Chapter 186: Snow Falling in Summer (2)
“The Holy See will know now that the hero is alive.”
Elena brushed aside her wind-blown golden hair and turned her head.
Beside her, Cain, dressed casually, walked with a confident and upright posture.
“The mainland has stronger individuals than the island.”
“If you were trying to hide……”
Cain shook his head.
His black hair, neatly tied in a single braid, swayed.
“I never tried to hide.”
Besides, there was no reason to.
The continent he experienced as a drifting boy with nothing, like in the previous timeline, and the continent he would face as a Sword Master and hero, would be worlds apart.
‘Oleciren, even awakened as the Demon King, wouldn’t cross over to the continent.’
Cain had a strange certainty about it.
That day, Oleciren’s determination, as she stabbed his chest with Agweska, was conveyed through the blade.
At that time, amidst the coercive force exerted by 75% of the existing world, Oleciren shed tears of blood in her heart, and a few drops of those tears remained in Cain’s chest.
‘She didn’t wish to become that.’
The princess was given, the witch was by chance, and the Demon King was by fate.
What Oleciren truly wanted were other things.
An ordinary life.
An ordinary laugh.
Ordinary love.
Maybe not at the moment of awakening as the Demon King, but once she fully awakened and realized her power, she wouldn’t be swayed by the world.
‘Then I will wait.’
Some things are conveyed without words.
In Oleciren’s eyes that day, there was a longing for Cain to return with the holy sword, even if a hundred years passed, even if a thousand years passed.
Subtly—
Cain raised his hand to his chest.
The wound from that day was gone now.
The Demon King’s curse that remained in the wound had also disappeared.
[‘Winter’ assures you that with two sacred treasures, even the Demon King’s curse is meaningless.]
[‘Summer’ asks wasn’t it thanks to his own specialization in recovery…… but then he shuts his mouth, noticing the mood.]
And he made friends.
One was a magic sword, the other a holy sword, but now he knew that behind them were something greater than words could define, something like ‘seasons’.
‘I hope they are gods.’
Cain wished inwardly.
That they were gods.
If such kind and warm beings were gods, then this world would be a little better.
[‘Winter’ smiles at you.]
Cain returned Winter’s smile with a golden laugh and walked on, arriving at the Grand Training Hall before he knew it.
Elena was guiding Cain because, as a special lecturer, he was unfamiliar with the geography of Märchen Academy.
As the top student of her year and his recommender, everyone took it for granted.
“I was practicing last night and had a question. When I thrust my left fist inward and swing it outward, the feeling is different depending on the angle.”
Elena raised her small white fist and shook it slowly.
It sounded like an ordinary conversation as they walked.
“Striking inward is accurate, and swinging outward gives you more power. The key here is the opponent’s point of impact.”
“Point of impact?”
“Some enemies will be taller than you, and some will be shorter. That means their vital points will be at different heights. For example, in the case of the ogre we saw……”
Elena absorbed everything Cain said calmly.
She couldn’t understand how he could have so much combat experience despite their similar age.
At first, she thought he was just managing somehow because he was the hero. However, looking at the records of the previous era, all heroes were weak at first and became stronger after experiencing various events and gaining comrades.
In other words, different from the current Cain.
Now, at seventeen, he had become a true Sword Master, wielding the holy sword with ease.
A complete being on his own.
Before opening the door to the Grand Training Hall, Elena looked back at Cain and asked,
“If a Knight Lord Duke and a hero fought, who would win?”
“What kind of……”
Cain rebuked her for her simplistic question, and Elena playfully shrugged and looked away.
She was definitely different from her past self, and he liked that.
“Still, I’m curious.”
“Hmm……”
Cain stroked his chin.
Back in his Great Wall days, he had visited the Great Wall from the Imperial Sword Tower.
The goal was to gain real combat experience.
It was an obvious choice, as they couldn’t experience the level of combat they desired within the continent.
Johnny-Walker, the Lord East at the time, readily nodded.
━What can’t you do if you want to die?
Thirty swordsmen from the Sword Tower had come at that time. However, only ten returned after three months.
That too, led by the hand of Piamon Arangot, the Duke and Tower Master, who had come personally.
He only experienced it once, but at that time, Cain felt it. The distance between him and a Duke.
“I’d lose.”
Cain admitted calmly.
The difference between the empire’s strongest sword and a young hero was only natural, but Elena’s eyes widened as if surprised by his words.
“But if it’s a life and death situation……”
Cain trailed off.
If he fought with his life on the line, wielding both ‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’, it would be a 50/50 chance, but if they crossed swords normally, he was sure to lose.
“Then what about a Knight Lord Marquis…… Well, you’ve never seen one, so you wouldn’t know how strong they are.”
Elena felt like she had asked a stupid question and opened the door.
Cain squinted slightly at the sunlight pouring through the open doorway and said,
“It might be worth a try.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
Cain shook his head and brushed his empty waist with his hand.
“Greetings!”
Nearly a hundred cadets gathered in the Grand Training Hall shouted in unison.
They were roughly divided into three groups, seemingly from different classes, and Cain glanced at them as he approached.
“Are you all confident of winning this time?”
“It’ll be different this time!”
“Good.”
Cain replied brightly.
Elena smiled at Cain’s demeanor and stepped back.
Swoop—
The cadets instantly formed a circle around Cain. Cain looked up at the sky and opened his mouth.
“It’s almost lunchtime, so let’s finish this quickly before we eat.”
“No way! You won’t even have the energy to eat! Group 1, forward!”
The cadet leading them, like a captain, raised his hand and shouted. Nine cadets stepped forward, each armed with their own weapons.
Cain looked at them and nodded.
The four facing him directly held swords, while the five behind them were armed with spears or bows.
Humans are clever.
When they realize they can’t defeat an enemy one-on-one by becoming stronger themselves, they team up with other humans and fight.
Just like now.
“You told us to attack you all at once in the beginning.”
Märchen Academy may not be the best in the empire, but it still had a name for itself.
That meant the cadets were proud, and no matter what recommendations Cain had from the princess, none of them were willing to readily accept his teachings from someone who looked to be their age.
So, on the first day he met them here, Cain had simply shrugged and said:
━Come at me. I’ll show you the difference in caliber.
Naturally, what followed were questions like “Who are you?” and “Do you know who we are?” But Cain wouldn’t have it.
Speak, and die.
Don’t speak, and die anyway.
Ten minutes was all it took for Cain to lay all one hundred Knight Department students on the floor.
━Weaklings. Let’s see how long you can last next class.
Magic teaches truth and exploration.
Administration teaches calculation and procedural justice.
Then what about knighthood?
Cain transformed the cadets with one swift punch, more effective than a hundred words.
The Knight Department cadets, who had suffered an overwhelming defeat at the very beginning, racked their brains to come up with a strategy to defeat Cain.
━Not bad this time.
The time it took for Cain to defeat them all was getting longer.
━Your sword tip keeps wavering inward, you lack back muscle.
━Hold the sword a little higher so you don’t get swayed by it.
━When you step……”
And Cain’s advice.
From the second special lecture onwards, after defeating a cadet, he would give them the most necessary advice.
At first, they wondered why he would bother, but as they trained the areas Cain pointed out, they felt a clear difference, and the Knight Department cadets looked forward to Cain’s special lectures even more.
Which led to today.
“You told us to use our heads last time.”
The president of the Knight Department stepped forward.
A hundred cadets were divided into groups of about ten, each holding different weapons.
Among them were nets, magic guns, and Cain grinned.
“Well utilized.”
“Thank you.”
It’s hard for a human to become strong.
In an era where aura and mana permeate the air like oxygen, becoming strong inevitably requires innate talent.
‘I always thought I lacked talent, but I’m actually quite good.’
Compared to Abel, it was nothing, but compared to other knights, Cain wasn’t lacking, which is why he was able to become strong.
So, do people without talent just have to die?
Cain could firmly answer no.
While it’s difficult for one human to become strong, it’s easy for humans to become strong together.
Just like these cadets in front of him.
And like the soldiers of the Great Wall.
“Shall we begin?”
From a distance.
Elena, who was sitting on a chair, shouted as she checked her pocket watch, and Cain nodded.
“Let’s do this.”
Wheeew—
At that moment, an arrow with its head removed flew towards Cain’s shoulder.
“Should’ve just left the tip on.”
Cain lightly raised his left hand and caught the arrow, then casually tossed it aside. The lead cadets, waiting for that opening, charged.
It was the seventh one-versus-a-hundred battlefield.
🔹🔹🔹
“Forty-one minutes.”
Elena’s clear voice rang out.
“Ugh—”
The cadets, who had been lying on the floor groaning, got up like zombies and began to leave, bowing their heads to Cain.
Cain, with a sweat-free face, waved his hand, dismissing them.
“Lunch smells good today, eat well.”
“I don’t think I can, after the teacher kicked me in the stomach……”
One cadet joked, and Cain pointed to his back.
“Want me to kick you in the back too? Might balance things out, help you eat.”
“I’ll eat well!”
“Good.”
Elena approached Cain’s side.
Although there was no age difference between the cadets and Cain, everyone naturally treated Cain as a teacher far above them.
That sight was quite something.
“Hero, how did you live your life?”
“Suddenly?”
“You handle a sword well, you speak well, you teach well. You have this strange air of composure about you.”
Cain brushed his hair back.
The cadets’ assault this time was quite something, he could feel the moisture between his hair strands.
Whoosh—
But the cool summer breeze blowing from the shade refreshingly blew away the sweat, and Cain answered calmly,
“You just have to live twice.”
“Aha, so you’re saying we should live life with that mindset.”
Elena nodded as if she had learned a lesson from Cain’s words.
[‘Winter’ laughs at the situation where the truth wouldn’t be conveyed even if told.]
A woman in black and white was walking against the flow of cadets leaving like an ebbing tide.
Black and white clothes, a maid uniform.
“Cain-nim.”
It was Anje of the Special Intelligence Division.
She was wearing the same clothes as when she served Cain at ‘night’ and whispered to him,
“The Captain has returned.”
“I see. But why the clothes……?”
Anje tilted her head and slightly lifted her skirt.
“The fabric is soft, and it’s roomy, and besides.”
Swoosh—
She pulled out a small dagger and throwing knives from the pockets hidden within her maid outfit.
“It’s a very practical outfit because I can hide weapons like this without anyone noticing!”
“……”
A hundred cadets couldn’t silence Cain, but one Anje did.
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