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"But, I heard Ghislaine say that the reason the Sword Sanctuary is the Sword Sanctuary is because it's the place where the strongest swordsman of the current era teaches their sword style..."
Allen scoffed.
"The current situation over the past century indeed shows that, but combined with the situation in the royal capital and the current state of the Water God Style, it can basically be concluded that one of the two strongest sword styles today, the Water God Style, has long been corrupted by secular influences."
This factual statement, a negative appraisal that definitively sealed the Water God Style's fate, made everyone except Isolte freeze. They abruptly turned to look at the main gate of the Water God Style Main Dojo, fearing that a horde of apprentices would rush out to beat up this young man who was publicly slandering the Water God Style at its own entrance.
But in just a flicker of thought, they once again looked at Allen in surprise.
—This 'young man' was originally the most outstanding disciple of this generation's Water God Style.
This logic, akin to 'I am framing myself,' left them somewhat bewildered.
Then they realized a truth.
Allen's words.
They were stating facts.
Isolte, who had been silently standing by, was the proof.
"A hundred years ago, the Water God Style, leveraging the excellent geographical location and population density of the Asura royal capital, recruited a large number of apprentices with excellent aptitude. They successfully won the challenge, and were able to reclaim the Sword Sanctuary. But after only five years, some individuals in the Asura royal capital, living lives of luxury and getting whatever they wished, couldn't sit still. Through secret liaisons with the contemporary King of Asura, these Water Emperors relaxed their discipline over their disciples, and ultimately 'successfully' relinquished the Sword Sanctuary in the next challenge."
"Upon returning to the royal capital, these Sword Emperors got what they desired, reclaiming the delights of power. Furthermore, at the King's behest, they strengthened the 'Dawn' Knights' Order's political color, establishing a direct promotion channel between the formerly voluntarily employed 'Dawn Knights' Order' and the Water God Style Main Dojo. This corrupted the Water God Style from top to bottom. From then on, apprentices of the Water God Style Dojo entered the dojo primarily with the goal of getting closer to power, and their aptitudes varied greatly."
"Within a few years, the overall strength of the Water God Style Main Dojo's disciples became inferior to the Sword God Style, naturally negating any claim of superior overall disciple strength."
"And this generation's Sword God, Garl, is a rather wild character. In his words, 'I pity you Water God Style, and I don't care about any damned disciple strength, nor do I care about any five-year agreement. You're welcome to challenge me anytime. As long as someone can defeat me, I'll hand over the Sword Sanctuary.'"
"Even so, the Water God Style still couldn't reclaim the Sword Sanctuary. This relaxed standard, this 'pity of the strong,' could not be met by the Water God Style's now declining top-tier combat strength. Even if Her Majesty Reida broke historical precedent, combining Sense Flow and Thought Flow to create a new, illogical Ougi like 'Deprivation Sword Realm,' she still couldn't defeat Garl."
"And with things having reached this point, if Reida were to abandon her base in the royal capital and seek other avenues, she might not even finish moving before the Water God Style Main Dojo disintegrated on its own. And what good would moving to another place do? The aptitude of any new blood there might not even be as good as these noble children in the royal capital, who receive the most elite education on the Central Continent."
"Thus, a vicious cycle began, and the Water God Style Main Dojo became even more firmly bound to the royal capital of Asura by Asuran royal power."
After he finished speaking, everyone realized what he meant by 'hindered.'
Then they all looked at Ariel.
Her face was noticeably awkward.
"I guarantee, if I truly have the opportunity to ascend to the throne, I will disband 'Dawn' and restore 'freedom' to the Water God Style Main Dojo, then thoroughly reform the Knights' Order."
Allen chimed in with a smile. "Then establish a Knights' Order loyal to yourself through an employment system, giving them a grand title like the Seven Knights of Asura (Seven is a lucky number in Mushoku Tensei, not indicating only seven knights; Ariel did indeed establish her own Seven Knights of Asura later in the original story, including Ghislaine and Isolte), something like that?"
"But how can you guarantee that those Water God Style Sword Emperors will be of one mind with you? Can you ensure that they truly believe your new reform aligns better with their interests? It will likely end up being just a superficial employment system, still hiding a direct promotion channel disguised as a 'recommendation system' within the employment system. Heh, the human heart is the most uncontrollable thing, you know that, don't you?"
Ariel was speechless, choked by Allen's words.
The latter, however, shrugged.
"No need to be alarmed. I'm not implying anything. The current situation of the Water God Style Dojo is the result of mutual choices; no one can blame anyone else. One can only say that when the previous Water God decided to establish the dojo in the royal capital, she never imagined that her disciples would become addicted to the taste of power, casting the First Water God's dying wish aside."
"And the fact that it can't contend with the Sword God Style now is also no one's fault."
"The Water God Style, it prospered in Asura, and it fell in Asura."
Allen glanced at the Water God Style Main Dojo's pillar again, then stepped forward.
"Let's go in."
The others quickly followed Allen, walking around the pillar and entering the main gate of the Water God Style Main Dojo.
Rounding the pillar, they were immediately met by the Water God Style Main Dojo's central courtyard.
In the courtyard, green trees hosted crows.
It wasn't paved with exquisite flagstones like the Boreas mansion, but rather maintained large areas of grass, with a Asuran Cypress planted every five meters.
The morning breeze drifted, rustling through the trees and leaves, and birds chirped.
On either side of their vision, stood a large, stadium-like dojo building, tightly against the wall, both with their doors closed. A faint scolding voice came from the dojo on the right, while the left side remained silent.
In the center of their view, a small, quaint pavilion, with no obvious signs of renovation, hid in the shade of the trees, sandwiched between the two dojo buildings in a pincer formation.
Unlike the striking, large dojo buildings, it was very unremarkable, like a storage room.
Beneath their feet, wide walkways paved with blue flagstones divided the trees and grass, forming a 'cross' that connected the main dojo's three buildings to its main gate.
Rudy, Sylphy, and Eris instinctively looked towards the right-hand dojo's main gate, from where the scolding sound originated.
But besides these three, Allen, Isolte, Ariel, and Derrick Redbat were all looking directly at the unassuming pavilion in the center of their vision.
Allen looked at the pavilion, a smile forming on his lips.
It was somewhat restrained, yet somewhat uninhibited.
The former was out of respect, the latter because...
Only the chief disciples of the large and small dojos, and some already-graduated free practitioners, could enter this small building. Because there were no fixed personnel, it never had a chief disciple.
However, he was now, in effect, the 'chief disciple.'
Three styles, King-level.
Below one person, above a thousand.
The two Emperor-level practitioners were not included in this; they were martial uncles.
They were no longer part of the Water God Style Main Dojo.
And, even if they were.
What would it matter?
Allen would gladly wrestle with those two 'old folks.'
"Do you think Master will be in the 'Direct Instruction Dojo' now?"
Isolte, seeing Allen's expression, also wore a cryptic smile.
It was somewhat comforting, and somewhat proud.
"I don't know. Grandmother is busy with many affairs. Senior Brother, why don't you go see? If she's there, it would be a pleasant surprise."
Allen chuckled.
"Are you sure it wouldn't be a shock? After all, I 'died and came back to life.'"
"...Senior Brother!" A rare, full-of-girlish-ness huff.
Just then, "How dare you talk back! You're still chasing a defeated apprentice!" a scolding voice came from the dojo on the right.
Allen heard the familiar voice from the 'Main Dojo' on the right. He changed tack, teasingly.
"Two years, and Dantolis, this married Intermediate Swordsman, has become the chief disciple of the junior dojo?"
Hearing this, Isolte's feigned look of anger couldn't hold. The fact that her married older brother had gone back to be a kindergarten class monitor was indeed amusing.
"The new chief disciple of the 'Main Dojo' after you and me is that kid Fols. He only learned your sharpness, Senior Brother, but not your prudence. He always causes trouble, so my brother has to step in occasionally to discipline them."
The few people in the courtyard had already fixed their gazes on Allen.
Everyone was very interested in Allen's past.
Allen chuckled. "Don't be silly. What do you mean he learned my sharpness? No, is sharpness violence? I don't remember..."
"I don't accept it!! Senior Brother Allen is just like that! What if you're older than me? Does being a few years older give you the right to lecture me? If you want to convince me, speak with strength! Otherwise, shut that noble mouth of yours!"
Silence.
Both inside and outside the dojo, silence fell.
Allen's eye twitched. "Did I say that?"
Isolte replied with a smile, "Senior Brother didn't say that."
Allen rubbed his chin. "I thought so..."
"You just went for it."
"...Huh?"
"Senior Brother is truly forgetful. Back then, most apprentices in the small dojo were older than you. Many didn't accept you as chief disciple and always tried to suppress you with their noble ways."
Allen's expression shifted to surprise. He immediately turned to look at Eris beside him.
Sure enough, the latter's eyes were already sparkling with excitement.
"No, what I was trying to say was..."
"And then!?" The little lion's excited, loud voice.
"Beat them up once a day, with different moves each time. After a week, they were all obedient," Isolte's smile deepened.
"Wait, violence, that kind of thing—" Allen rushed to interject.
"It's damn effective," Isolte immediately cut in. "Those were Senior Brother's exact words. Isn't that impressive?"
"Ah? No..." Allen's mouth hung open, somewhat choked.
"Yes!" Eris instantly interrupted his casting.
Allen stared dumbfounded at Isolte, who was desperately trying to appease his little sister-in-law. He felt that his plan to send Eris to a noble school and educate her into a 'lady' with manners and fists was now at risk of dying in the womb.
"I was trying to say, violence depends on the situation, Eris."
The latter immediately responded, her red eyes burning. "I understand! Ghislaine said, the blade's tip only points towards enemies!"
Allen breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that big cat from the Boreas family still had some use.
But...
Why did something still feel off?
One minute later, outside the 'Main Dojo' gate, Allen stared, bewildered, at his junior disciple who had sprinted towards him from the ground, embraced him, and then been kicked to the ground by Eris, whose eyebrows were raised.
He finally understood what felt off.
The concept of an 'enemy' varied from person to person.
For Eris, anything that tried to hug her brother without her permission.
That was, naturally, an enemy.
And while he was bewildered, the 'Main Dojo' chief disciple, who was even taller than Eris, naturally wouldn't accept this. Very quickly! He stood up, wielding his wooden sword, ready for a 'man-to-man' showdown with Eris.
Then Eris kicked him down again. "Too weak!"
Truly violent.
An insurmountable gap in strength existed between an Intermediate Water God Style practitioner and an Advanced Sword God Style practitioner personally taught by Allen.
Sylphy and Rudy were trying to pull Eris away to prevent her from killing the man.
"Thank you. It's time to teach Fols a lesson; he's too arrogant and can no longer be controlled."
Allen looked up awkwardly at Dantolis, whose eyes were almost identical to Isolte's. He was giving Allen a grateful look, seemingly very touched that Allen had immediately helped him resolve the trouble at hand upon his return.
Damn it.
"...You're welcome, it's only right. Isolte told me you got married; though it's a bit late, congratulations on your wedding."
As the two conversed, the hundreds of people in the dojo were like a flock of curious chicks, craning their necks. Those from less prominent families were particularly excited, waving at Ariel.
Ariel smiled and waved back, subtly moving closer to Allen.
Those from well-off families, having often seen Ariel, the socialite of the royal capital, at various banquets, didn't react with much excitement to her presence at the Water God Style Main Dojo. Instead, they focused their gaze on Allen, Sylphy, Isolte, Ariel, and Eris, their eyes shifting continuously, whispering among themselves.
Their eyes held various emotions, all very 'Asura noble.'
Dantolis was different from them. Although older and with a wild nature in bed, his smile was quite steady, and he wasn't thinking anything improper. He even showed a hint of shyness, seeing 'his childhood friend Allen' before him. The exasperated look he had when scolding the apprentices in the dojo just moments ago had vanished.
He scrutinized Allen, whose height and appearance had changed slightly, then gave him a hug. He turned and performed a noble bow to Ariel, then glanced at Rudy, shifting his gaze. It lingered briefly on Sylphy.
Finally, he naturally moved his gaze away.
He fixed his gaze on Eris, who stood with her arms crossed, her brows vaguely resembling Allen's.
"Is this..."
"My younger sister..."
"Remarkable skill, indeed. Just like Allen, a true talent."
"Thank you!" Eris interjected.
"It's I who should be thanking you," Dantolis said, smiling at the little lion.
Allen: ...
He was silenced for a moment, then turned to scan the Intermediate and Low-rank swordsmen in the dojo.
"Seriously, did you expect my return?"
Dantolis froze, subtly glancing at Isolte, whose smile had grown softer and happier since returning to the dojo.
He replied in a lowered voice.
"Yes, after sister left, Grandmother seemed certain you would return."
"She spread the word beforehand."
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