The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 160

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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 160 61. Rapid Growth (2)

 

Hans, a merchant from a city in the Kingdom of Charlotte, was returning home with a sad expression. Today marked exactly 15 years since his mother had passed away.

 

While people leaving this world was something that inevitably happened at some point, Hans still couldn’t forget what happened that day.

 

The demons who appeared leading monsters made ferocious by magic. Those terrible creatures who tormented, violated, and treated his mother, who had been a merchant guild leader, and countless others like insects.

 

His body still trembled when he thought of those memories.

 

Though he had barely managed to save his life thanks to the knight order that arrived late, his soul had already become weakened to its limits.

 

‘If my two-year-old son and wife hadn’t remained, perhaps I would have taken my own life that day…’

 

In fact, even now he sometimes had such impulses.

 

Though the world had become peaceful, his heart was still a battlefield. The nightmares he had every night made him gasp like pneumonia. Every time the demons’ filthy hands groped his mother, Hans would wake up screaming, and he was often consumed by anxiety that someday his remaining family would suffer a similar fate.

 

The pain of that day that wouldn’t disappear even when he visited priests and prayed, that he couldn’t escape no matter how hard he tried.

 

‘This won’t do. Today I need to have at least one drink or I won’t be able to bear it…’

 

“Hmm?”

 

As he headed toward the tavern with a heavy expression, a strange sight entered his view.

 

The bustling crowds were nothing unusual. There were only a handful of days when the commercial city’s plaza was quiet.

 

However, seeing the mages and priests mixed among them, he couldn’t help but become interested.

 

From their busily moving figures, he got the feeling that something was about to happen.

 

‘I’ll drink later, but for now I should stay and watch.’

 

Hans wasn’t the only one thinking this way. People watched the mages and priests with curious faces, and their numbers continued to grow. Eventually, so many people filled the plaza that there was no room to step.

 

And shortly after, a square light burst forth from the crystal orb of a mage with a neatly grown white beard.

 

A large magical screen that could be comfortably viewed from anywhere.

 

The images flowing from it contained content spectacular enough to captivate people’s souls.

 

Whiiiing-!

 

Kwaang!

 

Kwaaaang!

 

Full body armor that glowed softly as if embracing moonlight.

 

A massive sword emanating an intense aura like the sun.

 

A young man with a solemn yet confident face that seemed to possess an unbreakable will.

 

The sight of him magnificently cutting down monsters was spectacular and charming in a way that was hard to see anywhere else.

 

People held their breath and watched the images intently.

 

The young man’s appearance was completely different from simply showing off and boasting about his strength.

 

Though he was in a different space, he felt as reliable as if he were right beside them, and they felt absolute faith that he would sweep away not only present hardships but future ones as well.

 

Tears unknowingly flowed from Hans’ eyes.

 

“Ahh…”

 

When the climax part of the video came, the plaza’s reaction became even more intense.

 

The young man in crisis offered prayers to god, and with blessings defeated the Demon King. Seeing him ascend to heaven following the sacred light afterward, everyone unknowingly clapped their hands.

 

It was more moving than any excellent play. People who had lost family to demons were busy wiping away tears just like Hans.

 

Among them, a priest’s voice rang out.

 

“Goddess Allia has spoken.”

 

“…”

 

“It has been 11 years since the invasion of the evil and sinister Demon King’s army was stopped, but their shadow still looms over the continent, and many people still cannot escape from the past. They fear the future. Therefore they cannot be faithful to the present.”

 

No one opened their mouth. They looked up at the platform while even holding their breath. The priest, who had cleared his throat briefly, continued speaking again.

 

“For the lambs who are still unable to escape from the swamp of pain and wandering on the path of confusion, the Goddess has bestowed blessings upon the continent.”

 

“…”

 

“Lumian Calard, the hero of light who will protect the continent for the next 100 years and who carries Allia’s miracle in his heart. Under that holy name, may all people find peace!”

 

The voice amplified through magic rang out like thunder. And it struck into people’s hearts.

 

Hans was the same.

 

He stood in the plaza for a long time like a rooted tree, blankly watching the hero’s appointment ceremony that continued to be shown.

 

That night, Hans had his first good night’s sleep since losing his mother.

 

And similar phenomena were occurring simultaneously across the entire continent.

 

* * *

 

A month had passed.

 

The continent was truly in the midst of a Lumian Calard craze. It was only natural. The hero’s appointment ceremony was being shown everywhere except remote areas where the Order’s reach didn’t extend.

 

People were amazed once by the fact that the Goddess had directly appointed a hero, and amazed again that despite his young age, the hero possessed tremendous skill.

 

However, the most important thing was something else.

 

The aura image that Lumian displayed with full power had planted enormous trust in people’s hearts.

 

‘Even though he’s a hero recognized by the Goddess, he’s so young… why does my heart feel so at ease when I look at him?’

 

‘It feels like I’ve entered inside high, thick castle walls. What could it be? He’s certainly impressive, but to feel this way from just a magical video…’

 

People were bewildered by the incomprehensible phenomenon, yet they didn’t reject that sense of stability.

 

That was Lumian’s power. An overwhelming talent that couldn’t be understood by logic or judged by reason.

 

Of course, as always, there was inevitably a group that envied the birth of such a new hero.

 

Several knights trying to gain reflected benefits from the current craze came forward claiming their skills were superior to Lumian Calard’s.

 

However, such confusion disappeared from the entire continent before long.

 

The two giants who had achieved the greatest accomplishments among knights in the current human world.

 

Knight King Philip III and Shinsier Ainsworth, the Golden Dawn, simultaneously made statements supporting Lumian Calard.

 

‘Hero Lumian Calard’s skill is beyond doubt. Regardless of the Goddess’s grace, his strength is the greatest on the continent.’

 

‘The hero has the ability to single-handedly repel the Demon King. In the name of Goddess Allia and Hero Lumian Calard, the continent will maintain peace and stability for a long time.’

 

Who would dare doubt whose words?

 

Those who had been briefly swayed by the knights’ words hurriedly ran to temples to repent their sins before the Goddess, and prayed for future peace while repeating the hero’s name. As controversy disappeared, faith and support for Lumian Calard became even stronger.

 

Five months from then, half a year had passed since the hero’s appointment ceremony was first shown.

 

Now Lumian Calard’s name wasn’t unfamiliar anywhere on the continent. People gathered in temples chanted the hero’s name along with the Goddess’s name.

 

It wasn’t just temples. Wandering minstrels on the streets began creating songs of praise about the hero. You could often see children in every alley fighting over who would play the role of Lumian Calard.

 

The hero’s accessories also sold like hotcakes.

 

This was the result of the emblem on the left chest of the armor he wore during the appointment ceremony receiving belated attention, which was actually a symbol of the Calard family.

 

Thanks to this, the Calard Estate suffered from the flood of people pouring in like a tide.

 

‘Are you doing well, my son?’

 

Baron Luno Calard opened the window of the manor house and looked outside.

 

Today too, the estate was bustling with countless people. The inns that had belatedly begun construction pleased his heart. He felt like dancing with joy at his son’s ever-growing stature.

 

However, it was also true that he felt anxious in one corner of his heart.

 

‘I miss you.’

 

His own child who had become so distant, as if he had become a stranger.

 

He didn’t want to be apart any longer.

 

If they continued like this, it seemed they would become awkward forever. It seemed his child would become a different being, not his own, and fly away.

 

And the four people receiving hero candidate classes at the Order headquarters felt similarly.

 

‘If I become complacent just because I became a hero candidate…’

 

‘We’ll grow more distant. Before that happens…’

 

‘I too will achieve results. So that Lumian doesn’t become more distant. So I can still remain by his side.’

 

‘I miss you, Lumian.’

 

Teoro Shutgarn, Bumer Simpson, Cal Krone, and Tania Eloise, who lived each day intensely while longing for Lumian.

 

Their deep feelings rose toward heaven. Along with the wishes of continental people numbering far beyond thousands and tens of thousands. This was an enormous energy incomparably greater than what Lumian Calard had felt before.

 

Of course, making this his own was an entirely different story.

 

Smack!

 

“Why can’t you understand? That’s not how you do it.”

 

“No, if it were that easy…”

 

“You said you want to finish training quickly and go down? Then somehow make it work.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Lumian, who spoke grumpily, closed his eyes again.

 

And he concentrated all his nerves on feeling the faith and trust of people rushing in like a tide, and forming bonds with them.

 

Allia, who was watching him, made a serious expression.

 

It was because of the ominous feeling that had crossed her mind a week ago.

 

‘What on earth is that Demon God preparing?’

 

Allia, who had maintained her divinity for a long time, possessed insight close to prophecy.

 

Her intuition was telling her exactly that. The opponent’s card this time was truly dangerous. That it wouldn’t be strange no matter what happened.

 

‘The situation might be worse than the worst I had anticipated. I need to quickly draw out Lumian’s potential somehow…’

 

Her heart was extremely anxious.

 

Of course, that didn’t change anything.

 

In fact, the achievements that Lumian Calard was showing right now were already remarkable.

 

He always did more than she expected. He was growing stronger so quickly that she felt she was being too harsh in her criticism.

 

‘Right. Let me stay calm. As a patron deity, I shouldn’t show myself wavering. To help Lumian concentrate, I need to show an even more composed appearance…’

 

It was when she was having such thoughts.

 

Archangel Armion, who had been standing quietly beside her, sent a thought to Allia.

 

– Great Mother of the World, Lady Allia.

 

– What’s with the sudden formality. Why not speak aloud.

 

– It seems Lumian Calard has gained enlightenment.

 

– Huh? Oh… That’s right. Indeed.

 

Armion’s words were correct. Lumian’s appearance, deeply immersed in his own world while maintaining a cultivation posture, was exactly the same as what was commonly seen just before major growth.

 

The patron deity smiled slightly.

 

– We should stay quiet and not disturb him for a while. About a week should be enough for him to fully consolidate his enlightenment.

 

– That’s right.

 

– Just in case something goes wrong, we should keep watch until he awakens.

 

After sending the thought, Allia summoned a chair and sat down quietly.

 

For an ordinary person, staring at one person for a week would be tremendous hardship, but she was a deity who had endured tremendous ages. This much was nothing more than an instant.

 

However, the time Lumian spent in meditation far exceeded Allia’s expectations.

 

One day.

 

One week.

 

One month.

 

Half a year.

 

Lumian Calard maintained his cultivation posture without awakening for nearly a full year.

 

Looking at him, Goddess Allia showed a bewildered reaction.

 

‘Just how long will this go on…?’

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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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