Chapter 250


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The girl’s name is Eris Gladius.
She is a sword saint and one of my disciples—and moreover, she is the beloved daughter of Ragna Gladius, the Knight Commander of the Arcana Kingdom who stands before her.


What unfolds before my eyes is a duel between father and daughter.
Watching the two cross swords, I notice how strikingly similar their stances and sword techniques are.
While this is partly because they both practice the same Sword style, it seems even more influenced by how Eris has always been intensely conscious of her father, the Knight Commander.

They alternate between fierce attacks and solid defenses, trading offensive and defensive positions so rapidly that I can’t take my eyes off them for even a moment.

Their physical prowess never wavers despite the intense exchanges, their pearl-like techniques polished daily without fail, and the mental fortitude that perfectly governs it all.

Both of them represent humanity’s pinnacle in mind, technique, and body, and their battle is truly an exchange of transcendent skill.

The fierce exchange continues with definite technique behind it—not just speed and power—as Eris mixes up her timing with feints—followed by the fastest thrust—which the Knight Commander deflects with minimal movement—neither giving an inch as their intense sword fight continues.

But I have absolute certainty.

「Eris—show us, me and the Knight Commander, how much you’ve grown!」

The moment I speak these words.
Just as the Knight Commander unleashes his greatest strike—but it is—completely ensnared—by Eris’s sword technique that flows like rippling water—CLANG!!—and is deflected into the air.

「—」

It’s the Knight Commander who is left speechless.
He stares at his numbed hand.
Then turns his gaze to Eris.
Though his expression is stern at first, it soon softens into a smile.

「Eris, I admit defeat. You’ve grown strong.」

Her tense expression finally relaxes, as if she’d been holding her breath this whole time.
The Knight Commander approaches her and gently strokes her head several times with fatherly affection.

「Father…」

Recognized by the Knight Commander, Eris’s eyes well up with tears visible even from a distance, and large drops begin to fall.

「Now, now, don’t cry. You beat me, Eris—you should hold your head high.」

「Father… I—」

「It’s alright. You don’t need to say anything. We crossed swords. That’s enough. I understand all the training you’ve done, how hard you’ve worked… Eris, you are my pride.」

He embraces her gently, as if to envelop her completely.

「When I realized my daughter had become a proper adult, I suddenly felt lonely… To think that my little Eris…」

The Knight Commander’s voice trembles.

「I’ve been such a terrible father. I regret it now more than ever. I should have treasured our time together more.」

「Father, please stop… I respect you so much.」

The Knight Commander seems lost in memories of the past.

「When you come back, let’s cross swords again. And not just that—I want to talk with you more.」

「Father, I want to talk about so many things with you too.」

They are generally people of few words, and from my perspective, they seem rather awkward.
But perhaps for them, bound by both the ties of father and daughter and the bond of the sword, this is enough.

Eventually, the Knight Commander steps away from Eris and says,

「Ichiro, Eris has blossomed thanks to you. I can’t thank you enough.」

「Eris did all the hard work. All I did was give her a little push from behind.」

「That’s not true. Without you, she wouldn’t have shown such growth. I couldn’t have done it… Though that makes me a bit jealous, I must admit.」

Jealous… I’m glad to hear that word.
If the Knight Commander feels that way, then surely these two will treasure their time together even more from now on.

「By the way, Ichiro.」

「Yes?」

「I’m entrusting Eris to you.」

Well, that’s obvious.
After all, I am Eris’s master.
He doesn’t need to tell me that.

「Of course. Leave it to me.」

Having heard our conversation, Eris quickly glides over to stand next to me. Her face is bright red! What’s this about?!

「Is this really okay… Master?」

「Leave it to me. A man’s word is his bond.」

Eris clasps her hands together, her expression reaching cloud nine.

「We’ll need enough children to form a Knight Order…」

Wait, wait, something’s not right here—

「We’ll need to make the cabin on Hidden Mountain much bigger too, since we’ll have Big Sister Sena and Great Master…」

This is bad! This is bad!
I don’t know exactly what, but something’s definitely wrong here!

「Eris, wait… I think there’s a misunderstanding. Your father probably didn’t mean ‘entrust’ in that way, but rather in the sense of entrusting his precious daughter’s training to me as her ‘Master.’」

Right? I turn to the Knight Commander questioningly.

「Wrong.」

Huh?

「I meant I’m entrusting my daughter’s entire being to you. And you responded, ‘Leave it to me.’ That’s the truth.」

How do I even describe how I’m feeling right now?

「C’mon now, Knight Commander, what are you saying? That’s way too harsh a joke!」

「Call me Father.」

Yikes… This feels like asking a robber for help only to find another robber… That’s exactly how this feels.

「Or Papa is fine too.」


「That’s not fine at all!」

Geez, this father and daughter—

Just then, Eris raises her right hand with a dreamy expression.
On it is a bracelet with beautiful patterns.
It’s something I had given to them.

「Master, you gave this to me, didn’t you?」

「Ugh.」

That’s true. That’s a fact.

「But that was—」

And so begins my battle(?) with the Gladius father and daughter, where I suffer a near-fatal wound that fortunately remains just near-fatal.




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That day, after promising to meet again with Siesta and the Knight Commander, we part ways.

Our planned three-day stay in the royal capital comes to an end, and the next day we are set to leave.


Now, half a year later, I reflect on the events in the royal capital.
Though there were difficult and painful times, and busy moments too, they’ve all become fond memories now.

Adam and Nelly return to their respective manors, while we head back to Boldaf.
Puru and Angie decide to settle in the royal capital, so they remain there when we part ways. As for Sensei and Mika, they plan to set out on a journey after returning to Boldaf and making preparations.

Partings are always sad things.

「Ichiro, get up and make some food already.」

A hungry Sena shakes my body as I’m still lazing around despite it being almost noon.

「Yeah, yeah, just wait a bit.」

With Sensei and Mika having left on their journey, Sena and I are living alone in our old cabin on Hidden Mountain.

Still, I frequently come down from the mountain to the town, where I meet with people like Anon.

Oh right, when I met Anon the other day, I heard some information about Ryūgūin.

So next, I want to talk about Ryūgūin’s achievements over these past six months.
He is challenging the Time Dungeon, considered to be the most difficult of all.
It’s the dungeon where he once failed badly in his attempt to clear it, and now he must challenge it again.



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