“…”
Hearing those words, Emma Garcia stared at the man in front of her.
He was a truly strange person.
He has been that way since the first time he visited the mansion too.
Looking for the girl with whom he didn’t have any deep connection, he used the expression ‘friend’.
However, even more absurd was that after meeting her, they talked openly about him aiming for her master’s position as the champion.
‘I never know what he is thinking.’
Even Ilya Lindsay’s reaction was unpredictable.
Watching Irene set his foot into the arena and gradually ascend higher, she began to turn extremely stressed.
And when the championship match was scheduled, she even lost her sleep due to anxiety.
But after losing the match, she was…
‘Much, much better than I thought she would be.’
It was as if she had let go of something she had been holding on to for a long time.
It went without saying that it was all thanks to the young man in front of Emma.
“… Alright. I will relay that to her.”
“Thank you.”
Emma Garcia spoke bluntly while Irene still smiled.
And after that, he turned around seemingly without regrets, and she kept looking at his back.
…an old classmate of Krono Swordsmanship School.
What kind of relationship did this young man have with her lady?
Thinking about it, she shook her head.
That wasn’t important. There was a letter which she had to deliver now.
A message from Irene Pareira to her lady.
Emma Garcia glanced at the letter and then moved. And it was when she was about to step inside the mansion.
“Miss…?”
“Did someone come?”
“Ah…ah! Yes. That…”
“A letter? Is it for me?”
“… Yes. It is. Irene Pareira was here saying he wanted to meet you, but I sent him back as you ordered.”
“…”
“Shall I call him back?”
“No. I told you. I want to be alone for a while.”
With that said, Ilya quickly approached her.
And then pulled the letter into her hands.
Emma Garcia glanced at her.
Ilya looked at Emma and asked.
“What?”
“By any chance…”
“By any chance what?”
“… nothing.”
“What is it?”
“It is nothing. I must have misunderstood something.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Emma said with a blunt expression.
Ilya, who looked at her for a second, turned away and said.
“Don’t come into my room until I call for you.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Emma Garcia bowed her head.
However, unlike her usual calm self, she seemed distracted.
'No, by any chance, was my lady waiting for Irene Pareira to come for her?'
Ilya was a young lady who hardly moved to any place other than her room and the training hall.
Considering the situation where she was near the front door of the mansion, it was as if she was waiting to open the door.
However, that didn’t matter.
The face she saw just now.
Ilya had a cold expression as always, but…
‘She looked much softer than before.’
As she strolled through the yard, Emma Garcia looked at her hands.
The letter wasn’t too thick.
She wasn’t sure if that letter could change the heart of her young lady, but…
‘Can’t I look forward to it?’
She had been in this place for 10 months with her lady.
And for the first time, even Emma Garcia had a bright expression instead of a blunt cold one.
‘She will be fine, right?’
Irene Pareira, returning from Ilya Lindsay's mansion, thought as he entered his room.
Although much older than his Krono classmates, his writing skills weren’t that good.
It was natural. Because he never did anything other than eat and swing his sword. It was clear how poor his writing skills were.
So, he tried to put down sincere words when he wrote it.
What kind of thoughts he had, with what kind of heart he had acted, and what actions of his he didn’t want to be misunderstood, and what kind of future he wanted…
He wrote them all down without adding or taking off any matter.
As a result, the content was huge, however, he felt that everything needed to be written without concealing anything to convey his intentions to her.
‘I might see her in a few days.’
He wasn’t worried.
The expression on her face after the match.
It was stiff, but it was different from the Ilya before the match.
She surely smiled after the match and then tried to control her expression.
Irene slowly stretched out his hand.
Woong!
The sorcery great sword appeared.
Looking at the sword, which was now sleek and nice unlike before, Irene mumbled.
“Was it because of the dream?”
Maybe it was.
He didn't have time to think about it during the match with Ilya, but when everything was done, and he returned to John Drew's mansion, his thoughts about the dream began.
He was curious what the man was trying to say, even when he partied that night while talking and drinking, he just couldn’t shake off the thought ‘I want to go to bed early’ the whole time.
However…
‘The dream was the same as usual.’
Tch, Irene lost interest.
And without even changing his clothes, he lay flat on the bed.
For now, he was going to sleep.
He hadn’t taken a simple nap ever since he was 15.
And this nap wasn't an escape. Irene closed his eyes, seeking an answer.
It didn’t matter if he was going to see his past self.
Or maybe it could be something about sorcery too.
Maybe both.
It didn’t matter, he just wanted to know something.
Mumbling, he yearned for the man in his dreams.
As he closed his eyes, his feelings were so strong that he thought, 'is it possible to even fall asleep in this state?'
Well,
“…!”
As soon as he thought that, the scenery changed.
A familiar sky,
A familiar yard.
A familiar wall.
A place he had experienced exhaustingly in his dreams and in the world of sorcery.
And standing in the center… a man who was now old.
Seeing the man approach him, Irene ended up taking two steps back.
It was because the energy radiating from the man was too intense.
‘What is this?’
Irene was puzzled.
He remembered it. Just before going to fight Ilya Lindsay, the old man was definitely trying to say something to him.
But what was this change in attitude?
A terrifying energy from him as if he wanted to fight?
Swoosh!
“Ah!”
When Irene was in that thought, a great sword appeared in front of Irene’s eyes.
It wasn’t the sword he had been using before.
The old, crude sword was held in the old man’s hand, and the brilliantly shining gold sword was what was in front of him.
Irene looked at his sword and then the sword of the old man with a confused face and then nodded.
And then muttered understanding.
“A swordsman usually does this…”
Hold.
Irene, who picked up the sword, focused.
The process of aura creation, strengthening, hardening, blooming, concentration, and manifestation all happened in an instant as a golden aura erupted.
Much smaller than what Ilya showed him, but this was surely an Aura sword.
“Good.”
And let’s see.
After talking with swords for a while, he thought that the old man would open his mouth.
Thinking that, he took the battle stance, and the old man began to approach him slowly.
Wooong! A grey, white aura rose.
An aura size that couldn't even be compared with Irene!
Irene’s eyes widened as if they were going to tear.
Kwaang!
“Kuak!”
A great shock!
It was the feeling of his palm about to tear. No, it actually tore.
In spite of the calluses which made his hand hard, this hurt Irene, and blood dripped from his mouth. Irene felt his mind going blank.
The old man stepped back and took a firmer stance, and then moved forward.
And then used the sword again.
Kwaang!
Kwang!
Kwaaaannggg!
“Kuak…!”
Continued to attack.
There was no psychological warfare here.
No flashy movements.
Horizontal slash, vertical slash.
Honest attacks which were faithful to the basics, yet Irene was unable to block them.
‘It can’t go on like this!’
Heavy attack and another heavy attack.
In a battle between the swordsmen of great swords, one was being pushed back constantly.
And this meant that his place was being snatched away.
And if he didn’t have enough place to move around, then his range of movement and attack would be narrowed.
Deciding to break through by attacking rather than defending, Irene used all the techniques he had learned till then.
His eyes looked at the aura.
However, no matter what method he used, he couldn’t stop the man from getting close to him.
A wall of steel which was rushing in emotionlessly!
A wall thick enough that no one could stop it, a wall that could swallow everything around.
Deep in Irene’s heart, flames began to rise.
Wheik!
Come to think about it, so many situations have kindled sparks within his heart.
It was the same when he was chasing after Ilya to stop her.
And the same when he listened to Kuvar’s advice.
The same when he met Ignet and when he shared swords with Judith and Bratt, whom he hadn't met for years.
Numerous moments had ignited the flames in Irene’s heart.
However, there were two things that were the most important reasons for the flame to continue burning.
No, maybe both these reasons were from the same thought.
His heart for his family.
And his heart for Ilya.
Because both of them were the most important to him.
Wheik!
A fierce flame could be seen in Irene’s eyes.
Irene hadn’t clearly understood what was happening. The old man in front of him was pressuring him too much for that.
However, just by trying vaguely to understand his reasons for holding the sword, the flames in his heart that were divided, united and took the shape of a giant sword.
Irene finally raised his sword.
And the moment he plunged into the old man’s offensive streak with an unshakable heart;
Slash-!
The man’s sword, which seemed impossible to be broken by anything, was split in half.
“…”
“…”
Silence continued.
Both people looked at each other.
Although they had never talked to each other before, Irene felt some kind of affinity with the old man.
Perhaps because now, the cold anger in the old man couldn’t be felt?
However,
“I’m cheering for you.”
He never expected the old man to give him such warm words.
“…!”
Irene was confused.
Cheering? What the hell was he cheering for?
No, before that, what kind of relationship did he and the old man have for him to train Irene this long?
As he was thinking that, something amazing happened.
The old man, who seemed to have lived his whole life with a hard expression, showed a faint smile.
“Excuse me…”
Irene Pareira barely managed to open his mouth, and approached the old man.
However, the man smiled and turned away as he walked.
Despite the old man leisurely walking, Irene couldn't catch up to him, and the old man kept walking.
In the end, the mysterious old man had completely disappeared.
The young blonde man just stared at the place the old man had disappeared.
Woong….
And he didn’t notice.
That the broken sword of the old man, was now turning into fine particles and entering his own sword.
And after a while.
“…!”
Lulu, who was sitting right in front of Irene, was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes.
And Irene, who had ten cats sitting around him, raised his body up in shock.
“Ack!”
Meow!
Meow!
Eow!
Meowy!
Kwakwang!
Cats scattered all around him and moved around, throwing down the things in the room.
Lulu, who was between them, asked with worried eyes.
“Irene, are you alright?”
