CH 6

One day, half a year after I started cleaning ditches, I called out to the old man.

“Old man, teach me how to use a sword!

“Oh? Could it be that you want to be an adventurer in the future?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but I want to do something to help my mother out! In order to do that I need to be strong. Old man, you were an adventurer, so you must be strong, right?”

“That’s right. As a man, you can’t protect a woman unless you’re strong”

The old man had a slightly distant look in his eyes and… did I imagine a tinge of regret in his voice?

“Sure, kid. I’ll train you once my shift is over.”

“Thank you!”

And this is how I started learning swordsmanship from the old man.

Yes, this was the reason why I continued to do chores for the guild even though I could earn way more money by trading.

Originally, I was planning to learn it for self-defense, but it became even more important when I found out that it was necessary for the royal academy’s entrance exam.

In order to take the entrance examination, a commoner needed to pay the entrance examination fee, admission fee, and school donations for a total of about 10 million cents. In addition, the tuition fee for two years is about 10 million cents, all of which must be paid in advance.

In addition, they had to pass the exams in the department you were studying, magic and, in the case of men, swordsmanship. Of course, if you fail the exam, you’ll lose all the money you paid.

Well, the bottom line is that no one but the richest are allowed into the academy. But still, I’m going to walk through those gates with pride and get enrolled into the school.

Because that’s an absolute must in order to change the future scenario.

******

“All right, then, kid. I have something to tell you first.”

As soon as we arrived at the guild’s training room, the old man cut us off. The atmosphere is different from the usual jovial old man, and I can’t help but straighten my posture.

“It’s not a good idea to think that you’ve become strong even if you’ve got a weapon. You can only become powerful when you master the weapon. For example, if there was the strongest magic sword that could cut anything, would you say that you became stronger if you held it?”

I shook my head.

The old man was right.

I’ve always only been thinking about using my overpowered skills, but take that away from me, then I was just a weakling.

It’s a sobering thought.

“Remember this. The No matter how strong of a weapon you have, the one using the weapon is you yourself. Don’t just wave it around, but use it well. And for that reason, you train with it. Only once you’ve mastered the weapon can you say that you’ve become stronger.”

“Okay! I mean, Yes, teacher!”

I start talking to him more respectfully.

“Good. Well for now, imagine you’re fighting with an enemy”

“Yes, teacher!”

I tried swinging the sword he lent me, but swinging a meter-long wooden sword around was really difficult. It felt like it was going to fly out of my hands.

“No, that’s not it. Hold the sword properly! Don’t dangle your torso!”

The relentless criticisms come flying in. I tried desperately to respond to them, but I couldn’t handle the wooden sword good enough.

“Oi! Hold it firmly! Give more weight to your slashes! No, not like that!”

“Yes, teacher!”

It was only for a few minutes, but I was already drenched in sweat and my hands were shaking.

“Next! Focus on your waist! Do it 100 times”

“Yes!”

I did my best to try and remember how to swing a sword from the time I did kendo in my previous life, but I could only manage a pathetic swing.

After 100 swings, my arms were completely shaking and I could barely move them.

“Good, you did a good job. Now swing down diagonal from the top right corner, then swing up from the bottom left corner 100 times each.

“Guh— Okay!”

It was hard but they wouldn’t let me take a break at all.

With that said, I grit my teeth and did it. I couldn’t just pathetically give up even though I was the one who asked for this.

And so I continuously swung my sword.

In the meantime, my arm started to continuously suffer cramps. I don’t know how many times I tried to shake them off.

”Okay, that’s a hundred times. Good job”

I-I did it…!

“Okay, next! Swing down diagonal from the top left corner, then swing up from the bottom right corner 100 times each.

“Nooooooo!”

This demon. I didn’t expect him to go this far on day one.

What’s going on? You can’t protect what you want to protect by giving up! If you’re a man, show some guts!

I got psyched up after he said that. If I can’t even do something at this level… I won’t be able to save anyone!

”Yes, teacher!”

I grasped the wooden sword with my trembling arms and started swinging the sword.

Yeah, this is no big deal.

If I don’t do my best here, me, my mother, and everyone here will end up getting trampled by the Imperial Army and Anastasia will end up with a disastrous fate.

After this we did 100 more side slashes from either side. Then we went back to the beginning for another set of swings.

When it was all over, I collapsed on the training ground.

“You’re not going to get stronger like this! At this rate you can’t even beat a horned rabbit!”

“Y-yes…”

All right, that’s it for today. There’s a shower in the back, get cleaned up and go home. We’ll do it again tomorrow.

“Thank you very much!”

The first time I trained in swordsmanship was a major setback for me, and a major obstacle to overcome…

Like hell, I’d lose to this!