WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
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Chapter 275: The Greatest Expert (3)
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"Hm, so that's how it went."
"That's right."
"Well now. That's far more impressive than I expected. Or perhaps the two of them are simply a good match? This is quite something..."
Ian, the Master of Krono Fencing Hall, revered as one of the Continent's Three Great Swordsmen and a living legend.
Before him stood Brett Lloyd, the once-in-a-generation genius who had reached Sword Master at the age of twenty-one.
That made it all the more surprising.
His disciple had not only broken through a wall during the brief time Ian had not seen him, but appeared to have developed skill well beyond that level.
And Judith had defeated him?
While she was still only an Expert?
'No, Expert or Master isn't the issue here.'
Ian nodded.
He knew. Better than anyone else, he knew.
For others, perhaps such ordinary standards mattered. But not for Kun.
Judith was likely the same.
From the moment she became that man's disciple, it had been easy enough to predict that she would walk an unusual path.
Still...
'I never expected her to grow this quickly. It's almost embarrassing.'
Ian was widely acknowledged as the continent's greatest swordsmanship instructor.
Yet Judith had grown explosively the moment she left his tutelage. In less than a year.
Ian shook his head slightly and took a sip of tea.
It was a strange feeling.
He should have been happy to think of his former student's achievement, and he truly was.
But the look on Kun's face also left him feeling uneasy.
People believed Kun was the only one fixated on Ian, but that had only been true in the past.
If anything, Ian had been more concerned with Kun lately.
Of course, the thought did not last long.
Setting down his teacup, Ian quietly studied Brett.
His defeat.
A defeat at the hands of an Expert, one that could perhaps be called humiliating.
What must his student be feeling as he calmly reported it to him?
"As expected..."
"As expected?"
"It proves that she is worthy of being the lover of the future head of House Lloyd. A woman of that caliber is naturally with me."
"..."
"Of course, I will not hold back any longer. That is why I returned to the Fencing Hall. For the next year... no, two years."
Brett Lloyd held up two fingers and looked at Ian.
Some might have found the look in his eyes arrogant.
Carrying himself with the air of a high-ranking noble, he said,
"I'll show you how serious I am."
"..."
"You should brace yourself as well, Hall Master. Wouldn't want you to be too shocked by how much faster I grow than you expect."
"You've gone even crazier since I last saw you."
Ian let out a quiet laugh.
Brett had always been like that.
Whenever he encountered hardship, he tried to stand tall. He tried not to lose his composure.
At times, he took it so far that his behavior became absurd enough to make others laugh, but Ian did not think it was a bad thing.
It was Brett's own way of escaping anxiety and impatience, and he had actually shown the most stable demeanor among his peers.
That was why he had been the first of the Golden 27th Cohort to receive a Graduation Plate.
"Very well. I will brace myself and guide you properly, so that I can live up to the serious efforts of the once-in-a-generation genius, Brett Lloyd."
Hall Master Ian smiled.
Though Brett had graduated from the Fencing Hall, he was still Ian's disciple. And he was an exceptionally fine student.
There was no way Ian would not be pleased that Brett had come to seek his master's help.
"However, I have an earlier appointment."
"An earlier appointment...?"
"Yes. A disciple I thought had left my tutelage long ago said she wanted to meet me. Said she wanted a match. She may have arrived by now. No, she has."
"What sort of disciple would dare..."
Brett had been about to ask if the disciple had challenged the Hall Master, but he closed his mouth.
He felt it a moment later.
An intensely powerful presence, red and scorching hot, that made him turn instinctively.
Before he knew it, a name slipped from his lips. Ian laughed heartily and nodded, then rose from his seat.
Brett had no choice but to silently follow as Ian strode casually toward the main training grounds.
"It has been a while."
"I have been remiss in staying in touch."
"One spectator should be acceptable, yes?"
"Even more would be no trouble."
"That will not do. Most would lose their nerve. This one is an exception, of course."
Hall Master Ian grinned at his disciple.
Ignet Crescentia turned her gaze toward him as well.
Feeling as though flames had pierced him, Brett unconsciously took half a step back.
Then, wearing an entirely unfazed expression, he took one step back, then two, then three... continuing to retreat as he muttered,
"I am absolutely not stepping back because of the pressure."
"..."
"I had intended to step back from the beginning. So as not to interfere with the match. Spectators belong in the stands. Mm, that is right."
Ignet looked away.
Ian no longer looked at Brett either. They looked only at one another, as though they were the only two people in the world.
Wooooooong...!
Kiiiiing-!
A bone-chilling sound rang out.
The white radiance that had grown to ten meters compressed while giving off an even more brilliant light, and the blazing flames that rippled as though they would burn the blades were refined to an extraordinary degree.
Then, as their swords vanished as though evaporating, they collided at the center of the main training grounds.
Kwooooooong-!
An eardrum-shattering roar echoed throughout the entire Fencing Hall.
* * *
"Hm, perhaps I should have fought outside the Fencing Hall."
An hour later.
With Ignet Crescentia already long gone, Ian spoke in a dejected voice.
It was understandable. The main training grounds were a complete mess, in far worse condition than Ignet, who had lost the sparring match.
He could not even begin to imagine how to repair them.
Of course, it was not particularly important.
Ian smiled and turned around. His disciple stood there with a slightly stiff expression.
"What did you think?"
"...Amazing. More so than Airen or Illia."
Brett answered honestly.
It was not that he had looked down on Ignet.
But he had not truly considered her peerless.
After all, he had believed that the two monsters around him were capable of standing alongside her.
But his thoughts had changed.
He had been wrong, and there was a reason for the rumors. Brett gently closed his eyes and recalled the sparring match he had just witnessed.
Ignet's swordsmanship was not dark.
Recalling her swordsmanship, which had shone brilliantly like blazing flames, Brett opened his eyes and said,
"Still, she is not beyond my reach."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. It was quite a good motivation."
It was a bluff.
But it was not entirely empty bravado.
The Brett of the past might have been different, but Brett had overcome repeated setbacks. This was something he could somehow overcome as well.
'She is indeed overwhelming enough to be called the sun in the sky, but...'
He could reach her.
If today's motivation could stir his heart fiercely enough to summon a wave.
If he could make that wave great enough to reach the sky, it was too early to give up.
Brett Lloyd grinned, bowed politely, and spoke.
"I look forward to working with you again."
"Hm."
The Hall Master nodded and looked at his disciple.
Ian had expected Brett not to be discouraged.
If Brett had been the type to show weakness over something like this, Ian would not have brought him out to watch in the first place.
Still, he had not expected him to remain this composed.
Watching Brett raise his head after bowing, Ian muttered inwardly,
'I have no choice but to acknowledge it.'
He always tried to teach everyone fairly.
Naturally, he did.
His disciples already suffered tremendous stress from differences in talent alone. If they felt that their instruction was also unequal, their sense of loss would be indescribable.
What could be sadder for a teacher than breaking someone's spirit with his own hands?
But he could no longer do that.
Brett differed from Ian in many ways.
Still, Ian could not help feeling more drawn to him, or caring for him a little more than his other disciples.
Perhaps it had been inevitable from the moment Brett chose the Water Sword.
"I look forward to working with you again too."
With a smile as gentle as water, Ian looked once more at Brett Lloyd.
A disciple who had become a far broader vessel than when they had first met.
If Ian wanted him to become an ocean, he would have to keep filling him with teachings without end.
'In a way, this could be called a proxy war between Kun and me.'
Ian did not bother voicing the thought. It was too childish for a man nearing a hundred years of age.
But it could not be helped. That was the kind of relationship he and Kun had.
Thinking of his old rival.
Thinking of the former disciple who had left his tutelage.
Finally, looking at Brett Lloyd's confident expression, Ian drew his sword once more.
The instruction began immediately.
* * *
"Haap! Tahat! Tahaat!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whooosh-!
In short, Brett showed tremendous growth after witnessing Ignet Crescentia's fight.
But if one asked whether her swordsmanship was the main reason, the answer was no.
Then was it Ian, the master of Krono and the continent's greatest instructor, whose teachings had finally borne fruit?
That was not it either. His teachings had certainly helped, but the greatest reason Brett was training like a madman was something else.
It was a short letter from his lover, Judith.
[If you get discouraged after losing once, I'll kill you. If you win next time... I'll grant you anything you want, so train hard.]
"...Anything."
Brett muttered quietly and clenched his fist.
His grip was strong enough to shatter the hilt of the Blue Sword, Durkali's treasure, and that force was immediately transformed into overwhelming passion.
No one could stop Brett.
No one could hold Brett back.
He had always been the most diligent person in all of Krono Fencing Hall, but after Judith's letter arrived, Brett changed so much that even his former self seemed ordinary by comparison.
"Ah, to be young."
"..."
Keira Fin, the Vice Hall Master of Krono, shook her head as she passed by.
Ian said nothing.
A sense of loss he had not felt in a long time, along with a hint of betrayal.
After barely calming those feelings, he said to Brett,
"Today's instruction will be a sparring match."
"Pardon?"
"What, you do not want to?"
"...It is not that I do not want to."
Brett Lloyd wore a somewhat uneasy expression.
Hall Master Ian wore an even more uneasy expression.
Watching the master and disciple, who suited each other remarkably well, former instructor Ahmed grinned.
* * *
Half a year later.
A man made his way toward the Farreira territory.
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