By Zephyria 
Whoosh, the sword’s body grew longer Blue Sword energy gathered on the longsword, extending it by another three inches.
Seeing this, Michael exclaimed, then covered his mouth with both hands. I didn’t bother suppressing the amusement. If I’m happy, shouldn’t they be too? With a faint smile, I raised the sword in my right hand to the upper left, then in one swift motion, drew it down to the lower right, illuminating the path with a clear light.
The afterimage of the Sword energy left in the sword’s wake was a vivid blue.
I liked the color blue. From the high ceiling of the hall, amidst the bright yellow light pouring from the chandeliers, sparks of blue flew like embers. I drew the sword again, slightly off from the previous line. The skewed lines increased from one to two, then from two to three.
I drew three more at sharp angles, then nine, and then twenty-seven.
With the Middle Dantian of my body as the axis, the slightly skewed blue lines faded where they were drawn first and were clear where they were drawn later. However, that was only when the speed was slow. The sword’s movement was invisible, leaving only the traces of its passage gathered together.
Like stars blooming from my body.
It was a trivial trick. Anyone could do it if they could simply release Sword energy and draw straight lines quickly. I saw Uncle straighten his posture and follow my sword with his gaze.
Ha, I laughed and opened my mouth.
“Now, I’ll try moving.”
It wasn’t a statement made expecting a response. I shook my body with a flick. The hem of my cloak followed behind the line I drew in a circle, gripping the sword tightly.
I spun faster when drawing small circles, and when drawing large circles, I stretched my limbs and leaped into the air. Small and large, large and small lines spread like ripples, filling the surroundings with blue circles.
Amidst them, I swaggered and walked in circles as if wearing a lion mask.
The circle drawn high in the air met the circle drawn on the ground when my body was fully lowered. Blue sparks flew at each point of contact. After drawing eighteen such circles, the ones drawn first slowly faded. A blue light flickered in the eyes of the onlookers.
It was an illusion that utilized the afterimage of the quickly passing energy. Could there be anything more dazzling than this?
Originally, in the mountain god ritual I knew, they only drew round circles with the tip of the sword. Without loading Sword energy, it wouldn’t shine in this way. But if I could do it, I wanted to make it even more spectacular.
I drew stars with lines and raindrops falling on a lake with circles,
Now, I should conjure clouds.
Above the sound of my footsteps, I deliberately pushed out my internal energy faintly. I blocked the energy scattered in the air with my sword to prevent it from going far. The energy blocked from all sides and gathered in the center gradually intensified.
As the blue clouds deepened and deepened until they looked like storm clouds,
I slashed through the conjured clouds in one swift motion.
With a shattering sound, lightning struck. By the time the flashing light struck, the sword’s body, already touching the ground, cut and scattered the lightning. I divided the two clouds into four again, and struck the four divided lightning bolts upwards eight times. Sixteen times in total.
Even if it was released, it was my energy,
Even if it was broken, I was the one who broke it,
Each time I inhaled, I took back what I had exhaled and released it again.
When the light that enveloped all sides completely permeated my body, I deliberately stood still and circulated the energy along the Acupoint of my body. It was a skill that became visible thanks to the newly learned Internal energy cultivation method being Dynamic qi. The blue energy circulating along my body made me feel elated.
As the hem of my cloak, which had stirred the air in circles several times, slowly settled down,
Swoosh….
Even though I had swallowed all the scattered energy, because I had emitted so much light and heat, the energy that returned to me was less than half of what it had been initially. Feeling the emptiness in my Dantian, I dispersed the remaining energy with slow breaths.
Clang, I sheathed my sword and opened my eyes.
The first to come to his senses was Uncle. Even though he shouldn’t be seeing such a skill for the first time in a world where magic was common, he clapped loudly with a particularly pleased expression, making a dry sound, which made me feel embarrassed and happy, and I laughed.
“How did you see it?”
“With just the aura, you could already be called a Grand Sword Master, Michael.”
“Is this the power of Valentia’s bloodline…?”
“No, he’s my grandson. Ernhardt.”
When my maternal grandfather joked, my grandfather quickly took the words and teased. My aunt, who was also clapping, pulled on Uncle’s sleeve and asked.
“No, this… Is this what a Sword Master is? But you never showed me anything like that.”
“Huh? No… No, I can’t do that.”
While Uncle, who had been excited, soon became sullen and tried to recall what I had done, Michael and Asdel’s cheers echoed through the hall with a whoop and a holler. I picked up the two who were rushing at me, one in each arm, and lifted them up to soothe them.
The entire family was laughing and couldn’t come to their senses. Seeing Uncle struggling and trying to imitate what I had done with gestures, I laughed until tears came to my eyes.
That evening, the two younger siblings spun around in place, trying to imitate me, and fell over five or six times, so I was very busy trying to stop them.
Neither my grandparents nor my maternal grandparents showed any signs of worry.
But how could they not worry when their eldest grandson was leaving on a long journey? I could clearly see that they were trying to reassure themselves, wanting to believe in me and hoping that nothing would happen, so I also acted nonchalantly.
I boasted about my skills, exaggerating them enough to reassure them all. It was embarrassing, but I didn’t hesitate because I thought it was necessary.
By the day before the training camp, the entire family was dreaming that I would conquer all the Monsters in the Yuil Mountains and return in a dazzling state.
I wondered if I had gone too far, but there was no way to take back the words I had already spoken. ‘Everything I said is true, I’m going to conquer the mountains,’ I jokingly retorted and brushed it off.
❖ ❖ ❖
On the last day of January, I returned to the Shierun Academy for the training camp.
Behind the eighth Martial arts training ground of the Swordsmanship Department, there was a dense thicket. Four low buildings were spaced apart in the four directions of east, west, south, and north, and I had passed by them many times without knowing what they were used for. There were so many buildings in Shierun Academy that I assumed they each had their own purpose and use, and I didn’t pay much attention to them.
It was evening when I entered the southern building assigned to me. The other three had already arrived, and I greeted them warmly.
The structure was very different from the academy dormitory I had used for the past three years. There was no reception room or study, and there was only one common living room in the center. It seemed that one could move to six bedrooms and two bathrooms through that living room.
According to Marianne’s explanation, the bathrooms were divided so that men and women could use them separately, and each person could use one bedroom. She also said that when forming groups to go to the Yuil Mountains, there were rarely more than six people, so they used rooms with this structure.
It was common to assign four to eight people to a group in the Yuil Mountains, but I also heard that it was to leave room for seniors who had experienced the mountains in advance.
I was only grateful to the children around me who were chattering and reciting what they had learned. I nodded as I listened to the explanations, sitting around the large table in the center of the living room.
Marianne hummed and looked around, then pointed to one of the doors with her finger.
“And I want to use this room here. Because it’s closest to the women’s bathroom.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“What about you guys?”
“…”
The three men just blinked their eyes silently. They shrugged, wondering if it mattered where they went in the identical rooms. The three men just looked at each other and didn’t say anything.
“Well, I… I don’t mind anywhere.”
“Me too.”
“…Hmm.”
“Ugh, you slowpokes!”
When Benjamin spoke on behalf of the men, Ruben quickly nodded in agreement. So did I. Seeing that, Marianne slammed the table, causing me to burst out laughing.
As if she knew this would happen, Marianne chose each bedroom one by one and assigned the rooms.
“Then Michael is in front of my room. Your Highness uses the room next to that, and Benjamin uses the room next to me. I assigned the rooms so we could live close together to get to know each other better.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“And let’s decide the order of using the bathroom too.”
“Hmm?”
Marianne would be using the bathroom alone, so why was an order necessary? Seeing my puzzled expression, Marianne quickly explained.
“Oh, no, it doesn’t matter to me since I’ll be using it alone anyway. But what about you guys? Are you going to shower together? I’m sure everyone has been washed by someone, but no one has ever showered with someone else.”
“…Well.”
That was true. The nobles of Shierun were waited on, but they didn’t share a bathroom with anyone. In fact, I had been uncomfortable and embarrassed to be washed by others, so I had dismissed the servants and made it a habit to wash alone since my hands had become strong enough.
Without realizing it, I turned to look at Rubel, and he also blushed and lowered his head with an awkward expression. Ah… It was definitely necessary. Realizing this anew, I looked at Marianne again.
“Now, when we go to the mountains, I’ll usually use Clean Magic, but there’s no need to waste energy like that already. Besides, it’s hard to bring fragrances and other things to the Yuil Mountains, so it’s good to enjoy the secular world enough now. We need to decide the order of showering.”
“…That’s right. Then how…”
When Benjamin opened his mouth in agreement, Marianne took out her notebook with a bold expression, dipped the pen tip into the small ink bottle, and prepared to write. Her handwriting and actions were truly without hesitation.
“If I told you guys to decide this, you’d all be like, ‘Hmm,’ for half a day and no one would say anything, so I’ll decide for you. Is that okay?”
“…Yes. We would be grateful if Young Lady Philodendor would decide.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
When Rubel and I, who had been feeling dazed all along, agreed, Marianne glared at Benjamin, who hadn’t answered, with a sulky look. Benjamin, who had been sitting quietly all along, was startled and trembled.
It was a prank they often played, but every time that big guy jumped, it was very funny, like seeing a big dog scared by a small mouse. I couldn’t help but laugh.