Chapter 6

Sometimes, when you hear something completely unexpected, you freeze.

That’s exactly what happened to me.

“Can you get lost? Can you get lost? Can you get lost?”

Her words echoed in my ears like an auditory hallucination. I was petrified, staring at her with shocked eyes. If she had been a character like a conceited and rude noble lady without any sense, I wouldn’t have been so shocked. It was shocking because a character who was the complete opposite said such things.

“Didn’t you hear me? You’re blocking the way, and I can’t get past.”

Elaine’s left eyebrow slightly furrowed. That moment snapped me back to reality.

I sensed that her mood was turning sour. She had a habit of furrowing her left eyebrow when she was upset.

‘It’s best to avoid her here.’

I don’t know what exactly happened between them. But one thing is certain, the emotional rift here doesn’t seem like something that can be resolved on the spot. So, I should step back here.

Staying any longer would only worsen the relationship.

“Ah, sorry.”

I stepped aside.

Elaine walked past me without a glance, her steps steady and determined.

‘Wow, what’s this… serious from the start?’

I shook my head in disbelief. The second year at the academy wouldn’t make sense without her. Such an important character. And this is how it turns out?

“Max, this guy really…”

To receive such hatred from a character with such a concept? I couldn’t do it even if I tried. This guy. Well, thanks, thank you. Because of him, rebuilding a relationship with her would be a struggle. This guy. I grumbled as I left the place.

“Hoo.”

A sigh escaped me

Elaine furrowed her left eyebrow, a headache forming.

She had unexpectedly encountered the last man she wanted to see. It was an unbearable stress.

“I can’t understand.”

The man she knew, Max Celtrine, was never one to set foot in the lower district. There was nothing here that he would want.

Fine liquor, good food, high class courtesans. There was no reason for him to come to this place.

Elaine frowned, pondering why he had come here, but she couldn’t come up with an answer.

“I can’t understand.”

She muttered again.

Not just about this incident. Max was the most incomprehensible type of person to her. Noble status. Heir to a prestigious family. Immense wealth. A man blessed with an environment everyone envied. Yet, he achieved nothing at the academy. He was almost a failing student. If that were the only issue, it wouldn’t be incomprehensible.

There are bound to be people who fall behind despite their efforts due to lack of ability. But that wasn’t his problem.

He was fundamentally lazy.

He neglected his studies.

He was lax in his training.

He never once gave his best in assignments or practice.

It would have been understandable if he liked alcohol or women. But living so carelessly with all his might was utterly incomprehensible. As if he vehemently hated the idea of putting in even a little effort. Still, that would have been fine. If it were simply a matter of not understanding. One could just keep their distance.

However.

“Why do you go around like that?”

Max Celtrine, with his unpleasant smile,

“What are you talking about?”

“Your face is pretty, but your clothes are a bit too much.”

The comment about her face being pretty was already hard to bear harassment. But she pressed on, holding back her anger.

“…Too much?”

“Too rustic. You’re the top student of the best academy’s second year, aren’t you? Doesn’t it lower your status? Why don’t you buy some clothes?”

I can’t forget. That gaze at the time. A gaze that thoroughly looked down on people. No matter how excellent you are, you’re still a low class citizen. It felt like that’s what he was saying. My stomach churned, and I felt nauseous. So I quickly left that place.

After retching for a while, I finally calmed down. Then a cold anger enveloped me. My body trembled. I couldn’t bear the thought of being treated with such outrageous rudeness and contempt by such a lazy person. From that moment on. For Elaine, he became the most detestable man.

“Hmm.”

Turk frowned, deep in thought. The reason was one. The 20 gold coins laid out in front of him. An excessively generous amount for tuition. He shouldn’t have accepted it. But he did. Was it a failure to resist desire?

No, that wasn’t it. Although he felt conflicted, he intended to refuse. But at that moment, the words he said.’Imperial Style Eight. That’s enough for me. I came here to learn just that.’ He missed the timing to refuse because of those words.

Because he was shaken.

For the first time, he felt that someone recognized the value of Imperial Style Eight. He had lived on the sword for decades, but never once had the value of Imperial Style Eight been acknowledged.

Instead, he was treated like the world’s biggest fool. People whispered behind his back, wondering why he foolishly clung to basic swordsmanship and didn’t learn any of the better techniques that were widely available. Each time, he pretended not to hear and let it go in one ear and out the other. He endured as if it didn’t bother him. But inside, an indelible heaviness accumulated.

But today. A man he had never seen before seemed to scrape off some of that heavy dirt.

“Who could he be?”

His stylish and expensive looking attire suggested he was the scion of a wealthy family. His manner of speaking, perhaps a noble?

But then the question grows bigger. If he were a nobleman, he wouldn’t even glance at something like Imperial Style Eight…

He would have the means to acquire and learn any superior swordsmanship technique he wanted.

“I don’t know.”

Turk muttered to himself, his gaze returning to the gold coins.

Gulp.

He swallowed dryly without realizing it. Honestly, to say there was no desire for money when he failed to properly refuse would be a lie. Because he had one desperate goal. To acquire a respectable house in the middle district. For that, he had been saving every penny, tightening his belt.

‘Everything is my fault.’

Memories of past mistakes made Turk bite his lip.

In truth, having spent his life as a soldier and mercenary, he had saved up a considerable sum.

Enough money to afford a house in the middle district.

But he lost most of it to a scam by a mercenary comrade he thought of as a brother. He was left penniless overnight. He tried everything to recover the money, but the scamming comrade had already disappeared without a trace.

His wife, shocked by the incident, fell ill and passed away. All that was left was his only lateborn daughter. Turk resolved to settle in the lower district and raise his daughter alone. His body was too old for mercenary work, but he worked tirelessly wherever he was paid.

He managed to raise his daughter, but resentment and guilt built up in his heart.

Guilt for driving his daughter into difficult family circumstances.

Guilt for never being able to dress her in nice clothes.

Guilt for not being able to provide a proper home.

“Hoo.”

A sigh escaped from Turk’s lips.

His daughter, bright enough to receive a scholarship from the best academy, might soon achieve a social status and income incomparable to his own. No, she certainly will. But knowing that, Turk still saved money. To buy a house in the middle district with his own strength as a father.

Thud.

At the sound of the door, Turk quickly hid the money in his pocket.

“I’m here.”

It was his daughter Elaine. Blue hair just like her mother’s. Sorrowful eyes and beauty that resembled her mother as well.

“……There was no need for you to come.”

Turk said, calming his startled heart. He didn’t want to show the gold coins to his daughter. Because it didn’t feel like money earned through rightful means.

“It’s still vacation time, though.”

“That may be so, but……”

Despite his daughter’s response, Turk’s reaction was lukewarm.

His daughter, who had never missed being at the top of her class since enrolling in the academy. Naturally, she lived in the Royal Hall, which was called hotel grade at the dormitory. He had hoped that his daughter, who stayed in such a luxurious place, would not come to such a shabby place if possible.

That was the father’s heart.

“And I’m tired of studying all day in the library.”

“So? How about going to that dessert restaurant that’s all the rage these days to cool your head? I’ll buy it for you.”

Turk had heard rumors that dessert restaurants were gaining popularity among the young women of the city. Although he was saving money desperately for his home, he didn’t mind spending it for his beloved daughter’s change of mood.

“No, thanks. Such luxury is for noble ladies to enjoy.”

Elaine said without much thought, but that answer gouged Turk’s heart.

Luxury.

To think that his daughter couldn’t enjoy luxury because of her utterly failed father. Ugh. The father felt sorry.

“Ah, that’s right…… But……”

Hm?

At that moment, Turk made a puzzled expression as he noticed something. His daughter’s left eyebrow. He noticed that it was slightly furrowed. His daughter had a habit of slightly furrowing her left eyebrow when she was in a bad mood.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

She answered that way, but at that moment, her left eyebrow furrowed again.

‘Who the hell is…’

Turk cursed inwardly. How dare someone upset my daughter. If only I knew who it was, I’d give them a piece of my mind!

“More importantly…. Hm?”

This time, a question crossed Elaine’s face. She had noticed the trace of someone having been there with her sharp senses.

“Did someone come by?”

“Huh? Oh, uh…… Yes, that’s right. A guest came by.”

“A guest interested in lessons?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good. I hope this time it lasts longer.”

Those who came to learn swordsmanship from her father were mostly beginners. Her father was stubborn and thorough in his teaching methods, even with such beginners. That’s why many beginners couldn’t endure and quit midway.

She respected her father’s serious attitude towards the sword. But she couldn’t help thinking that he should be a little more flexible in his teaching. However, she couldn’t say that directly. Because she knew that such words could hurt the pride of the sword her father had built up until now.

“This time it might be…… different.”

Her father, who was speaking differently than usual.

Elaine’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Different, you say?”

“He said he wanted to learn the Imperial Style Number eight. That’s why he came.”

“The Imperial Style Number eight?”

She knew.

How much pride and confidence her father had in the Imperial Style Number eight. The path he had steadfastly walked, even though everyone said it was wrong. She didn’t think her father was wrong. Because she could feel it, even though she was not a sword wielder. The perfection contained in her father’s sword.

But others didn’t know that. Those who came here came to learn the basics of swordsmanship, not to learn the Imperial Style Number eight.

Therefore, the student who specifically came to learn the Imperial Style Number eight was quite unusual. What kind of person could it be?

With a bit of curiosity, Elaine said,

“I see. Then it really might be different.”

“・・・・・・ Young master, is something the matter?”

Dolph asked cautiously, seeing that my expression didn’t look very good.

“No, the matter was resolved well. There was just an unexpected variable.”

I tried to get on the carriage nonchalantly. At that moment.

“Hey, it’s you again.”

The man who had recognized me earlier. He had already drunk with the 1 silver I gave him, his face was red and he smelled of alcohol.

Drunkards.

They should know when to butt in. I waved my hand to shoo him away when.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Suddenly, I gestured for him to come over instead.

“Hehe, are you going to have a drink too?”

“No, not that, but have you heard the name Elaine?”

“Elaine? Which Elaine? The academy’s Elaine?”

I didn’t expect much, but he seemed to know Elaine.

“Yes, the academy’s Elaine.”

“Ah, that Elaine. Of course, I know her. She’s a celebrity. Besides, you’ve talked about her too.”

“What did I say?”

“Hmm…… Probably that she’s pretty and smart, but too much of a country girl?”

That bastard’s personality, really.

“Ah, and that she’s rude.”

“Rude……?”

“Yeah, you said she was rude to you after you kindly advised her to stop dressing so country like and even went as far as to buy her clothes, right?”

“This crazy bastard!”

“Not you, me.”

“……Right.”

“Ah, this guy!”

I opened the door of the carriage irritably.

“Let’s go, to the central square.”

“Yes. Yes!”

The carriage started off hastily again.