Zane slides the wooden sword back into its slot and turns fully toward the man. Externally, he wears a polite little smile. But, inwardly...
So let’s see... What should I ask first?
He thinks of the information that he needs immediately to solve his current predicament. Finally, he asks.
"Is there a reason you feel strange about my swing?"
"Uh, first of all, my name is Seth. I don’t think we have talked before." Seth glances at him warily, as if hesitant to stand near him, but his curiosity keeps him rooted to the spot.
"And, I don’t feel strange quite... It’s just, when I train with my sword, I end up criticising myself even for the smallest mistakes I make, and after that, my day becomes full of demotivation. But, you..."
Seth’s eyes widen at that, his smile widening at the comment as the understanding immediately hits him.
Oh! It’s the newbie phenomenon! He needs a fucking professional, here I am!
He almost glides toward Seth and snakes his arm behind his shoulders as he lets out a rich chuckle and nods frantically.
"Ah, I understand. I understand, Seth! Come on, let me tell you about this ’phenomenon’ that is troubling you right now..."
As he tries to nudge him toward the corner, Seth flinches from the sudden change in atmosphere. But, before he can process what is happening, he is already being dragged toward the corner.
With a final twitch of his facial muscles, he just lets out a sigh and starts listening.
After that, Zane’s words start slipping out of his mouth. From work ethics to the professional environment needed for the workplace, he spits out everything.
Ten minutes later, Seth wears a contemplative expression while leaning back against the wall. He glances up at him and hums.
"I see... So, you are saying I try to achieve things so fast that I don’t leave any time to process what I have learned at all...?"
A bittersweet smile appears on his face at that statement. He lowers his gaze, almost shrinking into himself.
Zane watches him carefully and then reaches out to pat his shoulder once with a smile. "Don’t worry. It happens in the beginning, but with time, we learn and grow! I was also the same in the beginning! We all act like children when we start something, always fantasising about it."
Seth’s shoulders relax visibly after that. The tension in his face softens for a moment. He glances at his hand for a moment, then back at him.
"That’s really reassuring to hear. I guess that’s why you were enjoying your practice so much even if your swing wasn’t that good. It must be the difference in our mindsets."
Zane’s hand twitches on his shoulder, tensing briefly as he stares at him blankly. Then, he pulls his hand back with a silent huff.
It wasn’t that good? I thought I did something amazing with that sword, what a bastard! But... Whatever, I did give him the motivation in the end, now let’s get over with my task.
But, before he could turn around to ask anything, Seth pushes off the wall and says it first with a face full of gratitude.
"I felt earlier that you needed something from me when you dragged me here. Since your suggestion has really helped in continuing my practice, I can also help you in return."
Zane blinks and looks at him again. And then, he smiles.
Well, he’s not a bastard, I guess.
...
The sun has climbed high. The conversation between them finally dies down as Seth returns to his training, leaving Zane to ponder over his own problems.
Zane stands with his arms crossed over his chest, the line on his temple still tense as he tries to process the information.
Like he had planned, he asked about the information that he needed right now.
The first question was about his debt, though he didn’t ask it directly, not wanting to make Seth suspicious that he didn’t even know about his own debt. So, he asked, ’Where can I take on debt on good terms?’
The answer he received from him was the name of a financial institution which is established not far from their current location.
He makes a note in his mind to visit that institution later and find out whether Jack had taken the debt from there.
Then, for the second question, he asked about the information on ’Silverfang Citadel’, which he had interpreted earlier as the sword academy.
True to his interpretation, it indeed turns out to be a sword academy and not just the usual one. According to Seth, very few people from their workplace visit that academy, for mainly two reasons.
’Silverfang Citadel’ is really expensive. It is to the point that people would crush their dreams of becoming a swordsman rather than going to that academy and die simply out of stress from the admission fees.
The second reason is the academy’s two exams that it holds before allowing any person to enter its learning grounds. The exams, despite being just for entrance purposes, dig into the very potential of each swordsman candidate.
And paying the expensive fees doesn’t give you an exemption from these exams, since both criteria are exclusive.
For Zane, by the way, the situation has become even more complicated with this information. Before, he was taking the academy as a normal institute where he would go, start training, and probably become a... nine-level swordsman.
His dreams have been crushed at the zero stage. Now, he files this information into two tasks: first, to find out whether Jack finished the entrance exams, and second, to find out whether the fees have been paid fully or not.
At this point, Zane had already reached his limit and couldn’t ask more questions. The tasks he gained from this information gathering are not small, in the end.
However, before Seth had left, he did ask one personal question which had been bothering him for a while.
"Why did both Kael and Bram try putting his wife at stake?"
The answer he received from Seth didn’t come normally, but with a slightly envious smile from him.
The cause was so simple that he felt stupid for even asking that. According to Seth, Clara had visited a few times to deliver the lunchbox that Jack had forgotten at home.
That was enough. Whoever saw her during those visits was left flabbergasted since nobody had any idea that Jack, a low-level swordsman, was married to such a wife.
Unfortunately, Kael and Bram were two of those people who spotted her one day.
...
Back to the present.
An annoyed groan leaves him as he stomps forward toward the sword rack again, the sheer absurdity of the reasoning hitting him directly in the chest.
This was it!? I thought they knew about her status, that’s why they were troubling Jack. But, it was simply because... Clara is beautiful!?
He makes a silent promise in his mind to torment them in the future. Because of their jealousy, he was beaten up. It makes sense to beat them for this. But...
As he closes his hand around the hilt again, he feels the weight of the efforts that he has to make to survive their trap and navigate through the academy and the debt.
But, he doesn’t take a step back from this burden. While preparing for another downward swing, his gaze burns with determination. The sword comes down again, slightly more stable this time, and hits the ground.
Nobody can take this life away from me. Nobody.