## Chapter 533 – The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
533. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
“Return.”
Stormbreaker, which had been lying on the plain, flew quickly towards me. I infused mana into the great spear, transforming its shape into a sword.
It was a longsword with a striking blue blade. The weight was the same as when it was a great spear, and the blade was longer than the Hwaryeon Flying Blades. As soon as I gripped the sword’s hilt, I unleashed a blue aura.
“You have an interesting weapon!”
Luke Man charged towards me, as if exploding from his legs. He picked up a spear along the way and swung the shaft as he approached.
In 0.5 seconds, a golden aura enveloped the spear. I felt the difference in skill as I swung my sword upwards to deflect the spear.
“That’s not Purcus’ swordsmanship.”
“…You recognized it right away?”
“How could I not? I’ve seen that swordsmanship countless times. And this is different from your second brother’s. What kind of swordsmanship is it… I’ll find out as I watch.”
Luke Man moved his spear. Perhaps out of consideration for me, it wasn’t hard to follow its speed with my eyes. The problem was the power behind the spear.
*Clang!*
“Ugh!”
I had only blocked it once head-on, but my body was pushed back about 5cm. My hands gripping the sword were tingling. The power behind the spear was no joke.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Each time the sword and spear collided, shockwaves were generated.
I couldn’t win. I knew that from the start. I was barely reaching the upper level of Aura Expert. It was impossible to defeat Luke Man, who was at the Aura Master level.
‘Still, I can’t just lose helplessly. Luke Man wouldn’t spread strange rumors either….’
I used the Yeongcheon Style.
I switched to the Yeongcheon Style’s breathing technique and stepped with its footwork. It felt a bit awkward using it with a different sword than the Hwaryeon Flying Blades, but it wasn’t a problem.
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Lightning Snake (雷蛇).
The sword writhed like a streak of black lightning, aiming for Luke Man’s right shoulder.
Luke Man pushed off the ground and instantly created distance. I closed in on him.
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Azure Stream (碧溪).
My target was his head.
“Hmm. Is that plum blossom swordsmanship that your second brother used? It’s a fascinating swordsmanship, just like that one.”
Azure Stream was easily deflected, as expected. He simply tilted his head slightly to avoid my attack.
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Lightning Flash (雷光).
I unleashed the fastest sword strike in the Yeongcheon Style. But this time, it was also blocked. Luke Man could see all of my attacks.
“Increase your speed… Why are you dropping your sword?”
“I’ve lost. My mana is depleted, and my hands hurt.”
“…You can still swing your sword.”
“Even if I swing, I’ll still lose. And if I get injured, wouldn’t that be a loss for me?”
“Are you afraid of injury? You have no grit.”
“You can say whatever you want, but I have no intention of continuing.”
There was nothing more for me to gain by continuing. Experience with a great spear master? I had already gained enough of that from the battles so far, and it was an experience I could gain elsewhere.
When I lost my will to fight, he glared at me, then sighed and relaxed his grip on the great spear.
“Hah. You’ve spoiled the fun. Do you know? All of your brothers fought to their limits. Your eldest brother even fainted. Unlike your brothers, you are not a warrior. The feel of your swordsmanship is also similar to that of assassins.”
“Ah. So my brothers showed their bottom to someone whose future relationship with them is unknown.”
“……You’re an absurd one.”
The maids approached me. Each of them held a towel and wiped the sweat from my body. If I had continued, the towels would have been stained with red liquid.
“You’re a womanizer. You’re so different from your father and brothers.”
“Are you envious?”
“……I wonder how someone like you was born into the Purcus family.”
“There doesn’t need to be a great reason for someone to be born.”
“You try not to lose in a single word. I heard you have a congenital heart condition. Is your heart okay?”
“I haven’t had a seizure recently, and the healer says it’s hard to find any traces of the heart condition. Marquis Petras, now that the matter is over, may I ask you something?”
“Hmm. What do you plan to ask?”
“My evaluation. I fought as you wished. So I deserve to hear your evaluation.”
Luke Man stared at me intently before shaking his head.
“You… I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“Your martial prowess is mediocre. It’s unique, but that’s all. But I feel like that’s not all there is to you. You have financial power, and you probably have other strengths as well. Among the children of the Purcus family, I think you are the most dangerous.”
“……Is that a good evaluation?”
“It’s not a bad one.”
I gave a troubled smile. If that evaluation turned into a rumor and spread throughout the country, my reputation would surely plummet.
“If you don’t plan to leave right away, why don’t you stay at my territory for a while?”
It was a polite offer.
My true intention was for him to get out of my territory right away. Having a difficult guest was not a welcome thing.
“I’ll stay for a few days. Of course, I don’t plan to stay for free. You seem interested in spears, so I’ll teach you the basics of spear techniques.”
“There’s no need for that….”
“There’s no need to refuse.”
“…….”
No matter what I said, he didn’t seem like he would back down easily. I had no choice but to guide him to the detached residence prepared for guests.
***
Luke Man looked around the Tevra territory.
Eugene Purcus was managing the territory in a way he had never heard of before.
‘Dividing citizens into ranks… How can he have such a way of thinking?’
Citizen ranking system.
He had divided the commoners into five ranks. The ranks were not classes, but from the moment a rank was assigned, it became a class.
The higher the rank, the more benefits were given. In addition, it was common for commoners of higher ranks to look down on those of lower ranks, and young women wanted to marry men of higher ranks.
‘The commoners in this city are desperate to raise their ranks, to maintain their ranks. It seems much harsher than other places.’
But there were no people fleeing to other cities. Rather, commoners were coming in from the outside. Tevra was very innovative, as it was the base of the Korea Trading Company. It was full of all sorts of strange things, and compared to other cities, the civilization itself seemed different.
Most of the commoners seemed satisfied with this convenient city.
“Baron Eugene Purcus.”
“Yes, Marquis.”
“Why did you implement this citizen ranking system? I can’t understand it.”
“Marquis, just as not all nobles are the same, not all commoners are the same. I believe that capable commoners should be treated better than incompetent ones. Commoners work more passionately because they want to raise their ranks and maintain them. As you can see from other territories, this city is probably the only one where commoners work this hard.”
“Merchants, commoners, and mercenaries are offering you bribes.”
“They give me gifts out of respect. As a lord, how can I refuse gifts that contain their hearts?”
“As an outsider, I have no right to interfere in this city. But as a guest, let me give you some advice… There will come a day when you’ll get into big trouble.”
Luke Man had lived a long time and had seen many things. Nobles who exploited their territory’s people to fatten their own pockets did not have good endings. They were abandoned by their children, lost everything by being deceived, or were killed by assassins.
“It’s okay. This city is under my feet.”
Eugene said calmly without changing his expression.
Luke Man revised his evaluation of Eugene.
At first, he thought he was close to a merchant. But looking at that figure, he was a noble. And a noble on par with the eldest son, Gent.
“What will you do about the war?”
“Pardon?”
“The war that is approaching. Are you going to support the army from behind using money? War is fought by people. If there are no weapons and food, war cannot be established. Count Purcus will also recognize rear support using money as a merit.”
“Even if I support supplies, I can’t just stay behind. It attracts less attention than fighting on the front lines. I will achieve an undeniable merit and become the master of Purcus.”
“I see.”
Luke Man taught Eugene basic spear techniques for several hours every day. But it wasn’t easy.
“You have no talent for spear techniques at all. A passing soldier would handle a spear better than you! Don’t think about handling it with just strength! Swing the spear more smoothly!”
“I told you I’m not interested in spear techniques. I prefer throwing spears.”
“The rumor that I’m teaching you spear techniques has already spread throughout the kingdom! My reputation is at stake because of you! At the very least, I’ll make sure you have a solid foundation! And in the future, if anyone asks about spear techniques, tell them you only learned the basics from me!”
Luke Man stayed in Tevra City for a month, much longer than he had planned. It was because Eugene had no talent. If he wasn’t an Aura Expert, he might have had to stay for years.
‘Hmm. Now that I’m about to leave the city, I feel like I’ll be uncomfortable. There aren’t many poor people, so the security is good, and the food was to my liking.’
***
After a month, Luke Man left. I sighed as I saw him off and asked Yuria.
“He’s finally gone. We weren’t caught, right?”
“Yes. Everything that needed to be hidden was hidden. I monitored Marquis Petras’ every move 24 hours a day through cameras.”
The territory Luke Man saw was only a small part of mine. There were so many things that would cause big trouble if discovered, so I was sweating while dealing with Luke Man.
‘For example, that I’m constantly torturing demons and criminals in the underground prison. Or that I’m not killing the kidnapped nobles but slowly making them confess information and extorting their assets….’
And the biggest problem at this point was smuggling.
I was selling military supplies to the Valt Kingdom, which could be considered the greatest enemy of the Rapelli Kingdom. It was a kind of treason.
‘Luke Man has a deep loyalty to the kingdom, so if he had noticed, he would have tried to cut off my head right away.’
Of course, I had no intention of being taken down so easily. In the worst case, Yuria would have stepped in and ended Luke Man’s life.
“Yuria, the reason the Marquis sought out our brothers… it must be because of his daughter, right?”
Luke Man had a daughter who was past the marriageable age. A tomboyish daughter. Unlike the other gentle noble ladies, she was so rough that she would directly wield a spear and go out to subdue bandits.
Despite the Petras family being a prestigious family, there weren’t many marriage proposals. Luke Man’s daughter rejected all of the few marriage offers. She had no intention of becoming a noble wife who only laughed and giggled.
“That’s highly likely. Marquis Petras has ill feelings towards Count Purcus, but he doesn’t have any particular feelings towards the Purcus family itself. Rather, he highly values the Purcus family.”
“I thought he was a hopeless old man, but he wasn’t that bad.”
It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in Luke Man’s daughter, but I had no intention of getting married right now. There were more disadvantages than advantages to getting married.
“Master, I have something to report.”
“Report? Is it serious?”
“It’s at a level that requires caution.”
I straightened my posture and listened to Yuria’s report.
“Do you remember Crown Prince Dulibad?”
It took me almost a minute to recall who Dulibad was.
“……Hmm. Ah, the Crown Prince of the Cobalt Kingdom, right?”
“Yes.”
We met at the Goldway Academy.
According to my memory, Crown Prince Dulibad had tried to propose to Melissa, the princess and student council president. But Melissa and I had sex in front of him.
‘Yuria killed his subordinate.’
That was all I remembered. I left the Goldway Academy without killing the Cobalt Crown Prince, and Melissa abandoned her family and ran away to become my maid.
“I know it’s presumptuous, but I was worried that he might harm you, so I attached a shadow to Crown Prince Dulibad.”
“Presumptuous? You’re always helping me out. I’m always grateful to you. But why him?”
“He made contact with Leosio Crysoid.”
There was no way I wouldn’t know that name. Because it was a name from the original work.
“……That guy contacted the Red Dragon? Why?”
“I can only think it’s because of his desire for revenge against you.”
