Act 47

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Linne Londebell

Her tragedy occurred when she was 16. 

It was an unusually quiet day. The usual sounds of birds chirping and servants bustling were absent. 

Linne noticed something was amiss when the butler, who always greeted her, was found collapsed at the entrance. 

“What in the world happened…”

The sight of the butler, cooling in a pool of blood, warned Linne of danger. 

“Foolish Derain. Didn’t think you’d gotten in too deep, did you?”

She approached the source of the faint voice with bated breath. 

Through the window, she saw a man in a black hood and her father on his knees, bleeding. 

‘Oh, father…!’

She wanted to scream and run to her father, but the ominous atmosphere instinctively made her cover her mouth. 

“I never liked you from the start. That parasitic brother of yours, too.”

As the man with the sword approached her father, Linne felt an irreversible event was about to unfold. 

‘What’s happening…’

Overcome with primal fear, Linne froze. 

Then, as if her father spotted Linne through the window, hope flickered in his eyes. 

Meeting Linne’s gaze, her father mouthed a message without alerting the assailant. 

‘Run away.’

It was clear what her father’s lips formed. 

“Ha, you should have never left the Dawn Society.”

Luckily, the assailant didn’t notice her father’s signal, mocking him with a sneer as he stood over him, raising his sword. 

‘No!’

A slicing sound. 

A thumping sound. 

Linne closed her eyes tightly and turned away. 

She wanted to scream and rush out, but knew it would be futile. 

Remembering her father’s last request, she quietly left the place unnoticed, just as she had come in. 

Her father’s face, as she left, looked strangely at peace. 

***

“Honey… Honey!”

“Brother, you can’t leave us like this…!”

On the day her father was placed in the coffin, Linne did not cry like the others. She couldn’t. 

Tears can wait until after revenge. 

‘Dawn Society…’

That name, bitterly cold. And,

‘The scar on the neck.’

The scar revealed when the assailant’s hood fluttered as he killed her father. Linne had seen it clearly. 

‘I need strength.’

Linne sought out the strongest in the Adratan Empire. 

Sword Saint Hayden Reich, to him,

“I want to take revenge. Teach me the sword.”

***

After a year of rigorous training with the Sword Saint and being admitted to the esteemed Bayer Academy,

-Linne, you’re amazing!

-Right, right! You seem to handle aura far better than an average knight, you know?

Her skills were unparalleled among her peers at the academy, known for its high standards. 

The sword hilt, once unfamiliar, had become second nature over time. Yet, she always felt lacking. 

Perhaps it was because she was surrounded by too strong individuals. 

Sword Saint, Julian, Dawn Society…

Typically, many knight aspirants would have held a sword before even turning ten. 

But her? She took up the sword for revenge at 16.

Compared to others, it was a start delayed by at least six years. 

– Linne will definitely be first in the practical exam, right?”

– 

– Without a doubt, of course!”

-She’s a genius, a real genius!”

– Yeah, a genius among geniuses!

However, contrary to her worries, those around her hailed her as a “genius.” 

It was not just talent, but unlike the others, it would be absurd if she, having been trained by the “Sword Saint” for a certain period, was weaker than those who had practiced conventional swordsmanship. 

Yet, she did not rest on her laurels but pushed herself even harder, clinging to the title of “genius.” 

‘I must be a genius.’ 

To reach the swordsman who killed her father, she had to be far superior to others. 

But…

“Miss Linne, you haven’t changed at all since then. At this rate, you are no different from the others.” 

Julian’s judgment was like a bolt from the blue. 

Linne looked up at Julian with a dazed expression. 

The despicable, sly-eyed man was looking at her intently, his usual smile hidden. 

“Sir Julian, what are you trying to say?” 

“Oh, my apologies. It was a slip of the tongue. My apologies, Miss Linne.” 

Julian shrugged nonchalantly, attempting to walk away as if nothing had happened. Linne, watching him, couldn’t let his outrageous statement go unchallenged. 

“Wasn’t the practical exam about handling aura? Didn’t I achieve the highest grade there?” 

Bringing up the results of the practical exam, which was initiated for the academy’s knight aspirants, Linne spoke up as if to argue. 

“Yes, you are of the ‘Le Meilleur’ grade, the highest. That’s an undeniable reality.” 

“If you truly believe that, could you please correct your earlier slip of the tongue?” 

Being the top of her class in the practical exam, she couldn’t accept Julian’s evaluation. 

She wanted to refute Julian, who seemed to dismiss her efforts. 

“Sigh…”

Julian sighed as if troubled. 

His unfamiliar demeanor aside, correction of the evaluation was a priority. 

“While the academy’s standards may deem it so, stepping outside those standards… you are indeed of ordinary level.” 

The problem was that the sly-eyed man had no intention of correcting his assessment of her. 

Under normal circumstances, such a comment could be brushed off as a joke. 

A man wrapped in distorted admiration and inferiority towards the “Sword Saint,” such remarks could be dismissed as mere provocation. 

But…

‘Why say that now?’

Through repeated encounters in the slums, at the dimly lit forge, and during special lectures at the academy, Linne had come to see Julian differently. 

The overwhelming difference in stature. 

Having experienced that, she had unconsciously acknowledged “Julian.” 

“Why?”

Therefore, she couldn’t simply dismiss the term “ordinary” as a mere slip of the tongue. 

“There must be a reason you think so. Please, tell me.” 

Julian, seeming resigned, finally answered. 

“When you resolved the mission in the slums and now. There’s no significant difference between then and now, Miss Linne.” 

“Is that the reason? A proper explanation…” 

“Your aura’s quality is certainly far superior compared to other students of the same level. But, Miss Linne. How long can you maintain it?” 

“That, that’s…” 

As Linne faltered, Julian smiled as usual. 

Unable to read his emotions, Linne found the sly-eyed Julian’s insincere smile even more unsettling, causing her gaze to tremble.

“Being unable to maintain aura for a long time is equivalent to being a third-rate swordsman. No matter how high-quality the aura is… if it’s useless in a prolonged battle, what good is it?”

Aura subtly emanated from his body.

“Miss Linne, your aura possesses tremendous power, but it’s inconsistent. You’re too inexperienced in distributing your aura evenly.”

Her own weakness, articulated by Julian as if he knew it all along.

“When we met on the train before, you suggested I carry a spare sword, right?”

“Yes.”

“I said I didn’t need to. Why do you think that is?”

Linne knew the answer but was too upset to easily speak up.

“Because I don’t destroy my sword with an imperfect aura like you do.”

Linne bit her lip at his straightforward tone, her lips reddening as if they might bleed.

“That’s why you’re ordinary.”

***

The academy grounds were bathed in red by the sunset. The twilight was truly beautiful, but it didn’t touch Linne’s heart.

The fact that she couldn’t refute Julian’s piercing words only deepened her gloom.

She knew it all along…

Even if she tried to deny it intellectually, deep down, she acknowledged the truth of his words.

Forced by this realization, Linne found herself sitting alone in the empty classroom, lost in thought.

‘I’ve felt the need to improve so acutely.’

Bitterness swirled on her tongue, and a throbbing anger wrapped around her.

It was an undeniably torturous feeling.

The negative thoughts that clung to her were hard to shake off.

‘The clumsiness of my aura control.’

She should have sought help from her master, but recently, he was too busy with some matters to be approached.

‘Can I fix this on my own?’

She shook her head to dispel such thoughts.

‘Even without my master’s guidance, I can find a way.’

With her fist clenched and a determined expression, Linne walked somewhere with purpose.

‘Father always said, if you want something, say it clearly… and if you’re wrong, just correct it.’

Linne was headed to the main building of the academy.

After finishing a conversation with Vice Principal Allom Chornie and catching Julian on his way out, she would speak to him once more.

‘As you said, my aura control is lacking, but! I will solve that problem within a month.’

A declaration.

It was meant to straighten out her wavering heart.

“Did you hear? A knight from the Crypart family murdered his comrade.”

“That knight from the Yoshua family? Former vice-captain of the ex-paladin squad.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s terrifying, how will they survive making an enemy of the Crypart family?”

As she walked, she heard the students’ gossip but paid no attention and moved forward.

Soon, the corridor leading to the main building came into view…

“…ugh.”

The bitter smell of blood tickled her nose.

She hastily turned her head to survey her surroundings and found, though faint, the sickening source of the smell.

‘Terrible burns’

The source of the smell was a man with half of his face covered in burn scars, making it difficult to identify him.

But it wasn’t just his appearance that caught her attention.

‘…Powerful.’

The aura of discipline emanating from his physique and his stride, indicating deep knowledge in swordsmanship, continuously stole Linne’s gaze.

Feeling someone’s gaze, the man with burn scars turned his head to meet Linne’s eyes.

A sinister smile.

‘Ah, that scar…’

The scar on the neck.

Seeing it, Linne felt as if she had been hit in the head with a hammer.

How could she forget?

Although she couldn’t see the assailant’s face at the time due to the black hood, she distinctly remembered the scar on the neck.

During her training and while investigating the incident with the Sword Saint, she had learned his name.

‘Alphas… Mayfield!’

With eyes blazing, Linne glared at Alphas. Her breathing became ragged with rising anger, and her body trembled.

Thump, thump.

The sound of her heart pounded in her ears. Linne took deep breaths to calm herself down.

Thump, thump.

It wouldn’t settle. Instead, only one thought filled her mind.

‘I have to kill him.’

Her eyes flickered with the flames of vengeance.

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