Modern World Warlock-Chapter 192: Sword-Master
A few days had passed since Alice began practicing with her sword, and while Dante was taking a nap in the inner garden's hammock, he was called to the briefing room by Camille.
"We have a guest coming over today…" The handler said.
After Dante asked for a sword-master who could train Alice, Camille called a group of mercenaries who had been around for hundreds of years.
Camille had connections all over the world, and when she heard that she needed to find a sword instructor, she could only think of one organization that still used blades effectively in that day and age.
"Their name is Kuroi Tengu," Camille said.
It was a swordsmen and ninja organization that formed during the Edo period in Japan around the 1600s, and they were still doing well in the present, so Camille decided to contact them.
Fortunately, the Kuroi Tengu had worked with the Jade Dragons' first generation, allowing the handler to contact them easily, as they weren't easy to find.
"Understood. What do you want me to do?" Dante pondered.
"Not much. Just take a good look at him and tell us if he is trustworthy," Camille replied.
After a few hours, the guest arrived at their home, and Dante, Megan, and Camille greeted him at the front door.
He was a tall man, his frame lean and a bit muscular. His attire consisted of a traditional black hakama and keikogi that allowed him to move swiftly. Still, his most striking feature was the tengu mask he wore, crafted with great detail.
The mask was a deep red, with a long, beak-like nose and a stern expression of vigilance.
His hair was black and short, tied into a traditional topknot that left a few strands of hair hanging from the side of his mask.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Takeshi Hayato…" The man politely introduced himself with an accent.
When Dante introduced himself, he noticed that he could barely read the man's umbra. He could sense that Hayato didn't have ill intentions, but he couldn't read his emotions, and the mask covering his face didn't make it easier.
"I'm Camille Winter… It's good to see the Kuroi Tengu are still doing well," the handler said.
"Ohh, Winter-sama! Your contributions have always been a great help," Hayato said with an enthusiastic tone, which contrasted with the look of his mask.
The swordsman revealed that Camille had been sending them donation money to their organization for years. However, this was the first time that she had called them for help.
The handler explained that she liked to have a good relationship with people she considered could be helpful at any point in her future, so it's not like she was donating the money without an ulterior motive.
Nevertheless, the Kuroi Tengu were grateful to her for the support, so they didn't mind if the woman had her own motivation for helping them.
After Hayato was shown around the mansion, he was taken to the training rooms, where Alice was already practicing her skills.
"Alice, this is Takeshi Hayato… He is going to be your instructor for some time," Camille said.
The woman introduced herself, but Hayato was focused on her blade, asking her to do a few air slices as he wanted to see how fast she could handle it.
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Facing one of the ballistic dummies, Alice held her sword with both hands and lunged forward, slicing horizontally and severing the dummy's head with one swing.
Camille clapped with a bit of excitement after seeing her friend, but Hayato raised his shoulders and crossed his arms with discontent. Even though they couldn't see his face, his emotions were still evident.
"WRONG!" Hayato shouted, startling everyone.
Placing one hand on the handle of his katana that was hanging on his waist, Hayato asked Alice to strike him with the same attack.
"Umm… Are you sure?" Alice asked, afraid that she would hurt the swordsman.
"Alice-san… Don't underestimate the Kuroi Tengu," Hayato replied, his tone severe.
'This man…' Dante pondered, unable to finish his train of thought as Alice prepared herself to attack her new teacher.
As soon as she launched herself forward and waved her arm horizontally with a powerful strike, a loud 'clink' sound could be heard in the room as Alice's blade completely halted beside Hayato.
When the woman noticed what was happening, she saw her teacher had unsheathed five centimeters of his katana and used that small gap to block Alice's attack.
Gazing at Hayato's mask, she felt a sudden dangerous sensation and jumped back, quickly gaining distance from him.
"You see, Alice-san? I only needed a small part of my blade to block such an attack…" Hayato said.
'Heh, as I suspected… This man is a monster,' Dante thought, mischievously smiling.
The masked teacher explained that, while their swords looked different, he still had a lot of techniques that he could teach Alice, and the woman officially accepted him as her new teacher.
While Hayato would practice swordsmanship with Alice in the mornings, he showed interest in participating in the training with the other members, and Dante believed it was a great idea.
The warlock recognized the man's abilities and knew that having him train with the others would benefit them in the future, so he didn't see an issue with it.
Dante wasn't able to read the man's umbra very clearly, so his intentions were still somewhat of a mystery to him. However, as soon as the man started teaching swordsmanship, his umbra became fully visible to the warlock.
'It's as if his body was entirely disconnected from the different magical energies in the world… But now, he is overflowing with passion for teaching,' Dante thought.
Believing that he could learn something new from Hayato, Dante also decided to join the training sessions with him.
He had been accompanying the Omega Team occasionally when they practiced their skills. However, his interest was piqued.
He was mainly curious to know how Hayato managed to hide his intentions so well when he wasn't supposed to be able to control umbra or mana and thought he could figure it out by training with him.
