Chapter 216: Garrand The Sword Emperor (1)
u4lWinter Holidays.x32ofBI
M6LvThis was the fourth winter I was spending in this world. The winter was as cold as always, but there was a drastic difference compared to before.wVed
U1k“Faster!”0VvOL59
LPwHer shout was followed by three stabs of silver dots that were difficult for my eyes to even follow.fxn
NlX6TJp– Kang!8sImxff
GMbHowever, I used the same set of stabs to offset her attack. It was a miraculous stunt, and I didn’t even understand how I did it myself.nFds
91eTgT“Those are the 97 moves of Six Ways of the Spear. With that, I have passed down everything about Six Ways of the Spear.”L73
5ty1BI was learning the final moves of Six Ways of the Spear that I hadn’t managed to learn in the last iteration. The secret and profound arts of the Six Ways, as well as nigh 100 different moves, would have been impossible to learn, had Master not been alive.d3EfmkN
R1fM“Shall we take a rest?” she offered.ZjJkX
nxJs“Sure.”WVRLgPR
xqEPOTThe final midnight of the Autumn Harvest Festival went by rather peacefully, and the Academy, which was supposed to meet its demise, was able to reach its winter holiday in one piece.CTjM3J
lQdAnd it was thanks to that that I was able to practice spearmanship with Master as I was right now.vb2Ml
BZDfbFt“Let’s have a cup of tea.”t6aqs
nnf28oO“Should I reduce the brightness a little then?”Gszw6b
9hJz“You probably should.”Kj4kurt
YZGtHearing that, I slightly reduced the power of the “Sun” that was being manifested over us. The Sun, lighting up the otherwise dark Shadow World, slowly turned dimmer until it was no longer shining brightly over our heads.VSOc
AIctI was starting to get used to maintaining the balance with Sun Manifestation, which consumed a tremendous amount of mana, and training in Six Ways of the Spear, which required utmost concentration.2dfngj
u42gQ“There is nothing more for me to teach you,” said Master.C5scKUc
tKz68Kt“I still haven’t beaten you even once, though.”KF4
Wz7fx“Training is different from a real fight, and Korin, you are the type who is stronger in a real battle.”b0UDN
LKWcF“…I can’t rely on uncertainties like that. I need to be much stronger than I am right now.”cRsa
HRq9jU5Only then would I be able to confront Tates Valtazar and come out on top, even if I had to fight him 1-on-1 on the off chance that such an outcome came to be.eQGDTO
YWDZ2kAs if she saw through my thoughts, Master patted my head before giving me her other arm.O4gJ
ArL8V“Touch it.”2a2UTC
XDRaN“Uhh… Umm. Okay.”lzR1B
gARdThinking that there must be a reason, I touched her soft, slender, and beautiful arm.NYUk
REKc“Observe every part of it, carefully.”muR
JwK“May I… ask why?”kAg
I4LkvI was following what she said and fidgeting with and massaging her clean arm, but couldn’t really tell why.AUK9QV
ivA1“What are your thoughts?”xY3gm
vtTDXYc“Umm… It’s very pretty.”4ns
nt8Vq“…!”nUV
FBH8BShe suddenly slapped the back of my hand after hearing that. It stung quite a bit.udd
AsuS“F, for goodness sake! Not something like that!”Ytb3Xhs
bT5MhKA“Well… That was my honest opinion though.”OfQ
VwHkJUj“R, really?”F0Ns
nsy75OuMaster gave an empty cough with her face deep red.7tb97Fv
EA7CAw“Did you have… a different intention?”NHMY
d31Ld7S“Tell me the difference between my arm and yours.”bX0
i50PO“Well… Yours is thin and… mine is thick?”Aq9
Yh1cZ“You are correct. Your muscles and your tendons are far superior to mine. The muscles and tendons in my arms are much weaker in comparison.”fru
v8FE6Nt“But if you enhance them with aura… Huh?”PWFesO
tjrMWrSI belatedly realized something. Has Master ever… used aura against me?kyoOs
TaC“Wait. Wait, that… doesn’t make any sense…”h8cjH
binCzwqMaster cut me off without waiting for me to finish murmuring in utter confusion.s9nzi
5TlRxp“Do you know Garrand Arden?” she asked.p0kI
cgg0E“The Sword Emperor? Well, I’ve only seen his face once this time but… I saw him a few times before.”rhACmu
xFUxq3“Go see him, and tell him about your relationship with me.”uaNoz
r5E“Have you met Garrand Arden?” I asked.vf2ZQc
7Cg10T“Back when he was an immature young man… and a few times after that. You might be able to understand something after talking to him.”fhgDW5
3MB“Can’t you just teach me instead?”MPxy
q2qtKswMaster shook her head in response.hEex
UMBGs“This is something that cannot be taught; you must be enlightened to it yourself. Your strength is already perfect, and that isn’t what you need. Go talk to Garrand Arden and make him acknowledge you. That is how you can fight against Tates.”KcKp
L1bp3Garrand Arden, huh?T3F36
cH7CI was feeling the need to talk to him sometime soon. Since Master was recommending it on top of that, I decided to do it with haste.Z0U
6vsrw“Then let’s stop here for today. Training any more than this won’t be very meaningful.”FqHWf8
JE4“Alright.”wrrMbp
Bg2jQThese days, the focus was more on quality than quantity. It made sense because Master couldn’t spend all of her time helping me train.xRhr
5IoG5q“Then I’ll see you…”VDfiO
oNtGm“K, kuhum…!”XU0
XrRenShe suddenly let out an unnatural cough before sneaking a glance at me with a slight blush on her cheeks.S4UqWwx
KtCPaUB“Umm… Any farewell hugs?”3Izt4sZ
tPE0lbY“But I’ll be seeing you very shortly anyway.”7eWx
ogM“Ah, r, right…”thoh3yP
7OCMaster became dispirited in the blink of an eye. She was an adorable person, and I was happy to be liked by someone like her.vg6
QDC6Walking up, I wrapped my arms around her back until her small body was fully locked in my arms.wCE7
cRQiq“Thank you as always… for everything.”KlVXf
R2ky7“Ah, uhm! Yes! It’s very warm. Let me go get some water!”xKw8o
zoSqEqBShe said while fanning the heat away from her cheeks. She looked exceedingly adorable.VuxpiU
MNl8s4****jNSH3o
78tThis winter had been very harsh in the last iteration.GvRe4l
JRcbThe city met its demise; the Academy fell and I lost Master. Just like the player, we weren’t able to stop Tates Valtazar and his forces just by ourselves.ZOY
DjX8L6hBecause of that, right now, I was somewhat lost as to what to do.YDTGf
dJhNormally, the player was supposed to travel around the continent following the storyline but…2eNR7
54e“There’s not much to do.”FbHV
jdsLDHXThese days, there was nothing urgent to do.mBjJ
2fIYVDun Scaith, Fermack Daman… and even Miruam. All the pressing problems had been dealt with, and the Academy was still standing strong on top of that. Training meaninglessly didn’t sound right either.L09
5aCAnd because of that—tdtYNo
ugLPXjW“There. A bit higher.”Ciw7
Hgeo“Here?”thpCEV1
wxZwQZI was scratching Hua Ran’s belly.iz4pmz5
akDyiI scratched her soft belly over the thin layer of clothing as Hua growled softly in satisfaction. She was basically a cat at this point.5ub
Wz0eRV“Little Navi~. Does it feel good?”jmTvmW
2La“I’m not Navi.”k8sk
E58g“Yes yes. Little Hua.”kPf
xpqpaThese days, Hua was a lot more docile than before. She began coming over at night and let me touch wherever I pleased without creating a fuss.E87Sw
Wjokq“Does it feel good?”JC0
qp65FV“Yeah.”PsnwGi
u2ThrFuu… I know this isn’t the right thing.X4vw
vjr0OVI know I shouldn’t be doing this but…pu4ai6
dSTU“Oppa. Can you scratch my back?”Iizu
nl7JSGq“Uhh… Ran?”vSGC
lRVdm8R“I demand fair treatment,” Ran joked with a smile.Caw
ckk4RIWhen I scratched her back over the clothing, she started rustling her body.1DtoA
50rwlSS“That tickles. You can put your hand underneath if you want to.”mMcF
B7sOa“No can do!”27vN7
ns2M“You can touch and scratch at the same time though?”YeuBB
dzzRucR“No can…”5giIPf8
Cxo“Do you want to touch my belly at the same time?”hMXVsA
xDa“No…”X38
63b“You can do whatever you want to, actually.”s7Ya
rbUanb“Stop teasing me… You have no idea what I might do.”y0xTd
tauhcl9“Hehe.”0k6L7Eo
Q3IRPWhat a mischievous little devil!nMW0
ixPusRan floated an alluring smile before tickling my chin with the crown of her head.Jr6HA
g96M“There are two of us~. You can basically marry two people you know~?”vCf
1EmEy“Marriage is not a ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ scheme.”mYQx9f
OQb“That’s how much I like you though, Oppa. I can put up with that much.”Fo6I
YqLRan still had the bewitching smile on her lips. After finishing her sentence, she brought her lips to my cheeks without a sliver of hesitation.jru
xdua“Hua isn’t good at showing affection so~ I can do that for you whenever you want.”3Vb
T4xJPVP“Dear me…”jOe
1rkBNfx“Or do you not like me because I’m worse off than others? I’m still growing, you know? You never know; I might be bigger than Sister Marie in the future.”sTNYh07
Kpwbsn“That’s probably going to be hard.”gQ1Lh
0KMWMarie’s “that”… is off the charts, you see.MTusnK
b0DR8“You already have a perfect set of eyes, nose, and lips. I can’t imagine you becoming even prettier.”F3TPfF3
mvL“Hue…”mbfD
xc71u8Her cheeks immediately turned red. She was strong on the offensive, but it seemed that she was weak to compliments.yZEyt94
KkoGShe snuggled closer in so I wrapped my arms around her body.7zda
gVT6kDespite my ambiguous stance, Ran didn’t voice a single compliment. She instead showered me with love and affection without a hint of discomfort.uAaw
JdiRuNGIt was… concerning, thinking about what would happen after I eventually had to choose someone.397
lMIZBxE“Are you still diligently doing your practice routines on Ways of the Fist?”KLk
EVm“Yes. I was more talented in martial arts than I thought.”P8cBmT
jug“Hua couldn’t really do it though.”8lYN
vDpiHP“She’s too strong, after all.”mONOol
ZDGBoth personalities of Hua Ran had equal specs, but Hua was overwhelmingly more talented at fighting in general. Her relentless personality and innate talent in aura made her a perfect fighter.FCZBjUQ
FAEzHowever, that came at the cost of being awkward at martial arts, where you had to delicately and effectively make use of each move.riS
VQTpD“The Association is probably going to assign you an evaluation test as well. You should prepare for it.”aPNmOM
mDMI“Evaluation… But Hua said she wasn’t interested in becoming a Unique Grade Guardian.”qC0d
tshSP“It’s still a good idea to become one. Being a Unique Grade Guardian equals authority.”05oj
t0u9The player eventually had to become a Unique Grade Guardian. That correlated to what the player would be able to do during the final war.o8q6
KzqTx79“No matter how precarious of a situation it may be, the world will refuse to fight as one. However, it will be different if the top figures have power and authority.”4sQxfb
8a9TRnIf aliens were to invade, would the world fight as one like what happens in some Hollywood movies?IuptrHQ
o6j10gProbably not.4Ci
rBcBut what if the presidents of each nation were trustworthy people who shared an objective?TxPkj1
DycQC“Will becoming a Unique Grade Guardian be helpful?”xCYSDrA
ETZ5k“Yes, because Unique Grade Guardians have the authority to aim for the presidential position of each branch.”9roGgu
IZq“President?”5xQZm
XiDk8Y“It’s an old tradition. No one really remembers it at this point but…”xvxUbo
omBp5Taking the seat of the president by challenging them was a rule that still existed. It simply went under the radar because there wasn’t anyone strong enough to defeat the executives and subordinate guardians as well as the president of a branch at once.ESTA
xRRtxVGWhenever there were people like Garrand Arden the Sword Emperor showing up, they would immediately give them an honorary presidential position to avoid conflict, which was another reason for the lack of precedents.M4e
m0y“But they will see us as kids, and will refuse to give us the same treatment they gave that old man.”BY9Ee
rRzeBesides, there was also the fact that Marie and Hua Ran were demi-humans, who were treated like demons for a long time.cTUX
aaFsU3wIt was highly unlikely that they would give high positions within the Association to demi-humans, whom they had been hostile to.JPyl
Xcsf0That was why it was hard to expect much cooperation from each branch of the Association even in the game and the last iteration, because Park Sihu and I were the only ‘pure-blood humans’ that could have the word ‘Unique’ in our title.NMqOuI
wmL“Hmm~. So what you’re saying, Oppa, is that you want us to become Unique Grade Guardians to take over the Association, right?”T59MA
aQPoLjq“They will be vigilant of us already. It won’t be easy but…”brr5
trgMarie, Hua Ran… and me.F2juz
yBeihpTIt should be possible for us, monster guardians.4YA0v
zwtcJZH“If we can at least get two from the three branches, we will be able to save a lot more people.”yj1m
PI2irzIt was only a half-success in the last iteration because Park Sihu was the only Unique Grade that was available.6dX
XVKmAlthough I attempted to become a Unique Grade guardian myself, the final evaluation I received was ‘Semi-Unique’. The walls of Unique Grade were higher and harder to climb than expected.zEbYnST
DRyhzgHowever, even that half-success allowed us to reduce the number of casualties by a lot.0Uc0sCQ
tpJkwLTAlthough we couldn’t stop Dun Scaith from reducing the South to ruins, we were able to swiftly deal with the rebellion of the Old Faith to the West and managed to stop the northern borders from being breached.MLo24Jj
9W1M“Oppa.”UI0l
g3eAy7B“What is it?”4gPlCHM
4ULrxYM“I think it’s amazing how you always try to save people. It’s so cool.”y5eWQqL
r6P“Kuhum… That was very abrupt…”na0
Xrr“That’s the kind of person you are, and that must be why you saved us, right? But…”S0sWxTV
8TvVC4Ran locked her fingers behind my neck.WSU4
uVO“When eeeeverything is over, we still want you to care about only us~”l2cKS97
IzfmX“Not right now. I have a lot to do.”F5r
bcutd“Tch… Oppa. You’re so dense but obstinate, did you know?”NsxJX
Nvn“Yeah. I didn’t know I would turn out like this either. I wasn’t like this in the past.”6F9lNH
nMBA“Is that when you were in your hometown?”yPKj
MhLdsn“Guess so.”GdCh
U4OaAWI was too busy playing around with friends on Earth, and the biggest difference to now was that I wasn’t popular in the slightest.ovs6y
SfYDBVaHah… I guess I would have to face a different set of problems even if I were to go back to Earth.eiUD
ldJySHDAt least I’m popular here so… should I just stay here?vhAK
KutDne****7fy
ZOEkNormally, the guardians affiliated with the Academy took their evaluation tests at the end of the year, with the change to their Grade being decided over the holidays.xnK
46MtVZ5However, this rule didn’t apply to me because of the ambiguous state of my official Grade.UPfidJC
nsFKorin Lork.EtAT1V
MLeEntered the Academy 2 years ago as Grade 5, but was promoted to Grade 1 Knight in just one semester in an official evaluation.Zw9jsA
oxWumDuring the second year unofficially became semi-Unique Grade, but even that was changed after the incident with Mound.r8f
go64nStopping the advance of an army with the Sun, I defeated countless challengers and the last fight against Eochaid Bres was clearly that of a superhuman above superhumans; proving that there was a sky above the sky.jA2e
7KXIn other words, the public perception of me was already that of a Unique Grade Knight.4XOPu
QAIConsidering how even Marie was a semi-Unique Grade and Hua Ran’s Unique Grade was also unofficial, it could be said that I was grabbing a bit too much attention recently.hk7Qe
ZJYKbThat was why Lady Josephine represented the Academy to recommend me as well as Marie, Alicia, and Hua Ran for the evaluation test.WdbO
Mxh“Oh. Mr. Korin! This way! Here!”Gz1FL
J9RZmZWhen we arrived at the waiting room of the Central Guardian Association located near the capital, I found Alicia who had gone to the East with Lunia beforehand.7lXm
qj6“Did you enjoy your visit back to your hometown?”NnJ4P
LGV“Yes! I have some horse jerky. Do you want some?”OMM
spFb“Hoh~. Sure thing.”SuL
Aj2NE6I was about to take the jerkies when Alicia suddenly opened her arms out wide.pqEv5
lIJEj“Huh?”pECtE
HxPfxX“It’s the first time in 2 weeks. I deserve a hug.”JnK
Y9e“Uhmm… Right now?” saying that, I looked around.VyExAo
vJWbWWe were in the waiting room of the Guardian Association… There were a lot of eyes on the surprising actions of the young lady from the Arden Household.6wa
ufcZ“My arms are getting sore. Quick.”jNjNNN
ujCTO7A“Mhmm…!”Vn9kl
jJJJVLI gave Alicia the hug she demanded.dBNfv2p
VeeeOCLThese days… she’s being more and more touchy.jX7A
IXA0“Hehe. Can you tap me on my back?”khE1
DBSBVnA“Okay…”qeB
j3OAAfter I gave her a few taps on the back, Alicia whispered in my ears.7j3TXOn
O0I“It’s been so long… Can we?” she suggested in a soft voice, and I immediately noticed what she was alluding to.bv07N
KtOGjIT“Y, you became quite bold all of a sudden, didn’t you?”rwxNKaI
jj2“I had to read the mood every second in the East. I don’t want to do that when I’m with you either, Mr. Korin.”8bX
0cmZAlicia these days… was frightening. She was becoming more and more like Lunia.qQaBZpy
WbwPckL“Then let me—”9hL
xPlaHk“W, wait…”9k9W
1FCwAX9That was when Alicia, who was bringing her lips towards mine, was suddenly pulled back with a scream, “Uaahk!”XObQX3T
reEFrJC“Ms. Hua Ran?”MeW
6ho6EOWith an indifferent look on her face, Hua said after pulling Alicia back.R5CUui
vRSj6Ob“You’re… too close.”0tA
aEXTXmF“Hing… It’s been 2 whole weeks though.”0CdSp
0Dat7Ix“…”oBSe
IwOBoth Alicia and Hua knew that they liked the same person.3ujBW
s7VZWhat can I say… I’m the sinner in this situation.f6ud
lSeO“Hahaha! I see. As they say, heroes love women indeed!”iiM94J6
eblQAn old swordsman approached in a burst of hearty laughter.PKLJE
cX85His gray hair was disheveled and his martial uniform was tattered but… no one dared to even think about chasing the man out.3rb
7SzWq“Greetings, Sword Emperor.”SboWU
kyp“Been a while, young man.”Whwo
XCOGarrand Arden.EXjtBEk
0vDyHe was the only Unique Grade Guardian in the current generation – the strongest swordsman who lifted the Arden Household into being out of nothing.Ki68dHX
uq3I“Thanks to you I enjoyed the clouds a whole lot.”1rVye
eMhThe eyes of a ferocious beast glared straight through my eyes. Right… we still had to go over that one thing.uOFYqpG
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