The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 115
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 115 44. Officially Ranked Last, Lumian (Feat. Bumer Simpson) (1)
Silence.
An absolutely overwhelming silence descended.
Neither Teoro Shutgarn, nor Cal Krone, nor Lumian Calard could speak.
They looked like priests who had just heard an oracle saying ‘the world will end tomorrow.’
After a long while, Teoro opened his mouth.
“Don’t talk nonsense with such a serious expression.”
“Right. Where does Bumer get off saying such ridiculous things.”
Cal Krone picked up on Teoro’s words. He deliberately used strong language and wore a mocking expression. It was to provoke Bumer.
However, the expected reaction didn’t come.
Bumer smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.
“No, it’s real. I really got a girlfriend.”
“…”
“…”
“…Is it real.”
It could no longer be dismissed as a joke. Cal Krone asked Bumer with a serious expression.
Then the guy nodded his head.
While wearing a happy smile that couldn’t come out if it wasn’t real.
“Huh! Bumer got a girlfriend?”
“I thought he’d never be able to date anyone in his lifetime.”
“Hehehe… That’s how it happened.”
“…”
Despite the continued teasing, Bumer didn’t look upset.
It was natural. There was nothing that could make him angry right now. It was a moment when everything in the world felt beautiful.
On the other hand, Lumian Calard’s mood plummeted to rock bottom.
An aura of despair was slowly rising from his body.
‘Bumer… Bumer, my last line of defense is dating!’
How could this be happening!
A scream echoed in his heart.
However, whether Lumian was suffering or not didn’t matter. Everyone’s attention was focused on Bumer.
Cal Krone, who swallowed his saliva, asked with an excited face.
“Who is it? Is it someone we know?”
“Yeah. Probably?”
“Tell us quickly, don’t drag it out. When, where, who, and how. Tell us everything without leaving anything out.”
“Alright.”
Bumer nodded obediently.
Normally, he would have gotten angry at their forceful words, but right now he was dying to brag. Rather, he felt infinite gratitude that they were asking him like this.
Bumer’s expression became wistful as if thinking of the past. After a moment, an unexpected name flowed from his mouth.
“My girlfriend’s name is Dayna Sellia. I don’t know if you know her, but she’s from Rhodesia who came to participate in this Swordsmanship Competition…”
“Crazy!”
“You’re dating an older woman? And a Rodisian Squire at that?”
“Yeah. That’s how it happened.”
“Wow shit… How did you start dating? It seems like there wasn’t even proper time to talk?”
Cal Krone frowned and muttered.
His words were right. The Rhodesian delegation had only been at the Academy for about 3 weeks at most.
For about 2 weeks of that, there wouldn’t have been time to get close. It was likely that time only became available after the quarterfinals when she was eliminated from the Swordsmanship Competition.
‘In such a short time, you introduced yourselves, got to know each other, went on dates, and ended up dating? Bumer, who has never dated a woman before?’
It was unbelievable. Disbelief began to settle in everyone’s gaze.
But then, another surprising name flowed from Bumer’s mouth.
“How it happened was, well, um, the newly appointed Professor Morghen gave me advice…”
“What? Morghen?”
Lumian asked back in surprise.
The others were the same. No one had expected Morghen’s name to come up here.
“Professor Morghen helped you?”
“What happened? Tell us quickly!”
“Alright. So what happened was…”
Bumer, scratching his head again, began his story.
Teoro and Cal Krone perked up their ears to hear exactly how the two had become connected, and what kind of advice that great Sword Master had given.
However, Lumian was different.
He could roughly guess. Having come to understand Morghen’s views on romance better than anyone during the vacation, he wasn’t curious about what came next at all.
‘He probably told him to charge straight in instead of hesitating and wavering.’
Action over contemplation!
This was Morghen’s motto. He wasn’t the type to consider whether something would work or not. He was someone who tried first and saw what happened.
“…That’s how it happened.”
The story flowed exactly as Lumian had expected.
Bumer’s heart was willing, but his confidence was rock bottom due to Cal Krone’s frequent criticisms.
Morghen, who happened to be wandering around the campus, meddled with him. And Bumer followed his words exactly. He went straight to Dayna Selly, who had been eliminated from the Swordsmanship Competition, and asked her on a date.
An absurd thing.
It was definitely an action Lumian could never dream of.
How much possibility would there be in suddenly asking for a date from a woman he’d never even spoken to, who was probably feeling terrible after being eliminated from the Swordsmanship Competition? The chance of being humiliated would exceed 90 percent.
No, it would exceed 99 percent. Especially with Bumer’s rough appearance.
‘But Bumer did it!’
That’s right. He eventually tried.
He didn’t get discouraged by the 1 percent possibility, and following Morghen’s advice, he threw everything he had into it.
And surprisingly, he succeeded in that slim gamble.
Bumer continued his story with a smiling face.
“I didn’t know it would go this well either. I thought, even if it fails, it can’t be helped, let’s just try! And she smiled and nodded. So after that we went on two dates, and when she said I seemed cute, I confessed right there…”
“…She said you were cute?”
“Isn’t this all bullshit from start to finish?”
“No, it’s real. We even agreed to go to the Rhodesia Festival together after the semester ends.”
Bumer said with a confident face.
An expression that said he had nothing to be ashamed of under the heavens.
And corners of his mouth turned up as if he was happier than anyone else in the world.
Seeing this, Cal Krone nodded with a serious look.
He said.
“…It seems to be real, this bastard.”
“Congratulations.”
Teoro calmly offered his congratulations.
They were bad friends, but still, he had to congratulate what deserved congratulating. Hearing his words, Bumer blushed and said.
“Haha, thank… Huh? Lumian?”
At that moment, Lumian suddenly stood up from his seat.
And after throwing his practice sword onto the weapon rack, he quickly left the training grounds.
His face was rigidly hardened.
Bumer muttered.
“Why is he acting like that? That guy.”
“A sense of crisis has come.”
It was Cal Krone’s words. He chuckled and continued.
“Now that even you have a girlfriend, he’s the only one who’s not dating.”
It was true.
Currently, both Cal Krone and Teoro were in relationships. They were originally people who did everything they wanted while never lacking women.
In such a situation, even Bumer, who had been like their last bastion, had started dating, so it was a situation where they couldn’t help but be on edge.
“Will he try to do something more aggressive?”
“Hmm. He can’t afford to make mistakes…”
Cal Krone and Teoro muttered with their own concerns.
Watching them, Bumer quietly smiled.
‘Ah, I wish the semester would end quickly.’
* * *
‘This won’t do!’
Lumian left the training grounds with determined strides. His expression looked resolute, as if he had made up his mind about something.
He had received his first shock from Morghen, who became a professor for a woman, and his second shock from Bumer, who succeeded in romance by following Morghen’s advice exactly.
If he did nothing even after all this, he would be nothing more than a foolish pushover.
‘I can’t become the lowest in the hierarchy!’
Until now, it had been fine.
Though there were ruthless guys like Teoro and Cal Krone, their attacks were mainly directed at Bumer. Though it was a sad memory, thanks to having hung out with Leiton Wino even briefly, he had been able to maintain a relatively higher position than Bumer.
But now the situation was different. At this rate, he would have to continuously feel the humiliation and sadness that Bumer had endured.
‘Before that happens, I need to show results!’
He had to approach Tania.
They needed to become closer than just teacher and student, senior and junior!
Wrapped up in such thoughts, Lumian set out to find Tania. It was a simple task. With his level of skill, he could sense her presence just by spreading his aura in all directions.
However.
“…”
Lumian didn’t use that simple method.
Instead, he wandered aimlessly around the Academy interior. Muttering half-heartedly about why he couldn’t see Senior Tania anywhere.
The reason wasn’t anything special.
It was because hesitation still remained in his heart.
‘What if I try to do something more and it makes things awkward between us?’
A worry that anyone inexperienced in romance would have—no, the stronger one’s feelings, the deeper this concern becomes. This was restraining Lumian’s actions.
It couldn’t be helped.
He wasn’t Bumer Simpson. He certainly wasn’t Morghen either.
He was just Ryan Fromhart and Lumian. Combined, they had zero romantic experience—just a eunuch with male parts attached.
Such a person couldn’t suddenly change just by making up his mind.
“Sigh.”
A sigh escaped Lumian’s lips. His confidence was gradually dropping.
The falling autumn leaves were making his heart even sadder. Even before starting anything, it felt like a bad outcome was already predetermined. That’s why it was difficult.
Then, Tania came into view.
“…!”
It was by chance.
Where he was now wasn’t near the Knight Department building. It was near the Magic Department, which had nothing to do with him. He had come here because he lacked the confidence to face Tania.
Despite that, they had met. He had seen her face.
Lumian considered pretending not to know her and passing by. For just a brief moment, he harbored such cowardly thoughts.
But he didn’t do that.
Because Tania’s expression that caught his eye looked more serious than ever before.
‘Why?’
He couldn’t understand it.
She should be in a good mood right now.
She had reached the Expert level and received commendations from the King, Royal Knight Commander, and Academy Director. Her reputation was spreading across the entire continent.
Yet despite all that, she had such a heavy atmosphere.
‘What’s going on?’
Lumian approached Tania.
Before he knew it, his feet were moving on their own. When he came to his senses, there was a face in front of him, eyes wide open, looking at him.
He spoke.
“Senior Tania.”
“Huh, huh? What, what are you doing here?”
“I was just bored and taking a walk through places I hadn’t been to, and ended up here.”
“Really? Haha…”
“Senior.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know what it is, but if you have any worries, tell me about them.”
“…Hmm.”
At Lumian’s words, Tania smiled silently.
It wasn’t a smile that looked happy.
Though he wasn’t sure, it seemed like considerable worries were hidden inside.
‘What could it be.’
He was curious.
It was far from thoughts like ‘I’m just curious what’s going on, so I need to find out somehow.’
He just wanted Senior Tania’s face to brighten up.
Whatever it was didn’t matter. He didn’t need to know, so he just hoped that whatever she was worrying about would somehow be resolved. That’s what Lumian thought.
And if he could be a little more greedy about it…
‘If possible, I hope she brightens up because of me.’
By seeing his face.
By having conversations with him.
While spending time with this Lumian Calard, he hoped she would shake off the worries in her heart.
With such thoughts, he sat down on the bench next to Tania and said.
“You don’t have to tell me what’s going on. If it’s difficult to talk about.”
“Huh?”
“Well, if you do tell me, I’m confident I can actively counsel you, but if it’s burdensome, there’s nothing I can do.”
“No, nothing’s wrong with me? I was just thinking about what snacks to eat tonight…”
“Would you like to go out and have fun together this weekend?”
“Huh?”
Tania looked startled.
Lumian had never initiated this kind of conversation before.
Though they had spent quite a lot of time together, most of it had been limited to swordsmanship instruction.
She answered.
“What, are you celebrating my victory in the Swordsmanship Competition? Something a teacher does for a successful student…”
“No. It’s a date proposal.”
“…What?”
Tania’s face hardened.
The reaction when hearing something completely unexpected.
Lumian felt an ‘Oh no!’ moment.
In his single-minded desire to cheer her up, he had unknowingly come on too strong. Sweat began forming on his back.
“Ah, no, I mean… I don’t know what it is, but you seemed to be feeling really down.”
“…”
“So I just… um, if I’m okay with you, I thought we could have fun together on Saturday and cheer up, that was my intention when I said…”
“Good!”
“Huh?”
Tania stood up from the bench.
Lumian’s gaze moved upward.
What?
What’s happening right now?
His thoughts weren’t connecting well. It was because he was so flustered.
“Sounds good. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
To him, she spoke again with a smiling face.
It was a smile so bright it created the illusion that the surroundings had become brighter. Though the short days made everything dark, only her appearance shone so brilliantly it was hard to look at for long.
“Y-yes! Look forward to it, I’ll make it totally fun.”
Lumian barely managed to open his mouth.
Honestly, he wasn’t confident. But at this moment, he had to muster up courage he didn’t even have.
He pounded his chest with his fist, and Tania nodded with a “hmm.”
“Right. Just try making it boring. I’ll totally cause a scene, so you better know that.”
Having finished speaking, Tania grinned widely.
The worries from just moments before seemed to have completely disappeared.
Seeing that face, Lumian also smiled. Compared to her beautiful laughter, his looked a bit foolish.
“Well, I remembered something I need to do. I’ll head back first.”
“Ah, yes! Get back safely!”
“Right.”
With those words, Tania left.
Lumian watched her for a long while. Her ponytail hairstyle kept swaying back and forth.
Lumian, who had been staring at it foolishly, quietly muttered to himself.
“…Somehow, did I take the first step?”
Though it started with the childish thought of ‘I can’t lose to Bumer,’ such thoughts were completely absent from his mind now.
A fresh and awkward, but therefore all the more heart-fluttering moment.
The emotion of excitement belatedly rose on Lumian’s face.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————