The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 70

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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 70 30. The Four Reunited (1)

“What? Where are you going?”

“We’re almost there.”

Bumer, who had left the Academy, moved without hesitation.

Passing through the plaza, crossing the main street, and entering some secluded alley, his expression gradually became more sinister.

He looked like a criminal plotting something wicked.

‘What is this guy trying to do?’

Lumian, feeling unnecessarily anxious, looked around.

Overall, old and worn-down shops came into view.

There were places selling antiques, places selling old books, and he could see relatively unknown artists drawing portraits on the spot.

Lumian, feeling somewhat relieved, let out a sigh.

‘It’s not a strange place.’

Since he was an unpredictable guy, even the slightest suspicious sign made him wary.

While thinking such thoughts, they had arrived at their destination before he knew it.

Bumer entered a small bookstore with a sign that read ‘Hit Me’. Inside sat an elderly-looking owner wearing glasses.

He seemed to have little interest whether customers came in or not.

However, the moment Bumer approached and spoke to him, his eyes changed.

“You’ve come again.”

“That’s right.”

“Is it because of the newly arrived items? They’re popular so the price is a bit high… you knew that when you came, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Please follow me.”

The elderly man sprang up from his seat and guided Lumian and Bumer.

One strange thing was that he handed out masks to cover their faces.

‘What?’

He put it on following Bumer for now, but he couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.

Moreover, that wasn’t the end of it.

The elderly man guided them to the back of the bookstore, to a door with a sign that read “Staff Only”. Then he carefully opened it.

A fairly spacious area unfolded.

There were even more people inside than outside. Several masked men were gulping and browsing through book covers.

‘What is this place?’

“By the way, you can only check the covers. Any attempt to unwrap the packaging to check inside…”

“Of course not. Even if I accidentally do so, I’ll definitely buy it.”

“Ah, I was just in case this newcomer didn’t know.”

“He won’t do that. He’s a well-mannered friend.”

“I understand. Please take your time looking around.”

The elderly man nodded and returned to the counter.

Lumian asked Bumer.

“What is this place?”

“You’ll know when you see it.”

“When I see? What do you… Ah!”

Lumian unconsciously turned his head and let out an exclamation.

The countless pictures and books that entered his sight!

Every single one was extremely lewd. They were in no way inferior to the books Bumer had given him as gifts before.

Seeing such things packed full in the room made his head spin.

Lumian took a step back and said to Bumer.

“This place is…”

“Right. It’s a place I discovered during the break.”

Bumer smiled.

A refreshing and clear smile. He looked as if a long-standing worry had been resolved.

In fact, it was understandable. After the Subculture Research Club had collapsed, he had been in despair from not being able to obtain items.

A new world had opened up for him, so he couldn’t help but be delighted.

The slightly high prices were a flaw, but it was fine.

He was a noble after all, and received generous monthly allowances from his family. He wasn’t in a position to hesitate over book prices.

He looked at Lumian and said.

“How is it? It’s a good place, right?”

“…Definitely.”

Lumian, who gulped like the other men in the store, answered.

Though it was slightly frustrating, Bumer was right. This place was truly a good place.

Thinking about the events Teoro brought made him feel slightly melancholy, but in terms of peace of mind, this was better.

A place where he could satisfy his desires to his heart’s content without worrying about making mistakes or being mindful of others. A place overflowing with various items that could satisfy all kinds of tastes.

Lumian, with a moved expression, said to Bumer.

“Thank you, my friend.”

“Haha. I knew you’d like it.”

Bumer walked forward with a triumphant expression.

Wondering where he was going, it turned out to be the new releases section.

Bumer picked up two books wrapped in something transparent and said to Lumian.

“The author of this book is incredibly famous.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Everyone who should know already knows. They say he draws truly incredible… incredible pictures. He’s so popular that if you come late, everything gets sold out and you can’t get any.”

“I see…”

Come to think of it, most of the people in this space were holding books similar to what Bumer was holding.

He felt something strange.

“It’s fortunate I heard information that they were stocking today. If I had come even a day late, I might not have been able to get any. You take one too.”

“Huh? Oh.”

Lumian, who received the book unexpectedly, answered dumbly.

Bumer grinned at him.

“I’ll pick a few more, so you take your time looking around too. I’ll pay for it.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I did do something wrong.”

“Thanks. But…”

“Hmm?”

“If you knew about a place like this, why did you bother breaking into my room to see that?”

Receiving Lumian’s question, Bumer made a serious expression.

He opened his mouth with a completely shameless face.

“That’s that, and this is this.”

“…R-right.”

Lumian, feeling tremendous force, nodded.

That guy really isn’t normal. Lumian thought to himself and began looking around the room.

“Hmm. Hm…”

Indeed, this place was an excellent place.

Lumian browsed through the covers of the endlessly spread books. His appearance was quite serious.

Then when an art style that caught his fancy appeared, he tucked one book into his arms. When he confirmed a product description that raised expectations, he tucked another book in.

Doing this, he had exceeded five books in an instant.

The surrounding men who saw him showed an ‘oh’ reaction. They seemed to be saying ‘Not bad?’

Lumian suddenly felt self-loathing.

‘What… am I doing here?’

Certainly, right up until arriving at the Academy, he hadn’t been like this.

He had planned to share love with beautiful women, succeed in romance, and do something beyond that.

He had confidence too. With his handsome face and his even more excellent thing, he felt like he had gained a mighty army.

But what about reality?

Getting excited and obsessed over characters drawn on pieces of paper, let alone actual women.

‘While I’m doing this, guys like Teoro and Cal Krone are probably at parties and balls with ladies…’

Having such thoughts made his self-loathing even worse.

He didn’t want to stay here any longer. His chest felt stuffy, and he wanted to quickly go outside and breathe fresh air.

Having finished his thoughts, Lumian put down the books he had chosen and headed toward the door.

But before he could open the door, someone entered from the other side.

It was his friend, Teoro Shutgarn.

“…!”

“…!”

Though both were wearing masks, there was no way the two who already knew each other wouldn’t recognize one another. They stood in place without saying anything for quite a while.

The first to come to his senses was Lumian.

He asked Teoro.

“You’re also… interested in this kind of thing.”

“…So what.”

“No, no. Come in. Don’t just stand there at the door.”

“…”

Teoro obediently followed Lumian’s words.

But his reddened face spoke for his state of mind.

He sighed inwardly.

‘To run into someone I know…’

It was extremely embarrassing. He thought he should have come a little later, or earlier.

Of course, it was belated regret. With an expression of giving up on everything, he entered inside and flinched again upon meeting Bumer.

He cursed the guy inwardly.

‘It’s because of that bastard.’

If not for Bumer, he wouldn’t have even known such a world existed.

But now that he knew, there was nothing he could do about it.

Though he was popular and handsome, sometimes everything became bothersome.

Making appointments to meet women, catering to their moods, being on edge about every word and action…

When such things became tiresome, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to satisfy his desires in such a simple way.

“Hehe. You came too.”

“Shut up.”

Teoro shook his head and quickly grabbed a book and put it in his bag.

It was lightning-fast speed. It was indeed worthy of being called a knight cadet.

And then, another familiar person opened the door and entered.

It was Cal Krone, the man who shone as the Academy Swordsmanship Competition champion.

“Oh, what? Lumian’s here?”

“…Don’t say names here. Cal Krone.”

“Ah, sorry. My mistake.”

After answering briefly, he walked briskly and picked up a book.

It was the popular new release that Bumer had mentioned.

Cal Krone glanced over the cover, nodded, then approached the door again.

“Come out when you’re done. Let’s go together.”

Click.

With those words, Cal Krone left the room.

Lumian, who had been silent for a moment, made an expression as if he had realized something.

‘All guys are the same.’

His lowered confidence rose again.

Having regained his composure, he picked up 6 books with a pleased face, then went to the counter and purchased them.

Following behind him, Teoro and Bumer came out.

Meeting outside the store, they looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

“Since Lumian’s here too, shall we go spar?”

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s do it.”

The four quickly headed toward the Academy.

A hollow wind blew through the place they had left.

And after about 10 minutes had passed.

Peek.

A figure with a robe pulled deeply over their head quietly slipped out of the bookstore.

It was Tania Eloise.

She had been there since before Lumian and Bumer entered.

‘I wasn’t… noticed, right?’

That absolutely must not happen.

She had come here out of just a tiny bit of curiosity. There should be no misunderstandings.

Tania looked around a bit more and nodded. There seemed to be no one around. She drew up her aura and quickly left the scene.

The shop owner inside the bookstore smiled and muttered.

“Young people these days are so full of vigor, it’s nice to see.”

* * *

Lumian, Teoro, Bumer, and Cal Krone, who had arrived at the Academy, threw their purchased books into their respective dormitories and headed to the Scholarship Student Training Ground.

From the second semester, access was granted to the top 4 from the swordsmanship competition and several top-ranking third-year cadets.

Though the semester hadn’t started yet, there was no problem using it from now. Teoro and Bumer were already using it frequently.

Lumian looked around the quiet scholarship student training ground and said.

“There’s no one here at all?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? The graduating seniors aren’t here during vacation. They went for knight order training.”

“Then it’ll just be us for about a week.”

“No, there are third-year seniors, so that’s not the case. Senior Tania Eloise comes out almost every day too.”

“But why isn’t she here now?”

“That… I don’t know either. She probably has something else to do.”

“Ah, I want to see her. Senior Eloise.”

Bumer spoke with a wistful expression.

For him, who valued face over figure, Tania was a woman close to his ideal type.

Of course, Lumian wasn’t.

With an indifferent expression, he said to Teoro.

“Did you train a lot?”

“Yeah. So much I wanted to puke.”

“Oh, really?”

“The three of us practically lived here throughout the vacation.”

Whoooosh!

Bumer, who had drawn his sword at some point, swung it powerfully.

Unlike before, it was a real sword, not a wooden one.

It meant the professors trusted their skills.

Lumian asked with a surprised expression.

“What? Didn’t you say there are lots of parties and things to do during the vacation between first and second semester?”

“That’s right.”

“But why did you only train?”

“Well… I did think it would be okay to enjoy ourselves a bit while doing it.”

Teoro stopped mid-sentence and looked at Bumer.

Then he turned his gaze back to Lumian. A faint smile hung on his lips.

“Someone gave us quite a lot of homework. We didn’t have time because we were busy with that.”

“Haha.”

Lumian burst into laughter upon hearing Teoro’s words.

He felt good.

It was quite gratifying to see a junior who didn’t let his advice go in one ear and out the other, but worked hard with passion and dedication.

Cal Krone spoke to him.

“These guys have improved quite a bit. Well, they’re still no match for me though…”

“That bastard?”

“Anyway, they’re worth watching now. Of course, I’ve gotten much better than I was in the first semester too.”

“Really?”

“What about you? Don’t tell me you only worked on your looks during the break?”

At Cal Krone’s words referring to his handsome face, Lumian let out a sly smile.

During the break, he had advanced from Sword Expert to Sword Master.

It was the steepest growth among anyone here.

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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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