45. Sword Demon, Mad Sword, Sword Master, Madwoman
45. Sword Demon, Mad Sword, Sword Master, Madwoman
-Clang!
Suddenly, the glass door shattered, and stepping over the shards was a black-haired woman.
It wasn't Iris.
A bitch so rude that she couldn't even be compared to such a young, kind girl.
Not only was she rude—ruder than the noble girl I'd recently gotten to know—but she was also a foul-tempered bitch.
She was the youngest Sword Master, and the daughter of a decent family, to boot.
Plus, it was true that she had a pretty face and a good body.
But she was the kind of bitch who made all those significant advantages completely meaningless with just her personality...
"......What the hell are you doing, breaking into a shop you're visiting for the first time?"
"......You."
"I told you to call me eonni."
"You seduced my disciple with something weird."
"Don't tell me you're talking about the shield? You broke the door of a shop you're visiting for the first time just because of that?"
She was a real crazy bitch.
It wasn't anything else; she came in breaking the glass door like that.
How could she not be a crazy bitch?
I wanted to vent the anger boiling up from my chest, from my dantian, in every direction... but there were still students inside the convenience store.
And this was my shop.
If I did something stupid, it was obvious that only I would lose out.
So, I was trying to respond as calmly as possible with words.
"How dare you give a swordsman something like a shield......"
"No, are you a crazy bitch?"
"Do you have any idea how hard I worked to raise Noah as a swordsman? From correcting his posture to focusing every single one of his bad habits onto the sword. How dare you......"
"......"
She had been this kind of bitch for a long time.
Because she was a real crazy bitch when it came to swords, that's why she was called the Sword Ghost.
Actually, the name Sword Ghost was quite overrated... no, it was actually an underrated name.
You could only call her Sword Ghost to her face.
Behind her back, people called her a madman, a Mad Sword... and the more thoughtless ones just called her a crazy bitch.
"Morgan, first...... let's start with an apology, and then shall we have a calm conversation?"
"Conversation? Even though you taught my disciple something like a shield without consulting me?"
"Phew......"
I let out a sigh, being careful not to accidentally infuse it with mana.
I had easily frozen this bitch last time.
But unlike then, she was currently wearing her sword, and she was in a hysterical state.
Even though I curse at her, separate from that... that bitch is a Sword Master.
Naturally, she was a dangerous bitch.
So, for now......
"Customers? For now, please head out slowly through the back door. Class is starting soon, right?"
"Y-yes......"
"Sorry...!"
I sent the kids outside first.
I spoke with as much of a smile as I could.
But given the situation, it seemed like it might have sounded like I was annoyed and found them to be a nuisance.
"Morgan, I remember telling you this often in the past."
"Why do you keep changing the subject? I asked why you taught my disciple such a thing. Why did you do it?"
"Haha......"
Seeing that her eyes were already slightly glazed over, it seemed she was properly pissed off.
It was just a matter of having him hold a shield once in a real fight so he wouldn't get hurt.
Is that so offensive?
As expected, this bitch was hopeless.
"Back then or now, it seems you still can't listen to your eonni properly. Looks like you've forgotten everything you learned when you were 18, huh?"
Since we were inside the Academy, and this bitch was an adult now.
She wasn't the 18 or 19-year-old brat from when I was in my prime as an adventurer.
Of course, even back then, she was a bitch with considerable talent, skill, and rudeness... but now she's a full-grown adult, isn't she?
She was twenty-three. Twenty-three.
Six years older than a seventeen-year-old.
Yet she was acting much ruder than kids like Noah.
Honestly, shouldn't I properly teach her some manners now?
"Hey. Morgan."
The situation was different in many ways from when I first met her, and unlike back then, I had something to protect.
My livelihood. My wish. My result. My convenience store......
I couldn't let her act like a bitch in my convenience store.
Even though the glass door was already broken.
I couldn't forgive her for acting any crazier than this.
"Let's get some real education for the first time in a while."
Just because she was the youngest Sword Master didn't mean it was anything grand.
Of course, it was impressive, though.
But not enough to come here and act like a bitch... I heard the bell signaling the start of class and confirmed that there was no one in the convenience store but that bitch and me.
"When the bell that's ringing now ends, that will be the signal. It'll be like a contest to see which of us is faster."
The elegant bell sound echoing through the convenience store, the hallway, and the entire Academy.
It was quite long, but at the same time, it felt short.
Morgan's figure, slowly moving her hand... starting to head toward her sword.
"......"
"......"
Having worked in the Academy for about two years now, I could clearly feel the timing of the bell ending approaching......
-Crack.
"......!"
At the same time the bell ended, I took a step forward.
At the same time, the convenience store floor froze completely, and ice grew instantly, wrapping around the crazy bitch's ankles.
She looked flustered by the sudden binding.
I didn't fall for that look and continued my attack.
Because Sword Masters are the scariest beings when they have their swords.
Because they are the kind of people who can cut through ice with just a sword.
Starting with the foot I stepped forward with, I grabbed the air and thrust an ice spear that formed in my hand at her; even though her two ankles were still bound in ice, she... dodged it easily.
Following that, as I stepped forward again, the ice holding her ankles grew further, instantly reaching up to her thighs and starting to restrict her movement even more.
The ice wasn't very hard on the first step, but on the second step, the strength of the ice became much stronger.
"......!"
I pulled back the ice spear that failed to hit, threw it away, and then focused mana into my fist.
My fist froze instantly.
With that fist, I blocked the sword swing from the bitch whose two legs were sealed.
Because a Snow Woman's ice isn't ordinary ice.
I succeeded in blocking it a few times, and then took one more step forward.
-Kiiiik......!
"Kuhk...!?"
With that step, icicles formed not from the floor, but from the ceiling, pointing downward and attacking Morgan.
But she used her unique swordsmanship to handle that attack.
She shattered the ice that was blocking her leg movement and smashed the ice from the ceiling.
As expected, it was a display worthy of a Sword Master.
However, the way she pulled back while using her swordsmanship, her feet not yet touching the ground.
It was a mistake she had been making for a long time.
"Damn it...!"
I gratefully accepted that mistake and stepped forward even more strongly.
The location happened to be none other than inside the convenience store.
There were various display shelves and structures, not just the floor and ceiling.
If I had given her the first strike, Morgan could have drawn her sword and continued her attack, but she couldn't.
Because taking a light step was faster than her drawing her sword.
"Geez... nothing has changed since I saw you at twenty-three. Still that elegant swordsmanship, worrying about the movement between movements. Thanks to that, here we are again, right?"
Is it pride as a swordsman?
I don't know if that's just the swordsmanship she uses.
But Morgan, she had always loved beautiful and strong swordsmanship.
The kind of swordsmanship that is elegant, flashy, and can slaughter enemies.
She pursued the kind of swordsmanship where the connection between movements continues, and she tries to combine offense and defense while performing those movements.
She seemed to think she had reached that realm in her own way, but honestly, if that kind of swordsmanship were simple, everyone would use it.
Do they say geniuses don't understand the human heart?
It was exactly like that.
A blessed talent, and because effort was put into that talent, she reached a realm, and that's why she's a bitch who can't understand others.
Of course, right now......
"Morgan, what did I tell you when we first met?"
"......"
"I can understand the informal speech. But is it really that hard to at least use the title 'eonni'?"
Her body was completely bound by ice emitted from the display shelves, ceiling, floor... and all sorts of other structures.
It was in a state where it completely covered her body like a cocoon.
It was like that a few years ago, and it was like that today.
"Phew...... The convenience store is completely ruined. It's because of you, isn't it?"
"...You did it."
"Morgan?"
"......Skadi. Eonni. You did it."
"Yes, yes. Isn't it so much better when you use the word 'eonni'? I'm not a bad person, but you should treat your elders with more respect."
Still, she wasn't a completely, truly crazy bitch.
In a situation where she was completely defeated like this.
A situation where she got crushed.
When I make her like this, she actually minds her manners.
"So, was it that fucking annoying that I recommended a shield to Noah?"
"......"
"Why no answer? You're the one who did that."
"...Just because."
"Just because."
"I clearly [intended for him] to be able to handle offense and defense with just the sword......"
"So you broke the glass window of my convenience store and made it look like this?"
"......"
I continued my questioning to Morgan, who was fixed in an awkward pose, the same pose she was in when she was pulling back.
It was also annoying to stand up and talk.
And I had used quite a bit of mana for the first time in a while.
I made a small chair in front of Morgan and started a proper conversation.
Since everyone had started class, and this bitch was the type to listen well when she was broken like this.
I had to properly educate her.
In that sense, for now......
"...Why are you taking my sword?"
"Well, I can't let you keep holding your sword, right? I'm thinking of holding onto this and playing with it for a bit?"
"......I'll really kill you."
"Hmm......"
I started by taking away her sword, which was as good as a swordsman's life.
Since she was bound in ice.
It wasn't difficult at all to melt just the sword part from that ice and take it out, right?
"You know this, right? If you keep making a sword cold... it can break easily."
"I'll really, really kill you."
Besides, there was something else I had been doing every time this bitch acted like a bitch for a long time.
Most metals, and most swords, tended to become quite vulnerable when frozen.
Using that property, the number of times I'd broken this bitch's sword... from when she was twenty-three to about twenty-five, it was at least in the triple digits.
"Yeah."
She had been on the receiving end so many times, and they had broken so many times.
That's why I often took her sword when she acted like a bitch, and when I took it, she showed a more well-behaved side.
Anyway.
"Hmm... really? The sword is in my hand right now, so how are you going to kill me?"
"......"
"Stop glaring at me like that. I'm a good person. Kind, good-natured. Hmm? I'm that kind of person, right?"
"......That's, right."
"Hehe... finally, we can have a proper conversation."
It was truly a joyous occasion.