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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Declaration
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"Even if Loan won the race, swordsmanship is a different story, right?"
"Of course. Sophie's from a completely different background."
"True, the Pobel family's swordsmanship is recognized even by the kingdom."
The children whispered as they watched Loan and Sophie.
They were all supposed to have paired up for free sparring as Diego had instructed, but no one did.
That was how curious they were about Loan and Sophie's duel, and Diego didn't stop them either.
Watching could be a good lesson in itself.
"Begin when you're ready."
As Diego's words fell, Sophie slightly twisted her body and extended her left foot forward. With both hands, she slowly raised her wooden sword.
"Hoh."
Diego's mouth formed a circle in admiration.
Loan understood his master's reaction.
Sophie looked like a small, solid rock that had risen from the ground.
'Impressive.'
He had never properly seen swordsmanship before.
The only time he had seen someone point a sword at him was in an unpleasant memory.
He had been so disgusted by that sword that he had focused solely on breaking it, leaving no time to even think about the art of swordsmanship.
So, he was at a loss as to what kind of stance to take.
In a fleeting moment, Loan examined the flow of mana to anticipate the purpose of Sophie's sword form.
Her elbow was raised to head height, leaving the space below her shoulder empty—a stance that seemed optimized for a downward strike.
But thanks to her energy, it appeared to have no openings.
A clear aura, centered on her dantian, radiated simultaneously toward the two hands gripping the sword and the two legs firmly planted on the ground, ready to close the distance at any moment.
Will becomes stance, and energy becomes resolve, putting immense pressure on the opponent.
This seemed to be the style of the Pobel family's swordsmanship the children had been talking about.
As he surmised, a thought occurred to him.
'What is good swordsmanship?'
Ultimately, isn't it about cutting or stabbing the opponent first, or neutralizing their attack?
He had been told to subdue his opponent by any means, but unlike with Blake, Loan decided to try this thing called "swordsmanship."
He didn't know how, so he would have to find a way.
'If I look closely, I'll see.'
It was always the same for Loan, whether discovering the motes of light or learning mana.
He would observe intently with his three eyes and, eventually, understand.
*Swish-*
Watching Sophie's swordsmanship, he took a stance of his own, ready to react in any way necessary.
He placed his left foot slightly forward, creating a gap to allow for quick movements back and forth.
He gripped the hilt with both hands and raised the sword to his upper abdomen.
The tip of the sword was aimed precisely at Sophie's center, targeting the space between her eyebrows.
In that instant, the brows of Sophie and Diego furrowed in unison.
They both had the same thought.
'A perfect stance for both offense and defense.'
It was hard to believe this was his first time holding a sword.
The form was so natural it had erased any trace of individuality, to the point where it wouldn't be strange to call it beautiful.
The wavering in the eyes of the children watching Loan was proof enough.
But no one could make a sound.
The two children, in their different stances, were already locked in a duel, gazing silently at each other.
"Hoo..."
Sophie slowly controlled her breathing, feeling the mana within her body.
A part of it felt unnatural.
It was as if her intent and her body's response had failed to reach an agreement.
The pride wounded by Loan's appearance had stirred up an excessive desire to win.
Sophie tried to suppress her rising excitement, but seeing the unshakable Loan made it difficult.
And so—
She tried to force the unity of her sword, mind, and body through action.
Pobel Swordsmanship, First Form.
It was a downward strike that rapidly closed the distance, its movement swift yet its nature incredibly heavy.
*Whoosh-* Sophie approached, the sound of wind in her wake.
Loan captured the entire process with his three eyes.
The motes of light from her firm kick-off, the larger torrent of light that surged toward the sword's path as she closed the gap, and the particles of light in the atmosphere scattered by their push.
In Loan's eyes, Sophie's body seemed to momentarily expand. It felt as if a bolt of lightning was about to strike down.
But he saw it, he knew it, so he could react.
'I have to dodge.'
The thought became will, commanding his body.
Fortunately, Loan's body had been trained to obey his will at any time.
The muscles throughout his body contracted swiftly, embracing the surging mana before channeling it toward their respective purposes.
*Ssk-*
He took half a step back.
Seeing the wooden sword, imbued with a formidable energy, slash down before his eyes, Loan immediately took a step forward—
'Her chest.'
He intended to thrust at Sophie, but in a split second, he revised his intent, twisting his wrists to the left.
*Thwack-!*
After the failure of her first form, Sophie's sword, which had reflexively moved into the second form—an upward diagonal slash from below—was blocked by the sword Loan had firmly planted.
"Hah."
A short, dry laugh escaped Diego.
The block, the process, the strange feeling when the swords collided—it was all absurd. But.
In that moment, the emotional turmoil was greater for Sophie.
She was a prodigy who had been learning her family's sword art since childhood.
She couldn't help but be shaken by a series of events that fell outside her realm of understanding.
Loan read Sophie's momentarily wandering mana.
Without resisting the force of the rebound, he rotated his wrist and drew a large circle with his wooden sword.
At the end of the sword's path was Sophie's neck.
"Stop!"
Before the word was out, Loan's hand had already stopped.
At the same time, Sophie felt a deep sense of defeat. But.
"I lost. Let's go again."
She corrected her stance and immediately challenged him again.
Loan blinked for a moment, then nodded his head vigorously.
It would be difficult to block consecutive attacks with the mana he had drawn, but it was too interesting to stop.
The two created distance between them again.
It was as if Diego no longer existed in their world.
After that first clash, Sophie was able to control her wavering heart and mana.
Loan was once again impressed by the changed Sophie.
And he was also curious. What would she show him this time?
"What are you all doing! You lot, get started too!"
Diego's command thundered down on the children who were staring blankly at the pair.
Until the end of class, the children, just like Loan and Sophie, continued to clash their wooden swords.
* * *
After swordsmanship class ended.
Having washed up and changed, Loan followed the other children to the dining hall.
A feast of high-quality food, perfect for growing children, awaited them.
He thought he had eaten some rather fine meals during the reading sessions, but this was on a whole other level.
Loan followed the children, freely piling food onto his tray, and sat down.
Very quickly, the table where Loan sat was filled with other children.
Sophie took the seat opposite him.
In the course of their four clashes, Sophie had managed to overpower Loan twice.
The first two duels were very similar.
No matter how fast or precise Sophie executed her swordsmanship, Loan seemed to know its path and blocked it in advance.
But that was what made it even stranger.
Pobel swordsmanship couldn't be blocked so easily.
'The path of the sword must be unobstructed.'
That was what she had been taught.
Even if it were blocked, one simply had to shatter the defense and cut through.
To embed a strong, heavy sword within a delicate sword path.
That was the pursuit of the Pobel family, the essence and core that made their swordsmanship renowned.
Yet Loan had blocked it as if it took no effort at all.
And with a strange sensation.
It was for a fleeting moment, but she felt as if an invisible barrier was enveloping Loan's wooden sword, nullifying the impact.
It was definitely not aura. But she couldn't ask him outright.
That would be like asking her opponent to reveal their entire hand—a very shameless act.
Sophie didn't resent her loss or feel envious of Loan.
It was inevitable that her pride was further wounded, but that wasn't her opponent's fault.
What was lacking was her own skill and achievement.
All she could do was acknowledge it and move forward. That was what she, still called a child of the Pobel family, had to and could only do.
So, Sophie praised Loan with sincerity.
"I can't believe you can do that when you said you've never held a sword before. It was really surprising. Loan, you must have an incredible talent for swordsmanship."
Loan swallowed the food in his mouth and straightened his posture. Then, he replied to Sophie with all due respect.
"The first two times were luck. I lost the last two completely."
Perhaps due to the aftereffects of the race, Sophie's mana flow had been somewhat erratic at the beginning.
He thought that was why she couldn't display her full abilities.
The next two times were completely different.
When a tired Sophie switched her style from heavy strikes to combination attacks, Loan was unable to block them.
"Thank you for saying that. Let's do it again next time."
The atmosphere at the table warmed.
The sight of the boy and girl acknowledging and complimenting each other was truly beautiful and pleasant to see.
They had established themselves as pure competitors, regardless of gender.
The students watching set aside their feelings of jealousy for a moment and changed the subject.
"Thank goodness the next class is Basic Magic Studies."
"Yeah. It's basically a longer break time."
"Totally. I'm just going to open my book and take a nap."
"If you're going to do that, you should've just not signed up for the class like me."
This conversation made Loan tilt his head.
"Why is magic class a break time? Don't you have to work hard to become a Union member?"
At Loan's question, a look of brief bewilderment appeared on the children's faces.
It was just like when he had asked about swordsmanship. They seemed flustered that he was asking something so self-evident.
Answers poured in from all around.
"How long would it take to learn magic well enough to use it?"
"Loan, you just got to the Union. Don't talk about it like it's so obvious."
"Yeah. Before class, you even asked if we had to learn swordsmanship to get into the Union."
"Ah, is that so? I guess you wouldn't know."
"You'll probably understand once you're in the class."
The children's chatter soon turned into an interest in Loan, leading to trivial questions about his life.
And so, Loan didn't get a chance to ask anything more.
* * *
After lunchtime, Loan followed the other children to the magic lecture hall.
The hall was incredibly spacious.
The walls and ceiling were made of rough, massive stones, and the seats were arranged in tiers, looking down on a lecture stage with a large blackboard.
At the apex of the fan-shaped lecture hall stood an old man with a magnificent, flowing white beard.
The concentration of his mana was denser than that of Director Lazaros.
Sophie whispered to him.
"That's Professor Arthur. He used to be the Commander of the Honor Division, and now he's the Dean of Magic."
As the children entered, Dean Arthur, from among a pile of books on his desk, picked up a document and slowly examined it.
Before heading up the stairs to the seats, Loan approached the desk, bowed his head, and greeted him.
"Hello. I'm Loan, and I'll be joining the class from today."
Arthur looked up.
"Heh, heh heh."
He let out a hearty laugh and gazed at Loan for a long while.
Loan, too, found it fascinating that the ranking of the strongest person he knew had changed in just one day, so he didn't avoid Arthur's gaze.
After a moment, Arthur stroked his long beard and asked in a languid voice.
"I'm Arthur. Your expression is full of curiosity."
"You were a Commander, so I thought you must be an amazing magician."
"Hearing that, it seems you're more interested in magic than in me. Why is that? Most everyone else thinks of this as an extended break."
A few of the children flinched and straightened their postures.
Loan answered.
"Someone once told me. If you're good at something, you can become something, and you can do other things."
"An interesting perspective. And so?"
"I plan to become a magician who is good at magic and join the Union."
"..."
After Loan's declaration that he would become a magician.
The lecture hall fell strangely silent.