Not a barbarian warrior.

After the tenth duel ended, Eugene, who had once again claimed victory, wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead.

‘Is this the guild’s testing method? It’s not like a wheel battle… And the opponents keep getting stronger as it goes on…’

Calming his rougher breathing than before, Eugene shook hands with his tenth opponent. They would be training together with swords while seeing each other’s faces from now on, so leaving a good first impression was important.

“Phew… That was a remarkably heavy sword. For a moment, I thought my sword would break when I received it head-on.”

“…I didn’t expect you to be able to receive that. Your strength is impressive… I acknowledge my defeat…”

When Eugene calmly praised the opponent’s sword, he hung his head and spoke. It must have been humiliating to be overpowered by Eugene, who was thoroughly exhausted.

Meanwhile, the guild’s trainees were pondering who to send out next. They quickly exchanged opinions with each other.

“Not yet… That barbarian, he hasn’t lost enough strength. Didn’t you see him overpower Jade with pure strength?”

“It’s shameful to continue dueling any further. We’ve already lost ten times… This isn’t something we should resolve at our level.”

“Then should we just send him to Sir Bernard like this? If the sir finds out, he’ll be greatly disappointed!”

“Then do you have any bright ideas? Who’s going to face that barbarian warrior now?”

It was then. Someone walked towards the trainees murmuring around Eugene and said:

“What’s going on that you’re all gathered like this without training?”

“Clea…!”

“You came at the right time…! You should be able to handle him!”

The trainees, without properly explaining the situation, immediately pushed her forward as Eugene’s eleventh challenger.

“Wh-What on earth…”

Pushed by her colleagues to the front of Eugene, she was flustered.

Eugene brushed back his disheveled black hair and wiped the sweat flowing on his forehead.

From his rough breathing, Clea could instantly tell that he was quite exhausted.

“You guys, surely…!”

“Are you my next opponent? Then I look forward to our match.”

She tried to confront her colleagues about this dishonorable situation but couldn’t. Eugene had already picked up his sword and requested a duel.

“…This will be the last duel. You look very tired, but I won’t go easy on you.”

As Clea took her stance with the practice sword, the atmosphere changed instantly.

She exuded a sharp aura, like a well-forged sword.

As she raised the sword over her shoulder, Eugene lowered his sword tip and placed it in front of his body.

This stance was similar to when Eugene and Marlon first clashed swords. The difference was that this time, Eugene took Marlon’s stance.

Clea frowned as Eugene lowered his sword tip to almost touch the ground, exposing a weakness in his upper body.

Measuring the distance while moving her feet little by little, she suddenly rushed towards Eugene.

Her sword soared upwards, then fell in a large arc.

Eugene, as Marlon had done, raised his sword while lowering his body one beat faster.

The blunt sword tip gleamed as it rushed as if to pierce Clea’s neck.

Eugene was confident of victory.

His sword was faster than Clea’s. Thanks to reading her movements and moving one beat faster, he had stolen the initiative. Just as the thought that he could finally rest crossed his mind.

Tang-!

A clear metallic sound rang out.

Clea changed the path of her sword, which she had been swinging in a large motion, to deflect Eugene’s straight-thrusting sword sideways.

As Eugene’s sword missed and stabbed the air, Clea attempted a counterattack by climbing along the blade.

Suddenly faced with the prospect of losing his neck, Eugene leaned back greatly in surprise.

Her sword passed through the air, missing Eugene’s nose by a paper-thin margin.

The sound of “Whoosh-!” was vivid in Eugene’s ears.

Her sword, which had sliced through the air, changed direction again and rushed back at Eugene.

Faced with a flurry of attacks without a moment to regain his posture, Eugene threw his body sideways.

Then, unlike Marlon, she didn’t wait for Eugene to stand up again.

As Eugene rolled on the ground to avoid the second attack, Clea followed right after and brought her sword down.

And that was the end.

Eugene, with his center of gravity collapsed, tried somehow to extend his sword to block Clea’s attack.

However, it was after her sword blade had crossed the guard and touched Eugene’s neck.

“Huff… Huff…”

Realizing he had lost the final duel, Eugene looked at her face with wide-open eyes.

Amidst his pounding heart, Eugene felt overwhelming emotions.

Surprise and bewilderment at how easily Marlon’s technique had been countered.

Joy and anticipation that he could learn many things from colleagues like her in the future.

As Clea quietly removed the sword aimed at his neck, Eugene stood up without even brushing off the dust covering his body. He smiled lightly and offered her a handshake.

“I acknowledge my defeat. I never thought I would lose so easily.”

However, Clea refused the handshake. She was glaring at Eugene with sharp eyes.

“…?”

The atmosphere was somehow strange. Although the duel had finally ended, the surroundings were quiet and an inexplicable tension lingered.

In the silence, Clea spoke first.

“You, barbarian… Are you from the ‘Cunning Steel’?”

“…?”

As Eugene showed a puzzled face at the incomprehensible question, Clea said with certainty:

“That sword you showed at the very beginning, I can’t mistake it. It was the ‘Snake’s Shadow’, wasn’t it?”

“The Snake’s Shadow, you say?”

“Stop playing dumb and tell the truth quickly. Why has Silas’s henchman come here?”

Eugene was bewildered. What was the Cunning Steel, and what was the Snake’s Shadow?
Moreover, the name Silas was also something he was hearing for the first time.

“I really don’t understand what you’re talking about…”

It was then. The brief conversation he had with Marlon belatedly came to Eugene’s mind.

…Have you ever formally learned swordsmanship from someone?

Well, that’s all in the past. I dreamed of being a knight when I was young and naive. That sword just now was a small fragment left by my past self.

Could it be… you were an apprentice knight?

I wasn’t even a squire. I was just one of the many apprentices under Sir Silas.

Having finally found a clue, Eugene asked:

“Ah…! Is the person you’re talking about perhaps Sir Silas?”

At this, the trainees around drew their swords in anger.

“What? Sir Silas? How dare you call that bastard ‘Sir’! He must be from the Cunning Steel!”

“How dare a henchman of Silas crawl in here!”

“Come to think of it, this bastard said he came to meet Sir Bernard!”

“Catch him! We need to make him spill everything he knows!”

They gripped their practice swords upside down.

The round pommel at the end of the handle and the protruding crossguard transformed into hideous blunt weapons.

“W-Wait!”

Realizing he was about to be beaten to death, Eugene shouted urgently.

However, the trainees who had already lost their reason rushed towards Eugene.

Surrounded with no space to escape, he had no other option.

Eugene, after being thoroughly beaten, finally lost consciousness.

The trainees, having succeeded in subduing the barbarian warrior, brought thick ropes from somewhere and tightly bound Eugene’s body.

With Eugene thus restrained in the middle of the training ground, everyone surrounded him.

Eugene’s body was in tatters. Covered in dirt and dust, there wasn’t a spot on his body without bruises. Not only were his muscles severely damaged, but even his bones had small fractures.

A moment later, cold water was poured over the unconscious Eugene’s head.

Spitting out saliva mixed with blood, he involuntarily let out a painful groan.

“Ugh…”

In front of him groaning in pain, Clea asked:

“Speak. What was your purpose in coming here? What were you trying to do by meeting Sir Bernard?”

“…I only came because I was told I could learn swordsmanship here.”

“…What?”

Eugene slowly explained the circumstances that led him to visit the Brotherhood of the Sword. To clear up this misunderstanding, he had to spend a lot of time.

Going back to the distant past, starting from obtaining the Horn of Ruerhon, meeting and fighting Marlon, and coming here on the recommendation of a master at Carlisle’s blacksmith street, the story flowed from his mouth.

His detailed testimony had no contradictions. Even when made to repeat from the beginning, no errors were found.

“…Unbelievable! You happened to meet a robber who was Silas’s henchman, and in the midst of a life-and-death battle, you stole and learned his technique? Does this make any sense?”

“He might have anticipated being caught like this… He must be deceiving us with a plausible statement.”

“Well, he’s from the ‘Cunning Steel’, so it’s possible.”

“…”

The trainees shared opinions like spectators discussing a criminal’s trial.

Seeing that they didn’t believe his words at all, Eugene requested to call someone who could prove his identity.

They readily agreed to Eugene’s request. Soon after, the master who sold leather armor in the blacksmith street, the magician Lorena from the mansion, and Old Man Malika entered the guild.

“Eu-Eugene! Wh-What happened to you…!”

As soon as Lorena saw Eugene in tatters, she rushed towards him but was stopped by others.

“G-Get out of my way…!”

“We can’t. The identity of this barbarian hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

“Wh-What are you talking about…!”

While Lorena was arguing with the trainees, the blacksmith master and Old Man Malika vouched for Eugene’s identity.

“It’s true that I recommended he visit Sir Bernard to improve his skills. But what on earth is going on here?”

“It’s also true that Marlon was killed by this young man! I can vouch for this! I confirmed all the facts when dealing with him before! Why have you reduced that child to this state!”

“Is it all… true?”

“It’s undoubtedly true.”

“Now you explain, what on earth happened here?”

Before even hearing the full explanation of what had happened, the two became greatly angered seeing Eugene’s pitiful state.

“Did you beat him up and frame him because you didn’t like a barbarian coming to learn swordsmanship? How could those learning under Sir Bernard commit such a brutal act…!”

“If there was a misunderstanding, you should have resolved it with words! How could you reduce a person to this state! Untie those ropes immediately!”

A commotion broke out around Eugene in the training ground.

Amidst shouting voices and demands to quickly release Eugene, someone approached the trainees who were fumbling with embarrassed faces.

“What on earth is going on that you’re all gathered like this? Not even training.”

“Gasp…! Sir Bernard…!”

At the appearance of Sir Bernard, the master of the Brotherhood of the Sword, everyone’s faces turned pale and they couldn’t open their mouths properly.

“W-Well, you see…”

As everyone stammered, Clea, who had last dueled with Eugene, stepped forward.

“I will explain, sir.”

She recounted to Sir Bernard everything that had happened.

Sir Bernard listened quietly, gradually furrowing his brow, and when Clea finished speaking, he opened his mouth.

“You mistook him for Sir Silas’s henchman, and reduced a warrior who came all the way from the distant north, one who came to seek learning from me, to this battered state and tied him up… Is that what you’re saying?”

“…Sir Bernard! Silas has no honor as a knight! Why do you address him as ‘Sir’?”

“It’s a title bestowed directly by Count Leopold. His skill is also outstanding, so regardless of his honor, we can’t deny that he is a knight.”

“But…!”

Bernard sternly rebuked Clea and the other trainees.

“Whether to address him as ‘Sir’ or not isn’t important right now! What on earth is this behavior! Are you thugs! I clearly taught you not to draw your swords recklessly, how could you act so rashly!”

Just as he was about to order Eugene’s restraints to be untied.

From behind, someone shouted in a trembling voice.

“Qu-Quickly release Eugene…!”

At the sudden cry, everyone turned their heads.

At a distance, Lorena was pointing her staff at the trainees.

A blue aura was flickering around her body.

An intense light was focused at the tip of her staff, and the wind in the training ground swirled around her.

It was an ominous sight by anyone’s standards.

“If… If not… I’ll… I’ll blow you away…!”

Bernard’s face hardened. Although he was a layman in magic, he knew well how powerful the energy at the tip of the staff was.

“Release him immediately!”

The trainees, astonished, hurriedly began to untie Eugene’s ropes.