CH 42

" Rid, have you ever heard of the word boldness?"

Ha...ha.. boldness "the ability to be unmoved by anything,"

I replied to my father, trying to catch my breath.

I usually train with Rubens in the martial arts, but today, for some reason, my father has joined us from the halfway point.

He was teaching you. You will experience real combat someday, and it will be a matter of life and death whether you have the guts to fight or not. Today we will see how much boldness you have.

I understood what he was saying, but how would I know if I had the boldness to do so?　

As I was thinking this, my father handed the wooden sword to Rubens and took a "saber" instead.

Then, he suddenly pulled the saber out of its sheath, looked at the whole blade, and muttered to himself.

"Hm. No blade damage. There seems to be no problem."

"What are you going to do with that saber, father?"

I felt a chill run down my spine as I saw my father looking at the saber.

My face is paled

At the same time, my legs naturally started to move further backward as if in rejection.

Seeing this, Father said ,

"You have as much courage as anyone else . You need more courage "

"What is there to train?"

"I told you, boldness. Rid, I want you to keep to what I'm going to tell you."

"Yes, father."

I had a bad feeling about what my father said.

I felt my pale face turn even more as Rubens' words, "I am not in a position to do this," and " special coaching methods," that echoed in my mind.

Father, who was watching the situation, looked more and more pleased and said,

Good, that's a reaction. Now, Rid. So take an upright, steadfast position there and don't move, no matter what. And don't look away from my movements, okay?"

"...... Yes, ."

"Whatever now," standing up straight and consciously trying not to look away from my father's movements.

"Okay, here we go."

I was so determined that my father looked at me straight in the eye, saber at the ready.

At the same time, I felt an fear from my father that I have never felt before.

It was as if he was gripping my heart in his hand.

And then I feel that the fear that was being radiated is put on me.

At the same time, my heart beats faster and I feel the urge to leave this place right away.

Father pointed the tip of his saber at me

At that moment, he stepped toward me and quickly strike the tip of his saber straight toward me.

At that moment, I understood the true nature of the fear he was giving me:

so called "killing spirit."

"Ahh "

I was terrified that the tip of the blade was coming toward my face.

I was so horrified by the killing intent that I had never felt before from my father, that I shut my eyes, hid my face with my arms, and fell on my ass with a pitiful cry.

I opened my eyes to see my father holding the tip of his sword out in front of my face.

"When it comes to boldness, you' re about the same as anyone else. I finally found something to train you for, didn't I?"

He said in a playful voice, but his face remained stern and he did not smile at all.

His eyes were sharp and penetrating.

"Stand up," he told me, and I took a deep breath before standing up.

"Why did you not followed order ? Didn't I tell you not to look away from my movements?"

'I am sorry ....... This is the first time father has tried to kill me. And I was horrified by the fear of the blade ."

I think back again to what had just happened.

My father won't kill me

Even though I knew that in my head, I was scared of the tip of the blade of the saber that was between my eyes.

I had never felt such fear before, including in my previous life.

It's all right.

Father began to explain to me, as if admonishing me.

"Now you have been defeated by the fear of my killing intent and the saber . In a real battle, the only thing needed to overcome this fear is boldness . If you have no courage and are overwhelm by fear, your only route is death."

"...... Yes."

"But I'm not saying that you shouldn't forget sense of fear. If you don't feel fear, you are just a daredevil, and in a real fight, it can lead to a major accident. Therefore, you have to get used to overcame fear. Do you understand?"

In other words, my father is trying to teach me the courage to overcome the fear of coming death in preparation for the real battle that will eventually happen one day.

And that was said , with great seriousness.

But I can tell that knowing or not knowing about this fear in advance would make all the difference.

Training with Rubens with a wooden sword can also lead to injury.

But I am not aware of it to the point where it could lead to death.

This is because I know that the capacity of a wooden sword for killing is low.

But what about a serious weapon like a saber?　

In fact, it is a weapon with high killing power that can kill immediately.

Anyone would be horrified at first when faced with an opponent with such a weapon and with the intent to kill.

That's why my father gave me this kind of lesson.

"Yes, I understand. ".

"All right, I will now swing my saber just barely enough not to hit you. Don't look away from me, but follow my movements with your eyes."

He swung his saber around me with a single glance of the paper, gathering his killing intent toward me.

The sound of the wind breaking with his saber echoed around me.

If I move my body even a little, it will lead to a big mistake.

I knew that an mishap would never happen because of my father's ability.

Still, the fear of having the blade of the saber swing around me in a paper-thin motion is tremendous.

At first, I inevitably close my eyes as a reflex.

I finally see it by making a mental effort to keep my eyes open.

After a while, I became used to the fear and was able to track the blade's line with my eyes.

Perhaps this is what it means to get used to fear.

Father saw this and said,

"Hmmm. You' getting used to it. Let's move on to the next stage."

He muttered something quite disturbing. What is the next stage?

But that thought was short-lived.

Father had Rubens stand in a corner of the training ground and drew a line on the ground with the wooden sword he had left with him.

'Cross this line and reach Rubens. I will stand in front of him with this saber. Keep your eyes open and follow my movements or you will be in serious trouble, okay?"

"Hahaha......."

I could only laugh dryly now.

The rest of the conversation was terrible.

As I advanced toward Rubens, my father attacked me with a saber carrying a murderous intent.

I had to reach Rubens while avoiding it.

During the conversation with my father, the saber snapped and snagged my clothes, hair, and other things.

But, of course, the saber could not reach me.

Throughout the training, I was amazed at my father's skill.

Somehow I overcame my fear and finally managed to get through his heavy attack and reach Rubens.

My clothes were torn to shreds by the saber.

Seeing my condition, Rubens said to me.

"Good work, Master Rid, you have great talent to get through such a fierce attack of Master Rainer."

"Hah... hah..., thanks... ugh.'

Rubens was pleased.

But I'm still out of breath.

Father's swordsmanship was merciless .

If my eyes had not become used to the sword's line after the first upright stance, it would have been a serious problem .

There were several such moments.

But compared to Father's killing intent and saber, a wooden sword is really just for training.

As I was thinking, Father said something unexpected .

'That's all for today, but from now on I will participate in your martial arts training and we will do this training every session. Is that clear?"

"Heh......?"

Father put his saber in its scabbard and handed it to Rubens while a little happiness appeared on his strict face.

It may be father's own kindness, but it's too scary.

Then Rubens heard me.

"Master Rainer wanted to tell Master Rid something himself, you know. I think he is happy to have the opportunity to train you".

"I have a feeling we're going in the wrong direction. ......"

I looked at my father's back and slumped my shoulders, ..

I'm so glad you're going to training. brother !"

Suddenly, a lovely voice echoed through the training grounds.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Mel and Danae, the maid, coming toward us.

As they approached, Mel's face looked like she was about to cry. I wondered what was the matter with her.

When Mel looked at me, she glared at father and said clearly and loudly, "

"Father you bullied brother aren't you ?" You are worst '

Mel began to cry, and she hit Father's leg with her hand, "

Father muttered with a troubled look on his face.

."Meldy?　How did you get here?"

'I'm sorry, Father. Lady Meldy insisted on seeing Master Rid,......."

"I see. ......"

"But you were all in the middle of a training , so I was watching you from the edge of the training ground."

It was Danae who answered father's question.

"Brother , you're covered in scratches, and I hate it."

"What?　Uh-huh."

I looked at Rubens and he nodded smiling, thinking that today's training should be over at least for today

In contrast, my father's shoulders were slumped and his expression darkened with a "dreadful" feeling as Mel kept telling him she didn't like him.

Mel pulled me by the hand and I left.

Mel wanted me to read her a picture book like the other day.

When she came to the training ground with Danae, she was shocked to see father and I training with sabers.

This new training took place on the day Mel came to the training ground, which she rarely does.

I had chuckle a little at Father's pauses.

Afterwards, as expected, I read a picture book to Mel as she had requested after fixing her shredded clothes and disheveled hair from the training.

All the while, Mel was saying, "Father is worst "

But what she saw and what happened was not everything.

As I read the picture book, I gently explained to Mel about my training with father.

"He's just trying to be a devil at heart for me, so don't say things like that."

"Really?"

“That training is very scary. But if I didn't go through that training, when something really scary happens, my body would get stuck. Father taught me to be fearless so that I wouldn't be like that, you know?"

Hmmm. But I still don't like father for harming brother like that . ......"

"I see. But you have to understand how Father feels, don't you?

"I don't like it,......, but I understand."

" Mel is a good girl."

"...... hehehe."

Mel was said to be a good girl, and she smiled cutely and shook herself ticklishly.

Later, Danae told me that Mel apologized to father for telling him that she hated him.

Mel must have thought about it in her own way.

Incidentally, I think father was a little more relaxed in training me after Mel told him that she didn't like it.

However, from the day Mel is said to apologize to him, the training became more severe, as if to make up for the time he had lost.

Seeing my father in a good mood wielding a saber and attacking me, even though it was training, I spent a while feeling sorry for explaining the training with father to Mel.

Let's keep this to myself: ......