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n*WARNING, descriptive imagery this chapter.*

nElla’s swordsmanship is at a respectable level.

nShe only started learning swordsmanship a year ago at the age of 15, but already she’s much better than Celeste, who is considered a genius on Earth.

nThough, that’s only when it comes to her swordsmanship and not her physical ability.

nAlso, in terms of her control over the sword, it’s superior to even me because she has a SS rank skill.

nIn order to teach Ella, I would have to show my sword, but I didn’t want to, so I asked some young knights to spar with her.

n“Don’t hold back when you’re sparring with the princess.”

nSo, I just pretended to diligently teach while watching them spar.

n“Ahem. Your posture is good, but the pose is a mess.”

nSometimes, I would even mix jargon because I’m pretending to be a teacher.

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n

nOf course, If I lie poorly, I might get caught, so I had to mix knowledge from other worlds.

nLater, we arrived at a waterfall deep in the mountains.

nIt wasn’t very difficult getting here with a dozen knights escorting us.

nShaa!!

nCurrently, Ella and I were sitting on a rock letting the waterfall hit our backs.

nIt’s my first time doing something like this, and it’s more painful than I thought.

n“Er, hm.”

nElla, who was getting hit by the waterfall, frowned.

nWhy am I doing this?

nIt’s to kill time with useless lessons.

nIn the first place, I can’t teach her swordsmanship whose talent is better than mine.

nBesides, it would be stupid to train an enemy I have to kill.

nSo, I used the ‘waterfall and meditate training method’ found only in novels.

n‘Young miss. Swordsmanship isn’t just about holding a sword.’

n‘So, then what?’

n‘I used to wield a sword mindlessly. But at one point, I reached a bottleneck. That’s when I realized. I didn’t have a good enough foundation. So I had no choice but to start over again on a different path I once took.’

n‘Then…’

n‘Front now on, I will teach you the Three Trinity method, namely, the heart, body, and spirit.

nWhat I said was about 0.0002% honesty, but what if a teacher told you to do something impossible?

nThere was no reason for her to question me, an instructor.

nSo, I was just killing time by getting hit by the waterfall without any purpose.

n“…Ah! I think I just grasped something!”

nProtagonist Ella has gained an enlightenment.

n…Isn’t this crazy?

nI underestimated the protagonist.

nI didn’t know that it’s possible to gain enlightenment just by doing the simplest things like looking at fallen leaves or picking up a pebble.

nThat’s why I can’t be careless around the protagonist.

nLuckily, Ella’s level didn’t go up.

nHowever, her sword has become quicker and more efficient.

nUnlike my mixed feelings, the mansion went wild.

nIt was a very unique training method that everyone became interested in.

nThe world view of this world is that even a swordsman can cut down witches.

nEven among the most veteran of swordsmen, this ridiculous waterfall training method was something they have never seen in their life, and they thought it was impossible.

nIn the first place, Ella was going to have the ‘protagonist correction’ eventually anyways, so gaining enlightenment after being hit by the waterfall did just that.

nThough, it wasn’t without a benefit to me.

nAfter roughly proving I was a master swordsman, my reputation was cemented, but now it has increased even further after Ella gained enlightenment from my unusual method.

n“Sir Seodam, the training method you did…Could you please teach me?”

nErache had mentioned that another master swordsman hasn’t come by in over 10 years.

nNo wonder he asked to spar with me soon after our meeting.

n“Just go…take off your shirt and get hit by a waterfall…”

n“Oooh. Thank you!”

nTo be honest, lying to an honest person like Erache pricked at my conscienceless, but I couldn’t stop now.

n“Haap!”

nThwak!

nA wooden sword struck, making an incredible loud noise, and then a knight fell down.

nEven a decent adult male knight couldn’t beat Ella now.

nHer swordsmanship is quite interesting, but I wasn’t at a level where I could just copy it.

nSwordsmanship isn’t just about the movements, but also the time in between when you breathe, which has to be learned.

nAlthough I won’t be able to bring out its full potential, I could imitate it to some extent.

n‘How a woman with a small build overcome her enemies.’

n‘How to overcome the relative lack of strength and speed.’

nEver since I gained the swordsmanship talent, just looking at the sword made me happy, so it wasn’t odd for me to watch Ella’s swordsmanship.

nEven I, an enemy, was impressed with her progress, so what about the people here?

n“Oooh, as expected, young miss. You’re amazing.”

n“You won again!”

nMaids behind the scene were uttering exclamations of admiration.

nI have a good memory of people’ faces, and I know what these people have been through.

nA young maid with short hair and freckles.

nShe is suffering from a major trauma after seeing the last witch split her parents in half right in front of her, and is struggling every day inside this mansion.

nA middle aged maid dressed in puffy clothes.

nHer husband participated in the war as a mercenary to kill the last witch, but he never returned, and now she’s serving princess Ella.

nA maid in her twenties with smooth brown hair.

nShe lost her whole family to the last witch, including her left eye and three right fingers.

nNo one wanted a disabled maid, and it was princess Ella who kindly took her in.

nHonestly, I have mixed feelings about it all.

nKilling Ella is a foregone conclusion, but I felt quite uncomfortable that the hearts of those here will be torn.

nThen again, I don’t have the time to care about any of that.

nAfter all, witches are absolute evils in this world.

nThey…just don’t care about human lives.

nIt’s that simple.

nIt’s like a child burning ants with a magnifying glass out of curiosity.

nWitches are driven by that same curiosity.

n‘What? You committed suicide after I boiled your newborn baby alive and fed it to you? Wonderful.’

n‘Aye, I can’t feed you your own heart now after cutting open your belly…none of your bodily functions are working!’

n‘Why? Why do humans suffer more when their loved ones are tormented? Are their nervous systems connected? Maybe? That’s a different thing, isn’t it?’

nIt’s naive evil.

nHumans spent years in hellish agony, tormented by the pure curiosity of the emotionless witches.

nEventually, humans took up arms and martial arts rapidly grew because of the geniuses who stood up to survive.

nAfter thousands of years of war, humanity finally exterminated the witches and the era of peace arrived.

nOnly I, a person not from this world, knew that a witch is still alive.

nWeekend.

nElla is still training, and I’m still feeding her nonsense.

nWhen Ella was about to leave, someone came.

nHaren Almus.

nThe eldest daughter of Duke of Almus, a genius at the stage of professional swordsman.

n“Long time no see, Ella. You seem to have changed a lot.”

n“When I think about my past self, I feel ashamed.”

nTheir encounter was so tense you could hear a pin drop.

nSince forever, Haren and Ella have never been on good terms.

nBorn to the Almus house, Dame Haren Almus, is cold-blooded and had a stronger heart for the sword than anyone else.

nAnd since Ella had lived a disappointing life since an early age, revealing her wild temper without even thinking of holding a sword, Haren Almus hated her to the core.

nBecause of this, Haren had always ignored Ella, and Ella was so terrified of her that she would tremble like a frightened rat every time she faced Haren.

nBut, it was different now.

nElla Almus and Haren Almus faced each other resolutely.

n“…Recently, your eyes have changed a lot.”

n“All I can do is to face the world proudly.”

n“Yes. Excellent. I’ve been watching for a while, and your swordsmanship is very sincere.”

n“I’m flattered. It’s lacking compared to you, big sister. I’m just lucky to have a good teacher.”

n“I’ve heard rumors about such a teacher. A very unique person came this time.”

nWhen Haren looked at me, I bowed appropriately.

nShe came up to me and placed her hand in front of me for a handshake.

n“Thank you for teaching my poor sister. I heard you’re a master swordsman, but that you’re a very unusual man.”

nHaren’s personality is quite different from what I heard from the maids.

nThe one in front of me is so talkative and not as coldhearted, much to the surprise of even the other servants nearby.

n“This is the only talent I have, and I’m glad I could help her.”

n“Huhu. You’ve reached the level of master swordsman, yet you’re humble.”

nHaren, who briefly greeted me, turned her attention back to Ella.

n“I see that you are taking a break now, what are your plans for the rest of the day?

n“I was going to go to the church to pray.”

n“Oh my. If so, let’s go together.”

nHaren seems to like the Ella who has changed for the better.

nIt was a common development.

nA prodigal noble who made a 180 degree change in personality, and of course the people around them.

nA change that is even welcomed by the family.

nThis is also a cliche.

n“Yes, let’s go now.”

nAfter some brief preparations, Haren, Ella, and a few attendants headed for the church.

nIt’s to worship Alethea Empire’s state religion, ‘Goddess of War and Victory Alacia.’

nFollowing them, I looked at Haren’s back.

nHaren Almus.

nShe also has a tragic story, losing her mother to the last witch.

nWhich led to the setting of the Duke killing the last witch for killing his beloved wife.

nThe church was also built by the Duke of Almus, so it was a considerable size.

nThe Duke’s children would regularly come to pray.

nI’m an outsider, so I took a proper back seat and pretended to pray.

nA sacred song flowed, and a man dressed in black, who I think is a priest, came out to talk.

nIt was boring.

n“Everyone, let go of yesterday’s worries and look to the brighter future.”

nAs soon as the priest finished speaking, Ella burst into tears.

nThe sound was very small, but the place was so quiet that everyone could hear it.

nHaren with a sullen look asked Ella.

n“What’s the matter?”

n“…Nothing. I’m so sorry for what I’ve done, I’m ashamed, and I’m sorry for everything. So…Heuk, hu…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

n“…!”

nHaren had a surprised look on her face, and at that moment.

nThe Client spoke.

n< The protagonist, Ella, is slowly awakening emotions. >

nElla.

nHaving lived as a witch her whole life and never feeling any emotion, she remained calm until the moment of her death when she was pierced by the sword of the Duke.

nRevenge?

nShe didn’t have such thoughts.

nShe just died because she was weak, she thought.

nAlso, she doesn’t even know why the Duke killed her.

nThat’s all.

nAfter being reborn in Ella’s body, she discovered joy and sorrow.

nShe felt happy when people around her recognized her, and she also became contemptuous of her past self.

nHow many have she killed so far?

nWhat terrible things she had done.

n‘Front now on, for everyone, I will live a life of atonement!’

nThat’s the overall plot of the protagonist, Ella.

n…Also.

n“Really, heuk! I’m really sorry to everyone…”

n“Oh no, oh young miss…”

n“I can’t even remember being bullied by the young miss.”

n“You’ve grown so pretty and upright.”

nSomehow I felt a lump in my throat when I saw people sympathizing.

nThat wasn’t an apology for Ella.

nShe is apologizing for what she had done in the past as a witch, not for what the former Ella did.

nNevertheless, the people around me fell into a delusion, and they all got emotional by her tears.

nIn no time, the church became a sea of tears, and Ella apologized to everyone until the last minute.

nHowever, if she is really sorry, she has to reveal the truth.

nHow many people have been affected by her curiosity?

nShe’s trying to rationalize herself by apologizing to them without even thinking of revealing her identity.

n‘Because I’m truly sorry. I’ll live a life of atonement and self reflection.’

nShe knows.

nIf she reveals the truth, what would happen?

nShe is afraid.

nBecause she wants to protect her image even though she says she’s sorry.

nShe’s deceiving everyone.

nEmpty words are not enough.

nApologizing by deceiving everyone is not an apology but a deception, and it is neither an apology nor an atonement at all.

n“Everyone, from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry…”

nI listened silently without saying anything.

nIn fact, it doesn’t matter whether Ella apologizes or not.

nSeeing the apologies mixed with pretense and sincerity, I just thought of a way to hunt her.

n‘You’re sorry?’

nIn that case, I’ll help you make a real apology.

nLate night.

nOn this night when everyone is deep asleep, Seodam had settled atop the highest hill near the mansion.

nIt’s different from my original plan, but it’s time to start hunting.

nChikchik!

nThe point of shooting afar is to kill someone.

nBut my shotgun isn’t great for that.

nThe reason why I took out my mega shooter is for another reason.

nAfter installing an ‘Aether Discharge’ on my mega shooter, I brought my eye to the scope.

nThe distance is quite far, and the cool wind blew, but my scope automatically zeroed in on the target.

nIn the past, snipers had a hard time and would have to read the wind and such, but now that modern science has developed to such an extent, it wasn’t necessary.

nIn fact, if my goal was to shoot, it might be better to have a sniper rifle that focuses on a single target, rather than a shotgun that explodes in a wide area, but in the first place, I have no intention of hurting her.

nOnly, it’s important to leave a trace of the damage.

nWhiiriing…!

nThe wind swept through Seodam’s hair.

nHolding my breath for a few seconds, I pulled the trigger.

nBang!!

nAn earth shattering roar.

nClink, boom…!

nElla’s bedroom was caught up in a massive explosion.

nIt took less than a second for the knights to react.

n“What happened, young miss…!?”

nThe knights quickly opened Ella’s bedroom and entered.

nIt was a mess.

nEverything in the room was in ashes, and the bed was half blown away.

nHowever, Ella was fine.

n“Ah…I’m fine, don’t worry.”

nBefore long, Haren Almus, in her pajamas, came in holding her sword.

n“Ella! Are you all right?!”

n“Sister…!”

nTouched by the fact that she, who had always been cold, came running as soon as she heard the explosion, Ella quickly ran into Haren’s embrace.

nHaren also stroked Ella’s head with a sigh of relief at the fact that she was safe.

n“It’s alright. Don’t worry. Zetsu, Kalmer. Launch a search party now!”

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n

n“Yes!”

nAfter ordering the guards, Haren stroked Ella’s head, who was still in her arms.

nThen, she suddenly noticed something strange.

n‘What…this…?’

nThe bed where Ella would have been lying, was cut into a semicircle.

nEverything inside the room was in ashes except the three meter semicircular bed, and only the place where Ella was lying is unscathed.

n‘It’s semicircular…?’

nHaren suddenly had an incredulous thought.

nAn unscathed semicircular area.

nThat…Doesn’t it resemble something from the race that no longer exists in this world?

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