chapter 13

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Despite his gentle looks, he was terribly strict. If I was ever asked what kind of person my mentor was, I would reply like that.

As usual, my mentor pointed his sword at me and told me to come kill him.

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“You were too arrogant. That’s the cause of your defeat. A sword wielder shouldn’t beg for their life!”

Swordsman is another word for killer. Because of that, we must always be prepared for our lives to be taken. We must accept it with composure.

Is this a difference in values?

If I had to die, I wanted to do so in a cool way. I wanted to laugh as I went, like my mentor did. I would never think of putting up such a shameful act to survive. Not in the past, not now.

Now that I wielded my sword for the sake of others, I could go with a smile. I somehow felt it. Thus I couldn’t understand her.

“Farewell.”

I give her my last greeting in a monotone and swing down my “Spada”.

“Prideless swordsman.”

The sword drew an arc through her body.