Vol. 6 Chapter 8 – The Names of Two People

—The Calvinist aristocrats’ complexions were dark.

Fuming with anger, one of the aristocrats smashed his fist down on the table, gathering the attention of those around him.

“Dozens of people that had ties with my family were killed, and this includes my son. Dozens!”

“You’re telling me that only our side suffered losses!? Damn it! I didn’t expect that brat Liam to have such a competent subordinate as his close aide.”

“Klaus, right? I’ve never heard of him before, but it seems he’s rather skilled. He sabotaged his allies in cold blood and thoroughly eliminated members of the rival faction.”

The war with the United Kingdoms ended on a rather anticlimactic note.

Many people had predicted that the war would continue on for decades.

However, in less than a year, the war ended with the Empire’s victory.

It was a close fight, and catastrophic damage was done to both sides.

Nevertheless, Cleo’s fame skyrocketed as he had won the war in such a short period of time.

The Cleo Faction had not suffered much casualty.

Most of the casualties were from the Calvin Faction which dispatched men to get in the way of the Cleo Faction.

The people that they dispatched weren’t too important to them.

Even if some of them died, it wouldn’t have hurt the faction at all.

However, now that they experienced such a devastating setback, the story became a bit different.

The aristocrats that were sitting near Calvin had bitter expressions.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, using this war as an excuse, the Cleo Faction has been switching over to a new generation of weapons, and I’ve been told that they’re nearly done. It appears that some of the Weapons Factories have ignored our orders.”

“You’re right. This goes to show that my reputation can only do so much.”

Representing the Empire, he had promised the expeditionary force that they will be prioritized when it came to renewing their equipment.

That said, Calvin and his supporters went around informing the Weapons Factories that they should minimize their support for the expeditionary force.

Some of the Weapons Factories ignored this order because of their prior dealings with Liam.

While the rest of the Weapons Factories heeded Calvin’s instruction, the Third, the Sixth, the Ninth, and the Seventh Weapons Factories which were close to Liam provided Liam with their full support.

The Calvinist aristocrats were annoyed by this and tried to make conjectures as to why these Weapons Factories betrayed them.

“They must have been repulsed by the Empire’s act of siding with the Berkeley family.”

“We might have given the First and the Second Weapons Factories too much preferential treatment.”

“We never intended to give them preferential treatment though.”

Back then, several Weapons Factories had expressed their indignation towards the Berkeley family.

This was because they were forced to hand over their technologies free of charge to the First and the Second Weapons Factories as the two factories were in a cooperative relationship with the Berkeley’s.

Calvin let out a sigh.

“That’s none of our business—or so I’d like to say. Did they arrive at the conclusion that it’s more beneficial to be under Liam-kun’s command?”

After all, the Calvin Faction had tried to employ the carrot and stick method without actually having the means to procure any carrots.

It couldn’t be helped either.

They were already too busy providing preferential treatment to the other Weapons Factories.

Hence, when the Calvin Faction threatened them and ordered them to cut off their ties with Liam, some of the Weapons Factories turned hostile against them.

“The Cleo Faction has equipped itself with the most advanced weaponry. It’d be nice if we could have them as well, but—”

Calvin looked around and saw the gloomy expressions that the aristocrats were making.

It seems like that would be difficult.

“We could go ahead and enhance a portion of our fleet, but we’ve exhausted too much resource on this war. Even if we were to demand compensation from the United Kingdoms, the Prime Minister would definitely refuse to give us any of the share.”

The Prime Minister would no doubt shave off some of the military spending because of how much the war costed the Empire.

In other words, they wouldn’t be able to strengthen their faction using the Empire’s budget.

The aristocrats began a discussion centered around Liam.

“That brat utilized the Empire’s budget to strengthen his own faction.”

“Yeah, but the show that he put on this time was quite eye-catching. He must have taken out a considerable sum of money from his own pocket.”

“So that means he’s out of resources as well?”

Calvin organized his thoughts.

(—We made a big blunder. Liam-kun knew exactly what he was doing from the beginning.)

The reason why Liam remained in the Capital was so that he could provide logistical support.

With Liam holding down the fort, the expeditionary force did not have to worry about the logistics and was able to fully concentrate on the battles.

Even though Liam would be stigmatized for being absent from the battlefield, the benefits of staying behind far outweighed the harms.

(Moving forward, they would have the high ground when it comes to military prowess.)

Most of the Calvinist officials that joined the war as a part of the expeditionary force had been eliminated.

Furthermore, it wouldn’t be easy for them to replace their old weapons with the new ones.

Now that the war had ended, the Prime Minister would deem it a waste of money.

(They’re in control of the flow. We can’t have it remain this way.)

“—We can’t allow Liam-kun to reap all the rewards.”

The Calvinist aristocrats nodded.

“Let us target his reputation.”

“I admit that he did an excellent job at providing logistical support. However, it’s also true that he fled from the battlefield.”

“Yes—we should have him experience a bit of bitterness.”

With Liam, who could defeat a Sword Saint, standing guard, there was very little that they could do against his associates.

The Black Ops serving under Liam weren’t a joke either.

Not only had Liam remained behind in the Capital, he had also successfully provided logistical support to the expeditionary force without having to rely on hostile factions such as themselves.

This proved to Calvin that Liam was a worthy enemy.

In fact, Liam had turned into an enemy that none of the aristocrats could ignore.

They initially thought he was just some arrogant upstart that had chanced upon some opportunities; however, before they noticed, he had grown into a tricky opponent.

(We were too late to realize. —Linus, was this how it went for you as well?)

Calvin put forth a suggestion.

“Let’s immediately summon for the two Sword Saints. Things are about to escalate in the Capital.”

If they couldn’t crush him on the battlefield, they would have to crush him in the Capital.

Calvin and his subordinates were ready to risk it all.

(To be able to reverse the situation so easily, the Heaven seems to be helping him. However, I won’t be going down without a fight.)

◇

The Arend Style Swordsmanship’s headquarters was situated on a certain planet.

The school’s reputation was so widespread that it had been gifted an entire planet to use as its own.

Many talented aristocrats and royalties were once listed as the school’s disciples.

It was to the point where people often debated over which was better, the Arend Style Swordsmanship or the Kurdan Style Swordsmanship.

At the school’s headquarters, the schoolmaster of the Arend Style Swordsmanship was about to leave for the Capital.

“Master.”

“Umu.”

The schoolmaster was one of the Empire’s Sword Saints, and it was his son that spoke to him just as he was about to board the car which had been prepared by the school’s disciples.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is such a worrywart. He’s so scared of Liam that he wants father to act as his guard.”

Their social status was higher than most average aristocrats, so he spoke in a somewhat condescending manner.

As prominent sword instructors, the Empire had bestowed them the title of nobility.

“I’ve never heard of this so-called School of One-Flash before. It’s sad to see that so many people are afraid of it. I guess I’ll take this as an opportunity to train the Crown Prince again.”

They had grown a little arrogant over the years because of how cordially the aristocrats treated them.

Their attitudes, however, were backed by their strengths.

“He seems to be proud of defeating a Sword Saint, but the one he defeated was just a self-taught rogue. He’s nothing compared to us who practice the Arend Style Swordsmanship.”

The schoolmaster nodded in agreement with his son’s words.

“That’s right. The School of One-Flash must be another one of those schools that disappear just as quickly as they—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the schoolmaster abruptly jumped out of the car he was boarding.

The disciples around him tried to do the same, but the less skilled ones were sent flying with blood gushing out of their wounds.

The schoolmaster’s son pulled out his sword.

“Who dares!?”

Someone had bisected the car before anyone could react.

A young woman appeared in front of them with a katana on each side of her waist.

She had a sandogasa on her head and was wearing a garment that resembled a kimono.

She was lightly dressed, and a single glance was enough to tell that the intruder was a woman.

“—How did you get in?”

The schoolmaster’s son was nervous, and for good reasons too.

Reckless youngsters often visited the headquarters of the Arend Style Swordsmanship to issue challenges, so the security should’ve been extremely strict.

Several instructor-level Sword Masters lunged at the female intruder just as she was trying to take off her sandogasa.

Confident that the woman would die, the schoolmaster gave her a final word of warning.

“You should’ve been more alert in enemy territory. Since you had the gall to attack, you have no one but yourself to blame—!?”

The instructor-level Sword Masters that ambushed the intruder were blown away, each having lost a limb.

Not a single life was taken.

The woman in front of them didn’t seem to have moved at all.

The schoolmaster’s son stepped forward.

“Are you an assassin!? No. If that was true, then—”

—Then she would’ve taken their lives, no?

The schoolmaster was growing restless.

(Wha-what on earth was that!?)

He hadn’t been able to follow the movement of the woman’s sword.

Was it magic? Or perhaps a newly developed weapon!?

The woman tossed her sandogasa to the side, revealing her face to her shocked opponents.

Her long, orange hair was tied back, and it swayed with the wind before spreading out like the manes of a lion.

Her breasts were so large that their outlines could be seen despite the dress that she was wearing.

This was also what gave her gender away.

She was extremely young and had most likely just come of age, yet there was something hidden beneath her brutality that made her captivating.

(Who-who is she?—Which school does she belong to?)

The schoolmaster sweated profusely.

Then, he hurriedly drew his sword.

Watching him do so, the woman named herself.

“I’ll tell ya my name beforehand so that ya remember who defeated ya later on. My name’s [Shishigami Fuuka], a disciple of the School of One-Flash.”

Upon hearing that, the schoolmaster followed his instincts and jumped backwards.

However, his son did the opposite and charged forward.

“Step down, you fool!”

“Against a swordswoman of this level, there’s no need for father to personally—”

The schoolmaster’s eyes shot open at what happened next.

(W-what did she do!?)

His most talented son had his arms sliced off.

A few moments later, blood started spurting out, and his son began screaming in pain.

“My arms! My arms!!!”

“Yer in the way. Remove yerself.”

Thereafter, Fuuka kicked the schoolmaster’s son away and walked up to the schoolmaster.

Her hands never touched the handles of her swords.

She spread out her arms and said, “I’ve been waiting to meeting ya, Sword Saint. I was originally going to take yer head with me as a souvenir before challenging my Senior Brother.”

The schoolmaster of the Arend Style Swordsmanship came to a certain understanding after observing this fierce swordswoman barge into their headquarters and slash down many of their swordsmen.

(I’m no match for her.)

Although he had been elected as a Sword Saint for political reasons, he was still the head of the Empire’s mainstream swordsmanship school.

He accurately gauged his opponent’s strength and deduced that he could not win.

Nevertheless, he smiled.

“What a lucky person I am. Here, I can use any means available to defeat you.”

“Ang?”

Fuuka stared suspiciously at the schoolmaster.

“Do it!” he shouted.

Not only did armed soldiers rush in, armored vehicles appeared in the sky as well.

Surrounded by soldiers with their weapons aimed towards her, Fuuka shrugged.

With his sword directed towards Fuuka, the schoolmaster roared triumphantly.

“Did you seriously think that I would fight you? No matter how powerful the School of One-Flash is, as long as you lose, its reputation throughout the universe will crumble, and the name of your school will disappear into oblivion.”

Fuuka’s eyes became devoid of any emotion.

She was fed up and disappointed by the Sword Saint’s behaviors.

The schoolmaster continued to laugh without minding her.

“Victory is all that matters! We train our swords to beat our enemies! There’s nothing wrong with devising a plan to obtain victory!”

Fuuka scratched her hair indifferently.

“Enough of the chit-chat. I just want the track record of defeating ya. Oh, and I’ll have ya pay for insulting my Master. I’ll beat ya senseless and have ya become nothing more than a promotional tool for the School of One-Flash.”

After hearing this declaration, the schoolmaster issued an order at the people around him.

“Kill her! Kill her immediately!”

The moment he issued this order, the soldiers were slashed down and blown away along with their weapons.

Then, the schoolmaster stopped moving.

Fuuka, who had been more than 30 meters away from him, had appeared with her sword drawn, and she had embedded the tip of her katana into the schoolmaster’s stomach.

“From now on, I’ll slowly carve fear into yer body with techniques from the School of One-Flash. Oh, and hand over yer title of Sword Saint. It sounds kinda cool.”

She had no idea how much effort the schoolmaster had to put in before he was acknowledged as a Sword Saint.

Being told to “hand” it over simply because it sounded cool was an insult to everything he worked hard for.

Ticked off, the schoolmaster opened his mouth to berate Fuuka.

However, before he could say anything, he croaked in pain.

“Argh!!”

“To be honest, I was planning on quickly crushing this place and moving on, but I can’t let things slide that easily now that I’ve heard ya guys throwing insults at Master.”

Subjected to Fuuka’s glare, the schoolmaster trembled.

(A young girl like her could overpower me this easily? Where did the School of One-Flash originate from? Why has it only appeared now!? Why!?)

An ancient school that has remained hidden until now has begun to move.

The schoolmaster was under this misconception.

“S-SHOOOOT!!”

Heeding the schoolmaster’s order, more weapons began to appear.

“KILL HER! DON’T MIND ME AND ATTACK! OTHERWISE, THE AREND STYLE SWORDSMANSHIP WILL—!!”

—Otherwise, the Arend Style Swordsmanship will cease to exist.

Surrounded by hundreds of weapons, Fuuka readied her katanas and grinned.

“—I’ll devour ya’ll.”

On that day, the Arend Style Swordsmanship’s headquarters was flipped upside down.

It was as if a storm had passed.

Fortunately, no one had been killed.

While the bystanders praised it as a miracle, the parties involved lamented their misfortune.

◇

-At a different planet-

A swordswoman was sitting on the head of a mobile knight that had been cut in half.

She was staring down at the Kurdan Style Swordsmanship’s schoolmaster and his high-ranking disciples.

The schoolmaster had been stripped naked, and the words “Courtesy of the School of One-Flash” had been written on his back.

The swordswoman had engrained these words on the back of the schoolmaster using a laser gun.

“Yup, I’ve created a masterpiece. Handling a gun every now and then ain’t so bad. It was quite refreshing.”

The high-ranking disciples quaked in fear.

It was the natural reaction.

Bringing along her abnormally long katana, [Satuski Rinho], the swordswoman, had wrecked havoc on the planet where the headquarters of the Kurdan Style Swordsmanship was located.

She even ended up defeating their schoolmaster.

Since they were in their home ground, they brought out a mobile knight to defeat her, but the mobile knight got destroyed instead.

With silky, blue hair and pinkish eyes, her innocent laughs were like that of a tomboy’s.

Her body, on the other hand, was slim and slender, exuding a feminine charm.

She was still very young and behaved like a child despite being a grown-up.

Nonetheless, she was able to completely crush her opponents.

Rinho dangled her legs, having lost interest in the schoolmaster who had fainted.

“—Now, can you repeat what you said about the School of One-Flash?”

None of the high-ranking disciples replied, so Rinho decided to cut off an arm from one of them.

“Gyaaaa!”

The high-ranking disciples were absolutely terrified of Rinho who remained seated.

“I won’t be killing you guys. Instead, you guys will have to suffer a fate worse than death—today, your lives as swordsmen will come to an end. This is what you get for acting arrogant despite how weak your sword techniques are. I’ll never forgive anyone that insults the School of One-Flash that Master and I belong to.”

The high-ranking disciples scattered while shamelessly hollering in fear.

Rinho chased after them.

“Ahahaha! A game of tag? Are you guys serious? That’s like, sooooo funny!”

When she caught up to them, she slashed at their ankles and sent them rolling on the ground.

Then, she declared the following under the horrified looks of the Kurdan Style Swordsmanship’s disciples:

“Remember. The School of One-Flash is the strongest school of swordsmanship in the world. What’s more, the strongest being in existence is Master Yasushi, who is also known as the Sword God. If I hear trashes like you guys make slanderous comments about him—”

“N-no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

The other disciples shuddered when they heard the miserable screams of a high-ranking disciple who had his wounds stepped-on by Rinho.

The smile on Rinho’s face disappeared without a trace.

“I’m glad that I could prepare a good souvenir before I set off to kill my Senior Brother.—Now, let’s broadcast this and have everyone in the Empire, nay, the world, admire this scene along with my Master. Hang in there for a minute.”

Rinho took out a terminal from her pocket and started recording her surroundings.

Then, she began a monologue in front of the camera.

Levitating in the air, the terminal recorded the figure of Rinho commentating for a video that would be uploaded on a video sharing platform.

“Long time no see, everyone~ This is everyone’s favorite swordswoman idol Rinho-chan reporting in! Today~ I raided the headquarters of the Kurdan Style Swordsmanship! Te he~!”

She was pretending to be cute, but the sea of blood around her did not help her case.

Everyone else aside from her was barely alive.

She was the Empire’s most bloodthirsty, self-proclaimed number one swordswoman idol.

“They were badmouthing my school, so I beat them up black and blue.—They were rather weak, but I’m treating this as a warm-up before I aim for my Senior Brother’s life. Everyone’s been telling me that Senior Brother is strong, so I’m feeling excited already. Cheer me on everyone, and don’t forget to watch the next episode—I’ll be showcasing Liam’s head next time!”

The two monsters that Yasushi had brought up were now aiming for Liam’s life.

At the same time, Yasushi became the two mainstream schools’ most hated enemy.