Chapter 32

The Swordsmanship Genius Possessed by a God — Chapter 32

____________________

Early at dawn.

Allen was swinging his sword in his private training ground at the annex.

Whoosh!

With his eyes closed, Allen faced translucent, imaginary enemies.

He unleashed sword strikes and techniques. Whenever he defeated one, another appeared, and sometimes several appeared at once.

After swinging his sword without pause, Allen suddenly executed his footwork.

The Hundred Lotus Steps, which had already reached the Fourth Star, unfolded.

Flash.

He swiftly passed through the enemies and swung his sword in one motion. The First Form, Behold, was unleashed, severing five heads.

Allen executed the Hundred Lotus Steps in succession. As the speed and precision of his footwork were added to his sword, the power of the Celestial Star Style increased further.

Through his recent training, Allen had become capable of executing the Hundred Lotus Steps far more smoothly than before.

After some time had passed,

“Phew.”

Allen opened his eyes and stopped moving.

Turning his head, he saw a basket of food at the edge of the training ground.

It was breakfast that a maid had quietly left there so as not to disturb him.

Having stopped training, Allen wiped away his sweat with the towel beside the basket and checked his status.

[Allen Vishken]

[Strength: 40]

[Agility: 42]

[Stamina: 46]

[Mana: 46]

[Traits: Soul of Ten Thousand Demons, Reflecting Eye – Details]

His stats had risen noticeably compared to three months ago.

Among them, mana had once again shown the greatest increase.

That was because he had continued using cultivation to dissolve the enormous mass of elixir energy gathered within his body.

‘Not bad.’

The same was true of his other stats.

Three months had passed since he became a squad leader in the Flying Sword Division.

Throughout that time, Allen had devoted himself to training every day.

He believed that no matter how exceptional one's swordsmanship was, it was useless without the strength of a trained body to support it.

Above all, during those three months, Allen had become completely accustomed to his current body.

Moreover, judging by the pace of his swordsmanship training, it seemed he would soon reach the Fifth Star of the Celestial Star Style.

His growth was far faster than he had originally planned.

After finishing his training and eating a simple meal, Allen returned to the annex.

He intended to wash and change his clothes before reporting for duty as squad leader.

It was then.

“Young Master!”

Pedrock hurriedly sought out Allen as he returned from his early morning training.

“Have you been training again?”

“Yeah. I'm going to wash up now.”

“Aren't you going straight back out for morning training anyway? And then you'll return in the afternoon for your individual training.”

Pedrock spoke as though he found the whole thing dreadful.

“At this rate, you'll seriously damage your health. You're still young now, Young Master, but once you get a little older...”

“Save the lecture for later. I'm going to be late for work.”

“Ah, that's right. Where is my head?”

Apparently remembering that he had something to say, Pedrock hurriedly pulled an envelope from his clothes and held it out.

“This is the information you requested back then. It arrived last night.”

Allen's eyes gleamed at Pedrock's words.

It was information he had been waiting for all this time.

“Is it reliable?”

“You told me not to spare any expense, so I used the most expensive information broker. It should be trustworthy.”

“Good. Thanks, Butler.”

“Not at all.”

At that moment, having delivered the information, Pedrock asked cautiously,

“I'm only asking out of concern... This isn't dangerous information, is it?”

Pedrock had not seen the contents of the envelope.

However, obtaining this information had cost a considerable amount of money. And information that cost so much naturally tended to involve danger.

Pedrock was worried that some danger might be waiting for Allen, who had only just begun to spread his wings and soar.

“Don't worry. Nothing dangerous will happen.”

Although he answered that way to reassure Pedrock, his true thoughts were different.

The information contained in this envelope was extremely dangerous.

Holding the envelope, Allen found himself filled with a single expectation.

‘Will this allow me to find the Demon Sword?’

___________________

The Second Squad's morning training.

“Gaaaaah...”

“I-I think I'm dying...”

“My b-back!”

Cries of agony echoed throughout the training ground.

It was physical training they performed every day, but every day was like hell.

Just when they were about to grow accustomed to it, the intensity increased again, making it impossible to adapt.

At that moment, Allen, who had been swinging an iron sword with two iron bars attached, lowered his weapon.

“Good work, everyone.”

“G-good work, sir!”

“It's over!”

Cheers erupted.

Allen put away the iron bars and swords brought out for training. Today, his own training ended along with that of the other squad members.

Mary approached and asked about the training ending earlier than usual.

“Is something the matter?”

There had been a few occasions when Allen ended training early to improve the squad members' morale.

But even then, Allen had invariably continued training alone.

This was the first time he had finished his own training early.

“I need to see the commander.”

“The commander?”

Mary's expression brightened.

“Has a mission finally been assigned to us?”

“No. That's not it.”

Mary's brightened expression darkened again.

For the past month, she had constantly looked worried.

“It's strange. We've never gone this long without receiving a mission.”

“It's not just the Second Squad. The entire Flying Sword Division is on standby right now. So there's no need to worry too much.”

“But we really don't have much time left.”

The wager with First Squad Leader Kasar, made three months earlier, was still ongoing.

It was a wager to see which squad, the First or the Second, would achieve the better performance record.

But the problem was that no missions had been assigned since the wager was made.

“I don't mind being transferred to the First Squad. But at this rate, the Second Squad will...”

“There's no need to worry so much.”

Allen smiled faintly.

“Because I just found a way today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

At Allen's confident answer, Mary's expression brightened a little.

Just then, the squad members, who had been talking among themselves, approached Allen.

“Squad Leader! Since training ended early, how about we eat out today?”

“The weather's nice. Let's have a refreshing beer!”

“That sounds good!”

“I know a fantastic place!”

Before he knew it, they had grown quite close to Allen.

They now trained together without reservation and often shared meals as well.

Of course, some squad members found Allen's strictness exhausting, since he almost never allowed them to skip training.

“Let's have a drink another time. I've got something important to do today.”

__________________

Allen declined the invitation to eat with his squad members and left the training ground.

His destination was the office of the Flying Sword Division's commander.

“Commander. It's the Second Squad Leader.”

“Come in.”

At the permission from within, Allen opened the door and entered.

Inside the commander's office, Lucas was holding a pen and working on some documents.

“What brings you here?”

It had been three months since Allen last visited the commander's office.

Apart from the occasion when Lucas witnessed his wager with First Squad Leader Kasar, Allen had never sought him out privately.

“I thought I'd have a cup of tea with the commander.”

“Do you mind if it's cold?”

“Not at all.”

Lucas poured him some tea from a teapot. Allen sat across from Lucas and drank the cold tea.

“How are you finding your duties as squad leader?”

“What duties are there to speak of? I haven't even gone on a single mission yet.”

“So you've come to ask me to send you on a mission? Because of that wager?”

The wager between the First and Second Squads was already well known within the Flying Sword Division.

Of course, nobody doubted its outcome. Even Lucas himself went so far as to say,

“Why on earth did you make such a foolish wager? You can't possibly win.”

“There are still three months left before it's over, aren't there?”

“You used to be so pessimistic. How is it that you have no middle ground?”

Despite his words, Lucas found Allen's current attitude far more pleasant. The Allen of the past had not only been pessimistic but was always on edge.

“If you've come because of the missions, there was no need to visit me. I was already planning to summon all the squad leaders this afternoon.”

“All the squad leaders? Including me?”

“Yes.”

Lucas nodded.

“The reason the Flying Sword Division has been on standby for so long is because of this mission. It will be more important than any other mission.”

Judging by the way he spoke, it really was an important mission.

‘A mission important enough to mobilize the entire Flying Sword Division at this point in time...’

Searching his memories, Allen was struck by a possibility and asked,

“Is it perhaps a mission related to the Demon Sword?”

Lucas flinched in surprise.

Judging by his reaction, Allen seemed to be right.

“Looks like it is.”

“How did you know?”

It wasn't particularly confidential, so Lucas did not deny it.

After all, he had intended to issue the mission orders when the squad leaders gathered that afternoon.

At Lucas's response, Allen thought to himself,

‘It was next year that the family placed a bounty on the Demon Sword.’

At the time, Allen had been wandering across the continent.

After failing his mission and running away from the family to live as a wandering swordsman, Allen had heard news of the Demon Sword while outside the family.

Around this time, Vishken had failed to secure the Demon Sword and ended up placing a bounty on the sword itself.

‘It was unprecedented. Offering a bounty was practically the same as publicly admitting that the family had failed to secure the Demon Sword on its own.’

Vishken needed the Demon Sword badly enough to damage its own prestige.

That was how important the Demon Sword was to the family.

“I just made a guess. It's not as though the family's search for the Demon Sword started yesterday.”

“Most people would consider the Demon Sword nothing more than a legend.”

“If it truly didn't exist, the family wouldn't have spent so long searching for it.”

Lucas looked slightly puzzled, but soon spoke as though it didn't matter.

“That's right. This mission concerns securing the Demon Sword. That's why the Flying Sword Division has been on standby for so long.”

“Have you found its whereabouts?”

“Three months ago, we estimated the probability at ten percent. Now it's around forty percent.”

That meant a great deal had changed over the past three months.

Forty percent.

Considering they hadn't even had a clue until now, that was a probability more than sufficient to justify mobilizing the Flying Sword Division.

“If you're lucky and the Second Squad makes a major contribution to finding the Demon Sword, you might overturn the First Squad's performance record in a single stroke. That's how important this mission is.”

“That sounds tempting.”

“But don't get too greedy. Anyway, all the squad leaders will gather in the division's conference room in two hours. Make sure you're there on time.”

“Got it.”

As though their conversation was finished, Allen rose from his seat.

Lucas, who was lifting his half-empty teacup, looked puzzled.

“What is it?”

“I should get going. I'm a busy man too.”

“Didn't you come here because you had something to say?”

“Something to say? No, I just came to have a cup of tea with my brother. Thanks for the tea.”

Allen hurriedly said his farewell and left the commander's office.

Lucas stared after him in disbelief, but there was nothing he could say now.

Allen had originally come to ask for time for the Second Squad to operate independently while no missions were being assigned.

And coincidentally, his reason for wanting that time was also the Demon Sword.

Allen even possessed an important clue that could lead him to the Demon Sword.

‘The Demon Sword.’

After leaving the commander's office, Allen closed his eyes for a moment.

At that instant, he recalled the sight of a demon wielding the Demon Sword and slaughtering his comrades in the suicide squad.

Whoosh!