Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Return to the main unit, and then (3) One in the morning. Around ten o'clock, Roden had finished reading all five books he borrowed from Chevalier. Each book was not short, exceeding 400 pages, but the time it took to read them all was less than three hours. It was a speed that would have astonished anyone watching. However, for Roden, even this was, ‘I tried to read slowly to savor it, but it’s already over. Tsk.’ him greatly controlling his pace. If he had put his mind to it and speed-read, he would have finished all five books in an hour. But Roden considered the time spent savoring a book to be extremely important. His reasons for reading also included escaping the time of the world and living in the time of the book, accompanied by the rustling sound of pages turning. Of course, to others, Roden would seem like an extreme speed reader. To begin with, no one among the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, including Chevalier, thought Roden would read all the books he borrowed, given how quickly he read. But Roden always read all the books he borrowed. In the first place, there was no such thing as a difficult book for Roden. Even , ‘It was a very interesting book. Perhaps the only one that wasn’t too easy, which made it worth reading.’ was merely such a book to Roden. In any case, after reading a total of ten books over three days, Roden was able to reach one conclusion. It was that the strange phenomenon did not occur with books other than swordsmanship manuals. The proof was that nothing had happened even though he had read books of various genres, including history, philosophy, strategy, military science, self-help, and novels. Of course, other assumptions could be made based on this. ‘The assumption that only might have caused the strange phenomenon.’ However, this assumption could only be confirmed as false when he read other swordsmanship manuals. If he read another swordsmanship manual and nothing happened, it would mean only the caused the phenomenon. And if he read another swordsmanship manual and the phenomenon occurred again, it would mean it was limited to swordsmanship manuals. So, Roden wanted to read another swordsmanship manual to check which hypothesis was correct, but there was no way. Obtaining a swordsmanship manual was a distant prospect. Certainly, one had to assume that no one would lend a swordsmanship manual to just anyone, even if it wasn't a superior swordsmanship manual. For someone who had learned that swordsmanship, it was no different from exposing their weaknesses to others. Even the , which was practically a standard issue, could not be easily possessed by a common soldier. Only the commanders of the Allied Forces could possess it as a book. ‘In the first place, books themselves are the exclusive property of the nobility.’ It was thanks to Roden successfully researching and developing something called ‘Transcription Magic’ 100 years ago that books could be distributed to this extent. If not for that, a low-ranking commander like Chevalier would not have been able to collect books as spoils of war. ‘Developing Transcription Magic back then was a stroke of genius. To think it would be helpful 100 years later.’ At the time, Roden had developed this magic because it was difficult to publish books by writing down his research results by hand. Moreover, one had to be a practitioner of the 3rd circle or higher to even use Transcription Magic. This was also why only 3rd circle mages could become Roden's assistants. In conclusion, it was magic he developed but could never use himself. To think that magic would help Roden 100 years later. It made him realize anew that a person's life is unpredictable. ‘In any case, it will be difficult to obtain a swordsmanship manual in the future, right?’ Roden briefly imagined Chevalier obtaining a swordsmanship manual. But he soon shook his head. The probability was too low. ‘Then for a while, I should focus on the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship.’ He had been so satisfied with rediscovering the welcome hobby of reading that he hadn't paid much attention, but now it was time to delve into the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship. Of course, learning the swordsmanship was meaningless. As Chevalier had acknowledged in their duel, Roden had perfectly mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship. What Roden wanted to do. That was research. And just then, after realizing that he had perfectly mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship, a question he desperately wanted an answer to came to mind. That was, ‘Why hasn’t my aura proficiency risen even though I’ve mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship?’ Such was the question. That was how it was for ordinary knights. Their aura proficiency naturally rose in the process of learning one swordsmanship and mastering it. But Roden's aura proficiency did not rise even though he had perfectly mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship through the strange phenomenon. Therefore, Roden couldn't help but wonder why that was. ‘The most likely hypothesis is that there is not as direct a correlation between swordsmanship and aura as I thought.’ It certainly seemed that the two were unrelated. If not, the moment Roden mastered the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship, his aura proficiency should have shown at least a slight tremor. Even if it wasn't a great rise in proficiency, he should have felt his aura increase even a little. But there was no change at all. It was just the same. In other words, a different method was needed to raise his aura proficiency. ‘What could it be? It seems certain that it’s related to the act of swinging a sword.’ Many people were having the same experience. The experience of their aura proficiency rising in the process of mastering a swordsmanship. So, there must be some correlation between the two. This was why Roden was certain that there was a correlation between the act of swinging a sword and aura proficiency. But he couldn't figure out the principle of how the act of swinging a sword helped to raise aura proficiency. He searched through Ernst's memories just in case, but the result was the same. In the end, it seemed there was no other way than for Roden to swing the sword himself and find the connection. ‘Or observe other people's training and grasp the principle.’ As it happened, regular training was scheduled from tomorrow. And after the regular training was over, he could also freely conduct personal training. This meant it was the optimal situation for Roden to study the correlation between the act of swinging a sword and aura proficiency. Since Chevalier had said it would be difficult to lend him more books because he had no more, it seemed even better to focus on research. ‘Alright. The research starts tomorrow.’ For Roden, who loved research as much as he loved reading, tomorrow was a moment he was very much looking forward to. *** But the next day. Unlike Roden, the expressions of the 3rd Infantry Platoon soldiers gathered in the training ground were not very bright. It was because they had to start the boring regular training again from today. Especially, the difficulty of the regular training that started after a supply mission was exceptionally high. That was because, from now on, the 3rd Infantry Platoon had nothing else to do until the 3rd and 1st Transport Companies finished their supply missions. So, the training at this time, with plenty of time left until the next supply mission, was bound to be intense. For that reason, the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, who were well aware of the intensity of today's training, couldn't have good expressions. Even worse, “Well, shall we begin if everyone’s gathered?” Even more annoyingly, Roden, who had never attended regular training before, had come out early in the morning for some reason and was saying this. Naturally, from the soldiers' perspective, training without the Platoon Leader was more comfortable. It was bound to be more comfortable with one instructor training over thirty soldiers than with two instructors. Both psychologically and practically. But today, Roden participated in the regular training, and naturally, the annoyance of the 3rd Infantry Platoon soldiers grew even greater. On the other hand, in Chevalier's case, Roden's appearance was surprising yet welcome. It was because his hope that Roden might have changed had grown stronger. ‘Is this unit finally taking proper shape?’ It was when Chevalier was drawing such a hopeful future. “Huhu.” He heard someone's laughter from behind him, and Chevalier reflexively looked in that direction. The person laughing. It was none other than Zailo. And in Chevalier's view, Zailo's laughter held the following meaning. ‘I was right, wasn’t I?’ Chevalier belatedly recalled the absurd story Zailo had mentioned last night. It was that Roden was acting strangely to get closer to him. ‘No way.’ Chevalier tried hard to deny this fact, but he couldn't help but get goosebumps again. Wants to get closer. The hidden meaning contained in these words somehow gave him the creeps. It was when Chevalier was shivering. “What are you doing? Not starting.” Roden brought this up. Chevalier belatedly came to his senses and asked Roden. “Are you participating in the regular training today?” Chevalier's words contained a rebuke, asking what was up all of a sudden, but Roden answered calmly. “Yeah. This body has been busy exploring the amazing world of alcohol. But now that I have good liquor that I must savor, I can't get drunk on cheap rum so carelessly. Deputy Platoon Leader, what did I say was the best way to enjoy good liquor?” “…You said it was to drink it after breaking a sweat.” “Right. Proceed with the regular training as usual. I'll get myself into the optimal condition to drink good liquor by sweating along with the soldiers.” In the end, Roden's words meant that he had come out to the regular training, but he was just going to break a sweat like the other soldiers. At Roden's attitude, which was clearly dumping the training on him, Chevalier felt a surge of annoyance, but he managed to calm his anger. He thought it was something that he was attending the regular training at all. ‘Right. He won't really do nothing. While I perform the role of an instructor, he'll at least perform the role of a deputy instructor.’ Having organized his thoughts, Chevalier clenched his fists and gave the first training order to the 3rd Infantry Platoon, including Roden. “Everyone, prepare for the run!” “Prepare for the run!” “Begin!” “One! Two! Three! Four! Hut, two, three, four! Hut, two, three, four!” The 3rd Infantry Platoon began their morning run according to Chevalier's command. However, perhaps because it had been a while, he was not satisfied with their speed. Their ranks and files were also not well-aligned. Chevalier did not let this slide and raised his voice. “Everyone, aren't you going to line up properly? Pick up the pace!” And so, today as well, the 3rd Infantry Platoon was being forced into the shape of soldiers by Chevalier. *** After that day's regular training and personal training had ended. ‘So this is the principle!’ Roden was able to figure out the correlation between swinging a sword and the rise in aura proficiency without difficulty. At the same time, the best training method to raise one's aura proficiency came to Roden's mind.