Chapter 271 - Volume 3
Chapter 50 – King of the underground (1)
“Stop!” Kodan shouted.
He realized there was something wrong at the gathering site. Not a few seconds after his yell, the place suddenly shook violently.
Brendel, Medissa and Scarlett’s expressions immediately changed. Thunderous splitting sounds followed as the walls repeatedly cracked until it reached the ceiling. Dust and pebbles quickly rained on their heads.
“Leave this room now!” Brendel’s yell woke everyone up from their shock. He had naturally assumed that the area collapsed because of their fight.
He quickly retreated to one of the exit tunnels, but Scarlett’s urgent voice rang out behind him:
“My lord, watch—”
But before her words were finished, Schafflund’s mine shook again, and a large piece of the ceiling collapsed under the tremors. The light to the room dimmed immediately as the exits were blocked by the falling rocks.
Gryphine first furrowed her brows at Oberbeck’s subtle insinuations, before she displayed an interested expression.
“You mean to say it’s impossible for her to develop a swordsmanship like this because you need an extraordinary amount of experience in fighting. She clearly did not spend years on the battlefield and was only a militia. The amount of time that she spent fighting against Madara was at most only a few weeks long.”
“Yes,” Oberbeck nodded, “But there’s another possibility.”
“Let me guess, a veteran? Captain Marden?”
“No, I investigated the old guard captain. He is competent and experienced the November War in the past, but his swordsmanship sticks closely to the original method.”
“…… Indeed. His protege Bannett didn’t display this new swordsmanship in the tournament.”
Gryphine briefly considered the possibility that Freya was a genius, but there was no indication that she showed off her skill at any given time. Everyone had followed her progress from the start, and the possibility was so small that Oberbeck and Maynild did not mention it.
“Who could have taught her?” She was a little troubled: “There are not many people she knows.”
“But there is, your highness, and that person has always been in our sight.”
“You mean to say it’s him?” She made a strange face as she immediately realized the answer.
Oberbeck nodded.
“But he’s just as young as Freya. Did someone teach him…… Were you able to uncover more information about him?” She tilted her head, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
[…… Wait, why am I feeling this way? Am I really so curious about him?]
“No. Unless we return to Bucce.”
“Is there no information to be gotten from the people who fled from Bucce?”
“They are not acquainted with him,” Maynild cut into the conversation, “I have privately asked Bannett and sent out men to ask the refugees from Bucce, but they said they don’t know.”
“Bannett said he doesn’t know and not that he’s unclear about it?”
“Yes.” Maynild also found it questionable, but no other information was gotten.
“Let’s put it aside for the time being,” Gryphine sat down and combed her hair with her fingers before tying it with a silver ribbon, “let’s go back to Freya’s swordsmanship. Are we able to get any useful information about it?
“That girl is unable to teach us anything. Ser Maynild observed her for a while, but her understanding of that young man’s swordsmanship is fuzzy at best.” Oberbeck shook his head.
“It’s pointless unless we can find that person, right?”
“Yes.”
“Maynild, are you really unable to glean anything from Freya— that man’s swordsmanship? You’re a genius in our kingdom after all.”
Maynild seemed to be pondering on something, and it took a while before she finally responded: “I’ll try my best, but you shouldn’t expect too much from me. I’m not a fighter after all.”
“I don’t understand what you mean by that.”
“Without a certain amount of experience in the battlefield, it would be hard to figure out the essence of the swordsmanship.”
“I see….. Oberbeck, please arrange to have a few veterans from the November War discuss with Maynild when she returns from the trip to Ampere Seale. Maynild, spare some time on this matter during your trip. I expect great things from the new Military Swordsmanship.”
“Yes, your highness.” Both of them said.