A few days have passed since Berseria arrived. She asked me if she could observe me practicing my swordsmanship. That's why I came to my training ground with her. "Is Lord Eucharlouch the only one practicing today?" "Both Iona and Shia have been pregnant for over two months now, so they have refrained from doing anything other than light exercise."
"In other words, I'll have Lord Eucharlouch all to myself during this time." "Well, that's one way to put it." "Is there something else?"
She seems curious about what I'm about to say. "I'm certainly a lustful person." "Huh?"
The topic suddenly changes, and she doesn't seem to have any idea what I'm trying to say.
"I know how to discern the time and place properly. It might sound like I'm trying to issue a warning, but there will be no good atmosphere with Berseria here." "Oh, is that so?"
Finally, we connected and Berseria understood what I wanted to say. "I don't think that Lord Eucharlouch would lose his mind over a woman during important training. However, I'm happy to think that I'll be able to see the swordsmanship of such a skilled hero up close." I haven't spent much time with her, but Berseria is a straightforward person with no hidden agenda. There's no lie in her words. "I'm sorry for saying something strange. If you don't mind my training, you can come and watch anytime." I said, partly as an apology. "Well, I'll take you up on that offer."
After that conversation, I began preparing for training. I decided to use all iron swords, armor, and shields for training. "Can I ask you something?" "If it's something I can answer." "When Lord Eucharlouch defeated my troops." "Yeah." "You only had your sword, but this time you're wearing armor too. I wonder why?" "Oh, I see." I said nonchalantly. "This is to narrow my field of vision and put strain on my body. There are plenty of lighter and better armors, but I use this for training." "Do you usually wear armor?"
"Almost never. Only when I enter a dungeon, would I wear the best armor." "And when you say that?" "It depends on the difficulty of the dungeon I'm entering enter." "Oh." "Basically, dungeons are full of danger. I wouldn't feel safe without good equipment." "Even Lord Eucharlouch has to equip himself?" Berseria looked serious.
"Yeah, that's right. The most despicable place was..." "Hmm?" "It was filled with a poisonous mist, you couldn't even enter it without armor that could neutralize it." "What about that dungeon?" She asks about the results. "Of course, I conquered it." "As expected, I should say." "Since it was a labyrinth dungeon related to poison, the loot was related to that." "Ah." "I'll leave that out." "I know almost nothing about labyrinth dungeons." "Hmm." "Is the loot unique?" "Yeah. If it's a fire-related labyrinth dungeon, the loot would be a flaming sword, or something like that." "Do those loots really have special powers?" "They are different from the items sold in stores. Take the flaming sword I just mentioned, for example." "Yes."
"Even if used by an amateur with no sword skills, if they say the password and activate the magic, they can melt and cut through iron like solid milk fat butter. I'm not exaggerating when I say that by selling one sword, you can get enough money to build a mansion." "Is it really worth that much...?"
Berseria doesn't rely on swords, and uses modern weapons, so she can't help but be surprised to hear that one sword is worth that much. "When I fought Berseria's troops." "Yes." "I cut the soldiers with my sword and neutralized them." "That was amazing. But the sword you were using wasn't anything special, was it?" "Yeah. It's the highest quality sold in stores, but it's just light, not that it has a particularly sharp edge or anything like that."
"So that means..." "The slashing itself was due to my skill." "I see." "If you use a special weapon, even an amateur can easily imitate that."
Well, I wouldn't even let him touch his sword, so it would be limited to someone with enough skill to exchange swords. "That's... quite an interesting story." "Well, unless you conquer a dungeon on your own, it's not something you can get your hands on easily." "A sword worth as much as a mansion, huh? I'd like to see one at least once." And with that, the conversation came to an end for now. Changing the topic. "I want to ask you something." "What is it?"
"How good is your swordsmanship, Berseria? To be honest, it doesn't seem like you're very skilled." "It's really only good for self-defense. If I, as the commander, were to attack, it would be the end, so it doesn't matter if I'm that skilled with the sword." "Still, it's better to be able to protect yourself, isn't it? In the end, the only person you can rely on is yourself." "These are none other than Lord Eucharlouch's words. I'll keep them in mind."
Berseria also seemed to have some thoughts about what I said. I guess she plans to start training on her own. "I want to ask you something." "Yes."
"From the perspective of the master swordsman, Lord Eucharlouch, do you think I have potential?"
"Well…"
I think about the question for a bit before answering.
"It looks like you've got the basics down, and your talents aren't bad. There seems to be room for improvement, and if you put in the effort, I think you can still grow." "Really?" "Yes, I'm not lying. But."
"But what?"
"You're still not at the level where I can teach you, so if you want to ask me to teach you, you'll need to gain a certain level of skill first." "I'm sure that in the eyes of Lord Eucharlouch, my sword skills are like child's play."
She continues. "You're stating it so clearly." Even though she says that, there's no sign of displeasure on her face. "You don't like it when people talk in a roundabout way, do you?"
"Yes, that's true. And,"
She affirms and continues speaking.
"I suppose it's only natural that someone as powerful as Lord Eucharlouch would judge me that way." Having seen my powers with her own eyes, she didn't seem to disagree. And so, the conversation came to an end.
Next, I decided to ask about something that had been bothering me. "When I used magic, the soldiers were surprised." "Hmm." "Is there no one in the empire who uses magic?" "The previous emperor became too obsessed with sorcery and nearly toppled the country. Since then, magic has been taboo." "How bad was it to almost topple the empire...?" The Vallegarda Empire is the largest nation on the continent. I couldn't hide my surprise.
"I won't go into details."
"Oh."
"Magic is a skill that is determined by aptitude. Isn't that right?" "Yeah, that's right. Without magical power, you can't even use simple magic, and there are some magic spells that you can never learn depending on your compatibility."
"The Empire believes that they can't rely on such ambiguous technology that it's unclear whether anyone can use it or not." "Oh." "So, the only weapons given to the soldiers are weapons that anyone can use with the right training." "That's... a very rational way of thinking, a very Empire-like way of thinking." That's what I thought.
"So, even though their weapons were mediocre, their numbers made them unrivaled in human-to-human combat against most countries." "Yeah." "But it didn't work at all on Lord Eucharlouch."
Berseria's biggest miscalculation was probably the insane existence of me, unable to be even slowed down with a hail of arrows and boulders. I said this with a deep feeling of sincerity. "This is a good opportunity to teach Berseria a little more about magic."
"Lord Eucharlouch is probably busy. Is that okay?"
Berseria spoke in a rare reserved manner. "That's fine. We can practice anytime." And so, I decided to continue lecturing Berseria a little more about magic.
Chapter length 3652 characters.
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