Chapter 23

The Swordsmanship Genius Possessed by a God — Chapter 23

Without a word, Allen turned the pouch upside down.

Then something astonishing happened.

Thud, clatter, clatter.

Clink, clink, clink.

Jewels and gold coins poured out, followed by several other glittering artifacts.

Pedrock's eyes grew wider and wider. His mouth fell open in a daze, and he even began to drool.

Staring at the treasures scattered across the floor, Pedrock slapped his own cheek. Finally coming to his senses, he belatedly asked,

“Y-Young Master. Wh-what is all this?”

“I've already set aside what I'm going to use. Everything here is meant to be sold.”

“All of it?”

“It should bring in roughly five hundred thousand gold. Use the gold coins to pay off our debts immediately, and pay the servants their overdue wages with interest. Take your time selling the artifacts. None of it is stolen, so don't worry. You can demand full price for everything.”

Pedrock still looked as though he couldn't tell whether he was dreaming or awake. He was probably wondering where all this treasure had suddenly come from.

Finally, his gaze settled on the spatial storage pouch Allen was holding.

“There's no way all of this could fit inside an ordinary pouch... Could that possibly be a spatial storage pouch?”

“That's right.”

“Good heavens! You could get a million gold just by selling that alone!”

And that wasn't all.

If the Flower of Stars ever appeared on the market, its value would be beyond calculation.

Of course, the most expensive treasure was already inside Allen's stomach.

“Did you perhaps obtain all of this from the dungeon in the Viscounty of Villerman?”

“I was lucky.”

“First your curse was lifted, and now this. It seems your future is going to be bright, Young Master.”

“It had better be. Oh, right. There's something else I need to use this money for.”

“What is it? Just say the word.”

“I need you to find someone. I don't care how much it costs. The sooner, the better.”

Allen described the distinguishing features of the person he wanted to find.

All he knew was the person's name, appearance, clothing, and occupation, but that would be enough.

“With this much information, finding the person shouldn't be too difficult. We could also use the family's information network.”

“We can't do that. I want to find this person discreetly.”

“Understood. Then I'll keep our identity secret as well.”

Without needing to be told, Pedrock understood exactly what Allen wanted. He was certainly a capable head butler.

“Then I'm counting on you.”

“Understood. Hehehe.”

At the end, unable to conceal his delight, Pedrock picked up a gemstone.

He already looked absorbed in the pleasure of imagining where and how he would spend the money.

The annex's deteriorating finances had been resolved.

On top of that, Allen had begun searching for the next item he needed to obtain after the Flower of Stars.

‘With this, I can finally begin tracking the Demon Sword.’

The Demon Sword.

One of the legendary swords said to rival the Five Great Swords of the Continent, which both Vishken and the Empire were desperately searching for.

It was the whereabouts of that very sword that Allen wanted to discover.

Above all, Allen had a reason for prioritizing the acquisition of the Demon Sword.

‘At this point, they still haven't discovered where the Demon Sword is. If I act now, I can prevent it from being taken.’

In the end, Vishken had lost the Demon Sword it had searched for so desperately to another faction. It was a humiliation worthy of being recorded in Vishken's history.

Worse still, because of that, the Demon Sword eventually fell into the hands of the demons in the distant future.

And not just any demon, but one of the Ten Great Demons.

In any case, he had found the Flower of Stars and resolved the annex's financial troubles.

He had also begun tracking the Demon Sword, so he had more or less finished everything he needed to do immediately.

“I'm really busy.”

As drowsiness finally washed over him, he yawned.

Everything was going well, but he decided he needed some rest first.

________________

Late at night, at the Grand Sword Pavilion in the northern part of the main castle.

Hiren, the supreme commander of the sword divisions, was surprised by an unexpected event.

It was because of the person who had come to see him.

“Family Head?”

Axion Vishken.

The man who led the enormous Vishken family had come to visit him personally.

Having visited the Grand Sword Pavilion where Hiren resided, Axion spoke with a hint of nostalgia.

“It's been a long time since I've been here.”

“Why didn't you just summon me...?”

“It's too late for that. Care for a drink?”

He had even brought liquor with him.

It was a strong liquor with a powerful aroma. Exactly the sort Hiren preferred.

Seeing that the family head had arrived without even bringing an escort, Hiren quietly arranged a place for them to drink.

They sat beside a window bathed in moonlight, with a simple dish of snacks between them.

Pour, pour.

Axion poured Hiren a drink.

The two exchanged drinks, taking turns filling each other's glasses.

“Time flies. It feels like only yesterday that you were serving under me.”

“Which yesterday are you referring to?”

“When I first became a squad leader in the Flying Sword Division. You were the deputy leader of my squad back then.”

“Now you're bringing up my embarrassing past.”

Hiren laughed heartily.

“Do you know what I was honestly thinking back then?”

“Tell me.”

“That fresh-faced brat is supposed to be my squad leader?”

Axion burst into laughter at Hiren's words. Hiren was one of the few people who could draw a genuine laugh from Axion.

“That's rather harsh.”

“You have no idea how much I looked down on you back then. I thought the only reason that brat outranked me was his bloodline.”

“When did you change your mind?”

“During our first mission, I believe. We had the misfortune of running into those bastards from Dark Castle, and I survived thanks to that fresh-faced squad leader.”

With no one else around, the two spoke without formality.

Their closeness had been forged in the days when they fought together on the battlefield.

Hiren chuckled and raised his glass. As he grew older, he found that nothing accompanied a drink quite as sweetly as old memories.

As they continued exchanging drinks and reminiscing about the past, Axion spoke.

“My second son is joining the Flying Sword Division.”

Hiren nodded at Axion's words.

As the supreme commander who oversaw every sword division in Vishken, he already knew about Allen's appointment.

“I heard. He's coming in ten days as the Second Squad's leader. The Flying Sword Division is already in an uproar over it.”

“I expected as much.”

“Has that boy Allen actually been cured of his curse?”

Axion nodded.

“Apparently so.”

“That's remarkable. Strictly speaking, wasn't it more of a constitution than a curse? That's why it was considered incurable.”

“That's what I understood as well.”

“That boy is the luckiest of all the unlucky people in history.”

Although one question had been answered, another remained.

“Then does Allen truly have what it takes to become a squad leader in the Flying Sword Division?”

“Who knows?”

“Pardon?”

More than anything else, that answer surprised Hiren.

Who knows?

Axion seemed uncertain of his own judgment. The family head who had always appeared so infallible.

Axion lifted his glass and gave a faint chuckle.

“That boy told me he would become a swordsman stronger than me.”

“...He said that to your face, Family Head?”

For a moment, Hiren doubted his own ears.

How could such a thing happen? No matter how delighted the boy might be that his curse had been lifted, Hiren thought his arrogance had gone too far.

“I think I need someone to confirm whether what I saw was real.”

“What sort of confirmation?”

“Observe him and make your own judgment.”

Axion revealed why he had come to see Hiren so late at night.

“See which of us is better, compared to that fresh-faced brat from back then.”

______________

Ten days remained until the squad leader appointment ceremony.

Allen spent that time busily.

Whooooosh!

Allen crossed the training ground using his footwork technique and swung his sword.

With the speed of the Hundred Lotus Steps added to his movements, the power of his sword strikes increased considerably.

His proficiency was still far from high, but after repeated practice, he had improved enough to use the technique in actual combat.

Tap, tap, tap. Allen executed the Hundred Lotus Steps in rapid succession.

In the blink of an eye, he kicked off the air and leaped high, then swung his sword downward.

Celestial Star Style, Second Form.

Rainstorm.

Whoooooosh!

A rainstorm of sword energy poured downward.

The hard floor of the training ground was gouged apart, leaving dozens of sword marks engraved across its center.

Spinning several times in midair, Allen landed on the ground.

Mana surged from his heart and gathered in his sword.

Allen's eyes burned with intensity.

Celestial Star Style, Third Form—

At that moment.

“Young Master!”

A servant's voice came from outside the training ground.

Afraid the servant might get caught in the attack, Allen quickly dispersed the mana he had gathered in his sword.

Allen, who had landed on the ground, caught his breath and turned his head.

As though he had been calling Allen for some time, the servant spoke urgently.

“It's time.”

Allen had instructed the servants to notify him when the time came so that he wouldn't be late for the appointment ceremony.

It was an important day, and he couldn't afford to be late.

“Got it. I'll be there shortly.”

“The bathwater is ready. Would you like to wash before leaving?”

“I should.”

Allen sheathed his sword and steadied his breathing.

His gaze turned one last time toward the sword marks on the training ground floor.

Rainstorm's power had grown incomparably stronger than before. It was the strength of the Celestial Star Style at the Fourth Star.

Over the past ten days,

Allen had discovered several things while practicing his swordsmanship and the Hundred Lotus Steps.

‘I never imagined the Reflecting Eye would be this valuable.’

When he first obtained the Reflecting Eye, he hadn't fully understood what kind of ability it was.

But the more he practiced the Hundred Lotus Steps, the more Allen realized how he should make use of the Reflecting Eye.

Allen could see faint traces on the floor of the training ground.

They were the remnants of mana left behind when he executed the Hundred Lotus Steps.

‘My stride was too long here. I got greedy and closed the distance too much.’

By using the Reflecting Eye, he could observe himself more objectively, almost as though viewing his movements through someone else's eyes.

Thanks to that, he learned the Hundred Lotus Steps much faster. It hadn't been long since he began circulating mana according to the technique's incantations and practicing its footwork, yet his Hundred Lotus Steps had already reached the Second Star.

And that wasn't all.

The Reflecting Eye's true power lay elsewhere.

Efficiency.

‘I no longer waste mana unnecessarily, and I can achieve greater results with a smaller amount of mana.’

His ability to control mana itself had improved dramatically.

Even the slightest deviation in the flow of mana was immediately visible to him, so his control naturally improved by leaps and bounds.

Thanks to this, Allen could execute much more powerful techniques more frequently than before.

“I've obtained an incredible opportunity.”

What would happen if the ability of this eye became known?

There were all kinds of people in the world. He wondered whether some lunatic might even come after him to steal his eye.

About a month had passed since his return to the past.

It wasn't a particularly long time.

Yet Allen could feel that he had achieved extraordinary progress during that brief period.

He had intended to make at least the minimum preparations before joining the sword division, but his accomplishments had far exceeded his expectations.

Splash.

Allen washed away the sweat he had shed since morning with hot bathwater.

When he finished bathing, clothes had been prepared outside the bathroom.

They were clothes he had never seen before. He reached out and unfolded the neatly folded garments.

Clothes bearing the image of two swords.

They were the uniform symbolizing a squad leader of the Flying Sword Division.

Allen silently put them on.

After fastening the uniform securely, he turned sideways and looked in the mirror.

The moment he saw his reflection, a surge of exhilaration filled him.

It was the first time in either his previous life or his current one that he had worn the uniform of a sword division.

‘This is the beginning.’

He had finally reached the starting point he had longed for so desperately.

What path he would walk from here depended entirely on what he did next.

Leaving the annex, Allen headed toward the Sword Pavilion.