Chapter 452
Chapter 452
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 452
>Chapter Title: Never Learned to Lose
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Montla's days were utterly satisfying. Except for Lane's relentless bullying.
Mmm...
In her dream, Karen had become a great knight.
She could bash the heads of the knights who had mocked her as a squire, and she even lopped off the head of Jin, the emperor of Montla.
And Lane groveled flat on the ground, apologizing to her.
Hehehe, I'm the strongest.
I've become the strongest knight.
Tap...
"...Hm?"
Karen rubbed her eyes and looked at the person shaking her.
"Sis, what're you doing?"
"Karuna?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Trying to sleep. It's raining."
Karuna's face stiffened as he spoke.
"It's still out there."
"Huh?"
"Sir Lane's waiting at the training grounds."
Only then did Karen realize the rain hadn't let up, that she'd dozed off far longer than planned, and that Lane was still waiting. She scrambled to her feet and bolted for the training grounds.
Roooosh...
"...You made it."
Lane stood there, soaked to the bone.
"......Why push this hard?"
"Stand firm. Draw your sword."
"Stop it, you're scaring me."
"Karen, the human spirit is frail and lazy all at once. Show it a crack, and it burrows into some dark hole to hide."
"......"
"That's why humans invented discipline and habit. Noble as those are, humans still defy them."
Lane was rigid.
"You're that kind of person, aren't you?"
Lane was curt.
"I... I'm..."
Lane was upright.
"I'm merely obeying the emperor's command. I plan to forge you siblings into proper knights. Your harebrained dream of slaying your emperor? Irrelevant. Knights first. I'll deal with the rest later."
Lane was that kind of man.
"I'll make a knight out of you, Karen. Draw your sword."
Karen glanced at her fresh clothes, still warm from the bath.
Smack-!
Tears welling up, she dashed into the training grounds.
Karen gripped her sword.
"Start midway through Form Three. It needs work."
"...Got it."
Swoosh...
Swooooosh...
Karen swung in silence.
Every so often, she posed a question.
"Building habits... sticking to discipline... that important?"
"Very."
"How much?"
"Absolutely."
Lane added,
"Everyone tastes defeat and learns from it. Knowing how to lose? Valuable lesson."
"......"
"But first, learn not to lose. If you can't conquer yourself, you conquer nothing."
Crack-!
Karen trained without complaint. Once Form Three was solid, Lane spoke.
"Form Four. Begin."
"That bit earlier... that was a lie, right?"
"What?"
"Having to fight all the time."
"I've never lied."
"......"
Swoosh...
Swooooosh...
He tossed out a tale to pique her interest.
"Once fought a being that summoned rain."
"What? For real?"
"Hey, keep moving."
Swish-!
Swooooosh-!
"Tell me!"
"Fearsome bastard. No ordinary rain—dented steel."
"Amazing... Does the world bend to guys like that?"
"No. Montla rules."
"...Huh?"
"He lost to me. Begged for his life like a fool. I cut him down in one stroke."
"......How? Rain-summoner? Steel-crusher?"
Karen eyed Lane.
Lane flexed one arm, bulging a massive ridge of muscle.
"A tempered body!"
"...Huh?"
"Unshakable conviction!"
"Should've known better than to hope..."
"Kukuku... Karen, that's still worlds away for you. Meeting those kinds."
"When do I get there?"
"Hmm... Long after knighthood, I'd wager."
"...Will it even happen?"
"Make it happen. Nothing says you won't one day guard the imperial house, right?"
"Me, an imperial guardian? Pfft hahaha! Hilarious!"
Karen threw her head back laughing. Lane stroked his chin, gaze dropping to the ground.
"Yes... that day might come..."
"...Lane?"
"Keep going. Form Four's a mess. We finish it today."
"Yeees..."
"Your response..."
"Yes, sir!"
Swoosh-!
Swooooosh-!
It should've been tedious.
Drilling set sword forms.
Yet Lane's stories chased the boredom away.
"Those freaks wielding strange powers? They live forever. Lifespans are disgustingly long."
"How long?"
"Some beyond human reckoning."
"How do you beat that?"
"Kukuku... Face 'em for real, and they all taunt the same way."
Lane stroked his rain-soaked, seaweed-like beard, mimicking some otherworldly fiend.
"How dare you! Filthy insects!"
"Pfft..."
"Struggling bugs who won't last a century!"
"Ahahaha! Totally sounds like 'em!"
"Not one exception. Like age is their only brag..."
Swooooosh...
Swoooooooosh...
Karen swung and asked,
"Lane."
"Speak."
"I wanna be like you."
"This fine self? Well, beats those sorry excuses for knights."
"Sun Knight's so cool! Fire bursts from my body too!"
"Alas, no fire from mine."
"But why Sun Knight?"
"Empire's symbol is the sun."
Karen shuddered at his words.
"Why?"
"Gave me chills."
"What about?"
"You're Montla's symbol."
"Hmm..."
Grinning as he toyed with his goatee.
"What do you think?"
Karen had no answer.
A child's mind couldn't fathom humans toppling rain-summoners who crumpled steel.
"But what if someone stronger than you shows up..."
"Worried already? Afraid this sun path's a dud?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Honest girl. Good. Here's a lesson."
Lane kept it simple.
"Strip every qualifier from 'strong' from now on."
"Huh?"
"Human strong. Immortal strong. Bloodline strong. Ancestral strong. All wrong."
"Why?"
"'Strong' isn't so narrow."
He stated it plainly.
"Just strong. Period."
"Just..."
"So a human can drop a rain-summoner who dents steel."
"You're... strong then, Lane?"
"...Strong."
How strong, exactly?
The kid wanted rankings but knew it rude and held back.
Or tried to.
"Stronger than the Guardian Stars?"
"Guardian Stars? Tricky... dragging allies into it."
To his own, he was endlessly kind.
"Ask them yourself someday. Might tell you."
"W-Weaker than the Guardian Stars?"
"Maybe? Kukuku..."
The grudge between them? Gone.
Lane read her gripe perfectly.
"...Training too tough?"
"Nah. It's just... y'know..."
Karen came clean.
"Sometimes I wanna hear some praise."
"...I see. My failing."
The rain stopped. Karen slogged through her quota.
Arms trembling like they might drop off, she set her sword down and turned.
"Done! Time to head in..."
Tap...
Lane rested a hand on her head.
"Karen, you're my disciple. Disciple of this sun."
"What... outta nowhere."
He smiled brightly.
Clear skies bright.
"You're doing well, Karen."
In that instant, Karen's memories warped.
Zzzzt...
"Ugh..."
Montla cloak draped over her, armor etched with the crest at her waist.
"...Huh?"
"Quit spacing out, Karen!"
"Lane?"
"Hm?"
"Why're you so old?"
"Nonsense! Can't focus? Sit it out and watch!"
Karen scanned her surroundings, dredging up a familiar scene.
'This day...'
The day she first clashed with an immortal.
Rrrrrumble...
A colossal evil stirred.
Sword in hand, she stood before it.
Yet strangely, no fear.
- How dare... a mortal defy me...
Heh...
Just as Lane described—textbook villain line.
"Evil one, kneel! Montla's sun has arrived!"
- ...So you're Lane.
That day, Lane slew the evil.
His massive armor—Lane's signature—burned into her mind.
Never to fade.
* * *
Siiiizzle...
Karen's sword snapped.
The rain deity flashed a sinister grin.
"No surprise a bug's bite lacks punch."
Clang...
The broken blade hit the ground.
Then.
Roooar-!
Towering flames erupted around Karen.
"...What?"
Whoosh-!
The rain deity leaped back. The blaze forged itself into armor, layering over her own.
Clank-!
Clank-!
[Incomplete Combustion effect increases.]
[Incomplete Combustion effect increases.]
Why the massive armor now? It stemmed from aspiration.
Before this place, she'd asked Rajin.
- Ridiculous question, but... how strong was human Lane back then? Stronger than you Guardian Stars?
Rajin answered the childish query with full sincerity.
- Straight answer, Karen... one day.
- One day?
She'd suspected as much.
But those on that path always waver. Hence the hoped-for words.
- Given Lane just one day? Every Montla Guardian Star would've vanished.
- Kahahat! Absurd...
- You... still crave to be the sun, don't you?
- ....
- Yes. That's why I wanted to meet you.
Greeeeak-!
Karen's armor bulked up further.
"Give it up. Sword lost—your defeat's sealed. Bow to a new master."
- You're... still on the path.
Roooar-!
Flames burst from the gaps in her massive armor. Fire spewing from her helm, she exhaled her pent-up breath.
"Sorry."
Breaking past defeat's threshold, the memory granted fresh power.
[Karen uses Discipline: Hot Encouragement.]
[As the fight drags on, encouragements pour forth.]
......
Huff...
Huff...
Another burst of flame.
"Didn't quite learn how to blank out and lose."