Medieval Fantasy Barbarian

Though his words were rough, the old man inwardly hoped for the two to work out well.

Having lived to such an age, how could he interfere with the budding romance of young people rather than helping them?

The old man stared blankly at the two.

The two were blushing and awkwardly avoiding each other’s gaze, yet they were preciously holding hands.

Whatever happened overnight, they seemed to have made quite some progress.

“…Damn it.”

He didn’t want things to work out this well. The old man spat out a crude curse.

A week passed.

In that short time, Ivan’s movements had clearly changed.

If before he had wielded his superior physical abilities according to instinct, now it felt as if he had completely mastered how to handle his body.

The old man was surprised by this growth rate, yet he harbored one question.

“Come to think of it, why don’t you use a sword? You don’t think fighting bare-handed is cooler or something, do you?”

“It’s not that, but swords break too easily, so they’re hard to use. My friend will get me another if I ask, but I feel bad just breaking them freely.”

“Hmm, good swords are certainly hard to come by. Well then, try swinging this.”

The old man tossed the sword he had been carrying on his back, and Ivan caught it effortlessly.

The hilt bore the traces of time, but the reddish blade drew a smooth curve without a single blemish.

It was such a fine sword that even a layman in swords could recognize it at a glance.

Ivan gripped the sword with both hands and slashed from top to bottom. The sound of cutting through the air resonated coldly.

“…Oh.”

As Ivan stared at the sword as if entranced, the old man said indifferently.

“Why are you staring so intently? Bring it back.”

“You’re not giving it to me?”

“Bullshit. Do you know how precious that item is? You can’t get something like that even with money.”

“Then why did you lend it to me? You’re not just teasing me, are you?”

“Actually, I was teasing you.”

“……”

As expected. What a petty old man. Ivan returned the sword with deep regret.

“Besides, who swings a sword like that? Are you a monkey or something?”

“I’ve never properly learned, so isn’t this impressive enough?”

“Impressive, my ass. Watch carefully how I do it.”

The old man gripped the sword and swung it exactly three times.

He struck down from top to bottom, slashed from left to right, and thrust forward.

The simplest of movements, but at the same time, they were everything. The depth couldn’t be easily gauged.

“Did you watch closely? Now swing it again.”

An ordinary person might not be able to capture even a fragment of that enlightenment after years or even a lifetime.

But Ivan was different.

When he swung it the first time, he embodied the form, and with the second, he grasped the technique. By the third, he had fully incorporated the teaching.

He read the flow with his eyes, understood with his instinct, and reproduced with his perfect body. It was truly overwhelming talent.

Ivan looked proudly at his master.

“It’s not as impressive as I thought.”

“Look at that, I spoon-fed you everything, and now you think you’re something special. How can I bear to be a master? Take your stance.”

The old man approached, drawing another sword he had prepared. It wasn’t as good as the one in Ivan’s hand, but it was still a formidable blade.

Ivan felt an ominous premonition.

“You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking… are you?”

“What do you mean ‘am I’? You’ve roughly learned the technique, now it needs to be beaten into your body. Let’s see how well you can dodge.”

“Wait, shit…”

Before he could curse, a fierce blade came rushing in.

Ivan was terrified and barely deflected the blade.

“Oh? You blocked it?”

“Let’s take it easy! I’ll really die at this rate!”

“Training needs to be intense to be effective. If you die, well, that can’t be helped.”

Ivan screamed, but the old man pretended not to hear. The swordplay continued until sunset.

Having felt the fear of death all day, Ivan returned home nearly exhausted.

‘Damn old man…’

“You’re back. You look a bit tired today?”

Elena welcomed him warmly when he returned home. His fatigue instantly vanished.

“What do you mean tired? Nothing happened.”

“There’s blood on you? Just a moment…”

The small wounds had already healed, but the bloodstains hadn’t disappeared.

Elena approached closely and stuck out her tongue to lick the bloodstain.

Ivan, who hadn’t imagined this kind of contact, jumped in surprise.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“It’s a waste. To a sorceress, your blood is as precious as a magical elixir.”

“Ah… I thought it was something else. Should I draw some blood for you while we’re at it?”

Elena refused with a serious expression.

“That won’t do. Absolutely not.”

“Why? It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t even hurt much.”

“I don’t want to hurt your body for something like that. What we have now is enough.”

It was a more satisfying answer than he had imagined. The corners of Ivan’s mouth spread into a smile.

“Is the old man sleeping outside again today?”

“Well, as always.”

That man, despite his usual cantankerousness, was surprisingly considerate at times like this.

It was one of the few moments when Ivan felt grateful to his master.

“Let’s go to sleep quickly. I’m tired.”

“Shall we?”

The two naturally lay down on the bed and embraced each other.

They only blushed at first. After repeating it a few times, they became accustomed to it surprisingly quickly.

That doesn’t mean they were indifferent. Elena felt Ivan’s heart beating rapidly.

“…Pervert.”

“This is a physiological response. Your heart is beating too, you know.”

“Mine is because of spiritual stimulation. It’s different from yours.”

Ivan smiled slyly.

“Really? Can you be sure?”

“I don’t know… don’t say that…”

Elena lowered her head and burrowed into Ivan’s embrace. Ivan chuckled and pretended to yield.

The two, tangled like one body and sharing body heat, quickly fell asleep.

As the cool moonlight illuminated their bodies, Elena felt a change.

The spiritual growth that had progressed remarkably over the past few days finally crossed a critical threshold.

Like a dam bursting after reaching its limit, an explosive outpouring occurred. The constraint engraved on her soul—the hateful leash—was being untied.

“Ah.”

A heated breath escaped. A feeling of complete liberation filled her head.

Elena felt she was finally free from all that had been binding her.

At first, she thought it was just a gamble worth trying… but really.

As her emotions settled, Elena stared intently at Ivan, who was sleeping obliviously.

She had no intention of leaving regrets.

From the beginning, it wasn’t a relationship formed out of pure goodwill, and they had only spent a little over a week together.

She had already been absent for too long. She couldn’t risk any more danger due to personal feelings.

Elena carefully untangled the arms and legs that embraced her body and got up.

Then she whispered softly into the ear of the soundly sleeping Ivan.

“…It was fun though. I mean it.”

She didn’t add more words. If she did, she might not be able to leave.

Just as Elena was quietly opening the door to leave, a voice came from behind.

“Are you leaving?”

“…How long have you been awake?”

“Since just before you whispered in my ear.”

That essentially meant he had been awake from the beginning. Elena felt embarrassed but didn’t show it.

“Then, are you going to stop me?”

“No.”

For some reason, Elena felt disappointment rather than relief at that answer.

Perhaps deep down, she had been hoping he would hold her back, telling her not to go.

“You, you’re fine with me leaving?”

Hearing her voice tinged with a bit of moisture, Ivan answered nonchalantly.

“You have something you absolutely must do, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then I should let you go. I can’t decide your life for you. But let me ask just one thing.”

Elena nodded silently.

Ivan hesitated for a moment, then exhaled deeply as if making a big decision.

“Will we ever see each other again?”

Elena stood blankly for a moment before breaking into a smile.

For a warrior who could kill even a giant with his bare hands, he was too innocent. She liked that about him.

“Come here. I’ll tell you in your ear.”

Ivan approached and bent down to match her eye level.

Elena grabbed Ivan’s neck with her slender hand and stood on her tiptoes.

Then she awkwardly kissed him.

“Does that answer your question?”

When Ivan froze without any reaction, Elena extended her finger to lift the corner of his mouth.

“Well then, goodbye.”

Ivan watched for a long time as Elena left through the open door.

“Ugh, what’s so good about a guy like that? Anyway, lucky bastard.”

“……!!”

Ivan was startled half to death when the old man suddenly intruded.

“Wait, Master, how did you…”

“Don’t you know that when you get old, your hearing gets unnecessarily sharp at night? You’ll understand when you live another 50 years.”

“…How long have you been listening?”

“Since you were putting on that unnecessary act. I wanted to throw up but barely held it in.”

The rare serious atmosphere was broken. Ivan felt all his energy drain as he sat down.

Well, this light atmosphere wasn’t too bad either. After all, they would meet again, wouldn’t they?

“Why are you suddenly grinning like that? Have you lost your mind?”

Ivan ignored the old man’s nonsense and smiled with satisfaction.