Ch.239EP.54 – The Knight Hate Messy Affairs (2)

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump-!

“…I guess I don’t need to worry about making a living even if I’m not a knight?”

After hammering nails with his fist, or rather his palm, Ihan found they went in remarkably smoothly.

Of course, hammering with fists was always possible, but doing it barehanded without using aura sometimes resulted in skin irritation or minor injuries.

But now, without using any techniques and simply driving nails with his bare hands, not only were his hands unharmed, but he had completed a sturdy chair.

Thud.

“Why is this so sturdy when I just threw it together?”

The handmade chair, crafted by splitting and shaping wood with just his bare hands without any tools, was crude but solid.

Of course, there were countless parts that needed refinement, but the fact that this was possible with bare hands was already remarkable.

Why would anyone need a hammer and saw for woodworking?

The fist is the hammer, and the edge of the hand is the saw! …That seemed to be what he was proudly demonstrating.

“Now I think I understand what it means to master mental energy.”

“…Do Aura Users always have to appear without warning to feel satisfied?”

“Hoho, as one gets older, mischievous pranks become more enjoyable.”

Felinshia de Ophen, who had somehow appeared behind him, sat down on the chair he had made with a playful smile.

“Quite decent.”

Seemingly pleased with the chair, she nodded a few times and looked at Ihan’s upper body.

“So, answer me. Do you understand what it means to handle mental energy?”

“…Honestly, I still don’t quite grasp it.”

“How candid.”

“But still…”

Crack!

“I think I’m starting to understand why you told me to train with my mind rather than my body.”

Ihan’s hand edge split a thick log in half.

Just like an axe.

* * *

At first, he struggled a lot.

He couldn’t quite grasp what it meant to train with his mind.

But while he struggled, he didn’t find it complicated.

– I’ll just try it and see what happens.

He wasn’t the type to overthink things.

He wasn’t a theorist either, but someone who learned through physical experience.

So instead of interpreting Felinshia’s words in a complicated way, Ihan followed them literally.

Train with your mind, with imagery?

So that’s what he did.

Mental image training.

He imagined high-intensity exercises like squatting with barbells in his mind.

But when he imagined it…

– Ah, this isn’t quite right?

He dug deeper to create more detailed images.

Felinshia hadn’t specifically asked for details, but Ihan focused on them because he couldn’t compromise on thoroughness.

His personality didn’t allow him to do anything halfheartedly.

His life motto was to give his best effort even when doing something seemingly pointless.

So he kept digging into the details like a meticulous designer, focusing on aspects like:

The posture and muscle tremors during exercise.

How heavy the weights he lifted actually felt.

How much he sweated and strained during workouts.

Calculating recovery time after intense training.

By considering various factors, Ihan succeeded in creating images that were “close to reality,” sometimes spending entire days delving into details and training.

…He did feel some self-loathing afterward.

Perhaps similar to the emptiness one feels after an imaginary romance?

However, the stark difference between imaginary romance and mental image training was:

– Wait, when did I sweat this much?

…that it affected reality.

Finding his body soaked with sweat similar to what he had imagined in his mental training, Ihan was initially puzzled and thought it might be coincidence.

Drip, drip…

– …It’s happening again.

When coincidence repeats twice, it’s no longer coincidence.

After closing his eyes for mental training and opening them to find himself drenched in sweat repeatedly, Ihan realized this training was effective. After various attempts, he discovered that extreme detail and concentration were crucial for mental image training.

If there was even a slight lack of detail or concentration, he wouldn’t sweat at all and would only feel the self-loathing of having wasted his time.

…Eventually, Ihan worked to incorporate mental training into his daily life.

At first, he tried to do it while eating or walking. Though it was a challenging process, now Ihan could easily visualize basic sword techniques or throwing jabs while taking a casual stroll.

…Of course, during this process, he often tripped or rolled down hills, but fortunately, no one saw him-

– Puhaha! What a fool, you’re not even Nol!

– I’ve heard that getting hit on the back of the head can cause memory loss.

– Huh? Why am I here?

– ……

– …Ahem.

– Hmm.

There was one instructor who saw, but Ihan trusted he wouldn’t dare speak of it anywhere.

If he did, Ihan would experiment to see if induced amnesia was possible.

After nine days of such trial and error, Ihan’s body now…

“-The muscle mass has definitely decreased, but it feels like unnecessary muscles have been shed.”

After the fairy reconstructed his body, Ihan had considered it perfect.

His bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons were all like new, forming a perfect golden balance.

But through mental image training, Ihan realized his still-lacking body could progress toward even greater perfection.

“My bones have strengthened, but my senses have also developed. Not to the point of being beyond my control, but I can handle them more precisely according to my will.”

This was a fascinating phenomenon, and Felinshia nodded as if it were only natural.

“That’s the result of training martial arts with mental energy. Your willpower has sculpted your body to match the ideal you imagined.”

“…Didn’t you say you’d forgotten all the theoretical aspects?”

“Bits and pieces are coming back through our conversations.”

“……”

“Really, I mean it…”

“…I didn’t say anything.”

Ihan said he wouldn’t interrogate her further and asked her to explain in detail what was happening to his body, and Felinshia:

“You seem to be treating me too casually…”

Grumbled but continued her explanation.

…Come to think of it, she’s convenient because she grants requests despite her grumbling.

“Ahem, as you know, the human body has limits to how much it can be trained. Even those born with heavenly blessings will eventually reach their growth limit. But if you master willpower, the story changes.”

Whoosh!

She lightly swung the wooden sword she was holding.

“-This becomes possible.”

What that casual swing created was…

Slash-!

Something that could not be dismissed as mere play.

“Did you see? This is the result of training the sword with mental energy.”

“……”

Ihan blinked as he witnessed what she had cut.

Well…

‘Can a wooden sword actually split clouds in half?’

…He had jokingly called her a yokai before, but now he realized “great yokai” would be the more accurate description.

*

*

*

“-Willpower is like a guide for the journey of transcendence. That’s what Mother used to say often.”

Iliad handed him tea.

After tasting the honey Ihan had given him, he insisted with wide eyes that “such precious things should be enjoyed as tea!” and somehow they ended up having tea time together.

As Ihan was admiring the mysterious taste of the intense floral aroma spreading in his mouth, confirming Iliad’s accuracy, Iliad brought up [willpower].

“Pardon?”

“Haha, Mother isn’t very good at explaining things theoretically. So I’m just reciting what I heard long ago.”

“I’m grateful, but… why now?”

Expressing slight dissatisfaction—if you were going to tell me, why not nine days ago?—Iliad simply maintained his bright expression.

“Isn’t it better to discover and experience things yourself than to receive vague explanations? I hear from Arno that’s advice Lord Ihan often gives to his students?”

“…You’ve left me with nothing to say.”

‘One experience is worth a hundred explanations’—that was the teaching he often gave his disciples, and Ihan had to accept it, unable to refute.

Indeed, after experiencing the changes in his body for nine days, the explanations resonated more deeply.

“Let me add to Mother’s explanation: willpower is the path to breaking human limitations. For example, let’s take ‘muscles.'”

“Muscles?”

“Yes, as you know, the human body has many unreasonable aspects. Skip exercise for just one day, and muscles decrease, skin sags.”

“That’s certainly true.”

Ihan knew this well.

Two years ago, after overexerting himself to eliminate a somewhat powerful spellcaster and a slave trading group at once, Ihan suffered severe injuries and had to stop exercising for over a week.

He felt utterly dejected seeing his muscles decrease and fat start to accumulate after just one week of rest.

“…Muscles don’t give good returns on effort, do they?”

“Yes, that’s right. But when you can freely handle willpower, the story changes.”

“……”

“Mother said it, didn’t she? The more you train with will, the closer you get to your ‘ideal.’ That’s the first step to breaking human limitations.”

“…So muscles won’t decrease anymore, is that it?”

“If that’s the mental image you desire, then yes.”

“Then what is the Sword Master’s mental image? Oh, is this a family secret?”

“Haha, not particularly. Would there be anyone who could imitate or stop her even if they knew?”

Laughing heartily as if he’d heard something amusing, Iliad revealed without hesitation what the Sword Master’s ‘ideal’ was.

“Mother wanted to wield ‘invincible swordsmanship.’ So she swung her sword every day throughout her life, whether in imagination or dreams. Every single day—without exception.”

“…Every day?”

“Yes, from the age of five when she first held a sword, without missing a single day. So that’s about 85 years of living that way.”

“……”

…Ihan didn’t foolishly ask if such a thing was possible.

Though it seemed insane, bordering on madness, and seemingly impossible, if it was someone who had reached Aura User status…

‘It makes perfect sense.’

One shouldn’t try to understand them from an ordinary person’s perspective.

No, even a madman couldn’t understand Aura Users.

They simply:

‘Do it because they can.’

They’re not crazy people, just humans doing what they’re capable of.

But because they do things impossible for others, they’re called ‘superhumans.’

“Based on such an ideal, Mother always imagined the strongest swordsmanship she could perform. Of course, this ideal swordsmanship wasn’t completed at once. She survived countless dangerous situations including battlefields, gradually refining her swordsmanship, and when her ideal swordsmanship was about 50% complete after decades… people began calling her the ‘Sword Master,’ I’ve heard.”

“…That’s amazing.”

It was a story that inspired respect just from hearing it.

She had merely trained what she considered ideal swordsmanship, yet at some point, she reached the ‘pinnacle.’

These Aura Users truly have incredible talent…

“-She is amazing indeed. Someone once called ‘the least talented swordswoman,’ ‘the shame of House Ophen,’ ‘the incompetent one,’ became such a figure.”

“…?”

“Oh, is this your first time hearing this? It’s quite a famous story in the kingdom…”

Slide.

Iliad showed him a children’s book.

[The Foolish Lady Knight] was the title, which seemed somewhat mocking, but the storybook didn’t end with just one volume.

“I personally find the second volume, [The Lady Knight of Defeat], and the third, [The Lady Knight of Victory], more interesting. The fourth, [The Lady Knight’s Glory], and the fifth, [The Lady Knight’s Love], were honestly a bit embarrassing. Depicting my parents’ romance was somewhat awkward…”

“……”

“Ah, by the way, there are ten volumes in total. If you’re curious, I can give you all of them.”

“…I think I see the name ‘Iliad’ listed as the author. Am I mistaken?”

“No, you saw correctly.”

“…A person with the same name?”

“No, haha!”

“……”

…It was the next day, through his disciples, that Ihan learned Iliad de Ophen was one of the ten children’s book authors chosen by the continent, and his [Lady Knight Series] was a bestseller that had sold over 100 million copies across the southern, western, eastern, and central continents.