[Translator - Night]

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Chapter 284: Heavenly Sword (3)

The next morning.

The young sword lord, Cheon Ajin, came to the room.

“What brings you here so early…?”

“My grandfather is calling for you.”

Oscar followed him as his guide and asked.

“How are you feeling?”

“Excellent. I don't remember the last time I slept this comfortably. It's all thanks to our benefactor.”

“Really? I'm worried I might have made Heavenly Sword's forces too strong.”

“Ah….”

Seeing the genuinely apologetic look made him feel guilty for no reason.

“It was a joke, a joke.”

“Ah! It was a joke. Haha!”

He looked slightly foolish, but Oscar didn't dislike the appearance.

People who become masters at a young age are generally poor at social skills.

‘This is just kind of cute, honestly.’

As they passed the outdoor training yard on their way to Heavenly Sword's annex,

familiar faces came into Oscar's view.

“Oh—it's Oscar.”

“Really? Where?”

At that moment, the troublemakers who had been looking this way hurried over like little ducklings.

“Oscar! Please save me!”

“…What?”

Veronica snorted as she watched Fran's face fall the moment he saw someone.

“Ignore him. He's just whining because sparring with the knights is hard.”

“Whining! I'm really struggling, okay? My sparring count is twice as much as theirs!”

“If you want to blame someone, blame that strange body of yours. The knights find you entertaining—we can't help that.”

Ah, so that's what she meant.

Oscar lightly patted Fran on the shoulder.

“Keep at it.”

“W-what…”

“Oscar. How's the medicine development going?”

“That's nearly finished. If nothing odd happens, we just need to monitor the progress until tomorrow.”

“Not bad. We also need some time to sort through what we gained here.”

Killian nodded, then suddenly dashed into the training yard.

“…Why is he like that?”

“If he rests for ten minutes, he insists on going back to fight. He says if he rests longer, something will be lost or whatever.”

“Of course.”

It made sense somehow, given it was Killian.

Only then Fran, who had been looking to the side, opened his mouth.

“Oh? But who's that beside you?”

“Say hello. He's the young sword lord of the Heavenly Sword family.”

“Hello. I'm Cheon Ajin.”

“Wow, for real! I wasn't mistaken!”

Fran—no longer looking sullen—brightened and shook his hand in delight.

“Congrats on winning the martial arts tournament at the White Night Festival! I watched and cheered for you.”

“Me too—”

“Don't lie. You said you thought Toft's family's knight—the opponent in the final—would win…”

“Sh-shut up! I only have an annoyingly good memory, okay!”

Cheon Ajin stood awkwardly, unsure how to handle the two who bickered.

Oscar shrugged and said.

“Don't worry about them. It's not the young lord's fault; they're like this all the time.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Now that we've exchanged greetings, let's be off. Try not to cause trouble while you're here.”

“Oscar, trouble? We're not children.”

“That's funny. You act like a mother.”

At moments like that they clicked well.

As if nothing had happened, they teamed up to tease him and walked off with the young sword lord.

“Sorry. I got carried away, didn't I?”

“No, it's fine. And benefactor, please speak more informally to me.”

“Is that okay?”

“…….”

Taken aback by the sudden question, Cheon Ajin hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Of course. You saved my life.”

“Right, and I'm older than you anyway.”

Once the relationship was re-established, the young sword lord spoke cautiously.

“You and your companions seem very close.”

“Well, we're fairly close. We've spent time together.”

Since awakening in this body, if he were to list the three people he had grown closest to, it would be precisely those kids.

Cheon Ajin thought for a moment and murmured.

“You really are amazing. I don't have a single friend I could call a true companion.”

“Hmm? What about friends from the academy? Don't you keep in touch?”

“I didn't attend the academy. I completed basic studies via private tutoring, of course.”

He never went to the academy?

Oscar made a shocked face.

The academy is, at its core, an educational institution, and it's also where young people form social skills.

‘It wouldn't be because the Heavenly Sword household couldn't afford to send him… could it be that Heavenly Sword— that crazy old man?’

He asked out of curiosity.

“So what did you do while you weren't attending the academy?”

“I learned swordsmanship.”

“Oh, my goodness.”

In short, Cheon Ajin had swung swords from the day he was born at the sword household.

Now Oscar understood why the young genius seemed a little naive.

“Are you okay with that?”

At that question, Cheon Ajin toyed with the hilt of the sword at his waist and then slowly spoke.

“I am fine. I was always a little different from other people anyway.”

“Different how? For example?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“I slept with a sword the day I was born, I played with swords when I was two, and from three I seriously started swinging one. My grandfather joked that I was made not of flesh and bone but of sword.”

Cheon Ajin spoke quietly to himself.

To him, the sword was more familiar than anything else: a toy, a friend, and ultimately his life.

“Above all, swinging a sword brought me the greatest joy. Every time I swung and sweat, I felt every cell awaken; I liked that feeling. Only then did I clearly feel that I was alive.”

“‘Used to be’—does that mean it's different now?”

“…Lately, holding a sword feels slightly frightening.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm afraid I'll disappoint someone. It's embarrassing to say aloud, but many people have expectations of me.”

“That makes sense.”

Oscar nodded unconsciously.

Despite being somewhat clumsy, the kid before him was a genius knight who reached level 7 at only twenty.

‘And he's the grandson of Heavenly Sword himself.’

Heavenly Sword grew from nothing—like a weed—and fully bloomed into the strongest human.

Yet his grandson was raised in a completely different environment.

‘Truly the best environment.’

The world’s greatest knight surely tutored him personally and the Heavenly Sword household’s full resources clothed and fed him with only the best.

Naturally, expectations for his performance would be extremely high.

‘At a minimum, people expect him to be on par with Heavenly Sword himself. They probably hope he'll accomplish the dreams Heavenly Sword couldn't—’

Heavenly Sword hasn’t yet surpassed the threshold of level 9 at over a hundred years of age.

Many would hope that his grandson Cheon Ajin would cross that gap instead.

“People are strange, aren't they? They make expectations and then get disappointed on their own.”

“Indeed! Have you had a similar experience, benefactor?”

“A bit, some time ago.”

There's a saying that position shapes the person.

He didn't much like that phrase.

Often, people who are quickly driven from high places never hear such remarks.

‘Only those who fought desperately to fit that position get to hear that phrase.’

Those people worked tirelessly and stayed in their place.

But that effort is replaced with the light phrase ‘the position made the person.’

He had done the same.

‘I worked like crazy to fit the role of head of the magic tower.’

So that his late master in heaven would not worry.

He struggled tirelessly under unseen water.

He could fully sympathize with Cheon Ajin's worries.

“Originally, I just held the sword because I loved it, but at some point I began to receive everyone's expectations. At first, I didn't mind being expected. People cheered and praised me as a genius; things that were easy for me earned me praise.”

At the time, the expectations made Cheon Ajin love the sword even more.

The thrill when people rejoiced because of him is an incomparable feeling.

But expectations are both an irresistible drug and a poison.

“I began to feel strange when I reached level 7.”

The hand fiddling with the sword slowed.

“That was when I realized: the achievements I worked for—sleeping less for years to reach them—have become things that are simply expected.”

If some unnamed knight reached level 7 at twenty, it would be huge news.

The papers would feature it and the court might pay attention.

But if the person is Heavenly Sword's grandson?

‘As he says, that becomes something people assume should naturally be the case.’

No matter how talented, reaching level 7 is impossible without effort.

Reaching such a state at twenty implies grueling effort regardless of background.

‘The problem is the world already knows of his genius.’

Strangely, some might even think level 7 came a bit late.

People often become intoxicated by familiarity and mistake it for the natural order.

“And when I was cursed, I panicked. If I can no longer swing a sword, if I can no longer meet people's expectations—what value does a person like me have?”

“You judge human worth like that?”

“No! But as I said… I'm somewhat different.”

Squeeze!

Cheon Ajin gripped his sword tightly.

“I am useless for anything but swinging a sword. I'm bad at talking with people and lack social instincts.”

“I see. Do you know who I am?”

Caught off guard, Cheon Ajin's expression turned sour.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean it literally. Who do you think I am?”

“You're… the level-6 mage of the White Tower, Oscar Crucian, my benefactor.”

“Correct. Do you also know I was once called the greatest talent in history, and was judged to be a genius who would one day surpass even Oscar Sage?”

“……What? Even if you're my benefactor, that's—”

He looked utterly incredulous.

Oscar let out a small chuckle at that expression.

“I told you at our first meeting, but until last year I was a level-1 mage.”

“Stop with those ridiculous jokes…”

“Not a joke. You can ask your grandfather about it.”

What could be more confident than telling him to ask Heavenly Sword?

Cheon Ajin's eyes, which had been uncertain, widened a little.

“Do you know how I dealt with being suffocated by expectations when I was like you?”

“I-I don't. Please teach me!”

That time was exactly when he had settled into the role of head of the magic tower and received all kinds of praise.

‘Being recognized for my ability made me feel I had to do even better, and that even the smallest mistake couldn't be allowed.’

So he became sensitive and blamed any fault on himself.

Looking back now, he was quite the nuisance.

Oscar chuckled remembering those who had ‘treated’ him back then.

“Simple. Get beaten until you're covered in mud on a rainy day.”

“……What?”

“I told you not to act all high and mighty. Those guys actually beat me up properly.”

Magiro and Radan literally beat him bloody.

Later, when he asked why, they said they wanted him to rest comfortably in bed.

‘But surprisingly, it worked.’

Despite the head of the tower being unable to function, the tower was perfectly calm.

Others filled the vacancy and the world flowed as it had before.

‘That's when I realized.’

People's expectations are an illusion.

Even if you satisfy them, new expectations will appear; living for them has no meaning.

So the measure this kid needed was clear.

“First, get it out of your system—get beaten properly once.”

“…What?”

Faced with such an extremely blunt solution, Cheon Ajin made a dumbfounded face.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]