Chapter 13: Test

“Son, who is this person?”

“It’s Theo, a recently retired Hero. You’ve at least heard the name, right?”

At Rain’s question, Jade answered curtly.

“…Never heard of him.”

Rain blinked in confusion.

Elves tend to measure time in years.

There was no way she would recognize me, someone who had become a Hero and then deserted barely a month ago.

“You really don’t know anything. You should take more interest in the world.”

“But things change so quickly, it’s hard to keep track…”

“That’s because you’re holed up in this remote place! Even if you don’t care about worldly affairs, you should at least stay somewhat informed!”

“I’m soooorry…”

Jade was nothing like the person I’d seen in the City of Knights.

The arrogant and self-assured rogue swordsman was now acting like any ordinary son.

Meanwhile, Rain treated him like her child.

To anyone watching, the sight of a purely human Jade being called the son of an elf like her would feel strangely out of place.

It was indeed an odd sight, but there was a story behind it.

Rain was a long-lived elf.

Like others of her kind, she had lived a quiet life in harmony with nature.

Then, one day, she discovered a small child in the forest.

That child had lost his parents in an accident and was incapable of surviving alone.

Rain couldn’t bring herself to ignore him, so she decided to raise him herself.

However, parenting was no easy task for someone who had never raised a child before.

She faced numerous hardships, but each challenge only strengthened their bond, and her once-unchanging life gradually transformed.

And so, Rain experienced one of the most vibrant periods of her long existence.

At first, she planned to return to her solitary lifestyle once Jade became independent.

But before she realized it, that plan had lost all meaning.

Motherly love had taken root in her heart.

She decided to make the child she had raised, Jade, her son.

But their happy days didn’t last forever.

Soon, her son entered a rebellious phase.

“…This is exactly why I didn’t want to come back.”

Jade clicked his tongue.

“I’ll do better… Just don’t leave without a word again…”

“This is what I’m talking about! How old do you think I am now? Stop treating me like a child!”

Their argument grew more intense.

Jade had passed his childhood and had now reached an age where he could be called a young man.

He was a strong and capable man who could take care of himself.

However, from the perspective of an elf who had lived for centuries, he probably still seemed like a child.

I could understand both sides, but as a fellow human, I wanted to take Jade’s side.

“Sorry, on the way here, I introduced her as my master, but the truth is, this elf is my mother. Of course, we’re not related by blood…”

Jade scratched his cheek.

To most people, it would have been an unusual relationship, but I was an exception.

“So, to put it simply, you’re her son before you’re her disciple?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Rain never took on disciples.

She had little to no contact with humans to begin with.

That was why I had approached Jade to meet her.

“Why did you bring this person here?”

“I had a duel in the City of Knights and lost to him. After seeing my swordsmanship, he figured out that I had a connection to you.”

Jade recounted everything that had happened after he left home.

From challenging knights to duels to eventually losing to me.

As she listened quietly, Rain’s expression grew increasingly stern.

“I’ve told you over and over not to do anything reckless… What if you had gotten hurt?”

“I’m sick of living in this boring place. If you had at least taught me swordsmanship, I wouldn’t have done this!”

Everything had started in this very cabin.

Jade had grown up here, alongside his elf mother, who was once called the Sword Saintess.

He knew better than anyone how strong she was, yet the world had gradually forgotten about her.

It was only natural. After all, Rain had been out of action for over a hundred years.

Even so, Jade couldn’t accept it and decided to grow stronger himself.

Perhaps he had intended to defeat the famous knights of the city and then reveal that he was the disciple of the Sword Saintess… but in the end, I had stopped him.

“Becoming strong is meaningless. Becoming famous is no different. Why don’t you look for another path?”

“Another path? You train every day, so why won’t you let me?”

Well, no matter how the conversation started, it always seemed to turn into a mother-son argument.

I gave up trying to mediate and simply watched.

“It’s because… I have a promise to keep.”

It was a promise tied to her past comrades.

A vow she had made in her youth. To protect this land if it ever faced a crisis.

“Then let me take over that duty.”

“No.”

“Is it because I’m human and won’t live long?”

“It’s not that…”

“The Sword Saintess must think I’m not good enough. I know I still have a long way to go. But if you just teach me, I can catch up. Why won’t you believe in me?”

At her son’s defiance, the mother’s eyes welled up with tears.

This was getting hard to watch.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

I stepped in between them.

“She’s not trying to stop you from becoming a swordsman just for the sake of it. It’s because she knows the horrors of war. She may not care what happens to herself, but she doesn’t want her child to set foot in that world.”

After telling Jade the truth, I turned to Rain and added,

“And you’re at fault too. Humans, especially men, only want to do something more when they’re told not to. If you had just taught him swordsmanship, he wouldn’t have felt the need to challenge others to duels.”

With that, I took a step back.

Then, I reminded her of the reason I had come here.

“Be my master. That’s the only way for you to uphold the promise that’s binding you.”

Rain looked at me in silence before slowly opening her mouth.

“I don’t know how you found out about my promise, but on what grounds are you saying this?”

“Because I’m a Hero.”

“I heard you retired.”

“I did, but I’m still better than most active heroes.”

My goal was to reclaim my reputation, which had been dragged through the mud by their schemes.

And I wasn’t just saying that.

“No. I don’t take disciples.”

Another cold rejection.

What a difficult Sword Saintess.

Typical elf. They hate anything troublesome.

“I helped your son, and this is how you repay me?”

I had no intention of pleading with her any further, so I played my trump card.

“If I hadn’t stepped in, your son would have ended up as a disgrace, a fool toying with knights far beyond his league. The only reason he got off lightly was that he became a laughingstock at just the right time. If I had left him alone, he might not have escaped retaliation.”

Logan had been the limit.

Above that level were only the truly powerful knights.

Jade wouldn’t have been able to escape a harsh lesson, no matter what he did.

The truth was, he had only made it back in one piece because of me.

Rain couldn’t have known what would have happened, but she seemed to sense that my words weren’t a lie.

“Is that true…? You really did something that reckless?”

Jade quickly averted his gaze.

“…I just wanted to test my skills.”

His response only reinforced my point.

Dueling in the City of Knights might not have been a fight to the death, but it was never just a simple sparring match.

Rain who knew this all too well let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. Since you helped my son, I’ll give you a chance.”

“What kind of chance?”

“We’ll have a match. If you manage to push me out of the circle within the time limit, I’ll teach you swordsmanship. If you fail, I won’t.”

Rain stepped inside and returned with a sword in hand, walking out to the front yard.

Then, using the tip of her scabbard, she drew a small circle on the ground.

“I’ll only defend. If you can force me out of this circle, you win. If you can’t, then I win.”

This was a test.

At the same time, it was a clever way to avoid taking me as her disciple.

After all, there were barely any people in the entire kingdom who could even land a proper hit on her.

She was only making this offer because she was certain she wouldn’t be pushed out.

“No backing out.”

I took my position about five meters away.

Then, I drew my legendary magic sword Shadow Fang.

“That’s an unusual sword.”

“Cool, right? Just this one blade could buy several houses. No, actually, probably a whole small village.”

As valuable as it was, though, I wasn’t planning to use it now.

I just felt like showing it off for a moment.

Sliding Shadow Fang back into its sheath, I turned to Jade.

“Let me borrow yours.”

“What? All of a sudden?”

“If I rely on my sword’s performance, you won’t be able to gauge my actual skill.”

I had to make sure not to give her any excuse to call foul.

That way, Rain wouldn’t be able to run away any longer.

I gripped the sword I had borrowed from Jade.

“You sure about this? I’m fine with using either one.”

“This will do.”

I had intentionally raised the difficulty.

It might have seemed foolish, but that was what would make the biggest impact.

When was the last time I had taken this test?

At some point, I had concluded that I should leave swordsmanship to Louis and focus on my role as a rogue.

After that, I had stopped coming here. Yet, somehow, I found myself here again.

“…Life really is unpredictable.”

I muttered under my breath and tightened my grip on the sword.

Memories of countless failures before I had finally passed flashed through my mind.

As tough as it was, I wasn’t the same person I had been back then.

Even if it wasn’t just swordsmanship, I had honed many other skills.

This was the perfect chance to see if all that effort had finally paid off.

“Here I go.”

I had no intention of dragging this out.

If I couldn’t finish it within five exchanges, my chances of winning would be slim anyway.

So, three exchanges.

No. I’d finish it in a single strike.

With my experience, I couldn’t afford to do any less.

I might not have lived for centuries like an elf, but in terms of sheer intensity, my life had been just as packed.

Even if my opponent was a Sword Saintess, there was no way I’d struggle in a test like this.

I lowered my body and charged forward.

There was no need for feints or tricks like circling around.

I made my intentions clear. I was going to clash head-on.

For a brief moment, Rain’s expression twisted ever so slightly.

She must have thought I was underestimating her by showing my strategy so openly.

That wasn’t my intention, but still.

“Hup!”

Swinging my sword in a wide arc from behind my back, I brought it crashing down.

A strike carrying my full strength.

With her small frame, Rain wouldn’t be able to block it head-on.

Her only choice would be to deflect it.

Clang!

Sparks flew as our blades collided.

Rain deflected my attack at an angle, protecting herself.

If she wanted to avoid being pushed out of the ring, she had to shake me off.

She fluidly altered the trajectory of her sword and tried a counterattack.

However, at that very moment, a gap appeared instead.

“Ugh!?”

I let go of my sword.

Without hesitation, I pulled Rain into an embrace and toppled forward.

With the momentum of my charge, we rolled across the ground together.

“You’re not going to call this cowardly, are you?”

Rain was now covered in dust.

I got up first and looked down at her.

“…How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“You blocked my counterattack. Twice, even.”

Rain had tried to subdue me with her sword but had failed.

But just because she was a swordswoman didn’t mean she only relied on her blade.

She switched to hand-to-hand combat, but I had already seen through her patterns.

When she aimed a knee strike at my side, I blocked it and slammed my body into hers.

“Hmm… I saw it?”

Rain blinked blankly, then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Kuku! Well, yeah, you blocked it because you saw it. So… you really saw everything, huh…?”

Propping herself up on her knee, she brushed the dirt off.

She slowly straightened her disheveled clothes and looked at me again.

The once gentle gaze in her eyes sharpened.

“It’d be a shame to end it here. Show me more.”

It wasn’t just about her pride.

She was smiling.

As if she was truly enjoying this.

“M-Mom…?”

Jade stared in a daze.

He had probably never seen his mother with eyes like these before.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she looked like a completely different person.

“Let’s keep playing.”

Rain grinned and her lips stretched into a crazed smile.

Her true nature had finally surfaced.