My Disciples Think I’m Strong

“What should we do, Lord Praus? Shall we kill them?”

Dex had his short sword gripped behind his back.

“Don’t.”
“Master, shall I burn them? Or maybe bury them deep underground? Or perhaps drop them from a height?”

Maria was gathering fire in her right hand and wind in her left.

“I said don’t.”
“They look terribly frightening. Are those also monsters? Shall I behead them?”

Tina drew her sword. They were clearly human, at a glance.

“No.”
“I will prove my reason for staying by Lord Praus’s side.”

Iris growled in front of me, ready to charge at the adventurers.

“There’s no need.”

Why were these kids so eager to fight? Why couldn’t they consider a peaceful resolution?

If I didn’t have the Emotionless Mask skill, I would have undoubtedly cursed at them several times by now.
…Ah, was that still possible?

In any case, fighting the adventurers would do no good.
It wasn’t about asserting superior strength or rank, but fundamentally, any fight that wasn’t a formally sanctioned duel could pit us against the Adventurer’s Guild.

From the outset, this situation could potentially result in legal issues and fines.
With only 32 gold in my current funds, I couldn’t afford a fine.

Moreover, it was clear that we were in the wrong here, so lashing out angrily would only make our position more difficult.
In that sense, their combative attitudes needed to be temporarily set aside.

“I’ll handle this. All of you, stand back.”

At my words, they dropped their combat stances. I boldly stepped forward.

There were six adventurers facing us.
Since Dex had said they were composed of B-rank adventurers, they would likely be quite strong among adventurers.

However, I had no way to gauge their actual strength.
In the game, unless a character had significant presence, they would simply be named ‘Adventurer A’ or the like, without any illustration or distinguishable features.

Well, whether I recognized their faces or not, they were undoubtedly stronger than me.

I let out a sigh and looked at them. The moment all the adventurers met my gaze, their pupils dilated.
As I calmly observed them, their bodies began trembling uncontrollably. Their legs wobbled, unable to maintain balance.

“Kh, Khuck! What an overwhelming presence…!”
“Sh, Shit, I think we messed with the wrong person?”
“B, But we can’t just leave like this.”

Timing my words with their wavering, I spoke to Pasma.

“Pasma, there’s something I want to try experimenting with. May I?”
[What do you intend to do?]
“I want to check if you can lend me your power without actually possessing my body.”

If that were possible, it would allow me to resolve this situation quite smoothly.

[The “Unwavering Vengeance” has been equipped.]
[You can temporarily use the Revenant skill.]

It might not work, but it was worth a try.
If it didn’t, I could always ask Pasma instead.

“Revenant.”

[The Revenant skill has been activated!]

Pasma possessed my body.
The sensation of a new self emerging within a single body. The feeling of becoming two never ceased to be mystical each time.

It was as if Pasma were right beside me.
A strange yet deeply reassuring feeling.

“Now, then… The mana…”

Come to think of it, I didn’t know how to handle mana, did I?
The Intimidation skill activated just by looking, so I had never learned how to manipulate mana until now.

I focused power into the hand gripping the sword first. However, I couldn’t imbue the sword with an aura like Pasma could.

“Mana cannot be controlled by force. Like how blood naturally circulates through your entire body without conscious effort, you must allow the mana to flow into the sword.”

He offered advice through my mouth.
But having only experienced everything through a game, the sensation of channeling mana was incomprehensible to me.

“How do I do that?”

I mumbled while gazing at the sword.
As I stared intently, the blade began to glow a bluish hue.

“…Huh?”

I tilted my head at the unintended reaction.

Could it be…?

I fixed my gaze upon it like releasing Intimidation.
Simultaneously, I felt the mana being drawn into the sword, and a blue aura began rising, conforming to the blade’s shape.

Imbuing the sword with mana far greater than Pasma’s Aura Sword, the blade extended to easily over two meters in length.
Recalling the notion that Intimidation was proportional to mana capacity, channeling my Intimidation into the sword had elicited this reaction.

Could this really work?
I inwardly scoffed at the crudely formed Aura Sword.

“What?!”

The adventurers began wavering and shouting at me upon the sudden manifestation of the Aura Sword.

“Th, Th, That’s…! An Aura Sword?!”
“Wh, What?! Why is there a Sword Master here?!”
“Th, That’s it! That overwhelming presence you showed us from the start! The monster in the Brihi Forest was too powerful for us to handle!”

They started making wild guesses among themselves.

“So that’s what it was!”
“Your crude speech was just a front; you were actually worried about us!”

…No. Not at all.
Even if their brains were made of muscle, that was an absurdly far-fetched assumption.

Part of me wanted to retort immediately, but for now, I intended to let them misunderstand.
Leaving it as is would likely allow the situation to resolve smoothly.

“Shut up. Get lost.”
“Hey! Sword Master, may I ask for your name?”

Look at these fools, dismissing me as a weak human before realizing I’m a Sword Master and changing their tune. How vexing.

“I have no name to give you lot. Get lost.”
“In any case, since you were camping in this area, you were headed to the city of Aus, weren’t you? We’ll guide you there.”
“You want to die? I just told you to get lost.”

As I raised my sword higher, the adventurers began fleeing. Even as they ran, they kept glancing back at me, causing some to stumble and fall.

They were truly a troublesome bunch.
Still, it was fortunate we avoided conflict with the Adventurer’s Guild.

“But can I actually use this Aura Sword for anything?”
“You can’t.”

I casually swung it down. It couldn’t even kick up a speck of sand, let alone cleave the ground. Instead, my mana drained.

So this Aura Sword could only unleash its aura? How frustrating.

Letting out a sigh, I sheathed the sword.

“Wooooah!! Lord Praus!!”
“…Noisy. Dex.”
“You were the fabled Eighth S-Rank Adventurer after all!”

…The Eighth S-Rank Adventurer?
So this was how he had been viewing me?

“No, I’m not.”
“The Empire’s Sword Master died decades ago! So you were the one carrying on the lineage!”
“I said no.”
“Finally, the Sixth Sword Master has appeared. When the Emperor sees this—”

Hey, wait? Was that a flag? Don’t say it?!

“—he will be greatly reassured!”

This damn fool. So there was someone here who made his own interpretations too.
Shit, the flag had been raised. At this rate, wouldn’t I end up meeting the Emperor before long?

“Praus is a Sword Master? That official coward?”

Delma reacted with disbelief.
Who exactly established that village official reputation? Let’s ask.

“Oh, I thought Master had reached a considerable realm, but a Sword Master!”
“Can I do it too? Imbue the sword with mana!”
“As expected, you are truly amazing, Lord Praus!”

The performance to drive away the adventurers seemed to have an unintended effect on this side as well.
Unintended misunderstandings brought tears to my eyes.

[Still, it did look cool. The size of that Aura Sword was several times larger than what I could produce.]

Don’t talk about coolness.
I didn’t particularly want to appear strong.

“Praus will become popular.”
“Shut it, Aerial.”
“Kekekeke!”
Aerial, who knew I was weak, simply laughed in amusement. That vile wench.
“Oh, such crude speech even towards the Spirit King! It must be a manner only Lord Praus can get away with, yes?”

Dex, this bastard. Was he trying to pick a fight?
I really couldn’t hit him.

“Ah, anyway… What will you do, Praus?”
“We’ll head to Aus first.”

I answered Delma’s question. There was also an artifact in the city of Aus.

“But before that, I’ll cut off the ears of those wolf monsters over there. We should at least get proof of completing the request and earn some money.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
“Obviously you, Dex. As a bodyguard, you’ve done nothing but eat until now. Have you no conscience?”
“…I suppose you’re right. I’ll be back.”

Dex responded curtly and headed towards the wolf carcasses with his short sword drawn. Relieved, I climbed onto the carriage.

“I’m still tired, so I’ll rest some more. Delma, even if I don’t say it, head towards the city of Aus when the time comes.”
“Very well.”

Although Delma had a sullen expression, he agreed to my order more readily than expected.

Could it be that he too thought I was a real Sword Master?

This was driving me insane, truly.

Time passed, and we arrived at the city of Aus.
Upon entering the city, I had intended to immediately search for the artifact.
However, when I came to my senses, I found myself facing the city’s lord, Duke Aus.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Praus, the Sixth Sword Master of the Empire.”

…No, wait, what was this development?
Why was this happening to me?