The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 67
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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 67 28. A Guest Has Arrived (4)
‘Perhaps, does he know something?’
Is he a young man he originally knew?
Or, does he have some connection to the royal family? Perhaps?
Buckal, who had been thinking this far, lightly bit his lower lip.
‘No, let’s not jump to conclusions.’
It’s a presumptuous thought.
He merely follows His Majesty’s orders and responds to His Majesty’s words.
Buckal, having dismissed his idle thoughts, answered the question.
“As Your Majesty… said. I dueled with Lumian Calard, a knight cadet from Tarasan Academy. The condition was to compete using only pure swordsmanship without using aura… and I lost. It was a complete defeat.”
“I see.”
“Having tarnished the honor of Jenas, I will gladly accept punishment.”
Thud!
Buckal struck his head against the ground.
It wasn’t for show. The king’s expression hardened at the loud sound.
“Hey! Didn’t I say it was fine! Don’t do anything that might harm your body without my permission anymore!”
“…I apologize.”
“Just continue what you were saying. So, that young man Lumian Calard defeated you… Well then, didn’t you feel something familiar about that young man?”
“I didn’t feel… such a thing. Just that he handled the sword extremely well in every way… It felt like dueling with an experienced swordsman who had reached the level of a Swordmaster.”
“Hmm… I see. Continue. Tell me everything else you have to report.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Buckal completely conveyed what he had seen, heard, and felt according to Philip III’s words.
The interest the king showed during this process was considerable.
It was as if he was hearing about an acquaintance whose news had been cut off for a long time.
The reaction peaked when he heard that Lumian had become the Mercenary King’s disciple.
“Hahaha! He became Morghen’s disciple?”
“That’s correct. Therefore, he cannot join the Knight Order…”
“Haha, that’s an interesting story. A master and disciple relationship…”
Buckal had many questions, but he forgot them and continued his report.
It was wise since he couldn’t ask anyway.
Finally, after finishing his report, the king encouraged him.
“Good work. You’ve been through a lot.”
“I am honored, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t worry about the mission failure, and return with a comfortable mind.”
“However…”
“Hey! When I say it’s fine, who would hold you responsible!”
“…”
“So hurry back. You really don’t need to worry about it, understand?”
“I will do so.”
“Then, I’ll end the communication here. Return safely.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Click!
The communication was cut off.
The light from the crystal orb disappeared. Buckal slowly raised his head and packed away the communication device.
He had an expression as if he had been dreaming.
‘What on earth is going on…’
He had naturally expected to receive severe punishment, but the result was completely different.
He couldn’t understand anything at all.
Whoooosh-
As the wind blew, he stood in the middle of the road for quite a while.
Buckal needed quite a long time to clear his confused mind.
* * *
-Sex! Sex!
“Be quiet, you bastard.”
Lumian scolded the Golden Parrot that was crying noisily.
It was a funny fellow.
He had clearly only allowed it to say ‘sex’ when they were alone, but somehow it was now comfortably uttering that word even in front of Morghen.
It meant it had its own judgment criteria and sense of the situation.
‘The journey back won’t be boring.’
There wouldn’t be much trouble either.
If he opened the window, it would swoop out and whoosh back in. It seemed to procure food on its own.
Moreover, it seemed to handle its biological needs by itself, so there couldn’t be a better pet than this.
“A spirit beast is a spirit beast.”
Lumian scratched the Golden Parrot’s chin.
Morghen asked him a question.
“But is it really necessary to avoid Jenas?”
“Huh? Of course. That place is completely a man’s field.”
“No, that’s only if you enter as a regular knight. Wouldn’t it be resolved if you revealed your identity to the Knight King?”
Morghen continued speaking with an expression of incomprehension.
“You’ll inevitably meet him at the knight investiture ceremony anyway, so if you create an opportunity for a private meeting and reveal your identity like you did to me… and ask him to introduce you to some decent women, wouldn’t everything work out perfectly?”
“Hmm.”
“There’s no way any woman would dare refuse the Knight King’s words, and it’s not like you’re lacking in anything, brother. It seems like a perfect method.”
“Isn’t it too much to ask my lord to play matchmaker?”
“How big of a burden could it be…”
“Forget it, you bastard.”
“Don’t be like that and think about it a bit more.”
Despite the Mercenary King’s continued words, Lumian shook his head.
With a serious expression, he paused for a moment before speaking.
“Of course, His Majesty favored me, so he would certainly do his utmost to support me… but I wonder if it’s necessary to go that far.”
“Huh? To use the expression ‘necessary,’ you’re currently struggling completely…”
“Rather than that, hmm… I just… want to succeed with my own power and then meet him with dignity. That’s how I feel right now.”
“Hmm…”
“With you, I’ve been comfortable without hiding anything since before, but my relationship with His Majesty isn’t like that… Sigh. Maybe it’s because I’m not good with words, but I can’t explain it well.”
“No. I understand completely.”
Morghen nodded and summarized Lumian’s words.
“So, you’re saying it would be a bit embarrassing to appear before the Knight King while still a virgin?”
“…Yeah, you bastard.”
Lumian admitted with a gloomy expression.
Morghen chuckled and comforted him.
“Well, it’s fine. Fifteen is a young age so there’s nothing strange about it, and you’ll achieve your goal soon. Your face has become more handsome, you have a good body, you’re a noble with excellent swordsmanship… there’s nothing lacking. Oh wait, now that I say it, that’s really true.”
“…Right. I really don’t lack anything now.”
Lumian nodded.
Having his sworn brother, who had considerable experience with women, say such things made confidence well up in him.
He felt like he could seduce all the beautiful ladies right now.
‘Ah, I want to go back.’
Lumian thought of Tarasan Academy.
The estate he visited after a long time was nice, and his parents were good, but the boredom was unavoidable.
He wanted to return to the academy overflowing with young, vibrant female students.
He felt he could do much better in the second semester than in the first.
Nodding, he spoke as if making a declaration.
“I should stay for about three or four days, then return to the Academy.”
“Huh? Isn’t there still plenty of time before the semester starts? Even considering travel time, it’s quite early.”
“It’s too boring here. That place is where I belong.”
“If it’s because of women, I could go with you again…”
“Hmm. Going around with you still seems a bit difficult for me.”
Lumian shook his head as he spoke.
The shock from when he got drunk still hadn’t completely faded.
And he had a favor to ask of Morghen.
“Could you look into some mercenaries for me?”
“Mercenaries?”
“Yes. Trustworthy people. It seems like the estate’s military strength is too weak.”
“It certainly is on the weak side.”
Morghen nodded.
He understood Lumian’s concern.
Of course, since there was nothing worth stealing from the estate, the possibility of invasion was almost zero, but after experiencing the incident with Baron Carayan and the demon hideout, they couldn’t just remain completely at ease.
“Understood. I’ll find veterans with knight-level credibility.”
“Good, I’m counting on you.”
“I’ll receive payment after finishing everything, when I go to the Academy.”
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
“Wasn’t it free?”
“Where would you find free mercenaries? Don’t worry if you don’t have money. I’ll collect it gradually on credit.”
“You money-grubbing bastard.”
-Money-grubbing bastard! Money-grubbing bastard!
The Golden Parrot that flew over and perched on Lumian’s shoulder also cursed at Morghen.
However, he didn’t care.
“The closer the relationship, the more clearly money matters should be handled.”
Lumian pouted.
It was a valid point though.
* * *
That dawn.
After prying off the Golden Parrot that kept clinging to him, Lumian visited Carayan Baron’s Estate.
It was to meet Lili Carayan.
Since he had roughly memorized the building’s interior structure during his previous visit, he didn’t need to wander around much. He could find the young lady by roughly searching the suspicious areas.
“Ahh, Oliver…”
“Ooh, Anna…”
Creak creak!
‘Why the hell are those bastards doing that stuff in the kitchen!’
However, seeing unwanted sights during the process was unexpected.
Lumian suppressed both envy and anger as he searched for Lili Carayan’s room, and finally achieved his goal.
‘She really is… quite ugly.’
Lumian made a pitying expression.
The face of Lili Carayan sleeping peacefully was devastatingly ugly, just as he had felt when he was young. He could roughly imagine how much pain she must have suffered as a woman.
It was probably similar to the pain he felt in his previous life for being a eunuch.
‘Of course, I had it harder.’
As mentioned before, there’s a huge difference between 0 percent and 1 percent possibility.
Having confirmed that, Lumian took out a bottle from his chest.
It was the succubus’s beauty potion.
He poured the contents into his hand without hesitation, then gently applied it to Lili Carayan’s face.
Swoosh—
The beauty potion disappeared instantly, like rainwater soaking into parched earth.
After confirming this, Lumian quickly left the room.
Then he entered Carayan Baron’s Bedchamber and left an anonymous letter. This was to prevent commotion over Lili Carayan’s changed appearance.
Only after finishing all this did he leave Carayan Baron’s Estate.
‘Brother, are you insane? You’re giving that expensive thing to the baron’s daughter?’
‘Money can be earned whenever it’s needed.’
‘Still… there’s no need to give it to someone you barely know… It’s not like you’re helping the underprivileged…’
He remembered Eujae’s reaction when he had expressed his intentions.
He had shown an attitude of complete incomprehension.
However, for Lumian, this was something he absolutely could not compromise on.
The succubus’s beauty potion wasn’t a gift for Lili Carayan, but a gift for his past self who had suffered.
‘I was like that too in the past.’
Because of a single flaw, all his strengths had lost their shine.
He always worried about and cared about what others said behind his back. That’s how he had to live his entire life in dejection.
And the same was true for Lili Carayan.
Lumian couldn’t help but feel kinship with her.
‘Although my past self didn’t have something like the succubus’s beauty potion…’
Lili Carayan, living in the present, would be able to live a much happier life than his previous self.
“Whew!”
Lumian let out a big breath.
His heart felt much lighter.
He felt like he had settled about half of his past.
Of course, to settle the other half, he had a long way to go.
Dating, holding hands, kissing, and finally…
‘That too…’
Lumian clenched his fist and ran quickly toward Calard Estate.
His eyes burned with desire.
Thud thud thud thud!
Running at full speed, he was able to reach the estate before morning came.
But there was someone at the training grounds from the crack of dawn.
It turned out to be Morghen. Lumian greeted him.
“Hey.”
“You’re just getting back? Did you finish without getting caught?”
“You’re talking like you’re welcoming a criminal. Did I commit a crime? Getting caught or not.”
“Still, you did do it secretly, didn’t you?”
Morghen, who had stopped swinging his sword, approached closer.
Then he asked with a curious expression.
“How is it?”
“What?”
“How pretty did she become? Is it as amazing as those old portraits?”
“I don’t know. It seemed like it would take some time for the effects to show. I left without checking.”
“Ah, you should have checked before leaving…”
“And get caught when morning came?”
“That’s not what I meant, but…”
Morghen made a disappointed expression.
Actually, Lumian felt disappointed too.
But it was just mild curiosity, and he had no regrets.
Eujae asked him another question.
“If she became incredibly beautiful—well, since it’s the succubus’s beauty potion, she definitely would—anyway, instead of hiding it, wouldn’t it be okay to openly reveal that you gave it to her and date the baron’s daughter? I really don’t understand your thinking, brother.”
It made sense.
Lumian’s goal was to date pretty women. And furthermore, to do this and that with them.
From that perspective, if he openly gifted succubus beauty potions, there was a high possibility of success.
However, after hearing Morghen’s words, Lumian shook his head.
And said firmly.
“I think I’ve mentioned this before…”
“Hm?”
“I prefer body over face.”
“…”
“Applying beauty potions doesn’t improve one’s figure.”
“Well, that’s… true.”
Morghen, finally understanding, gave Lumian a thumbs up.
“As expected of you, big brother. I respect you.”
“Good.”
“But if you gift beauty potions to a woman with a good figure, wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone?”
“…!”
“…”
“I will… conquer beauties with my own power!”
Leaving those words behind, Lumian departed.
Morghen grinned.
* * *
“Father, Mother. I’ll be going now.”
“Take care.”
“Stay safe!”
Three days later, Lumian Calard left the Calard Estate.
His steps toward Tarasan Academy were exceptionally light. The Golden Parrot followed behind him.
-Sex! Sex!
“Right. I want to do it too.”
Lumian said with a slight smile.
Of course, this was after confirming no one was around.
Looking up at the sky, it was remarkably clear. The cloudless scenery refreshed his mood.
‘This semester… may I have more luck with women than last semester.’
So that he could have beautiful love, passionate love with a Lady who was his ideal type!
While walking along the road with such thoughts.
Suddenly.
An ominous thought crossed Lumian’s mind.
Stopping in his tracks, he frowned slightly and said.
“Could it be… that Boomer…”
Had gotten a girlfriend first in the meantime?
“No way, that can’t be.”
That couldn’t happen.
Of course not.
After muttering a few more times, Lumian quickened his pace.
He didn’t want to lose to anyone else, but especially not to Bumer Simpson.
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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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