Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Former Sword Saint and Misandrist Disciple (5)
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The train hijacking by armed robbers that had occurred before enrolling in the academy.
The incident, dubbed the Ikesia Transcontinental Train Armed Assault, was a past event occasionally mentioned even in the game.
'Of course... I never imagined I'd run into it head-on like this.'
Well, from the moment Karin became my disciple instead of the current Sword Saint's, the story had already diverged plenty from the original.
"Hey!! Hands up, everyone! Stay still!!"
A man in a crow mask shook his gun barrel threateningly.
His uniform, wrapped around his body, bore an inverted flower emblem.
'...Presia, huh.'
The shadowy organization in the game that championed the spirit of half the empire and yearned for the birth of a true emperor.
I'd figured they weren't ordinary from the get-go, trying to hijack a train with just five guys, but I had no idea they were Presia members—nothing about it in the original story, so this was news to me.
Still, Presia making moves this early... might need to rethink my plans.
"You there! Drop the weapon! Didn't you hear me say stay still!?"
The crow-masked man whipped around toward me, jamming his shotgun barrel in my face.
In the modern world, I'd have freaked out and ducked.
But sadly for him, I wasn't the type to just take it lying down.
If anything, I was the one who'd do the pounding.
Shing.
The instant I moved to draw my sword, Karin beat me to it, unsheathing hers first.
"Why don't you point that barrel somewhere else."
"...Oh? Little miss highborn lady, are we?"
Karin answered the crow's sarcasm with silence.
Stung by her dismissal, the crow twitched his finger toward the trigger.
No matter if you were at Peak or Transcendent Realm—even a bullet to the head would drop you dead, laws of the world be damned.
The moment I went to slice off the crow's gun hand...
"Shut your mouth. Keep your filthy hands off."
Slash.
Someone else had moved even faster than me.
"Gaaahhh!!!"
A gaze of utter contempt—misandry fused with plain disgust—fixed on the man rolling on the floor, hand severed.
Some might call it a reward, but it was the look you'd give something less than a bug.
A Karin expression I'd never seen, neither in-game nor in reality.
I could feel her slight tremble in her first real fight, but her face betrayed nothing.
Hell, I almost felt sorry for the guy writhing there, handless.
"What happened!!"
Alerted by his buddy's scream, the other four men from the next car were closing in—I sensed them.
'Three at Peak, one Transcendent.'
Leagues above the crow groaning on the floor.
'Man, Presia really packs the high-end talent. Figures.'
Finding martial artists at Peak Realm and beyond wasn't easy.
Martial realms weren't climbed on a whim, after all.
On average, a city might have three Peaks, maybe one Transcendent if lucky.
So their lineup was abnormally stacked.
'...Whatever. I'll handle the Transcendent. Let Karin take the Peaks.'
Like I'd thought before, Karin's stalled growth boiled down to one thing: lack of experience.
Martial artists typically gained enlightenment through life-or-death clashes, then forged their own path on that foundation.
But current Karin was pushing forward on raw talent and effort alone, no such insights.
With stagnation looming, she desperately needed these brushes with death.
"Karin. I'll take the one Transcendent. You handle the three Peaks."
"...Pardon? Three?"
"I know, I know—'rest and relaxation,' my ass coming from me. But chances to rack up experience like this don't come often."
"Ah..."
She'd no doubt felt the sting of her inexperience deep in her bones.
That's why she didn't balk at facing three foes of equal realm.
'No mages, though.'
Odd for Presia, who respected both magic and martial arts, recruiting both.
They usually ran missions with a 1:2 mage-to-martial ratio.
'Hey. Where's your mage?'
I ground my heel into the dying crow mask on the floor and sent the question via transmission.
'...Hah. Think I'd tell you? You're dead meat anyway.'
'Who gets diced—you, me, or them—we'll sort it out. Not feeling chatty?'
'I'm a proud petal.'
'Right.'
Proud petal—code for Presia loyalist, lips sealed.
In other words, green light to kill.
Crunch!
I raised my sword and smashed his skull.
Blood sprayed everywhere in an instant, soaking the floor.
"Bold of you to kill him. He still had years left."
"When I think of everyone this bastard killed, no guilt here."
"Hohoho. Is that so?"
At some point, our foes and I were chatting casually.
The white-masked elder smiled at me from the front.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Taking on three Peak Realm martial artists alone—Master's words.
I understood the implication fully.
'...I lack experience.'
Not just Master, but Grandfather always said it: experience breeds enlightenment, enlightenment fuels progress.
And I'd already felt the cost of that gap.
'Even slicing that guy earlier, I hesitated.'
My first swing at a human.
Even with his gun trained on me, I froze for a split second.
After endless air swings and clashing with Master's blade, hesitation shouldn't have happened.
But it did—and a mistake there would've meant a bullet in me.
'...Experience deficiency again.'
Master said a swordsman's resolve builds through accumulated battles.
So this was my chance to grow as a true swordswoman, advance my swordsmanship.
All I had to do was follow his lead.
That's gotten me this far already.
"...What, just the girl?"
"Yes. Just me."
The door to the left car slid open, revealing a bear-masked man.
His build screamed at least two meters, gripping a greatsword.
'Heavy sword... sort of.'
One graze, and it'd be major injury, plain as day.
Worse, two more men emerged behind him—also foes.
One wolf-masked, one clown-masked.
'...The other two haven't settled on a sword path yet.'
Excluding the bear, they were all early Peak at best.
Dodged the worst-case of all three in full mastery.
"Heh, no need for a dogpile—I got this solo."
From behind the bear, the clown mask snickered, sword in hand as he approached.
Crude and dim enough for a clown mask, huh.
The cockiest one's neck sliced vertically first.
Slash.
"Whu...?"
He gurgled in confusion as the clown head thudded to the floor.
It happened so fast and easy, I was the flustered one.
'...This is Peak Realm, same as me?'
Nothing like I'd braced for.
No strengths, bloated with arrogance, sluggish moves riddled with openings.
Felt like facing my novice self post-initiation.
I couldn't wrap my head around them being my "equals."
"...What the hell. Too... easy."
Too weak to blame on experience alone.
Time to scrap my plan of parrying, baiting openings, then riposting with swift strikes.
At this rate, I could just press the attack nonstop.
"You... what are you!?"
The wolf mask raised his blade, voice thick with shock.
The bear mask, meanwhile, grinned with interest.
'He's the real deal.'
Judgment snapped, I drew and lunged forward.
A swift sword variant: advance and cleave.
Whoosh!!
Blade riding wind momentum sliced the air toward the bear mask.
"Hmph! Girl's still a girl!!! Come at me!!"
Bear mask angled his greatsword flat for defense.
I couldn't help but be stunned.
Stunned because it was too predictable.
'The real one's back there.'
Whoosh—slash!
"Gaaahhh!!!"
I twisted the trajectory mid-swing, nicking the wolf mask's neck behind him short and sharp.
Another Peak expert's head, thudding casually to the ground.
That's when it hit me.
'Wait. Am I... way stronger than I expected right now?'