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Translator: M.S
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Exchange Meeting
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The sound of murmuring, of feet scuffing the floor, of rustling clothes.
Countless people could be sensed over at the lord's grand training hall.
Sir Inaphar, a high-ranking knight of the Horizon Knights, saw us off.
“Until last year, I was in charge of Iodine’s security, but I’ve decided against it this year. Overprotection is not His Grace the Grand Duke’s educational policy. Now that Lansen is here, you two will work together as a pair and handle any unforeseen circumstances that may arise.”
“Yes, sir. You can count on us.”
Sir Inaphar looked at Iodine and me with a pleased expression before turning away.
“Well then, good luck. I’m counting on you to wrap up the exchange meeting well.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Yes, sir!”
After Sir Inaphar left, Iodine took a deep breath and sought my assurance.
“Junior Lansen. You have to show them a perfect performance. If you mess up, it’s not you but our master who will be criticized.”
“Yes, yes. I’ve prepared thoroughly, so don’t worry.”
“I’m trusting you. Still, this year’s group is especially skilled, so you have to do even better. More than one hundred percent!”
“Yes, yes.”
“No, don’t answer so half-heartedly.”
“I’m going in first.”
“Ah, ah! Wait! I’m not mentally prepared yet!”
Leaving the nagging Iodine behind, I threw open the doors to the grand training hall and stepped inside.
A clamor.
Hush—
The moment I entered, a silence fell over the grand training hall, which had been buzzing with the presence of countless people.
‘Whoa—look at those stares.’
Now I understood why Iodine had been nagging me so much.
The total count was 1,820, was it?
That many pairs of eyes were fixed on me all at once.
They weren’t exactly friendly.
‘So you’re the one? The new direct disciple?’
Such blatant curiosity was on the mild side.
‘He doesn’t look that strong. I could probably beat him in a fight.’
This fighting spirit was almost endearing.
What was truly grating was,
‘Let’s see how good you really are.’
‘How can I embarrass him?’
‘I want to crush him… Is there any excuse?’
Outright hostility.
Expressions that promised to tear me apart if I made a single mistake.
Those gazes, looking down on me as if to appraise me, were truly irritating.
This tendency was stronger toward the front, so much so that the trainees in the very first row were staring at me with incredibly smug expressions, as if trying to pick a fight.
But then,
‘…What’s with that one?’
There was one trainee who particularly stood out.
A boy wearing a hat that covered his ears, the kind you’d wear in winter.
His lime-green hair was unusual.
He alone was trying to make eye contact with me, his eyes sparkling like a puppy’s.
When our eyes met, he even waved his hands enthusiastically.
‘…Do I know you?’
People tend to notice the bad before the good, but… that trainee's gaze was so bright that it had an overwhelming presence even among all these looks filled with malice.
No matter how I looked at him, we’d never met… Why was he being so friendly?
“Junior Lansen. Get ready.”
Ah, I got distracted for a moment.
Iodine, who must have finished her welcoming remarks, came up behind me and gave the signal.
*Hoo*, right.
For now, let’s focus on the swordsmanship demonstration.
*Step.*
I ascended the platform.
One step.
Another step.
With each step, the world faded away.
The countless gazes fixed on me vanished,
the bright sky vanished,
the complicated situations and thoughts also vanished,
leaving only me, my sword, and the platform.
*Woooong—*
I awakened my Sword Spirit, drew out my Sword Ki, and absorbed that energy into my body.
Expert Intermediate, the stage of Chegeom.
My body began to transform, becoming like a single sword.
*Swoosh—*
The air parted as I moved.
With the air resistance gone, my body felt much lighter.
*Woong—*
My body became as hard as a sword.
*Taaang!*
It gained the resilience of well-forged steel. The change in my joints, like my wrists and knees, was particularly novel. They were hard yet flexible, flexible yet elastic.
*Tak!*
Just as I could shorten or lengthen my grip on a sword, I could freely shift my body’s center of gravity. I could even perform poses that would normally be impossible, like leaning my body over while my feet were planted on the ground.
*Thump!*
My body could momentarily become heavier or lighter.
The five transformations that could only be manifested upon mastering the stage of Chegeom were now being expressed through my body.
‘This is fun.’
I became so engrossed that I forgot I was in the middle of a swordsmanship demonstration.
This was a completely different feel from Aura.
Aura fundamentally enhanced the body’s output.
Like riding a galloping wild horse, the key was how to control and unleash that overflowing power.
That had its own thrilling enjoyment, but it lacked this kind of subtle fun.
Sometimes shifting my center of gravity, sometimes using elasticity, negating air resistance, and changing my weight to produce an effect comparable to the immense power of Aura.
It was as fascinating as solving a puzzle.
What would happen if I layered Aura on top of this?
Completely absorbed, I swung my sword.
*Skaang!*
With a final, wide horizontal slash, the demonstration I had prepared came to an end.
Only then did I come to my senses and see the faces clearly revealed under the pouring sunlight.
They all wore sour expressions.
‘What the, he’s too good…?’
Faces showing they’d lost their nerve.
‘Wasn’t his swordsmanship supposed to be weak because of his unique constitution? He’s already mastered the use of Chegeom?’
Looks of surprise, as if this was completely unexpected.
‘How do I compare to him…?’
Frowning faces, comparing my level to their own.
Whatever the case,
it seemed I hadn’t done poorly.
*Tap.*
“That was great…! Even better than usual! At this rate, the friendly spars will be no problem. Still, this year’s group is highly skilled, so stay on your toes.”
Iodine’s bright face proved it.
She stepped forward and shouted.
“Alright! Next up are the friendly spars! Anyone who wishes to participate, please line up in front!”
Before Iodine could even finish her sentence, about forty trainees lined up below the platform.
Whoa… that’s a lot, isn’t it?
Did Iodine have to face this many every year?
I glanced at Iodine.
“Uh… Huh? Uh…”
Her flustered face told me everything.
…So there usually aren’t this many?
I must have really gotten on their bad side.
Soon, the first challenger stepped onto the platform.
He was a young man said to be the top student of Setes Academy, one of Glowingsteel’s most prestigious schools outside of the Horizon Officer Academy.
He breathed heavily with excitement, glaring at me.
‘But… these kids here. I’ve been feeling it for a while now, but their gazes are really unsettling.’
It wasn’t just that they were unpleasant.
‘Should I call them the eyes of a beast?’
There was a feral light that flashed in their eyes.
It didn’t seem human.
‘Delkashu’s and Ksias’s eyes were like that.’
But they didn’t seem to be vampires.
Is it just my imagination?
It was quite unsettling and unpleasant.
“I don’t acknowledge you.”
Was he about twenty-three? The young punk stared at me with those unsettling eyes and spoke down to me right off the bat.
“You’re twenty-seven, right? And you’re only at Chegeom now. Are you trying to show off with that? Sir Iodine reached your level at seventeen. I might acknowledge Sir Iodine, but not you.”
Is that so?
“I will defeat you. The legitimate heir of the Tessier family is much more suited for that position than… a vagrant like you with an unknown background!”
As he spoke, the punk cast a meaningful glance toward one side of the grand training hall.
Following his gaze, I saw a familiar bald pig.
‘Kashigiere?’
The Grand Duke’s brother was here.
Moreover, the man gave a subtle nod toward the young man before me.
The moment I saw that, a little play seemed to unfold in my head.
‘He told them to embarrass me, didn’t he?’
With Kashigiere’s status, it would have been child’s play to win over these ambitious young men.
He probably bad-mouthed me a bit, then made some empty promises about recommending them to the Grand Duke if they put on a good show in this friendly spar.
Did he analyze my swordsmanship and tell them my weaknesses?
Or maybe he ordered a war of attrition to drain my stamina.
‘I don’t know what you’ve prepared, but…’
*Shing—*
Following Iodine’s signal, I drew my sword.
‘I have no intention of being embarrassed here.’
It wasn’t my style.
I had to conserve my strength.
If something was going to happen, it would be today.
Facing forty beast-like challengers in a row without Aura?
I had no energy to waste like that.
So,
Iodine won’t like this, but,
well, I can just endure a little nagging.
*Guuuuung!*
A majestic vibration spread from my practice sword.
“Th-that’s!?”
A look of bewilderment crossed the face of the challenger who had been acting so cocky in front of me.
You’ve never seen anything like this, have you?
A dark blue haze shimmered over the dark blue blade.
This was the Aura swordsmanship that would be developed ten thousand years from now, now combined with ancient Sword Ki.
“You coward! Not even thinking of fighting with pure swordsmanship?!”
“Junior Lansen!”
Even Iodine was startled and tried to stop me, but my mind was already made up.
“The starting signal. It already sounded, didn’t it?”
*Claaaaang!*
One strike.
With a single strike, the challenger’s sword shattered into pieces and flew away.
The challenger, defeated before he could even do anything, was thrown to the ground and looked up at me with a vacant expression.
I ignored him and tossed a single word to those below the platform.
“Next.”
* * *
*Clang!*
“Next.”
*Craaack!*
“Next.”
This was pretty fun.
Iodine covered her eyes with her hands, and Kashigiere, who had been watching from afar, grew redder and redder before storming out of the grand training hall, fuming.
Once I started using Aura, no one could even withstand a single strike from me.
Seeing the challengers before them defeated so helplessly, they each came at me with creative plans and strategies, but they all got beaten down just the same.
You get one shot. He gets one shot.
At best, their skill level was at the very edge of Chegeom.
That wasn’t nearly enough to withstand the brutal power of Aura.
When only the last challenger remained, complaints erupted from below the platform.
“This is cheating!”
“It’s not fair!”
“We can’t accept such a trick!”
Iodine bit her lip as if she knew this was coming.
She was about to step in and mediate, but I spoke first.
“What’s cheating?”
“Isn’t it because you won using your unique constitution instead of pure swordsmanship!”
“If it bothers you, go get a unique constitution yourself.”
“Such sophistry…!”
“With that kind of attitude, you’ll never beat me. Why? Are you going to beg and plead for me not to use Aura when you meet me on the battlefield?”
“Th-that…!”
As soon as I silenced one, an attack came from another direction.
“His Grace the Grand Duke wouldn’t want this either! You can’t fully inherit His Grace’s sword by relying on such tricks!”
Oh? You’re going to use the Grand Duke to attack me?
That’s right!
Yeah!
He’s right!
Thinking they’d struck a nerve, shouts of agreement erupted from all over.
I could only scoff.
The Grand Duke… I’ll just counter with the Grand Duke.
“Really? Do you think our master would want me to just copy his swordsmanship? Don’t you think he took me in as a disciple because he wanted to see that swordsmanship recreated in a new way?”
“That’s ridiculous…!”
“Why is it ridiculous? You have Senior Iodine, don’t you? She will inherit our master’s sword in its entirety. I’m just modifying it in my own way.”
“Uh…?”
Good. It landed a little.
Now, it was all about momentum.
I filled my voice with as much condescension as I could, as if driving in a nail that was already partially set!
“Did you really not think of that? That I became a disciple *because* of my unique constitution. Huh? The Grand Duke wants this. So why shouldn’t I use it? Huh? Explain.”
“Keuk…”
“Ugh…”
They couldn’t retort, their faces just turning red.
An easy victory.
“Ah…!”
Amidst it all, Iodine nodded as if she’d had a great realization.
‘…I was actually just making something up.’
It seemed Iodine thought what I’d just said was truly the Grand Duke’s intention.
Well, that wasn’t important.
I looked at the last remaining boy below the platform and said,
“Next.”
“Yes! Coming up!”
The lime-green-haired boy answered cheerfully.
It was him, the one trainee who had shown me endless goodwill among a sea of trainees filled with hostility.
*Claaaaang!*
“Ugh!”
Not that it made a difference.
His sword shattered in one blow, just like the others.
What was different was his reaction after being defeated by me.
“Ha… hahaha. Hahaha!”
When I shattered his sword with a single strike, the boy, who had fallen backward, burst into laughter while lying on the ground.
It was a refreshing laugh, as if a decade’s worth of resentment was being washed away.
“…Why are you laughing?”
When I asked, the boy shot to his feet.
He exclaimed with eyes that sparkled to an uncomfortable degree.
“I respect you! Sir Lansen, you’re my role model!”
…All of a sudden?
When did we even meet?
“Sir! Could you please sign my broken sword!”
Is this one of those situations? Like the fable where the warm sun, not the fierce wind, makes the traveler take off his coat?
I, who hadn’t cared in the slightest about the countless hostile gazes, found myself faltering before a single, sparkling one.
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