My Disciples Think I’m Strong – Chapter 26

“What should we do, Lord Praus? Should we kill them?”

Dex was gripping a dagger behind his back.

“Do not.”

“Teacher, can we burn them? Or should we bury them deep underground? Or maybe throw them from a height?”

Maria was gathering fire in her right hand and wind in her left.

“I said don’t.”

“That thing looks incredibly scary. Is it a monster too? Should we cut it down?”

Tina drew her sword. It definitely looked like a person.

“No.”

“I’ll keep proving to Lord Praus why I must remain here.”

Iris was growling right in front of me, ready to pounce on the adventurers.

“You don’t need to.”

Why are these guys hell-bent on fighting? Why can’t they think about getting through this smoothly?

If I didn’t have my Expression Management Skill, I would have cursed at them several times by now.

…Ah, could I still do that?

In any case, engaging in a fight with adventurers wouldn’t yield any benefits.

It wasn’t about calculating power dynamics or rank; starting a brawl that wasn’t a formal duel could lead to friction with the Adventurer Guild.

Not to mention, this could legally become an issue and result in fines.

With only 32 gold in my possession, I couldn’t afford a fine right now.

Moreover, we were clearly in the wrong, so getting angry would only complicate things further.

In that context, it made sense to put aside their belligerent attitudes for the moment.

“I will handle this. Everyone stand back.”

With my words, they lowered their combat stances. I stepped forward confidently.

Facing me were six adventurers.

Dex mentioned yesterday that they were made up of B-Class Adventurers, so they were likely quite strong among adventurers.

However, I couldn’t gauge just how strong they were.

Unless it was a character with some significance in the game, they would be referred to as ‘Adventurer A’ or something similar, and there wouldn’t even be an illustration, so I couldn’t recognize their faces.

Well, no matter if I knew their faces or not, they would surely be stronger than me.

I sighed as I looked at them. All the adventurers flinched, trembling, and drew their weapons.

“What! Who are you?!”

“Are you trying to do something now?!”

They shouted at me, aiming their weapons.

From behind, I could hear sounds of others preparing for battle.

It seemed that my words would be crucial here. Depending on what I said, it would determine whether a fight would break out or not.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and looked at them.

“We’re sorry. We didn’t intend to kill, but those wolves attacked us, and we had no choice.”

“Get lost. We killed that wolf monster.”

…Yeah. That’s right.

There’s no way they would allow my mouth to speak freely.

“What?!”

[So it was the friends. They planned to provoke us into losing our sanity and then handle it, huh? Weak in strength, but exceptional in psychological warfare!]

What the heck is this guy saying…

[Come on, draw your swords! Those adventurers prioritize violence over words. With the provocation from earlier, they’ll rush at you!]

Please just shut up.

You only want to duel after such a long time, right…

Sighing at the Sword Master spouting nonsense that made me want to smack my forehead, I felt exasperated.

“How dare you destroy our quest at your whim, acting all high and mighty! It’s sickening!”

“That’s what I’m saying, we had no choice! We would have died if we hadn’t done it!”

“You say we should think of our benefit while being in a situation where we could die? That’s laughable.”

“What?!”

“Do you have the confidence to not kill the monster that is trying to kill you? If so, apologize.”

They probably couldn’t respond.

No matter how much they risked their lives as adventurers for the sake of money, I bet their lives were still more important than anything else.

“Then why didn’t you just not camp in front of Brih Forest in the first place?!”

To prepare for the future, in order to have those kids become heroes, they needed to meet the Demon Tribe, so what were they thinking?

At least have some flexibility and understand our situation.

“Isn’t it good that we defeated the monsters for you? You don’t have to risk your lives.”

“How about the costs incurred to get here? What will happen to the money we were supposed to receive for completing the quest?”

This was getting nowhere.

Aside from my poor choice of words, their unwillingness to understand our situation was starting to irritate me.

‘What do they think they are? Just a bunch of nameless extras that couldn’t even be like me!’

“Do you think you could kill those fallen wolf monsters?”

Before I knew it, the words slipped out, and their faces tightened with frowns. Hostility began to ooze from the adventurers.

“What?!”

“Do you really think you can kill the wolf monsters we defeated, just because you beat some common goblins or slimes?!”

“How dare you spout off so freely!!”

One of them stepped closer to me, closing the distance.

I could overlook the tone of voice, but I really wanted to avoid having to show killing intent…

[Activating Skill “Killing Intent.”]

The moment their gazes met mine, their pupils dilated.

As I calmly stared at them, their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably. Their legs grew weak; it was clear they couldn’t keep their balance.

“What, what energy is this…?!”

“Uh, did we mess with something we shouldn’t have?”

“W-Well, we can’t just back out now.”

Taking advantage of their wavering, I turned to Pasma.

“Pasma, I want to try one experiment. Can I do it?”

[What are you planning?]

“I want to see if I can utilize my strength without you controlling my body.”

If that was possible, I figured I could navigate through this situation smoothly.

[Equipped “Unwavering Revenge Sword.”]
[Skill “Wraith” can be temporarily activated.]

I didn’t know if it would work, but I had to see. If it didn’t work, I could just ask Pasma for help.

“Wraith.”

[Skill “Wraith” activated!]

Pasma possessed my body.

It felt like a new self was forming within a single body. The sensation of having two selves was a remarkable feeling each time.

It felt as if Pasma was right beside me.

It was magical and unbelievably reassuring.

“Alright, now… Mana…”

Come to think of it, I don’t know how to manipulate mana.

The Killing Intent skill activates just by looking at it, but I had never learned how to manage mana.

I gripped the sword tightly in my hand. However, I couldn’t envelop the sword with aura like Pasma did.

“Mana isn’t something you handle with brute force. You must naturally flow it into the sword as if blood is coursing through your entire body.”

He gave me advice through my mouth.

Even if I was told to let the mana flow, it was an ungraspable feeling for me, having only experienced everything through games.

“How do I do that?”

I muttered as I stared at the sword.

As I intently looked at it, the blade began to glow a brilliant green.

“…Huh?”

I tilted my head at the unexpected reaction.

Could it be…

I glared at the sword as if sending killing intent.

It felt like the mana was being absorbed into the sword, and at the same time, a blue aura began to rise up, elegantly forming around the blade.

With a mana bigger than what Pasma had produced, the sword grew to an impressive length of over two meters.

Remembering that killing intent is proportional to magical energy, I sent killing intent into the sword, and it responded explosively.

Is this really happening?

I let out an amused snicker as I gazed at the hurriedly crafted aura sword.

“What?!”

The adventurers pointed and showed signs of distress at the suddenly conjured aura sword.

“W-What is that…! An Aura Sword?!”

“W-What?! Why is a Sword Master here?!”

“Oh, now I get it! That aura he was showing us earlier! The monster we encountered in Brih Forest was so powerful that we stood no chance against it!”

They began to make wild guesses amongst themselves.

“So that’s how it is!”

“Even if his words sound rough, he was actually worried about us!”

…No. Not at all.

Even if your brain is muscles, that’s just too much of a leap.

I wanted to correct their misunderstandings right then and there, but for now, I would let them keep misunderstanding.

If I let it be, the situation might play out smoothly.

“Shut up. Just go away.”

“Excuse me! Sword Master, may I ask your name?”

Look at how they went from dismissing me as a weakling to asking for my name upon realizing I’m a Sword Master. It’s annoying.

“I have no name to give you. Now get lost.”

“You were camping around here, right? So you must be headed towards Aus City? Let us guide you there.”

“Do you want to die? I just told you to get lost.”

I raised my sword high, prompting the adventurers to start fleeing. Some of them tripped over each other as they looked back at me.

They were truly a bothersome lot.

At least I was glad I didn’t create friction with the Adventurer Guild.

“By the way, can I use this Aura Sword to chop something?”

“It probably won’t work.”

I lightly touched the ground with it. Instead of splitting, it didn’t even move a grain of sand. Rather, my mana seemed to dissipate.

So this Aura Sword can only emit energy? What a headache.

Sighing, I sheathed the sword.

“Woohoo!! Lord Praus!!”

“…Shut up, Dex.”

“So you really are the eighth S-Class Adventurer from the rumors!”

…The eighth S-Class Adventurer?

Is that what he thought of me?

“No.”

“The Sword Master of the Empire died decades ago! So it seems this legacy had been passed down!”

“No.”

“The Sixth Sword Master has finally emerged! If the Emperor hears this—”

Wait, is that a flag? Don’t say it?!

“—He’ll be incredibly reassured!”

This jerk. There’s one of those interpreting things however he wants right here too.

Damn it, the flag has been raised. At this rate, I’ll run into the Emperor soon enough!

“Plaus is a Sword Master? That official weakling?”

Delma showed a look of disbelief.

Who even established that stupid official label? Let’s ask about it.

“Oh! Teacher, I knew you had substantial reasons behind your strength; you are indeed the Sword Master!”

“Can I do it too? Can I use mana on my sword!”

“Really impressive, Lord Praus!”

This was all meant to be a performance to drive the adventurers away, but I guess it worked in the opposite direction as well.

I felt tears well up at this unintended misunderstanding.

[But it really looked cool. The size of the Aura Sword was several times greater than what I could produce.]

Saying it looked cool…

I didn’t particularly want to pretend I was strong.

“Looks like Praus is becoming popular.”

“Shut it, Ariel.”

“Hehehe!”

Ariel, who knew well that I was weak, just chuckled. That irritating girl.

“Oh, even speaking harshly to the Spirit King! It must be something only you can say, Lord Praus!”

Dex, this brat. Is he seeking to provoke me?

There’s really no way to hit him back.

“Um, anyway, so… what are you going to do now, Praus?”

“I’m heading to Aus for now.”

I replied to Delma’s question. There’s also an artifact in Aus City.

“Before that, I plan to cut off the ears of that wolf monster over there. It’ll serve as proof of completing the quest, at least to get some money.”

“Who’s doing that?”

“Obviously, it’ll be you, Dex. Being a guard, you’ve only eaten the food until now. Do you have no conscience at all?”

“…That’s true, I suppose. I’ll go do it.”

Dex spoke in a gruff manner before pulling out his dagger and marching towards the wolf’s corpse. I thought I could breathe a sigh of relief as I climbed into the carriage.

“I’m tired right now, so I’ll take a nap. Delma, make sure to drive the carriage to Aus City when the time comes, even if I don’t say anything.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

Delma had a sullen expression, but surprisingly answered without resistance to my command.

Could it be that he really thinks of me as the Sword Master?

This is crazy, really.

*

Time passed, and we finally arrived at Aus City.

As soon as we entered the city, I intended to search for the artifact right away.

However, when I snapped back to reality, I found myself standing before the ruler of the city, Duke Aus.

“Greetings. The Sixth Sword Master of the Empire, Lord Praus.”

…No, what is this development?

Why is this happening to me?