Chapter 15

Judith forgot to hide her embarrassment.

Violet said she hated perseverance and effort, but she didn’t know she would give up after  the first part.

Did she change her mind?

“Why don’t you try a little bit more? You’ve just finished the first step.”

“What’s the next step?”

“About 4 sets of 20 push-ups…”

Eventually, Violet cried like a roaring lion.

“You’re a bad teacher! I didn’t come here to train my physical strength.”

“But you have to start with the basics.”

“Then teach me more professionally! Judith, be honest! You’re not ready to teach me properly!”

With a cute howl full of grudges, her thoughts finally spilled out.

In the end, Judith admitted frankly.

“…Sorry. It’s true that I was too inexperienced to teach, so I’ll do some more research.”

“Ugh… I won’t learn anything next week if it’s like this!”

Violet, who loosened her sandbag, rubbed her whole body, saying it was clear that she would have muscle pain tomorrow.

“Are you really going? Even though the captain will be here in a little while?”

“That’s why I’m leaving, because I don’t want the manager to point out that I’m crying?!”

Violet stuck out her tongue as usual, and then ran away straight away.

‘The first class was ruined.’

It was Judith who realized too late.

“I’ve never taught anyone…”

There was only one teacher in Judith’s life.

He was a ‘teacher’ who didn’t know where or what to do. And that teacher wasn’t very sincere either.

It’s a memory since time has passed after all, but at the time, she hated it and felt like she was going to die.

He was a person who asked her to hold on to a bucket for half a day and train for such things because he was lazy.

‘….wait. Did I do the same thing?’

A wave of self-reflection flooded in at the sudden realization.

Judith thought that she would have to come up with a proper lesson plan as soon as she got back.

There was a time when the teacher taught so roughly that Judith thought it was easy to do what he said while grinding her teeth.

At that time, she thought that the teacher hated her and made her do other things, so she constantly cursed.

So, when she first pulled out a sword, she was very moved.

She remembered not only the touch but also how clean the blade that showed her face was.

“……”

Judith peered through the empty hall.

The other knights had already completed their training in the morning. There were no knights who wanted to train until evening.

She carefully drew her sword and tried the first movement she had learned.

Slashing, hitting, and slashing.

It was the basic of the basics, but when she learned and practiced that simple movement, she felt like a real knight.

‘I was so happy that I was about to fly away.’

That has changed little by little since some time ago.

The day she learned that there’s nothing like stabbing to kill people with her own power.

The day she found out that it is easier to cut a tendon than to kill them.1

The days that piled up like snow made her who she is today.

Judith had awakened as an Aether master by directly harming people.

The moment she felt the heartbeat of the opponent she stabbed with a sword slowing down to their end, she felt something growing in her empty chest.

She didn’t remember very well after that.

Her body, heart, and fingertips were so hot that she instinctively absorbed mana and burst.

The area quickly became a mess, and she luckily ran away taking advantage of the confusion.

She killed people with a sword, and she first dealt with ether.

If she hadn’t killed people, she wouldn’t have awakened. She wished she had lived without knowing that she had this talent.

So she thinks about it sometimes.

What kind of life would she have lived if she had not listened to the orders of the young lady, and if she had been educated as a maid, saying that she didn’t like sword training…..

“Judith? Why are you alone?”

“Captain.”

A big breath of fresh air. There is nothing like it to stop thinking.

Giryu had a more relaxed face.

Did he come after all his work?

The image of him approaching with his characteristic languid face and loosening his neck was more time-consuming than a knight commander.2

“You’re here.”

There was quite a difference in physique between Judith and Giryu.

Judith was slightly taller than her peers, but it was not comparable to Giryu.

Giryu was someone that would make her take a small step backwards if she met him on a dark road at night.

Nevertheless, Judith did not feel much pressure from Giryu.

It’s because I’ve come to know that Giryu is a person who is particularly kind to her and gives her soft eyes.

Look at this, even now.

He’s two heads taller than her even when he was bowing his head.

“Where is Dame Violet going?”

“……The lesson plan was lacking, so we decided to start properly from next week.”

“Huh.”

She didn’t say she ran away because she had a conscience.

Giryu felt sorry, but then nodded his head saying that he would understand.

“Yeah, well. It’s good. How is your condition?”

“It’s really good.”

“I see.”

Instead of asking why she pulled out the sword, Giryu smiled as he said that.

Judith also smiled silently and then half twisted her body.

“I’m still itching to try the aether. How strong is the barrier of the 1st gymnasium?”

“Enough for the imperial family to evacuate here in case of emergency? It won’t collapse soon.”

“That’s enough.”

Judith held her sword. With that alone, the distractions disappear, and memories and emotions that are mixed up … melt down like snow.

What kind of life would she have if she hadn’t held the sword?

Imagination always ends with imagination. There are limits.

One thing that never changes, either in the past or now.

For Judith, only the sword was the tool that made her forget reality.

Only when swinging the sword did other thoughts not intervene. Even worries about living.

“I feel like I’m just going to focus on it in a good way.”

Giryu moved a couple of steps away from her.

All the atmosphere in the area was concentrated on one point.

‘I’m getting goosebumps, this.’

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Even though he knew it’s not directed at him, his skin was getting colder.

Judith’s target was a mannequin on one side of the gymnasium.

Judith’s aether, which she had gathered to the limit, formed at the tip of the blade. Before long, the sword burst as a flash of light exploded dazzlingly. pg 15

The whole gymnasium shook with one blow.

It was like an earthquake.

The aether she produced was not enough to break the model into pieces, but the whole area was turned into a devastated field.

The two people’s hair fluttered at the same time with the etheric shock wave.

The rough atmosphere and the rumbling of mana were felt.

The aether, which was scattered like stardust, was visible to the naked eye.

The hazy aether was like dirty dust.

Probably because it didn’t have a physical form, it didn’t hurt that much when it touched the skin.

Judith laughed lightly.

“It’s still this much.”

“…still?”

Giryu stopped laughing.

She doesn’t seem to know.

What Judith just broke is no ordinary model. It is a thinly smelted dragon scale attached to the surface, and the blade of any sword is instantly damaged as soon as it strikes the model.

It’s not something with normal hardness…

“Are you confident that you will become stronger?”

Instead of answering, Judith just smiled strangely.

What about it.

Giryu looked at the side of the gymnasium with a perplexed smile.

Even if Judith did something like that, he doesn’t think they’ll believe it.

‘Isn’t that supposed to be treated as something only I can break?’

Deschamps was on the verge of getting nervous, but Giryu couldn’t blame him. Because Judith was smiling gracefully.

“Was it okay?”

Giryu didn’t want to break that smile. So, he decided to put aside all the small talk.

“There’s nothing more I can ask for.”

“You can be honest with me.”

“…Honestly?”

Giryu smiled and said.

“Dame, do you want to become the vice-commander?”

“…..”

Judith’s expression was strangely distorted.

“…..that…….”

“That?”

“That’s foul.”

“Isn’t it great?”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

Giryu was immediately startled. Because Judith looked away with a rigid body and shook her head violently.

‘Why is she reacting like this?’

Judith did not avert her gaze for anything.

A rookie knight who looks straight ahead and says everything she has to say. That was Judith.

But what is this reaction?

Giryu wrinkled his eyes.

It felt like a nail was stuck to the end with a single hammer.

It’s good to be neatly embedded, but wait, it’s not a good thing.

How do I take this out?

“Do I look like I’m joking? Even though I’m serious?”

“Stop it.”

“No really. Who said I was kidding you? Do I look like someone to joke around with?”

“I can see it.”

For a moment, Giryu wondered how Judith was evaluating him.

Had he not shown Judith a solid, reliable and serious knight commander for the past week?

“It’s a little unfair? I’m saying this from the bottom of my heart. Are you making fun of me?”

“……”

Judith’s reaction was still vague.

Giryu couldn’t imagine what kind of face Judith, who he could only see the top of her head, was making.

So he decided to change his attitude.

He dropped his playful tone and spoke seriously.

“Dame Judith, if you have the skills, you will go up the ranks. There may be tough times, but you have to overcome them. Dame’s skills are that outstanding.”

“……”

“Listen seriously. I’m ready for the dame to have my back in the battlefield if you have the ability.”

Did the term vice-commander sound like such a joke?

From the new knight test, he knew how sharp Judith’s sword was. Seeing her aether in person only made him more certain.

She has a weapon to protect her confidence and self-esteem. It’s talent.

Did a confident voice barely knock on the door of my heart?

Maybe his conviction knocked on the door of her heart.

Judith raised her head and met her gaze.

‘Now I can see you.’

Giryu was a little relieved.

But before he could even relax, a cold but bitter voice reached his ears.

“You shouldn’t trust people so easily…”

Judith said.

“I know what kind of person you are.”

“…what kind of person am I?”

Giryu stared at her.

“Good skills, strong pride, and a little bit strong.”

“…..”

“Unlike a normal rookie, you are very detailed about the circumstances of the Imperial Palace, and sometimes it is strangely pessimistic, but you’re a talented knight who is flawless no matter where you’re put.”

“I’m not that kind of person.”

It was the first time she had refuted Giryu’s words upfront.

Judith realized it, but it was already too late.

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She had no intention of taking it back, or affirming it.

“I am grateful that the commander appreciates me. But I am not that kind of person. I first killed a man when I was 16, I’m not flawless.”

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TL notes ( ´ ▿ ` )

manhwa chapter 12