An Old Man from the Countryside Becomes a Swords Saint: I Was Just a Rural Sword Teacher, But My Successful Students Won’t Leave Me Alone! - Chapter 7

7 - The old man from the countryside remembers

“I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”

“No, no! There’s no way I could have mistaken you for someone else!”

I was confused, suddenly being called “master”. The only thing I could do was to ask her if she had mistaken me for someone else. But Lysandera persisted and rushed to my side.

I don’t know what to do. I seriously can’t remember.

She must have studied under someone, since she called me “master”, but I don’t remember teaching such a lively-looking woman how to use a sword.

That’s probably the case. Beryl is a pretty common name, and she must have mistaken me for someone else.

The pressure of being in close proximity to a black-ranked adventurer is unbearable. Her face is so close to me. If I’m not careful, I might start sweating out of stress.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I know any women that look like you…”

“No way… you don’t remember?”

Her burning red eyes were dyed with a hint of despair as she shot a confused glare at me.

Please don’t look at me like that. Really, I don’t remember anything.

“…It’s been 20 years…but still…”

Lysandera says as her shoulders drop.

Twenty years ago… That’s when I had just begun teaching in the dojo for real.

Which means that a long time ago, she was learning under someone. Back then I was desperate to find students too.

As I was thinking about this, Lysandera firmly grabbed my shoulders and spoke to me in a modest but desperate voice.

“Master, it’s me. Selena Lysandera. Don’t you remember picking up a lost, injured kid way back then and teaching her how to use the sword?”

“Hmm…?”

An injured child? Selena?

“Ah.”

Maybe…

That’s true – something did happen 20 years ago.

One day, while I was patrolling the outskirts of the village, I stumbled upon a child that had cuts and bruises all over their body and was dragging their legs towards the village.

There were no adults around the kid. She was alone.

I took her under my care, intending to eventually find her guardian. She stayed with me for a while.

My dojo had a good number of students from my father’s generation, and we were able to make a good living, so I had no problem supporting an extra child.

There was no way I was going to toss the kid back out on the streets, and since I didn’t have any children, my parents took good care of her.

Her parents were probably merchants or travelers or something along those lines.

From the way she was injured, I could tell that it was not from a fight, but from an attack by a monster or a wild animal.

In this day and age, and in a rural area like this, it was not an uncommon occurrence.

Once I got really into teaching, I was too busy to take exclusive care of her, so I mixed her in with the rest of the students and had her follow my classes as well. I was hoping that a change of atmosphere might improve her mood. Back then, she was a very reclusive, quiet kid, and when asked what her name was, she would say “Selena”.

However, I remember that she seemed to be interested in swords, and she followed my instruction faithfully and obediently.

I had no intention of seriously training her, but with her parents dead and no one to care for her, I guess she had nothing else to devote herself to. The way she worked so hard to shake off the grief of the past nearly brought tears to my eyes.

I had her under my care for about… three years or so?

In the meantime, I arranged for her to be taken in by an orphanage in the capital, and my father brought her there on his subsequent visit. Afterwards, the only thing I could do was pray that she got adopted by a good family.

All that happened a long time before Alexia even stepped foot into the dojo.

“…are you… that Selena?”

“Yes! That’s me! I’m Selena, the girl you picked up and taught swordsmanship to!”

Her expression brightened up as she heard my answer, and she cheerfully replied.

Seriously, you never know what coincidences the world has in store for you…

“No wonder I didn’t recognize you. I’ve met a couple of disciples since I came here, including Alexia, and you look the best of them all.”

I thought she must have been living a modest life out here in the capital, but to think she had become a globe-trotting adventurer. I’m amazed.

And the fact that she was a quiet girl at the time, who looked more at home admiring flowers in the garden, and now she looks like a lioness, adds to the surprise.

“I really wanted to come back and tell you bout it, but I’ve rarely had any free time ever since I’ve started working as an adventurer… Meeting Master today was unexpected.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

I’m still feeling the immense pressure that emanates only from high tier adventurers, but knowing that it was Selena, my mind could finally relax.

By the way, could you please let go of my shoulder?

“But Master, why are you in Baltrain?”

“Oh, that’s bec-…”

“Lysandera, as of today, Master has been appointed as a special instructor to the Knights of Revellio, and he’ll be working with us. Get your hands off him.’

Alexia, you’ve got to be kidding me, interrupting like that.

Well, she isn’t wrong though, so it’s fine.

“Instructor to the Knights of Revellio…?”

“That’s right. He’s been appointed by the power bestowed by the King’s Seal.”

The hand on my shoulder started squeezing. Ouch, ouch, that hurts… As expected, a Black-ranked adventurer is strong indeed. Please let me go…

The entire souvenir shop is immediately enveloped in bloodlust, mainly due to Selena. I’m really sorry, shopkeeper. It’s not my fault, but I felt like I needed to apologize for something.

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“Tch… the King’s Seal? It’s not fake, is it?”

“Why would I lie?”

“S…Selena, please let me go.”

“Oh, sorry Master.”

Finally, Selena took her hand off my shoulder.

I’m sure it’s shocking to meet someone you haven’t seen in a while and they don’t remember you. It’s hard to tell if it’s the same person at a glance because he’s changed so much.

“Master, whenever you have time, please drop by the Adventurer’s Guild. I can help you and show you around.”

“No, Master will be touring the city with me. There’s no need for you to interfere, Lysandera.”

“Huh? He’s the special instructor for the Order now, isn’t he? You’ll be able to meet him whenever, but I’ve only reunited with Master after all these years.”

“You haven’t been in the capital for a while, haven’t you? You don’t know your way around as well as I do. Us Knights are based here in the capital, and we’re best suited to guide him.

And without taking the time to catch their breaths, Alexia and Selena began to quarrel.

Someone, please help.