Subscriber of the Gods - Chapter 101: Yuna Garnet (4)

“How did you find me? No, more than that, how did you get here?”

Yuna was following Ethan out of the Garnet Merchant Guild branch in the Marquis Ronde territory.

The Garnet Merchant Guild had branches in most territories, so the Marquis Ronde territory where Ivecar Academy was located was no exception.

“I spent some money. Didn’t I tell you? I have a lot of money. Yuna, as you know, money can really do a lot of things.”

Of course, in this case, he didn’t get his money’s worth.

That’s why Ethan had clearly told the top mercenaries that if this matter wasn’t resolved properly, they should consider it so.

‘They will understand that well.’

From now on, the mercenary guilds will definitely accept Ethan’s next request and resolve it to a satisfactory level by any means necessary.

‘They have professional pride.’

“I will definitely pay you back, Teacher.”

“As I said, I have a lot of money. No need to pay me back with money.”

Ethan looked at Yuna.

“Then….”

“I need you to make the Swordsmanship Department number one.”

“Are you really sincere about that? Is that why you came to save me?”

Seeing Ethan’s expression, as if to say ‘Why else would I have come to save you’, Yuna couldn’t help but open her mouth wide and make a foolish expression.

Did he really need her to make the Swordsmanship Department number one, so he came to save her?

“You didn’t come here knowing everything, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“…”

“But there’s one thing I do know. My students in Understanding the Sword Path class cannot drop out, not even one person. Especially if it’s not by their own will.”

Yuna’s pupils shook at those words. This person really was different from any teacher or person she had met before. He had more sincerity than anyone.

“…So I’m essential to you.”

“Yes, I don’t plan on abandoning any of my students.”

Of course, Ethan was focused on the fame he would gain by leading 75 students until the end of the semester.

If even one left, he would miss out on additional fame.

But this was an issue Yuna could not know without reading Ethan’s mind, so she naturally melted under that intense gaze.

“First we have to get back to the academy. It’s getting late. I could get demerits.”

Ethan and Yuna quickly exited the market to use a shortcut that led directly to Ivecar Academy’s front gate.

Just as they were about to exit the alley, a carriage blocked their way.

“!”

The carriage had no markings. But Yuna recognized its shape immediately. It was a Garnet Merchant Guild carriage, a combat carriage that the Merchant Guild used to quietly conduct business.

Inside this carriage was…

Drrrr-!

The door opened and five heavily armed knights got out.

“Miss Yuna.”

“It’s been a while.”

Yuna’s expression hardened.

Those guys were dogs her father used often.

They looked rather old-fashioned like knights, but in reality, they were problem solvers who took money to handle any job.

In their case, their role was to handle Cromwell Garnet’s work.

“The Guild master wishes to see you.”

“Come with us.”

Yuna immediately turned around.

“Teacher, we have to run away….”

Yuna knew how strong those knights were. Right now, Yuna had no troops she could use.

First, they had to retreat to the academy and then come up with a new plan.

However, Ethan did not move from there.

The flustered Yuna shouted.

Now was the time they really had to run away.

“Teacher!”

“The shortcut is over there.”

Ethan gestured to where the knights were blocking, the fastest path to Ivecar Academy.

“No need to go around.”

Hearing that, the knights looked at Ethan amusingly.

“They say only elites can enter Ivecar Academy as teachers.”

“But even if you get in there, won’t you just end up being a crippled teacher or join the bottom ranks of a knighthood?”

“It’s quite funny how he seems to think he’s something just because he’s been among the big shots.”

The knights were actually used to this kind of situation.

Of course, capturing Yuna was a given, and they were hoping for some amusement along the way.

So when Ethan came out just as they expected, they couldn’t help but be delighted.

Shing-

“The list said that any teacher not on it can be neatly taken care of.”

“It won’t be Claudie Hyde or Iris Paqueta, nor Ciron Ramsdale, right? Could it be! No, it’s not the Principal Ghost Sword either.”

“Then it means he’s just an ordinary teacher we can handle.”

Two knights stepped forward.

Since the alley was narrow, three moved back to completely block the exit of the alley.

“I don’t want to step aside, so what will you do?”

Ethan drew his sword.

With a swoosh, the Beast King’s Claw Sword came out.

In response, the two knights in front also drew their swords.

It was a tense situation that could erupt at any moment.

Ethan looked at the knights.

There was a set saying for those who block the way.

“Move.”

Shaaack-!

The Whiskers Swordsmanship was unleashed.

The knight to Ethan’s left moved forward one step and parried Ethan’s jabbing sword head-on straight at him.

Clang-!

“!”

How on earth did this sturdy body have such strength.

In an instant, the knight was pushed back by that strength, unable to stand his ground.

However, he soon frowned.

“You’ve got some strength there!”

The knights raised their mana as high as possible.

Then, as if to repay the humiliation of being pushed back earlier, they brandished their swords full of mana.

Shiiinggg-!

The Eye of Horus pierced straight through the movements of the two knights.

The knight on the left was aiming for Ethan’s arm. From the beginning, it didn’t look like he intended to kill, only to inflict a long gash. And the knight next to him had the same idea, aiming for Ethan’s leg.

As soon as Ethan deflected the sword of the knight on the left, he turned to the right and blocked the path of the knight there.

Because the alley was very narrow, they needed good timing to launch a combined attack of two people.

‘I won’t give it to them.’

Ethan had no intention of giving them that timing.

As the knight was about to swing his sword, it was suddenly blocked, so he simply retreated back. He seemed to have judged that fighting one-on-one would be better than fighting two-on-one in this narrow alley.

“Leave my share.”

“I wonder if I’ll be able to leave it for you.”

The knight grinned slyly at Ethan. Now that they didn’t have to worry about hurting an ally, this was actually a more preferable situation in this quite suitable space.

“Teacher…”

Behind them, Yuna, who was watching, had an anxious expression.

Those knights focused only on carrying out orders, no matter what the situation.

They did not adhere to the Knight’s Code and fought only to win, taking all kinds of irregular moves.

On the other hand, Ethan was a nobleman.

While he would be fine in a one-on-one duel, he was at a disadvantage in a fight like this.

And the Cromwell Merchant Guildmaster’s knights knew that fact very well.

But no one knew that to survive and be victorious in various situations,

Ethan had built up his skills.

“Huuuu.”

Ethan took a deep breath and focused his eyes.

Using the Eye of Horus, he pierced through the irregular, sword-swinging movement of the knight taking one step toward him.

The important thing now was impact.

‘In one blow.’

He was going to concentrate all his accumulated achievements into this one blow.

Ethan had steadily increased his survival rate and raised his stats.

Stats and traits.

Understanding of the Whiskers Swordsmanship Department and Heo’s Acupuncture.

Heob-!

Ethan inhaled deeply and swung his sword with all his might as if to smash it. The knight’s sword and Ethan’s met together as predicted.

Clang-!

Suddenly, there was the sound of a sword breaking. As Ethan broke the opponent’s sword, he rode that momentum and spun around once.

As he spun, he accurately struck the knight’s temple with the handle of his sword, and the knight’s body flew up spinning and slammed into the ground.

Thud-!

This whole process happened in the blink of an eye.

“Wha….!”

Yuna behind blinked. She saw Ethan clash swords with the quickly swinging knight.

But the next moment, the knight floated up and spun around where he stood, ending up completely slammed against the ground.

Since he was wearing armor, there was only his face exposed to attack, but she never imagined he would take down a knight in just one exchange.

The other knights seemed to feel the same way.

“How could he take down Urek so easily…!”

“Why can’t I!”

Ethan took one step toward those knights.

Since four were still blocking the path, he had to say one more thing.

“Move.”

“This bastard…!”

One agitated knight rushed straight at him. His sword contained dense mana.

Sword energy.

Their level was at least 4-star.

On the other hand, because of Extinction, Ethan couldn’t even properly fill his body with mana.

He was technically a 1-star. And a 1-star who would have difficulty growing at that.

But through the fight with the knight just now, Ethan was able to objectively grasp his current condition.

‘Fighting a 4-star knight. It’s more decent than I thought.’

While Ethan was lacking in mana now, what he had built up was so solid that it wasn’t difficult fighting them.

He expected it, but didn’t think it would be this easy.

‘Let’s check if I can maintain that against fighting all four knights in a row.’

The knight lifted his sword high and charged toward Ethan’s front to attack.

Ethan’s eyes shone.

With the Eye of Horus, he didn’t even need to look to know it was a simple feint attack. That guy over there saw his comrade get taken down by Ethan in one blow.

They were not stupid enough to ignore a fight they saw with their own eyes.

Ethan was judged to be stronger than expected, so they had no intention of fighting him one-on-one from the beginning.

‘Only appears so.’

Taking advantage of the opponent’s carelessness was the most important factor in a fight.

‘He’s faking an attack to deceive me, then he will lower his sword and move behind me.’

To Ethan’s surprise, just as he predicted, the knight made a motion as if to slash down with his sword, then hunched down deeply and moved toward Ethan’s open side as if to pierce through and quickly get behind.

Thwack-!

However, the knight who tried to quickly stab into Ethan’s side also got solidly struck by the sword handle like the previous knight.

“You…on purpose…”

Only then did he realize it. That Ethan had deliberately shown an opening on his side.

Ethan looked down composedly at the falling knight.

He already knew they would desperately try to break through somehow to take advantage of their numerical superiority.

That’s why he opened up. To let them pierce through.

‘You are far less experienced than I.’

Author’s Thoughts

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