Chapter 5 - Reincarnation (4)

Chapter 5 – Reincarnation (4)

“Y-You! How dare you try to attack a noble?!”

Luke was screaming with his eyes bulging like a bug’s. Luke wasn’t the only one surprised, as Asher was surprised too. But his interest was about something entirely different.

‘I didn’t mean to do this.’

Asher was trying to adjust his power as much as possible, but his killing intent leaked out at the end. Resulting in all of this, Asher also revealed an incredible amount of skill that should be impossible for a 10 year-old boy to have. He meant to attack lightly, but it just came out by reflex.

‘Ah, back when I was still alive this was lightwork.’

Asher lifted his head and reminisced about his past life when he could swing his sword as much as he wanted. In the background, Luke was still yelling.

“The Death Penalty! You deserve the Death Penalty!”

“Young Master Luke.”

No use crying over spilt milk. Asher decided there was no use complaining if the situation couldn’t be helped. But, there was still a way to change the outcome of what was to happen later as a result of it.

Asher walked towards Luke with the ax spinning in his hand round and round in circles.

“Le-Let go of that thing, boy!”

“Young master.”

Asher gripped Luke’s arm. Luke tried to scream and get out of Asher’s grip but, Asher stood firm like a tree rooted firmly in the earth.

“Young Master.”

“Uh- Ahh…”

Asher clarified himself once more with calm eyes. Seeing how frightfully calm Asher was after killing a man, Luke’s face grew pale.

“Young master.”

“Go away!”

“Young Master, I did not try to hurt you. Don’t you know that this was just self defense as an employee?”

“You dog, quit spouting bullshit…”

“Young master.”

Asher came close and whispered into Luke’s ear. He used a low and soft voice. One that was almost like a parent comforting their child.

“I sincerely did not try to hurt you, please understand.”

Asher repeated the words once more while making direct eye contact with Luke. He saw the bright yellow irises of Luke’s trembling slightly. Asher chuckled slightly with a light smile and Luke’s face turned pure white.

“What- What do you want from me?”

The answer from Luke this time was completely different. He knew instinctively he should not mess with Asher any longer. Because he knew when he looked Asher right in the eyes. Asher’s eyes were completely stoic; emotionless without a shred of remorse. Fear stricken, Luke knew he had messed up.

“Young Master, what do you really think happened here?”

“Ah! I don’t know, I swear! Please just let me go!”

“Okay.”

Asher retracted his grip from Luke’s arm and observed Luke as he scrambled away from Asher like a frightened cat. Luke shot back one last glance to make sure Asher wasn’t following him, whilst trembling violently in fear.

“Hm..”

Asher tucked the ax back to the belt on his waist. It had been a long time since he had used such a coercive method. It was just a suggestive tone he had used back when he was younger as a Guard when dealing with children who were caught being mischievous. He was worried it might not work with Luke, but it seemed like everything went well.

Asher suddenly realized that his surroundings were completely silent. When turned his gaze to observe what was going on around him, he was met with several pairs of eyes staring at him from the villagers. There was not a look of contempt on any of their faces right then.

“Ah, I hope I wasn’t bothering any of you.”

Asher mumbled and bowed slightly towards, and moved his feet quickly since it was time to get to work.

—

Tatatata-

Reika’s footsteps echoed in the hall with an anxious bounce in her step. Everybody in the hall who saw her stopped what they were doing, and either bowed or curtseyed to show respect. The girl didn’t even bother to return the acknowledgement however, as she moved quickly towards the big door leading to outside the Mansion.

Bang!-

“Asher!”

“What’s the problem, young miss?”

Reika heard a relaxed and composed voice respond to her. A boy with Ashen gray hair was reading a book with a nonchalant expression while laying on a heap of hay. Reika frowned as she observed Asher’s behavior.

“A book? You can read?”

“Ah yes, I learned.”

“In less than a week?”

“There were so many gaps in my memory, so it seemed appropriate to fill them with some new memories and experiences.”

“You are so weird…. Just what happened today?”

Reika asked Asher the question with an awkward and troubled face as he closed the book he was reading.

“Is there anything I should be aware of?”

“There are rumors circulating within the village, Asher! They say an employee of the estate threatened the son of the Lord. What happened?!”

“Ah they threatened me. He tried to have me killed so I defended myself appropriately, if I’m being accused as the aggregator then it’s completely false and unfair treatment.”

Reika narrowed her eyes at Asher.

“Be honest, what are you scheming?”

The ending of this argument had already been settled. Luke had been held responsible by the lord, and there was no punishment for Asher. It would be impossible for him to continue living there if he directly threatened the successor of the estate.

If Asher had directly confronted and threatened Luke, then the Lord would have not been sitting still. The punishment would be carried out without any hesitation.

If Asher left Luke alone though, Luke would have just blabbed and tried to get Asher punished under any excuse he could come up with. If that happened and Asher was to be punished, he would be forced to escape. And although the power of nobility was indeed weakening, it would still make it hard for Asher to move safely.

However, Asher did not leave Luke alone but neither did he openly threaten him. He just suggested Luke the appropriate response and left Luke to make the best judgement. Luke obviously was frightened by Asher and spoke of the incident as if Asher was in fact the victim. Asher made it easy for Luke since he didn’t want to be caught up in a petty squabble with him in the future, and said it was all just a misunderstanding.

“Thanks to my brother’s unusual behavior, the story somehow ended with you having no punishment whatsoever. Is this the result you were expecting?”

“Hahah, young miss.”

Asher laughed casually.

“I don’t know what you mean, I’m just a child who’s barely over the age of 10, do you really think I could meticulously plan all that out?”

“No.”

Reika pondered to herself for a moment. The Asher before her had changed so much since he lost his memory. She can’t even view him as the same human being as before.

‘This is the better version of him.’

Could humans possibly change this much? Asher since losing his memory, had become incredibly skilled in swordsmanship, spoke in an old-fashioned and outdated way of speaking, and had stopped being such a troublesome individual in general. She had once heard that people who lose their memory, can have severe personality changes, but this was her first time actually seeing it in person.

“It’s just.. This new version of you is much more approachable and friendly, I just don’t want you to suddenly go away right when you’re becoming such a changed person.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Asher immediately replied. He had no intention of leaving until adulthood. He first had to hone and train this body to its physical limits.

“Well, now that I’m here, we might as well get some training in.”

Reika spoke as she drew her sword. She took a pose and swung her sword eloquently with the Lepenia Swordsmanship. Like a snake, the sword’s tip bent fluidy and contracted in a smooth motion. The flow was incredible to the naked eye that it appeared like a blur. Asher saw this and cracked a smile.

—

‘She has some incredible talent.’

He gave her some small advice on her form just a few days ago. That was precisely what was so astonishing however, since it was such a short time to show any development. Yet watching Reika wield her sword, her body movement and trajectory of her sword were moving in total synchronization with one another.

There was no proper swordsmanship instructor in such a small town like this, so she probably never had anyone to properly develop her talent. She probably practiced only by reading out of the book, so she didn’t have anyone to correct her for the minor flaws she did have if she was practicing incorrectly.

In Asher’s previous life, he had seen many prodigious talents; enough to almost make him bored, but he still admired this girl’s work ethic paired with her talent. The most impressive thing was that when Asher saw these talents, he never felt an inferiority complex and rather tried to help them grow further.

Asher drew his sword from his waist and lowered his posture.

Reika, noticing this, stopped her swing.

“Are you going to practice as well?”

“There’s still some time left before you must go back, are you thinking of stopping already just because I’m joining in as well?”

“No, it’s just-”

Reika put her sword back at her waist and sat her butt down on the heap of hay that Asher was sitting on earlier, and turned her gaze towards Asher’s figure.

“-I like to watch the way you swing your sword.”

Asher noticed her eyes. They were eyes of excitement and anticipation. He didn’t receive such gazes often.

It was awkward.

Asher raised his sword in the air and swung it with a practiced motion.

Booung!

The sword drew lines in the air. He bent his wrist and brought the tip of the sword inwards like winding up a spring. Then, he lowered his body weight and shot forwards.

His wrist unwound itself and moved at an incredible pace that pierced the space in front of him.

It felt awkward still.

He felt out of focus because of the imbalance in his body and mind.

There were two ways to go about his dilemma. Either focus on training the body to the level of his previous life, or let his mind adapt to the current state of his body. Both of these methods took long periods of time to successfully integrate. But now while he was still young, he had lots of time.

Asher withdrew himself and took a step back, bringing the sword upwards in a slicing motion.

Reika watched him silently in awe.

She was still immature and although she was talented, she had no teacher and had never experienced any real combat. Not only that, but she had only witnessed one type of swordsmanship which was Lepenia’s swordsmanship and had no other types to even learn or hear of.

Despite all of this, she still admired Asher’s movements. His movement was completely unhindered. It reached the maximum efficiency of minimal movements and was trained to such a high level, that even somebody who had never seen a sword be wielded, would know just how skillful he was.

Reika muttered out loud.

“You are incredibly talented.”

“Ack!”

Asher nearly lost his footing and completely lost his focus as he heard the sudden comment. He was perplexed and massaged his ankle as a result of twisting his balance unnaturally.

“I don’t think I heard you correctly since I heard you say something impossible.”

“You’re talented.”

“Hahah, what a joke.”

Reika hopped down and tried to prop Asher back up, but he pushed her hand away and stood up on his own ignoring her goodwill. Seeing this, Reika pouted.

“Are you serious right now, Asher?”

“Of course I am, I’ve just been holding the sword for a bit longer than you but I can tell from this past week that you’ve been growing by leaps and bounds. If anyone here is talented it is definitely you and not me Reika. Being proficient in the imperial swordsmanship is nothing compared to the swordsmanship you are learning now and in the future.”

“…Are you sure I’m talented with the sword?”, Reika muttered.

Reika found it hard to believe and have self confidence with herself, especially when comparing herself to Asher. She had only been practicing in earnest with him for a week and was seeing tremendous results in her own right. But, when she compared herself to Asher, it felt like she was staring at a Master at the edge of his peak.

This was to be expected since she was still a child, and it was inevitable for children to compare themselves to their peers. But Asher paid no mind to it, and instead encouraged her.

He knew he had no talent. It honestly felt terrible when he was told he was something he was not. Since he knew in his previous life, he had absolutely zero talent and probably was going to be the case in this life too.

“Alas Asher, I wish I had a talent like you.”

“Young Miss, you are the one with talent, do not be confused.”

“I always heard that from others, but there’s no way for me to even confirm such a thing since there are no proper teachers or instructors in this area.”

“Well then if nobody else will, then I will guarantee it for you. The young miss is definitely a talented swordsman. I can say this because I do not have talent, and can see your immediate results.”

“If this is talent within me, then what is that?”, Reika pouted pointing at Asher’s sword.

“I am telling you right now. What I have is not talent.”

Asher was certain. But it wasn’t as if he could properly explain that he had trained for decades and decades mastering only one swordsmanship in a previous life to Reika. He had gotten to his current level through sheer effort.

It didn’t feel good to be called talented and it felt even worse when he couldn’t properly explain to even a child his circumstances.

“Young miss, if anything please take what I’m about to say into your mind for the future. It is not good for your own growth to envy the talents of others. If you do, you’ll stop growing and never be happy with yourself.”

He had seen countless people distort their perception of themselves just because they met somebody more talented than themselves and destroyed their egos and swordsmanship because of it. Although he wasn’t talented, he didn’t try to feel depressed about it and rather fueled himself to work harder with it. But for the young miss, he didn’t want to see her tread down the wrong path.

“I know Asher, it’s something anybody should keep in mind regardless of what kind of talent they have. Ah! I forgot to ask! What kind of book were you reading earlier?”

“Ah it was a history book, I was just reading over the history of the past 20 years or so.”

“Why would you do that? Do you think that will help in recovering your lost memories?”

“Hm? Oh.. yes.”

Asher muttered to himself,

“Everything has changed.”

Chapter 5 – Fin