The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 167
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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 167 64. Reunion After 3 Years (2)
The historic day when Lumian Calard safely completed his training with Goddess Allia and descended to the human realm as a perfect hero.
The priests of the Order couldn’t just let such a day pass by. The Pope and Archbishop Abram Russo, among others, were about to busily move around to hold a welcoming ceremony after praising the Patron Deity.
However, none of that mattered at all to Lumian right now.
Only his girlfriend who was right before his eyes.
To put it more bluntly, certain body parts of his girlfriend were what mattered.
He couldn’t hide his surprised expression as he thought.
‘No, what on earth happened?’
He couldn’t understand it.
Of course, Tania from three years ago wasn’t fully grown yet. Seventeen was an age with plenty of room for growth left. After all, even he had grown taller compared to three years ago.
But even so, there’s generally a maximum one could expect.
Yet the two peaks now rising from Tania’s body… far exceeded his expectations.
‘Could they be fake?’
Lumian wasn’t simply overjoyed.
He couldn’t be. Since he had already experienced bitter disappointment once before, suspicion rather than joy first took hold in his heart.
‘Are they real? No, they can’t be real.’
‘No. Why am I jumping to conclusions? Three years is a very long time. It’s enough time for a person to grow.’
‘But there’s such a thing as degree. For mountains to suddenly rise on plains that had nothing for 17 years…’
‘But still, at least they look real from the outside. It’s definitely not illusion magic, and that naturalness is…’
“Hero Lumian Calard, sir?”
“Huh!”
Lumian was startled by the Pope’s aged voice calling him.
Belatedly managing his expression, he answered.
“Yes.”
“Have you completed all your training with Goddess Allia? From what I heard, it’s a process that takes 10 years, or at least 5 years…”
“Ah, somehow the schedule was shortened. I passed both tests given by the great and holy Allia and was recognized as having the qualifications of a true hero.”
“Oh, I see! What truly joyous news!”
Smiles bloomed on the faces of the Pope and the priests.
Recently, the demonic energy flowing into the continent had grown thick, and damage caused by demons was occurring everywhere.
In such a situation, they couldn’t help but be delighted that an invincible hero had descended from heaven.
The Pope, despite his clearly sickly appearance, spoke with a face full of smiles.
“Congratulations on your great achievement, Hero. Although our preparations are lacking since we didn’t receive word from the Patron Deity in advance, if you wait just a moment, we’ll hold a grand welcoming ceremony…”
“No, it’s fine. You don’t need to prepare so hastily.”
Lumian waved his hands dismissively.
A polite refusal. It was probably just courtesy.
The Pope, judging it as such, was about to insist once more when he opened his mouth.
“Really, it’s fine.”
“…”
“For now, I’d like to rest a bit.”
Seeing Lumian speak with an incredibly serious expression, he had no choice but to swallow the words he was about to say.
‘…It seems the training in heaven must have been very difficult.’
“Understood. Then I’ll guide you to a place to rest.”
“That’s fine too.”
“B-but…”
“I have urgent matters to discuss with my girlfr… Hero candidate Miss Tania Eloise.”
Lumian’s face was very serious as he spoke.
Seeing this, the Pope made an expression of realization.
‘Is he trying to convey secret words from Allia? Oh my, I made a tactless mistake…’
“Understood. We shall withdraw now.”
The priests, who had bowed politely, hurriedly left.
After a brief moment, all the bustling people had disappeared, leaving only Lumian and Tania, just the two of them.
Whoosh, a breeze blew by.
Just as the atmosphere was about to become awkward due to the sudden silence, Tania was the first to speak.
“There’s nothing really important to talk about, right?”
“Huh?”
“You just wanted to be alone together, didn’t you?”
“Ah…”
“I did too.”
Having finished speaking, Tania let out a bright smile.
Everything seemed to shine. Her beautiful face, her clear eyes, and the white teeth evenly arranged in her slightly parted mouth.
However, even all of that combined was no match for her chest.
‘Calm down. Calm down!’
Lumian struggled desperately to pull his gaze up from constantly trying to drift downward.
Of course, he failed. His instincts, which had grown like a giant, crushed his shriveled reason. While pretending to look elsewhere, he kept stealing glances at Tania’s chest.
With all his attention focused there, there was no way the conversation could continue properly.
“It’s been three years, hasn’t it? Or maybe a bit more?”
“Yes, that’s right…”
“I’m relieved. I thought I’d have to wait helplessly for over five years.”
“Thank you. I never expected you’d keep waiting here…”
“I have so much I want to talk about. So much I want to hear too.”
“Me too…”
“But Lumian, couldn’t you look at my face while we talk?”
“What?”
Lumian was startled.
He took half a step back. Then Tania approached two steps with a mischievous smile.
At a distance so close their faces almost touched, she whispered.
“Are you that concerned about my chest? Enough to stare at it all day?”
“…N-no. I wasn’t looking.”
“Not looking, my foot. You kept glancing at it. Like a pervert.”
“Really, really I wasn’t. That… necklace, I was looking at your necklace. It suits you well, that sapphire necklace.”
“…”
“Whoever gave it to you really chose well. It’s really nice. Haha, hahaha…”
Lumian let out an awkward laugh. His turned head was looking at the distant sky.
Just as another awkward atmosphere was about to form.
Shocking words burst from Tania’s mouth.
“Want to touch them once?”
“…What?”
Did he mishear?
Just as he was thinking that.
Tania, wearing a fox-like smile, repeated what she had said.
“My chest, should I let you touch it?”
Lumian felt as if lightning had struck his head.
* * *
‘Lumian hasn’t changed at all. Thank goodness.’
Looking at Lumian Calard, who had stiffened and was creaking like a broken marionette doll, Tania inwardly let out a sigh of relief.
Though she had been separated from her lover for the long period of three years, her feelings for him had only deepened. That’s why she couldn’t help but worry whether Lumian, who had completed his training in the Divine Realm, might have become a completely different person, an unreachable existence.
It was an anxiety she had constantly felt from before, but it couldn’t be helped. Her incredibly talented boyfriend kept climbing higher and higher without giving her a chance to catch up.
That’s why this current appearance was so welcome it brought tears to her eyes. This foolish and mischievous side that still had a human scent to it.
Lumian was still Lumian.
Someone who possessed abilities great enough to turn the world upside down, yet still hadn’t lost his innocence. Someone who showed such flustered reactions to her playful teasing.
‘No, is it even okay to describe something like this as pure?’
Having finished her thoughts, Tania looked at Lumian.
Right now, he was wearing an extremely serious expression.
Whether what he had just heard was really true. If it was true, was it really okay to touch. What was the definition of touching. Was it simply poking lightly, or something more than that…
He seemed to be having that kind of dilemma.
Watching this for a moment, she burst out laughing with a “puhup.”
It seemed like the teasing should stop here.
“Sorry, I was just joking.”
“Huh? What?”
“No, you were staring so intently that I couldn’t help myself. Well, I understand. Honestly speaking, even I’m surprised at how much I’ve grown.”
Tania puffed out her chest with a confident face and spun around once.
Accordingly, certain parts of her body swayed like waves. Lumian’s pupils also wavered.
Bursting into laughter once again, Tania flicked her boyfriend’s nose bridge with her finger and said.
“Hey!”
“Ah!”
“Stop staring now. It’s embarrassing.”
“…”
“Like I said before, there’s so much I want to talk about and hear about. It’s awkward to talk standing up, and there’s a place to sit over there, so let’s go over there…”
It was when Tania was bringing up another topic with a clear voice like a bird chirping in the morning.
Lumian, who had been standing quietly the entire time, opened his mouth heavily.
“Senior Tania.”
“Yeah?”
“How can you make such a joke?”
“…Huh? What?”
Lumian looked at Tania. Tania also looked at Lumian. And she was startled.
Because she could feel tremendous heat from his pupils.
‘This is…!’
Sadness and anger, regret and sorrow. Frustration and disappointment.
And a thread of expectation that still remained.
Though they were complex emotions that normally would be impossible to feel to such a degree, she could feel each and every one of them as if she could grasp them in her hands.
Only then did Tania realize.
That the joke she had casually thrown out had not reached Lumian as a joke.
That she had made a joke she absolutely should not have made.
“Senior.”
“Lu, Lumian…”
“Surely, you’re not just going to let this pass, are you?”
“No, uh, I mean…”
Tania’s pupils shook back and forth.
If it had been another man, or even if it was Lumian under normal circumstances, she would have slapped him and kicked him between the legs.
But she couldn’t do that now. There were the words she had said, and her lover whom she was meeting after 3 years was looking at her with such an earnest expression. She absolutely couldn’t just let it pass.
‘Right. It’s not like it’ll wear away, and anyway later we’ll… later we’ll…’
Tania, who had been thinking about her and Lumian’s future for a moment, blushed.
Such a her was being watched with expectant eyes by the greatest hero in the history of the human realm and also a 19-year-old youth who was among the most lustful in human realm history.
After a moment, a very small voice flowed from Tania’s mouth.
“Then, just a little bit…”
* * *
“…”
“Hmm. Ahem.”
An awkward atmosphere.
But in an atmosphere that wasn’t bad at all, the two were sitting on a bench with some distance between them.
Although 10 minutes had already passed since their conversation had stopped, neither one started talking. No, they couldn’t.
Because the aftermath of what had just happened was so significant.
‘No, was I crazy? Why on earth did I do that?’
Lumian thought to himself.
He seemed to have gone crazy. No matter what, to make such an absurd request right to her face…
Of course, he didn’t regret his request or actions.
He absolutely didn’t regret it. Rather, he felt so grateful to himself from just before when he had temporarily lost his mind.
‘After 64 years, I touched a woman’s chest for the first time!’
It couldn’t help but be a monumental day.
He resolved to remember today’s events forever.
Of course, being happy was one thing, but there was a need to change the current awkward atmosphere. Lumian deliberately turned his head toward Tania with an exaggeratedly bright smile.
And he casually asked about what had happened during the past 3 years.
“Well, well. What happened was…”
Fortunately, Tania also quickly emerged from her panic. At first she told her story haltingly, but later she became so immersed that she didn’t even realize her voice tone had gotten higher as she continued the conversation. Lumian also listened to her story with great interest.
The story that after he went up to the divine realm, all four of them received teachings under Sinsier Ainsworth for one year, and the story that for the following 2 years, only Tania remained here while the rest scattered to their respective families.
Nevertheless, they didn’t neglect their training, and so Teoro, Cal Krone, and Bumer had all reached the level of Sword Expert…
“Oh, and we all took leave from the Academy.”
“Hmm… But isn’t there no point in attending there now? I think it would be a nuisance if we went there…”
“It’s too regrettable to end Academy life like this. Well, both me and the guys don’t plan to complete all the remaining semesters. But still… I want to attend at least one more semester with you.”
“…I’d like that too.”
Lumian nodded.
It was certainly true. At the Academy, there were joys that could only be felt at the Academy. There was something fresh and pure.
It would be regrettable to end that just like this.
‘It’s a bit ridiculous for someone who’s even a hero to attend together with much younger underclassmen, but still, if that’s what I want to do, what can I do about it.’
Lumian decided to ignore the slight embarrassment rising in his heart. Instead, he began to picture a happy Academy life with Tania in his mind.
But then.
From Tania Eloise’s mouth came a story even more shocking than the earlier ‘Want to touch my chest?’
“Oh, and…”
“Yes.”
“Bumer is getting married in a week.”
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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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