Chapter 645 – #130_The Sword Witch (3)
#645
1.
It had already been three days since I was confined in Hyangwol Pavilion.
If you only heard that I was kidnapped by an enemy and brought to their city, it would sound like a thrilling adventure…
But the reality was not like that.
I hadn’t even taken a single step outside Hyangwol Pavilion, and except for Rinne, I hadn’t encountered any other enemies.
There was no worst-case scenario, like being experimented on or dissected alive.
My daily routine consisted of sparring from dawn till dusk.
Afterwards, I would crawl back to my room, receive treatment from Yebin, and then fall asleep as if I had fainted.
If I were to think positively, I could say that I was receiving a Spartan education, as my skills were improving while exchanging blows with Rinne.
But this was a problem.
I had ambitiously redefined the ‘dimensional transfer formula’ and was prepared to escape at any time, and I had even planned an intelligence operation to steal internal information from Hexennacht.
But after sparring, I would pass out as soon as I lay down, so I couldn’t start anything.
At this rate, my stay would be indefinitely prolonged.
Even though the surrounding environment seemed stable for now, I shouldn’t forget that Siwoo’s treatment depended solely on Rinne’s whims.
“Uweeek….”
After finishing the sparring that started at dawn, Siwoo collapsed in a corner of the training ground, retching repeatedly.
It was needless to say that I was physically exhausted, and being kicked in the left abdomen during the last sparring session was the final blow.
As I lay on the floor, feeling the extreme pain that only fighters could understand, Rinne’s indifferent voice fell upon me.
“Tomorrow is a rest day.”
“Guek?”
I was dumbfounded.
Rest.
It was a word I had waited for, but it was so unimaginable coming from Rinne’s mouth that I had given up on it long ago.
“That’s a shame.”
I desperately tried to maintain a solemn expression on my face, which was about to break into a wide smile.
Since I was getting beaten up every day anyway, was there any need to keep up this act? But I didn’t want to experiment with any unnecessary changes.
“Why?”
If so, it was important to pay attention to Rinne’s sudden change.
Rinne was different from my master.
If she no longer found value in sparring, Siwoo’s value would plummet.
Once I thought that far, I felt ridiculous for holding back my laughter.
“Rest is important.”
Siwoo was momentarily stunned.
It felt like seeing the Pope declare ‘God is dead’ in an official setting.
If she had a schedule or something, it would be understandable, but it was only natural to think, ‘How can someone who knows that be so harsh?’ Because these days were hell.
“The doctor’s magic is also depleted. I need to recover as well.”
“That can’t be helped.”
The explanation that followed was more convincing.
Siwoo, who could copy magic on his own through repeated amplification, often forgot, but generally, magic was easy to use but difficult to recover.
It was hard to pinpoint because the deviation was so large, but it took a month for an average great witch with average magic to fully recover after complete depletion.
To add further explanation, this process was an action that occurred when the ‘self-assimilated’ magic remaining in the brand assimilated neutral magic, so the more magic remaining, the faster the recovery speed, and the less, the slower.
Siwoo and Rinne had been fighting while adjusting their output in the training ground, so their recovery speed wasn’t that slow, and they had some reserves.
However, Yebin, who had been called in every day to tend to Rinne and Siwoo’s injuries, had depleted her magic first.
“Follow me for a moment. I’ll serve you tea.”
Siwoo silently followed Rinne into the tea room.
Since that accidental Zen-like exchange, my conversations with Rinne had only been heated physical exchanges, so this was only my second time in this tea room.
As the smoldering charcoal in the brazier heated the pot, the dimly lit tea room became a little brighter.
Rinne brewed matcha with skilled hands, without a word.
The series of actions, from putting matcha in the tea bowl to whisking it until foam formed, was so flawless that she could have been a demonstration instructor for tea ceremony.
This was why you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance.
If you took a picture of this scene and showed it to people, they would probably think she was a royal princess receiving bride training.
‘But why was I called here?’ I was thinking when she spoke.
“Shin Siwoo.”
As always, she looked at Siwoo with unwavering eyes.
I could tell, without even trying, that a faint hint of goodwill was beginning to show in them.
“Become my disciple.”
Siwoo, who had paused for a moment, replied without even wetting his lips.
“I’ve been waiting for those words, Master.”
2.
To summarize Rinne’s swordsmanship in one word:
A sinister swordsmanship.
The slashes, which extended from unexpected places like a hidden snake and stuck like melted tar, were so difficult to grasp that they seemed to come from beyond perception.
It was a good opportunity to broaden my perspective, as it was different from my master’s pure martial arts, and there was much to learn.
But the reason Siwoo readily accepted Rinne’s offer was, of course, not because he had betrayed his beloved master, Elloa.
It was because Rinne’s recognition was necessary to ensure the minimum safety and freedom in this city.
The position of a disciple of the Sword Witch was by no means light.
The reason I had been acting like a crazy fighting dog, speaking informally and without complaint, was to hear those words.
“Good. Let’s do our best.”
Of course, this alone wouldn’t make my future plans go smoothly.
I hadn’t had a deep conversation with her compared to the time we had spent sparring.
But I could tell.
Rinne’s view of master and disciple was not as affectionate and close as Elloa’s.
That’s why Siwoo intended to play the part of a plausible disciple for the time being.
I would show her that I was more than capable of being her sparring partner, as she wanted, and I would show an endless fighting spirit and desire for improvement.
“Even so…”
I wasn’t sure if I could do it well.
I didn’t want to agree with her theory that disciples get stronger when they are beaten, but unfortunately, the effect was certain.
In Rinne-sensei’s Spartan swordsmanship class, which was more like a real battle than any real battle, Siwoo’s spear skills had improved significantly.
I learned what to copy and filled in what was lacking in my existing spear techniques.
I had learned about techniques that could not be achieved with speed and power alone.
But even with this growth, I didn’t feel like the gap was closing at all.
It wasn’t just Siwoo who was growing.
Rinne was also pioneering new frontiers based on this experience.
The point was that I shouldn’t fall too far behind her.
To prevent a future where I would be sucked dry and discarded, I had to always be a delicious disciple.
But this level of difficulty was no joke.
“I’m all ready…”
As I was changing my clothes while thinking about this and that, Yebin, who had somehow ended up living in the same room, approached me with hollow eyes.
As a side note, Rinne didn’t care at all whether Siwoo shared a room with Yebin or what they did at night.
As far as I could tell, after training, she always returned to the tea room to meditate or drink tea.
Anyway.
She not only treated me every day but also gave me a massage after the schedule was over.
I couldn’t be more grateful.
I should have declined, but if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to survive these past three days.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay…”
“You’ve been through a lot because of me. Today’s rest is also for Yebin-ssi, so please rest well.”
“No, I’m happy to be of help, even like this…”
Of course, the reason Yebin’s eyes were hollow was not because of the excessive treatment or the expenditure of magic.
Every night, a handsome man and a beautiful woman stayed alone in a luxurious ryokan-like room.
Moreover, every time she gave a massage that started out of goodwill, she saw a muscular half-naked body that was like an ideal, and when she turned over, she was exposed to even more visual stimulation.
In the midst of all this, she couldn’t do anything but swallow her saliva, and her mental fatigue had reached its peak.
“By the way, a hot spring. That’s nice.”
“I’ve never used it either.”
The two of them chatted as they headed to the tea room where Rinne was waiting.
There were two main things on the schedule for today.
First, a simple medicinal bath treatment at the hot spring.
This medicinal bath treatment, which I thought was only famous in Gehenna’s Levana public bathhouse, seemed to have a surprisingly long tradition and history.
By pouring a large amount of magic water and herbs made by Rinne herself into the hot spring water, I would be able to recover a considerable amount of magic and spiritual injuries after about half a day of rest.
After the hot spring bath, Siwoo and Rinne would go out together outside Hyangwol Pavilion.
While Yebin, who had a relatively large amount of magic to recover, enjoyed the hot spring bath all day, Siwoo and Rinne were scheduled to go to ‘Arcana Town’.
I didn’t know what we were going to do, as Rinne had unilaterally informed me.
But it was a good opportunity to explore the city.
It would be even better if I could analyze the structure of the ‘Gate’.
“Master, I’m coming in.”
“Excuse me.”
Siwoo, who had crawled through the low and narrow door designed to encourage humility when entering the tea room, felt bewildered.
“Drink this and then we’ll move.”
It was because of Rinne’s attire as she sat demurely.
She always wore an unidentified oriental martial arts uniform.
It looked loose and easy to move in, but honestly, if you asked, ‘Is it pretty?’ it was ambiguous.
It was difficult to feel aesthetic beauty when looking at a taekwondo uniform.
But the way she sat demurely, wearing a silk dress with gold embroidery, was like a portrait of a beauty painted by an artist with great care.
Her slender neckline was exposed, and a hairpin diagonally crossed her hair, which was tied up in a bun.
If she wore a white, fluffy scarf that was lying around her knees, it would surely be an even more perfect picture.
Yebin seemed to have the same impression, as her eyes were wide open.
“The kimono suits you well.”
But the surprise was short-lived. Siwoo didn’t miss the opportunity to try to gain favor.
It was a compliment strategy that was deeply rooted in history, and even Amelia in her prickly days had been tempted by it.
“This is a yukata.”
“Ah.”
Rinne cut me off with a single word and sipped her tea.
She cut me off so coldly that Yebin next to me was wondering whether to react or not, thinking it was some kind of joke.
The awkwardness didn’t last long.
Soon, I was going to the hot spring with Rinne.
However, there was something I hadn’t expected at all…
“Huh? All of us together?”
“It’s expensive to bring hot spring water from the mortal realm.”
The medicinal bath treatment, which I had naturally assumed would have some kind of partition, was confirmed to be a mixed bath due to budget issues.
