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48: The Families Meet (3)
He beat Kevin Lester. He beat Martin Russell.
He also defeated Ryan Gairn, the pride of the six southern families.
None other than Irene Pareira did that.
The battles didn’t last long, but the impact they left was beyond the imagination.
Everyone, including the nobles, looked at Irene, who broke Ryan’s sword, with dark expressions.
Aaron Gairn, who accompanied his brother, was the same.
He couldn’t believe what happened.
‘What was that?’
In fact, when he saw Lester get beat up, he began to worry.
On the outside, he looked the same as ever, bashful, arrogant, but he knew it.
That something had changed.
Of course, he didn’t want to admit it, but he felt it when Martin Russell was fighting. He knew that things were going to turn out like this.
But…
‘Brother… lost?’
He didn’t get a closer look.
All he knew was that Irene slashed his sword from an unpredictable distance, yet Ryan’s sword was cut into two pieces.
If he was asked about a connection between the two events, he couldn’t give a definite answer, but he was feeling anxious for some reason.
“What the hell, was there even a match?”
“Hmm?”
“What is it? The sword…”
To make matters worse, the families’ heads appeared in the training ground.
Some of them who felt the strange air narrowed their eyes.
Viscount Phill Gairn, his father… was laughing.
Aaron Gairn, who knew the meaning behind the smile, shook his head as the Viscount asked Ryan.
“Did you battle?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“No, it looks like it’s over, the battle.”
“That is right.”
“Can your father know what happened?”
The mouth was smiling. The eyes were smiling too. But the eyes were shining coldly, and the cold gaze flew towards him.
Aaron Gairn shuddered, despite him not being the one questioned.
The other kids all waited for Ryan Gairn to speak out with nervous expressions.
After a while.
With a cheerful expression on his face, the eldest son of the Gairn family shrugged his shoulders and spoke.
“Well, as you can see, I lost.”
“Huh? You lost?”
“Yes. I lost. Irene’s swordsmanship was surprisingly powerful. He attacked from a whopping 5 meters away, and my sword got split like this.”
“…”
Momentary silence.
The lords frowned.
Neither a swordmaster nor a famous knight, it was Irene who attacked. It couldn’t be possible.
Right, it couldn’t be.
Viscount Phill Gairn, who finally understood his son’s intentions, burst into laughter.
“Haha, that could be! Irene’s sword must have been very good! After all, he went to Krono for a year. Naturally, you weren’t his opponent.”
“I’m sorry. But… I think it’s a blessing for us. I have no doubt that Irene’s amazing growth will be of great help in the subjugation.”
“Ahm, I know. Baron Pareira, I envy you!”
“…”
Gairn spoke.
The other families’ heads who saw that seemed to understand.
Ah right, Ryan Gairn was thinking of losing in the first place.
For that reason, he prepared his own sword and didn’t use a sword from the rack, and deliberately performed something which made his sword split based on the movements of Irene.
Those who finally had their doubts resolved nodded their heads and poured out various words.
Most of the content was in line with Phill’s intentions, but the two other families who didn’t get along with the Gairn’s had uncomfortable expressions.
They thought that the ridicule towards the Pareira family was too much, but they couldn’t do anything.
The expressions on the children who watched the battle from start to finish were strange.
“Then, let this loser walk away.”
“Right, you do look tired. Will that will be alright, Baron Pareira?”
“Yes.”
Ryan Gairn politely left, and Jack Stewart followed him.
Seeing the two of them leave, the people praised him.
They said that Ryan was very broad-minded to accept defeat for the sake of Irene’s spirit.
Of course, that wasn’t the truth. They just wanted to be in the good graces of the Gairn family, the most powerful family of the six southern families.
Not caring about the compliments, Ryan Gairn walked away. Without uttering another word.
With a completely different expression.
So did Jack Stewart, who followed. The fact that his master’s sword was broken.
Even if he was someone whose swordsmanship was lower than the lord’s, it was still a fact that Ryan had cherished that sword.
“Sir Jack Stewart.”
“Yes, young lord.”
“When I go back to the family… get some dummies ready. Three… four, no five.”
“I will.”
Jack Stewart lowered his head without changing his expression. But his thoughts were different.
The son’s way of dealing with his anger was even worse than his father’s, which resulted in the lives of five innocent novices being ruined.
Of course, his intentions didn’t matter.
In the quiet atmosphere, the two of them quickly returned to their rooms.
The meeting was over.
A detailed schedule was drawn up, including the procurement of supplies and the formation of troops.
In the next three weeks, the six families would travel across the territory to take down monsters, and the Pareira family would also fight valiantly as a member.
Irene Pareira too.
However, right after the other families left, Baron Pareira’s thoughts were different.
“It’s okay not to participate.”
“…”
“The subjugation is important, but becoming an official trainee of Krono is more important. Wouldn’t it be better to train than to waste your time out there?”
A good reason to escape.
But the entire family knew. The words that Harun Pareira just said… they were to protect his son from the other nobles.
It was understandable.
Irene Pareira had grown.
He was no longer the boy who trembled after swinging a wooden sword ten times.
He now possessed excellent physical abilities, which surprised his own family, and he acquired swordsmanship skills that deserved recognition, except for that battle with Ryan.
It was truly a huge step.
However, if he had to ask his son to handle the malice of the other families, Harun Pareira couldn’t do that.
He could never do that.
No matter how strong his child got, he would always stay as a young and immature son in his father’s eyes.
Irene had just gotten over the pain of 10 years, and that was why he couldn’t risk hurting him.
Putting his son as a member of the subjugation was only making Baron Pareira more anxious.
This wasn’t like dropping a lion cub off a cliff, but this was throwing it into chaos.
Well.
“I will participate.”
The boy was dissatisfied.
“I want to participate in the subjugation war.”
Irene Pareira disobeyed his father.
Baron Pareira’s eyes twitched. Amel and Kirill were both wide-eyed as they looked at Irene.
And felt.
The hot flames from Irene’s eyes.
‘I will try for three weeks. I will shorten the gap. So that my father doesn’t have to worry, so you can overcome all of your worries… I’ll do my best. I will become a reliable son. If…’
“…”
“If you’re not sure about my performance at that time, I will give up.”
After saying those words, Irene lowered his head and left the room.
No one in the family could hold him back.
They closed their eyes as they felt an unknown emotion run over them. Kirill wept.
As she spoke.
“Will it be fine?”
“Of course, it will be fine, Kirill. Your brother will be fine.”
Looking at her daughter, who buried her face in her hands, Amel said.
At her mother’s soft and warm tone, the tears of Kirill grew thicker.
Amel was the same. She too was wiping off the tears from the corners of her eyes, as she said.
“He’s doing his best. We need to believe in him. Kirill, you will trust him too, right?”
“Yes, yes…”
Both the mother and daughter were sniffling.
Harun Pareira listened to them with his eyes closed. He was flooding with emotions which were swirling deep inside him, emotions he couldn’t express.
Gratitude that he didn’t have to worry, Baron Pareira wished for his son’s future to be full of blessings.
At that time.
A few drops of tears were falling from Irene Pareira’s eyes which looked at the training grounds.
He didn’t bother wiping them off.
He quickly picked up the wooden sword he always used and swung it.
His movements and posture were all messed up. A random slash that didn’t contain any of the teachings from the Krono Swordsmanship School.
However, as the emotions flowed in his heart, his movements were so deep that they couldn’t be compared to before.
‘No more!’
Woong!
‘No more!’
Woong!
‘I won’t hand over my burdens to my family to bear. I won’t let them be ridiculed for my sake. My sake. All for my sake, the image of my family who endured sorrow and suppressed their anger…’
Woong!
‘I won’t!’
A strong heart and strong determination.
What was needed to achieve that?
Irene already knew the answer. His own sword.
Didn’t Ian, one of the best swordsmen on the continent, say that? In order to constantly grow, you have to build a mind and thoughts of your own. A sword that belongs to you.
He just realized what it meant.
After swinging the sword a hundred times, he nodded and turned.
There was Lulu, who had been seated.
And spoke.
“My image which I showed you in the past… you said that what I was doing to find my own sword wasn’t really effort. Because my heart wasn’t in it.”
“…”
“What do you think now? What I am doing right now… is it simply in vain? Or maybe not….”
“This is effort.”
Lulu nodded with a serious look.
The cat’s expression couldn’t be understood, but the air around it and her eyes made the difference.
Taking a short breath, Irene spoke.
“Can my current self learn sorcery?”
“You can.”
“I’m not talking about using it with the sword of the man in the dreams. I’m talking about my own sword.”
“I know.”
“Then, can you teach me?”
“Gladly. But today… it would be better for you to calm down. I don’t know what happened… but it’s better to start from tomorrow.”
“… okay.”
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The conversation was over. Irene Pareira turned around.
The appearance of the boy wielding the sword was different from before. It was hot, as if everything was being engulfed in flames.
His sword was for his family.
His sword was for his family.
He finally found his path, and Lulu, the cat sorcerer, watched him.