Published: July 4, 2025
“…From the next day, the harsh training led by Master Abel began. The terrifying training regimen, which showed no regard for human feelings, gradually eroded Mifa’s mind and body, and the relentless strikes from Abel's sword made it clear to those around him that the name of the mad swordsman Abel was no lie. That merciless sword…”
“…Ryo, what is that?”
“Huh? Don’t mind it. It’s just a passage from the 'Hungry Swordsman Abel Series: Side Story of Disciple Mifa’s Struggles'… well, it might become that. It’s just fiction, and has no relation to real people or organizations at all.”
Ryo was not writing on any paper.
He was just speaking for some reason.
“The 'Abel' mentioned here is not referring to the actual Abel. It’s a fictional character within the story.”
“Anyone who reads it will definitely think it’s about me, right?”
“N-no, it’s just a misunderstanding by the readers. It’s not my fault.”
“A book that misleads people, huh? Perhaps it should be banned in the kingdom.”
“How can you say that! Oppose censorship! Protect freedom of expression!”
Ryo raised his fist, asserting his point.
The world might be grappling with various complex issues…
Of course, the real training by Abel was, in a sense, meticulous.
As declared at the start, they conducted mock battles, where Abel pointed out areas for improvement and suggested ways to enhance those aspects.
While it may sound simple in writing, identifying problems and presenting improvement strategies is quite challenging in practice.
This is true in any field, and it cannot be done without expertise.
And Abel was indeed an expert.
Abel had one request he made to Director Mogok.
That was to arrange various weapons with dulled blades for the purpose of mock battles.
The primary objective of these mock battles was to compensate for Mifa’s lack of experience.
Thus, they would change the weapons Abel used for the mock battles.
For each type of weapon, Mifa would learn to fight appropriately… gaining that experience.
Since Mifa was a woman, her strength was less compared to men.
A one-handed sword is handled with one hand, making it difficult to take on the full weight of an opponent's strikes head-on, even for a man with muscle.
The basic approach was to deflect the sword by angling it.
That could only be mastered through experience…
Abel taught each technique carefully, and Mifa earnestly practiced.
It was clear even to Ryo, who was watching from the sidelines.
Huh? What was Ryo doing?
He was sitting in a chair in the courtyard where the mock battles took place, reading a book he had brought from the library.
He had properly obtained permission from Director Mogok and his wife.
Occasionally, Ryo’s wife would sit next to him to watch Mifa’s training.
The wife often had questions about the training happening right in front of her.
Ryo would answer them.
On behalf of Abel.
“I am not a freeloader!”
“You haven’t said anything, right?”
A few days after training started, during lunch, Ryo asserted this to Abel.
“It looked like Abel’s gaze was saying that! ‘Those who do not work shall not eat!’”
“…I see.”
In fact, Abel had no intention of blaming Ryo at all.
He was simply curious about the book Ryo was reading.
“‘The History and Efficacy of Talismans and Spirit Talismans’?”
“Yeah. It was in the library. It discusses various aspects focused on talismans within sorcery, and it’s quite fascinating.”
“Oh?”
“I asked the librarian, and apparently, this is an introductory book, and there’s a more specialized sequel as well, so I plan to move on to that after finishing this one.”
“You’re quite serious about these things, Ryo.”
“Hehe, you can call me Serious Ryo.”
“No, I won’t.”
After lunch, the two headed to Director Mogok’s room.
They had been called there in advance.
Director Mogok expressed his joy at Mifa’s progress and thanked them sincerely.
On top of that, it seemed he wanted to inform them of the future schedule.