Chapter 305: Lord of the Sword Evans [1]

Chapter 304

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Episode 82 – Lord of the Sword Evans [1]

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Sitting in a leather chair, I had Director Bernice’s desk directly in front of me. At that moment, I was in her office.

Just like me, Veronica was sitting beside me. The two of us waited for Director Bernice to finish dealing with some paperwork.

A few minutes passed before she finally cleared her desk. Then, with a simple snap of her fingers, all the documents disappeared from its surface.

Her eyes turned toward the two of us. Then she extended her hand and said:

“Your original Cadet Card was lost, or perhaps someone got rid of it, so I’ll give you a new one, along with all the points you originally had and some extra ones as compensation.”

I took the Cadet Card and, using a bit of Mana, activated the coin-sized magic circle on its surface.

A holographic screen immediately appeared.

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「Cadet Name: Adel (Adel Sylvain D’Aubermont)

」

「Age: 19」

「Rank: ??? (Not yet classified)」

「Year: 2nd Year.」

「Points: 41,900」

「Negative Points: 0」

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‘That’s ten thousand points as compensation.’

Since the holographic screen was made entirely of Mana, I could read it without any trouble.

After all, I could perceive Mana in its various colors.

A second later, I stored the Cadet Card in my Inventory.

Director Bernice then continued:

“And welcome back to the Holy Academy. If I had been there on the day you were falsely accused, you wouldn’t have had to go through all of this, so I apologize.”

I gave her a faint smile and shook my head.

“There’s no need to apologize. Besides, I had plenty of free time to train without having to deal with any distractions.”

“…..!”

Bernice’s expression changed slightly, revealing a hint of surprise.

I tilted my head in confusion, but before I could ask what was wrong, she spoke:

“Of all the times we’ve talked, this is the first time I’ve seen a genuine emotion from you. Although your expression indicates that you’re trying to display an emotion, in my eyes, you’re not actually expressing one.”

I immediately understood what she meant.

After all, I had my Trait: Without Emotions, which suppressed my emotions to the greatest extent possible.

From the very beginning, I had always pretended to show expressions that appeared to represent a particular emotion.

Everything had been a mask.

But now… it was a little different.

“Some things happened, so I now have my emotions under control. My Trait didn’t allow me to control them completely before, but things are different now.”

Bernice nodded without saying anything else.

Shortly afterward, Veronica and I rose from our seats and walked toward the door.

However, just before leaving, I stopped and looked at Bernice.

“See you later… Mother.”

“…..!?”

Her expression changed in less than a second.

However, I didn’t stay to see her reaction. I simply left the office and closed the door behind me.

The reason I finally called her “Mother” was quite simple.

‘In all my past lives, my parents always died, and my mothers always met deaths filled with despair.’

I didn’t know why they all ended up dying such terrible deaths.

However, thanks to my past lives, I understood perfectly well what it meant to have a mother.

Even if she was simply an adoptive mother.

***

I was walking back to my room, although this time I was heading to the Second-Year Building.

The First-, Second-, and Third-Year cadets each had their own facilities, from classrooms to dormitories.

That was why I wasn’t walking through the First-Year campus this time.

The Second-Year campus was much larger and had many other facilities that were completely different from those in the First-Year campus.

A few minutes later, I finally arrived at the Second-Year dormitory building.

I said goodbye to Veronica, and shortly afterward, entered my room.

The room was a little larger, but other than that, there weren’t many differences between it and the rooms of the First-Year cadets.

As soon as I entered, I sat down on the sofa.

Then, a small Spirit no more than ten centimeters tall appeared in front of me and began taking human form.

Once she finished, she sat down and crossed her legs and arms while watching me with narrowed eyes.

“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d call her ‘Mother’ so soon.”

I couldn’t deny her words.

It had been more than a week since I had ignored her comment when, jokingly, she suggested that I call Bernice Mother.

“Well, she’s not the first mother I’ve had, nor is she my first adoptive mother.”

My master simply nodded without saying anything else.

Seconds passed, followed by minutes. Then, all of a sudden, I remembered something and asked:

“Now that I think about it, my mother reached Ten Stars at the end of the War against the Lords of the Abyss. You must have known her or, at the very least, heard some rumors about her, right?”

My master took on a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds of contemplation, she nodded as if she had finally managed to remember her.

“I remember hearing a rumor about the feats of the last descendant of the race of the Great Ancients. And, naturally, the only person who comes to mind is her.” (Note: Great Ancients = Dragons)

At the end of the War, during the Third Dark Era, none of my lives had been present.

Therefore, I had no memories of a life that had taken part in the end of the war.

In any case, after hearing my master’s words, I simply nodded.

Once again, silence settled between us.

Normally, she would have been talking about some random nonsense, but things were different now.

And the reason was none other than what I had told her.

“Should I call you Evans, the Progenitor known as the Lord of the Sword, or simply Adel, my disciple?”

“…..”

Yes, the reason for her change was none other than my true identity.

Because who wouldn’t change the way they spoke after discovering the true identity of someone they had developed a certain relationship with?

In my case, the relationship was rather simple.

She was my master, and I was her disciple.

Except that, this time, things were a little different.

My true identity, the identity of my first life, was something… extraordinary to every human and other race in this world.

The reason was simple.

I was literally the Progenitor who had pioneered the Swordsman Specialty.

If someone asked me whether I needed a master, the answer would obviously be no.

After all, as the creator of the Swordsman Specialty, I was naturally the first to reach the pinnacle of the sword’s path.

On the other hand, I perfectly understood my master’s dilemma and the reasoning behind her thoughts.

“There’s no reason for you to change the way you speak to me. Like I said before, I’ll remain the person you know, no more and no less.”

Even after revealing to her that I was a reincarnator who had lived through so many lives, I was still the same person standing before her.

Even so, it was only natural that my master couldn’t immediately come to terms with the truth, especially after learning my true identity.

“….”

My master let out a soft sigh before nodding.

“Then you still haven’t told me anything beyond your true identity. For example, what your plans are. Because, honestly, I never really asked what path you intended to take, other than finding a way to survive the predetermined day of your death.”

Upon hearing her question, I fell silent.

Honestly, I would have loved to tell her that was exactly my goal, but…

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you. If I told you, for example, who my enemies are, simply mentioning them in front of you would cause your Divine Soul to become corrupted.”

“….”

My master’s eyes widened for an instant before she finally nodded.

“And I suppose those enemies are the reason you and the other Progenitors disappeared out of nowhere, right?”

“That is correct.”

My master was already aware that the Progenitors were, for obvious reasons, Gods.

And the enemy of a God could be nothing other than another God.

Furthermore, everything related to a God meant exposing yourself to a danger that you simply couldn’t defend against.

“Ugh, it’s really hard to believe. To think that one of the Eight Progenitors, who are known only through legends, had always been wandering around like any ordinary person.”

I smiled faintly at her words.

If I were in her position, I would also find the situation quite difficult to comprehend.

Regardless, I decided to change the subject and asked:

“By the way, when will you teach me the Fourth Form?”

My master glanced at me briefly before replying:

“I was waiting for you to bring it up. Even so, it feels strange to train the person who created the Swordsman Specialty.”

I shrugged and shook my head.

“First of all, for certain reasons related to my enemies, I can’t recover all the memories from my first life. Evans’s memories are fragmented, and each of them is nothing more than knowledge.”

“Even so, you’re still the Lord of the Sword. With or without your memories, you have the memories of all your other lives. There’s probably even a Sword Art more powerful than mine among them.”

“….”

Certainly, I couldn’t deny her words.

For example, my second life, Khael, was that of a Swordsman who reached Eleven Stars.

He created a Sword Art that made even those who had reached Eleven Stars tremble.

Something similar applied to Bernice.

To the other Ten-Star Awakened, she was simply too powerful.

However, possessing a powerful Sword Art doesn’t mean the others are useless.

Every Sword Art is completely unique in its own way and possesses a special power that sets it apart from the others.

And the Sword Art my master created was no exception.

In fact, it was special.

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★—Author’s Note—★

I’ve decided to change the name of Adel’s Sword Art.

I did the same with Lumina’s Sword Art. I used to simply call it “Fallen Moon,” and honestly, I felt like it didn’t have much flair. That’s why I changed it to “Lunar Art of the Fallen Moon.” It’s longer, and honestly, I like it much more than just two words.

So it will no longer be “Inverted Heaven.”