Chapter 9 – Sisters practice
As a condition to go to see and spar with Ghislaine, Master thought for a long time and finally reached a hot-blooded condition, “if you want to go to Ghislaine, you must first become stronger than me!”.
In response to that, I became fired up.
As fired up as I was, I decided to start with copying the lightspeed sword that Ghislaine showed the last time to reach a power-up, so I am swinging my sword as usual today.
“Hey, Emily. Can you teach me how to use the sword?”
It was then that Elder sister suddenly said something unusual.
I wasn’t surprised by that.
Recently, Elder sister seems to have realized some things like being too reliant on Rudeus after being told by Father things like “does Sylphy plan on being protected by him forever?”, and started working hard to become someone who could support Rudeus.
More specifically, she would go to help out at Zenith-san’s clinic, and even started to learn etiquette from Lilia-san, and start training hard to build up stamina.
She’s really working hard.
It’s amazing. The instant Rudeus disappeared, everything started to turn for the better, so I was impressed by Master’s decisiveness to ship Rudeus away.
When I honestly told Master about how I felt, he became even more arrogant, but let’s leave that aside.
“Got it. Do you, want it, to be, hard? Do you, want it, gentle?”
“Be hard on me.”
“Mm. Okay.”
I feel a little reluctant since my training time would decrease, but I haven’t become ruthless enough to leave my actual sister working hard aside.
Anyway, it’s also well known that teaching another person would deepen your own understanding.
And so, I decided to teach swordsmanship to my elder sister.
I thought that it would be better if she learned from Master with me, but she told me, “Paulo-san, he’s a little scary.”, so it was denied.
According to Elder sister, she saw the instant Master beat Rudeus up.
I didn’t see it, but when I thought about it, Elder sister was walking in front of us at that time.
So, seeing her beloved person receive violence that made him faint, she started to dislike Master.
To be hated by such a little girl.
Master’s so pitiful.
With that said.
Let’s start training!
I took Master’s way of teaching as an example.
I was undecided whether I should teach her the way my kendo sensei from my previous life taught me, but as the saying when in Rome, do as the Romans do, I decided to use the isekai curriculum now that I’m in another world.
And my master’s way is to fight once before teaching the techniques.
Like when Master taught me for the first time, it’s necessary to show an example, but Elder sister, who has seen me spar with Rudeus for years, should understand already, so it should be fine.
“So, you should, start with, attacking. Come, from any, where, you want.”
“U-Un. I got it. Yaaaaaaaa!!”
After finishing the minimal explanation I could say with my incomplete sentences, we started to fight.
Elder sister swung the wooden sword she borrowed from Master’s house in a way she found reasonable.
She quickly swung upwards, then forcefully swung down.
Her movements did not show any signs of stances or foundation.
But everyone’s like that at the beginning.
I was also like that in my previous life when I first held the sword.
While feeling a little nostalgic and smile-provoking, I blocked Elder sister’s sword head-on.
I didn’t parry at all.
We’re just practicing.
It’s important to let her first hit places that are easy to target.
I learned this in kendo.
“Ei! Yaa!”
Elder sister continues to swing the sword while moving forward.
Just like the heading-back practice method in kendo, I received Elder sister’s attack while slowly moving backward matching her speed.
But I immediately noticed that Elder sister’s sword had less momentum than I thought.
“Syl, you, don’t need, to hold, back. I am, strong. I’m, fine, even if, you get, serious.”
“U-Un!”
Even though Elder sister replied so, maybe she had a strong sense of discomfort when pointing her sword towards another person, her sword did not stop holding back.
Elder sister is kind, after all.
She might be incompatible with the Sword God Style that emphasizes attacking.
Mm?
Thinking about it this way, does Elder sister need to force herself to learn swordsmanship?
If it’s means of attacking, she has Rudeus’s special magic spells, and she could attack from afar, so maybe she doesn’t need to charge forward with a sword?
Unlike me, Elder sister doesn’t seem to have admiration for swords.
“Stop.”
“Haa… haa…”
For the time being, I decided to end our first battle after letting her a feel about fighting.
Elder sister is a little out of breath, but she is still energetic, probably because of her recent stamina training.
Hmm.
That being the case, let’s try what I just thought.
“Next, let’s fight, while you, use, magic.”
“Huh? B-But magic is dangerous…”
“It’s, okay. As I’ve, told, earlier, I’m, strong.”
I forcibly convinced my reluctant elder sister and started to spar with magic allowed.
Come to think of it, I’ve also asked Rudeus to do a mock battle like this because I wanted to gain experience in dealing with magicians.
Though that guy also refused me, saying he didn’t want to cast magic spells against me.
Now that I think about it, this is also my first battle against a magician.
And although I told Elder sister that way, I’m also not absolutely sure to win against a type of opponent I’ve never fought against…
I should be more careful not to be surprised by an unexpected attack and die instantly.
“H-Here I come… Air Burst!”
The first spell Elder sister chose to use was a wind-attributed magic spell that generated a shock wave.
Normally, it should be a colorless and transparent blow, but I could see it clearly thanks to my Magic Power Eyes.
I mean, it’s so easy to tell since the air is literally bursting, so I should be able to deal with it even without my Magic Power Eyes.
I swing my sword.
Cutting the shockwave with just that.
When it comes to frontal attack, it’s better to slash to destroy than parrying.
“Ei~! Ei!~!”
Elder sister released tons of shockwaves, water bullets, and ice blades while posing with the small staff she received from Rudeus.
There’s one thing I thought of after seeing that.
Unlike swordsmanship, in which skills matter a lot, magic is also quite strong, even if you just throw a random attack.
For example, it’s similar to amateur civilians shooting guns everywhere.
It might not be useful against master opponents, but it’s possible to defeat opponents like the Terminate Boar Master defeated before with just that.
On top of that, thinking of various kinds of magic spells Rudeus I’ve seen when he was practicing and the way they were used, it could probably be applied in many ways depending on one’s mastery.
There are a lot of ways even just with the things that Rudeus tried, like throwing Air Burst to one’s self to move at high speed, creating a quagmire under the opponent’s feet to block their movement, or blocking vision using smoke and explosions.
Being able to attack in both a frontal and tricky way, I think that she would be fine even if she only attacked using magic spells.
In that case, the swordsmanship that Elder sister should learn with the best benefit is…
“Yo.”
“……!?”
I closed the distance between straightforwardly by parrying Elder sister’s monotonously released magic spells using Water God Style technique.
The shorter the distance, the shorter the time it takes for the magic spells to hit, but it doesn’t work for me since I’ve already completely read Elder sister’s attacks.
It’s normal, since it is a beginner’s monotonous, simple attack.
I should say that I might be embarrassed if I couldn’t come up with a way to deal with her despite training for years.
As soon as we closed our distance, Elder sister couldn’t do anything.
Even if she desperately cast a magic spell to freeze the ground on my feet, a single step made me easily escape from the effective range.
After that, Elder sister is already right in front of me.
Unlike the first time I fought against Rudeus, Elder sister couldn’t deal with even my considerate and held back slow slash, and our battle ended quickly with my wooden sword on her neck.
“Un, I get, it, now.”
After the battle, I decided the way I should teach Elder sister.
This is the best thing I could teach Elder sister.
“I’ll, teach, Syl, Water God, Style.
“Water God Style?”
“Right. Water God, Style. It’s a, defensive, sword. It’s, enough, to attack, using, magic. So I, teach Syl, sword to, defend.”
This is probably the best way to let Elder sister become stronger.
If she’s able to use magic and Water God Style’s technique at the same time, a nightmarish combo of a ranged attacker with a shield will be born.
For example, it’s like shooting with turrets while riding a highly defensive tank.
What a cheat.
Of course, I don’t think that it would be that simple.
I know very well the difficulty of using magic spells and swordsmanship at the same time since I also haven’t given up learning magic, and Elder sister doesn’t even have a magician as a teacher.
Unlike me, who’s lucky enough to find a master who could teach me swordsmanship, Elder sister’s path to becoming stronger isn’t a paved road.
Even so, it shouldn’t be a waste to learn a new technique.
That’s how I started Elder sister the Water God Style.
In the end, Elder sister would become a skilled magic swordsman holding a short staff in her right hand and a short sword in her left hand, but that is still a long way off.
[Prev Chapter] [TOC] [Next Chapter]
Chapter 8 – VS Sword King
Driven by the thought that the “enemy” must be removed, I swung the wooden sword for training that I brought.
I raised the sword in a high stance and slashed as I pounced forward.
“Fu!”
However, there is no way that such a simple tactic would be effective against a far stronger beastkin swordsman.
The beastkin swordsman also drew her katana from its sheathe faster than a blink of an eye, cleaving just like a sword drawn to meet the trajectory of my swinging down sword.
The battle aura-clad wooden sword was easily cut off, with the tip up in the air… was what should’ve happened.
Why should’ve?
Because I didn’t swing my sword down in the first place.
“What!?”
North God Style “Illusion Step”!
Master doesn’t seem to like North God Style that much, so he wouldn’t teach me, but he would use techniques that are tricky and outsmarts the opponent but do not exist in the other two styles, so I learned it by watching.
This is one such technique. It’s a technique that allows the user to trick the opponent and make him seem to move forward yet stop in his place, or show to swing down his sword but actually stop.
Frankly, it’s just a more advanced feint.
But it is said that it’s not impossible to move freely and unpredictably after mastering the technique, but even Master who reached Advanced-rank is far from perfectly doing it, so I could only take it as a future goal.
But now, such a rough technique is enough.
It’s probably because the opponent underestimated me for being a child, but it worked.
A careless flaw shown by the strong.
I released my strongest blow toward it.
Sword God Style “Sword of Silence”!
Sword God Style’s sure-kill sword technique takes speed as paramount.
The sword technique that leaves sound behind headed towards the head of the beastkin swordsman who has just swung her katana.
“Haaa!!”
“……!?”
However, the beastkin swordsman surprisingly blocked my perfectly timed blow.
By quickly reaching out her left hand towards the katana that was swung by her right hand, she held her weapon tightly, and released a second attack that was faster than the blink of an eye.
The super fast slash cut off my wooden sword from the middle, this time for real.
Unbelievable…!
I can’t believe I would be cut off by an attack released after a sonic slash…!
Is this person’s sword at the speed of light!?
But, it’s not over yet!
I took another step forward and used my small body to step inside the beastkin swordsman’s range of attack.
Getting so close, she shouldn’t be able to swing her katana.
But it’s the best attack range for my child’s body and my wooden sword that was cut off and shortened.
I just finished swinging down with the Sword of Silence, so I swing the wooden sword upwards, targetting the beastkin swordsman’s flank…
But she dealt with it naturally.
The beastkin swordsman took a back step and moved back to ensure the range of her katana and swung it diagonally from below.
Aiming for my arms.
She intends to cut them off… no, she’s using the back of her katana, so probably intends to break them.
But since it’s an attack different from the normal swing, it is slightly slower, so I should be able to deal with it!
Water God Style Secret Art “Flow”!
A technique that specializes in parrying and countering, that is both the foundation and the ultimate technique of the Water God Style.
Interrupting my attack towards the beastkin swordsman, I released this technique to meet with her attack, making the beastkin swordsman’s sword path change.
My wooden sword gently caressed the side of the beastkin swordsman’s katana, making its path that was diagonally from below head straight upwards.
With that, the attack that headed toward me failed.
And here comes the true value of Water God Style!
Parrying the attack immediately connects to a counter!
The time it takes for me, who parried with the smallest amount of movement, and the beastkin swordsman who missed a big attack is completely different.
With the same momentum I made by stepping forward earlier, I took another step to enter inside the beastkin swordsman’s range and thrust my wooden sword toward her neck.
The next instant, the beastkin swordsman’s appearance blurred.
“Eh?”
At that moment, I couldn’t understand what had just happened.
Suddenly, my wooden sword was completely cut off from the base, turning the sword into a short wooden stick with just the handle.
To makes matters worse, I saw the figure of the beastkin swordsman placing her katana toward my neck.
And there, I finally realized.
It was cut.
My wooden sword was cut with speed as fast as light, not even allowing me to react, only to stop when the katana was about to cut off my head.
At the moment of the attack, my eyes barely captured what had happened.
What I saw in my left eye was a movement that specialized in wielding a sword to the point of perfection.
What I saw in my right eye was an artistic control of battle aura.
Such action released the supreme blow that seemed to be the ultimate sword.
“Amazing…”
I was simply enchanted by it. I forgot about the fear of having a knife to my neck. I forgot the thoughts of protecting my father and elder sister. All I could do was to stunningly say that word.
“What are you doing!? Stop it!”
“Mu…”
“Ah.”
But Master suddenly got between us, making the beastkin swordsman lower her katana.
The battle between us happened only within a few seconds.
I think that even Master didn’t have the time to stop it.
After all, his attention was caught by the magic spell Elder sister launched against him.
“There’s a ton of things I want to say, but first, Emily! Why did you suddenly attack!?”
“I felt, killing, intent, so. I thought, I should, protect, Syl and, Father.”
“Uh… hearing that, it’s hard to get angry… next, Ghislaine! What were you… ah, no. I guess it’s useless to say anything to you.”
“What do you mean by that!?”
Master was about to say something but finally gave up, while the beastkin swordsman called Ghislaine raised a voice in protest.
Oh, this person is called Ghislaine huh.
Woah, I’ve totally heard of her~.
A master swordsman of Sword God Style at the King level, “Sword King” Ghislaine Dedoldia.
Master used to say, “She’s the strongest swordsman I know,” and I heard from Zenith-san that she was their companion when they were still adventurers.
In other words, he is completely related to Master.
I’m sorry for suddenly attacking with a misunderstanding!
I mean, I should notice it at the point where Master isn’t showing any hostility towards this person.
My mind blanked out after receiving killing intent.
Thinking about it calmly, even her killing intent was caused by Elder sister suddenly attacking with a magic spell.
My brain froze and relied on my defensive instinct to take action…
Maybe because Master fights that way quite often, so I guess I was influenced by him.
This isn’t good.
I should fix it properly before it turns into a habit.
“Uhm, Ghislaine, san. Sorry, for, suddenly, attacking.”
“Umu. Be careful next time. Also, just call me Ghislaine.”
I attacked with the intent to kill, but Ghislaine not only forgave me but also replied in a friendly manner, saying I could call her without honorifics.
What a big-hearted person.
I felt a little timid calling her just by her name, but since she wanted to get closer, I decided to thankfully call her Ghislaine.
“At any rate, Paulo, is this girl your disciple? Being able to use all three major styles so skillfully at her age, isn’t she already stronger than you?”
“T-That’s not true! ……probably.”
Master’s eyes were moving erratically.
By the way, my current ranks are Sword God Style Advanced, Water God Style Advanced, and North God Style Intermediate. Recently, I have around a 30% win rate with sparring with Master.
But as expected of Master, he is Advanced in all three major styles, and a seasoned adventurer with a lot of experiences in battles. He has a lot of tricks and techniques, so I can’t completely win against him yet.
In return, it makes me happy that I can learn a new technique every time we fight.
“So, Master, why is, Rudeus, tied up?”
“Ah~, umm… well, I guess it should be fine telling you.”
To summarize what Master said, Elder sister and Rudeus started to become dependent on each other, so they decided to forcibly separate them.
Rudeus is going to be entrusted to Ghislaine to be sent somewhere else, and in order to encourage them to become independent, he will be prohibited from returning or even exchanging letters within five years.
I thought that it wasn’t something that should be done on a 7-year-old child, but what made me think so was the Japanese common sense that was rooted within me.
I heard that even Master left his home at the age of 12, so maybe this is normal in this world.
Anyway, leaving that aside.
“Can I, go to, see him?”
“Eh!? D-Don’t tell me, Emily also thinks of Rudy as…!?”
“I don’t, care, about, him. I want, to, spar, with, Ghislaine.”
“…I see. I won’t feel strange even if you started saying that your lover is your sword.”
As expected from Master.
He understands me very well.
“I don’t mind. It should be a good stimulation for young lady as well.”
“Uhh~, let me see… well, let’s talk about it on another day.”
Master seemed a little undecided, but he didn’t refuse completely.
As such, while I was happy after gaining the hope of being able to spar with a master swordsman at the Sword King level, Rudeus was taken and shipped off by Ghislaine.
Goodbye, my elder sister’s undesirable lover.
You can leave Elder sister to me and enjoy the happiness of receiving teaching from Ghislaine about the sword for years.
Adios.
[Prev Chapter] [TOC] [Next Chapter]
You can become join my patreon to read up to more than 30 advanced chapters!