Chapter 138 | The Vampire Princess Later Drew the Holy Sword

What was the point of Esper learning swordsmanship?

Eladia shook her head in confusion.

The Holy Sword said nothing, doing nothing but backflips.

Noelle yawned.

“The resonance of the Authority of 『Hope』 requires compatibility, and the Sword Saint possesses the Authority of 『Slash』. I don't know why she didn't engrave it onto the Holy Sword from the start—maybe she was too busy. But if I had to guess, the purpose of this lesson is probably to increase your compatibility with 『Slash』.”

“...A new skill?”

“Besides, practicing swordsmanship itself can also train your mana. What was the saying again? 'Delving deep into a single path naturally births miracles within oneself'? If the Sword Saint herself is instructing you, your training will yield twice the results with half the effort, right?”

“You didn't need to spell that out for me.”

Esper mumbled as she headed to the Sword Saint's dojo.

The dojo was located on the east side of the Empire's camp. It was a standalone wooden structure, its exterior so plain it was almost shabby.

There were no crests or flags; only a faded, weathered wooden plaque hung above the doorframe, carved with a single, handwritten character: “Sword.”

When Esper pushed the door open, Rihanna was already standing in the center of the dojo.

She wore a white training robe and black trousers, her high ponytail tied up immaculately.

She held a bamboo sword in her arms, with several spares lying at her feet.

“Pick one.”

Esper scanned the bamboo swords on the ground, picked one up at random, and weighed it in her hand.

“...A bamboo sword? And that robe of yours doesn't look very common.”

She tried to recall what she imagined a Sword Saint would look like.

...At the very least, she should be using a wooden sword. First those people who can't tell swords from sabers apart, and now even the Sword Saint is doing it?

“She's the Sword Saint, so naturally, she knows every kind of swordsmanship. Flying sword techniques, kendo, standard Storm Empire swordsmanship—they're all within her repertoire.”

Noelle leaned against a pillar at the entrance of the dojo and yawned.

“What on earth is a 'flying sword technique'?!”

Esper asked, half-amused and half-exasperated.

“It's controlling a sword with your energy. You throw the sword out, let it fly on its own, and control it with mana to attack your enemies. It's a very common school of swordsmanship, isn't it?”

“How is that common?!”

“Well, some people do use it. You just haven't met any of them yet.”

“What kind of nonsense is—”

While Esper was still processing this information, Rihanna had already lowered the bamboo sword, gripping the hilt with both hands and assuming an incredibly standard middle stance.

There were no superfluous movements, no self-introduction, and no instructional explanations.

“Come. I will limit my power to Rank Seven.”

“...After you.”

Esper rushed forward, gripping her bamboo sword.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—smack!

Esper swung six times, the sharp whistles of the bamboo sword cutting through the air echoing six times in the dojo.

She hit nothing but air.

Then, Rihanna finished it with a clean smack.

Esper didn't even see how the other woman's sword had bypassed her guard before her left shoulder took a hit.

It wasn't particularly heavy, but the impact left her entire arm numb.

Noelle's eyelid twitched.

Before they officially started, she had actually thought Esper wouldn't be so helpless as to fail to block even a single strike.

After all, this girl had managed to insta-kill Aure before.

But Rihanna was different.

Even without using any special techniques or abilities, she still possessed an overwhelming strength in front of Esper.

If she activated Laplace's Demon, Esper might have put up a slightly better fight, but she wasn't here to look good.

She was here to train.

Smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack—thud!

Six consecutive strikes, ending with a heavy blow.

Esper lay flat on the ground, the bamboo sword slipping from her hand and bouncing twice before rolling into a corner of the dojo.

“Noelle... shouldn't we go help Esper...?”

Eladia whispered from the edge of the dojo, her fingers tightly interlaced.

“Eladia, she might be getting beaten to a pulp, but interfering now wouldn't be good for our Hero's growth, would it?”

“...That's true... but...”

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—bam!

Before she could finish, another series of dull strikes echoed from the center of the dojo, ending with the heavy thud of a body slamming onto the wooden floor.

Esper lay flat on her back, her bamboo sword having flown off to parts unknown long ago.

“Your backhand lacks power, your forehand is unrefined, your footwork is sloppy, your reactions are sluggish, and not a single one of your movements is proper...”

Rihanna stood in place, her bamboo sword lowered, speaking in a flat tone.

She suddenly stopped halfway through.

“...I unconsciously slipped into my usual teaching style for Renn and the others. That was my mistake. I apologize.”

“...Is this how you normally teach Renn and the others...?”

Esper mumbled weakly from the floor.

Regardless of anything else, her swordsmanship was indeed terrible.

It wasn't just longswords; to be precise, her proficiency with any medium-to-long weapon was atrocious.

What she had practiced most as a child was the shortsword—the one her sister had gifted her.

On top of that, she had trained in the Catori family's style, which consisted of flashy, decorative swordplay meant mostly for show.

After all, when they actually fought, they rarely used swords anyway.

So in terms of pure swordsmanship...

Rihanna remained silent for a long moment.

“Then we start from the basics. Pick up your sword, and learn the grip first.”

And so, the training began.

Esper trained hard for several weeks.

During the first week, she practiced nothing but the grip and basic swings, swinging the sword hundreds of times a day until she couldn't lift her arms. Rihanna stood beside her without saying much, only occasionally tapping her wrist, shoulder, or hip with the tip of her bamboo sword to remind her that her point of force was off, her center of gravity was misaligned, or her breathing was erratic.

The second week was spent on footwork and distance. Rihanna drew countless white lines on the floor with her bamboo sword, making Esper move back and forth between them—stepping forward, retreating, dodging sideways, and lunging diagonally—demanding millimeter precision with every step. The soles of Esper's boots wore two faint grooves into the wooden floor.

Real combat practice began in the third week. Rihanna suppressed her rank to match Esper's level, then mercilessly beat her down. Every time Esper was knocked to the ground, she received a brief critique.

Your shoulders are too stiff. You looked at the spot you wanted to strike before swinging. You didn't retreat decisively enough. You were slower than last time. And so on.

Esper didn't complain once. This level of training was similar to what she had experienced with the old butler when she was a child.

Though the old butler hadn't been quite as blunt and brutal as Rihanna.

Then, one afternoon a few weeks later, when Rihanna brought her sword down, Esper blocked it.

The sharp crack of bamboo clashing against bamboo echoed through the dojo. Esper's arms stung with numbness, but her sword didn't slip, her center of gravity held, and her feet didn't retreat.

Rihanna withdrew her bamboo sword.

“...Let's take a break.”

“Okay...”

Esper shook her numb wrists, walked to the edge of the dojo, and took a sip from her waterskin.

Eladia immediately handed over a prepared towel, her eyes filled with a touch of heartache, but even more so with pride.

Noelle had fallen asleep in the corner, likely having overexerted her brain again.

Esper wiped away her sweat, draped the towel around her neck, and glanced at Rihanna, who was sitting in the center of the dojo with her eyes closed, resting.

She thought for a moment before finally asking the question she had been holding back for weeks.

“Senior Sword Saint, may I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“You possess an Authority as well, don't you? Why didn't you engrave it onto the Holy Sword? Is there some hidden danger or other cost? Or is my current performance still not enough to satisfy you, to the point where you don't feel safe handing 『Slash』 over to me?”

The reason Noelle had given back then made sense, but simply engraving an Authority didn't actually require compatibility.

The reason for delaying the engraving for weeks was truly puzzling.

Upon hearing Esper's question, Rihanna opened her eyes and silently placed the bamboo sword by her side.

The dojo suddenly grew very quiet—so quiet that even Noelle's soft snoring from the corner was clearly audible.

“I no longer have the right.”

Her voice was even lower than usual.

“My Authority is incomplete. A part of it was stolen from me.”

Esper guessed who did it in less than a second.

“...Yulia?”

“...Yes.”

“She stole your Authority and ruined your eligibility?”

“...Yes, but it's more than just that.”

Rihanna shifted her gaze to the old pine tree outside the dojo window. Its shadow swayed in the afternoon breeze, casting shifting patterns of light and dark across her face.

“I once received the recognition of the Authority, which made me believe I was the strongest swordsman in the world. I even took pride in the title of Sword Saint.

Indeed, during that time, no one surpassed me in the way of the sword.

But things changed later. 『Slash』 abandoned me. It chose Yulia.”

Esper's fingers tightened around her waterskin.

“...Why?”

She heard Rihanna speak slowly, her voice very soft.

“An Authority is a concept; it has no physical form. What carries it is a person's soul.

It initially chose me because no better vessel had appeared, and I possessed the qualifications.

Then Yulia appeared. She was more suited to this Authority than I was, so the power of 『Slash』 flowed from me to her.”

A slight rustling came from the corner of the dojo. Noelle had woken up, but she didn't speak, simply leaning quietly against the pillar.

“...How did you and Yulia meet?”

“I found her in the lower district. Back then, I was ordered to hunt down a wanted criminal, and on my way back after completing the mission, I saw her.”

Rihanna's reply was concise and calm.

“She was only about five or six years old at the time, fighting a group of kids much older than her. She won, and she barely had a scratch on her.

I asked her why she was fighting, and she said she found them annoying.”

“...Annoying?”

“Yes. She said they were too ugly, and completely devoid of substance—having absolutely nothing in their heads. It irritated her just looking at them, so she gave them a beating.”

“That's...”

Wait, that's not right. In a slum street fight between kids, shouldn't someone in your position be stepping in to defend the weak against the strong?

Finding them ugly? What kind of absurd reason is that?

“I felt she had talent. So I gave her a sword and asked if she wanted to learn how to use it from me.

Later, she called me Master, and kept calling me that until I drove her away.”

A long silence ensued. The sound of the wind outside swept through the dojo, gently lifting a stray lock of hair by Rihanna's temple.

“She loved me.”

“...Ah.”

“She wasn't from this world. She told me herself. She was a Transmigrator.”

After Rihanna finished speaking, she fell silent for a moment.

“She was twelve at the time, but the way she spoke was already no different from how she does now. No, from the very first moment I met her, she was already that kind of person.”

Esper thought of Yulia.

She had only met her once when she took Landon away, but after sharing information with Renn later, she also learned what Yulia had said. She just hadn't known that 『Slash』 had been taken.

And that habit of hers was developed in her past life?

“She said the people around her were too boring. They claimed to pursue the true essence of the sword, but in reality, they were all doing it for fame, wealth, revenge, or some other nonsense. It made her highly dissatisfied.

If you want to practice swordsmanship, just say you want to practice. If you want fame, just say you want fame. It's fine to just say it openly. Those vain disguises made her feel sick to her stomach.

She said she wanted to beat up and drive away everyone in the dojo because they were just in the way.

And then she said she loved me.

She said I was different from the others. The reason was that when I said I liked the sword and wanted to practice, it was truly because I loved it and wanted to do it from the bottom of my heart.”

“...”

“So she loved me. She believed I was pure—doing whatever I liked without hiding it, because there was no need to hide it, just pursuing what I loved.”

Rihanna's voice grew slightly hoarse.

“At the time, I didn't realize what her words represented. I just dismissed it as a child talking nonsense.

By then, in terms of pure sword skill, she had already surpassed the vast majority of people in the dojo. So I simply warned her not to make a move on anyone from our dojo.

She agreed. And indeed, she never laid a hand on them after that.”

Esper felt a sense of foreboding.

Indeed, that meant...

“...After that, she...”

The Sword Saint choked up for a moment.

“Then, I challenged her to a duel.”

“...”

“She won.”

“...Huh? What?”

Rihanna closed her eyes, while Noelle, who had been listening for a long time, widened hers.

Eladia looked back and forth between the three in confusion—one face full of sorrow, two faces completely bewildered.

“Wait, is this something I'm allowed to hear? Should I step out for a bit?”

Noelle raised her hand high, asking for permission.

“There is no need. The fact that I brought this up while you were here means I have no intention of hiding it from you.”

Rihanna leaned against the pillar and slowly opened her eyes.

“She held back at the time. The rule of the duel was that it would continue until one side surrendered or was deemed unable to fight back. Yet, by the time I made my move, her sword was already pressed against my throat.”

“...”

“Then she withdrew her sword. Because she believed I would surrender then and there.”

Rihanna clenched her fists.

“I didn't surrender. I continued to swing my sword, and I cut off her hand.”

“...”

“The moment I severed her arm, I realized I had actually lost long ago.

But no one around us realized she had already finished the fight. Everyone only saw a flash of cold light, and then I cut off her hand.

His Majesty the Emperor declared my victory, and everyone cheered. Meanwhile, she was smiling.”

Rihanna's fingernails dug so deep they nearly pierced her own palms.

“She was smiling.”

...

“I didn't expect you to hate me so much, Master.”

Yulia had smiled faintly, the slight curve of her lips so piercingly sharp in Rihanna's eyes.

“To think you would cast aside your own dignity just to follow through with that strike.”

Her severed arm was still bleeding, the crimson fluid gushing out in spurts.

“You aren't quite as pure as I imagined. But that isn't a bad thing.

I did deeply love the 'Master who firmly believed in her own way of the sword, who chose to stay her hand the moment she realized she was defeated, and who would then become my vanquished opponent to be carried away as my wife.'

But compared to that kind of Master, I suppose I prefer the 'Master who, even while realizing her sword skills are far inferior to mine, still struck down to claim victory out of her hatred for me and her pride in the title of Sword Saint' even more.”

She had narrowed her eyes slightly, pressing against her severed arm.

“You care about me so much. I'm so happy, so delighted, so blessed.”

Rihanna's hands had begun to tremble.

Everyone was cheering, but she couldn't hear a thing.

She only saw the madwoman before her, looking nothing like a normal person, smiling right at her.

“Master.”

She had turned around, her tone calm.

“I will come find you again.”

“You...”

“My sword skills are merely superior to yours, but there is no doubt I cannot defeat you in actual combat.

That's why I will go find the strength that will allow me to defeat you, and then I will beat you.

And when that time comes...”