The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 41

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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 41 20. A Taste I Cannot Respect (1)

Lumian closed his eyes.

Though he appeared calm on the surface, his mind was in such chaos that words like pandemonium or mayhem weren’t enough to describe the mess.

Hadn’t everything been going well?

Even when they exchanged glances during their meal, even when she was the first to extend her hand to him, he had believed that today would make new history.

But to have this kind of ending at the very last moment.

‘This is absolutely ridiculous!’

Lumian’s eyes snapped open.

Anna Crawford flinched at his gaze.

And she made an extremely apologetic expression.

Her apologetic look dealt another wound to Lumian.

He let out a voice that was both heated and sorrowful.

“Why… why do you think… that way… A homosexual wouldn’t come to this kind of meeting in the first place, would they?”

“I just… there are so many rumors going around… and, and, you could come just to fill a spot. Like me. Well, I also came hoping there might be a friend with the same homosexual preferences as me… but you’re really not gay?”

“I’m not! Absolutely not! But, you said rumors are widespread? Don’t tell me other people also… think that Cal Krone and I have that kind of relationship…”

“Oh, if it’s not true, I’m sorry. I’ll tell people around me it’s a misunderstanding. My apologies!”

Hurriedly!

With those words, Anna Crawford left her seat.

Lumian, left alone in the tea house, wore a dazed expression.

He looked shocked as if he had lost his country, as if a close friend had passed away.

‘Oh my, looks like he got rejected.’

The waitstaff approaching Lumian’s table to take his order made a pitying expression.

It was a scene she occasionally witnessed while working.

She quietly moved away so as not to provoke the man left alone.

But that also got on Lumian’s nerves.

“Why… why is she avoiding me. Could it be that I… look gay? Does she think I’m not interested in women and keep distancing herself? All women?”

He muttered so quietly that no one could hear his words.

But no one would welcome someone muttering to themselves with a vacant expression. People looked at Lumian with wary faces and whispered among themselves.

Lumian’s expression became even more serious. He began hearing hallucinations.

‘That person’s gay, right?’

‘He’s a homosexual. Not interested in women.’

‘I heard he has that kind of relationship with Cal Krone?’

‘I see. So he was gay.’

“Ugh, uaaaaaahhhhh!”

“What a shock!”

“What’s wrong with that person?”

“He must be crazy!”

Lumian let out a scream. People looked startled.

Since the tea house atmosphere was gentle and quiet, everyone’s attention was instantly focused on him.

But Lumian didn’t care.

He screamed once more.

“Uaaaaaahhhhh!”

And quickly rushed out of the tea house.

With his face completely contorted, he raced through the streets at a terrifying speed.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

When Lumian, who had reached the level of Sword Expert, ran at full speed, the surrounding scenery changed in an instant. People on the street were horrified watching him run like an excited wild horse.

Lumian paid them no attention at all. The shock he had received was too great to care about others. To resolve this anger, it seemed he would have to run until his heart burst.

“Huff, huff, haah.”

Of course, he couldn’t actually run until his heart burst.

After running for a while, Lumian soon stopped his body.

Having returned to Tarasan Academy before he knew it, he slowly caught his breath and tried to calm his mind.

‘Right, let’s calm down first. Getting excited won’t do any good.’

Entering the Academy, he slowly walked along the walkway. It was to cool his head and organize his thoughts.

The blind date was ruined, but he needed to calmly assess the current situation first.

‘It’s certain that strange rumors are spreading. How far have they spread?’

The terrible rumor that he was gay, that he had a deep relationship with Cal Krone!

The reason for its spread was easily deducible.

Since the atmosphere between him and Cal Krone looked so intense, it seemed some people had misunderstood. They probably mistook the burning gaze exchange between rivals for looks of love.

One might think ‘how does that make sense?’, but there were strange ladies in his previous life who occasionally made such misunderstandings too.

Perhaps facts weren’t even important. He had heard there were noble ladies who would pair people up if it seemed interesting.

‘Knights who were particularly close, or knights whose bickering was entertaining to watch were the main targets.’

And the moment they became targets of the ladies, they suffered from all kinds of rumors and stress. Sometimes even close relationships would grow distant.

Of course, this was a story that didn’t apply to Lumian at all.

Someone without the necessary equipment couldn’t be paired with women or men. Unfortunately.

But…

‘I never thought such a thing would happen to me!’

Lumian cried out.

And he regretted it.

He had simply wanted to gain women’s attention. He had just wanted to maintain his popularity a bit more stably using Cal Krone’s halo.

Who knew it would bring about such terrible results!

“Crazy… what should I do.”

Of course, the rumor probably hadn’t spread very widely.

After all, the people who liked such ridiculous gossip were limited. Except for a small number of women who enjoyed pairing men together, most would probably dismiss this as a false rumor.

Of course, that didn’t mean he planned to just sit still.

He needed to take action to prevent the rumor from spreading further.

‘Let’s go home and think about it more. No, let’s sleep on it first.’

His head hurt too much right now.

He was more tired now than on the day he won the Swordsmanship Competition. The mental exhaustion from stress was indescribable.

Sighing, Lumian turned his steps toward the dormitory.

But then, a familiar figure caught his eye.

“Where has he been?”

It was Cal Krone.

He looked like he had just finished training. The flowing sweat and heat that hadn’t yet cooled told the story.

But the hottest thing was his gaze looking at Lumian.

Whoooosh-

Receiving Cal Krone’s gaze, Lumian unconsciously activated his aura image.

It was a reflexive action. Like a dog that comes to its owner begging for food when a bell rings, lately he naturally created a rival atmosphere whenever Cal Krone approached.

A spoonful of solemnity mixed into the feeling of pure wildflowers. And he met Cal Krone’s gaze with intense eyes.

In an instant, a wonderful scene that could only appear in novels was created.

Female students strolling along the walkway quickly gathered.

“Oh my, what’s this?”

“Those two again…”

“The rumor that they’re interested in each other must be true.”

“But they suit each other quite well. Look at those gazes…”

‘Oh no! What am I doing right now!’

Unlike usual, Lumian had his ears wide open. The shocking rumor had greatly heightened his vigilance.

Thanks to that, he could hear the two female students whispering. Instead of putting effort into creating atmosphere, Lumian concentrated more aura on his hearing.

Then other voices around him became clearly audible.

‘Crazy, there are more than I thought!’

And he realized the seriousness of the situation.

A whopping 20-30 percent of the female students were using words like gay and homosexual in their conversations.

Even people who hadn’t heard the rumors were picking them up and showing interest.

Bewilderment, anger, and sadness appeared on Lumian’s face.

The emotion of anger was particularly strong.

Just moments ago, he had been chatting and laughing with the lovely female students from the Literature Club, but the situation had turned into this in an instant, making his anger uncontrollable.

However, Cal Krone misunderstood this.

He thought that Lumian, who was radiating intense energy due to his anger, was feeling competitive spirit toward him.

“Your blood is boiling, huh? Mine is too.”

“…What?”

“There’s no need to wait for a big stage – shall we go have a match right now?”

He was talking about going to the training grounds for a sparring match, but it sounded a bit different to the female students’ ears.

“Kyaah, what do we do!”

“Let’s have a match! He’s so aggressive!”

“Look how embarrassed Lumian is!”

“He looks so cute when he’s flustered… even I’m getting excited.”

‘You crazy girls, stop it!’

Even though they were women, curses naturally came out. Sparks flew from Lumian’s eyes.

But his anger toward Cal Krone was even greater than toward them.

He couldn’t understand this guy who kept spouting words that were easy to misunderstand even to his own ears.

‘No, does this bastard live with his ears closed? What is this attention-seeker doing when he can’t even hear the sounds around him!’

Unfortunately, after the Swordsmanship Competition, Cal Krone had become a completely different person.

He no longer cared about others’ gazes. He couldn’t afford to waste his mental energy on such things, as the rival chasing him was no pushover.

Himself, his sword, and his opponent he had to defeat – Lumian Calard.

The current Cal Krone focused only on these three things. He paid no attention to anything else.

That’s why he could say such lines even in a situation like this.

Of course, Lumian had no idea about this fact.

He was even starting to think whether that guy was really gay, and that’s why he wasn’t denying it.

‘No, someone like that wouldn’t have enjoyed the female attention at the Swordsmanship Competition! What the hell is going on!’

His head was spinning.

Beyond irritation and anger, a sense of futility crept in. He could only think about escaping from this place.

Shaking his head vigorously, he concentrated aura into his feet.

Thwoom!

People’s eyes widened as they watched Lumian quickly leave the scene.

Cal Krone also showed a surprised expression.

‘His movement is faster than during the Swordsmanship Competition!’

It was shocking.

Though it hadn’t been long, he had been gaining insights and growing rapidly during that time.

That’s why he thought it would be much easier when he faced Lumian next time. He considered winning a given, and thought the key was how much of a gap he could create.

But this too was arrogance.

A rival was a rival. He was also showing tremendous growth speed, just like himself.

“This has gotten interesting.”

Cal Krone let out a laugh.

His competitive spirit blazed fiercely.

It seemed like they would need to have a rematch in the near future.

* * *

The next day.

Teoro and Bumer heard shocking news from Lumian and wore gloomy expressions.

They had no choice.

This wasn’t just anyone – it was Lumian, whose desire for women overflowed like an active volcano. Thinking that such a person was being treated as a homosexual brought tears to their eyes.

The two immediately took action to help Lumian.

Whenever they heard rumors about Lumian around them, they immediately countered them, and also asked people around them for help. Meanwhile, they ran around trying to find where the rumors originated.

Lumian couldn’t help them. The shock was too great and he had fallen ill.

He spent two full days only in his room, even skipping classes, and old memories came to mind for no reason.

The knights of Jenas who had suffered from rumors.

He had laughed it off lightly back then, but thinking about it now, he regretted that he had made a big mistake.

As he lay in bed with such a sad expression, he heard someone knocking on the door.

It was Teoro and Bumer. When Lumian opened the door for them, the two with serious expressions came in and sat down.

Teoro spoke.

“There was a reason the rumors spread.”

“Really? What is it?”

“Among the clubs created by the Literature Club female students, there’s something called the ‘Subculture Research Club’… It seems to be because of that.”

“Subculture Research Club…?”

Lumian asked back with a half-dead face.

Bumer, who had been looking at him with pitying eyes, placed a brown envelope on the table.

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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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