Murray’s son, Cora Murray didn’t think much until dinner.
He just went into some moderately okay inn as he was bored and saw a woman he liked, so he talked to her.
He didn’t feel bad when the woman used sharp words at him.
Because he liked rough and strong women.
But since then, things have changed.
He ends up making a bet and invited the woman’s party into his manor. The match began, and the opponents used their words.
He couldn't believe what was happening right before his eyes.
‘What are they doing…’
They looked far superior to Brian Burns, who was the notary for the match.
He knew swordsmanship, so he knew it.
Looking at the cracks on the floor of the hall, even unaware people could understand how great the two were.
But, what?
The hall could be damaged further?
‘What the hell are you trying to show!’
He couldn’t even imagine it.
No, he actually hated trying to imagine it.
Shaking his head, Cora Murray yelled.
“S-Stop! Stop it now! We have verified your skills, go away now!”
“What do you mean…”
“You, well, we recognize the skills of the woman! Isn't that right, Sir Brian Burns?”
Cora asked him in an urgent voice.
He was perplexed, but soon he realized his intention and nodded.
“Right. The status of the two swordsmen is silver… no, I think they are skilled enough to get gold cards.”
“D-Done! The notary confirmed it! Your skills are proven, and you’re done. So… so go now! I’m going to turn a blind eye to the damage to the hall so far, so go…”
“That wouldn’t be right.”
Bratt interrupted him.
It was a stern tone as usual, but there was a little heat in it.
He went closer to Cora and said,
“Didn’t you say that the one who loses the bet agrees to the request of the winner?”
“T-That…”
“Don’t worry. We won’t make harsh demands. Because it isn’t a big deal to us. We want to stay at this place for a moment. Including the hall.”
“Yah! I did all the hard work, why do you get to say what you want!”
“If this ends here, we won’t be able to see Irene’s sword.”
The heat in Bratt’s words grew stronger.
Even his eyes seemed to be on fire.
Judith was startled by it.
“O-Okay. Let’s do that.”
“Great. Irene! Everything has been resolved, so feel free to unfold it!”
‘What a mad man!’
Cora’s expression worsened even more.
He thought that Bratt was the most normal person in the group, but he was wrong.
This man was the craziest.
He had scary eyes which only a mad man could show.
He rubbed his body as he felt a chill run down his spine.
Either way, Bratt looked at Irene, and Judith walked over to Bratt.
In addition, Brian Burns, Cora’s escorts, Lulu, and Kuvar all looked at Irene.
‘This is a little burdensome.’
But he didn’t want to avoid it.
Irene was also curious about how the skills of the man in his dreams changed.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Bratt and Judith.
Then, closed his eyes to concentrate.
And an amazing thing happened.
Wooong!
“…!”
He realized it the moment he gathered strength. It changed.
It was much easier to deploy the skill than before.
It wasn’t like this in the beginning.
During the final evaluation and the time with Ryan Gairn when he was in front of the Demon, facing the Sword Masters, or against the Bandit head, he had to concentrate a lot more.
‘But now…’
It felt like he had to use less than half the concentration.
Irene, who was ready, opened his eyes.
‘It feels so much more comfortable to control the power!’
This, too, was shocking.
The current Irene borrowed some of the man’s power and in the past it was impossible to maintain.
Maybe it was because he wasn’t used to it, he couldn’t hold it and always shot it out right away.
But not now, now he was able to maintain it.
It was still burdensome, but being able to have that thought itself meant Irene changed.
He definitely made some progress.
With a faint smile Irene mumbled.
The man was still his opponent, but after the meeting with Ignet, it seemed like his mind had cleared up.
‘And the thoughts end here.’
Phew, Irene exhaled and raised the sword up in a flash.
No hesitation. Concentration which wavered, returned.
The muscles and cells in his body, and the mysterious power of the aura inside him, everything was felt in detail.
With a good feeling, he slammed down his sword.
Immediately after that, a long sword mark appeared in the hall.
Shhh!
The sound wasn’t great.
As if one was slicing a tender steak, Irene’s slash gently hit the ground of the hall.
Maybe that was why the length of the trail wasn’t that long when compared to the past, but even now, it seemed like the earth tore.
But,
“…!”
“…!”
Bratt and Judith were the most touched.
Perfect concentration.
Without even a little wastage of power, the two couldn’t help but admire Irene’s swordsmanship which only went for the target.
Of course, the others were the most shocked.
“No way!”
“The floor made of stone… split!”
“How many meters is this… no, what is this…”
“Hehehe…”
Seeing the result of a single strike, and the people talking, Cora Murray burst out in laughter like a mad man.
Lulu and Kuvar were calm, but it felt weird to be calm in the midst of shocked people.
In such an atmosphere, Bratt drew his sword.
And slowly approached Irene and said.
“I can’t hold back. Have a match with me.”
“… weren’t we going to talk?”
“I did want that, but I changed my mind.”
“…”
“Is that a no?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Irene nodded.
While pouring out the slash, the aura stamina and mental strength was consumed a bit, but it wasn’t to the extent that he couldn’t move.
More than anything, Bratt Lloyd’s burning eyes were the problem.
Until those eyes were cooled nothing else made sense.
“What? Another match? Me too!”
“You already had one. This is my turn.”
“No, can we do a one-on-one-on-one? I want to!”
Judith intervened, Bratt grimaced at it, but didn’t say anything.
It was because they often fought that way as unofficial trainees of Krono, which was five and a half years ago.
‘It has been a while, really’
The corners of Bratt’s lips went up.
Irene smiled a little brighter than him, and Judith had a smirk on her face without hiding any emotions.
They spoke through swords until the night and dawn passed.
It was a time only for the 27th batch of Krono, so no one interrupted them.
Irene, Judith, and Bratt fought.
After a brief shower they entered Murray's manor to talk.
Fitting of a son of a wealthy family, the rooms were spacious and the furniture was luxurious.
“Ohh… this is good! Bratt, does your family have things this good too?”
“We spend money on what we need of course, but we don’t have this luxury.”
“Really? If I had a lot of money, I would keep spending it. I have a lot of money now, a lot!”
“What… gold?”
“Yes. The cat gave me a gift.”
Bratt’s eyes widened as he saw the three golden mice which Judith pulled out.
It was real gold and not fake. At that a huge amount of gold.
Gifting such a thing to someone on the first meeting was unique… no, this was weird.
“Come to think of it, I don’t see your teachers. Wouldn’t this be a nice time to talk?”
“As, it has been a long time since the three of us met, they said that they didn’t have to be with me…”
“Out of consideration for you? Such good people… no, good orc and cat.”
Bratt thought he made a mistake and quickly changed his words as he looked at Irene.
“Tell me now.”
“Yes! Say it! What the hell happened? I have so many questions to ask, not just one or two.”
“Haha…”
“Don’t laugh, say it! I’m so curious!”
“Okay.”
Irene nodded.
Perhaps it was because of Judith’s reaction, he, too, wanted to tell it
They wanted to know that nothing bad happened to him, and Irene told it in a way that the listener would understand.
He closed his eyes.
He had a lot to talk about, so he wanted to organize his thoughts.
Fortunately, it didn’t last long.
Just before Judith fell asleep, Irene opened his eyes and told it.
“So… to start, before entering Krono… I started having these weird dreams…”
Irene's story began a long time ago, when he first dreamt of the man.
He wasn’t hoping for any advice unlike when he confessed to Lulu or Ian.
He just wanted to tell them.
He wanted the two most precious people to know what happened.
Bratt and Judith were initially puzzled.
They wanted to ask about what happened five years ago, but Irene was speaking about something too far back.
However, such doubts disappeared.
The dream of man changed Irene.
His eyes were changed by the dream.
He spoke about how he lost himself because of it, and in order to find his lost self, he continued to struggle with deep sorrow and effort. And faced challenges.
The two of them were too immersed in Irene’s story, and Irene talked very calmly.
“… that’s how I got here.”
And the story ended.
There was silence for a while.
Irene, who brought up the story, and Bratt and Judith who heard it, were all silent and in their own thoughts.
Judith was the first to break it.
Looking at Irene she said.
“You worked hard.”
“…!”
Considering her usual personality, he was shocked by her friendly words.
Judith didn’t care. And continued to speak.
“Actually, I was a little annoyed at first. No, right. I thought that you would be a tough one because of your age but no, and then I saw your swordsmanship which was ridiculous. I was like… how could there be such a crazy guy? But when you know that it was because of the help of the man in the dreams and not your own, it seems a little bit like cheating. Well, that was what it was. After listening to others’ advice, you turned yourself away from the man who wielded his sword all day, all his life, can you even defeat such a person? Well, you could win at a later time, but he’s too tough of an opponent for a kid. Anyways.”
“…”
“However… now that I think about it, you’re trying to break away from the man. I think it’s nice that you’re working so hard against such a strong person without getting tired or turning your back on it… but this act of yours is weird.” (1)
Judith ended it with a small smile and got up.
And then tapped Irene’s shoulder.
She sat back down and opened her mouth.
“It must’ve been hard. To be fighting against the man who was alone and abandoned.”
Sincere feelings of acknowledgement.
Irene felt like someone had blessed him.
Editor’s Note -
(1) - To summarize, she was unsure of him at the beginning of their time together at Krono, then she was very impressed by him, and now that she knows the full story, she has fully acknowledged Irene, not just the Irene who was following the man’s will without a will of his own, but the Irene who went through all of that. However, she thinks it’s weird that he hasn’t fully abandoned the man and is still following the man by using his swordsmanship to an extent.
And "act” in “but this act of yours is weird” is referring to what she just said before that.
