A week had passed since then. During that time, Asher fought with Van Ester without skipping a day. Thanks to that, he felt fully adapted to the use of his new tool.
However, his relationship with Reika felt awkward to him now. Reika viewed as a teacher and her goal still, but Asher felt perplexed with how to deal with her.
Asher could not possibly understand her, and she did not understand why he felt such a way around her. If neither of them approached each other on the topic, nothing would change.
After some time, eventually the convoy from the Empire came.
"The Knight Commander of the Imperial Order meets the Great Swordmaster, High Count, Van Ester."
The Knight Commander kneeled down in front of the carriage and dozens of soldiers behind him followed suit. Reika was amazed at the sight and her jaw dropped in awe.
"You're here after all. What a bother."
"The Emperor wishes to seek an audience with you, esteemed Swordmaster. Please come back to the capital with us."
"Tch."
Van Ester frowned. Firstly he did not want to go back to the Empire in the first place even if it was his home. However, there was no justification to refuse if the Emperor himself ordered it.
'But. Is it time?'
However, Van Ester was also thinking of going to the capital at least once, so it wouldn't be bad. He nodded his head.
"Okay."
"Thank you, Master of the Great Sword."
"You haven't changed in these past twenty years. I thought the captain of the imperial guard would come by the way."
"Because he's busy doing other things."
"I was wondering who succeeded him. We'll see who when we get to the Empire."
Van Ester moved on. He stood in front of Lord Halvark and waved.
"It was nice to see you after a long time. Make sure you don't die too early before we see each other again."
"Goodbye…."
"Ah, and you child. You are…"
Van Ester's eyes naturally turned to Reika. Luke next to him didn't even get so much as a glance from Van Ester. Luke clenched his fist at the attitude of being openly ignored and humiliated like so. His body trembled with anger and his gaze contained sheer contempt at Van Ester, but Van Ester didn't care.
"You'll see one day what it means to become a swordmaster. I don't know what path you'll take to get there though."
Reika nodded quietly. And then, Van Ester looked at Asher. He sported a playful smile at Asher.
"Okay, what about my two disciples?"
"!!"
The driver, who was in denial at the words, hurriedly raised his head. The soldiers behind them were the same. Feeling the shock in it, Asher sighed.
"I said I wouldn't be your disciple."
"But you've learned this and that. I even gave you a gift. Let's just say you're my temporary disciple."
"I didn't ask you for such a thing though…."
"Just accept it. The gift is not bad, is it?"
"…. I guess."
It was true he did receive a lot of help from Van Ester. And it seemed Van Ester was trying to hint at something.
"What do you want from me?"
Van Ester flinched at the words. His eyes sank, but only for a second. He smirked and whispered in Asher's ear.
"...."
Asher nodded gently. Van Ester then, turned round and stepped forwards.
"That's the end of the story for today. It's getting late already, so we'll leave tomorrow. Go and get somerest."
"Oh, well… yes, sir."
The Knight commander panicked as he looked between Van Ester and Asher, but then bowed his head politely and gathered the rest of the soldiers to get situated for the night.
Later that night, Asher opened his eyes silently. The Halvark territory was quiet. It was natural because it was time for most people to be sleeping.
He lifted himself up and attached the wrist brace as he stepped out. He was heading towards the training ground. When he got there, Van Ester was waiting for him.
"Are you finally here?"
"I'm here because you called me. What's the matter?"
"We won't see each other for a long time after this. I'm only your 'temporary disciple'. You two should have a good time in the capital."
Van Ester spoke playfully, but Asher remained silent. Van Ester's face sank slowly. He spoke emotionally.
"I tried to kill you before I met you."
"I know."
Asher nodded. The feeling Asher felt when Van Ester first saw him, was a murderous intent.
"But I didn't. The moment I saw you, I knew you were different from what I was worried about. Of course, that awkwardness hasn't changed, but… But you're definitely human."
Van Ester knew that Asher was hiding something. His movements, his swordsmanship, his battle experience and values. None of it befit the nature of a teenager.
But he didn't pry. Not only that, but he had given Asher a lot of things, like sparring practice, a wrist brace he had prepared for his old friend amongst others. He just had one small request.
"What do I want from you? Nothing much. It's a confirmation of sorts from this old man….Don't you think it's funny?"
Van Ester laughed. It was a smile that looked somewhat empty.
"You and he were talented as a warrior on the battlefield. He survived with only one technique his entire life. But he was not talented with the sword, or so they said. Does that make sense to you?"
"Because swordsmanship is made to transcend the human limits."
There was only one other way to transcend human limits, other than swordsmanship. Van Ester laughed bitterly.
"Yeah, that's funny. Swordsmanship is made to transcend the human limits! I traveled far and wide for the past 20 years and there were many things that I had seen."
Haivan laughed loudly. A vain laugh echoed through the training camp.
"Through those 20 years, I was looking for something. It was to find contradictions to our common sense as humans and find new possibilities in this new world. I wanted to find those exceptions. Those anomalies. That's why I'm even more interested in you. Thanks to you, I got a sense of what I was looking for."
Van Ester's enthusiastic eyes turned to Asher. The emotions contained in it, could make even those who had courage tremble, but Asher calmly looked at Van Ester and opened his mouth.
"What were they then."
"You're curious as to what else I found?"
Grrrrr-
Asher suddenly heard the low growl of an animal. Something moved abruptly in the darkness around them. Asher's senses heightened to the limits as he narrowed his eyes.
kikiki!!
The beast laughed almost mockingly. Spreading his senses, Asher looked at Van Ester with a confused face. Asher knew what it was. But it was impossible. However, Van Ester also was calm and continued to talk.
"This is what I have found from my twenty-year journey…. They're trying to stop us from digging up secrets again, and they're coming after us."
"…an Umpert."
The beast that fed on human shadows from the abyss of hell.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to know what this thing was."
"…they should have been eradicated to the last one by the heroes."
There was a Hero who killed the Devil who had invaded the continent. At the same time, the darkness in the world was driven back. Thus, came the era of peace. That was the truth known to the world, and the history Asher had gone through himself.
"…It's all a lie."
Van Ester spoke with a grave tone.