But wasn’t he in part to blame? He was the one who allowed Luke to train his body and techniques without training his mind.
“I sent him to the Gathering of the White Blade because he said he’d listen to the guards, but then he ignored them. He didn’t do the job he said he’d do in exchange for being allowed to participate in the Supreme Warrior Festival. He tests strange new techniques on the younger apprentices, he tests strange new techniques on the new apprentices, he tests strange new techniques on me.”
Man, he’s always testing strange new techniques. At least this means he’s keeping busy!
“In order to temper his spirit, I’ve made him meditate, read books, sit under waterfalls, instruct younger apprentices, learn nonlethal techniques, take on jobs brought to us, do guard duty, but nothing changes! After all that, he still just does what he wants! He takes the other apprentices to raid treasure vaults, assault bandit lairs, and challenge other dojos while using our name without permission! Do you understand what it’s like trying to get that man to think about anything besides swords?!”
Soln sounded pretty fed up. I guess his irritation had been building up since I hadn’t stopped by lately. I wanted to run for it, but he wasn’t letting go. He dragged me into his estate.
“I think this is, uh, something you should say to Luke himself,” I said. I felt like cattle about to be sold off.
“Oh? You think I haven’t?”
“I don’t think this is something you should say to me,” I said without thinking.
“Brother?!”
Soln made no response. He really was a great man. Franz would’ve blown his stack by now.
I mustered a smile straight from my heart and said brightly, “Luke’s happy having you as a mentor. I can’t think of anyone else I can—no, I’d want to entrust him to!”
“Did you really think that would work on me?! I thought he might calm down if he got married, but when I introduced him to a potential partner, he cut her!”
Huh?! I never heard about that.
He tried to get Luke a wife. This guy was more daring than I thought. I was Luke’s childhood friend, and even I wasn’t brave enough to do that. That would require extreme finesse. Luke tended to talk about just about anything, and—now, this is just my supposition—if he hadn’t told me about this, then it was possible he hadn’t realized the girl was meant to be a potential partner.
“I think,” I said, “he sees everyone as one of two types: those he can cut and those he shouldn’t. What a troublesome guy. Is it possible that person was a Swordsman?”
“So Luke will cut anyone, so long as they’re a Swordsman? Is that it?”
“Well, as long as they’re somewhat strong, yeah. That’s why we make him carry that wooden sword.”
I don’t know if the mana material or Soln’s training was to blame, but Luke’s power knew no restraint. Let fortune smile upon Luke the maverick!
“Luke was the one who said he’d agree to meet her if she was a strong Swordsman!”
“Let’s stop talking about this. It’s not getting us anywhere, and there’s no point bringing it up with me. I’m certain this will take care of itself if we give it time.”
I didn’t really believe that. For one thing, I heard that Soln himself used to be a real loose cannon. But my prediction might come true. I wanted to believe it was possible.
“Still,” I said, “I’m teaching him not to aim for vitals! Not even Ansem can bring them back if they’re dead.”
Soln didn’t say anything.
With this awkward air hanging over us, he dragged me against my will into his estate, only letting me go once we had reached a fine room with tatami flooring. Soln’s mansion was built in a style distinct from the rest of the imperial capital. If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it was like the hot spring resorts in Suls.
I took off my shoes and let him show me to a room. Then, before he could say anything to me, I sat atop my legs and planted my hands and head on the floor, all as if it were completely natural. You were meant to wear your shoes in most buildings in the capital, so most people weren’t used to sitting with their legs folded beneath them. But I was different. If anything, the comfort of proper flooring left me unsatisfied.
Soln didn’t show any particular reaction to my grovelling. Perhaps he was, to borrow the wording of the Soln school of swordsmanship, calm as the surface of a still lake. Even Lucia was showing more of a reaction—she was baffled.
Soln sat across from me and said, “I heard about the report from Sir Franz. ‘Disaster will fall upon Zebrudia,’ it said. He thinks this disaster will come as some sort of curse.”
Huh? What’s that? This is news to me. I just talked to Franz about mediating with this guy for me, but he didn’t mention anything like this...
Soln folded his legs and crossed his arms, then looked at me with a piercing gaze.
“It’s...” I said, “like a disaster discount sale. How many is that in one season?”
“Are you trying to tell me you’re used to this, Thousand Tricks?”
No, that’s not quite what I wanted to say. Even if it’s not hard for me to think of a few recent examples.
It’s anyone’s guess how the imperial capital stayed peaceful with so much going on. Was it possible that the abnormal treasure vaults and Fox and everything else weren’t as major as I thought? If people like Ark were always gone when I needed them, was it because they were actually stopping disasters without my knowledge?
I’ll have to ask him next time I get the chance.
“What I don’t understand,” Soln said, “is why you had that Devil Sword brought over. Luke might have stopped it, and maybe nothing would have happened if my students were better trained, but if it hadn’t been brought to us in the first place, then none of this would have happened. Or is there something I’m not understanding?”
There was no anger in his eyes, but that was absolutely terrifying.
I need a good excuse. No, maybe I should just be honest? Maybe he would be more likely to forgive me that way? It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting any help from Lucia...
“Th-That sword was cursed?” I was picking my words carefully so as not to worsen his mood. “Well, setting aside the results, I gave that to Luke, intending to show my gratitude for all you’ve done for my friend. I never thought for a moment that something like this would happen.”
“Hmm. A show of gratitude, you say?”
Sure, it was a rash decision on my part. That sword was pretty ominous. But if he had a problem, I would’ve preferred he take it up with Eliza, who had given me the sword in the first place. Though she probably just gave it to me without thinking.
“Luke and I both drew it, but neither of us got possessed or anything like that. So, how could I imagine that it would possess your apprentices?! I couldn’t! Not even the preterhuman artificer could foresee that!”
“Brother, you’re changing your story. You should have at least talked to him beforehand.”
Lucia, whose side are you on?
Soln remained expressionless. His quiet gaze was scary, but in a different way from the pyromaniac lady’s. I thought I could push my way past this, but that didn’t seem likely.
“A-Also,” I quickly added, “I didn’t know your apprentices would be so weak in Lucia’s presence.”
Hearing this, Soln’s eyes twitched for the first time. The idea that the capital’s top school of swordsmanship had a weakness like that was...amusing. But I also felt like I sort of had an idea of why they couldn’t beat Luke. Being around people like Liz and Krahi had taught me that everyone with exceptional strength had to give up some of their humanity in exchange—wait, no. Ark existed. Sorry. Not everyone relinquished their humanity.
Unfortunately for the apprentices, I’m not going to hand over Lucia.
Not unless they can beat me.
Of course, earning the right to challenge me required first defeating everyone in First Steps. It’s a rule of life that if you want to challenge the person on the top floor, you have to first beat everyone on the lower floors.
While I thought about these useless matters, a few dozen seconds passed in silence until Soln opened his dry lips. He seemed calm, but he could’ve just been the type to appear expressionless when angry. Sort of like Lucia.
“Ah, what a pain,” Soln said, sounding aggravated. “A real headache. To think that was a present.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it— Indeed, that’s a fine blade. Probably.” I was frantically trying to talk my way out of this. “If you have the strength to wield it, it will no doubt be of use to you. Probably!”
“Well then,” Soln let out a small sigh, “this means I have to give you something in return. Wait here for a minute.”
Hm? Maybe he’s not that mad after all?
Soln left the room. Not even I was willing to risk escaping out the bathroom.
Sitting next to me with equally good posture, Lucia said, “You need to exercise some restraint! That’s Luke’s mentor you were talking to!”
“S-Sorry. But everything I said was true. I won’t hand you over to any of these apprentices.”
“Wh-What? Nobody said anything about that!”
“Anyone who wants you will have to first defeat Luke.”
Of course, I didn’t say I would necessarily hand her over even if they did defeat Luke. Lucia’s feelings on the matter were what mattered most. Despite everything, when we left our hometown, our parents had told me to look after—no. They hadn’t told me anything like that. In fact, sadly enough, it was the other way around.
I kept my posture rigid the entire time, until Soln returned shortly after. He glanced at me before setting something rod-shaped wrapped in cloth upon the table.
“Thanks for waiting,” he said. “Not even my vault has much that can compare to that sword. This is a rare piece I got my hands on a long time ago.”
Soln removed the cloth. I thought he might be giving me a sword or something like that, but underneath that cloth was a staff. It was an onyx black staff about two meters long and looked as though it was wrapped in dense vines. At the top was a large gem, making it somewhat resemble my translation staff, Round World.