Elia, who turned 15 this year.
She thought the world was dull.
“…It’s boring, everything.”
Clearly, there was a time when every little thing about learning swordsmanship was enjoyable, but when did it become like this?
Was it when she learned all the sword techniques from Kael?
Or was it when she realized the concept of mana from Kael?
Or maybe it was when she created an aura in just one month?
She wasn’t sure exactly when, but she understood the reason why swordsmanship felt so dull.
“Ugh, maybe it’s because I’m just too much of a genius.”
Elia considered herself a genius.
A swordsmanship genius who only appears once in a thousand or ten thousand years.
That genius was Elia herself.
If anyone had heard this, they would have dismissed it as a child’s nonsense, but unfortunately, Elia proved this fact when she easily defeated the Shardena Knights in a duel a year ago, arranged by Zenre.
At just 14 years old, she defeated a knight-level opponent from the Shardena Knights.
How incredible is that?
To the ultra-genius Elia, the world was bound to be boring.
However, even such an Elia had a recent dilemma, and that was struggling to create a new, practical sword technique.
“I thought it would be easy to make it if I tried a few times… Why isn’t it coming together?”
According to her father, Kael, and her former teacher, Zenre, a practical sword technique was a sword style newly created to match one’s own personality and combat style, built on “basic sword techniques” and “modified sword techniques.”
Therefore, when Elia heard this, having learned Kael’s practical sword techniques, she thought:
She didn’t want to use someone else’s practical sword technique; she wanted to create her own.
If Kael’s disciples heard this, they would have scolded her, saying, “After learning Kael’s practical sword techniques, you’re saying something so arrogant?”
But unfortunately, Elia had already made up her mind.
She wasn’t bothered by their disapproval.
A sword technique just for her, made by her.
How cool is that?
However, unlike other swordsmanship, where she could grasp the movements easily after a few tries, creating a practical sword technique was something she had been working on for months, but still, it didn’t click.
“I want to make it as cool as possible… Why can’t I make a sword technique where it goes whoosh, and then bang?”
Of course, Elia, who could feel the movements of muscles and the flow of mana and the smoothness between sword techniques, knew that the sword techniques she envisioned were all inefficient.
But still, weren’t they cool?
Even if they were inefficient, she wanted to make them into her own practical sword techniques.
She had been researching them all this time, but of course, the results were null.
Moreover, when Kael, who had secretly been observing Elia’s research, pointed out that such movements weren’t suitable for practical sword techniques, Elia felt her anger rising.
“Dad, you’re always meddling… Why don’t you teach me properly?”
Now that she thought about it, she realized she was angry because she had been caught in an embarrassing moment, and she felt a little sorry for having yelled at Kael back then.
However, from Elia’s perspective, it was inevitable that she didn’t like Kael, who was just criticizing from the side without offering any advice.
Kael always said that he did it for her sake, but if he truly cared for her, wouldn’t he teach her something?
“Sigh…Life is bitter.”
Because of this, Elia often let out a bitter sigh, just like Martin, the guild master of the mercenary guild she had seen before.
She wanted to light a cigarette while thinking this way, but she knew that if she did, it would end in hours of punishment from Ruina, so instead, she put a lollipop in her mouth.
“Sweet… candy…”
As Elia savored the sweetness of the lollipop in her mouth, she suddenly remembered a conversation from the past, one that Zenre had said.
“Oh, come to think of it…!”
Zenre had once told her something about practical sword techniques.
“Both my master and your father’s other disciples created practical sword techniques during wars, right?”
Zenre had said that the best way to create a practical sword technique was through intense real-life combat that would lead to enlightenment.
If that was the case, couldn’t Elia create her own practical sword technique by experiencing that intense real-life combat herself?
It was a simple and clear answer, but in Elia’s mind, it was the perfect solution.
She quickly found some stationery among the books on her desk.
“Well, this works out perfectly. My mom, who nags me every day, and my dad, who always interferes… If I leave home, things might get better, right?”
They probably didn’t think she would actually run away, so if Elia left a letter and left home, things would change a lot.
Perhaps, if she took action, they might even cry and say they were wrong.
With these teenage thoughts, Elia began writing a letter, and soon after, she placed it on her desk and began packing her things.
“First, my clothes and pocket money… I’ll take my sword too… And then…?”
First, I packed three days’ worth of clothes that Ruina had chosen for me in my backpack.
Then, I fastened the allowance pouch given to me by Kael and Ruina around my waist.
I also took the real sword that Kael had given me as a birthday gift a year ago.
Looking at what I had packed, I realized everything was given to me by my parents.
However, such a fact did not cross Elia’s mind at that moment.
What mattered to Elia now was simply gathering the necessary belongings to leave home immediately.
After packing everything into the backpack, Elia threw open the window of her room.
If she tried to leave through the mansion’s front door, the maids or the butler would surely catch her.
Clatter—
“Alright, shall we go?”
As she opened the window, the cool late-spring breeze brushed against her face.
It almost felt as if even the sky was blessing her escape.
With determination, Elia stepped onto the windowsill and leaped beyond the fence.
“Let’s go! Time to experience real combat!”
The grueling battles that Zenre had spoken of.
To experience them, Elia had chosen a single destination.
“Wait for me, Delusion Forest!”
One of the monster habitats bordering the kingdom—Delusion Forest.
With excitement, Elia set off toward her destination.
“What did you say?”
On the way back from an enjoyable trip to the market.
However, that joy shattered the moment they stepped into the mansion.
“The young lady… has run away from home.”
The head maid hesitantly spoke while glancing at Ruina and me.
Behind her stood Sera, the maid who had first discovered Elia’s letter.
Thud, roll—
The paper bag slipped from Ruina’s hand, and the lemons inside rolled onto the floor.
The moment we heard the words, Ruina and I instinctively dashed upstairs toward Elia’s room.
Thud, thud, thud, thud—!!
We ran up the stairs so fast it felt like they might break.
Upon reaching Elia’s room, Ruina and I grabbed the letter on the desk—presumably the one Elia had left behind—and began reading.
I am running away from home.
“I can no longer stay in this house, which is of no help to me. I have decided to leave to develop my own practical swordsmanship style. I do not plan to return until I complete my practical swordsmanship, so please do not try to find me. Lastly, I can now take care of myself, so I ask that you stop interfering unnecessarily in my life.”
Sincerely, Elia, your daughter.
The letter was certainly rude, yet strangely formal in its tone.
However, the core message remained the same—Elia had run away.
For a moment, Ruina staggered in shock, and I felt my mind go blank.
Had we been too lenient?
Or had I unknowingly done something wrong?
Regardless of the cause, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was my fault.
But I forced myself to calm down, taking deep breaths to steady my thoughts.
“Ka-Kael… W-What should we do? What if Elia gets into trouble out there…?”
Ruina was panicking, speaking in a frantic mess of words.
I couldn’t afford to lose composure as well.
Seeing Ruina on the verge of tears and trembling with worry, I pulled her into an embrace to soothe her.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure nothing happens to her. Trust me.”
“How…?”
“There’s someone in the kingdom right now who will be very useful in times like this.”
I reassured Ruina while pulling out my communication device from my waist.
Elia had asked us not to look for her.
But how could we possibly obey that?
Even if it meant she would resent me, it was only natural to track her down.
Pouring mana into the communication device, I muttered the name of a person currently in the kingdom.
“Asili Martina.”
A legendary assassin feared across the continent.
A myth among assassins, unrivaled even in the underworld.
And currently, someone who was on vacation in the kingdom.
I called her name into the device.
To entrust her with the mission of tracking down my daughter.