A streak of light that sucked in the surrounding brightness.
Lérang couldn’t even react.
By the time he realized Renia had drawn her sword, a streak of light had already brushed past his side.
Boom! Kwooom!
"Argh!!"
The scream did not come from Lérang’s mouth.
It was Renia, the head of the Lester family, who let out the scream.
"Oh, what do I do! I caused another accident!"
Renia had brushed past him, heading towards his back.
Lérang was shocked beyond belief.
Because the wall behind him had split vertically.
’Is, is this the One Flash!’
Lérang tried to calm himself down, regulating his breathing.
It was more intense than the rumors had suggested.
’No, is this even considered swordsmanship!’
Lérang stared blankly at the remnants of the One Flash.
It was clear to even a child that Renia had deliberately missed.
Even a brush would cause one to disappear, let alone a direct hit.
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’...A training ground patched up like a rag. So, this was why.’
Renia’s ’One Flash’ was too powerful, rendering even the magically fortified barriers useless.
It was an incredible skill. One he desperately wanted to learn.
Even if it meant risking everything he had.
"Kyaaah!! It’s completely destroyed!? What, what should I do now?"
Renia panicked, a sight unbefitting of her noble reputation.
Witnessing this, Lérang couldn’t help but think to himself.
’She’s cute.’
Of course, he brushed away that thought with a burst of anger.
"Uh, umm. If Darling and the butler find out I’ve destroyed it again, they said they’ll ban sparring... What should I do?"
Renia scratched her head, looking troubled.
Then, as if struck by a brilliant idea, she snapped her fingers.
"Right! If I say Luna did it, they might let it slide. Let’s go with that."
Such an extraordinary line of thought, perhaps befitting a noble.
’Passing the blame seems second nature to her.’
Though he thought it might be different, it was typical of the nobility.
To them, it was natural to pin the blame on their inferiors.
’Well, I don’t think she’s a bad person. In noble households, it’s normal for the lower-ranked to take on the menial tasks, right?’
Lérang was under a grave misconception.
He was unaware that Luna was just a toddler barely learning to walk.
In other words, Renia planned to overcome the situation through Luna’s cuteness.
Unaware of such thoughts, Lérang could only harbor his misconception.
"Renia?"
"Hm? Ah, ah... don’t worry. I can handle this much on my own."
As Renia said this, she gnawed on her nails.
...Though it didn’t seem like it at all.
But as a poor man, he couldn’t offer to pay for the damages.
Lérang bowed his head slightly, saying,
"I might not be of much help, but I’ll assist with the repairs. It’s partly my fault, after all."
"Would you, really? That would be so helpful. It means one less person will get scolded. Ahaha, what a relief."
She was pleased to have one more person’s help.
’She’s unexpectedly clumsy.’
Until a moment ago, she had seemed so impressive.
The Lester family was indeed a mysterious one.
The head feared reprimand, yet they had someone like Luna, capable of demolishing walls.
A family shrouded in mystery, indeed.
"And I would like to stay here for a while to train. If possible, could I get a small room?"
"Hmm... Go ahead. It seems you’re on the verge of a significant breakthrough."
A significant breakthrough, just as Renia said.
At that moment, something inside him was undergoing a tremendous change.
Lérang clenched his fists.
’Improving the family’s swordsmanship? Unnecessary.’
If he could only master a powerful secret technique like the One Flash.
The Fleur family could rise above being a third-rate household.
It was then, perhaps, his thinking began to shift.
* * *
A month had passed.
Lérang knew he had a knack for analysis and began to dissect everything about the One Flash.
Occasionally, Renia would come to spar with him.
...After the second sparring session, there was a minor incident where Renia was banned from entering the training ground.
He was able to understand some of the secrets and subtleties of the One Flash.
Well, theory and practice were distinctly different, of course.
’Using different muscles, I had to give up some of the swordsmanship from other families...’
The swordsmanship of the Lester family was worth it.
Worth abandoning everything he had built up over the past 5 years.
The first secret technique of the Lester family style.
One Flash.
Crack-!
A streak of light flew, cutting through the bushes.
’It’s a success!’
Lérang clenched his fist in joy.
Out of twenty times, he succeeded only once.
But what mattered was that he had successfully demonstrated it in front of Renia.
Just when he was expecting praise and advice.
"...It’s a pity."
"Excuse me?"
"Choosing the easy path without honor, instead of the difficult one filled with honor. I can only describe it as regrettable."
Renia’s demeanor was different from usual.
Firstly, her eyes had changed. They weren’t the dull eyes as usual.
Calm and serious. A sense of deep gravity.
’What weight...’
Suddenly, she seemed much larger than life, several times over.
"Sir Lérang."
"Yes..."
"It seems I was mistaken in my thoughts. I thought I was helping you, believing it would be beneficial for you... but it has led to the opposite outcome..."
Lérang couldn’t understand her words.
Hadn’t he become capable of using the One Flash?
Just a bit more, if he could just observe and analyze your One Flash a bit more, surely he too...!
"The path you should take is not this one."
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"Are you saying my efforts are lacking?"
"That’s not it. You believe the strength of swordsmanship lies in the nobility?"
"Isn’t that obvious?"
Renia shook her head.
"No. The strength of swordsmanship lies here."
Renia pointed to her chest.
"The heart. Strength accumulates here, not in the shell of nobility."
Strength accumulates in the heart? And nobility is merely a shell?
He couldn’t agree with either statement, especially the latter.
"The heart? Are you speaking metaphorically about mana circles? I don’t understand what you mean..."
"All swordsmanship of any family only differs in the middle; the beginning and the end are the same. I don’t understand why you insist on walking the wrong path. With such a solid foundation, why..."
"The wrong path? No! I know this is the right path!"
Perhaps his shouting was unwelcome.
Renia began to push him away.
Lérang tried to resist, but it was futile.
’What strength...!’
She dragged him, a robust man, with just one hand.
Leaving the training ground, the mansion, and arriving at the boundary separating the town and the castle.
"Return to where you belong."
An eviction order was issued. Precisely, an expulsion.
Lérang was baffled.
"Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Is using the One Flash a crime?"
"Not at all. It’s just that your wandering ends here."
"I’m not wandering! I’ve finally found the right path, why...!"
"...It seems words are useless now. Think it over slowly. I believe the intelligent Sir Lérang can come to understand on his own."
Boom-.
The castle gates closed firmly. He was expelled.
Just for following the One Flash.
’She must be afraid of my talent.’
She must have thought he would steal the One Flash if he analyzed it further.
But.
-Sir Lérang, the strength of swordsmanship is not because it belongs to the nobility. It lies here, in the heart.
Why did those words dig deep into his heart?
Lérang began to sob. He didn’t know why.
Tears just flowed.
"...Please."
Don’t drive me away.
Please explain what I did wrong.
Show me the way I must go.
It was when Lérang was sobbing.
"I’ll tell you that. You foolish human!"
Suddenly, a demon appeared before Lérang, thrusting a contract at him.
Lérang found himself holding a sword in his right hand.
A demonic sword, swirling with dark magic.
The dark magic began to crawl up his right arm, pressuring Lérang.
"Argh!!"
It was then Lérang could wake from the long dream.
Chirp, chirp-.
Lérang, drenched in sweat, opened the window.
Dawn was breaking.
* * *
"Demons are classified into upper, middle, and lower tiers. But, is there anything higher than an upper demon?"
During Elester’s class.
Several students quickly raised their hands, and Yuridia was chosen.
"There exist supreme demons, referred to as ’Legion Commanders.’ It’s common to refer to them as the Sixth Grade, but it doesn’t matter if you call them bastards or whatever."
"That’s correct. Well, it seems a bit of personal opinion is mixed in there... but not a bad nickname."
Ha, ha, ha!
Laughter filled the classroom.
Elester began to write something on the board.
Exactly, a writing instrument was flying around, drawing something.
’Magic... I want to use it too.’
Of course, he could use it later.
The number of hidden magic pieces is comparable to swordsmanship.
The issue? It would only be available after the final exams, during the summer break.
Until then, magic was as good as a pie in the sky for him.
’I could use it with Divine Imitation, but...’
Now that he had stored much better skills.
Wasting a slot of [Divine Imitation] for a personal whim was out of the question.
It was when he was smacking his lips in regret.
"You all know what this magic circle is, right?"
A pattern with a star inverted within a circle.
The symbol of an upper demon, the pentagram.
"Demons of the Fifth Grade and above, they have this inverted pentagram floating behind them. Not all, but what you need to remember isn’t that."
Elester leaned on the lectern, the atmosphere growing heavy.
It meant a very, very important story was about to be told.
"Run. If you see this symbol, you must run away."
Upper demons are a different class of beings.
If there’s an inverted pentagram, it’s safe to assume it’s an upper demon of at least the Fifth Grade.
Students couldn’t stand a chance, so the advice was to run away at all costs.
"Remember this formula well."
The writing instrument danced again, then listed numbers on the board.
123456789 - Star
987654321 – Grade
"A 1-star knight and wizard can confront a demon of the Ninth Grade. A 2-star can face an Eighth Grade demon. Then what about a 9-star knight?"
"They can confront a First Grade demon."
"That’s correct. Of course, since demons use various hellish magics, it’s not absolute. Even if you encounter a manageable demon, never let your guard down."
A simple formula to judge a demon’s strength.
Why make it so complicated instead of simply matching the star number to them?
’Because demons inherently represent ’inversion.’’
Beings that act contrary to human actions. That’s what demons are.
Perhaps that’s why people in this world place significant meaning on ’inversion’ as a symbol of opposition.
As a Korean striving for ultimate efficiency, it’s hard to understand.
Isn’t it? A 1-star knight for a First Grade demon, a 9-star knight for a Ninth Grade demon.
If changed like this, there’d be no need to memorize formulas, allowing for instant comparison of strength.
’Upper demons...’
The pentagram drawn on the board captured my gaze.
--TL Notes--
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