Chapter 4: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ (๐)
Chapter 4: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ (๐)
โI feel filled with light when I think of your excellency watching.โ
Johan said so and grumbled to himself.
Helping Valberga was not out of faith in God, nor was it to win Valbergaโs favor. If the church here had been a bit bigger and more substantial, Johan might have tried to win some favor.
But the church here was small and humble, befitting the size of the estate. The only priest available was Valberga. This Valberga had to take on all the miscellaneous tasks of the estate, from baptism to mass, blessings, etc. There were some errand boys and servants to help, but Priest Valberga was the type to do as much of the work given by God himself.
It was best for Johan to learn while helping out, as there would be problems if Johan said, โQuit the estate job and teach me first.โ
โHeโs a decent person, but Iโm not going to be a priest or enter a monastery. . .โ
priest Valberga was a pure priest who believed solely in God without any particular ties to the church. There wasnโt much he could do for Johan.
The reason Johan wanted to help was to learn literature.
If he learned the most difficult โancient imperial languageโ used by scholars and clergy on the continent or the elves of the Catalian Peninsula, โHoly Empire languageโ or โErlans Kingdom languageโ was easy. They all had quite a few similarities.
Not many people knew how to write and read. Not only the serfs, but also the nobles. There was a lot of thinking like, โWhy should I learn when I can hire someone who knows the letters.โ
Those who could write and read were the clergy who had to read the scriptures of the church or the merchants of the city! Here, priest Valberga was the most educated person in the estate.
โ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ.โ
The religion was not much different in the Holy Empire. Our God, who is light and sun, is one, wants faith, the pope is the highest, so pay tithes. . .
Sometimes a great priest shows a miracle, but Johan didnโt have much faith. It seemed hard to believe until he saw it with his own eyes.
Rather, the letters he taught like this felt more amazing.
โ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ.โ
Learning was a good thing. As you learn, fear disappears and confidence arises.
Knowing how to write and read the ancient imperial language, and moreover, Johan was proficient in calculations. The mathematical ability of a modern person who can do calculus was not common in this world. Valberga admired Johanโs talent given by God when he did the calculations necessary for estate management.
At first, when he was praised for doing some mental arithmetic, Johan thought, โ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐โ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ?โ But soon he was able to realize the reason.
They didnโt use Arabic numerals here. Johan was shocked.
โ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ. . .!
In the ancient Empire, they used to calculate in a primitive way, writing one by one like I, II, III, without any zeros to align the digits. It was a mess and mistakes were common. Even now, itโs unbelievable when you think about it.
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ.โ
The more abilities Johan has that others donโt, the easier it will be for him to survive.
Johan planned to scrape together whatever assets he had and head to a city with a port once Lord Aitz died. He thought there would be many places to work in a city with a port.
Whether using his body or his mind. . .
โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต?โ
Walking from the church to the feudal lordโs office, Johan felt something was off. There was a prickling sensation on the back of his neck.
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ!โ
He didnโt expect anyone to be lying in wait for him here, so his reaction was slow. Johan quickly tensed up and looked around.
โImpressive! You noticed.โ
โ. . .Youโre not a wanderer.โ
โI am a wanderer. I just didnโt come here for sightseeing. The way of the world is that things are not as they seem. Even though youโre the son of a pig, youโre like a lion.โ
The old man stroked his chin and hesitated before opening his mouth.
โ. . .Can I ask you something? This might be a bit rude. . .โ
In this situation, throwing out such a question left Johan speechless. And it made him curious. What question would an old man, who was bold enough to lie in wait and ambush him in the dark evening, ask?
โWhat is it?โ
โAre you really Lord Aitzโs son? No matter how I think about it, you seem different.โ
โ. . .Well, itโs possible for a lion to be born under a pig.โ
At Johanโs words, Kaegal opened his mouth wide. And then he started laughing like a madman.
โHahaha! Hahaha!โ
โWhatโs so funny?โ
โI never dreamed youโd answer like that!โ
If he were the son of a knight, he would have charged in anger at the insult to his father and his family. Kaegal had expected Johan to do so.
But Johan casually brushed off the insult.
โ๐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต! ๐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต!โ
It felt like the witchโs prophecy was coming true. Kaegal felt his heart pounding. He wanted to pass on his skills to the young man in front of him.
But he couldnโt just pass them on without any conditions.
Kaegal started to think. He had planned to subdue Johan when he attacked and then talk. . .
โSo whatโs your purpose? Just so you know, I donโt have anything. If you want to take some silver coins, it would be better to aim for the feudal lordโs office over there where the light is on.โ
โEvery word you say hits the mark. But I didnโt come here to collect silver coins. I have enough of those.โ
At those words, Johanโs eyes sparkled.
โI came here to take a disciple.โ
โA. . . disciple?โ
Johan asked as if he found it strange.
โYes. I am Kaegal, one of the masters of <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ>. Have you heard of me?โ
โ. . .I think Iโve heard of it.โ
Johan had heard of it before. When a minstrel visited the feudatory, he sang about the great knight Sir Karamaf tearing apart the cowardly assassins from โVenom of Nessusโ.
Assassinโs Guild!
โKnowing that, this conversation will be easier. You must learn from me. Thereโs no other choice.โ
While speaking, Kaegal carefully observed Johan.
Naturally, someone raised in a knightโs family would first refuse to learn from a master of a dirty, unofficial guild.
But Kaegal had no intention of accepting a refusal.
He was determined to make him his disciple!
The old man saw little chance of finding another disciple as fitting as Johan. He was resolute to make him a disciple today, by any means necessary.
โIf he refuses, Iโll threaten his and his familyโs lives to make him swear to learn as my disciple.โ
A vow was sacred, and as a knight, he had no choice but to keep it, even if it was made under duress in a life-threatening situation.
Thatโs what knights were like.
Johan hesitated before speaking.
โUh. . .โ
โ?โ
โHow much do I have to pay?โ
โ. . .What?โ
And the words that came out of Johanโs mouth were completely beyond expectation.
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
Johan was flabbergasted.
A master had come to teach him swordsmanship.
What had he eaten wrong?
Or was it because Johan had lived so diligently that God was finally blessing him?
Of course, that wasnโt the case. Johan asked cautiously,
โHow much do I have to pay?โ
โ. . .What?โ
โYou wonโt teach me without any compensation. . .โ
โHahahaha!โ
Kaegal laughed until tears came out. The wrinkles on his face deepened.
When was the last time he laughed like this? He felt like he had never laughed as much as he did today.
โDo you think Iโm a swordsmanship teacher? Youโre really not Aitzโs son!โ
โI am his son.โ
โSay it again. Learning from me, one of the <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ> masters, means learning the swordsmanship of an assassin, not the honor of a knight. If a knight who knows honor sees this, he will despise you, and if a priest of the church sees you, he will curse you. Are you still ready to learn?โ
โWhere is good and evil in strength? When making a sword, do you make it by hammering steel, or do you decide who to kill and who to protect? Swordsmanship is just swordsmanship, itโs important who uses it. . . Wait. If I learn swordsmanship, do I have to join <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ>?โ
โNo. You can live without caring about <๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ>. You just have to keep my swordsmanship from being interrupted.โ
โThen Iโm ready anytime.โ
โ. . .God is fair even to those who donโt believe. Follow me! Iโll teach you.โ
Kaegal felt a surge of vitality in his body with joy. He realized that Johan sincerely regarded him as a teacher.
The son of a knightโs family respects such an assassin as a teacher. It was something he had never dreamed of.
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
โHave you ever learned swordsmanship?โ
โNo.โ
โTry to lift it comfortably and naturally.โ
Johan lifted the sword towards his left shoulder.
โLeft-handed. Left-handers can make good assassins.โ
โI have no intention of assassinating.โ
โThatโs what you say. And who knows whether youโll have to assassinate someone in your life? I didnโt decide to be an assassin from a young age either.โ
Kaegal scanned Johanโs body. It was a terrifyingly well-built body. He didnโt need any training before giving him a sword.
โSwordsmanship is not difficult. Once you understand the basics, the rest is practice and proficiency. The problem is whether you can understand that basic. Most people swing their swords all their lives without understanding it.โ
โWhat is the basic?โ
โRaise your sword, touching your opponent. His sword does not touch yours. Thatโs it.โ
Johan made a subtle expression. It was really basic.
โThere are as many swordsmanship in the Empire as there are stars. You canโt know and respond to all of them. But if you understand, you can see what youโre trying to do just by looking at the opponentโs actions. So. . . understand!โ
With his words, Kaegal cut the tree. Even in the dark where only the moonlight was visible, the sword light flashed. The falling leaves were pierced and fell one by one.
โOf course, I donโt expect you to master it right away. This kind of thing takes time. Donโt worry. I have plenty of time, so Iโll hammer it into your body.โ
โThank you for your warm words.โ
โDonโt flatter me, use a stab. Show me your actions.โ
Johan took the same action as Kaegal just did. And he stabbed. The air was torn and a cool wind blew. It was as fast as a flash. It was dark, but it felt like it was bright for a moment.
โ. . .again.โ
Johan stabbed again. Kaegal was astonished.
It was perfect.
To the point where there was no need to point out.
โLetโs move on to the next.โ
โHuh? Arenโt you looking?โ
โLetโs move on to the next. Do this too.โ
Kaegal showed a technique called <๐๐ง๐๐ค๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐> in the guild. At first glance, it looks like a normal diagonal cut, but itโs a brutal technique that targets the neck and face while coming down on the opponentโs weapon.