The young man was well aware that the old butler possessed formidable muscular strength. Watching the butler being pushed back, the young man had impressed look on his face.
‘It may look like the girl is swinging recklessly, but each and every move… They are all flawless without any gaps. They are magnificent.’
It seemed that the girl was not too concerned about the difference in physical size and strength. She was swinging her sword and pushing back the butler. Watching this, Ryan struggled and got up.
‘Still, how…’
Earlier, during his duel against the butler, Ryan was being beaten with quite a substantial difference. Remembering this, Ryan turned his gaze toward Ian.
‘… How come Ian is using the same swordsmanship as the master?’
He was curious about this.
‘Just how?’
A few days ago…
After being kicked out of his own family and being abandoned by the family of the fiancée he was with, what Ryan had decided to search was the sword.
Wondering around aimlessly, he had been helping people or slaying monsters. He was living like a vagrant. The reason why he settled in Romella Village was because he met a girl named Iril and a woman named Inaril.
‘So, did you say your name is Ryan? I heard from Iril that you are from a family that is famous for swordsmanship. In that case, you must have swung swords for a long time.’
Ryan challenged the woman who couldn’t even see because she had a blind on her eyes. Although he challenged her numerous times, the results were all same.
One sided defeat.
It was a shock for him to face defeat from someone who was blinded. Also, what was even shocking was that the sword that the woman swung never once carried mana.
‘How did you do it?’
With just pure swordsmanship techniques, the blind woman maintained perfect victory records. Ryan asked the woman because he thought the woman seemed to know very well the ‘answer to the sword’ that he had been seeking through his aimless journey.
‘That swordsmanship, please teach me too!’
‘Ryan.’
The woman asked Ryan like this.
‘You have spent countless days with swords, right? I could tell from clashing swords with you.’
‘That’s right.’
‘While you were swinging your sword like that, through those days, how often have you wielded your sword with the heart of wanting to protect someone?’
He asked a question about his heart. The question was like the one that Count Stein, his father, asked before.
‘If you had been swinging your sword with just the intent to win, then I cannot teach you the swordsmanship.’
Having heard her words, Ryan bit his lips.
‘However…’
‘…?’
‘I can teach you the heart you seek.’
She said she could teach him the mindset. Having heard her words, Ryan decided to serve the blind woman of the Romella Village, the one who was called the Sword Witch, as his master. He had been staying here ever since.
“… Gramps, I’ll give you three seconds. Tell me in three seconds where you learned your sword. If you don’t, I really might kill you.”
Listening to the voice from the little girl, who was his senior in swordsmanship, Ryan got a grip from the sidetracking thoughts. He looked at Ian’s side again.
“…”
It seemed he was gasping for air. He calmed his breathing. With intrigued eyes, Ian looked at Iril, the girl who had her sword aimed at him, and finally said,
“Actually, I would like to ask you that question, young lady.”
Ian wiped off the sweat that was flowing below his chin. He asked what he was curious about.
“How come you are using the same swordsmanship as me?”
With his eyes narrowed, Ian was asking the same question. Wondering what was happening, he looked at Iril.
“…”
The look on her face was exuding more violent atmosphere than ever.
“… Also.”
As if she could not go easy on him anymore, Iril was about to charge in at Ian with deadly intensity. At that moment, Ian said,
“The owner of the sword that Young Master Ryan is holding in his chest right now…”
Iril was about to charge toward Ian, but before she could even take any steps to kick the ground toward him, her legs petrified.
“The owner of the sword… must be dead…”
“…?”
“That’s a sword of a dead person. How come you? How?”
Listening to Ian, Ryan held his breath.
“… Shut up.”
Just like the fireplace at the master’s home that never ceased to burn, Iril looked like she was burning up in intensity. However, after Ian’s mumbling, her intensity froze like a frozen lake during middle of the winter.