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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: A Flower Against a Sword
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A night bathed in the brilliant glow of the full moon.
Serena, changed into her training attire, and Zeke, in his usual military uniform, stepped out into the courtyard.
Zeke crossed his arms and observed Serena.
Her entire body was stiff as a board.
"Don't be so tense. This is just a light assessment. First, let's see the swordsmanship you know."
"Ye-yes, sir!"
*Shing.* The sword slid from the sheath at Serena's waist.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and assumed her ready stance.
She had never been formally taught by a master.
However, the Johaiden duchy's White Tiger Knights were an elite group, counted among the strongest in the empire.
She had overheard and recorded the knights' training methods and regimens.
She had stolen glances at the training grounds, committing their swordsmanship to memory.
For seven years, she had come out to the back garden at dawn, when everyone else was asleep, and poured her sweat into her practice.
She had endured those years of hardship, tenaciously swinging her sword.
She was nervous, displaying the fruits of her training before a master,
but she was also confident.
Hard work would not betray her.
*Inhale… exhale…*
With utmost grace, her sword moved from high to low.
*Swoosh.* It cut through the empty air, and her sword dance began.
Her body bent like a reed.
*Thump!*
She kicked off the ground.
Serena's form shot into the air as she swung her sword.
The blade thrust sharply three times in mid-air before curving gently.
*Swish!*
"Hah!"
Serena let out a sharp cry, spread her arms, and spun.
Her sword followed, gliding as if a bird were flapping its fully spread wings.
*Thud.*
The moment she landed, she lowered her body and struck the ground.
A practical strike, like a beast tearing at an ankle!
*'Fierce Tiger's Pounce!'*
Immediately after, she released the sword from her right hand,
caught it with her left, and swung again.
Once, twice, three times, four times.
A brutal flurry of strikes, spinning to mercilessly grind her enemies to dust!
*'Heaven-Striking Tiger!'*
She didn't stop there.
As if wary of enemies to her rear, she thrust backward,
then twisted the hilt to finish them completely.
The path of her sword dripped with the menace of a predator, as if embodying the fangs of a white tiger.
*'White Fang!!!'*
Serena, as if facing a real enemy,
gritted her teeth and unleashed her killing moves.
Several more powerful swings followed.
The moonlight lingered on the tip of her sword,
making it seem as if light itself were flowing from it.
*Pant.*
*Pant.*
*Inhale… exhale…*
Serena steadied her breath, her chest aching, and brought her sword to rest.
*'For some reason, the path of my sword feels so clear today. Is it because the instructor is watching!?'*
Her body extended exactly as she intended,
and the feeling of power at her sword's tip was the best she had ever experienced in all her years of practice!
She had been worried about making a mistake, but frankly, even she thought it was perfect.
Even the moves that usually gave her trouble flowed as naturally as water.
*'If Father had seen me like this… he might have changed his mind!'*
Serena's eyes sparkled as she looked at Zeke.
"H-how was it?"
*
*'Hm… What is this?'*
Zeke found it hard to grasp what Serena was doing.
He furrowed his brow, trying his best to understand the intent behind her swordplay.
*'…Could this be… flailing swordsmanship!?'*
He couldn't understand.
Why waste so many movements?
Why not follow through with a strike,
and instead pull it back?
The tip of her swinging sword wobbled, its destination unclear.
When she suddenly spun around and exposed her back, some long-forgotten martial arts purist in his mind screamed.
*'A wound on the back is a swordsman's shame!!!'*
Zeke forcefully suppressed the sigh that threatened to escape.
This was… truly painful to watch.
Even for a romance fantasy world, for swordsmanship to lack even the basics…
A sword isn't good just because it's pretty or flashy.
Even flashy sword styles have their own class, and even a single strike must have meaning.
*'It's not even being used to mesmerize an opponent with its flourish… What is this…'*
This swordsmanship…
*'No, can you even call this swordsmanship in the first place?'*
Zeke tilted his head.
How was he supposed to fix this total mess?
First, he needed to confirm something.
He asked Serena, who was still catching her breath.
"Serena, let me ask you one thing."
"Yes! Instructor!"
"Have you ever been formally taught the sword by anyone?"
"No! I taught myself by secretly watching the knights' swordsmanship!"
"Ah, so that's why… No, but even so…"
Seeing Zeke frown and mutter to himself, Serena grew a little anxious.
*'Mmm. I thought I performed the White Tiger swordsmanship quite well… Is it still lacking in the eyes of a master…?'*
After a long moment of organizing his thoughts, he looked at Serena and said something shocking.
"First of all, you need to change your sword."
"What!?"
"That sword was probably made to a man's specifications, wasn't it?"
"…Yes."
Serena looked down at the sword in her hand.
The first gift she had ever bought for herself, with money she saved up from her allowance.
For seven years, she had studied during the day and secretly come out at dawn to wield this sword.
The sky-blue hilt, reminiscent of her eyes, was wrapped in worn cloth.
She polished the blade every day, so its surface gleamed.
*'This sword is precious to me…'*
"It doesn't suit you."
"…"
Serena couldn't meekly accept Zeke's words.
Even if she had trained for seven years without a master, it was still seven years.
To tell her to change her sword now…
How could he say something like that so easily?
It felt cruel.
Whether he knew what was in Serena's heart or not,
Zeke continued with a cold expression.
"Use a rapier."
"How can you possibly know that just by looking at me!!!"
Serena, who had always spoken gently even while he was tutoring her, raised her voice for the first time.
Zeke had mercilessly struck a nerve.
*'And of all things, a rapier.'*
The rapier was a relatively thin and light sword specialized for thrusting, sacrificing its slashing ability.
And since it was a one-handed sword, it wasn't even that light when you actually held it.
Rapiers were typically used for duels or against a small number of human opponents.
They were unsuited for a knight who fought monsters and faced numerous enemies.
She was seriously aiming to wield a knight's sword,
but Zeke's words were no different from telling her to learn swordsmanship as a hobby, like any other noble.
"A rapier… I will never use one."
*
*'Good grief.'*
It wasn't that Zeke didn't understand why Serena wouldn't want to use a rapier.
But he had his reasons for recommending it.
It wasn't a matter of build or strength.
The sword itself was fundamentally incompatible with Serena.
Her frame, agility, flexibility, muscles.
Everything about her was ill-suited for wielding that sword.
She had probably felt it subconsciously herself, that she and the sword didn't match.
That frustration must have built up until she came to the academy without a plan, searching for an answer.
*'But if I help her, it's possible.'*
Back in his dark fantasy days, Zeke had collected and mastered countless sword arts.
Among them was a rapier style used by women.
[Cheonyugeom]
*'One of those angelic women used it. It was quite effective, so I tried to learn it… and almost got myself unmanned, since only women could use it.'*
Zeke shuddered at the memory.
A female-exclusive rapier art that supplemented the body's movements with magic, barely relying on physical strength.
Of course, the use of magic was essential.
*'If this were Earth, it would be impossible, but…'*
In this romance fantasy world, unlike on Earth, Zeke could sense mana.
At first, he thought perhaps only he, being from a dark fantasy world, could sense it,
but that wasn't the case.
Since there was a subject called "Magicology" among the things he studied,
the existence of mana was recognized here as well.
Mages existed, though they were very rare.
And while they were so ridiculously expensive that only the imperial family could afford them,
various magitools utilizing mana were being produced.
That meant magic could be used.
Magic was power wielded through mana. In other words, a miracle that allowed one to transcend the natural limits of their species.
*'If I teach her a proper mana cultivation method and she learns to skillfully apply it with Cheonyugeom…'*
Even this girl, whose every trait was unsuited for the sword,
would be able to wield one.
And even a thin blade like a rapier could gain sufficient durability and destructive power.
*'But if they have mana, why is the swordsmanship here so terrible?'*
Perhaps because it was a romance fantasy world, even the knights didn't seem to have thought of such applications.
*'No, if anything, their swordsmanship should be cleaner and more concise. What's with this... without even imbuing their blades with magic...!'*
Zeke was once again reminded of why he had been transmigrated to this place.
It was all because the swordsmanship here was a complete mess.
This goddamn romance fantasy.
Zeke glanced to his side.
Serena was still gripping her sword tightly, as if she couldn't accept it.
*'…What should I do about her?'*
If Serena were just some stranger, Zeke would have ignored her.
After all, he felt no need to force someone to change a sword they didn't want to change.
But Serena was the one person in this world who had reached out to him, a person he was grateful for.
*'…If it weren't for her… I would've been fleeced by that old hag of a general and wouldn't have even been able to afford room and board. She saved me from becoming the first homeless instructor at a noble academy. She also taught me common sense and knowledge about this world.'*
If she kept swinging her sword with that garbage form, her body would eventually break down.
He couldn't just let that happen.
Zeke made a cruel decision.
*'I have to completely break her spirit.'*
"Serena."
"…"
Zeke called her name, but Serena puffed out her cheeks and didn't answer.
"Are you pouting?"
"I am not!"
Her body trembled and her eyes were red, as if she were about to burst into tears.
*'She's pouting…'*
Zeke clicked his tongue.
"I didn't say that because I have anything against you."
"Then what is it!"
"You can become a knight even with a rapier. Strong enough to face any monster."
"Lies!"
She wouldn't believe him even when he told her the truth. It seemed this would take longer than he thought.
Wondering what to do, Zeke sighed.
*Haaa...*
*'As long as I don't wield a sword myself, it should be fine… Just this once. This one time is an exception. Because Serena is my benefactor.'*
Zeke plucked a small flower growing on the decorative wall.
Holding the flower, Zeke approached Serena.
A man holding a flower against the backdrop of the brilliant moonlight. And before him, a woman holding a sword with a bewildered expression.
To an unknowing observer, it was a scene that could easily be mistaken for a confession.
Knowing how he changed when he held a sword, Zeke had no choice but to take this approach.
"Now, come at me."
*
*'What is the instructor doing right now?'*
Serena was flustered. He'd claimed she could become a knight with a rapier, and now he'd suddenly plucked a flower and told her to attack him.
She began to wonder if Zeke might be a con artist.
*'But the name Zeke Kleiman was definitely on the list of academy swordsmanship instructors.'*
It was a fact she had confirmed at the academy herself.
Even so, facing a sword with a single flower, like something out of a novel or a tall tale, was something she had never heard of in her entire life.
A flower was a flower. And that wasn't even a special flower, just a common plant growing on the wall.
A light swing was all it would take for the blade to meet it, and it would simply bend or be cut.
That was the common sense and truth of the world.
*'Does he mean something else… Like he'll dodge my sword so I can't land a single hit… No. That's not in the instructor's character.'*
Serena's eyes were filled with disbelief,
but the side of Zeke she had seen during their time together convinced her to trust him one more time.
Of course, that didn't mean she would switch her weapon to a rapier.
Before her, Zeke stood with a very serious expression, holding a small, lovely purple flower.
Right now, she had a hairpin decorated with the same kind of purple flower in her hair.
*'A violet… It's my favorite…'*
Serena looked from the flower to meet Zeke's eyes.
"Instructor."
"Yes."
Zeke nodded as if he understood.
"To be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing right now."
"I know."
"But I don't believe you would do something like this without a reason. So, I will trust the instructor I've come to know and give it a try."
"Alright. Come."
The moment he finished speaking, Serena kicked off the ground and charged at Zeke.
"Hah!"
***