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Chapter 135
Meeting the Sword Saint ②
Translated by AmaLynne
「So, Lise-sama. When will you report to Sword Saint-sama?」
Lise was a little troubled by Sam’s question.
「Right. I know he’s not a busy person, but I would like to write to him. I will be in touch with you.」
「I understand. Please do.」
Sam is slightly relieved that it is not difficult to greet Sword Saint right away.
He had to prepare a gift for him and had to think about what to say.
This was Sam, a former Japanese.
「Hey, Lise. What kind of person is a Sword Saint?」
Sam responds to Hualian’s question.
「I don’t know much about him either. I heard that he is the best swordsman in the kingdom.」
「Well――let’s talk a little bit about the Sword Saint.」
The three of them sit on the ground, glasses in hand, as the conversation begins.
It’s bad manners, but that’s okay because there is no one here to blame them.
「Sword Saint-sama name is Kurando Amemiya. It is said that he was a swordsman from the island nation of Land of the Rising Sun who came to the continent with only one sword.」
「Many of the swordsmen in that country are very strong.」
「There is such a country. I’d like to go there.」
Sam recalls the time when he and Ur crossed over to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Every one of the swordsmen, called Samurai, was strong.
Even if you wanted to use magic, they would not let you chant, and even if you managed to unleash magic, they would cut it down.
It was truly a magical land full of wizard-killers.
「It is said that while traveling across the continent with a sword, Kurando-sama met the then prince, His Majesty Clyde, on the battlefield, and they hit it off and became friends.」
At that time, the Kingdom of Skye was also experiencing not a few wars and civil wars, and King Clyde was also standing on the front lines.
At that time, Kurando, who had been hired as a mercenary, saved his life, became his friend, and enthusiastically invited him to become a knight of the kingdom.
Kurando wanted a place to settle down and recognized Clyde as a master to serve, so he accepted the invitation and came to live in the Kingdom of Skye.
「The former king recognized Kurando-sama’s achievements in slaying enemy soldiers like a demigod on the battlefield. After joining the Order of the Knights, he left behind numerous achievements, for which he was praised and given the title of Count and the title of『Sword Saint』.」
He then opened the Amamiya-style Kenjutsu Dojo.
In the Kingdom of Skye, the Kingdom style of swordsmanship is the mainstream, and there are no dojos for learning it.
Many swordsmen aspire to become knights, and it is customary for them to learn at a school or from a retired knight.
It was unusual for Kurando to open an exotic dojo for swordsmanship.
Of course, some opposed it.
However, the king unanimously agreed, and his dojo was opened.
For a time, the attraction of learning swordsmanship from a swordsman who held the title of『Sword Saint』and was a vice-commander of a knight was so great that many young people who wanted to become knights became his students.
As time passed, the number of knights using Amamiya-style swordsmanship increased, although not by many.
However, some people still despise it as barbaric swordsmanship because of its harsh training in actual combat style, which is different from the Kingdom’s swordsmanship, and the fact that one is thoroughly trained only to kill one’s opponent.
Although many of them lose their roots in training, those who have acquired a certain level of skill are, without exception, considered to be among the strongest.
Lise, too, is a strong fencer who learned Amamiya-style swordsmanship and reached the rank of master.
Sam, who has been training with her every day, knows her ability better than anyone else.
It is always a sight to see Sam, who uses body enhancement magic, being beaten by Lise, who does not use magic, using only swordsmanship.
He knows how good the Amamiya style of swordsmanship is.
「Kurando-sama has two daughters. One is Mizuki-sama, who is an excellent swordsman, and the other is Kotomi-sama, who is frail.」
「And his wife?」
「She became ill after Kotomi-sama’s birth and passed away.」
「Is that so?」
「I don’t know how many students there are now, but when I was a student of swordsmanship, there were about thirty.」
「Surprisingly few.」
「There are a lot of disciplines that can’t keep up. I don’t know how many times I wanted to give up.」
The reason why Lise’s body is trembling slightly as she looks into the distance as if recalling the past may be because she is remembering the harsh training she went through.
「Lise said she was a teacher. How long have you been?」
「I’m not much of a teacher, you know. Compared to Mizuki-sama, I am much inferior.」
Sam couldn’t decide whether Lise was being modest or whether the daughter of a Sword Saint was more skilled than he had ever imagined.
「I’ve never taught anyone before. Sam is the first.」
「Hmm? Sword Saint is teaching everyone?」
「He also teaches me, but it is Mizuki-sama who teaches me in detail. The rest are the more experienced disciples.」
「That’s strange. I’ve only heard stories, but it is said that the girl named Mizuki is comparable to Sword Saint. Why isn’t she the heir?」
「Hanae is right. But for some reason, she is not a candidate for successor. Even if the three successor candidates were all together, there’s no way they could beat Mizuki-sama.」
「So why?」
「There must be some circumstances that I don’t understand. I don’t know what’s going on in the dojo these days. Sometimes Sword Saint-sama and Mizuki-sama send me letters, but they don’t mention anything about the succession problem.」
Whether it is an aristocrat or a sword dojo, the succession problem seems to be difficult.
(Sword reminds me, I wonder how Manion is doing. I can’t even remember his face now, but that’s OK. Oh, that’s right, I didn’t send a letter to Daphne and the others!)
As he heard the story about the sword, he remembered for a moment his brother, who was called a genius with the sword, but he quickly let it sink into the depths of his memory.
More than that, he was flustered when he remembered that he was late in reporting the latest news to Daphne and the others who had taken care of him.
(I’ll write to them later.)
「Why doesn’t Lise go to the dojo?」
「I don’t like to say this in front of Sam, but one of the candidates for Sword Saint-sama’s successor is my ex-husband. I know he doesn’t visit the dojo very often, but I didn’t want to see him willingly.」
「I’m sorry…」
「Don’t be sorry. It’s in the past. I have Sam now.」
「Yes.」
Sam’s heart stirred as she heard her ex-husband talk.
He had heard what his ex-husband and his family had done to Lise before, and he had not forgotten.
But she had never thought that her ex-husband was a candidate to become the successor to the Sword Saint.
(Even if he was in a position to learn the sword and teach it to someone else, how could he treat Lise-sama like that? I don’t know if I would be able to suppress my emotions if we met face to face. I can only hope we don’t meet, but if we do――)
「Sam?」
「Uh, yes, what is it?」
「I’m sorry. You didn’t want to hear about my ex-husband. If you don’t like it, I’ll just say hello to Sword Saint-sama myself.」
「I don’t care about it. So please don’t worry about Lise-sama. Lise-sama has me. I will make you happy. So let’s quickly forget the past that doesn’t matter.」
「――Sam. Thank you.」
Lise moves to Sam’s side and hugs her.
As she hugs him gently, Sam realizes that she is still suffering because of her ex-husband.
Sam took a deep breath, trying not to let my anger show.
「Sam, well said.」
His eyes met Hanae, who nodded with a thumbs up.
The first time he saw her, he was so excited that he had to take a deep breath.
(――I still don’t know what I would do if I met Lise-sama’s ex-husband.)
With this in mind, Sam hoped for Lise’s sake that nothing would happen to her.