The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 157
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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 157 60. Where Am I? Who Are You? (2)
“…!”
The moment the name ‘Ryan Fromhart’ came from his opponent’s mouth, Lumian’s expression hardened.
Only those who had connections from his previous life, including Morghen and the Knight King, knew that he was living his second life. This was the first time someone he had never encountered before recognized this.
‘Is it really Goddess Allia? But….’
He couldn’t be certain.
And for good reason – the Goddess had never directly intervened in the human realm before. At most, she would deliver oracles through priests or make fragmentary prophecies about the future.
‘Compared to that, the demons’ movements were much more frequent.’
Until 11 years ago, you could encounter demons anywhere in the human realm, and just last year, the Demon King who had possessed a human body had attacked him.
Because of such past memories, Lumian couldn’t easily let his guard down.
The beautiful women before his eyes might be demons. They could be the powerful enemies the Goddess had spoken of.
Such suspicions vanished completely the moment an aura emanated from the woman in the palanquin.
Whoosh-!
“Hmm!”
A familiar energy.
Lumian’s memory traveled back through the past.
When he first awakened in this body and felt bewildered.
When he discovered the magic sword and sapphire necklace in the Dragon’s Nest and felt a strange sensation.
When he was drawn by strong fate to get his fortune told at the Rodigia Snowflower Festival.
The energy from those times was identical to the energy the woman in the palanquin was emitting.
Realizing this, Lumian had no choice but to believe that the being before him was Goddess Allia.
Along with the fact that she had been indirectly helping him all this time.
“Now you’re getting the picture?”
Goddess Allia, who had taken another drag of her cigarette, spoke. Smoke billowed from her mouth and nose.
Seeing this, Lumian’s eyes wavered slightly.
The image of Allia he had in mind was vastly different from her actual appearance.
‘She’s completely… like a delinquent?’
Was it because of her red hair that seemed to hold flames? Her rough and coarse way of speaking? Or perhaps the atmosphere that naturally emanated from her body?
Allia came across with a completely different feeling from what ordinary people would imagine when thinking of a ‘Goddess.’
‘I thought she’d be more benevolent, gentle… or if not that, then completely strict and dignified.’
Lumian’s head turned. His gaze went toward the woman with water-colored hair standing beside the palanquin.
‘That one seems much more fitting for a Goddess.’
“I thought the person standing on the left was Lady Allia… Oh.”
His inner thoughts leaked out without him realizing it.
He hastily covered his mouth with his hand, but it was already too late. Allia made a crooked expression and got angry.
“What?”
“No, that’s not what I….”
“This little bastard? After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you act?”
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. It was a slip of the tongue.”
“Isn’t this guy completely rotten? Hey, open your ears and listen well. I’ll tell you one by one everything I’ve done to help you. First, I gave you something beyond your station when you were a eunuch, and feeling sorry that you were using some cheap neighborhood iron sword, I bestowed upon you the magic sword Rubelbarun, useful for aura training practice, real combat, and even picking up women….”
From Allia’s mouth flowed all the events that had happened so far. Lumian bowed his head deeply and obediently listened.
However, there seemed to be no end to the story. The same words kept repeating over and over.
Lumian’s expression became sullen.
‘How much is she going to show off?’
He was annoyed.
Though she was certainly a great being like a mother to all humanity, though she was a being who had bestowed all kinds of grace upon him, rebellious feelings arose much stronger than gratitude.
It seemed to be because of her unique atmosphere. Though he wasn’t saying it out loud, Allia’s way of speaking, expressions, and atmosphere had something that made people irritated.
Of course, he couldn’t retort with ‘That’s enough!’
Therefore, Lumian decided to courageously point out something that had been bothering him since earlier, in order to change the subject.
“Excuse me, Lady Allia.”
“Put modifiers before my name.”
“Pardon?”
“Add things that would make me feel good. Like ‘Great’ or ‘Respected by all,’ or ‘Incomparably beautiful,’ things like that.”
“…Goddess Allia, who possesses passionate beauty like burning flames.”
“Oh, that’s pretty good? Armion, you should watch and learn from this. Your way of speaking is too stiff.”
“…Yes.”
“Anyway, what were you going to say?”
“Well, that… about the palanquin bearers.”
“Huh? What about the palanquin bearers?”
“Why do they look like my friends?”
“Hmm.”
Allia’s eyes turned toward the palanquin bearers supporting the palanquin. Lumian looked at them again too.
Two who looked like Teoro Shutgarn.
And two who looked like Cal Krone.
Their expressionless, rock-like standing posture felt very eerie.
Allia said nonchalantly.
“Because they’re handsome.”
“…Pardon?”
“They’re pretty boys, aren’t they? I like handsome people. Oh, of course that doesn’t mean I dislike ugly humans. I’m still a Goddess, so I cherish and love everyone.”
“….”
“Anyway, your friends are pretty decent. So I borrowed their looks a bit.”
Lumian was at a loss for words.
Was the being before his eyes truly the Goddess who received everyone’s respect, who had steadfastly protected the human realm since the distant past?
It felt like they had just brought some neighborhood thug. His mind became dizzy.
‘No, this wasn’t what I was trying to talk about in the first place.’
The flow of conversation had become strange.
It was all because of Allia. Getting caught up in her pace, he had become strange too.
Belatedly composing himself, he took a deep breath and asked an additional question.
“Lady Allia.”
“Modifier.”
“Beautiful Lady Allia, who seems to embrace all the beauty of everything in the world. I’m sorry, but I have a few things to ask….”
“Yes, yes. Be comfortable. Our Lumian must have many questions. Ask about everything.”
“Yes, thank you. Then, how did I come to be in this place, um. That is, this place is….”
“This place is the Divine Realm.”
“How did I come to set foot in the Divine Realm? Did Lady Allia… Great and benevolent Lady Allia call me here?”
“That’s right.”
The Goddess nodded refreshingly and snapped her fingers.
Then from far away, a servant who looked like Teoro Shutgarn came running with a basket, wearing a haughty and chic expression.
And he peeled a banana from inside it and put it to her mouth.
After taking a bite with an ‘ah,’ she continued speaking.
“You heard through someone else, right? That an enemy with tremendous power appeared on the demon realm side. And that I would make you stronger.”
“…Yes.”
“That’s the reason. From now on, you just need to train here under my guidance.”
“….”
“What? Why that expression? Aren’t you happy?”
“Of, of course I’m happy! I’m grateful for this grace as vast as the ocean!”
Lumian belatedly expressed his gratitude.
However, his inner feelings were heavy beyond measure.
Of course, having the Goddess personally oversee his training was welcome news. It was actually much better than simply receiving grace and becoming stronger only quantitatively.
However, the nuance he felt from her words.
The closed nature of the Divine Realm, which seemed to prevent free travel to and from the Human Realm.
The current atmosphere that felt like he would be trapped here for several years doing nothing but training was making Lumian uncomfortable.
‘…Surely, it can’t really be like that.’
It couldn’t be.
As they say, the ground hardens after rain – now that they had overcome the crisis was the perfect chance to advance his relationship with Tania.
What could there be to advance their relationship after a kiss?
Sex. That heart-pounding word just from hearing it.
‘And even aside from that, I hate to even imagine not seeing Tania for a long time!’
After experiencing hell for 60 years, he had finally become happy. That period had only lasted a few months at most.
He had absolutely no intention of wasting his youth doing nothing but training.
Lumian opened his mouth with a cautious expression.
However, Allia’s words came faster.
“Right. Then rest well today, and let’s start tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the training period will be 5 years at the shortest, 10 years at the longest…”
“Um, excuse me. I can come and go to the Human Realm during training, right? Obviously?”
“Huh? No, you can’t. Do you think it’s so easy to bring a human without qualifications up to the Divine Realm? This is incredibly difficult. Multiple times would be tough.”
“…”
“It’s only possible because you’re someone who has somewhat grasped the Aura of humanity through communion. For ordinary people, no matter how hard I try, I can’t guide them here…”
“Five years!”
“Ah, you startled me. Why are you suddenly shouting?”
Allia frowned as she spoke. Dignity naturally emanated from her body.
However, Lumian, whose eyes had rolled back, didn’t care.
Whether the other party was a Patron Deity or not, whether she had shown him kindness or not, he couldn’t bear it right now.
From his mouth flowed the suppressed resentment of 60 years of virginity.
“Isn’t this too much! I endured 60 years of hellish time and thought I was finally becoming happy, but now you want me to endure another 5 years! Another 10 years! Does this make any sense!”
“Hey, get a grip. I’m a Patron Deity.”
“Damn it! Even if you’re a Patron Deity, how can you lock someone up at such an important moment… At least, at least if I had tried it once before coming here, I wouldn’t feel this wronged…”
Lumian continued muttering something. Like someone whose mind had shattered, his inner voice flowed out endlessly.
Allia, who had been watching him, was about to get angry enough to snap him back to his senses, but soon gave up.
Compassion for the pitiful young lamb had kicked in.
‘Right. That’s understandable. That’s understandable.’
No matter how dangerous the world was.
No matter that powerful enemies were constantly eyeing the Human Realm, and since it was unknown when that would be, they needed to prepare as quickly as possible.
‘If he’s never even tried it once, what good would all that be? It might even be fortunate that he’s not cursing for the world to perish.’
Though Allia had a violent and fiery personality, right now she absolutely couldn’t scold Lumian Calard.
Since ancient times, giving something and then taking it away has been considered something only the worst scoundrels would do.
She thought her action of giving him a body capable of sex and then immediately dragging him to the Divine Realm to force him into training was a bit harsh. She even reflected on it slightly.
Of course, it couldn’t be undone.
With a regretful expression, she carefully explained how great the crisis facing the Human Realm currently was.
“I’m sorry, but there’s no one suitable other than you, and time is not on our side.”
“…”
“So it can’t be helped. For the sake of all living beings in the Human Realm, you’ll have to sacrifice just this once…”
“Let’s start training right now.”
Lumian, who had been hanging his head the whole time, wiped his eyes as he spoke. Moisture was wiped away on his sleeve.
Goddess Allia, who had been making a sad expression, and the angel Armion opened their eyes wide.
“Start right now?”
“Yes. Allia, you said 5 to 10 years, but that’s just an estimate, right? If I work hard, couldn’t the time be shortened?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
The Patron Deity made a reluctant expression.
Of course, exceptions existed in any situation.
However, she was honestly skeptical about whether Lumian would show steep enough growth to shatter her own predictions.
She had said 5 to 10 years because she had already fully acknowledged Lumian’s potential. The level she wanted was a realm that ordinary people couldn’t reach even if they spent a hundred or thousand years.
“Being motivated is good, but if you rush in too recklessly, you’ll have problems.”
“It’s fine. I’ll rush forward while saving even the time for eating, defecating, and sleeping.”
“You’ll die doing that, you fool.”
“I’ll do it even if I die. Anyway, I’ll do it.”
“Good grief.”
Allia shook her head. She couldn’t get through to him.
Right now, the subordinate’s head was heated to the extreme with anger and resentment.
To resolve this, she needed to make him face reality.
‘It’ll be a bit of a shock, but I need to show him what level he’s currently at.’
Then his fever would cool down a bit and composure would return.
Having finished her thoughts, Allia snapped her fingers.
Then a servant with Bumer Simpson’s appearance came running frantically from far away, holding a sword.
“Good. Let’s start with sparring.”
“…Should I fight that person?”
“Right. Don’t be too disappointed if you lose. He’s much stronger than your current level.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. You’d need to train for at least 6 months, or a year at the latest, to be able to win.”
“…”
“It’s been a while since you’ve fought someone stronger than you, right? You’ll probably feel a lot.”
Allia gestured with her chin.
Then the servant with Bumer’s appearance, who had been sweating profusely, raised his sword.
Whoooooong!
A terrifying aura burst forth.
Lumian, who had been watching this with sunken eyes, drew his sword in response.
Immediately after, his form shot forward like lightning.
Bang!
Bang!
Crash!
Just three times.
That was the number of sword strikes needed to knock away the fake Bumer’s sword.
Lumian Calard, who had sheathed his sword, looked at the Patron Deity and asked.
“Now, has it been shortened by 6 months?”
Allia and Armion showed surprised expressions.
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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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