episode_0158

“Wow~ Father, what sword technique is that???”

Da-da-da-da!

Little Eugene Schneider woke up from his sleep.

He woke up somewhat earlier than usual,

And the first thing he started looking for was his father, Ulysses Schneider.

Usually, when Eugene Schneider was about to wake up, he would already feel his father’s presence or hear his footsteps as he walked into his room.

So, since he woke up early this time, he thought he should go find his father himself.

His father was in the middle of his morning training,

And Eugene, who found his father moving his sword in the training room inside the mansion, stared at him with a blank look.

As Ulysses seemed to have finished his training, Eugene ran to his father with a curious voice and expression and asked.

“Oh my! Our Eugene woke up!”

When Ulysses heard Eugene’s cute voice, he turned around towards his son running towards him and gave him a big smile.

“Please teach me that sword technique, Father! It’s so cool!”

Cha-ak!

Eugene had already clung to Ulysses’s leg and was begging him to teach him the sword technique he was practicing.

“Hmm… Is this the first time our Eugene is seeing this sword technique?”

“Yes~ You always showed me the sword techniques you teach the older brothers and uncles~”

This was because it was not a sword technique that Ulysses usually taught.

“The sword technique now is one of your father’s practical sword techniques. It gracefully receives the opponent’s sword and uses that power in reverse. Well, our son was asleep at this time, so it’s understandable that he’s seeing it for the first time.”

Ulysses’s philosophy as a swordsman was to learn and utilize sword techniques that suited him in actual combat.

The sword techniques that he taught Eugene for physical training and the Sophist members were purely for physical and mana training.

In other words, the sword technique that Ulysses was practicing now could be said to be Ulysses’s unique sword.

“Please teach me too, Father! It looked so cool! It was like a butterfly flying on the wind!”

“Haha! That’s quite a poetic expression, Eugene Schneider. When you’re a little older and I judge that you’re suitable for this sword technique, I’ll teach you at least the basics.”

Pat…! Pat…! Pat…!

Even to young Eugene, Ulysses’s practical sword exuded coolness.

Wanting to see that cool sword technique, Eugene often woke up earlier than usual to watch his father’s morning practice.

‘That’s similar to Father’s sword technique?’

A movement with a similar feel to that sword technique was unfolding before Eugene Schneider, who had now become 21 years old, at this moment.

By Victoria von Bayern, who became the youngest Sword Expert in the Empire due to Ulysses Schneider’s dishonorable death.

‘That rotation pattern, footwork, it’s so similar.’

It was hard to think of it as a coincidence.

Ulysses’s practical sword technique was far from the general philosophy of swordsmanship in the Imperium Empire.

It was a sword technique that was so unique that he was even said to be from the divine nation of Atlantis, a sword technique that was imbued with his unique worldview.

The more Eugene Schneider saw Victoria’s movements, which resembled that original sword technique, the more he distanced himself from the thought that it was a coincidence.

Swoosh…!

At that moment, Victoria, who was wielding her sword, looked back at the back where Eugene Schneider was standing.

“You’ve come early, Captain Eugene Caesar of the Assault Brigade.”

Because Eugene was so focused that he was openly watching the situation.

“Ah… Ah! I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to watch so blatantly. I was just curious about the sword technique of the Imperial Knights.”

Eugene was also surprised when he realized that he had been drawn in more than he had intended.

“I see. I was thinking that I wanted to hear the Red Fox’s Assault Brigade Captain’s impressions anyway. I’ve been keeping an eye on Captain Eugene Caesar’s activities while grasping the quest situation.”

Smile…!

Victoria gave a slight smile and responded to Eugene’s reaction.

“What were your impressions of seeing my sword technique?”

Indeed, Victoria, who had unreservedly thrown out the words she wanted to say even to Antoine.

Victoria was truly unreserved.

Regardless of whether someone suddenly came and watched her,

She wants to hear the judgment of the key figure of the hottest mercenary group in Pangea, as she said.

“Hmm… I’d say it feels unusual? It’s very different from the sword technique I imagined when I saw the title of Imperial Knights. I thought it would be more disciplined and sharp.”

As Victoria so readily set the stage, Eugene told her his thoughts as they were.

“That feeling is accurate, Captain Eugene. The sword technique I’m practicing now has nothing to do with the Imperial Knights’ sword technique.”

Swish…!

Then Victoria put her sword into its scabbard and agreed with Eugene Schneider’s words.

“If it’s not related to the Imperial Knights, is it perhaps a unique sword technique of the Bayern family?”

As what he had been thinking was confirmed, Eugene began to use tactics to find out the source and identity of the sword technique more openly.

Perhaps it was because it looked so similar to his father Ulysses’s sword technique.

“Hmm… You seem to like this sword technique very much?”

Tilt…!

Victoria tilted her head slightly and asked Eugene as if she was testing him.

Her expression was closer to being interested than feeling suspicious.

“It’s true that I like it. So I want to know.”

It was Victoria’s driving ability to subtly not let go of the initiative.

Eugene is fully receiving that feeling, but

Because it is a matter that he is sincerely curious about, he played along.

“I learned it from my father. But it’s not a unique sword technique of the Bayern family.”

To Eugene Schneider’s words that he liked the sword technique,

Victoria revealed the source from which she learned the current sword technique.

The sword technique learned from her father, Constantine von Bayern,

But it was not exactly the family’s secret sword technique.

“Father? Are you talking about Duke Constantine von Bayern?”

Victoria’s expression and tone were full of honesty, but

Eugene Schneider, on the contrary, was buffered and asked back at that honest answer.

Because the sword technique just now was Ulysses Schneider’s sword technique in his head.

“Of course, I’m talking about my biological father, Duke Constantine von Bayern.”

Eugene was able to buffer and ask back in his own way,

In Victoria’s situation, Eugene’s question would be extremely rude.

However, she generously accepted Eugene Schneider’s rudeness more than necessary and gave him a confirming answer.

“I, I see…”

Eugene, whose head is full of question marks, nodded slowly, thinking that it was difficult to dig in any further.

“Actually, the source is more complicated. If you answer my question, I’ll tell you about that too.”

Looking at Eugene’s appearance,

Victoria made a deal as she had done to Antoine.

“What is the question?”

Eugene reacted with a tempting expression.

Originally, he would not have reacted like this.

He could have glossed over it with a reasonable doubt.

However, because Victoria had subtly set him up well,

Eugene is unable to cut off the dopamine because there is sunk cost and he wants to resolve that sunk cost.

Swish…!

Victoria, who was looking at such Eugene with a subtle gaze for about 3 seconds without saying a word,

“Are you perhaps a Sword Expert Awakened?”

Afterwards, what she mentioned was whether Eugene Schneider was a Sword Expert Awakened.

‘Huh??? She’s asking this????’

Eugene’s eyes widened immediately.

The reason why Eugene grabbed Victoria’s proposal was not only because he wanted to resolve dopamine, but there was another reason.

From his own point of view, there was no room for sensitive questions to come from Victoria.

So, he was rather curious about what question she was trying to ask by making a deal.

However, the question that flew in was whether he was a Sword Expert 2nd Awakened,

Eugene’s expression became the raw expression of being hit by an unexpected attack.

“The Red Fox Mercenary Group caught the Crimson-haired Goblin Shaman, and I analyzed that situation meticulously. I considered various possibilities, but no matter how I looked at it, I didn’t think it was a performance that could be created in a Sword User party.”

Victoria soon began to tell Eugene the background behind her suspicion.

“Moreover, there was a battle with Sophist at that time, right? Coincidentally, we have some information about Sophist’s movements, so there were some stories we heard. The story that there is a Sword Expert in the Red Fox Mercenary Group.”

It was suspicious in many ways that four User Awakened instantly slaughtered the Crimson-haired Shaman.

That is the result of the association’s investigation.

However, the mercenary association did not have the capacity to investigate further, so they covered it up and moved on.

However, Victoria had more information than the mercenary association, and based on that information, her conclusion was that Eugene Schneider was a Sword Expert.

‘This woman is scary…’

Eugene shook his head as if he was not easy to deal with.

The reason he shook his head was not simply because Victoria noticed that he was a Sword Expert,

Or that she possessed and dug out that much information.

The build-up to get to that point is not normal.

‘But with the scale of this quest, I won’t be able to do anything by hiding my abilities like I have until now.’

In the meantime, Eugene considered that

It would be better to reveal the fact that he was a Sword Expert 2nd Awakened when Victoria first raised the suspicion.

Wouldn’t it be easier to put on options since it’s just the two of us?

“That’s right. I am a Sword Expert.”

Therefore, Eugene Schneider coolly revealed the fact that he was a Sword Expert Second Awakened.

“I knew it.”

Victoria reacting to those words,

“It may be a contradictory statement, but I want to live a mercenary life quietly. I’m someone who just wants to grow with my colleagues without being caught up in unnecessary gossip. The fact that I was an early 2nd Awakened is not very helpful to that, so I’m keeping quiet about it.”

Eugene told her about his situation.

“I had personal curiosity, but I asked because I thought you were a colleague to do quests with. So, I will never do anything to make Captain Eugene difficult.”

Victoria firmly stated that she would not use the information she had heard unless it was a matter of public domain.

“Then it’s my turn to keep my promise.”

Then she said,

“My father’s friend is the creator of this sword technique. My father received the transmission as a token of friendship from that friend. I begged and learned it.”

She properly told the source of her sword technique.

Constantine von Bayern’s close friend was none other than Ulysses Schneider,

It was Victoria who indirectly mentioned that.