## Chapter 30 – Swordsman Guild
[Swordsman Guild – Feral Dog]
The large sign with those words grabbed my attention.
Feral Dog? Like wild dogs? Stray dogs? Fittingly violent name for a bunch of guys who specialize in swinging swords. I bet the inside is packed with brutes so vicious that your average serial killer wouldn’t even dare to show their face.
“Swordsman Guild, huh.”
There are quite a few professions like this in this world.
Broadly, you have adventurers, warriors, knights, mages, martial artists, archers, and thieves, or even merchants. I don’t know if they count petty criminals as a profession, but basically, these RPG-like classes are active here.
Among them, these Swordsmen, professional sword-wielders, are quite reputable and skilled thugs, mainly because the swordsmanship they systematically learn is a useful skill that can be used for a lifetime.
In an era overrun with monsters and murderous thugs, swordsmanship is a skill worth paying for.
If you have money, it’s better to learn swordsmanship than waste it on gambling or booze. The difference between those who learn and those who don’t isn’t just in studying. Back-alley thugs who just brawl can never beat a swordsman who has learned real swordsmanship. It’s a matter of survival.
That’s why I never mess with guys who look like they know how to use a sword.
As they say, you’ll be pushing up daisies soon enough.
I’m not a street brawler; if someone looks like a hardened criminal, you should never mess with them, no matter what.
Martial artists, though… you can mess with those chumps.
I can’t bow down to even those weaklings, let alone real strongmen. If you bow and scrape to someone weaker than you, you’ll eventually bear the full brunt of that action. All sorts of people will swarm you and ignore you. You can’t survive in this world like that. But if there are too many of them, just run away. I’ve learned my lesson this time.
Anyway, I’m digressing a bit, but the conclusion is this:
If I join the Swordsman Guild, I won’t get ganged up on like last time. Who would dare mess with a group of guys who do nothing but swing swords all day? I still feel like blood is spurting from where I got beaten. Even though the wounds have definitely healed, this burning anger and shattered pride seem to be causing phantom pains.
Those damn martial artists. Useless bastards who can’t do anything alone, getting cocky just because they gathered a few heads. Those cancerous tumors of society should all be killed.
“How much is the membership fee?”
Intrigued, I examined the various posters on the wall. Honestly, since returning home isn’t guaranteed right now, learning swordsmanship wouldn’t hurt at all. The question is whether it’s worth the money…
[Recruiting New Guild Members!]
[Membership Fee: Only 5 Silver!]
I checked and saw that kind of advertisement posted.
5 silver, huh.
“Hmm.”
I’m a bit hesitant. My pockets are a bit heavier these days. Should I join? Should I learn some professional swordplay? Like I said, in this world, killing skills are a valuable asset. More than anything, the Martial Artist Guild, those bastards, kept flashing in my mind.
5 silver.
It’s a lot of money. But if I think about my future, it’s a decent investment. Of course, that’s if I learn well… I swallowed hard. My mind is already made up. Maybe this is fate.
I’m a bit worried about hazing, but if I pay the fee and become a guild member, everyone will surely become my best buddies. Good. You never know until you try.
Like Icarus reaching for the sun, I reached out my hand, and—
—Squeak.
I entered the Swordsman Guild’s front door as if possessed.
—Huh-huh! Huh-huh!
—Kyaaa!
—Tssat!
Beyond the door, there was—
—Ooeeoooork!
—Ssaaaaaaaak!
A crazy scene unfolded, like a dream-like training ground, with muscular, criminal-faced men stripped to the waist, groaning strangely as they trained their bodies.
“I came to the wrong place.”
As I turned to leave the nightmarish parade ground, a man who looked like a top-tier criminal looked at me and said,
“What are you?”
“Ah.”
“I don’t recognize your face.”
I’ve lived such a good life that I’ve never had any reason to know someone who looks like that. Reminding myself that I’ve lived righteously, I tried to turn around again. The man in front of me looked like he had killed at least dozens of people.
“Oh?! Are you perhaps a prospective member?!”
“Ah, yes. For now.”
I reflexively answered that I was a prospective member.
“A prospective member?”
“A prospective… member?”
“A prospective member!”
At that moment, all eyes in the parade ground focused on me. What… what is this? This atmosphere is like a barracks that suddenly receives a new recruit after a long time without one.
“Uh, uh… well! Sit here first!”
“Ah, yes.”
He was telling me to sit on the bare dirt. Because the guy who looked like a top-tier murderer was yelling at me to sit, I had no choice but to sit down. Thinking about it, I was starting to think that buying a shield, gauntlets, and greaves with the 5 silver might be better than learning swordsmanship.
“You’re a prospective member?”
A woman walked out from the other side.
“…”
For a moment, I was captivated by her.
She was a sharp-looking woman with a black ponytail that reached down to her waist. Her hair was well-maintained and shiny in the sunlight, and her wild eyes looked like she had cut down a few people. Above all, her tight black leather pants accentuated her long legs, and she wore a black corset that tightly cinched her waist under a pure white blouse with frilled cuffs, as if intentionally emphasizing her large breasts. She was an incredible beauty.
Big and bouncy, teacher.
She came closer, and I stood up. The sword at her waist looked pretty good. Is she an executive of this Swordsman Guild? If she reached that position with those movement-hindering big breasts, she must be a real expert.
I felt a little fear.
“Oh, you’re tall. You look vicious, so that’s good. Judging by your eyes and hair color, are you a barbarian?”
She crossed her arms and stared at me from head to toe, as if evaluating me, and then suddenly said that.
“Yes. Well, that’s right. What about you?”
“I’m mixed.”
The reason my face looks vicious is because of the various scars and wounds on my face. And she also had black hair. I wondered if she was from the Mirkesha nomadic tribe like me, but she said she was mixed. So, she’s a Kaja nomad… I’m a fake too. We have a lot in common.
“You’re thinking of joining?”
“That’s why I came here.”
“Well, fine. My name is Karin Vestatt. I’m the guild leader of this Swordsman Guild. What’s yours?”
I knew there was something unusual about the aura she exuded; she was the guild leader. Judging by the fact that she has a surname, is she from a noble family? Commoners don’t really have surnames.
“I’m Katt.”
“Good. Then follow me.”
Karin led me toward the guild’s main building. Passing the parade ground, to the building at the far end. I followed her from behind.
“First, I’ll ask you. Do you have a particular reason for wanting to join? The most important thing when wielding a sword is motivation. I need to know what this guy is trying to learn how to cut people for so it’s easier to train him.”
“A reason?”
“Yeah. A reason.”
A reason… I started to open my mouth but stopped.
Should I say it? My real purpose was to get revenge on those martial artist guild bastards. I need proper force and a group so I won’t be intimidated by them. Of course, my combat power increasing is a kind of bonus, but anyway, that’s my purpose.
To crush those martial artist bastards.
“Huh? Why? Is it hard to say? Are you going to learn swordsmanship to become a robber? I don’t care as long as you pay, but if that’s the case, I’d recommend becoming a mercenary instead of a robber.”
“No. A robber? Of course not. I’ll tell you right away.”
Certainly, there would be guys who learn swordsmanship and change their profession to professional robbers.
Surprisingly, skilled robbers make more money than decent adventurers. They receive the price for giving up being human in money. Just cutting down bandits alone makes more money than monsters because of human farming, so if you’re a skilled robber, there’s no need to say more.
But is that important now?
“A few days ago, I was drinking at a bar when I got beaten up by those martial artist guild bastards. No, they started the fight in the first place. They suddenly challenged me to a duel, so as a man, I naturally accepted the duel… and then those bastards suddenly said that some swordsman was ignoring the martial artists and brought a whole bunch of their guild members.”
I continued.
“What could I do? A sword is useless against that many people. I had no choice but to get beaten to a pulp. I really writhed all over the place while foaming at the mouth. After experiencing something like that, I naturally thought about joining a guild.”
I explained as enthusiastically as possible, without adding or subtracting anything from how I felt. If my sincerity was conveyed to the guild leader, it was such a heartfelt explanation that she wouldn’t be able to help but let me join.
“Yes. That’s my motivation. I want to get revenge. That’s why I want to learn how to use a sword.”
She listened to my explanation quietly, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“Kuh… kek, kekek! Ah, damn… kek, kyahahaha!”
Did I just tell a funny story?
It looks like a desperate story to me?
“No, why are you laughing? I’m telling you about how I got beaten up. This is not a funny story at all. It’s a desperate and lonely story.”
Apparently, this Swordsman Guild leader has a completely different sensibility from ordinary people, as someone who has trained killing with a sword to the extreme. Otherwise, she couldn’t find a story about someone getting beaten up funny.
Maybe she was born with violence or she’s just a psycho, but I unintentionally made a beautiful woman laugh, so instead of feeling bad, I felt a little triumphant.
“No, no, I heard a rumor a few days ago that some idiot swordsman got beaten to death by martial artists. Was that you?”
But her answer was enough to make me feel bad again.
Wow, the rumor has already spread this far. I felt a little embarrassed. I guess since they’re swordsmen, they would feel frustrated and upset if they heard a rumor that a swordsman got beaten up by mere martial artists.
“D, damn it… What rumor…”
“You’re in! You’re definitely in! I can’t stand to see that! Sign here right now. Then I have to accept you no matter what. Oh, right. You have the 5 silver for the membership fee, right?”
When we arrived at the guild’s main building, Karin handed me a piece of paper. It was a paper that said “Membership Application Confirmation.” I picked up a pen to sign and asked.
“Of course. Are you going to teach me how to use a sword properly?”
“Don’t ask such an obvious question. I’ll give you some special intensive training.”
She seemed to be in a pretty good mood, bursting out laughing. I couldn’t figure out what was so funny, but being able to receive intensive training from the guild leader was a huge advantage.
“I can’t let anyone hear that a swordsman got beaten up by martial artists, you know.”
I guess she has pride in that area.
“I couldn’t believe it either. I thought I could somehow win against three of them, but more than ten of those bastards swarmed me. Well, there was no space to swing my sword, and they quickly filled it up, and then I got beaten to death.”
She laughed loudly once more at those words, wiped away her tears, and accepted the confirmation.
“Good. From now on, you are a member of our Swordsman Guild. The membership fee is 5 silver, as I said. And the training period… let’s make it about a month.”
“Isn’t a month a little short? Can I learn swordsmanship in that time?”
“Will you be able to say that after receiving my intensive training? You can learn the basics of swordsmanship well enough in that time. And if you improve your senses with intensive sparring with me, you can become a full-fledged swordsman.”
I felt like I was being swayed by her beauty and eloquence, but I nodded and took out five 1 silver coins from my wallet and handed them to her.
“Of course, it’s not like we’ll be doing it for the whole month. Let’s set some time each week.”
“Yes. I understand, Guild Leader.”
Well, it seems like taekwondo dojos also have five hours a week, one hour each weekday, if you register for a month. It’s probably similar to that.
