Translator: Darling | Editor: Walker

Iris conjured up her imitation blade.

She was in deep concentration – She closed her eyes as I told her to, and took in a deep breath to take in her surroundings.

This is completely different from cutting something you see with your eyes. You have to use your smell and hearing to get a grip on this.

This is the “Number six” technique.

By mastering this technique, you can sense where your opponent will strike next.

Intuition and experience – With those two cornerstones, you can cut any unseen object.

It’s not something you can learn overnight, but in Iris’ case, she might actually be able to do it.

(She won the kingdom’s “Swordsman Tournament” when she was 10 years old. That’s quite something when even grown-up knights participated in that very tournament.)

I have heard quite a bit about Iris from the captain, ever since I was pointed out to be her escort.

Aside from the captain, of course, I overhear rumors about her too.

Ever since she won the tournament she has gained the title of “Swordmaster Princess”.

Other famous knights were overwhelmed by her sword technique as well.

I think I just arrived in the kingdom when this whole ordeal played out.

Ever since she was young, her father, Karos Reinfell demanded that she would be trained so that she could prosper.

I have only ever heard of him as the former knight’s order captain.

The kingdom is divided into 5 districts, each having their own knights order. The current Black Wolf Knights Order captain, Remyl, seems to have been his subordinate.

But suddenly, Karos was no more. 

Iris’ mother is now representing the Reinfell household. 

Originally, she might have meant to succeed her mother, but Iris has become a potential candidate to become “King” instead.

I think the first time I ever saw her was when I just became a knight. It was at the aristocratic social gathering I think?

Though she was a child, she spoke with such a demeanor, as if she was an adult – no, as if she was even better than them.

Comparing that image of her with that of what I see now at the academy, there’s really quite a difference.

Chasing me around so that I would teach her, getting all fidgety when I am finally teaching her, and then now she’s concentrating so deeply to grow stronger – That’s the one they call Iris Reinfell.

“Sssu”

Iris took in a small breath.

It has been 3 minutes since she started concentrating – Finally she drew her blade.

But she just swung it into the empty air.

Though it was her first strike of that training, she already looked pretty bummed out.

“I-it was going to fall behind me, I thought…”

“Is that a kind of intuition just now?”

“Yes, sort of. I mean, it’s the first time I’ve ever swung my sword in the air like that. Call it intuition if you’d like, but it just feels like a guess at this point.”

“No, that’s pretty good actually. Begin by incorporating that, then you will eventually integrate it properly. You’re not swinging about all willy nilly, you’re actually concentrated, and I think that’s very good.”

“T-thank you.”

Not expecting to be praised, Iris looked down while her cheeks turned red.

It makes me wonder who exactly I am teaching right now.

Aside from me, Remyl had the same thought – Actually, she just wants to be trained by a person. 

“Let’s continue like this for a while. If there’s anything, I will give you the instructions.”

“Alright!”

As Iris responded she started to concentrate on her surroundings again.

Even though she just swung once so far, I could see there was some sweat on her face.

For Iris to be able to do this – Taking those words back might be quite rude towards her.

Even with a personality like hers, she has to be a swordsman somewhere.

(This is supposed to be the first training, but I don’t really do much huh… 

I will make sure to train her next time..)

I leaned onto a tree and started looking up at the sky.

It was then that I got the message.

“Blue Blade” Bell Trusou was defeated. He became famous after he defeated the bandits in the south, and managed to capture its leaders.

Faster and more beautiful than any other swordmaster – is what the rumors had about him.

We had never directly met before though he was in the same knighthood as I.

As a knight, he might be very young, but he was definitely powerful. 

I was sure that I heard this rapport before that he was able to pull off the intended strategy. 

But it seems he was found dead.

With scars all over his body, it has been discovered that he had died of blood loss. 3 fatal wounds were found on his body.

Though they called them fatal wounds, it seems Bell managed to fight with them. A knight to the very end it seems.

The blood left on his blade was a “Magical mark”. By examining this mark you can determine who’s blood it is, but in the end, it seems all of that blood was just his own.

To summarize this – Bell wasn’t able to land a hit and then he died.

(If I compare it to Azuma, I would say that he was definitely on the same level – Would it be right to assume the other “Swordsman Gang” members are even stronger?)

The one that came to tell me the news of Bell wasn’t Remyl, but a knight of her squad instead. 

It seems Remyl is figuring out what to do next.

She always seems to be joking, but she does think of her subordinates too.

It seems that only two knights survived in the end. According to them, there are at least 3 Swordsman Gang members.

A woman who managed to cut down 10 knights, a man that struck down Bell, and a younger man.

From an escort’s perspective, teaching Iris the blade is very useful. But we must also consider the enemy’s viewpoint.

What’s important now is not to “Search and destroy the SG” but instead “Protect Iris”.

At least, that’s what I thought.

I was thinking about going over it with Remyl, about what would be the best way to go about it, especially since we don’t really know what their power levels are.

Being Iris’ escort and also looking for the SG is not an option. The quickest way to deal with them would be to stick with Iris over here.

I gazed back at Iris who was still concentrating on her training.

The Swordmaster Princess – All I could see was an ordinary girl. 

Well, she’s hot-blooded, but she does listen to what I say.

(It’s really not worth the trouble … is what I would always think. Would it still be right to think so this time around too?)

I teach her so that I will also reside over her training.