Chapter 433.

Raon swallowed dryly as he watched Glenn and Rectar cross the right and left walls, respectively.

“What is this?

Their eyes widened in surprise, as if they hadn’t realized each other’s existence, or hadn’t expected to come out at the exact same moment and say similar things.

“What are you doing?”

I called to Glenn and Rectar, who were standing awkwardly, but neither of them looked up.

Glenn glared at Rectar, uncomfortable, and Rectar met Glenn’s eyes with a crinkled brow.

“My lord. Lord Rectar!”

Raon called his name loudly, and both men turned at the same time.

“Well, I came to see you because I heard you were leaving for your dawn training, and I was curious to see what you were practicing, and we had a deal.”

Rectar took the first step forward, his eyes serious as he explained that he had come to help her with her swordsmanship training, as he had said yesterday.

“I see.”

Raon nodded at Rectar’s words.

“You certainly said that.

He’d said on the way to the annex that he’d like to continue to watch her swordsmanship, and when he’d shown her to her quarters, he’d even asked if she practiced before dawn. It was understandable enough.

“My lord.”

Raon muttered something about deserving it, and turned his gaze to the right.

“My lord, why did you suddenly come….”

Unlike Rectar, I had no idea why Glenn was here, and it made me a little uneasy.

“Hmmm.”

Glenn coughed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. The panic in his eyes froze like a blast of north wind.

“I told you yesterday, I have other injuries to give you.”

“Ah….”

“Instead of a martial arts book, I will teach you swordsmanship myself.”

He said that the injury worthy of a golden plaque was not a book of martial arts, but living swordsmanship, and declared that from today, he would teach it himself.

“Uh….”

Raon swallowed dryly, looking back and forth between Glenn and Rectar.

“What is this?

A dream?

It didn’t seem real that two of the second-best swordsmen on the continent would come to him at the same time and offer to teach him swordsmanship.

“So. You’re saying that both of you have come to the Fifth Academy at this early hour to teach me swordsmanship?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Rectar and Glenn nodded in unison.

Only, they weren’t really here to teach, but instead, they looked at each other and shot fierce glares.

“Chilly.

Raon’s body should have been warm from the swings of his sword a moment ago, but the icy aura from Glenn and Rectar sent a chill down his spine as if he had stepped into the North Sea.

Raon bit his lip as sparks flew through the air.

“What do we do?

If Glenn and Rectar had come one by one, it wouldn’t have been a surprise, but two at once was more than he could handle.

My head is spinning and I don’t know what to do.

….

After a moment of silence between the three of them, it was Glenn who made the first move.

“Lectar ball.”

Glenn leaned back and lifted his chin.

“That’s Siegfried’s swordsman, and I think it’s only right that I teach him myself.”

He lowered his lips heavily, reaffirming his family’s dominance and Gasol’s position above all others.

“You are correct.”

Rectar nodded slowly. I expected him to back down at this point, but he didn’t take a step back, just a faint smile.

“But Raon made a pact with me. Just yesterday. He was supposed to help me train in swordsmanship for a while, and this dawn is no different.”

Training, yes, but not dawn training, he insisted, adding something he hadn’t meant to say.

“I have the permission of Raon’s teacher, Lightsaber, so in a case like this, shouldn’t a pact come first?”

“Umm….”

Rectar remained cool, calm, and collected as he recited his reasons for being first.

He could see Glenn’s fists tighten at the mention of the lightsaber.

“Even if there is a pact, Raon is Siegfried’s Gasol, and it is his family’s business that must be prioritized.”

Glenn chewed his lip thinly, as if he didn’t think he could back down now.

“That would depend on the circumstances. Raon is on vacation right now, isn’t he?”

Rechtar didn’t back down, but shot off his last words.

Neither of them took a step back from the other, both of them exuding a chilling glow of intent to teach Raon right now.

“…This is never going to end.”

“I see. If you’ll excuse me….”

Glenn and Rectar engaged in a casual but frosty argument, then turned to Raon at the same time.

“Perhaps we should ask Raon himself.”

“That’s probably right.”

Two pairs of fierce, opposing eyes turned to Raon at the same time.

“What do you want to do about it.”

“Ummm….”

Raon met the spark in Glenn and Rectar’s eyes and tightened his grip on their wrists.

“The pressure’s on.

The pressure the two men exerted was terrifying, even for a small auror. He could feel his heart breaking with just the look in his eyes.

“How do I do this?

I didn’t want to miss out on either Glenn’s or Rectar’s teachings, as they were martial arts that couldn’t be bought for a thousand gold.

My mind was racing, but I had to think of a way.

However, the way things were going, it seemed that no matter what I did, if I took one, I wouldn’t be able to get the other.

No, that wasn’t the problem, the two of them might fight and blow up this training ground.

“Ugh….”

As Raon bit his lip and pondered, the presence of the two men gradually thickened.

-Mmm, I am full, I will share.

Rath, whose mouth was the only thing protruding from the ice flower bracelet, suddenly began to talk in his sleep. He must have been dreaming about eating in his sleep.

‘This guy really isn’t helping….’

I started to flick Rath’s mouth with my finger, but stopped.

“You’re sharing?

“Yeah. We don’t have to eat it all at once now.

Now that I thought about it, I realized that this was a golden opportunity, with the two of them competing to teach.

“I was right when I said I would train with Rectar, and you were right when you said you would give me an injury.”

Raon nodded and met their gaze, his eyes no longer wavering.

“So here’s what we’ll do.”

“Hmm?”

“Like this?”

Both men leaned their upper bodies forward slightly at the unexpected answer.

“The swordsmanship I consider myself confident in are the strong, medium, and light swords, and the swordsmanship I have not yet mastered are the variant swords, the circle sword, the light sword, the short sword, the light sword, and the broadsword.”

Raon looked at them both with question in his eyes and recited each of the swordsmanship skills they had yet to master.

“Why don’t you each pick three and have me train you in them, and then we can see who taught you better.”

“Uh….”

“Huh?”

Their mouths dropped open at the same time, not expecting him to challenge them to a teaching duel.

“Ha.”

Glenn snorted, looking at Raon.

“See this guy?

He’d been wondering how Raon would handle this, aside from not liking Rectar, but he hadn’t expected her to challenge him to a fight.

I don’t know whether to call it bold or brazen.

‘Just….’

I knew it was coming, but I couldn’t help but let it happen.

“Hmmm….”

Rectardo looked into Raon’s calm eyes and cleared his throat.

“Edgar. You don’t sound like your son.

Unlike his straight-laced son, his grandson knew how to take advantage of a situation.

Glenn chuckled inwardly as he watched the North King struggle with the situation.

“That’s why I like your son better.

Realizing that he couldn’t escape his grandson’s plan, he decided to cut him out of the fondant altogether.

Raon clenched his fists as he watched Glenn and Rectar’s eyes go from puzzled to fiery.

“This must be the answer.

He didn’t know why, but these two were competing, and it was only right to set them up for a firefight.

He’d probably think his methods were outrageous, but he’d have to let it go.

“I can control the level of cultivation.

If I can control the progression of their cultivation so that neither of them gets frustrated, they can both continue to learn. It was like a swordsmanship fountain that never dries up.

“Don’t you like it? If there’s anyone who doesn’t like it, I’ll exclude him….”

“No!”

“I will!”

Raon muttered, and Glenn and Rectar shook their heads at the same time.

“I’ll teach you the broadsword, the short sword, and the long sword!”

“Then I’ll take the circling sword, cutting sword, and broadsword.”

Glenn and Rectar quickly agreed on the swords they would teach each other.

“Very well.”

Raon smiled faintly at the two, their rivalry ignited.

“Now, since I’m on vacation and I made the pact with the Swordguy first, I’ll have him teach you before lunch, and then you’ll have the Swordmaster teach me in the afternoon.”

He would train first with the sword spirit whose personality he was still unsure of, and make him wait for Glenn, who was sure to be a noncombatant and would give him injuries unconditionally.

This was the only way he could learn both of their swordsmanships in his opinion.

“Hoo-hoo!”

“Mmmm….”

The swordsman raised his chin in victory, while Glenn rolled his eyes and curled his fists.

The look of a winner and a loser. Glenn couldn’t help but wonder how much sense it made.

“Then my lord will come after lunch, and it’s my time from now on.”

The swordsman frowned, as if he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be with them all day, but he smiled for now.

“I’ll be here at twelve, then.”

Glenn spat out through gritted teeth.

“Twelve o’clock, isn’t that too early?”

“Isn’t it obvious that lunch is at twelve?”

“We’ve always practiced until two.”

“We always have lunch at 12 no matter what.”

“Then you should give us a separate lunch break….”

The second round of Glenn and Rectar has begun. When I saw the Demon King and the Sword Demon fighting on their lunch break, I wondered if this was real.

Raon slapped his own cheek as he watched the two fight for an hour in all seriousness.

‘It’s not a dream.

Then what is it really….

* * *

In the end, Glenn, who said twelve o’clock, and Rectar, who said two o’clock, agreed on one o’clock in the afternoon before they could start practicing.

“Well, we’ve lost a lot of time.”

Rectar sighed and approached.

“Let’s get started, it’s too late.”

“Aye.”

Raon nodded. Seeing Rectar calm again made him feel as if the events of a moment ago had been an illusion.

“Transformed sword, oiled sword, soft sword, phantom sword, cutting sword, and broadsword. You seem to want to stack them higher than the others.”

Rectar spoke with a slow, nodding gesture.

“What path do you truly desire?”

“I want to be a swordsman who is unbreakable.”

I spoke the words I had once declared to Remer and Sylvia. I hadn’t changed my mind.

“I see, so that’s why you’re a ten thousand swords….”

Rectar smiled faintly and unclasped his hands behind his back.

“For now, I want you to unfold the light sword with only the mystery of the phantom sword.”

“Understood.”

Raon bowed politely and drew his celestial sword. The fierceness, speed, and intensity of the original light sword had been killed, and only the illusion remained.

Like sunlight through a pane of glass, the Heavenly Sword flashed and fell, forming more than a dozen blades.

The speed, power, and fierceness were gone, but the illusion of a blade blossoming into a flower remained.

Raon unleashed the illusory Light Blade from start to finish, and then lowered the Heavenly Sword.

“Is this the first time you’ve used a lightning sword that contains only illusions?”

Swordguy stroked his beard and raised his eyes.

“Yes.”

“That’s great. You’ve done a lot of thinking for yourself.”

He praised it as a nice change of pace, as if he were witnessing not just a new light saber, but a whole new style.

“It’s a sword technique that would be difficult for a sewer to stop, let alone a man of your caliber. But you are looking up, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

Raon nodded in agreement.

“Looking at it that way, there are many things I lack. Let’s start with the first one. While your sword was ornate, it was not difficult to find a true sword. The point of a phantom sword is to make one illusion seem real, not many.”

Rectar explained in detail and kindness, pointing out what was lacking and when the sword faltered.

“You’re amazing.

He wasn’t a swordsman for nothing, knowing what to fix and what to strengthen with just one look.

“Now that you’ve found the wrong answer, it’s time to get it right. Unfold your broadsword again, keeping in mind what I said a moment ago.”

“Yes.”

Raon curled his lip, remembering Rectar’s sincere advice.

“That should keep me entertained for a while.

* * *

Glenn stood on the hillside of North Mangshan and looked down at the Five Dances.

“Damn.”

He spat out a rare cultivated curse and balled his fists tightly.

“This is how things go….

He’d thought Raon and Rectar had moved quickly before he’d gotten to know them better, but their movements were even faster than he’d expected.

‘I wonder if he knew what I was thinking.

Rectar’s affection and obsession with Raon had been evident from the first time I’d seen him. It was obvious that he had been puzzled by the change in her injury yesterday, and had immediately spoken of teaching.

“He’s a foxy old man.

He moved and thought quickly, wondering if he’d earned his nickname for nothing.

“What I don’t like is….

Teaching properly.

I wanted to chase him down and blow him away if he did anything out of place, but he was teaching Raon with such sincerity that I couldn’t complain.

“Whoa….”

Glenn bit his lip and raised a fierce glare.

“Grandpa, you’ll never see me like that.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what Remer had said about him looking like a real grandfather. To be honest, he’d even had a nightmare last night about Raon calling Rectar his grandfather.

‘I don’t think I can do this.

When I’m done today, I’m going to have to go back and beat Remer some more. I couldn’t stand the feeling in my stomach.

Glenn bit his lip as he nervously counted the seconds on his watch.

‘I can’t lose.

I raise my grandchildren.

* * *

“Whoa….”

Raon sighed as he lowered his katana.

‘That was a little hard.’

Rectar’s teachings were still detailed, but his rivalry with Glenn had pushed him to train many times harder than before.

I was practicing my weaknesses without taking a breath, and it was taking a toll on my body and mind.

It had been a long time since I had pushed myself this hard, and it was exhausting.

‘I don’t know if I can make it through Sifu’s class.

I was looking forward to Glenn’s class after lunch, but I was also worried.

-After lunch, you will recover.

Lars, who had gotten up late and realized what was going on, shook his head, warning him not to think weakly.

-I’m sure the pineapple girl has prepared well, and I can’t wait!

His mouth watered at the thought of a full lunch.

“Do you think so?

I don’t think so.

A chill down my spine told me that Rath’s wishes were unlikely to be fulfilled, but I kept my mouth shut for fear of making a scene.

“Not fast enough. You can move a little faster with what you’ve got!”

“I see.”

Raon was about to follow Rectar’s advice and swing his illusory broadsword when he felt an incredibly intense gaze behind him.

“Ah….”

I spun around to see Glenn leaning back against the wall, his eyes glowing like a ghost. There was still time, but it seemed like he was already there, waiting.

“Nah, there’s still time. Go on.”

Rectar instructed him to keep swinging his sword, saying it wasn’t lunchtime yet.

“Yes.”

Raon broke out in a cold sweat and did as he was told. The illusions danced, fewer in number but just as real as the real swords.

“That’s it.”

I was about to finish the last one and unfold my sword for the second time when Glenn raised his hand.

“One o’clock.”

“Um….”

Rectar checked the time and frowned. He couldn’t argue, though, as he’d made a promise earlier, and he bit his lip in disappointment.

“Go. I know it’s one o’clock, but Raon wants to eat with me….”

“That’s not necessary.”

Glenn shook his head, pulling something wrapped in paper from his arms and tossing it to Raon.

“Uh….”

Raon caught the object Glenn tossed him. It was somehow familiar to the touch.

-This, this smells like….

Rath’s lips twitched uneasily at the sight of the paper-wrapped object.

“You can’t be….”

Raon wrinkled the bridge of his nose and tore open the package. It was what he expected. Nadine’s bread, the kind she ate when she was bored.

“No time for a meal. I’m about to show you what a real sword is.”

He gestured for her to take up the sword quickly, telling her that eating was a luxury.

-You inspiration!

Rath yelped and lunged at Glenn.

-Do you want to die trying to feed me rubber bread, now!

He shook his fist in the air, demanding a one-on-one.

Raon sighed as he took a bite of the still-warm nadine bread.

‘It’s good to be strong, but….

I wonder if I’ll survive this.