Chapter 15 : Senior

Chapter 15: Senior

The person I thought I would never see again appeared before me as my senior.

Was this coincidence, or was it an arrangement prepared by the Book of Fate?

For a moment, my head grew complicated, but since thinking about it wouldn’t give me any answers anyway, I decided to accept it as it was.

That person was my senior.

And I was going to learn ancient swordsmanship from her from now on.

‘So I’ve gotten good news and bad news all at once.’

The good news was... thanks to that knight, my unease had somewhat subsided.

The last time I had seen her, she was the very embodiment of a knight who upheld justice and faith. That gave me a bit more trust in her master, Grand Duke Laitena, as well.

The bad news was, I couldn’t learn the sword directly from the Grand Duke.

It was a real shame, but it wasn’t something to be completely disappointed about either. After all, this woman was also the Grand Duke’s disciple. I would at least be able to indirectly experience his teaching methods.

‘Still....’

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the woman standing there absentmindedly.

‘...Is that supposed to be fashion?’

Blond hair and blue eyes.

A crisply pressed uniform.

Shining boots.

A posture aligned perfectly, like a blade.

Everything was flawless, but...

‘What’s with her hair?’

She had tied her bangs up into a little tuft that stuck up at the top of her head. Her golden hair poked upward, and since it had been tied rather carelessly, little strands were sticking out here and there. That made her look somewhat at ease, and even gave off a cute charm, but... when paired with her perfectly neat attire,

‘...It looks kind of funny.’

It looked like she had been lounging at home, reading a book with her hair tied up carelessly, only to hurriedly throw on her uniform and rush out.

Yet the Grand Duke passed right by her without a single comment about her hairstyle.

“Then, go ahead and greet your junior. I have work to do with the magicians here.”

The Grand Duke gave me a nod before disappearing into the Lord’s Keep.

The woman and I were left standing together at the gate, blankly staring at one another.

For a moment, she looked bewildered, but then, as if recalling her duty, she straightened her posture.

Her once-vacant eyes sharpened in an instant.

“What are you doing right now? What should you do when you see your senior?!”

A sudden scolding rang out, loud and sharp.

It was abrupt, but I wasn’t completely clueless.

Right, since the junior had arrived, she wanted to establish some discipline?

Well, there was no reason I couldn’t play along.

Clack.

I placed both hands atop my sword hilt and gave her a respectful bow first.

Clack.

In return, the woman also bowed back to me with a serious expression.

After exchanging greetings, I opened my mouth.

“Seeing you here again?”

It was a pure expression of joy.

But the woman twitched her eyebrows! and frowned.

“‘Seeing you again’? Is that the way you’re supposed to speak to your senior?!”

Hmm, she was really making a fuss over tone.

The rebellious spirit of someone who had lived half a lifetime in the lawless land of Roberland stirred within me, but I held it back for now.

This woman was the one who would be teaching me.

That meant she was someone I had to stay on good terms with.

“I apologize.”

I quickly changed my stance and corrected my tone, but that was only the beginning of our senior’s nagging.

“I don’t know what kind of life you have lived up until now! But from this moment forward, you and I are the only two disciples of our Master. Am I wrong?!”

“...You are correct.”

“To avoid bringing disgrace to our Master, we must always be cautious with every single one of our actions. Always tidy in appearance! Always proper in conduct!”

Woah....

This wasn’t the first time she had scolded someone, clearly.

Standing perfectly straight like a blade, she let out her rebukes in a booming voice, and the force of it was impressive.

‘Hmm... contrary to how she looks, maybe she’s not so easy to deal with after all?’

During the fight against the cultists last time, I had basically held the upper hand, so I had thought of her as a bit easygoing... but now that I faced her as my senior, the feeling that she was not someone to take lightly came through strong.

“Especially keeping your appearance neat! Do you not know how important a first impression is?! When was the last time you even polished those boots?! And why is your cloak hanging crooked like that?! Your hair looks like a bird’s nest! Do you even have any sense of your own status?! If you go around like that, how are you any different from a bandit?!”

My senior rebuked me fiercely.

I straightened my posture and accepted her scolding without resistance.

Because I had to stay in her good graces.

But wow, she was strict. Like biting into steel that teeth couldn’t pierce.

‘So... that hairstyle must really be the fashion of this era.’

I sneaked a glance at the tuft of hair tied up on top of her head.

It wobbled, with stray strands puffing out in all directions, and it kept catching my attention, but I forced myself to look away.

If that was the fashion of this age, then I had to accept it, didn’t I?

There was no way such a strict, true soldier-like person wouldn’t care about her own hair.

But it seemed she caught my fleeting glance.

“What is it? Why do you keep glancing at my hair?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Glancing like that is a very bad habit! Composure begins with the eyes, and...!”

As though she had found another excuse, my senior started pouring out more nagging.

But then...

“Um, Iodin....”

One of the knights who had been watching nearby cautiously called out to her.

“Yes?”

The knight who called her kept pointing up at his own head, giving her hints.

“Yes? What?”

My senior widened her eyes in a dazed expression, fumbling to touch her forehead until her hand reached the tuft of hair sticking straight up.

‘Oh....’

It was the first time I had ever seen someone’s face lose color in real time like that.

“I... I was like this the whole time? Even in front of Master...?”

At her question, the knight nodded with a miserable expression.

Creak, creak.

Frozen stiff, she slowly turned only her eyes toward me.

Ah.... Wasn’t that exactly the ‘glancing’ she had just sternly warned me never to do...?

When our gazes met, my senior’s face began to flush red, and then—

“Kkyaaah!”

She covered her hair with her hands and ran off into the Lord’s Keep.

“Puhahaha!”

“Ah, goodness... she was acting so dignified because her junior had arrived....”

“Pfhuhuhu. She’ll never fix that. She always forgets something.”

The knights burst into laughter as they watched her back retreating.

I too stared at her back, slowly nodding.

Now I knew for sure.

‘My senior... she really was someone easy to deal with, wasn’t she?’

That was the moment when that oh-so-important first impression was formed.

*         *         *

My senior was a strong-willed person.

Even after running away like that earlier, by evening she appeared again with a face that looked as if nothing had happened.

Of course, her hair was neatly combed down this time.

“Your name is Ransen Banroa, correct?”

“Yes.”

“So we’re only now exchanging proper introductions. I am Iodin Serom. I am His Grace the Grand Duke’s one and only... no, now one of only two direct disciples. I am also a member of His Grace’s personal knight order, the Horizon Knights.”

After calmly finishing her self-introduction, she gazed at me intently and said,

“I asked Master about this. Honestly, I wondered if there was even anything I could teach you, since you might actually be stronger than me. But Master told me that junior Ransen is unable to wield Sword Energy properly. Is that correct?”

“Yes. If you mean that mirage-like thing... I’d say I’m only at a beginner’s level.”

“I see... so the colored Sword Energy you showed back then was only possible because of a special constitution?”

A special constitution.

It was the same thing I had heard while coming here with Grand Duke Laitena.

In other words, in my era, the foundation of swordsmanship was absorbing mana from the atmosphere directly through breathing and skin, and then forming an Aura Core beneath the navel.

But it seemed that people of this era found that impossible.

I couldn’t quite accept it.

Even setting aside the fundamental question of “Why can’t you do what everyone in my time could?”...

Was it really impossible to move mana directly?

But then, they still possessed Aura, didn’t they? What was that supposed to be?

Iodin gave me a clear explanation of that part.

“We usually handle mana indirectly, through a force we call ‘spiritual power’ or ‘will.’”

“Spiritual power? Will? And that’s different from handling it directly?”

“It is different. First, it begins with awakening the soul of the sword.”

“The soul of the sword....”

“Yes. We call it the Sword Spirit. The will that the Sword Spirit possesses is only one: to ‘cut.’ When you resonate with the Sword Spirit and manifest that will to cut into reality, that becomes Sword Energy.”

“Ah....”

Indeed, the haze-like aura used by the ancient swordsmen was strange. The amount of Aura was meager, yet compared to that meager quantity, it possessed absurd cutting power.

“Mana merely gathers in response to that will. It isn’t something we move ourselves. Once Sword Energy is raised through spiritual power, mana clings to it and strengthens it. Mana merely lends support.”

Gradually,

My heartbeat grew faster within my chest.

‘This is completely new....’

A brand new swordsmanship, not built upon mana and Aura, but upon soul and will.

Did such a power exist in this world?

An entirely new, infinite world was slowly revealing its true face to me.

“Having a constitution that allows you to handle mana directly will be very advantageous. Simply condensing mana into your sword is enough to display destructive power that can shatter ordinary Sword Energy. Just like you did at the Cultists’ Chapel back then.”

For a brief moment, envy flickered in Iodin’s eyes.

But that flicker soon turned into firm will and pride.

“However, what must never be forgotten is that spiritual power is the pillar, and mana is the roof. If the pillar is not set upright and only the roof of mana is piled on, that fortress cannot last long and will collapse. Junior Ransen is strong even now, but you must keep in mind that by setting your foundation straight, you can become much stronger than you already are.”

Iodin gave her advice with stern eyes.

Unlike earlier in the day, her perfectly tidy appearance now made her look rather impressive.

“As Master said earlier, I have been entrusted with guiding junior Ransen. Master has been very busy these days and has gone on another journey. He will likely be away for another month. I will do my best to convey Master’s teachings, so you mustn’t feel too disappointed.”

“Understood.”

Wait—when did that man even arrive, and when did he already leave again?

I had hoped I could learn even a little directly from the Grand Duke... it was disappointing.

Now, all I could do was hope Iodin would teach me well.

“Now then, before we begin proper training, I will assess Junior Ransen’s current ability. Draw your sword and raise your Sword Energy. Draw your sword!”

With Iodin’s resounding command, I drew Banroa.

As the pure-white blade gleamed under the sunlight, Iodin let out an exclamation.

“An incredible sword...!”

Even her perfectly rigid stance collapsed as she leaned forward, almost licking Banroa with her eyes as she admired every detail.

“Wow... what is this?”

“What kind of material is this made of?”

She wasn’t the only one.

Knights who had been pretending not to look from all around suddenly gathered in a rush.

I felt a little proud.

Seeing Banroa, the symbol of our royal family, being acknowledged like this.

Basking in that pride, I released my Sword Energy.

Resonating with the soul of the sword, the Sword Spirit, I manifested its will into the world.

Woooong—

Banroa quivered finely, exuding a distinct mirage-like haze.

I felt a bit smug.

Even though I had only picked it up by imitation, the Sword Energy I produced was clearer than the one Iodin had shown back at the Cultists’ Chapel.

“Hmm...?”

“Ah... as I thought....”

But the spectators’ reactions were a little odd.

Lukewarm, even.

Iodin was the same.

“Thank you. Now, try raising Sword Energy with this sword as well.”

What she handed me was an ordinary iron sword.

I was a little puzzled, but I did as told.

“Draw your sword!”

Following Iodin’s command, I pulled out the plain iron blade.

I tried to resonate with the Sword Spirit.

But....

Woo... woo...ng....

Wait, what was this?

Why wasn’t it working?

Sword Energy didn’t come out. The sword trembled faintly in response to my call, but it was feeble. After a few weak vibrations, it stopped completely....

I was bewildered. Why wasn’t it working now, when it had been working just fine before?

“As I thought.”

Iodin nodded knowingly, as if she had expected this.

When I asked with my eyes, she calmly explained.

“Sword Energy is the manifestation of the soul power that the sword itself possesses.”

She extended her long finger, pointing once at Banroa and once at the iron sword in my hand.

“In other words, the better the sword, the deeper its history, the stronger the soul it contains. The reason junior Ransen could so easily draw out Sword Energy was that the sword is such an extraordinary blade. To put it differently....”

She trailed off briefly before finishing firmly.

“With such an extraordinary sword, junior Ransen only managed to draw out Sword Energy to that extent. That is your current ability.”

Ah...?

So the better the sword, the stronger the Sword Energy...?

That was a completely different concept from modern Aura, which didn’t discriminate much between weapons aside from conductivity and durability.

‘...So that’s why?’

The memory flashed through me of Count Kxias’s crimson Aura being sliced to pieces in front of Banroa.

I had thought the ridiculous amplification of power came from combining ancient Sword Energy with modern Aura... but that wasn’t all.

‘Because Banroa itself is a sword imbued with the power of breaking evil, that power of Purification must have been infused into my Sword Energy as well. That’s why it came out so easily....’

While I was reeling from this new realization, Iodin snapped into perfect posture.

“Then I will give my evaluation. At present, your skill level is Low-grade Expert. Barely at the entry stage.”

“Low-grade... entry stage....”

“Yes. Low-grade is the stage of Reading the Sword. It refers to the realm where one can read the Heart of the Sword, draw out Sword Energy, and swing the blade according to the path the sword shows you.”

That must have been the exact sensation I felt when I fought Count Kxias with Banroa in hand.

“But this is troublesome.”

Iodin furrowed her brows.

“Of all times, it has to be during the Exchange Tournament... At your current level, this will be very difficult.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“I’ll explain the details later. For now, just remember that it is an important event. At any rate, by the final day of the Exchange, two weeks from now, you must at least reach Mid-grade Expert. That is, the realm of Body-Sword. ...This is going to be a headache.”

Iodin knitted her brow again.

But more than the Exchange, I was curious about something else.

“What is the realm of Body-Sword?”

“Mid-grade Expert. It is the realm where you can accept the Sword’s energy into your body. It grants various physical abilities and allows you to read and utilize the sword’s will more keenly.”

How fascinating.

Ancient swordsmanship.

Wasn’t it limitless?

“Then what realm are you at, Senior?”

At my question, Iodin straightened her chest proudly and said,

“I recently advanced to High-grade Sword Expert, the realm of Sword Support.”

The realm of Sword Support?

“It is the realm where the sword moves on its own. You can cut faster than thought itself.”

Wait,

before even thinking, the sword would move first?!

That meant...

Reaction speed of zero?

For a swordsman, that was....

‘Broken!’

Thump.

I wanted it... desperately.

Barely a day and a half since I had come to the ancient era, I already had a goal.

The realm of Sword Support!

Squeeze.

I gripped the sword in my hand tightly.

‘Yes. Tonight, I’ll do special training!’

First, I had to draw out Sword Energy even with this plain iron sword...!

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