Shatien was surprised by the murderous sword strike that lunged in after splitting his breathing.
He knew well that the opponent's skill was no ordinary feat, but he did not expect it to be at this level.
-Kakakakang!
-Kang!
-Swaaaaaak!
-Flash!
The start of the battle was the worst, as he faced the first attack with even his breathing stolen away.
“You dodge quite well, twisting here and there like a loach.”
The intruder, who occupied an advantageous position, muttered mockingly and continued to press Shatien.
Unlike a cowardly person who would only perform a surprise attack, those sword strikes were very strong and sharp.
An ordinary knight would have collapsed after being hit by the sword without enduring many times.
However, Shatien was not a common knight.
-Ziiiiiiiiing.
He did not rely solely on swordsmanship either.
“Struggling in that manner will not change the end. Let us see you try more fiercely and— Hup?!”
A sensation led by the mystery of his bloodline.
Shatien's body pierced through the thread-like gap shown during that fleeting moment.
It was a physical attack that split into the middle of the sword strikes.
-Clatter.
The intruder was bounced back by the unintended attack.
After rolling on the floor once, the intruder brushed off his body as if it were absurd and immediately took a stance.
“That was an attack devoid of any dignity. But it was a quite good attempt. If your breathing was stolen, you should make an effort to regain it somehow.”
“Hmph! I have no desire to hear such stories from an assassin!”
Snorting, Shatien immediately held his sword.
Judging by the way the opponent acted, it seemed he failed to deal a valid impact, but that was fine.
The previous attack was for the sake of regaining his breathing, just as that intruder said.
And if he only regained that.
-Krrrrng.
It was equivalent to saying he could properly show his own power once again.
-Flash!
Before anyone knew it, Shatien's sword, which entered the darkness of the room, flashed.
-Kakakang!
-Kang! Kang!
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
The sword embroidered the space, and red flowers bloomed in the darkness.
The essence of the swordsmanship Shatien had learned and built up while fighting numerous knights in the past was unfolded.
“Ho!! It is amazing. Good. Very good! Uhahahaha.”
The intruder shouted as if he were enjoying himself at the sword momentum that surged like a wave.
One might have been distracted by the sword strikes that flew in while endlessly aiming for gaps, but it seemed it rather piqued the intruder's interest.
The intruder blocked Shatien's attacks without hesitation and was even making fierce counterattacks at times.
‘This is not easy.’
It was the thought that rose in Shatien's head the more they exchanged blows.
‘Where did such a skilled person….’
Even though he was raising the mystery of his bloodline, the opponent also seemed to read the space just like him.
The sense of space guided by the mystery was constantly changing in real time, and as they exchanged sword strikes, it was now being mixed up dizzily, making prediction difficult.
And that meant.
‘A person who has reached a high realm?!’
A person who reached a high realm. One who puts will into the sword. Why did a master capable of establishing a school with a single sword move merely for the sake of assassination?
They were not even an Emperor or a great noble.
In a way, they were at the level of a small fry at the very bottom of the aristocratic society.
‘This is crazy.’
Shatien could not believe it, but the current situation was strictly reality.
‘Phew, then there would be only one answer.’
He needed to raise the mystery of his bloodline further.
He was worried about the burden that would be placed on his body, but was it not a time when he could not afford to be choosy.
-Clang!
Having finished his judgment, Shatien swung his sword widely and leaped back to fix his stance.
-Ziiiiiiiiing.
Simultaneously with raising the mystery of his bloodline, he brought out the best swordsmanship he could perform.
-Ssssss.
The swordsmanship he learned from his master in the past.
“Have you finally felt like fighting properly? Hehe.”
The intruder also laughed heartily and fixed his stance.
After a confrontation took place for a few seconds in a heavy silence, sword strikes were swung toward each other like lightning.
-Flash!
Shatien delivered a lightning-like thrust.
-Kakang!
The intruder blocked the path as if he had expected it and struck the flat of Shatien's sword.
Along with the flickering sparks, their swords became entangled.
-Kagagagagang.
Guard and guard were intertwined.
-Grit.
In the meantime, the entangled swords held strength and aimed sharply at the opponent to inflict a fatal wound while struggling back and forth.
However, this was advantageous to Shatien.
It was because there was a lethal strike he had prepared in order to land a blow on his master somehow in the past.
‘You bastard! Consider it an honor.’
Shatien growled inwardly and used it immediately.
-Kiririk.
He pretended to put intense strength into the entangled swords as if he were about to attack.
“!”
He immediately pulled the sword hilt back and moved the center of his body to the rear.
The intruder's posture collapsed in an instant, and at that moment, Shatien's right hand was fired toward the face of the collapsing intruder.
-Whack!
However,
‘It was…. Shallow!’
Fortunately, the intruder hurriedly tilted his head back and let the attack slip past.
It was an amazing reflex.
But there was no time to stand dazed.
Shatien grabbed the body of the intruder who had entered an interval where even a sword could no longer be swung.
He intended to see the end with grappling rather than a stage of swordsmanship.
Since the opponent's posture was already collapsed, he stood in a very advantageous position.
But….
“Huh…?”
Discovering the face of the intruder whose mask was removed by the previous attack, Shatien paused for a moment.
It was because it was such a familiar face.
“Kyaaaa! Hurry!”
In the meantime, the shrill voice of Branch Manager Marhen, who had brought reinforcements before anyone knew it, echoed out.
“Hurry! Hurry! Move quickly. Sir Shatien is in danger…. Eh?!”
Everyone paused for a moment upon discovering the face of the intruder in the room.
The assassin on the other side was….
“Elder…?”
“Master…?”
Yes.
It was his master.
“Uhahahaha. To think I would be caught up to already. The years are cruel. Cruel indeed! Ahem. Has everyone been well? My disciple. Your skill has improved a lot.”
“…….”
“…….”
* * *
“Hahahaha. Why are you still so sulky.”
“Sulky, you say. Anyone would be surprised if they suffered such a surprise attack. My goodness. No matter how much you were curious about your disciple's growth, should you test me in that manner?”
“Tsk tsk. Only then would you do your best and use your strength, would you not.”
“What if you were hurt!”
Joachim shrugged his shoulders at the words of his angry disciple.
“And, did you make me get hurt?”
“…….”
“Stop teasing him. Elder. Still, this was a bit too much. Here. Please have some honey water.”
“Ahem. Thank you.”
Perhaps feeling slightly embarrassed then, Joachim downed the honey water with a huff along with a cough.
Indeed, even Joachim thought it was a bit uncalled for.
Attacking while disguised as an assassin to find out his disciple's skill.
If this matter were known to the world, it was something for which he would be pointed at as a crazy knight.
“Phew. What can I say in the end. You’re normally like this”
“This bastard. You have become quite arrogant now that your skill has improved a bit.”
“Yes. Yes. We’ll just say this is me having turned arrogant.”
“Still sulking huh. Ugh…. How unmanly.”
Watching his grumbling disciple, Joachim flicked his tongue.
If one reached that realm, there should be an unmanly, hearty taste.
In the meantime, Branch Manager Marhen brought some snacks before anyone knew it.
“Sigh. Stop saying such things and come over here. I am starving to death because I could not eat properly thanks to you. Elder.”
“Seeing you take care of him as your man already makes me feel sorrowful.”
“No! No! What are you saying.”
“What? Is it still not so?”
“What do you mean still!”
“Ahem. If you say such things, people will misunderstand. Master.”
“Haigo…. You pitiful things. In my time— sigh. No. What can I say to the two of you.”
Joachim flicked his tongue and then turned his gaze to the snacks Marhen brought.
It was fairly well-arranged, so it was perfect for filling his stomach.
“By the way, where on earth have you been before coming here? Elder.”
“Where have I been? I went to the eastern region of the Empire. That was a great place, with everything from large monsters to strong warriors who use distant wild power.”
“…….”
This was the western part of the Empire.
In terms of the continent, it was the central region.
But he went to that distant eastern border of the Empire?
His wanderlust was severe at this level.
However, Branch Manager Marhen seemed to have a slightly different thought from Shatien.
“Woah…. A large monster?”
“Yes. I even fought with a bull-headed monster that was two or three times taller than a person.”
“Hmm… is that not a Minotaur? That race of giants with bull heads from legends.”
“Ahhh. Right. That is how they spoke of them. Compared to their body size and the dragon-like power they possess, they lacked wisdom. They were merely monsters that were only strong in power.”
“My goodness.”
Branch Manager Marhen was rather listening to Joachim's words with her eyes sparkling in surprise.
Indeed, it was understandable.
How interesting it must be.
Was the story of striking down a Minotaur, a bull-headed monster much larger than a human, not a story that would only appear in myths?
He even heard later that he had become close brothers with Centaur tribes that would only appear in the legends of old folk tales at the border of the eastern region of the Empire, so that said it all.
Then, thinking of something, Shatien asked.
“Wait, what business did you have to go all the way there? You would not have gone around merely to hunt monsters.”
“While obtaining information in the Elector regions of the east, there was a rumor that there was a master with incredible swordsmanship.”
“And?”
“His skill was not very good. Tsk. Looking at it, it was a false rumor to prevent attacks coming from those tribes.”
“Dear me….”
Occasionally, there were such people.
Groups that wished to protect themselves with false reputations.
But that was….
“When I broke through their defense network and drew my sword before the bastard, he began to wet himself. Tsk. My interest cooled down so much. It was equivalent to making a wasted trip for that long distance.”
In this manner, one would occasionally suffer an unfortunate raid from those crazy for honor.
“Haha….”
Shatien let out an inward sigh along with an awkward laugh.
He knew his master was crazy for the sword, but he did not know it was to that extent.
How surprised those tribes must have been?
The karma of a master ultimately returns to the disciple, and Shatien's vision grew distant for a moment.
Then Joachim spoke abruptly as if he had suddenly remembered.
“Ah! But I saw something a bit strange. In the lands of the eastern Electors.”
“What kind of… strange thing do you mean?”
“Is the relationship between the Emperor and the eastern Electors not bad?”
“Yes. That is so.”
In the past, there was a dispute between the eastern Electors and the Emperor's family regarding succession rights.
After that, they were in a quite hostile atmosphere toward each other….
“Strangely, the Emperor's envoy came to the land of the eastern Electors.”
“Huh??”
“I don't know what kind of conversation they had, but seeing the face of the returning envoy and the good atmosphere of the city, it did not seem like a bad result.”
It was quite important and serious information.
As far as Shatien knew, the Emperor and the eastern Electors had been enemies throughout the great war.
But the Emperor joins hands with the eastern Electors because of his own disadvantage?
‘The future… has changed quite significantly.’
It was a serious and grave matter.
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