After being exiled as a threat by the bishop, Tina's life was spent either constantly on the run or barely scraping by in miserable, painful conditions.
Back then, she had only brought a single horse with her. But to avoid starving to death on her way to the distant border, she sold it to some bandits on the black market to make some money.
Then, she gave the bandits a beating, got her horse back, and slaughtered it for meat.
She had thought about taking a carriage, but once out of the city, traveling by carriage became a high-risk endeavor. It cost too much money and was highly susceptible to highway robbery. Besides, the knight orders wouldn't patrol such areas to maintain order.
So, she gave up on that idea.
“Well, you're actually pretty impressive. You didn't know anything, yet you still managed to wipe out a gang of bandits.”
With her hands clasped behind her back, Elcalan strode along the desolate mountain path alongside Tina, showing not the slightest hint of fatigue.
She laughed as she listened to Tina's story, showing absolutely no sympathy for a delicate girl like her.
“Well, who asked me to be an apprentice Saintess in the past?”
“If I were Sheffield, I would have ruined you too. Weren't you a threat to our Saintess Selection?”
As Elcalan spoke, her voice grew cold once again.
“Tell me, do you want revenge?”
“Huh?”
“Revenge against the Church. It's kind of like... ten years on the east bank, ten years on the west? If you get stronger and strike back, wouldn't that feel amazing?”
“And how exactly would I slap them in the face? Why don't you go become the Saintess and seek revenge for me instead?”
“Why don't I just teach you swordsmanship!”
These words caused Tina's pupils to suddenly contract and then dilate. But she quickly calmed down and stepped ahead of Elcalan.
“The tuition isn't expensive, is it?”
“It's not expensive. Room and board are included. I'm sincerely taking you on as my disciple.”
...
“I think I'd rather pass.”
Tina lay on her back on the endless dry grassland, looking up at the vast sky and sighing.
She stuck her sharp wooden training sword into the dirt and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
This was all because of Elcalan's hellish training, which made her already delicate body feel even more battered and exhausted.
She continued to grumble weakly:
“I say, Elcalan, isn't this Silence Style of yours a bit too weird?”
“How so?”
Elcalan walked over to her, squatting down to look down at her face, which was pale from the high-intensity training.
“Lately, it feels like all I do is sleep a lot and, ah, eat a lot. At least let me rest a bit.”
“It's fine. Your figure will get better too.”
“Does pushing your body to its absolute limits really make it better?”
Just as Tina thought her teasing was highly effective, she suddenly noticed Elcalan letting out a wicked chuckle. “So you finally realized.”
“What do you mean? I was just joking!”
“The Silence Style is all about constantly pushing the body's limits. Your summary is actually quite clever. As expected of my disciple.”
“Please...”
Tina rubbed her temples. Soon, even her fingers began to feel weak and limp, but she was quickly pulled back up to continue her training.
It was a grueling memory.
She recalled her military training days back at school, but compared to this, that felt like a vacation.
One-on-one instruction from the Sword God didn't require tuition, but the price was probably her own youth.
She had to train on this barren grassland for a month. When they first arrived, the two of them didn't even know what they were going to eat. Fortunately, an old merchant passed by nearby and sold them some vegetables.
At night, they lit a campfire and used some metal scraps scavenged from the ruins as an oven.
It was like a metal barrel placed over the fire; they could roast things inside and fry things on top.
The cloudless night sky looked as though a waterfall of stars was cascading down. It felt as if one could reach out and pluck a few of them.
“You said you went through a breakup?” Elcalan said as she sat by the stove, roasting potatoes.
The firelight shone on her smooth chin, standing out starkly in the dark night.
Slumped in her chair, Tina nodded. “If you want to think of it that way, I don't mind.”
“Then what were you crying for? I'll just assume you're heartbroken and miss her... Her name is Sathya, right?”
As Elcalan spoke, she opened a bottle of her prized wine, poured it into a carefully prepared goblet, and handed it to Tina.
The aroma of roasted potatoes wafted through the air.
“It's fine. You'll win her back sooner or later.” She pointed to herself. “I, the great Sword God, support you in pursuing the girl you like.”
“I already told you that you've misunderstood...”
“Actually, your teacher here has been in love before too. I also liked a girl once. That was decades ago.” Elcalan took the potatoes off the roasting pan but didn't extinguish the fire in the small stove. She looked up at the sky.
“And then? Do you still like her?” Tina selectively ignored the fact that her teacher was a lesbian.
“Yes,” Elcalan said, taking a sip of wine.
“I couldn't tell. I thought you didn't have those kinds of worldly desires.” Tina smiled.
Elcalan laughed too, taking another large gulp. “Who doesn't have a few interests?”
...
“I say, my dear disciple, since you're heartbroken and your master is helping you ease your worries, shouldn't you repay me a little?”
Even though Elcalan was one of the strongest humans alive, she was easily intoxicated.
Her face was flushed red, and she nearly fell face-first onto the ground.
“I'll buy you some good wine in ten years,” Tina brushed her off dryly. She helped Elcalan up and dragged her toward their tent a few hundred meters away. Her head throbbed at the thought of having to run dozens of kilometers back to the village tomorrow.
Her master was mumbling something under her breath, sounding as if she were talking in her sleep.
Drooling, Elcalan narrowed her eyes and smacked the back of Tina's head. She looked at her and said drunkenly:
“If... your master... if I ever get heartbroken, you have to help me too, okay...”
...
The young girl changed into a dark yellow dress, tied her belt, and put on a nice light yellow outer coat.
She looked in the mirror, adjusted the sword at her waist, and placed her bamboo hat on her head, exuding the air of a martial artist and a wandering expert.
She looked exactly like the disciple of the Sword God.
“Are you leaving now?”
Elcalan weighed the letter in her hand, then looked up at the young girl, who radiated a sharp aura. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, “I say, it's only been half a year. Have you actually learned everything?”
“I have.”
“Oh.”
Elcalan flipped the envelope over. Seeing the Church's seal, she was finally convinced that this wasn't her disciple's joke.
“Why aren't you like the cute disciples in storybooks, crying your eyes out and begging your master to see you off?”
“Screw off. I'd die of embarrassment.”
As if remembering something, she still turned back and smiled gently.
“It's fine. We'll definitely meet again in the future, Sword God Master.”
“Haha~”
Elcalan laughed. This was the first time she had ever heard Tina call her master.
Tina opened the door. Outside lay a vast, sparsely populated plain, a sight typical of Estar's scenery.
Walking along the flat, straight road, Tina gazed into the distance, walking forward aimlessly.
The wind kicked up dust and tumbleweeds, obscuring her vision and prompting her to mutter, “This really is a godforsaken place.”
Rate on N.U.
