Ch.240EP.54 – The Knight Hate Messy Affairs (3)

In his past life, Ihan was once a literary youth who dreamed of becoming a scholar of literature.

Unfortunately, he had to quickly abandon his dream due to poverty, abusive teachers worse than filth who crushed dreams, and surrounding adults…

Still, Ihan had a background of reading literature diligently as an aspiring literary scholar, and the romance of his youth (or more precisely, his past life) when he dreamed remained in his heart.

Perhaps that’s why.

The fairy tale, which he read without much expectation given that it was written by the head of a noble family, was…

“This person is truly an amazing writer?”

Surprisingly, no, to the point of being unable to contain his admiration, it was an exceptionally outstanding “masterpiece.”

Not at all inferior to famous works from his past world-!

The content generally felt similar to a narrative about an individual named Felinshia de Ophen.

But the content was so good that such a narrative wasn’t a flaw at all.

‘Given the medieval era, it’s closer to an illustrated novel than a fairy tale, but that’s not a problem at all.’

Though the content itself was cruel and depicted many realistic aspects, despite these elements, it was fantastical.

It contained childlike wonder and lessons that both children and adults could relate to, and the art style was both original and artistic, while the story and content were incredibly charming.

Some might nitpick about differences from actual history, but that’s the author’s creative license and allowable in fairy tales.

In other words, what does this mean?

‘It’s fucking amazing.’

Forget adaptations or whatever, it’s just overwhelmingly entertaining and artistic.

That’s all that matters.

Tak.

Ihan nodded his head after finishing the last page of the 10th volume, the final book in the “Female Knight Series.”

He closed his eyes for a moment to savor the lingering impression, ruminating on the text.

Tweet tweet-!

Although he had stayed up all night, even forgetting to sleep while reading, it was well worth the time invested, demonstrating why books are called food for the mind, and rather than feeling tired, he felt more alert and refreshed than ever.

“It seems you were quite passionate in the past?”

“Ahem…”

“Still, your romance was good. The scene where you struck the huge boulder to save the village from the flood was really…”

“Ahem!”

“Ah, your first meeting with your husband was nice too. But why did you kidnap your husband? Was that perhaps a trend 50 years ago…?”

“S-s-stop!! Please stop talking! Why are you bringing up my past in front of me?!”

“I’m just curious. How much of this work matches the actual experiences of the female knight who was the real motive for this work. As a fan, I’m curious.”

“W-when did you become a fan of that disgraceful thing!”

“From the moment I read this?”

“!!!”

Felinshia convulsed as if struck by a demonic attack, her face repeatedly turning red.

It was impossible to see her as the great swordswoman who had cut through clouds with a wooden sword, but certainly, even he would feel embarrassed in her position.

‘Not only is my past, especially my love life, completely exposed, but it’s become a fairy tale read by everyone around the world? …Ugh, if it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to leave the house.’

Having one’s youthful indiscretions widely publicized would be embarrassing for anyone.

Ihan was aware he was being mischievous, but he didn’t stop talking.

He wasn’t doing this to tease her.

Who would dare tease an Aura user if they valued their life?

So Ihan’s questions were purely from sincere fan enthusiasm.

Therefore, Felinshia, though utterly embarrassed, was probably just containing her irritation.

“W-why did you have to read that…”

“Your son told me. He said if I read this, I could understand you better. Since we’re in a teacher-student relationship, I guess he wanted us to get closer.”

“Sigh, Iliad, that child has always had that side to him. He’s a thoughtful child…”

“Indeed, he’s quite different from the Sword Master.”

“Yes, different from me… Hm? That sounds a bit strange?”

“Let’s move past the unnecessary details.”

“…??”

Felinshia felt something odd but just tilted her head, wearing an expression that seemed to accept it without much thought.

…She really does have a simple side.

‘No, has she become simple?’

That’s how frightening returning to childhood is.

Looking at the fairy tale, there couldn’t be anyone more impressive and thorough, but to think she’d become so clueless.

‘The most talentless knight in history…’

Ihan gently stroked the cover of the fairy tale.

* * *

Ihan asked his tutor.

“What should I do now?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, what should I do for the next training?”

“…Ah.”

“Ah?”

“…Ahem, I’m sorry. To be honest, I forgot. I didn’t expect you to follow along so well.”

“…Well, at least you’re honest.”

Though it was absurd, Ihan didn’t nag or reproach her.

As mentioned before, the great swordswoman known as the Sword Master was currently in a very unstable emotional state.

Didn’t Iliad say so last night?

– I apologize for saying this about my mother, but when dealing with her, please think of her as a senile teenage girl. …Of course, she’s not actually senile, but her emotional state is that unstable. …Hmm, perhaps treating her like a wild cat would be the exemplary way to converse.

Remembering his advice, Ihan didn’t rush Felinshia.

Despite her manner of speaking, she was someone who could be more serious than anyone when it came to matters of the sword.

Sure enough.

“Yes, by now you should roughly know what willpower is, don’t you?”

As she began to teach, her demeanor changed.

The aura she naturally emitted was fierce and heavy, making his skin tingle.

“But you still don’t properly understand what willpower is. That is, you don’t properly know how to use that power.”

“That’s… right?”

He readily agreed.

As she said, he now knew how powerful willpower was, but he wasn’t yet at the stage of “feeling” it.

‘I understand that a new sensory organ, a new sense, has developed in my body, but I still don’t properly know how to use it.’

To give an example, it would be like wings or a tail.

If a human suddenly grew wings or a tail, would they be able to use them naturally?

Probably not.

Since they suddenly appeared, since they never existed before, it would inevitably be awkward and difficult.

And in the case of willpower, it was like gaining a “seventh sense” even more difficult to handle than these tails and wings, and it was natural that he couldn’t grasp how to use it.

As Baltar said, he had only used it unconsciously, and even now, thanks to the Sword Master’s teachings, he had barely come to recognize the existence of this sense.

Truly, his current level was no different from a baby just starting to take its first steps.

“Hoho, there’s no need to feel dejected.”

“No, I’m not disappointed at all?”

“I was once like that too. But with effort, this is something that can be overcome!”

“…She’s not listening to me at all.”

Ignoring Ihan’s muttering, Felinshia began a lengthy speech.

“You’ll remember what I first said about willpower. ‘Tenacity’ and ‘belief’! These two things are important. And this isn’t just mindlessly talking about perseverance.”

“It wasn’t?”

“Of course not, do you think I’m such an ignorant woman?”

“……”

“My child?”

“…Rather, what about tenacity and belief?”

“My child!?”

Ihan was a man who disliked telling lies, even white ones.

* * *

…He heard a lot.

For over 30 minutes, Felinshia spoke without stopping.

No, it was dizzying to think that a person could talk for 30 minutes without even breathing.

He knew that elderly people tend to talk a lot, but enduring this made his mind reel, and if he weren’t in the position of receiving instruction, he would have fled long ago.

After suffering what felt like potential eardrum damage and fighting off sleep, Ihan finally succeeded in interpreting what she was trying to say.

‘…So, tenacity and belief really are important?’

Surprisingly, the more he listened to the explanation, the more he found himself understanding.

Willpower was literally…

‘A “believe and it will happen” theory?’

Humans cannot fly.

Humans cannot breathe underwater.

Humans cannot move faster than the wind.

These are common sense facts everyone knows, and several Darwin Award candidates who attempted to fly by jumping off rooftops and ended up half-paralyzed had personally demonstrated the dangers.

…But willpower was the “power” that shattered these impossibilities.

Like floating a sword in the air, or even cutting through clouds.

– I simply believed. I believed my sword could fly through the sky, and my sword could cut through clouds. That was all.

This was a summarized version of Felinshia’s words, and he could understand why Iliad had explained that willpower was “the path to transcendence.”

He had given the most intuitive and simplest explanation.

“That gentleman, I mean, the author is good at teaching others.”

Having become a fan of Iliad as of today, Ihan expressed his admiration by respectfully calling him an author, and the woman who had been talking non-stop suddenly wore a proud smile at the praise of her son.

“Hmm! W-well, our Iliad is quite accomplished!”

“Yes, very accomplished. He’s both the head of a family and a literary master who produced a masterpiece.”

“Hohoho!!”

As they say, no parent dislikes praise for their child. Felinshia raised her chin proudly, showing her delight at the surprise compliment.

It was slightly annoying to see, but Ihan understood her feelings. If he had such a child, he would want to boast too.

After all,

“He really shows how unfair the world is.”

“It’s not because he’s my son, but he is excellent, indeed!”

“Even the statue made of copper was artistic. It seems he has talent not just in painting, but in sculpture and crafts as well.”

“Yes, in sculpture too…”

-Thud.

Suddenly her words were cut off.

With slightly wide eyes, she looked up at him, and Ihan nodded.

The satisfaction of having a suspicion confirmed.

Ihan wore a refreshed smile.

─Yes, after all, isn’t he a child with “talents” that his parent doesn’t possess?

“That author, he was indeed strong.”

“W-when did you…”

“Notice, you mean?”

“……”

“Hmm, the day I first met you?”

“??”

“Don’t you remember?”

During their first meeting, Felinshia, who was disguised as her grandson, pointed at a statue and…

“You were incredibly proud of it.”

“……”

“Later, I wondered if you were so eager to boast about something you carved yourself, and I even misunderstood, thinking you might have narcissism, but now I know the Sword Master isn’t that kind of person.”

“……”

“Of course, one can be proud of a statue they made, but giving it such an admiring look is different. So I suspected it might have been made by someone else, and thought there might be a possibility it was your disciple or blood relative…”

“……”

“By process of elimination, only the author remains.”

“…Hmph.”

“Of course, what convinced me wasn’t just because of the Sword Master. While listening to the author explain willpower to me, I felt he was quite a master. His explanations mostly felt different from just theoretical knowledge.”

As someone who teaches disciples, Ihan understands.

To teach or advise others, one must have accumulated considerable depth of study themselves.

In that sense, Iliad…

“It means he’s someone who has studied swordsmanship deeply. Perhaps, his skill as a swordsman…”

“-Is superior to mine.”

“……”

“Far, overwhelmingly, truly incredibly…”

“…Umm, did I say something wrong?”

Ihan showed an apologetic expression.

Wondering if he had touched on something he shouldn’t have.

However, in response to his apologetic demeanor, Felinshia slowly shook her head.

“You have no need to feel sorry at all. Rather, the one who should always feel sorry and guilty is-.”

me…

She blamed herself with a faint, hollow smile like a candle flame about to be extinguished.