Originally, people didn't change so easily like that.

If they changed that easily, why would Jijel suffer so much in the White Tiger Tower?

No matter how much the White Tiger Tower students were beaten and locked up in the punishment room, they always chose the joy of the outdoors over studying. Even baby beasts would listen better than them.

"Moradi. What do you think?"

"...It does seem sincere."

Unlike the two who were very suspicious, the knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order were truly sincere.

Yi-Han didn't feel it, but the fear felt by the knights who directly faced Duke Icaldoren's anger was on a different level.

It was a fear that made them think they could really die here.

Such fear had the power to make one reflect on their own actions and repent.

The knights who barely escaped the crisis were sincerely ashamed of their actions.

"Well... It was nothing. I'm glad everyone is okay."

Unable to know the other party's intentions, Yi-Han gave an appropriate answer for now.

He planned to keep a distance after going along with them.

"Is the knight who was hit and flew... No, fell back quite far earlier, alright?"

"Some bones were broken, but he's fine."

'Doesn't seem fine.'

Yi-Han subtly stood behind Jijel. It was to prepare for any unexpected situation.

"It was truly amazing magic. I knew the students of Einroguard were skilled, but..."

"No..."

"That's..."

Yi-Han and Jijel simultaneously tried to deny it.

Not only did they cast all the reinforcement magic before the duel started, but in the case of Eumidiphos's Water Bullet, didn't they stall for time until the start to complete it?

In fact, if Yi-Han hadn't cheated, it would have been a foul that wasn't allowed, but they were packaging it as magic skill.

"There's a hidden story behind it..."

"You're being humble."

"Originally, magic that takes this long isn't acknowledged as being properly mastered..."

"You're truly humble."

"..."

There was a limit even if they were knights who didn't know magic.

Yi-Han tapped Jijel's shoulder. It meant for her to speak on his behalf. Of course, Jijel ignored it.

'Wait. When did he move behind?'

Realizing that Yi-Han had moved behind her, Jijel turned her head and frowned.

This guy...

"We want to repay you."

"What repayment?"

"We'll teach you swordsmanship!"

"..."

"..."

Yi-Han and Jijel looked at the knights with great surprise.

It was more common than one might think for knights to teach swordsmanship to nobles.

There were quite a few nobles who learned swordsmanship for education, hobby, or light self-defense, and naturally, only knights could teach them.

No matter how skilled they were, not many nobles would learn from adventurers or mercenaries whose identities were unclear.

It was a good opportunity for nobles to learn swordsmanship and for knights to make connections with nobles, but...

...In Yi-Han's case, it was a little different.

Didn't he properly learn swordsmanship intensively in real combat, beyond just education or self-defense?

The fact that he had one of the top skills in Einroguard's swordsmanship lectures meant that he wouldn't fall behind even when compared to squires of the same age throughout the empire.

To develop swordsmanship skills like Yi-Han's, one shouldn't teach lightly with education or self-defense in mind.

One had to dig deep with determination and make them directly break through and overcome obstacles...

'No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem like they said it with that level of resolution.'

Yi-Han's thoughts were the same as Jijel's.

No matter how they looked at it, it felt closer to teaching lightly.

If they carelessly crossed swords and found out about Yi-Han's skills, it would be an embarrassing situation for both sides.

Yi-Han decided to trust and leave it to his friend.

"You reject it for me. Moradi."

"What kind of crazy talk is... What should I say to reject it!"

"How about saying I'm too weak to learn swordsmanship because I'm sickly?"

"..."

Jijel looked Yi-Han up and down as if he was crazy.

If she said he was sickly, Jijel might become known as a blind person.

"You usually make up lies like breathing... Don't you have any other lies?"

"There's no way I can think of something like that right away. You have a better relationship with knight families than me, so try rejecting it for me."

"Are you spouting nonsense right now?"

It was quite burdensome to flatly reject the sincere offer of the knights who were speaking like that now.

Yi-Han might not be from a knight family, but wasn't Jijel from a knight family? They might hold a grudge, saying, 'The bloodline of the Moradi family prevented repaying the favor...!'

"...It seems we made another rude request. We just wanted to repay the favor somehow..."

The knights seemed to have noticed Yi-Han and Jijel whispering to each other, and suddenly became gloomy.

"You probably don't want to learn swordsmanship from knights like us. I understand."

"Ah, no. That's... It would be nice to learn swordsmanship. I want to learn."

"Is that true!?"

"Yeah."

Yi-Han gave up.

Rather than Yi-Han becoming a bad guy, it seemed better for the knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order to be embarrassed.

"It's resolved well. Then I'll..."

"Moradi will also learn together."

"..."

As expected, the knights became embarrassed in less than 30 minutes.

"Ahem."

"Ehem."

"Your swordsmanship is... excellent."

Yi-Han silently nodded his head.

Yi-Han did his best.

It was almost their own fault that the knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order were embarrassed.

"Do you know how to infuse mana into the sword..."

"I haven't completed the circulation, but I at least know how to infuse it."

"..."

The knights became even more awkward and exchanged glances.

They were sending each other looks of 'What should we teach now?'

-If it's like this, there's nothing to teach, right? What should we teach?

-To go further from here, it's impossible with what we teach today...

-How about teaching other swordsmanship?

-He has already mastered one swordsmanship and is digging deep into it, so what's the point of teaching other swordsmanship...

-More importantly, wasn't he a mage? Why is he so into swordsmanship...?

The knights were feeling the same emotions that the White Tiger Tower students had felt.

...Why is he so sincerely into swordsmanship?!

No matter how they thought about it, it wasn't a hobby that a mage born into a great noble family would have.

While the knights exchanged glances without a word, Yi-Han waited while managing his expression.

It was awkward for both sides, but eventually, when there was nothing more to say, the other party would also be embarrassed and send him off.

Then Yi-Han could also say, 'It was fun today,' and leave...

"There's no choice. I'll have to teach you one of my secret techniques."

"A secret technique?!"

There were countless swordsmanship styles in the empire, and quite a few techniques of the famous ones were well-known.

Right now, techniques like <Rock's True Strike> that Yi-Han learned from Azure Rock Style were quite famous to the point where those who had properly learned swordsmanship would know about them.

As swordsmanship became famous, the swordsmen who learned that swordsmanship also became famous, so naturally, the techniques they used would also spread.

However, swordsmen didn't reveal all their techniques.

Revealing all the techniques was like asking others to exploit the weaknesses of one's swordsmanship.

Experienced swordsmen tried not to show some techniques unless it was absolutely necessary.

Those techniques were secret techniques.

'Even if he teaches it now, can I learn it right away?'

It was surprising that he was going to teach a secret technique, but it was also questionable whether Yi-Han could learn it.

Even in the case of Arlong, who taught swordsmanship to Yi-Han, he didn't bother teaching secret techniques or difficult techniques until Yi-Han was completely proficient in Azure Rock Style.

It was Arlong's belief that a swordsman who faithfully followed the basic forms was much stronger than one who used difficult and complicated techniques that they couldn't handle well.

"I doubt I have the skills to learn it. Is it really okay?"

"It's sufficient. With that genius talent, surely..."

"...I don't think it's to that extent."

The other party was grateful, but it was hard to endure as they kept praising him with every word.

The knight took Yi-Han to the courtyard.

It was a technique he hadn't shown to other knights either. He couldn't teach it where everyone could see.

Yi-Han slowly began to feel intrigued by the knight's cautious attitude.

No matter how much the Chestnut Tree Knight Order wasn't known for their strength, weren't they still knights?

For a knight to cherish a technique to that extent...

'What is it?'

Yi-Han felt a moment of rising anticipation.

A technique that helps with mana circulation, or a technique that helps with infusing mana into the sword, or if not, a technique that condenses mana...

"Watch closely."

Swish!

The knight drew his sword and thrust quickly. It was an ordinary thrust with nothing special.

However, at that moment, the tip of the sword lengthened.

Yi-Han exclaimed in surprise.

"Did you create a sword blade with aura?!"

When one goes beyond the stage of infusing mana into the sword and stably circulating it to the point of being able to condense it, the mana contained in the sword becomes not just an aid, but a deadly weapon in itself.

Just as mana woven by a mage's will becomes the miracle called magic, mana woven by a swordsman's will becomes the invincible spear called aura.

But to go a step further from that stage of aura and even disguise its appearance as a blade...

It was enough to astonish the opposing swordsman.

An aura that pierces through ordinary armor like cutting butter, and it even changes its appearance like that...

It might look like nothing special, but it was a tremendous technique.

Unlike when there was only an aura, if its appearance was indistinguishable from the sword, the opponent couldn't let their guard down.

Facing a sword that slightly lengthens and slightly shortens, one would not only have to worry about the sense of distance but also whether an aura was being used or not. It was fatal in a fight between equals.

'What? Was he a truly amazing swordsman?'

"Oh, it's not an aura."

"...It's not?"

"That's right."

The knight seemed a bit embarrassed by Yi-Han's fuss, so he cleared his throat and thrust the tip of the sword into the wall.

Surprisingly, nothing happened. If it were an aura, a hole would have been made in the wall with ease.

"...Is it an illusion?"

As a mage, Yi-Han realized the identity of the blade that had formed at the tip of the sword.

It wasn't an aura, but just an illusion.

A very limited illusion realized through swordsmanship, not magic.

In terms of magic, it was nothing special, but it was a different story for swordsmanship.

After all, even Yi-Han was about to be fooled.

"That's right. Of course, compared to something like an aura, it might seem like a slightly shabby technique. But this is quite useful..."

The knight started making excuses as if he was unnecessarily concerned.

Wouldn't he want to use an aura if he could?

But there were things in the world that one couldn't do even if they wanted to.

Rather than giving up completely, even a technique close to a trick like this...

"This is a really good technique!"

"...You think so?"

The knight's face brightened a little at Yi-Han's reaction.

The reaction was much more enthusiastic than he had thought.

"Thank you so much. To think you would teach something like this."

"I thought it wasn't that great of a technique, but hearing you say that makes me embarrassed..."

"No. It's a really good technique. Thank you."

Yi-Han spoke with sincerity.

It wasn't difficult to learn, and it was a good technique to confuse the opponent by applying it, right?

It was a technique that perfectly suited Yi-Han's taste.

Satisfied with the mood, Yi-Han said something the other party would like to hear.

"I knew the knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order were excellent, but I didn't know they were this excellent. Truly splendid."

"..."

The knights watching from the side looked at their comrade with slightly envious eyes.

He was receiving far too much praise than they had thought.

Thinking about how he would receive praise from others with that anecdote after returning to the knight order, they couldn't just stand by.

"Uh, wait a moment..."

"?"

"There's one more secret technique that might interest you."

"...Aren't secret techniques not supposed to be revealed to others like this in the first place??"