Semi-Coercive Imperialist

The training ground, now empty after all the other candidates had left. I stood facing Instructor Freya.

“What’s the method of instruction?”

“What do you mean, the method? I just teach.”

Freya immediately cut her words short. A low and calm voice, but somehow drawn-out as if annoyed. However, she had been selected by Sebestian and verified by Enzi. There was no need to doubt her skill.

“First, a test. I’ll see how much you know about the sword.”

She picked up a tree branch from the corner of the training ground.

“I’ll use this branch. You try to cut it with your sword.”

“……Yes.”

I gripped a training longsword. Taking stance while aiming at Freya. She looked as if she was standing there without care, but I couldn’t sense a single opening.

I stepped forward.

Thwack—!

The moment I charged, her branch struck my wrist with perfect precision. The stinging pain nearly made me drop my sword.

“You’re too straightforward. Try to be a bit more cunning.”

“…….”

I gripped the sword again. I faked a frontal charge, then added a double fake pretending to dive in from the right, aiming for her lower body—

Thwack—!

The result was the same. This time it was my shoulder. The joint that got hit by the branch burned like it was seared.

“Again.”

“……Yes.”

This time I charged with my body crouched. I extended my sword at the closest possible distance. Freya swung the branch in a straight line.

Fwaaang—!

A burst of air erupted as if the air itself exploded. It wasn’t just the stopping power of a branch. My body flew like it had been hit by shrapnel.

Thud.

I fell flat on the ground.

“…….”

“Again. Get up.”

I repeated the process.

Tak!

Got hit in the side. The dull impact made it hard to breathe.

Tak!

Got struck on the forehead. My vision spun for a moment.

Tak!

Got hit in the chest. A mark formed on my collarbone.

“You okay?”

“…….”

I was starting to get heated. I was being toyed with. And yet, Freya was still standing in the same spot. She hadn’t moved even a single step.

Annoyance surged. Doubt started creeping in. But it wasn’t dissatisfaction with Freya. I must not be the kind of trash that blames others anymore. My shortcomings are mine alone.

“Draw up your mana. You won’t be able to deal with this bare-bodied.”

I clenched my teeth.

Mana.

Yes, mana.

I need mana.

I closed my eyes. Focused my consciousness inward.

I sensed the faint tremors of particles flowing through my veins, controlled the subtle currents. Circulated mana throughout my body.

And then, suddenly a path opened.

A new channel broke open in the circuit.

A stream of mana rushed through and touched something inside my body. Its destination was ‘Virus’. The mana core that had regressed with me.

Two different properties of mana clumped together there. Black and blue intertwined, forming a single color.

──Tick-tock.

It resonated with me.

The ticking hand echoed through my soul.

At the same time, the world slowed down.

I dashed forward immediately.

Suddenly activated super acceleration. Kicking off the ground, I reached right in front of Freya. Just like I had cut down the Ezenheim, I swung my sword at the branch.

Slice.

The branch was cleanly cut, but her pupils moved.

Her eyes ‘tracked’ my speed.

At that moment, I felt a strange thrill.

This woman, she’s the real deal.

Tick-tock.

The world returned to normal. The acceleration had been far too brief.

Thud!

Unable to control the speed, I slammed straight into the wall, and Freya looked at the severed tip of the branch with a surprised expression.

“……Oh my?”

***

“A sword is a brush. And you’re the painter. You’re drawing in the air with your sword.”

I stood face to face with my master in the training ground. Now the real lessons were beginning. After I cut the branch, Freya had become a bit more serious.

“When you paint a landscape or a still life, how do you draw it?”

“I’ve never drawn—”

“Do you just imagine it? No, right? Usually, you look at the subject and draw it. Swordsmanship is the same. You look at your opponent and respond accordingly. But if you stop at that point, you’re nothing more than a mass-produced artist. Do you know why?”

“That’s—”

“Because you don’t have a fixed image in your heart. An image and a conviction are the most important things for a swordsman. In fact, they’re the most important things for any human. The image of your sword must be Ebenholtz, right?”

“……I’ve heard there is a Secret Sword passed down in the family.”

My father had also used that secret sword.

However, the secret sword technique and the secret sword are strictly different. The secret sword is a miracle closer to magic, while the secret sword technique is literally the pure art of the sword, in other words, the method of moving the body and deploying the sword.

“That’s right. From what I can see, you’re following the orthodox way of Ebenholtz.”

“That’s correct.”

It couldn’t be helped. From the beginning, the only thing I had seen, heard, and learned was Ebenholtz, so the foundation of me as a swordsman was Ebenholtz-style longswordsmanship.

It was a method that didn’t suit me. I never even thought it was a good fit.

Freya must have recognized that about me too.

“Ebenholtz uses a long sword. Fundamentally, it’s a swordsmanship style only possible because your family’s bloodline has such sturdy bodies. Ebenholtz truly wields the sword as if painting a picture, but to do that, immense strength and physical ability are required.”

“……Yes. I know. That it doesn’t suit me.”

Now was the time to let go of Ebenholtz. I was ready to walk my own path.

“I want to move away from Ebenholtz’s sword. That’s the reason I hired you.”

Freya furrowed her brow.

“Moron.”

“……What?”

She looked at me as if I was pathetic.

“From what I can see, you were born with a body more suited to Ebenholtz’s sword than any of your ancestors. You’re even more suitable than your father.”

“What?”

“Sebestian doesn’t use a long sword.”

Sebestian did not use a long sword. The standard for Ebenholtz-style longswordsmanship is a total length of 1.6 meters. However, he held a flat blade of just about 1 meter. Aside from that, the rest was in line with Ebenholtz, but at the very least, it wasn’t the standard.

“Listen carefully, kid. From what I see, you are the purest form of Ebenholtz. You might even be the last remaining Ebenholtz.”

The last remaining Ebenholtz. That phrase sent chills down my spine.

“You can’t run away, and you shouldn’t. You are Ebenholtz, so where is there for you to run to? Your body proves it, so you just need to walk the path your family laid out. From now on, listen carefully. This is a theory lecture.”

Freya raised her fingers.

“The swordsmanship of the Empire is largely divided into three major streams. Of course, other kingdoms have their own schools, but the roots lie in these three archetypes.”

Honestly, I wasn’t very interested in the origin or history of swordsmanship.

“The first is the stream called ‘Leo’. A strong and straightforward sword style. It mainly uses greatswords or longswords wielded with both hands, and emphasizes overpowering the opponent. Your family, Ebenholtz, is based on this Leo.”

Leo. A name taken from the lion. An ancient sword style I had heard of before.

“The second is a movement called ‘Aquila’. Fast and sharp like an eagle. It uses light and keen longswords or rapiers, and breaks into the opponent’s openings with speed and precision. Most light sword styles are based on this Aquila.”

Freya looked at me steadily.

“The last is ‘Serpens’. Flexible and unpredictable like a snake. They often use dual swords or curved blades, even irregular weapons like whip-swords, so the details vary depending on who teaches it.”

Suddenly, there was mana in her gaze. I felt an intuition as if she could see through my bones, muscles, and mana flow.

“You were born with the strength of a lion.”

I blinked and asked again.

“Me?”

I was slightly taken aback. I’d grown sick of hearing things like weak, talentless, disgrace to Ebenholtz, pushover, prideful, low self-esteem… yet her expression was serious.

“Just look at your body. I hit you with that branch dozens of times, but you don’t even have a single bruise. And even after moving at that speed, there’s no sign of muscle rupture or mana reflux. By my standards, you shouldn’t be standing upright right now.”

“…….”

I unconsciously examined my body. Just as she said, there were no marks at all on the wrist, shoulder, or side where I had been struck. Not even muscle soreness or stiffness.

“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Certainly, compared to before regression, I had changed noticeably.

But why?

Was it simply because I became younger?

Or…

Suddenly, I recalled the thing writhing beneath my heart.

The mana core. A fragment of the “Dimensional Devourer” that had now become a part of me.

Instructor Freya was mistaking the alien mana core for my Talent.

“Starting today, once a week, I will teach you the sword of Ebenholtz.”

She was quite a strange person. Someone not even of the Ebenholtz line, trying to teach the sword of Ebenholtz to the rightful heir.

No, perhaps she was a branch of Ebenholtz, considering that Sebestian had deliberately chosen her.

“Well then, next-”

Beep-beep-beep- Beep-beep-beep-

An alarm rang from the bag in the corner of the training ground. It was the timer Freya had set.

“Three hours are up. Today’s lesson is over. Good work.”

She dusted off her hands and then leapt up in one motion. Like a cat, she vaulted over the wall and disappeared somewhere.

“……Seriously.”

Left alone in the training ground, I was speechless.

***

A whiskey bar, dimly lit but stylishly decorated. With a glass of expensive liquor in front of her, Freya sat lost in deep thought. The moments from earlier flickered before her eyes like an afterimage.

The young knight who had charged into her.

In an instant, he had crossed five or six paces and dared to break into her territory.

That little Ebenholtz had hair and eyes so brightly yellow he resembled lightning. His movement was outside the bounds of common sense, as if defying time itself.

“Hmm~”

Freya sat in the creaky chair, silently gazing at her whiskey glass.

“Super acceleration.”

Maximilian’s sudden burst of speed couldn’t be explained in many ways. First of all, it’s impossible to reach that kind of velocity using just physical strength. Human muscles and bones cannot withstand such speed. Therefore, precise mana control to act as a buffer is essential. Only by wrapping muscle fibers in mana, protecting the joints, and absorbing the recoil from movement can such a feat be possible.

However, Maximilian had taken no such measures.

In that case, what was that bizarre speed?

Was it part of the secret technique passed down through the Ebenholtz family? Or perhaps a congenital unique physique possessed only by that little Ebenholtz?

Countless hypotheses flashed through her mind, but the conclusion was already determined.

“He was born with the most refined body in all of Ebenholtz.”

He had just been crushed under his own cowardly personality.

She had thought the lineage of Ebenholtz had reached its peak with Sebestian, but apparently there was still one more step left.

Freya took a sip of whiskey.

“It tastes good. This is why I like the Capital.”

Either way, it didn’t matter. Maximilian was completely different from the general assessment of him being weak. At the very least, he wasn’t someone “weak”.

Rather, he possessed an unpredictably dangerous potential, but so what?

All she cared about was getting paid.

“Hey, bartender. Give me another of that 1933 Mehiko bottle.”

She had earned a million dollars for just three hours of instruction.

Sebestian was indeed a generous man.