“Even if you capture someone because you want information, that’s not the end of it. There have been cases where someone was caught and interrogated, but it turned out they had the ability to contaminate the mind of anyone listening to them speak for a long time. Or other times where they managed to curse their captor to death even from their jail cell. Or even times where someone activated their powers while imprisoned and caused a massive explosion. Of course, sometimes they just bribe someone and get out the normal way,” Lara added.
“Throwing someone behind bars isn’t the end, anyway. In fact, it’s the same as giving your enemy another chance to kill you. Therefore, if you wield a tool for killing, make sure to kill your opponent. That’s what I would teach to any apprentice I take.”
Franz and the rest were impressed by the elderly couple’s words, not even aware of how deadly a force the pair remained toward their enemies. To put it in extreme terms, the Hero’s party was the ultimate group of murderers, who had taken even the Great Demon King’s life. And they’d continued spelling death for their enemies even after the end of the war.
“This is just the opinion of some old folk who lived during the war, though. I’m sure people have formed other opinions by now. Right, dear?” Sazaki said.
“Indeed, darling,” Lara replied.
The path which must never be taught, as it came too close to death and could lead to destruction. The very existence of the power of the dragon could never see the light of day. The light of annihilation that shouldn’t exist, and a power of light so intense it would be impossible to reproduce. Sazaki and Lara were part of a group with such incredible people. Yet despite that, they’d trained many apprentices, and they concluded their advice to Franz with simple words.
“Those two really are caring,” said Max, who was inside the mansion watching his two comrades talk to the kids.
“Yeah.” Stein nodded.
“What are you doing in the hallway?” Falke had just come home from a simple job he’d needed to do despite it being a holiday, and he bumped into Max and Stein.
“Welcome back. I was just watching your parents and thinking how helpful they are.” Max casually waved his hand, signaling that he didn’t have any serious business there. “I don’t know that much about them since I cut ties with my companions a while ago, but I hear they raised many disciples.”
“Yeah. It was always lively,” Falke replied, remembering the past.
Since Sazaki and Lara had primarily taken in live-in apprentices, Falke had lived together with many of them. As a result, Falke had a sibling-like relationship with many of them, including Lara’s apprentice Aldrick and Sazaki’s apprentice Clovis, and they’d had all kinds of fun together.
“If we compared postwar contributions among our group, those two would surely take the cake,” said Stein, who’d kept some contact with Sazaki and the others after the war.
“Yes...I suppose so.” Falke had an indescribable expression, but this was the truth.
In the modern era, where the great war was a thing of the distant past, mankind had maintained a certain level of strength largely thanks to the growth of Sazaki’s and Lara’s apprentices, who’d then further spread those teachings. These apprentices were so skilled that they would have excelled during the great war themselves, and they were some of the strongest fighters in the current day, save for the Hero’s party.
“You’re also one of the people contributing, though,” Max said with a grin.
“Give me a break.” Falke waved his hands, flustered. But as a teacher, he was in charge of combat readiness and training, so Max wasn’t wrong.
I can’t be in the spotlight, after all. Max looked at the bashful Falke, thinking that he couldn’t contribute in the same way.
As a secret member of royalty, Max couldn’t be in a public-facing position, and since the dragon’s power was hereditary to the Rin royal family, he couldn’t teach it to other people. But before he died, he wanted to at least say his goodbyes to all the people who’d helped him. He was also planning to at least visit his father’s grave; he wasn’t a hermit or anything.
“If we’re simply talking about teaching skills, Lara would be at the top, right?” Max moved on, ignoring the embarrassed Falke.
“I agree. It’s an impressive feat that despite being at the incomprehensible Abyssal layer, she can teach people with theory rather than intuition.” Stein nodded deeply in affirmation.
Stein, who was one with nature, couldn’t explain the layer of magic that Lara had reached. Since the world she lived in was such an unusual one, it was impossible for her to come to a mutual understanding with others. Despite that, she’d trained many mages of the Deep layer, which was something worthy of praise.
“Besides the fact that Ferd’s power can’t be reproduced, though, he’s hopeless at teaching,” Max muttered softly.
“He certainly is,” Stein interjected, though he wasn’t exactly fit to criticize others himself.
“No, I don’t want to hear that from you, Stein. You always tell people to have a conversation with their muscles.”
“That’s because there are solid theories behind that.”
“Say that when your theory is at Lara’s level.”
“My father said something similar. ‘Even from my perspective, Ferd is an unconventional, instinctive guy, so it’s pointless to think about what he’s trying to do,’” Falke said.
“That’s right. He just does everything by force, without any logic, so he’s the natural enemy of scholars and historians. There’s no way a Ferd School of swordsmanship could be established with a guy like him heading it,” Max agreed.
“So there really isn’t one?” Falke asked.
“Nope. In terms of pure swordsmanship, your father is far superior—in fact, he’s the best. I’d never want to be in front of him when he’s ready to strike. Someone of my level would simply get beheaded. Perhaps Stein could bring it to a tie.” Max shuddered theatrically.
“Who knows? I’ll pray to my muscles that that never happens.”
As a matter of fact, even the members of the Hero’s party would have trouble dealing with Sazaki’s Lightspeed blade, and no one would want to stand against him in a battle to the death. On the other hand, there was no particular method to Ferd’s swordsmanship; he just swung.
“To be frank, I don’t think Ferd is particularly talented physically,” Max said.
“I agree. In terms of talent alone, the youngsters at the Boiling Mountain probably surpass him,” Stein added.
“That’s true. But even so, I think Ferd is the one I’d have the least chance of beating.”
“Indeed. To this day, I’ve never seen such mental muscles. Actually, Erhard was similar, but his murderous intent was a bit too strong.”
“Yeah... I was in it for pretty selfish reasons. Your goal was the survival of the Boiling Mountain. Who knows when it comes to Elrica? Erhard believed that the Great Demon King definitely, absolutely had to be killed for the sake of the world of man. Lara was kind of just giving it a shot for the sake of it. Sazaki’s only reason for joining the fight was that his buddy was also going... Hey, are these people actually okay?” Even though he’d always put his country first, when Max remembered the reasons for his comrades’ participation in the war, he began to seriously wonder what was wrong with their group.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Stein nodded solemnly.
In other words, even within the Hero’s party, Ferd was a minority who’d fought of his own volition, not for the sake of his country or family, but to preserve the larger notion of life itself and reclaim the blue sky. That was why, in a world full of despair, he’d shone a light brighter than the gods themselves.
“I don’t know anyone more incredible than Ferd when it comes to ambitions,” Stein said with his eyes closed.
“Right?” Max agreed. That image was still burned into his mind: the back of the man who’d possessed neither technique nor skill, pushing through the dark, gloomy, red sky with nothing but the light emanating from his own spirit, eventually becoming the light of all people combined and defeating the Great Demon King.
“In any case, these students are quite unique.” Stein suddenly changed the subject, looking at the young people who would lead the next generation.
A short time later, Franz left the garden and followed the path to the bathroom that Connie had shown him earlier. This mansion really is huge, he thought, feeling impressed. The bathroom was also far away, so it was quite possible that he’d bump into someone along the way. For example, the former Hero, returning from his walk.
Oh. Franz noticed the silhouette and saw Ferd toddling closer. His face was that of an ordinary, good-natured old man, and it would be impossible to recognize him as the leader of the group who’d fought a deadly battle to save the world seventy years ago. Franz himself hadn’t actually realized it, but there were exceptions.
“Hello, Mr. Ferd.” Franz was able to easily remember his name because he shared a name with Ferd the Hero.
“Oh, if it isn’t Franz.”
It seemed that Franz and the old man with the same name as the Hero had the same destination, so the two of them headed to the bathroom together.
“May I ask you something?” asked Franz.
“What is it?”
“Have you ever felt that it was a burden to have the same name as the Hero from your generation?”
It was quite rude to ask someone whether their name, which they had no control over, weighed so heavily on them, but Franz felt like he needed to know the answer, for a reason he didn’t even understand himself. Little did he know that this action would lead to something great.
“Hmm. I can’t say it has ever bothered me.”
“Is that so?”
“Do you have any classmates named Ferd?”
“Yes. They’re proud to have the same name as the Hero, but I wondered what it was like for someone from the same generation...”
“I see. Let me think... The Hero was pretty reckless, so I suppose the other Ferds didn’t really want to be lumped together with him. I even happened to hear a joke that since they had the same name, they should also be able to do the same things. Thinking about that...back then, perhaps the name wasn’t just a burden, but in fact completely unwelcome.”
“The name was unwelcome?”
“Mm-hmm. That guy did some really crazy things, after all. I honestly have no idea what the other Ferds are thinking right now.”