Swordsmanship Lesson - 1
On a day when the entire 72nd Floor was devoted to internal affairs and Seere’s education, Nahen brought the girl to the training grounds. He usually held lessons in the front courtyard or the back garden, but today the open space of the training yard was necessary.
Seere was not carrying only her teddy bear. In her small hands she also held the demonic blade Nahen had given her—Blood Dew.
Nahen set her down gently on the packed earth. Clutching both the bear and the sword, Seere looked up at him with wide, sparkling eyes full of bright expectation. What is Teacher going to do today?
Nahen gave her a fatherly smile and told her the plan.
“Today we’re having a swordsmanship lesson.”
“A swordsmanship lesson!”
“But first, there’s something we need to do.”
“Huh?”
To the little girl tilting her head in confusion, Nahen spoke with careful gentleness.
“You have to hold a sword with both hands, Seere.”
“Yeees?”
“Which means you need to put Hwingomi down during the lesson.”
Hwingomi was the birthday present Seere’s father, Seir von Devata, had given her on his final day. To anyone else it might look like nothing more than a child’s toy, but to Seere it was everything.
“Uuu…”
Seere clearly did not want to let go. She hugged the bear a little tighter and sneaked a glance at Nahen. Yet no matter how stubborn she became, Nahen never frowned or grew angry. He simply kept smiling and reached out to stroke her hair once in silent reassurance.
Seere stared at him for a long moment, then looked back at Hwingomi. The man who had appeared so suddenly that day had once been a stranger. Now he was the teacher she trusted and relied on more than anyone else in the world. She had come to understand that even without her bear beside her, Nahen would remain a steady pillar at her side.
She lowered her head a fraction, eyes sliding sideways to watch him.
“…Just while the lesson lasts?”
Nahen was genuinely surprised. Truthfully, he had not expected to begin the lesson today at all. He had planned to coax her slowly, over many days…
She trusts me this much already?
It was the best possible news. Future lessons and training would go far more smoothly.
He nodded with enthusiasm.
“Yes. Only while we’re training.”
“Okay.”
“Shall we sit Hwingomi over there?”
Seere trotted past him and carefully placed the teddy bear on a chair prepared for resting. Then, holding only Blood Dew, she returned to Nahen. Perhaps the absence of her constant companion felt strange; she stood with her lips pursed in a complicated little pout.
Before she could change her mind, Nahen began the lesson.
“All right, Seere. First I’ll teach you how to grip the sword.”
“Okay.”
Nahen picked up a practice blade and brought the hilt close so she could study it with her eyes.
“You need to hold it firmly, but not too tightly. If you squeeze too hard, the sword becomes restricted by your own strength and your swings will slow down.”
“I see…”
“I’ll show you the difference.”
Nahen took the sword in both hands. First, exactly as he had explained, he gripped it comfortably and raised it high overhead.
Whoosh!
A single light swing stirred up a gust of wind. Seere squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.
“Did you see? Remember that speed.”
“Um…”
The wind had been so strong she hadn’t seen anything at all. Flustered, she nodded anyway.
This time Nahen gripped the sword with all his strength.
Crack.
“…Huh?”
“Eh?”
The blade fell to the ground with a dull thud. The hilt had snapped before he could even complete the swing. Seere’s eyes flew wide, and even Nahen was caught off guard.
Seere pointed at the broken sword and cried out.
“It broke! It broke!!”
“Ah… well…”
For once, Nahen was at a loss for words. After a moment’s thought he improvised.
“…If you put too much power into it, this can happen. Since you’re a Demon King too, Seere, something like this will be perfectly normal once you grow stronger.”
“Oh!”
Seere nodded in understanding. Nahen thought to himself how lucky it was that she was still so innocent.
“Anyway, today we’ll focus on gripping the sword correctly and swinging it. That means we should start with stance as well, yes?”
“Yes!”
Nahen cleared away the broken practice sword, fetched another, and demonstrated the proper form. He was not a swordsman by original inclination, but the memories that had flooded into him after his transmigration were more than enough.
An Archdemon should know his way around a blade, right?
It might have sounded like wishful thinking, yet whenever he recalled himself wielding a sword in those memories, the movements felt practiced and natural. He judged he could at least teach Seere the fundamentals.
“This is the basic stance.”
Both hands on the hilt, feet shoulder-width apart, gaze fixed forward. After showing her the most orthodox form, Nahen asked, “Would you like to try?”
“Yes.”
Seere lifted Blood Dew with both hands. Though the sword looked far too large and heavy for a child, she held it without strain. She was a Demon King, after all.
Copying Nahen’s example exactly, she kept her eyes fixed ahead and asked, “Is this correct, Teacher?”
“Seere, have you learned swordsmanship before?”
“This is the first time you’re teaching me.”
For a first attempt, the stance was flawless. There should have been small imperfections, yet aside from how adorably comical she looked holding an adult-sized blade, there was nothing to criticize.
Not even a trace of awkwardness.
Nahen smiled in satisfaction and continued.
“Then let’s try swinging. That’s all we’ll do today.”
“Why?”
“The ability to swing a sword straight is the root of all swordsmanship. Once you master this, you can learn many different techniques.”
Seere nodded twice, showing she understood. Nahen demonstrated first.
Whoosh!
Another gust of wind forced Seere to clamp her eyes shut again. Oblivious, Nahen asked, “Did you see it clearly? Shall I show you once more?”
“……”
She shook her head. There was no point if she couldn’t see it anyway. Unaware of her true feelings, Nahen simply thought, This child learns quickly, and smiled.
“Then give it a try. Teacher will watch from the side.”
“Okay…”
Although she hadn’t seen Nahen’s swing clearly, Seere decided to imitate the memories she carried from long ago. She had never taken formal lessons, but from a very young age she had often watched one swordsman in particular.
Her father, Seir, had proudly shown her his training many times. She recalled the blade of Altair—one of the Four Swords who had served as Seir von Devata’s chief retainers, the man known as the leader among them, the Divine Sword.
Seere closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them and raised Blood Dew.
“Seere?”
She swung.
Kwaaaaang!
“…What?”
Nahen stared blankly at the training grounds. A long fissure now ran across the floor where Seere had swung. He blinked several times before turning to look at her.
“Huuue…”
Seere herself looked even more shocked than he did. Her expression said she had no idea what had just happened. The sword slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.
“Waaaaah!”
“!?”
Bursting into tears, Seere threw herself against Nahen. He instinctively scooped her up and comforted the frightened child who was scared of her own power.
“There, there… it’s all right. Nothing bad happened.”
“Huaaaang, the floor broke…!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. No one is angry.”
Even as he soothed her, Nahen could not tear his eyes from the shattered floor. He quickly analyzed the situation.
The demonic sword’s power?
There was no way Seere possessed such strength yet, and she had not consciously used demonic energy. That left the blade itself. In the original game it had dramatically increased growth efficiency, but…
Since growth efficiency doesn’t exist here, it must manifest like this instead.
Facing Seere, who had finally stopped crying, Nahen spoke gently.
“Let’s use a practice sword instead of that one. It seems Blood Dew is still a little… too much for you right now.”
“No! Swords are scary!!”
Watching her bury her face in his chest, Nahen let out a quiet internal sigh.
Looks like today’s lesson ends here.
After the swordsmanship training concluded so abruptly, Nahen simply brought Seere back to the office and continued his work. While handling documents he taught her various things, preparing her to manage administration in the future.
At one point Seere, perched on his lap, suddenly lifted her head to look at him. Nahen met her gaze with a questioning expression.
“Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“Strange people came into the Demon King’s castle this time.”
“Ah…”
She was probably referring to Dane and Eri. Nahen nodded.
“You saw them?”
“There was one man and… a woman too.”
“They’re children I’m raising.”
“Huh?”
Seere’s eyes rounded. Noticing her reaction, Nahen realized his wording had been misleading and corrected himself.
“Not as disciples. I’m giving them time to study so I can use them as my hands and feet.”
“You’re teaching them, Teacher?”
“No. Those two will study on their own.”
Having heard the explanation, Seere’s expression had already softened. Seeing the change, Nahen reassured her.
“I am the person who teaches only you, Seere. I have no intention of teaching anyone else.”
“But you teach Lady Sitri.”
“That’s… because Sitri is an ally who will stay with us from now on. Maintaining a good relationship with her will benefit you greatly in the future.”
After listening to his explanation, Seere gave a small nod. Then she pouted her lips slightly and asked in a careful voice.
“You’ll always be my teacher, right?”
“Of course.”
At the firm answer, every trace of anxiety vanished from Seere’s face. She beamed.
“Hehe~♪”