The Second Strongest Has Returned

Chapter 4

Return

“…Are you okay?”

Ariasphil suddenly appeared from behind the tree. Did she see the crazy thing I did earlier?

[Who said you were impotent in the first place?]

“Alright, shut up! Please!!”

Is it because he’s impotent? How could a so-called Sage have less understanding than his own fingernail?

“…Huh? Sorry…”

When Leo suddenly shouted, she apologized. To Ariasphil, it must have seemed like he was asking ‘Are you okay?’ and then immediately told her to shut up.

“Oh, sorry. I wasn’t talking to you.”

“What…?”

“How are you feeling? Are you hurt?”

Leo asked as calmly as possible to hide his crazy behavior.

“Uh, I’m fine.”

Ariasphil’s face was flushed. He could hear her heartbeat through her wrist.

Despite saying so and being so strong, she was just a 13-year-old child.

‘It’s not unreasonable for her to be startled.’

Thinking that, Leo gently set her down.

“Sorry, I was too focused on my training.”

“Training…? That…?”

The faint memory of what happened earlier resurfaced.

Even without recalling it, just looking around at the chaotic surroundings, one could see the madness.

[Anyone could see you were a lunatic. That’s a fact.]

Whose fault was it, that old man.

Leo thought he might have been overexcited, but from his perspective, he couldn’t help but be furious.

Imagine if an old ghost suddenly merged his body with your own face.

And not in a solid form, but perfectly detailed down to the internal organs?

Even if it wasn’t during a meal, it would still make you want to throw up.

‘Even thinking about it now… Ugh, especially the kidneys…’

At that time, he had been eating meat and beans stir-fry. Trying to supplement protein only to vomit it all out.

“…I’ve never seen such a furious training method before.”

Leo had also never tried it before. And he never wanted to try it again.

“That… well, there was a reason for it. To preserve my human dignity…”

[You’re not even dignified yourself.]

Should I just kill him? He’s already dead anyway.

“…Oh! Anyway, I really didn’t mean for it to happen! I’m really sorry!”

Suppressing his anger towards the old man, Leo bowed his head and apologized to Ariasphil.

Ultimately, she was the victim.

“…It’s okay. I’m not hurt, and I came here on my own.”

“But… why did you come?”

There was still some time until the scheduled training day. It had only been a day since they made the promise, but she came now.

“…That…”

Ariasphil hesitated to answer.

For good reason…

‘…Why did I come…?’

Even she didn’t know why.

Following the thumping of her heart, she found herself here.

‘…But…’

She couldn’t say that outright.

If she said it, he would definitely think she was strange.

“…I was curious about your unique training method…”

“…Training method? You mean that thing earlier?!”

Leo recalled the craziness from earlier. Being interested in such madness was severely detrimental to mental health.

Ariasphil, thinking the same, quickly shook her head.

“Not that! The mana training method!”

“Oh… you mean the mana refinement technique?”

The Sage’s eyebrow twitched at the name.

[Mana refinement technique? Is that what you named it?]

Leo answered in a small voice, minimizing his mouth movements.

“The naming sense is poor, but it’s good to have a name, even if it’s rough.”

[No, it’s not bad. The thing I taught doesn’t include refinement though.]

“What are you muttering to yourself?”

Despite his muttering, the person right in front of him could see it.

He had to come up with a solution, or he would really look like a madman.

“…No, it’s just that I talk to myself a lot.”

“Really? That’s unusual.”

Fortunately, she let it go.

“…I’ve never seen such training before. We don’t have such a method in our family.”

Was it just his imagination, or did the Sage’s lips seem to curl up?

[As expected of Ruben’s descendant! Unlike some idiot who wasted the opportunity I gave him!]

It wasn’t his imagination. His lips were curling upward so sharply they were almost vertical.

“Though lacking in character, I had a good teacher.”

[No, not really.]

Ah, really not. Not just lacking, but severely deficient.

“I see…”

Nodding, Ariasphil looked at the sword Leo was holding. He could easily guess what her gaze meant.

“Since you’re here, do you want to train together?”

“…Train?”

At the word ‘train,’ Ariasphil’s expressionless eyes sparkled.

“…But I don’t have a sword…”

“Then take this.”

At her words, Leo drew the sword from his opposite hip and handed it to her.

“It’s cheap, but usable.”

It might be an unsatisfactory sword for a lady of a hero’s family, who had always used swords made by famous blacksmiths, but to Leo, it was a pretty decent weapon.

“…Thank you.”

“What?”

It felt strange.

While serving as a squire in her family, Leo hadn’t heard thank-yous very often. Perhaps enough to count on both his fingers and toes combined.

“…Why?”

However, it was rude to show such an attitude when someone thanked him.

“Ah… nothing. I just thought I misheard.”

Leo erased his awkward expression and gripped his sword.

“Then let’s begin.”

“Yes. Okay.”

She also picked up the worn-out sword and began gathering mana.

[…What’s with this girl?]

Seeing her training method, the Sage’s jaw dropped.

“She’s a genius. A true genius.”

Ariasphil Reinhardt, upon seeing Leo’s training, immediately began splitting mana particles in the same way.

No, not even the same way.

‘She’s splitting the mana particles more finely than I am.’

At this level, it wasn’t splitting but grinding the particles. She could absorb mana sufficiently without having to use the refinement method.

‘…Wait…’

However, as she began the refinement, he felt a sense of incongruity.

“…What the…”

[What? Why? Isn’t she doing well?]

She was doing well.

“For an ordinary person.”

For a genius, for Ariasphil, her talent wouldn’t end at this level.

She wouldn’t stop at just ‘doing well.’

‘Come to think of it, it was the same when we first fought.’

When they first fought, he thought she might be weak because she was young. But upon seeing her swordsmanship a second time, he could clearly identify the problem.

“Stop for a moment.”

“…Why?”

“It’s not right.”

At his words, Ariasphil tilted her head.

“…The particles are well split.”

“Not that. I mean your swordsmanship.”

Leo grabbed her sword.

“Your swordsmanship is wrong.”

At that criticism, Ariasphil’s eyes sharpened. She took pride in her swordsmanship.

It was recognized by the family knights, the head knight Jehad, and even her father, the head of the family.

“What’s wrong with it? I did it as I was taught.”

“By who? That bodyguard?”

“Yes, Jehad taught me.”

Despite his personality, Jehad was a knight recognized by the Reinhardt family. His skills and achievements were unmatched by knights of other families.

“Then that’s the problem.”

“…What?”

[…What?]

The Sage and Ariasphil asked in unison, with the same pitch and tone.

“…That’s the problem?”

“Yes, it’s a problem.”

To Leo, it was undoubtedly a problem.

“…Why is that a problem?”

“Let me ask you, what’s the similarity between you and that Jehad guy?”

Ariasphil hesitated to answer his question.

“Similarity…?”

“Yeah, is there any physical similarity?”

She didn’t hesitate to answer.

‘None…’

There was none at all.

Jehad and Ariasphil differed in gender, physique, height, flexibility, muscle mass, and even talent.

“None, right?”

“…Yes.”

“So what’s the point of mimicking the swordsmanship of someone completely different from you? It’s entirely different.”

Following a master’s swordsmanship was a fundamental lesson for beginners.

‘But that’s only for beginners who just started learning swordsmanship.’

Once familiar with swordsmanship, one needed to develop their own techniques and forms, especially if they had outstanding talent.

‘But Ariasphil didn’t do that.’

It wasn’t because Ariasphil lacked talent. It was quite the opposite.

‘She’s as inflexible as ever.’

Ariasphil was too straightforward. She always prioritized rules and regulations.

So she always used the knowledge she learned as is. She could develop greatly as taught, but she couldn’t apply it in different ways.

[Her growth is insane, but her application is lacking.]

It was a perfect summary.

‘Before the regression, she certainly excelled after that idiot was dismissed and she kept improving.’

But there was no need to wait until then.

“Get into position.”

At his words, Ariasphil gripped her sword and got into position.

“…Roughly…”

Leo lightly grabbed her leg with one hand and started to move it.

“About here?”

“…?!”

Her face turned red at the sudden contact. Her heart raced, and her face heated up. But Leo, only looking at her legs and body, didn’t notice.

[Is it okay to touch her like that?]

Leo was unmatched in that field.

[That’s not what I meant… It’s just very perverted in various ways.]

What did he mean by that? If he were doing

this with ulterior motives, she would have swung her sword or slapped him already.

[Wait, but how are you communicating without opening your mouth?]

[What? With aura?]

Though not perfect, he could emit this level of aura.

[Does that mean you can use telepathy? Aura doesn’t have that function.]

Doing so would cause a resonance in the Sage’s stone, making him hear the sound.

He had doubts, but it worked.

[…If you’re not a genius, what are others? Trash? Rejects? Something like that?]

Leo finished adjusting her stance and let go.

“Alright, now swing.”

“…Huh?! Okay!”

Why was she so flustered? Was it because he touched her so suddenly? But she didn’t seem like someone who would mind that.

Whoosh!

Flustered, she swung her sword.

A short, sharp sound.

Followed by a long, deep wind pressure.

[Insane…]

The trees in the forest shook.

[What the…]

The summer leaves fell like late autumn leaves.

The scene was like the emergence and dissolution of a storm.

This was what a real genius looked like.

Someone Leo could never surpass in his lifetime.

The true form of a genius.