Chapter 30
Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: What Did You Say in Front of the Final Boss?
What the hell did you say in front of the final boss?
It wasn't common for the Saintess herself to drag her ailing body out to greet guests at the entrance. Normally, this should have been a pleasant affair that wrapped up smoothly and comfortably.
If only she hadn't said that earlier.
"......So, you're going to play dumb all the way to the end?"
Our cold glares crossed paths. Though a smile still hung on her lips with that final question, an ugly undercurrent of irritation seeped through from behind it.
From a sage's perspective, this impression was far removed from the rumors of her mercy and sharp intellect. That's why I couldn't understand it even more.
Was the Saintess always like this?
From what I'd heard, Saintesses were always warm and spoke kindly, at least for the sake of their public image. Yet here she was, nothing but sharp stares and sighs laced with exasperation.
At the very least, it wasn't how you treated a guest.
"Follow me."
Her tone carried a hint of resignation, but the icy gaze looking down at me felt deliberately designed to sour my mood.
Yuria, watching it all silently, looked like she was barely suppressing her murderous urges.
She was at the level where, if I just gave her the word, she'd rip out the woman's throat like a rabid hound.
'There's no reason for her to go this far against me.'
As we followed the Saintess to a certain door, one of the guards standing watch beside it blocked Yuria.
"Companions aren't allowed inside."
"..."
Yuria glanced up at the knight with a subtle look that screamed, Are you messing with me right now? At this rate, we'd have casualties inside before the commission even hit the 30-minute mark.
Of course, it was only natural that I stepped in.
"She's my personal maid, so give her a pass.
No matter how you look at it, there isn't a better fighter here than her."
The Saintess and the knight both shot me looks like I was spouting nonsense, but then the knight's obstructing armored arm crumpled under raw strength as he lowered it halfway broken-like. Clearly, he was seriously pissed.
The knight let out a yelp of shock and stared at the maid while eyeing his dented armor.
"You lot never believe it unless we show you the lowly ones up close."
Yuria's voice echoed only in my head via telepathy. If she'd said that out loud, it would've been a disaster.
It seemed I'd seriously scratched their pride. I could feel the prickling stares on my back ever since.
We finally entered the room beyond the door, where guards were lined up in rows.
'A path to the training grounds, huh? Looked like a pretty big building from outside.'
Just then, the Saintess stepped into the center amid a crowd of men swinging swords through basic drills and spoke.
"Turn these guys into guards who can at least pull their weight."
"...?"
"Is that impossible?"
With a swish, she drew a practice wooden sword from nearby and tossed it to Ian, then pointed at all the men around.
"I'm not asking you to give each one of them one-on-one lessons. Just prove your skills to me somehow, right here in front of my eyes."
Hah. I couldn't help but let out a hollow chuckle.
She must really have a grudge against playboys. Well, with a first impression like this, I'd half-expected it.
'If this were the old Ian, he'd have lost it and started a rampage by now... Yeah, she's definitely provoking him.'
The current rumors about Britna Ian painted him as a brilliant mind whose magical devices had earned major contributions through their output boosts.
At the very least, no one thought a sickly noble like him would be swinging swords in a place reeking of sweat and muscle.
It was obviously meant to humiliate me or send me packing.
Especially for a body like mine, untrained and lacking proper conditioning—without a magical device or aura, even swinging a sword repeatedly would be grueling.
The faces of the guys watching me were all ambiguous. A noble playboy suddenly popping up, barely able to grip a sword properly.
If I tried to take a stance, Britna's ingrained swordsmanship would surface enough to form a basic form, but it wasn't refined to practical levels.
"Lady Saintess... Is this really necessary...? Young Master Ian is—"
Even the female knight beside her tried to dissuade her in a whisper.
However.
[????? - You can use the physical abilities and talents of the connected target (Yuria) for 1 minute.]
I hadn't walked into this unprepared, without anticipating variables.
An omnipotent sensation coursed through my entire body.
Every brush of air and wind against my skin was hypersensitive, sending chills down my spine.
Is this why she'd gotten so addicted to pleasure? Yeah, I could see getting hooked on senses sharpened to this degree.
I shook off the needless thoughts and eyed the movements of the training guards by rough estimate.
'...Oh.'
Gaps invisible before dotted everywhere, like thorns in my eyes—knowledge filled my head precise enough to correct their stances on the spot.
Superfluous motions stripped away in my mind, flowing into natural sequences. Simulations played out effortlessly in my head like seamless animation frames.
Is this the world Yuria sees?
I deliberately pointed at the best one among them.
Unlike the stone-faced Saintess, as I picked the burliest guy, the guards' eyes focused in. Apparently, I'd chosen their strongest.
The hesitating guard got an extra push from the Saintess.
"...Come out already. If Young Master Ian gets hurt here, I'll take full responsibility."
Well, aren't you sweet.
She was already convinced I'd take a beating.
For the entertaining spectacle, the guards halted their training and gathered around us like spectators.
"Come at me whenever you're ready."
Standing before the guard, I drew the wooden practice sword against his real steel one and spoke.
It was the elegant, perfectly angled traditional Britna swordsmanship.
The Saintess, recognizing it, had already narrowed her eyes.
She'd seen the ending.
But the scene unfolding ten seconds later shattered the spectators' expectations beyond belief.
The guard charged bull-like.
His power was somewhat restrained—against a noble like me, he wouldn't go full force to kill.
The instant his sword closed in, thinking I couldn't react...
-Clang!
But rendering his consideration moot,
his iron real sword shattered effortlessly under the wooden one.
Scattering into fragments on the floor.
The guards who couldn't even catch the motion didn't grasp what had happened.
Not even the participant himself had more than a glimpse.
Steady breath, perfect stance, powerful and destructive swordsmanship.
It was over in a single clash.
Just a single pulse of an Aura Blade from the wooden sword's center sliced through an unenchanted steel blade like tofu.
'But if word gets out I can use this... big trouble again.'
I wanted to use my remaining mana to somehow conceal that this was an Aura Blade.
It'd surely kick up a fuss outside.
But as the timer ticked out precisely, Yuria's talents and physical prowess vanished, and I failed to suppress it at the end.
As I lowered the sword, the signature crimson glow of the Britna family lingered.
Even within the family, few could wield it. Aura Blade users were that rare and valuable.
If it got out that I'd awakened dragon blood on top of this, the fallout would turn the world upside down.
Had this happened in the academy's swordsmanship department, noble houses would've flooded me with offers.
A formal knight would've recognized it for sure.
That you don't mess with the guy in front of you lightly. And that he possessed tremendous talent.
And the Saintess wasn't that unreasonable either. Being able to use an Aura Blade meant a high-level expert.
My skills were proven enough already.
I piled on by telling Yuria,
"Why don't you teach some swordsmanship while we're at it?
Train these guys too. Sounds good, right?"
"...I hate all men except Master Ian. Their gazes are filthy. And swordsmanship doesn't suit my fighting style very well... but, fine. If Master promises a reward later, I'll do it."
Her voice was soft, but since it was my order, she had no choice but to draw her wooden sword and step forward.
But...
when did I promise a reward?
A guard rushed at Yuria with a yawn-like motion.
Probably trying to score points— with the Saintess or knights, not the beauty Yuria.
But.
[Pure Mana Explosion]
A pure mana explosion erupted on sword clash.
The guard flew helplessly far away, tumbling across the ground.
Yuria pointed at the next with a bored look, faint anger simmering beneath.
At that level, she wasn't sword-fighting—she was swinging a bomb around like a beast.
...Maybe that's what the Saintess could've become. A chilling thought.
One, two, three.
As her demolishing grew harsher, I grabbed her shoulder and said,
"Give them at least a chance. Fight without mana."
My measure to shut them up for good.
The Knight Captain overhearing from behind was stunned inwardly.
The other guards probably thought the same.
'Talk about arrogance. Relying on mana with such a beginner stance...'
But before the thought finished, her grip shifted to a flawless imperial knight stance—every motion efficient and textbook from start to finish.
No waste, elegant swordsmanship. She wielded genius swordplay like someone who'd lived by the blade for a decade.
The guards, who should've been laughing at her off-balance swings, stared in bewilderment.
"........."
The training grounds fell into an icy silence in an instant.
"My victory."
Over ten swords stabbed into the ground.
Without a shred of mana, such movement was possible—the guards learned that today for the first time.
And that even aura users could lose to plain swordsmanship.
Yuria sheathed her wooden sword, ignored them completely, and returned to her master's side, tilting her head for a pat.
"How was it? I can teach you my swordsmanship. With your talent, Master, you could move just like me."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure."
"Come here with me every day. I'll teach you everything, specially."
"...Uh. Sure, why not."
It just sounded like she wanted to slack off here with me daily.
Whatever. No helping it.
Seeing Yuria start with "de" and end with "te," I couldn't muster the words to refuse.
Rejection might cost me my head, so I just nodded.
Yuria clung to my arm with a smile, looking somehow relieved.
The trailing Saintess and female knight staggered along, still dazed.
...This is why power creep is a bad thing.