
“Personally, I believe those without talent are better teachers than those with it. Those with talent often struggle to explain the process. In that sense, Fiore has the potential to become an excellent instructor.”
Fiore tilted her head.
“Wait, that doesn’t sound like a compliment…!”
Before Fiore could figure it out, I excused myself and turned to leave. It was already dark, so it was too late to ask for a spar.
“Wait for me!”
Jin, who had been dozing off, hurriedly followed. Just then, Fiore’s voice, laced with frustration, echoed from behind. I chuckled.
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However, my good mood didn’t last long. As I was passing through the gates of Quaran after seeing Jin off…
“Master Allen. Where have you been?”
A figure was sitting on the stone bridge in front of the gate, waiting for me. He was a knight dressed in chainmail, a dark blue surcoat, a belt, and a cloak.
It was Roland.
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Did Allen got caught!!?? 😱
