Chapter 24 - Farewell

"Don't you think he needs a bit more experience? Maybe it's still too early for him to be a bodyguard for a noble girl at his age."

Zenith pointed out a little anxiously even though she already agreed on letting us still couldn't just let us go and worried for our well being. Ghislaine disagreed.

"Bodyguard work isn't that complicated. If even someone as dense as me can do this job, a smart child like Rudeus definitely will be able to as well."

"But, but…" 

Zenith stammered, clearly reluctant to accept this evaluation, since passing Ghislaine's test meant that I would soon leave home to go to Roa. Paul placed a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder with a reliable yet slightly resigned smile.

"It's okay, Zenith. It's okay."

"Honey…"

While the two of them were acting as a lovey dovey couple. Ghislaine ignored the two and turned back to me.

"Since you have passed the test, that also means that naturally I am willing to accept you as my disciple. And since I am going to be teaching you, I would like to continue sparring, so that I can have a better grasp of what you are capable of. This will provide me insights on how to best teach you."

I nodded my head excitedly. I also wished to continue this fight. Though it had only lasted a few minutes, I felt like the stagnant growth of my sword art started ticking upwards again. The experience of fighting against an experienced, truly seasoned warrior that had mastered a King-level swordsman ship felt to me like being in a prajna-state of enlightenment.

Whenever she blocked my sword, I learned how to make it more ferocious. When she deflected it, I learned how to make it more unpredictable. Now that I finally had someone to sharpen my skills against, I was reluctant to stop so prematurely. 

Ghislaine saw my enthusiasm and laughed before beckoning for me to attack with one hand.

"Come!" 

She instructed, to which I was more than willing to obey and continued our sparring where every movement was increasingly growing sharper and faster where her title as a Sword King truly shines. Everytime I tried to attack at her vital point always parried and evaded it. 

Ghislaine was grasping my skills and technique where she exploited the weakness of my technique. This was more valuable than experience since I was able to fix the flaws of certain techniques and was enlightened on what the perfect way to execute the attacks. In the end, I ended up defeated by her superior skills and experience in both usage of the technique and Touki. 

People might think I'm weak because I was once a top class assassin but all of that came from careful planning and understanding of my mission. Though I could hold my own against multiple people, I'm still a mortal man in the past. 

Not to mention that I didn't even use any magic in our fight and merely took the opportunity to refine my sword style. 

After the fight, Ghislaine had informed me that I could now call myself a North Saint Rank but I prefered the name of my style therefore my title is the Sacred Saint Rank. The title was still unofficial, but my combat prowess had definitely reached that level, even if it was mostly due to the unpredictability of my Sacred God style.

Usually, Saint, King and Emperor titles were only passed down by the recipient's master. That was the official way of receiving a title since it involved official recognition from someone on the same or higher level.

I did not have a Saint or higher ranked teacher to officially grant me the title of Saint, but Ghislaine said that titles could also be granted by other experts even if they weren't their teacher, albeit unofficially.

For this unofficial Sacred Saint title, I could in the future report that it was granted to me by the Black Wolf Sword King, Ghislaine Dedoldia if anyone asked. Of course, whether they were willing to believe me would be a separate issue.

To convert that unofficial title to an official one required public acknowledgement of your skill. This typically involved challenging known Saint-rank swordsmen to duels and slowly acquire fame. Once enough people knew of and acknowledged my skills, my Saint title would then consequently become official.

Though I was defeated in the end, I felt like I gained a lot more than I had lost. Thinking that I could engage in such a spar every day I spent under Ghislaine's tutelage made me excited as well.

Oh right, I still had to be a bodyguard for that Eris while my brother taught numerous things from math to magic as well. But that shouldn't affect my training that much and Eris would end up sparring with me anyway. 

In the present, Ghislaine waited for me in the carriage as I said my farewells to everyone. I've already given them protective magic items in case anyone tries to harm any of them, especially my cute little sister who had a bracelet I made to remember me by.

"Young master, please take care of yourself."

"Rein, listen to me, always remember to eat well. Know that mama will miss you very much."

Lilia's words made me and nodded in response while I let myself be enveloped by the bodacious hug from his mother with a smile. After all, it would be a long time until he would receive another such hug.

On the other side of the spectrum of sentimentality, Paul whispered tips and tricks on how to seduce noble girls into my ear whenever he thought Zenith wasn't watching.

"Rein, remember that nobles' daughters are generally very haughty, so you can't approach them like you would normal girls. Impress them with adventuring stories, show off your skills. They are typically sheltered and ignorant of such things, so they get amazed very easily."

I merely shook my head at my father's horrible advice and frankly his better off being a teacher in seducing a woman than an instructor in swordsmanship. He truly was a promiscuous man. Rather than soft and doughy noble girls, I was more interested in swordswomen like Ghislaine and Roxy who have mature charm in them.

As though noticing how he sometimes glanced at Ghislaine who was also sitting at the carriage nearby, Paul gave a roguish grin.

"Well, there are also some noble girls who like swinging swords too, so they have a pretty good body. For them, you just need to defeat them with your sword and then you can defeat them with your 'sword'."

I deadpanned looking at him since it was horrible advice but could see working knowing quite well who I am talking to. 

"Mama, Papa, I promise to meet you a lot stronger than before having the title of a Sword King!"

My declaration made them smile, especially my father who was pumped to see me reach the top. I hopped into the carriage and sat next to my brother who was unconscious while looking in the window where my parents and the place I've found that are important to me lived. 

'I will try my best to prevent the tragedy that would come.'

When the carriage was far enough I went to look at Ghislaine who sternly looked at me and knew that she realized something about me.

"You held back a LOT didn't you? Based on my experience as Sword king I know when someone is holding and you didn't even take it seriously one bit. When Paul told me that you have monstrous talent more than your brother, I thought he's just running his mouth again but after I sparred with you…"

She seemed to growl feeling part of her pride was harmed after a child more than 7 years old held back against her. I couldn't blame her since my talent is just abnormal and believed to be the highest. 

"Miss Ghislain-"

"Just call me Ghislaine and even if you are technically my disciple, don't call me master."

"Alright, Ghislaine. We were just sparring  and I wanted to refine my sword style. If I had gone all out using my magic then it would beat the purpose of my training."

"Is that so? Next time try to use magic again in our next sparring session, understand?"

"Yes, Ghislaine."

She didn't try to pry anything more but I know she realized something was going on but couldn't conclude anything. Ghislaine may be dense at times but her intuition is frightening. I don't know if it's her experience as Sword king or because she's a beast woman that has traits of an animal. After a while, Rudeus woke up from his slumber looking around and turned towards me.

"Rein, where are we? Why did dad attack me?" 

"Hold your horses, Rudy. Here, papa gave me this to hand it to you."

I gave him the letter confused throughout it all then began to read the letter while I leaned on the seat.

"To my dear son Rudeus… I knocked you down into the dirt and tossed you into a carriage like a bandit kidnapping a princess. I expect you're wondering what the hell is going on, hey? Ideally, that ball of muscle in there with you would just explain everything…but sadly, her brain mutated into an extra bicep some time ago, so I don't think that's going to work."

"What was that?!"

Ghislaine shouted, jumping to her feet baring her pressure that made Rudeus jump while I just remained collective.

"Please sit down, Ghislaine. The next part's nothing but compliments.".

"Hm, Right."

"That woman's a Sword King. When it comes to The blade, you won't find a better teacher this side of the Sword Sanctum. Trust your old man on this one: She's really damn good. I never once got the upper hand on her."

I perked up since Rudeus didn't read anything that my father could have done with Ghislaine which made me interested to know if she's pure or not.

"Now then, let's move on to your job. You're going to be tutoring a young lady in Roa, the biggest city in the Fittoa Region. Teach her reading, writing, math, and some basic magic, all right? The girl's a spoiled, violent brat who was asked to leave her school, and she's already chased off a number of other tutors. But I've got faith in you, kiddo! I'm sure you'll manage somehow…..I don't feel so good about this."

"Cheer up brother, it can't be that bad, right?"

Ghislaine seems to snort knowing how Eris would react once she meets us, which I'm prepared to give her a lesson if needed. 

"That lump of muscle with you works for the young lady's family as a bodyguard and swordsmanship instructor. In exchange for training you in the sword, she wants you to teach her reading, writing, and arithmetic as well. I know, it's a ridiculous request coming from a woman with a bicep-brain, but try not to laugh out loud. She's probably serious."

"That son of a…"

She grew pissed hearing my father insult and frightening my brother but kept reading. 

"She won't be a quick learner, I'm sure, but it's not such a bad deal. You won't have to pay for your lessons, at least. For the next five years, you'll be staying at the young lady's house to teach her. Five whole years, you got that? You don't get to come back home until then. And no writing letters, either. Sylphie's never going to learn how to stand on her own two feet if both of you brothers keep hanging around the village. And you were growing increasingly reliant on her, as well. That's why I made the call to separate the three of you."

I can see his face became depressed upon hearing their separation wondering how Sylphy would react when she learned that we were now gone. My reaction wasn't the same as my brother since I'm not that close with Slyphy. 

"As for your compensation, you'll be paid two silver Asuran coins a month. That's below the going rate for a live-in tutor, but it's more than enough for a child's allowance.

When you have a little spare time, try to head out into the city and get a feel for spending money. A little practice is the best way to make sure you can use your cash effectively when you really need to. Then again, maybe that won't even be an issue for a kid as gifted as you.

Additionally, once you complete five years of consistent service and finish providing the young lady with a solid education in all respects, your contract entitles you to a special reward: a payment covering the cost of tuition for two people to the University of Magic.

Of course, there's no guarantee Sylphie will want to tag along with you five years from now, and you might lose interest in her yourself. But in any case, I'll make sure to explain the situation perfectly to her. I hope the years you spend in this new environment will teach you many things, allowing you to develop your talents even further. 

Sincerely, your noble, wise, and brilliant father, Paul."