The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 165

Afternoon with the Special Guard.

Winter was slowly approaching, bringing the cold with it.

Reina lay on the hammock, hugging a warm bundle of fur.

It was Vermeil III.

[Ugh… I can’t breathe…]

Vermeil III struggled, but Reina’s arms only tightened.

Eventually, Vermeil III gave up and nestled in her arms.

“Reina, Vermeil III looks like he’s suffering,” Gent said, watching the pitiful spirit while tending to the garden.

“Huh? No, Vermeil III said he likes being in my arms too.”

“…Vermeil III’s face is turning blue.”

“Oh? Vermeil III!”

As Reina looked at Vermeil III in surprise, Gent sighed and turned his head.

Beside him was Rael, swinging his sword.

Rael, perhaps taking a break, lowered his sword and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Rael, now that I think about it, thank you.”

“Hoo, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Rael put down the sword he was swinging and stretched lightly.

He had lowered his sword to take a break, but Gent started talking to him.

“Father is slowly opening up. It’s all thanks to the 100 best restaurants in the Empire that you recommended.”

“…I did recommend them, but Gent, if he’s going to open up over something like that, why did you even fight in the first place?”

Rael let out a dumbfounded laugh.

Gent had asked him to recommend some good restaurants, so he recommended the ones he had gone to when he was the captain of the guard, and it was actually working.

How simple are the Giant race?

“……Giants are just naturally that way, Rael.”

“Yes, yes, whatever you say.”

Rael nodded.

He said it to tease Gent, but he was glad that things were working out.

“Oh my, Gent, you had parents?!”

Just then, Reina, who had been petting Vermeil III, widened her eyes.

“…What does that mean? Reina? Do I look like I don’t have parents?”

Gent narrowed his eyes and stared at Reina.

Even though Reina was a free-spirited Elf, he didn’t like hearing such things.

“No, it’s just that I lost my parents to the Demon race, so I don’t talk about them. I thought you didn’t talk about your parents either.”

“……Oh, is that so? I’m sorry.”

He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he felt strangely sorry.

Gent squatted down and focused on tending to the garden.

“What’s wrong with him all of a sudden? He’s so weird. Rael, right?”

“…I think both of your conversations are weirder.”

Why were the weirdest Elf and the weirdest Giant his friends?

Rael sometimes felt wronged by that.

[Gent is stupid because he’s a Giant!]

Chomp, chomp.

Vermeil III ate the snacks Reina gave him, lying on Reina’s stomach.

Rael shook his head as he watched the scene and picked up his sword again.

If he kept listening to those idiots’ conversations, he would become an idiot himself.

“Rael, it would be good to rest a little more. Rest is also part of training.”

Just then, Chun Sal Geom Ju [lit. Spring and Autumn Sword Master, a title] spoke to him.

He had been helping Rael with his training ever since he returned from Arconia.

“No, I haven’t even started training in Hoicheon [a personal domain or unique power] yet. Please tell me how to train in Hoicheon.”

Rael shook his head at Chun Sal Geom Ju’s words.

He knew his body condition best.

He was now used to using Hoicheon all day long, so he needed to develop Hoicheon further.

“If that’s the case, then good. Rael, awaken your senses a little more.”

“More than now?”

“The senses of a predator, was it? Originally, senses, or intuition, are not just simple instincts. It is the result of analyzing what you see, hear, and feel. The more you feel with Hoicheon, the sharper your senses will become.”

Senses.

It was the basis of swordsmanship.

Senses also play a big role in constructing a domain.

“If you become familiar with Hoicheon, the next step is to realize how to utilize the power of Hoicheon.”

“Utilization?”

“Rael, do you know why I evaluate your domain, Hoicheon, as a power that humans cannot handle?”

“…Isn’t it because it handles tremendous power?”

Rael also knew that Hoicheon was a great ability.

Being able to handle the many powers absorbed into his body was a great skill.

“That’s right. Your body has surpassed the limits of humans and is digesting power that it shouldn’t be able to handle. If you can apply that ability to swordsmanship, it wouldn’t be difficult to wield the Sword of 逆天 [rebellion against heaven/fate].”

“…That’s easier said than done, because the power of Hoicheon isn’t something I intended.”

Rael said regretfully.

The property of absorbing surrounding power was not something Rael intended.

Rael’s body, which had no soul, somehow absorbed surrounding power and evolved to accept magic power.

Hoicheon was just using that power.

“If you’re not doing it, then who is?”

“Well, that’s…”

Rael carefully opened his mouth.

It was a story he had never told anyone before, but he could trust everyone here.

And Chun Sal Geom Ju tilted his head at Rael’s words.

“No soul… that’s strange. How can a living person not have a soul?”

“…Maybe it’s true?”

In fact, Rael had never been certified by anyone that he had no soul.

He had simply drawn conclusions based on his past experiences.

‘I can’t receive the blessings that dwell in the soul, and I’m not affected by the magic that eats away at the soul….’

In fact, it was quite plausible.

Magic power was still a mystery, but the reason he couldn’t receive blessings was because Rael absorbed the divine power that made up the blessings.

He was guessing that magic power might have a similar principle.

[Why is Rael saying such stupid things when he’s not even a Giant? I can feel his soul just fine.]

“…Huh?”

Just then, Vermeil III, who was lying on Reina’s body and eating snacks, sneered.

Rael turned his head to look at Vermeil III at the spirit’s words.

“Hey, Vermeil III, what does that mean?”

[Hic, hic. Rael made eye contact with me! I have to run away!]

As soon as Vermeil III made eye contact with Rael, he jumped off Reina’s body and tried to run into the forest.

“Where are you trying to run off to, you crazy fox?”

But no matter how much of a spirit he was, he couldn’t escape from Rael, who was deploying Hoicheon.

Vermeil III struggled and dangled from Rael’s hand.

[Please, save me! I don’t want to go to the Demon King!]

“…I’m not going to take you to the Demon King, so let’s have a little chat. What’s wrong with my soul?”

[I said I can feel your soul just fine! I don’t know anything else! Ask Tia!]

“Lady Tia? Not bad. Then let’s go together.”

Tia had said that she didn’t know much about this power, but she had already taken tens of liters of his blood.

Knowing her dragon personality, she wouldn’t tell him even if she found out something until he asked, so he had to ask himself.

[Agh! I don’t want to! I don’t want to!]

Rael took Vermeil III to the lake opposite the Demon King’s prison.

‘It would be nice to know for sure about my body this time.’

He was secretly worried about it.

He had learned how to block the surrounding power by mastering the senses of a predator, and he had learned how to control that power by mastering Hoicheon, but he didn’t know the identity of the ability to absorb the surrounding power.

“Ahem- Hmm-.”

Tia was easy to find.

Even before entering the Dragon Lair, he found her swimming in the lake.

[Lady Tia! Rael is bullying me!]

“Hmm? Vermeil III?”

Tia, who was floating in the water, hugged Vermeil III, who was running towards her, and turned her head.

“Hello, Lady Tia.”

“Rael, why are you bullying Vermeil III again? Bestia has already returned, you know? Even if they are the same animal, Vermeil III and Bestia are different.”

“…I don’t care about that beastman at all. I came to ask you about my body.”

Rael told her about his body.

He said that he had always thought he had no soul.

“You thought you had no soul…? How can you think such a stupid thing?”

Tia, after hearing Rael’s words, was making a disgusted expression.

It was similar to when Rael ignored the beggars.

“…..Haa.”

He, a highly educated elite, was being insulted by a dragon.

Rael felt his pride hurt and continued.

“That’s not important. Do you know anything about my soul?”

“This is just an assumption, so I wasn’t going to tell you, but… if you’re that curious, I’ll tell you. I think you have a high soul grade.”

“Soul grade?”

Rael, who was hearing the term for the first time in his life, focused on Tia’s words.

“When I first met you, I mistook you for a half-dragon, half-human, right? That’s because your soul is so special. Your soul doesn’t contain magic power. Of course, after researching by drawing your blood, I found out that you are different from a dragon.”

“…That’s too difficult.”

Rael had lived in this world for over 20 years, but he found Tia’s words difficult to understand.

“In simple terms, the amount of magic power you can handle is abnormally large. Not to mention humans, even dragons will be jealous.”

“What does that have to do with absorbing magic power?”

“Imagine a hole in the middle of a calm sea. The water around it will move to fill the hole, right? But in your case, it’s a huge hole. It’s even a hole that never ends, even if you fill it.”

“I can ignore magic power, does that have anything to do with it?”

“Magic power is a force that digs into the soul and eats away at life force. Humans have a small soul capacity, so they are vulnerable to magic power, but I, a dragon, am not afraid of magic power at all. You are the same principle.”

“Huh….”

He thought he was a dirt spoon [born poor] with no soul, but he was actually a gold spoon [born rich]?

Rael belatedly learned the secret of his birth.

Just then, Tia continued with a regretful expression.

“But the biggest problem is why you have a high soul grade. Surely Rael, you’re not a being who fell from the divine realm or a higher dimension. I don’t know the most fundamental cause, so I’m not sure.”

“…”

That surely was true.

Surprisingly, Rael was not from this continent.

“Anyway… if I have a high soul grade, how should I handle this power?”

“If you have a high soul grade… you’ll have much less to worry about. Just like water falls from a high place to a low place, think of the magic power you absorb as a natural phenomenon. It will be much easier to control magic power.”

“…”

Rael immediately unleashed his magic power without saying a word.

Hoicheon.

The power to control the magic power around him,

Perhaps Rael had been using Hoicheon wrong from the beginning.

‘In the first place, I can control my power. Then I have to use it in a completely different way.’

Change the concept of the domain called Hoicheon.

Instead of controlling this power, he would smash it into a specific place like swordsmanship.

Fortunately, that was the field that Rael was best at.

“…Hoicheon.”

Rael reached out to one side of the lake.

It was his first attempt, but he had a feeling that he could do it.

He put magic power on his fingertips and concentrated the power of Hoicheon in the lake.

Kwaaaaaang-!

At the same time, a huge force exploded in the lake, and water soared high into the sky.

Rael blinked as he was hit by the stream of water that soared into the sky.

“Amazing… can that also be seen as swordsmanship? It’s like magic.”

“Yes, this is a domain.”

A domain is the ultimate weapon of a Sword Master.

There are swordsmanships like Commander Rein’s Illusionary Sword Dance, but there are also domains like the Sword Dragon’s Essence Palace.

Rael’s Hoicheon could also be used in other ways.

‘Not bad. But it’s a little disappointing.’

He seemed to have grasped the usage of Hoicheon itself.

But there was still a lot to develop.

“I should do this in a real battle… it’s a shame.”

“Real battle?”

“Yes. You get better quickly when you use anything in a real battle.”

Most of Rael’s swordsmanship had also developed in real battles.

A swordsman is originally strengthened on the battlefield where his life is at stake.

“Tsk… aren’t there any guys to beat up fairly? It would be nice if even one Demon race passed by.”

“The Demon race won’t show their faces for a while. It hasn’t even been a week since Calliope ran away.”

“I guess so. I wish there were even monsters or the Demonic Cult.”

Rael also expected that there would be no Demon race.

He just wished he could see some easy monsters or the Demonic Cult.

“Something like that won’t come out at a good time. Don’t think urgently and focus on training slowly.”

“Tch. I guess so?”

Rael nodded regretfully.

He would have to spend time with Chun Sal Geom Ju for the time being.

*

At that time, when Rael was focusing on the development of Hoicheon.

In the free city of Arconia, an investigation into the Demon King was in full swing.

The Silver Cross Knights surrounded the Square of Unity and were looking for traces of Calliope.

Step. Step.

However, a man who had avoided all those gazes entered the sanctuary.

The man, looking around the sanctuary and searching for the corpses of the Demonic Cult, frowned and sighed.

“Such an absurd thing… annihilation?”

The main force of the Demonic Cult was hiding in the free city of Arconia.

They moved to gain a powerful ally called the Giant race, but they were eventually annihilated.

“Damn it. At this rate… I don’t have enough power. I can’t carry out the plan.”

The Demonic Cult had already suffered great damage several times in the Empire.

Now that they had lost their main force, it would be difficult to swallow the Vanessa Kingdom.

“Damn it…! Demon King. What happened!”

The man burst into anger.

Now that the main force of the Demonic Cult had been annihilated, he had to revise the plan.

“How much time is left until the founding festival of the Empire?”

“About a month.”

“In this case, I’m going to the Empire. Remove all obstacles before the founding festival begins.”

In order to burn the last embers of the Demonic Cult, he had to show them the true colors of the Kamen Empire.

The man continued, collecting the corpses of the Demonic Cult.

“How many of the Demonic Cult’s organizations that infiltrated the Empire are still alive?”

“That’s… none of them are left.”

“What?! How can that be! The Empire is not a place to be ignored. Did you infiltrate low-level guys?”

“No, it’s not. The organization called Beggars, which took control of the Empire’s underworld, was so strong… that there was no room for the Demonic Cult to intervene.”

Beggars.

A monstrous organization that swallowed the Empire’s underworld in less than a year since it appeared.

Some even suspected that the Imperial Palace was behind them.

“Tch…! Are you afraid of a mere information guild! Gather all the remaining members of the Demonic Cult. I will command them!”

Demonic Cult.

Many strong forces had died, but they were never weak.

They could easily crush a guild.

“Empire. And the hero of the Gaia Order… I will avenge the Demonic Cult.”

Magic power rose from the man’s hand.