-Master.― What.― Why are you so good to me?― What have I done for you?― You taught me swordsmanship on the battlefield, and when I had to leave the front, you got me into a place like the academy. Isn't that being too nice to me?― You brat, knowing your personality, under a royal you'd get into fights, cause a rebellion, and get executed.― What kind of rude thing is that to say?― Look at this. Look at the way you speak to your master, who is like the sky. It's obvious what would happen if you ended up in the imperial family.-... Aren't you just keeping me under you to nag at me?― Better you get scolded under me. Just wait. Once you have a disciple, you'll understand how I feel.

Kryphi was recalling a conversation he had with his master.

Someone of Kryphi's strength wouldn't get exhausted just from missing a night's sleep.

He, who had lived on the battlefield, had often fought for three days without a wink of sleep, so last night's incident wouldn't make him collapse from fatigue.

But it did make him ponder many things.

'He said I'd understand once I had a disciple.'

A rare fight had his blood boiling again. As he swung his sword through the night, it reminded him of the days he used to rampage through battlefields.

So, as soon as he returned to the academy, he used fatigue as an excuse to retreat to his office and started drinking.

Drinking brought up even older memories.

The story of how he came to the academy.

'Well, I did end up getting a disciple, master.'

Honestly, he didn't even know himself.For some reason, watching Luca and Isella's duel stirred something in his heart.Especially when he saw Luca's raw spirit and swordsmanship, built on nothing but the basics, it made him think of his own past.

So, even though he had his calculations, he had quite impulsively suggested becoming Luca's master.Luca refused, but the refusal only made him more persistent.That's why he brought up Wylde Traverse and suggested the sparring match.

'Heh, thanks to that, I nearly died...'

Kryphi chuckled at the memory.

And took another sip of his drink.

'A disciple, huh...'

In truth, when Luca suddenly came and asked what Kryphi would do if he was ever in danger, Kryphi had thought, "Is this guy crazy?"

And the person in question was the third prince, no less. It was absurd.

― So, if I find myself in danger, what will you do, master?

But that one phrase made his heart clench.

Master.

There was something different about how that word resonated.

'Just a little, I think I understand you, master.'

He couldn't leave him alone.There was no other way to describe it.At the same time, he could mostly understand why his own master had brought him to the academy.

'You must still see me as a kid, even now.'

Kryphi chuckled softly again as he took out the teacher's notebook.And he contacted Luca.

"I have something to talk about. Can you come to my office?"

-... I'll be right there.

"Take your time."

After ending the call with Luca, Kryphi poured himself another drink.

'Now that we're officially master and disciple... I should tell him about myself.'

Having crossed life and death together, the two were now in the same boat.

Besides, Kryphi himself had definitely killed people suspected of being the private soldiers of the third prince, so now there was no turning back.

'It must be related to the imperial struggle. Isella is probably one of Night, so the one she serves, Milia, is probably the missing Undying Princess Brid Hernan, given the circumstances.'

When Luca and Isella were dueling, he could roughly sense from her swordsmanship that she was part of Night.That's why he hadn't treated her carelessly since then.Of course, meeting Luca and shedding his previous way of life had a bigger effect.

'I don't know how much Luca will tell me... but I hope I'm not the only one to trust him.'

Thinking that, Kryphi emptied his glass.

After repeating the cycle of emptying and refilling his glass about three times, Luca arrived.

Knock knock.

"Come in."

Luca entered with Bella in tow.

Kryphi glanced at Bella, who was wearing an apron, and laughed heartily.

"So, you're the rumored member of the Traverse family's secret division. Don't worry. There's no eavesdropping around here."

"That's for me to judge."

Bella answered with a smile but cut him off sharply.

Her eyes smiled, but her voice was cold. She was completely different from when she was dealing with Luca.

"Oh my, are all the secret division members this cold?"

Kryphi chuckled, got up from his seat, and walked over to the sofa.

Luca followed him, and the two sat across from each other, with Bella standing naturally behind Luca.

"Now then... I'm wondering where I should start."

While Kryphi hesitated to find his words, Luca spoke up first.

"Milia Fille is the fourth imperial princess, Brid Hernan. Isella is her knight, the Moonlight Knight Lysel Pandriga."

Luca spoke bluntly, and though Kryphi paused for a moment, he soon smiled.

"I already know."

Luca thought, of course.

He figured Kryphi wasn't so good-natured as to immediately speak formally to a commoner like Isella just for being skilled.

He'd more or less guessed back when he learned Kryphi was an imitator.

He would have figured out from Isella's swordsmanship during the duel that she was part of Night.

'He'd need to notice at least that much if he was going to become my master.'

Luca had no intention of acknowledging a master who lacked real skill, so he was fairly satisfied with Kryphi's answer.

"Now that we're in the same boat, I thought I should tell you everything. That's all."

"I see."

Kryphi nodded briefly.

"Then I suppose I should tell you my story as well."

He lifted the bottle and poured himself a drink, then, after emptying half his glass, began heavily.

"Do you know why I, once called the Nightmare of the Battlefield, left the front?"

"... I don't."

It was a rather strange story.

He'd been called the Nightmare of the Battlefield and was a master swordsman, so why had he ended up at the academy, and how?

Now that he thought about it, it was a fairly interesting topic.

"There are two reasons, but first: I became too strong to fight on the battlefield."

"..."

Luca's eyes twitched.

Knowing the Kryphi from the original story, even when he spoke as if it were just a straightforward fact, it still felt somewhat sickening.

Kryphi drew his sword.

"Someone too strong isn't needed on the battlefield. Modern wars aren't about annihilating the enemy—they're about dividing interests, and testing strategic weapons."

Luca knew this as well.

More specifically, 'Luca Traverse' knew this as well.

Modern wars were, essentially, nothing but a huge testing ground.

"The advancement of magic has created a surplus of resources. If those resources were distributed to the commoners and some among them sought enlightenment, the current class system could collapse... So wars are used as a way to waste resources, and to build enough power to crush rebellions from commoners or slaves—that's the goal of the current upper nobility, isn't it?"

"That's right. Thanks to that, things like armored infantry or magic soldiers are appearing—things impossible in the past."

Kryphi nodded and infused his sword with magic power.

Chzzzzz!

"But all of that is meaningless before overwhelming strength. No matter how much magic advances, the reason swordsmen remain is because of people like me—beings who appear like me."

Luca could not find Kryphi's statements repulsive this time.

Because he was looking at the radiant ether blade glowing from Kryphi's sword.

"So you really did reach the level of Master."

"If I'd stopped there, I could have remained on the battlefield as a commander."

"Then...!"

At that moment, Kryphi's ether blade turned black.

Seeing that, Luca held his breath.

'Was he always this strong?!'

In truth, Luca had thought that Kryphi had reached the level of Master and scraped by just by imitating others' techniques.

But Kryphi had reached the realm where he could infuse "will" into the ether blade—a Grandmaster.

"It's not perfect yet, but I did reach a level where I could mix my will into ether. But as you can see, the color of my will is quite ominous."

"... Oh."

Kryphi was one of the continent's rare minority races. And his jet-black ether blade wouldn't earn him good rumors.

"So I was about to be driven from the battlefield to join the imperial secret division. Ah, unfortunately, it wasn't 'Night'."

He sheathed his sword and emptied his glass. Then, with a deep sigh, he continued.

"That's when my master called me here. Told me to become a teacher. Thanks to him, I hav been able to live a leisurely life at the academy instead of in the imperial secret division."

"When you say master..."

"When people talk about the strongest swordsman, his name always comes up. The Invincible Sword Zeritz. He is my master."

The Invincible Sword Zeritz. Once known as the empire's greatest swordsman and in the original story became the protagonist's master.

He was called 'invincible' for a reason—he was truly strong. Even the protagonist, known for being ill-mannered, respected him.

Unfortunately, he is killed by the Martial Artist's Nightmare, Imitator, who is a fallen Kryphi.

'It all seems strangely significant, looking at it now.'

He didn't know the exact causal relationships, but after being corrupted because of the protagonist, Kryphi becomes the Martial Artist's Nightmare, Imitator, who threatens the protagonist, and kills both his own master and the protagonist's master, Zeritz.It was a more tragic story than he'd thought.

"I've known him for a long time. I first met him when I was seventeen."

With a faraway expression, Kryphi poured another drink.

"Anyway, I came here thanks to his help, so I wanted to achieve at least something. But... no matter how strong I became, my status could never rise past a certain point."

It was a sad tale.

No matter how many achievements he racked up on the battlefield, no matter how strong he became, in the end, he would be nothing but a dog for the royal family.

The ones constantly waging war to keep their privileges were the nobles of this country.

No matter how much merit was earned on the battlefield, they never intended to give away titles.

"My only way to rise any higher was to take someone of much higher status than me as a disciple."

It was a logical conclusion.

Even though he wasn't perfect, he had reached Grandmaster—yet, even such a master was to be drawn into the imperial secret division, so it made sense that he saw strengthening himself further as meaningless.

In the end, only bloodline, background, and school ties mattered, so it was not strange for him to arrive at this conclusion.

"But among the children of high-ranking noble families, almost none put any real effort into swordsmanship. At best, it's a hobby."

"For someone who can only enter the SA class, that's about it."

"Haha, it's true, the S class might be a little different. But it's quite hard for me to be in charge of the S class."

Although Kryphi was experienced and skilled, he wasn't the empire's number one sword. This was a world where war never ceased.

There were enough Masters at Kryphi's level, and among them were nobles.

So as a commoner, he couldn't take charge of the S class.

Kryphi let out a bitter laugh and leaned back on the sofa.

"Anyway, the first five years here were tough for me. Of course, my life was more comfortable than before, but with no one living as desperately as on the battlefield, being the only one pushing myself to the limit was hard to bear. I guess that's why my personality soured."

Luca wanted to ask, "Was it really just because things were hard that your personality changed?" but he held his tongue since Kryphi looked so serious.

"But when I saw you and Isella spar, my blood started boiling again."

Finishing his words, he downed his drink in one shot. And then his eyes opened slightly.

― Its eyes resembled those of a wild beast.― Amber eyes, seeing through everything reflected there.

'Amber eyes... He really was the Imitator.'

His pupils looked like those of a lion or tiger, a true beast.

His expression changed when he fully opened his eyes.

Unlike his previous sly impression, now he could feel the overwhelming presence of a true powerhouse.

"Especially, your sword reminded me of my own past."

"You mean, reminded you how?"

"I'm a case different from you, but as a commoner, all I could learn was the basics. I had to polish and polish even just that to survive, or to reach higher places. That sense is what I saw in you."

Kryphi bit his lip slightly and then closed his eyes again.

"That's why I wanted to take you as a disciple. I think I've told you roughly everything about my past and my reason. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Luca stared at his face before calmly replying.

"When will my swordsmanship be complete?"

"... Haha, you really are different. Not even shaken by a story like that."

"It was a pretty interesting story, but I don't think it's that important. I've already decided to take you as my master, and you've given me faith that, as my master, you'll do your utmost to protect me."

Kryphi seemed rather pleased by Luca's indifferent response.

"Very well. Starting right after next month's exam, I'll begin teaching you swordsmanship. I'll be quite strict, so be ready."

"Understood. And one more thing."

"What is it?"

Luca hesitated for a moment. But he believed this was something he had to say.

"Because of this incident, a lot of unfair things may happen to you. For example... a demotion to E-class instructor. Are you alright with that?"

They had taken care of all the witnesses, but it was only a matter of time before the third prince found out about Kryphi's involvement.

There were plenty of methods—magic, spirits—for tracking in this world.

Even without definite evidence, it would be easy enough to put an unsupported Kryphi at a disadvantage.

"Ah~ well... that's fine."

Kryphi responded with a beaming smile.

"I'm not just a teacher anymore. I'm a master."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Nice, Kryphi's perspective has changed.【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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