The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority Chapter 69

Reason to Become Stronger (2)

Lunabreeze's underground training arena.

"Sophia. Let's talk for a minute."

Ian took Sophia's hand, slowly exhaled, and organized his thoughts.

It was to comfort Sophia, who was overworking herself out of impatience.

What should he say to her?

"What's making you so anxious?"

"... W-what do you mean?"

"Why are you training to the point that you're wrecking your own body?"

If she simply followed along at her own pace, she'd surely reach Swordmaster, no matter what.

"..."

Sophia blinked at Ian, then pursed her lips and lowered her head.

"... Because I want to become stronger, quickly."

"Why? It's okay to go slowly."

"No, it's not."

"...?"

― Swiff.

Sophia pulled her hand from Ian's and hugged her knees.

"When you left me behind, Young Master... I realized. That if I keep staying like this, I'll never be able to go wherever Young Master goes. ... No matter how much I want to follow."

"... Hmm."

"I... I'm not blaming you, Young Master. It's just... I only realized my inadequacy a bit late."

While Ian was struggling desperately to rescue Yuria...

Sophia had time to reflect on herself objectively, step by step.

She didn't have as much talent as Ian.

She'd even started learning swordsmanship much later.

Ian would continue to grow rapidly, as if he'd sprouted wings, and he'd step into even riskier situations to face ever stronger opponents.

And each time, Ian would leave her behind.

Saying it was still too dangerous for her.

That she still wasn't ready.

"... But I don't want to just worry from behind."

But when would she ever be "ready"?

By the time Sophia had worked so hard that she finally caught up to Ian as he was now, wouldn't Ian have grown several times stronger than this already?

So, wouldn't she just end up hearing the same words in the same situation all over again?

That it was still too dangerous for her, that she still wasn't ready.

"Haaa..."

So if she didn't even do this much...

If she didn't swing her sword until her palms wore out and her shoulders ached so badly she couldn't even lift her arms...

She feared she'd lose even that slim chance of being able to go with Ian.

"I wish I had the same kind of talent as you, Young Master."

Ian was still growing rapidly even now.

He was already so far ahead of her.

And Ian's rate of growth was far faster.

"I... I don't know what I should do."

Was it even possible to catch up to Ian, no matter how hard she tried?

What if she burned her entire being to its very end and still couldn't reach even his toes?

At some point, even time spent thinking began to feel like a waste to Sophia.

So she went straight to swinging her sword.

For two whole days. Skipping both meals and sleep.

"It feels pointless..."

"... So that's how it was."

That's why she'd pushed herself so hard.

'It was my fault.'

Ian bowed his head in a moment of silent self-reproach.

It seemed he'd made Sophia anxious.

"Sophia."

Ian gently took Sophia's hand again, wrapping both of his around hers.

"..."

He quietly opened her hand.

The wounds were gone now, but the newly formed calluses stood out all the more.

"You're already doing plenty well. These calluses prove it."

"But... if I can never catch up to you, Young Master, then what's the point?"

"Sophia. You don't need to follow me specifically. You just need to become strong enough to protect yourself."

"No. I don't want that...! That's nowhere near enough!"

Maybe it was because it was dawn, or because she'd just woken up, but Sophia was being even more honest than usual.

"I'm not going anywhere. Sophia. I'll always be by your side."

"Huh!? You say that, but you left me just the other day!"

"But I came back right away, didn't I?"

"... You came back this time, but what about next time?"

"Hm?"

"You came back this time...! Honestly, who knows about the next time! ... I'm sorry for saying something unlucky, but you might be strong, Young Master, but you're not immortal... I'm scared! I worry... If I can't see you, how do I know something hasn't happened to you...? You don't know what it's like to be alone, anxious, unable to do anything, do you? I get all sorts of bizarre thoughts! That's why I want to go with you!"

Ian quietly listened to all of Sophia's words, then patted her hand.

"I see."

He hadn't realized Sophia was so worried about him.

"Phew..."

Sophia lowered her gaze, letting out a long, frustrated sigh.

"..."

Seeing her lowered head, Ian felt uneasy and instinctively pulled her closer by the hand.

"Wah!?"

Sophia's waist tipped over in surprise.

"W-what are you doing all of a sudden...!"

Sophia grumbled, lying with her head on Ian's thigh.

"I promise, Sophia."

Ian gently stroked Sophia's hair.

"The things you're afraid of will not happen. Ever."

"..."

Sophia quietly looked up at Ian, locking eyes with him.

But she was still pouting, with a horned look in her eyes and her lips sullenly sticking out—no sign of feeling better.

"Don't you believe me?"

"If you could make worries disappear just by saying so, what would anyone ever worry about?"

― Heh.

"That's true."

Ian gently rubbed her furrowed eyebrows in circles.

With every circle, Sophia's expression softened little by little.

"Trust between comrades is important."

"... Comrades..."

"Don't push yourself. Just follow me slowly, Sophia. Let's keep progressing together, step by step."

"... Hmph..."

― Thump.

Sophia rolled over to her side.

She felt the fabric of his thigh become a bit warm and damp.

She was such a crybaby, unable to hide anything.

Expressing her honest feelings had reflexively brought tears again.

Ian didn't tease her.

Instead, he kept talking.

"Don't ever push yourself like this again."

"... Okay."

"It's late, so wash up. And don't ever sleep out here again. Do you know how bad hard floors are for your back!? And you should be careful not to catch a cold! Did you eat properly while I was gone? Did you get a health checkup?"

"A-ah... Here come the nagging..."

"Then stop making me nag! Hup!"

Ian poked Sophia in the side.

She shrieked! in surprise and then burst out laughing as she sat up.

There were tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Okay, Young Master."

Sophia wiped away the moisture from her eyes.

"I trust you. And..."

When all the tears were gone, her green eyes shone even brighter and clearer.

"I may not have as much talent as you, Young Master, but I'm confident I'll keep following you with all I've got! Even if it takes time... Please wait for me! I'll do my best so that I can always be wherever you are, Young Master!"

Ian nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course. I always believe in you, Sophia."

"H-hmph! Good, that's all I needed to hear! Fine, fine!"

Sophia seemed to cheer up again.

'Thank goodness.'

Honestly, he'd forgotten to bring a present when he came back...

He'd been worrying about how to make up for it in case she was still mad.

"Get some sleep after washing up. It's late."

"You should wash, too, Young Master! Didn't you just get back?"

"Yeah. I'll use the first-floor bathroom. You go to the bedroom."

"Mmm..."

Sophia rubbed her stomach.

"I'm hungry... Should we eat something before washing up, Young Master?"

"Hmm."

Now that he thought about it, Ian was a bit hungry too.

He'd been searching for Yuria and bringing her back all this time, barely eating.

"Sounds good."

Tomorrow was a rest day anyway, so skipping another night's sleep wouldn't hurt.

Let's fill our bellies with a late-night snack tonight.

"Then, Young Master Ian, wash up first! I'll grill the pork we have!"

"That's fine. We'll have to wash again after brushing our teeth anyway. Let's just do it together. You must be tired, too."

"Okay! Great!"

Ian stood up with Sophia.

'Let's eat first, get Sophia to bed, then...'

Ian glanced at Vladiark, lying on the training hall floor.

The black divine sword, now considerably restored after having devoured three Masters and a Grandmaster.

'I can spend the night on internal cultivation.'

Ian decided to put off sleep for just one more day.

* * *

A short while later.

Late at night, Ian grilled pork and ate with Sophia.

After putting Sophia to bed, Ian took Vladiark and headed down to the secret cultivation chamber underground.

'Tonight, I'll focus on cleansing as much of the impurities from my body as possible.'

He was going to use the immense aura absorbed by Vladiark to thoroughly cleanse his mana circuits.

Removing impurities from the mana circuits was a necessary prerequisite for reaching the level of Master.

'The stench will be awful.'

The impurities extracted from the body had a truly horrible smell—akin to rotting corpses.

That was precisely why he'd come down from the second-floor bedroom to underground.

He didn't want to interrupt Sophia's sleep with the terrible stench.

'Let's begin.'

Ian gripped Vladiark tightly and sat cross-legged.

'First, check the aura.'

The amount of mana condensed within Vladiark was as vast as a mountain.

The aura of three Master-class Barbarians, plus that of a fully developed Grandmaster-rank knight, made for an overwhelming, vortex-like power throbbing inside.

'If I absorb all this, I'll definitely reach Swordmaster.'

However, he couldn't inherit the same mastery level of the aura he absorbed.

It would be nice if he could, but too much mana would be consumed in expelling impurities from his body.

The mana used for cleansing impurities lost its purity and had to be expelled from the body.

And the process of thoroughly cleansing and expelling all the built-up impurities took quite some time.

'Still, no matter how slow it goes, I'll definitely reach Swordmaster within a few weeks. The time I thought I'd need for growth has... been unimaginably shortened compared to my expectations.'

It hadn't been even half a year—let alone a year—since his regression.

In fact, only a few months ago, Ian hadn't been able to use any aura at all. He was completely mana-impaired.

But now, in only a few weeks, he'd be able to attain Swordmaster.

'Truly lucky. It's thanks to back-to-back fortuitous encounters and sheer luck that is almost unbelievable.'

Meeting Vladiark at the Sword Selection Ceremony, and not even a month later, devouring three Master-class experts and a Grandmaster-rank powerhouse in succession.

'Who could have ever predicted this?'

At this rate, wouldn't he even surpass the level of his previous life by next year?

It seemed hard to believe, but then again, if luck kept piling up like this, maybe it wasn't impossible.

'Whew... A Swordmaster at fourteen.'

It was an achievement four years earlier than that of Ragnar, the 5th head of Heavenly Sword family, who was hailed as the greatest and strongest swordsman of all time.

Ragnar needed eighteen years to reach Swordmaster, but since Ian had started growing in earnest after regressing—even less than a year ago—it hadn't even been a full year.

'At this rate of growth...'

Ten years from now... when the real invasion of the Grand Dukes of the Demon Realm began, he'd likely be several times stronger than even Yuria or Ragnar in their prime.

― Shake shake!

Ian forcefully shook his head to clear away his stray thoughts.

'That's enough fantasizing.'

It was time to focus.

He had a mountain of aura stored in Vladiark to gobble up. He couldn't slack off—he needed to cultivate diligently whenever he had time.

Ian straightened his back and settled more firmly into his cross-legged posture.

Then, spinning the aura in his dantian, he activated Hisperion's secret technique: the Heavenly Dawn Technique.

― Gwooooooo!

About thirty minutes passed like that.

― Glorp...! Gllorp...!

With a sound like bubbles boiling in a swamp, thick black fluid began to seep from Ian's forehead.

As soon as it started to flow, the room was filled with an overwhelming stench.

It was the foul odor of deeply embedded bodily impurities.

Before long, what had started at his forehead began to ooze from his nape, then soon from his armpits and back, and eventually from his entire body.

― Blurp! Blurp!

Sticky black sludge poured from Ian's body, almost threatening to cover him completely.

As the cultivation chamber became increasingly filthy, Ian's mana circuits and blood vessels were gradually opening up and clearing, feeling refreshingly clean.

Ian was now in the process of obtaining a strength that would make him second to none even among the other Hisperion retainers.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

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