Chapter 93: Luminus Arcantel Valentina [4]

Chapter 92

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Episode 20 - Luminus Arcantel Valentina [4]

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Minutes passed, and Charlotte had already returned. She stared at me with obvious annoyance.

"Seriously, don’t you have any other clothes?"

"Mhm, why would I have women’s clothes?"

Charlotte was wearing my clothes. I only had a couple of sets in my Inventory and, for obvious reasons, I didn’t have women’s clothing.

Charlotte sighed.

"Fine."

She sat where I had previously been sitting while listening to part of Luminus’s past.

In any case, I headed toward the hot springs about ten meters away. I took off my clothes and stepped in.

’I really don’t know how this Chapter will end.’

I had a bad premonition. I already knew what Luminus was searching for in this place, especially after what she had just told me.

Of course, maybe it was just a simple story about a destined encounter or something like that, but if Kyle was the person she was searching for...

’Master, is there any record of Kyle ever being in this place?’

My Master replied quickly. She had also heard Luminus’s story.

〖Sorry, I don’t remember any record of that person. This is the first time I’ve heard that name and surname〗

’Mhm, so it’s a noble house erased from history, and it seems he wasn’t a hero recorded in the Memory Gate either.’

I tilted my head, unable to stop myself from thinking about various scenarios.

In any case, I focused on bathing and, after around ten or twenty minutes, I returned.

"So... uh, we should probably wait until the storm ends."

I said while focusing my attention on Luminus. She nodded and replied:

"Yes, although it may take days before it finally stops."

"And once it stops, what will we do?"

Charlotte asked.

Luminus replied:

"I’ll go destroy the villains’ base hidden within this mountain. They should have the necessary materials there to create a Teleportation Matrix."

Charlotte nodded calmly.

Meanwhile, I sat down beside her and let out a sigh.

She leaned closer to me and quietly said:

"Time here is different from the real world, isn’t it?"

"...."

"Do you even pay attention during Professor Gregory’s classes?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Clearly, she was lazy during Professor Gregory’s theoretical classes.

And so, the hours slowly passed. Then, time itself began to feel slower and slower.

And perhaps one or two days had already gone by.

***

Swift! Swift! Swift!

The sound of air being sliced apart, the vibrations and resonances with the surroundings.

Charlotte looked at Luminus. She moved her sword as though she were performing some kind of dance, or perhaps a performance.

Whatever it was, those movements were incredibly striking. Charlotte couldn’t help but openly admire Luminus’s swordsmanship.

For the past two days, she had watched Luminus train.

At first, it had simply been curiosity. After all, who wouldn’t want to witness the swordsmanship of a hero from hundreds of years ago?

Especially that of the Fallen Maiden.

No one truly knew what her swordsmanship looked like. She was better known as the first human to reach 11 Stars.

After her came the Five Swords and the rest of the heroes who fought against the Abyss Lords.

’No matter how many times I watch her, it’s truly beautiful.’

Every movement was eye-catching, yet at the same time filled with different emotions and experiences.

Pain, sorrow, helplessness...

A sword art created to make enemies feel pain.

Naturally, Charlotte did not know that. To her, it was simply a flawless, noble, and beautiful sword.

Not far away, Adel was also training, although his training looked more like meditation than actual training.

’That guy stays like that for hours... how can he be so strong?’

The Second Form of Inverted Heaven was not trained physically, but through a trance-like state similar to enlightenment.

So, to Charlotte, it simply looked like Adel was meditating, perhaps training his senses or something along those lines.

Anything except actual sword training.

Charlotte looked down at both of her hands. Although she had calluses, she did not truly possess a sword art like the other children of the Five Houses.

The Starlight House only passed down the Sword Art <Flower of Fallen Stars> to the legitimate heir of the Starlight family.

And neither she nor Leon were the legitimate heirs of their House.

The legitimate heir was their older sister, who had graduated from the Holy Academy three years ago.

So neither sibling possessed a sword art that could truly be considered powerful.

They only had swordsmanship trained and taught by the best instructors in their family.

’Well, if I remembered the novel better, maybe I could find a sword art in the future.’

She felt completely weak compared to the other children of the Five Houses.

Even a commoner was stronger than her.

Charlotte simply sighed. In any case, what could she do?

Training swordsmanship she had already mastered obviously would not help much, so during the last two days she had only trained her mana and learned how to use her attribute abilities.

Unexpectedly, Adel was a good teacher when explaining concepts related to attribute abilities.

Thanks to that, she learned quickly and managed to master some basic abilities of her Stellar attribute.

"You’ve been sighing every time you see me training."

Suddenly, a voice beside her pulled Charlotte out of her thoughts.

At some point, Luminus had sat down next to her.

Charlotte flinched slightly before regaining her composure.

"Ah, w-well, it’s because both of you train almost all day..."

She looked at Adel and slightly changed her comment.

"Well, I mean, only you train all day, and honestly, I feel jealous. All of my... friends have sword arts inherited from their families, but in my family only the heir can learn the sword art of the head of the house, and..."

She let out her frustration.

Every time she saw the others at the Academy practicing different techniques she had never seen before, the jealousy inside her only continued to grow.

Over time, that envy toward others had intensified.

Charlotte was a reincarnator from an ordinary world. She was a fan of fantasy and romance novels.

She had been lucky enough to be born into a noble house, and not just any noble house, but one of the Five Ducal Houses of the Sacred Continent.

Houses known for their unique sword arts, although unfortunately only one person per generation could learn them.

Because of that, Charlotte had no master who could pass down a sword art to her.

’I just want to survive, and to do that, I need strength, so I need a sword art on the level of the Five Houses or even higher.’

She wanted one of the sword arts of the Five Swords, but she knew that was almost impossible.

Luminus listened to her in silence. Then he looked ahead and let out a sigh.

"I can teach you, if that’s what you want, and I don’t mind doing it, but..."

Charlotte’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Luminus.

However, Luminus did not look particularly pleased at the idea of passing down his sword art.

"...It’s not a sword art you would truly want to learn."

Charlotte tilted her head, confused.

’A sword art she doesn’t want to teach? What does that mean?’

Luminus noticed the confusion on Charlotte’s face and let out another sigh.

"You see, my sword art is connected to negative emotions. The slightest mistake can allow those emotions to consume you, and the only way to prevent that is with a Unique Trait that only I possess."

However, Charlotte practically ignored Luminus’s words and explanations.

After all, this was not the real world. Besides, if she completed the Memory Gate, she would be able to choose any of Luminus’s Traits.

’If it’s a sword art with side effects, and the only solution is a Trait she possesses, then it’s not impossible, right?’

Charlotte smiled, and her emotions only intensified.

"I don’t care. I just want to become stronger, that’s all."

Luminus pressed her lips into a thin line, wondering whether she should really teach Charlotte.

In the end, she let out a sigh and said:

"Even after I warned you about the side effects, you still want to learn, so I won’t refuse."

A smile filled with happiness spread across Charlotte’s face.

Standing before her was a heroine who had saved countless lives, someone who had achieved everything she ever desired and whose name was still remembered to this day.

"Ah, may I know the name of the Trait you mentioned?"

Just in case she managed to complete the Memory Gate, Charlotte would choose the Trait capable of removing the side effect of Luminus’s sword art.

Of course, that was assuming she could learn it in time.

Luminus looked at Charlotte, gave a slight nod, and replied:

"Paradise. That is the name of the Unique Trait."

Charlotte, grinning from ear to ear, nodded and got straight to the point.

She stood up from where she had been sitting, grabbed her sword almost instantly, and stared directly at Luminus.

"Then, how do we begin... master? I can call you that, right?"

Luminus’s eyes widened slightly before she nodded with a faint smile.

"Call me whatever you want. I really don’t mind."

To Luminus, Charlotte would become her first disciple. She had never considered taking one before, because her sword art was the only thing she could pass on.

However, because of its side effects, she had always believed it was better not to accept disciples.

Even so, whether Charlotte’s words were born from jealousy, admiration, or some other emotion...

Luminus looked into Charlotte’s determined eyes.

Charlotte was not someone seeking strength for no reason, but someone who genuinely wanted to live. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"All right, master."

And just like Luminus, Charlotte genuinely felt happy to have, for the first time, a master of her own.