The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 116 44. Officially Lowest Ranked Lumian (Feat. Bumer Simpson) (2)

Click.

About 20 minutes after their meeting.

Tania entered her own room and stood quietly, gazing at the table.

The recruitment proposal written personally by Claire Cambahita, the Sword Master of Rodigia.

She stared at it for a long time.

Joy, attachment, obsession, excitement, fear. So many other emotions that couldn’t all be explained individually.

Rip, tear!

And these emotions began to fade little by little the moment Tania tore up the recruitment proposal. Like ashes scattered by the wind, bit by bit.

Of course, they didn’t disappear completely.

The black stains would remain for a long time like marks embedded in skin. As regret, or perhaps as something called remorse.

But at least for now, she decided not to think about such things.

Tania muttered while thinking of Lumian.

“How foolish.”

Yes. She really was such a foolish person.

To reject a better place to achieve her dreams, a more suitable place to unfold her ambitions, all because of just one person.

‘In the past, I wouldn’t have even hesitated, right?’

She chuckled softly.

Even at the beginning of this semester, that’s how it was.

When she gave Lumian advice about his concerns, she thought she would definitely choose challenge over comfort. There was no room for any man in her path forward.

But now, after two or three months had passed, Tania Eloise had become a completely different person.

At least in front of Lumian, she had.

She thought while stroking his portrait with her hand.

‘It’s not just one person.’

To express it that way, Lumian had given her far too much.

Having finished her thoughts, Tania threw herself onto the bed. With her face buried in the pillow, she maintained a stillness as if she had fallen into deep sleep.

“Heh, hehe, hehehehe.”

But that was only for a moment.

Tania’s body trembled.

Though her face was hidden by the pillow, it was obvious to anyone that she was smiling.

‘He said it was a date request, didn’t he?’

Was he serious about it?

Probably not. Throughout the entire swordsmanship lesson, she hadn’t felt even a hint of ulterior motive from Lumian.

‘But, I can at least interpret it as meaning we’ve gotten a little closer, right?’

“Hehehe.”

Tania stopped making strange laughing sounds only after a full hour had passed.

* * *

“No, that’s a bit much. Wouldn’t Madamran have a better atmosphere than there?”

“…”

Lumian’s expression hardened stiffly.

Nevertheless, Bumer’s advice continued endlessly.

He was like a fish in water. Watching him get completely excited, Lumian let out a sigh.

‘This bastard, just because he got a girlfriend, he’s trying to lord it over me?’

His pride was hurt. Anger and disbelief mixed together, emanating an aura close to murderous intent.

He spoke in a low voice.

“Bumer, I’ll handle it myself.”

“Yeah Bumer, tone it down.”

Cal Krone helped Lumian out. At the appearance of someone stronger than himself, Bumer instantly shrank back.

‘Thank you, Cal Krone. You’re the only one!’

As expected, Cal Krone was the best at putting Bumer in his place!

Just as he was thinking that.

“If you don’t tone it down, he might cry, so go easy on him.”

“…”

“What. Why are you staring?”

It was a miscalculation.

Cal Krone wasn’t an ally. He was just a merciless monster. A monster that bit at the weak when he saw them.

Lumian felt a chill run through his body.

He had watched Bumer get tormented by that guy throughout the entire second semester.

Sometimes he even thought ‘Wow, that’s too much.’ Each time, he felt grateful that he had a comparative advantage over Bumer. Cal Krone in this area was truly like a demon.

‘Those sharp remarks are going to be directed at me from now on?’

He was scared. Fear washed over him to the point where his teeth chattered audibly.

Until now, he had only been excited about the thought of dating Tania, but not anymore. His entire mindset had changed.

Lumian looked at Teoro Shutgarn and bowed his head.

It was a 90-degree angle. He pleaded with desperate sincerity.

“Please give me some dating advice, Teacher.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you!”

Lumian bowed his head once more. This time his head nearly touched the ground.

Seeing this, Teoro chuckled softly.

He had momentarily forgotten how he became friends with this monster-like guy. Despite appearances, he was Lumian’s romance teacher.

‘Though there haven’t been any real results, the current Lumian has become much more useful. This time feels promising.’

Teoro made a serious assessment.

It wasn’t bad. First of all, it was encouraging that Tania seemed to have some feelings for Lumian.

‘Thinking about the Leiton Wino incident, she definitely seems to have some affection.’

However, he wasn’t sure whether that affection was the kind of emotion one feels when looking at the opposite sex, or just feelings between close seniors and juniors.

He didn’t have enough of a relationship with Tania to figure out such things.

In fact, he hadn’t been very interested until before becoming an Expert. She was someone he only mentioned when teasing Lumian.

‘I feel a bit sorry. For someone who’s supposed to be a romance teacher…’

It seemed he had been too influenced by Cal Krone. Throughout the second semester, he had been so absorbed in sword training that he couldn’t pay attention to other things.

Teoro reflected on himself for a moment.

He felt he should really help earnestly from now on.

“Hmm. Alright. Let’s go with a safe approach for now.”

“Safe approach?”

“Yeah. You said you weren’t sure whether Senior Tania was interested in you or not, right? Then instead of trying to force anything, let’s gradually close the distance. Preferably, make her recognize you as a man, not just a junior.”

“Make her recognize me as a man?”

Lumian made a puzzled expression.

He didn’t quite understand what that meant.

Seeing him like that, Teoro sighed.

“I’ll just plan the location and route for you. I’ll recommend places with atmospheres that naturally create romantic feelings when you’re together, so just say and do things that fit those settings.”

“Hmm…”

“Don’t spend three hours sparring in the training grounds and then grin while saying, ‘Today was another fulfilling day!’ Act like you’re a man and woman together, not fellow knight cadets. Got it?”

“Umm… I think I understand better than before.”

Lumian nodded with difficulty. Teoro clapped his hands together.

“Right. Don’t be too nervous. Don’t be impatient either. Just because Bumer succeeded in one go doesn’t mean you should try to accomplish something in one go too.”

“Is that so…”

“Yeah. Confession is something you do as a confirmation process when you’re 100% sure you’re in a relationship, not something you throw out like a gamble. That guy was just really lucky, it usually doesn’t work.”

“Hehehe…”

“That wasn’t a compliment to you.”

Bumer Simpson laughed, and Cal Krone delivered a sharp remark. Nevertheless, Bumer didn’t look upset at all.

Lumian stared at him.

Knowing the source of that guy’s composure made him feel extremely disgusted. He also felt envious.

‘I’ll definitely succeed too!’

A world where everyone except me is lovey-dovey in relationships—I can’t stand it!

I’ll either start dating too, or destroy the world—I’ll definitely do one of the two!

Whoosh!

Flames flickered in Lumian’s eyes.

He looked at Teoro and said.

“Please, Teoro.”

“Uh, yeah…”

Teoro stepped back and answered.

It was burdensome. At the same time, he felt sorry for him.

‘I hope there’s a good result this time, Lumian.’

He sincerely blessed his friend’s future and gave advice with all his heart and soul. Cal Krone occasionally threw in ideas here and there, and Bumer couldn’t resist his itchy mouth and chimed in a couple of times.

And a few days later.

Finally, the time for the decisive battle approached.

Lumian checked his appearance in the full-length mirror and left the room, speaking energetically.

“Let’s go!”

* * *

The Saturday of the week after the Swordsmanship Competition ended.

Lumian Calard and Tania Eloise got their outing passes together and headed outside the Academy.

Both of their cheeks were slightly flushed.

Whatever the reason, this was their first date together.

However, Lumian’s face was much more rigidly stiff.

The reason wasn’t anything major. It was because Tania had disrupted his plans.

‘Ah, from the morning?’

‘Yeah. Since we’re going to have fun anyway, I want to play all day from early morning until late at night.’

Hearing Tania’s words last night, Lumian felt dizzy.

The plan he had made with his three friends only considered from lunch until evening.

So from morning until lunch was like a blank canvas.

Lumian’s head was the same way.

‘Where should we go?’

He had thought of a few places all night.

But none of them appealed to him. It couldn’t be helped. There weren’t really any good places for a man and woman to spend time together from morning.

His nervousness also played a part.

Actually, the current situation wasn’t something to worry much about. He just needed to eat some food, chat, and walk around the streets until lunchtime. He had done this kind of thing many times before.

However, now that his feelings toward Tania had changed, what used to be easy had become incredibly difficult.

Every movement, every word felt awkward. A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead.

If this continued just a little longer, it felt like something would come up from his stomach.

Then, Tania spoke first.

“Should we go there?”

“Uh, where?”

“The place where we first ate together. Remember?”

“Ah… there?”

“Yeah. Well, it’s morning so there’s nowhere else to go anyway. Let’s eat and talk.”

“Should we do that then?”

“Let’s do it. Come on, let’s go!”

Grab!

Tania took Lumian’s hand. And walking half a step ahead, she swung her arm energetically.

Lumian gasped and sucked in air.

The sound was barely audible, but he was shocked enough that his heart was pounding.

‘M-my hand…!’

He didn’t remember the fact that he had touched her waist, forearms, and thighs while checking her sword stance.

Only now, the sensation of the hand he was holding was vivid.

For a woman, it was a firm and rough hand.

But it wasn’t bad. This was natural for a knight.

‘Expression management, expression management!’

Lumian took a breath. And exhaled lightly and slowly.

His mind calmed down a little. Then his awkwardly stiff face gradually returned to its normal state.

‘She didn’t see it, right?’

Fortunately. Since Tania was slightly ahead pulling him along, he was able to avoid showing a strange expression.

Of course, he couldn’t be complacent here. He needed to think of things to say during the upcoming meal.

‘I-it should be okay, right? This much?’

Tania thought with a reddened face.

Lumian was too focused on himself to notice, but she wasn’t in a calm state either. Her breathing became rough from nervousness. Her lips also trembled.

She had taken his hand as if it meant nothing. And was walking while playfully swinging her arm.

Nevertheless, physical contact was physical contact. For her, it meant she had mustered tremendous courage.

‘I should keep walking fast. I can’t manage my expression!’

Their opinions coincidentally aligned in a strange way.

Tania slightly in front, Lumian behind. They maintained this stably and arrived at their destination.

When they let go of hands, both had calm faces.

Finally, it was the moment their bumbling date began.

* * *

“Ah, I’m full.”

“Me too. Doesn’t this place taste better than last time?”

“Right. I wasn’t planning to eat much originally.”

The two finished their meal and left the inn-restaurant.

Eating together was something they had been doing continuously since before the Swordsmanship Competition. Being in a familiar situation, the two rapidly regained their composure.

Of course, the tingling emotions hadn’t completely subsided.

The two continued to be conscious of each other and check themselves. While doing so, they walked down the street.

One thing was certain: both Lumian and Tania were feeling happiness at this moment.

“Huh?”

“This place is…”

Before them, an unfamiliar scene unfolded.

They had taken a wrong turn while walking and talking, but both their expressions were peculiar.

They had never been here before, but it was a place they had heard about until their ears were calloused.

It was the Red Light District.

“…This is that place, right?”

“Haha… Yes. Probably?”

“Wow, so this is what it feels like.”

Tania took one step, two steps toward the inside.

The Red Light District in late morning was less impressive than expected.

At least that’s how it looked to her eyes. She thought there would be something extremely promiscuous and lewd, but instead it felt very quiet and calm.

“S-Senior.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to go inside?”

Lumian asked with a reddened face.

Though Lumian harbored dozens of perverts in his heart, it still felt a bit wrong to say nothing in this situation. He thought he should at least pretend to stop her.

But Tania’s reaction was different from expected.

She turned around and smiled slightly.

And began moving forward with light steps.

“Senior Tania!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s just…”

“What is it, junior? Are you perhaps scared?”

“…”

Lumian shut his mouth tightly and stared at Tania.

The senior who was suddenly provoking him looked both cute and annoying at the same time.

He felt a slight sense of inferiority. Though she didn’t know this fact, he had no experience in this area for over 60 years.

Was that the reason? A sense of defiance welled up in his heart.

Lumian answered boldly.

“Scared? What for. This should be interesting. Let’s just take a look!”

“Huh? Well…”

This time it was Tania who was flustered.

She hadn’t really planned to stay in This Place.

She had just been bluffing for a moment, thinking to tease Lumian.

‘…Well, nothing serious will happen.’

Watching Lumian approach her, she managed her expression again.

Tania, now wearing a confident and relaxed face, extended her hand and said.

“Shall we go then, little brother?”

“Shall we, big sister?”

Lumian played along with Tania’s words. In that state, the two slowly entered the interior of the Red Light District.

Before they knew it, they were tightly holding each other’s hands.

Sweat was gradually seeping out due to their nervousness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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