Chapter 232: Brother Eddie's Teachings

“Sorry for taking a break on my own for a while.” After about a week, Col returned to the club.

“No, I’m glad you came back.” After making small talk for a while, I brought up the subject. “Col, would you like to meet my older brother?”

“Eh? When you say your brother, William, do you mean the former president, Edward?” “Yeah.”

“Seriously? No, is it really okay for me to meet him? His swordsmanship is amazing; he’s the idol of young swordsmen.” “Actually, I’ve already gotten his unofficial consent.”

“Whoa, that’s amazing.” Col was extremely happy. I’m glad I asked my brother.

A few days later, I went to Northernford using Teleportation Magic to pick up my brother. When we teleported back to the clubroom at the Royal Academy, Col was waiting.

“N-nice to meet you. My name is Colsen Walterford.” He’s unusually nervous. It seems like he’s completely tongue-tied.

“Nice to meet you, Colsen-kun. I am Edward Fairchild. It seems you’ve been getting along well with my little brother.” “N-no. The pleasure is mine; your brother has been taking good care of me.”

“Well then, let’s get right to it—could you show me your sword strikes?” “Yes, please take care of me.”

Oh, his expression suddenly sharpened when it came to swords. That’s very like Col, who has devoted himself to the path of the sword.

We walked from the clubroom to the academy’s training grounds. On the way, I could feel the students taking quick glances at us. It was probably because my brother, the former Student Council President, was walking with us.

“Could you show me your practice swings?” “Yes.”

Watching Col‘s practice swings at the training grounds, my brother nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah, you’ve trained well.” “Really?”

“Yeah, I can tell just by looking at your footwork and center of gravity. I take it you practice every single day without fail?” “Yes.”

“You have a solid grasp of the basics. Next, if possible, I’d like to see you in actual combat.” “Then shall we teleport to the undeveloped lands?”

After returning to the clubroom, we teleported to the northern part of the undeveloped lands, a fair distance away from New Wrexham. “I think Demon Dogs or Demon Wolves will appear around here.”

As a result of the hard work of the knights and Golems, monsters no longer appear near New Wrexham.

Since we didn’t bring horses, we couldn’t use a carriage, but with this group, there shouldn’t be any problems. We used Physical Enhancement Magic and began running across the grasslands of the undeveloped lands.

After advancing for a while, my brother raised his hand, so we stopped in our tracks. “A few of them are coming from the northeast. I believe they are Demon Dogs.”

My brother is also highly skilled in Search Magic. Sure enough, a few Demon Dogs appeared from the northeast shortly after.

“Well then, is it okay if we leave this to you?” “Yes, please leave it to me.”

Col gave an enthusiastic reply, cast Physical Enhancement Magic, and charged towards the pack of Demon Dogs.

“Yeah, he has good skill.” My brother praised Col, who had safely exterminated the Demon Dogs. “Thank you very much.”

“However, wouldn’t a slightly larger sword suit you better?” Col was using a standard one-handed sword and a shield.

“I think your current swordsmanship is good and faithful to the basics. But even if the number of your strikes decreases a bit, wouldn’t it be better to make each swing heavier?” “I see. I do realize myself that I’m not the speed type.”

“Also, I heard from Will that you haven’t acquired a Special Skill.” At Brother Eddie‘s words, Col‘s eyes became serious.

“Unfortunately, there isn’t really a trick to it. So, it will strictly be based on my own feelings and intuition, but is that alright?” “Yes, please.”

“I believe that putting your feelings into your sword is important. When I acquired the skill to shoot slashes, it was when I desperately wanted to help a comrade who was out of my sword’s reach.” “Feelings into the sword, is it?”

“Yeah, it seems Father acquired his unique Light-attribute skill when he strongly desired to protect the territory’s people from the monsters emerging from the Sea of Trees.”

This was the first time I’d heard this story. Well, there’s no point in me hearing about Swordsmanship Skills anyway, and I suppose Father and my brother refrained from talking about swords out of consideration for me, who was blessed with neither a Swordsmanship Skill nor a Magic Skill.

“Thank you very much for sharing such a valuable story with me.” Col bowed his head deeply.

After school the next day, Col was swinging a bastard sword at the academy’s training grounds. Letty and I watched over him.

A bastard sword is an intermediate sword between a one-handed sword and a two-handed sword. At first, Col swung the sword while holding a shield, and halfway through, he let go of the shield and swung the sword with both hands.

“Yeah. There is weight behind every single swing. It’s especially powerful when he swings it with both hands.” Col nodded at Letty‘s words.

“Yeah, I feel like it’s going well myself.” As expected of Brother Eddie. It seems it was spot-on advice.

Well then, it would be nice to have a good sword next. When I called Theo, he accepted without a second thought, so we met up at the workshop.

“It’s been a while since I forged a sword with you, Master.” “That’s true. Thanks for helping out.” After that, with Theo acting as my striking partner, I forged a bastard sword out of mythril.

The next day, I handed the sword to Col. “This is an amazing sword.” Col gazed intently at the sword.

“I’m glad if you like it.” “Can I try swinging it right away?” “Of course.”

When we went to the training grounds, Col silently began to swing the sword. His sword speed gradually got faster. Yeah, it looks like he got used to the sword quite quickly.

“Then, do you want to test it out in actual combat?” “Is that okay? Yes, please.”