Rector narrowed his eyes while taking the letter Mustan had brought him.
"Did they know that we were in Zieghart?"
He didn't expect the Alliance to contact them so quickly, as he hadn't reported their visit to Zieghart or spread any rumors about it.
"That doesn't seem to be the case."
Mustan shook his head while looking at the letter.
"Considering that the letter came straight to me, it should be unrelated to Zieghart."
He said that the Alliance should still be unaware since a single-use artifact that tracked a person rather than a location was used.
"No, you shouldn't be so optimistic."
Rector slowly shook his head.
"The Alliance's head is mighty, but that's not all he has. Even though he has his door closed, he should be naturally aware that we are here."
The Alliance's head was a frightening person. Considering all possibilities was the better course of action, as they were bound to pay dearly for underestimating him.
"I'll read it."
Rector opened the letter.
'Just what I expected.'
There wasn't much to the contents inside. The only thing written there was that they should return since they had enjoyed their travel long enough. The handwriting was energetic, looking like a dragon had scratched down with a blade, and Rector could tell that Alliance's head had personally written it.
"It's a direct order from the Alliance's head. We have to return."
He would've ignored it if it were someone else's summons, but he couldn't refuse the Alliance head.
Tsk.
Rector briefly licked his lips.
'What a shame.'
The time he'd spent with Raon and Sylvia was so fun, and he was getting used to life at Zieghart while getting on friendly terms with Glenn. He could only sigh, saddened by the fact that he had to return.
Whap!
Rector burned the Alliance head's letter before looking at his disciple's eyes, which were as clear as a snowfield.
"Mustan."
"Yes!"
Mustan energetically responded in a loud voice. He seemed to be influenced by Yua.
"What are you going to do if I leave the Alliance?"
"A-are you leaving the Alliance?"
His jaw dropped. The question seemed completely unexpected to him.
"Indeed."
Rector slowly nodded.
"I have something more important to me now than praising the sword. My path is probably not going to be connected with the Alliance's anymore."
He looked at his surprised disciple while telling him that he would leave the Alliance after he returned.
'I should be honest to Mustan.'
It would've been a different story if Mustan's eyes were brimming with envy like before, but there was no way he would deceive him when his personality had become so bright and hardworking.
"Hmm…"
Mustan scratched his chin for a moment before he raised his head.
"Doesn't the pact between master and the Alliance's head still remain?"
"It is."
Rector briefly sighed.
"I'll need to grant one more request from him in order to end this relationship. However…"
He clenched his fists above his knees with a serious look in his eyes.
"I'll complete it no matter what and leave the Alliance on my own."
"In that case, I'm also going to leave."
Mustan contemplated it for an extremely brief period of time before answering him right away.
"Huh…"
Rector's eyes widened to the brim as he looked at Mustan, who gave such a definitive answer.
"I believe you had an objective you wanted to achieve in the Alliance."
"No, my path is lies with Sir Raon."
Mustan shook his head without hesitation, saying that his objective was to walk the same path as Raon.
"I'm bound to become Sir Raon's enemy the moment the closure ends if I stay in the Alliance. I'm going to leave alongside my master."
Mustan promptly shook his head and shouted that he couldn't betray Raon. Rector could see that he was serious from his clear eyes.
"I don't understand what Raon even did to you to make you change so much."
"He hasn't done anything special. His existence is enough reason for me to follow."
Mustan didn't even seem embarrassed about rambling such nonsense.
"I see."
Rector laughed bitterly. He would've preferred it if his disciple could stand on his own feet, but his declaration to follow his grandson wasn't that unpleasant.
"Let's leave tomorrow at first light."
"Isn't that too early?"
"There's no reason to waste any time since we will see them again. Make the preparations."
"Hmm, I understand."
Mustan bowed politely before leaving the room.
"Haa…"
Rector sighed in frustration and looked outside the window. The waxing crescent moon was distorted like a savage beast's eyes, looking down upon the world.
'It won't be easy.'
A thorny path was bound to await him in order to leave the Alliance, as there was no way the Alliance's head would give an ordinary ask.
However, he had to return no matter what in order to find happiness for his daughter-in-law and grandson.
Rector closed his eyes while clenching the hilt of his sword.
'No matter what…'
After Raon finished the afternoon training, he sat on the ground and looked up at the darkening sky.
'It's becoming harder and harder.'
As Glenn and Rector grew closer to each other, they kept learning the advantages from each other's lessons and removed the drawbacks. Raon had to keep swinging his sword without even having the time to breathe, morning and afternoon alike, because of that.
His practice was a lot more condensed and focused than before, and he couldn't even move a single finger from exhaustion by the time the afternoon practice was over. Naturally, he fell on his ass as a result.
"Hmm, was Sir Rector going easier…?"
Glenn murmured Rector's name while touching his forehead. He seemed to have found an improvement in his training.
"Haa…"
Raon gasped while looking at Glenn.
'How did you end up becoming so friendly?'
The way Glenn and Rector were pressuring each other during their first encounter in the training ground looked like they were about to start fighting at any moment. However, they somehow became like best friends, influencing each other in various ways.
'Training is fine, but the difficulty is increasing way too quickly.'
He was thankful that they were training him so that he could become stronger, but it was getting too difficult beyond his abilities, and he didn't know what to do.
'Well, there's a good part about this though. I can raise the Light Wind division up at the same time.'
He learned from Glenn and Rector's lessons how to teach the other swordsmen in order to make them stronger more quickly.
Thanks to that, the Light Wind division's swordsmanship had drastically improved, just like himself.
You ugly bastard…
Wrath shook his head, calling him a loser.
'What are you talking about?'
You involved the others just because you didn't want to be the only one to suffer. Your ugliness has reached its limit!
'That's such bullshit.'
Raon shrugged his shoulders while looking at Wrath.
'I want to get stronger with everyone else instead of just by myself. Why can't you understand my altruistic thoughts?'
Since the missions in the future were bound to be on a whole different level of difficulty, it was necessary to make the Light Wind division stronger while he could. The fact that he wanted to vent his strength was only fifty percent of the reason.
Fifty percent is half!
'It's only half.'
Raon smiled while murmuring that it was a small amount.
Haa, he doesn't even want to argue with you. Go ahead and start eating dinner already. The King of Essence's tongue is getting paralyzed because of your shitty geezer!
Wrath frowned while saying that he felt like rubber was still stuck on his tongue.
'Shall I?'
His stomach was thundering even though he'd eaten Nadine bread at lunch. It must've been because he'd been training too hard. He figured he should return to the annex building to eat dinner before coming back.
"My lord, thank you for today like alwa—Hmm?"
When Raon was about to say goodbye to Glenn, the training ground door opened and Rector entered alongside Mustan.
"Sir Rector?"
They were in their traveling outfits, just like during their first encounter, instead of the training outfit. Judging from their clothes, Raon could guess that they were going to leave Zieghart.
'Why did he make such a sudden decision…?'
Since Rector hadn't mentioned it during the morning training, Raon didn't expect at all that they were going to leave out of nowhere.
"Are you leaving?"
Glenn nodded faintly. He also seemed to have realized that they were planning to leave.
"Yes. I'll have to go since my friend requested my help."
Rector sighed, saying that he didn't have time to notify them in advance since his close friend contacted him on short notice.
"Is it a serious matter?"
Glenn lowered his gaze with his hands clasped behind his back.
"I can help if necessary."
"Don't worry about it. He might ask me for a drink once I arrive. I'm thankful for your consideration."
Rector's eyes widened because he hadn't expected Glenn to offer his help, and he started to smile soon enough.
"Anyway…"
He smiled bitterly while looking at Glenn.
"This bet will have to be my loss. I apologize that it ended up this way after I declared that I would win. Raon, I apologize to you as well."
Rector said that he was sorry he didn't really teach anything after his confident declaration.
"I'll be back after the matter is settled. I'll help you with your training to the best of my abilities when that happens."
"That won't do."
Glenn stepped forward before Raon could respond.
"Head of house?"
"Finish the bet like this? That is unacceptable."
"Hmm, I admitted my defeat so you can be the main teacher for Raon as we promised…"
"That's not what I'm talking about."
Glenn casually shook his head.
"What I'm saying is that the bet shouldn't end in vain like this. Since Sir Rector wouldn't say things without meaning it, we should postpone our bet."
He rolled his lips into a smile, saying that he didn't want the bet to come to such a conclusion because he hadn't been so involved for a long time.
"We'll postpone the bet until Sir Rector returns."
"…Are you serious?"
"Yes. Raon, what do you think?"
"I'm fine with it."
Raon nodded after looking at Glenn and Rector one after the other. Seeing the way they had gotten close to each other while teaching him despite having never even seen each other before brought a smile to his face.
"Oh my."
Rector laughed bitterly while fiddling with his sleeve.
"You will regret it later because I've finally realized how I should be teaching Raon."
"I'll be looking forward to it because I also found out how to make him work even harder."
Glenn and Rector smiled while looking at each other. The scarlet sunset behind them brushed past them to make their smiles even warmer.
"I'll be leaving now."
Rector lowered his head at Glenn before looking at Raon.
"I've already told the people in the annex building. We'll be able to see each other soon enough, so focus on training in the meantime."
"Understood."
Raon straightened his back and bowed politely.
"Sir Raon, see you later. I'll work hard on nurturing my martial arts and mind alike, just like you told me!"
Mustan waved his hand. His sparkling eyes were way too clear, enough that it was making Raon uncomfortable.
"Ah, sure…"
Raon awkwardly nodded.
"I won't be sending you off."
Glenn shook his hand, asking him to leave already.
"I'm sad to hear that. In return…"
Rector grabbed Raon's shoulder with a faint smile on his face.
"I'll be borrowing Raon."
"Hmph, I'll allow just this once."
"Thank you."
He tapped on Raon's shoulder, urging him to come with him.
"I'll be back after sending them off."
"Sure."
Glenn told him to politely guide them without making any mistakes.
"Understood."
Raon said goodbye to Glenn with his eyes before standing in front of Rector and Mustan.
"Please follow me."
He sighed quietly while opening the training ground door.
'It's sad to see him leave like this.'
It wasn't because he wouldn't be able to continue the practice for the versatile sword. He was sad because they were leaving so suddenly after how close they'd gotten.
Raon guided them without speaking and reached the main gate of the house in no time.
"Haa…"
Raon licked his lips while looking at the Zieghart's main gate slowly opening up.
"You don't need to be so sad."
Rector smiled gently. Raon's expression must've given away his feelings.
"Separation is bound to follow the meeting. Just focus on training so I won't be disappointed. We shall meet again soon enough."
"I understand."
Raon smiled faintly and nodded. Just like Glenn had said, Rector's words could be trusted, and Raon had the feeling that he would be able to see him again.
"I'll work hard on it so that I can surprise you the next time we meet."
"I'm looking forward to it. And…"
Rector was about to stroke his beard but lowered his hand. The darkness of the dawn spread in his expression.
"I'll answer your question the next time we see each other."
"Answer my question…"
He seemed to be talking about the question of whether he was acquainted with Raon's father or not.
"I see."
Raon nodded, saying that he would be waiting.
"I'll be leaving now."
"Sir Raon! See you later!"
Rector turned around and Mustan smiled cheerfully.
Raon bowed deeply at the back of the man who kept helping him without gaining anything in return.
"Thank you."
* * *
Raon returned to the fifth training ground after he sent off Rector and Mustan, and Glenn was still there instead of returning to the lord's manor.
"You haven't left yet."
Raon walked up to Glenn, who was watching the sky that was getting darker, and he lowered his gaze.
Once Raon faced the serene red eyes that made it so that he couldn't understand what he was thinking, Raon felt like his hair was standing on end.
"I've been waiting because I have something to give you."
Glenn shook his head, saying that the tab wasn't closed yet even though the bet was over.
"What do you mean by the tab…?"
"Do you remember that I was originally trying to teach you a martial art?"
"Ah, yes."
Raon nodded. Glenn had mentioned the first time he'd clashed against Rector that he was going to teach him a martial art.
"I should be teaching you according to the tab, but I would be breaking the promise if I taught you the martial art right now. That's why you should learn it by yourself."
Glenn snapped his fingers, and a red light sparkled from the thin air and a book appeared. It was a thin booklet as thick as a knuckle, and it was titled 'Azure Sky Sword Art'.
"The Azure Sky Sword is a sword that incorporates the sky, as the name mentions. However…"
Glenn turned around, at the same time as he spoke. A dark blade with a similar color to the dim sky appeared on his hand.
Whap!
The dark blade severed the dusk. The energy it incorporated was as majestic as the sky itself.
Heavy waves followed wherever his sword was connected to spread around a tremendous amount of power. It was a realm on a whole different level. The entire fifth training ground, or rather, the entirety of Zieghart seemed to be in Glenn's grasp.
"My sky is dark."
The moment Glenn turned around to look at Raon once again, the dark blade in his hand disappeared like a bubble.
"You should incorporate your own sky as you learn the Azure Sky Sword."
With those words, he disappeared along with the twisted darkness falling towards the ground.
Raon remembered what Yua had previously told him while plucking the falling martial arts book from the air.
"A kind person, she said…"
'She might be right about that.'
That doesn't make any sense!
Wrath frantically shook his head.
A kind person wouldn't feed people Nadine bread!