Hearing Paul's answer, Alan lowered his head without a word, just repeatedly stroking the hilt of his sword.
Paul, however, looked at Alan as if he were a troubled teen and said softly.
"And I think, if this question were posed to Philip… he would make the same choice as me."
That sentence pulled Alan out of his rather emotional state. He glanced at Paul and finally understood why Paul hadn't gotten angry at his question but had instead explained things to him so gently.
'So all that buildup was for this final line?'
'You can't judge others by your own standards, Paul. You're a dedicated father, but that doesn't mean everyone is.'
'The real reason I'm not close to Philip is that I'm a transmigrator, not because of some childhood trauma from being alone, as you seem to think. I got used to being alone in my past life. Rediscovering familial bonds in another world? No, thanks.'
Seeing Alan's rather indifferent expression, Paul scratched his head. He thought he had done his best to put in a good word for Philip, but it didn't seem to have any effect on Alan.
In the distance, Roxy noticed Alan had left the group. During a break in Sylphie's magic practice, she tilted her head and gave Alan an inquisitive look.
Alan smiled back, signaling that everything was fine.
"Hey! Sylphie, where are you looking?! Your Fireball singed my hair!"
"S-So sorry! I was distracted!"
He turned his gaze to the flustered Sylphie, his eyes softening.
"Teacher? Teacher?"
"Ah… sorry Rudy, I spaced out…"
Just then, Paul's hesitant voice reached his ears again.
"…Alan, Philip has his own difficulties, you should know that. It's a tradition in the Boreas family. If you had grown up by his side, you would surely understand the kind of person he is…"
Alan glanced at Paul with a smile.
'Family-man Paul would naturally speak up for Philip… However, Philip's ambition to grasp for power in the capital has never faded. In the original story, during the home tutoring period, after seeing Rudy's exceptional magical talent, he was even willing to use his own daughter as a bargaining chip to lure Rudy into marrying into the family. Unless he can one day willingly let go of his obsession with power, he will never put his mind to so-called family affection.'
'And it's not just his problem; the entire Boreas family has the pursuit of desire etched into their very being.'
'Sauros had a deep-seated sense of responsibility for his domain. After the Great Displacement, he ignored the wishes of the next generation, willing to spend his entire fortune to rebuild his territory.'
'Eris's obsession with becoming stronger to protect Rudy led her to leave him a letter after their first night together and go to the Holy Land of the Sword for grueling training, even going years without contact.'
'And then there's me…'
Alan's hand gripping the hilt tightened, veins popping out.
'This desire for power, stemming from my bloodline and the depths of my heart, is completely different from my previous life.'
Alan turned to look at Paul.
"I have a question about swordsmanship I'd like to ask you, Uncle."
Paul seemed unable to follow Alan's train of thought. One moment they were talking about life and death, and now it had suddenly shifted to swordsmanship.
He blinked.
"Huh? Uh… Sword God Style again? If it's Sword God Style, I don't have much more to teach you."
"No, it's the Water God Style."
Paul's face stiffened. He pointed a finger at himself, his expression one of disbelief.
"Water God Style? Me? Do I look like Reida to you? Your proficiency in Water God Style is clearly much higher than mine, okay?"
Alan shook his head.
"I need the spark of inspiration that comes from clashing with a completely different fighting style to achieve an epiphany. As you know, creating one's own secret technique requires continuously building one's own combat methods and theories."
'The underlying logic for getting stronger in the world of Mushoku Tensei is based on talent and insight. Whether it's the Dragon God's son Orsted, born in Rome, or Rudy with the Laplace Factor, every master has at least one of these traits on a cheat-level. I've already obtained the Dragon Saint Battle Aura in terms of talent. Next, I should naturally use this advantage to constantly seek epiphanies and perfect my own combat theory. I can't be like Ghislaine, who relied on instinct during her adventurer days, lingered at the Sword Saint rank for years, and only broke through to Sword King after realizing she needed to refine her combat theory.'
'Speaking of epiphanies… it reminds me of that bastard Ghino. He literally had an epiphany after sleeping with his wife and, in just one or two years as a Sword King, beat his Sword God father-in-law so badly he broke his spirit. In the end, his father-in-law was so out of his mind that he tried to fight Eris with Water God Style. He had truly lost his senses.'
Paul tilted his head, looking at the pensive Alan with a flicker of interest on his face.
"…I see."
As soon as he finished speaking, he drew his sword and looked at Alan excitedly.
"An epiphany requires constant hammering, right? It just so happens that I'd like to see this secret technique you've created. How about it?"
'You're so easy to read, Paul.'
"Although I can have epiphanies without being hammered, since you're an intuitive type, perhaps 'hammering' would be more effective for you, just like yesterday morning…"
As Alan spoke, he slowly drew the blade from his waist.
—
Alan and Paul took their positions at the back of the yard, creating some distance between them. Zenith, Rudy, and the others immediately stopped Sylphie's magic test and formed a circle around the two to watch.
Roxy, feeling the tense atmosphere between them, covered her mouth and whispered to Rudy beside her.
"This morning, you were talking about your fight with Alan, and it didn't feel real. But he can actually spar with Sir Paul? I remember Sir Paul is at the Advanced-rank in Sword God, Water God, and North God styles… Alan is…"
Rudy looked at the two of them, his young face grave.
"I don't want to say anything that would diminish Father's prestige, but Alan is strong. Really, really strong. You heard a lot during this morning's review, didn't you?"
Roxy nodded, her blue hair bouncing.
"To be honest, because I took this match very seriously… uh…"
Rudy glanced at Roxy as he spoke, then continued.
"So, over the past two months, I did a thorough investigation of Alan. I developed detailed, targeted strategies based on almost every ability he had shown. But even so, he still beat me twice in the match. And both times, it was because he used sword techniques I had never seen before, which meant I was completely unprepared."
Roxy recalled the high-speed slashes Alan had used to dismember the monster two months ago and nodded.
"…He can indeed use sword techniques that are completely out of place for his age. In all my years as an adventurer, I've never seen a swordsman use that move of his."
Rudy nodded.
"The first time I lost was because of a North God Style throwing technique. I had never seen him use it, so I didn't manage the distance between us properly. I carelessly let him get within a range where he could kill me with a thrown blade."
"Uh, I heard you mention that this morning… What about the second time?"
"The second time was a combination of Water God and Sword God techniques… Damn it, how many tricks does this guy have hidden? How can he have unseen techniques for every style? The second time, I used a large-scale combination magic to trap him in place and stop his high-speed movement. He first used a self-created Water God secret technique to block all my magic, then used the deflected spells under his feet as a 'springboard' to escape the mud."
"But even so, I had anticipated that he would find some way to escape. So I used a combination of Geothermal Mud and ice lances to create a large-area 'Dense Fog' combination magic to blind him…"
Hearing this, Roxy was already breaking out in a cold sweat. She had never even heard of a combination magic called "Dense Fog." She couldn't help but marvel inwardly, 'Is this the world of geniuses?'
"But even though I thought I was fully prepared, something still went wrong. I didn't account for Alan's 'Soundless Tachi'. The moment I launched my ice lances, the fog was dispersed by them, revealing my position. Using the 'springboard' he had prepared, he seized that fleeting opportunity… and I lost again."
Roxy asked in confusion.
"Oh? You didn't consider that he could use the Soundless Tachi when you were preparing?"
Rudy looked at Alan, who was warming up in the yard, drawing his sword and practicing various stances, and shook his head.
"I did consider it. But I didn't expect him to be so fast, almost faster than Father… You don't know, but he's not actually very good at Sword God Style, so he's been asking Father for guidance these past two months. And on the very morning of our match, I had confirmed that he still couldn't grasp the Soundless Tachi."
Roxy raised an eyebrow.
"Then how…"
Rudy rubbed his face in slight frustration, feeling keenly that even with his silent casting, which Roxy praised daily, he couldn't compare to Alan's level of genius.
"That's the problem, Teacher. He really hadn't mastered the essence of the Sword God Style before I left. But I heard from Father afterward that on that morning, Father, on a whim, gave Alan some pointers on how to swing his sword, how to capture the 'feeling' of executing the Soundless Tachi. And then, with just one experimental swing…"
Rudy turned to look at Roxy.
"He learned it."
Author's Note: The book title has been changed to something more fun. It wasn't getting enough traffic, so this is a last-ditch effort before the smart recommendation period ends.
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