While Liam was searching all over for Yasushi.

Yasushi was in a dojo that resembled a prefabricated hut, hanging up a wooden board he had found, on which he had written "The Original Issen-ryu Dojo" in ink.

"Fuhahaha! This is my dojo!"

"It's wonderful, Yasu-kun!"

From purchasing the land to preparing the building, his wife Nina had done everything, but it was still Yasushi's dojo.

Yasushi hadn't contributed a single cent.

Even so, Yasushi had the air of a first-class master.

Nina praised his appearance in his training gi.

"You look great in your training gi, Yasu-kun."

"Right? After all, appearances are everything for a person. Leave creating the atmosphere to me."

As Yasushi puffed out his chest, Nina brought up a serious topic.

It was about the management of the dojo.

"But can you really teach with just atmosphere? You're not that strong, are you, Yasu-kun?"

"I have a track record of raising three monstrous disciples. If I hold back and raise them to be decent, my future will be secure. Someday, I'll serve as a sword instructor for some lord, and this time, I'll suck them dry to the bone."

"Even your scummy side is wonderful."

Satisfied by the sight of the enraptured Nina, Yasushi resolved not to fail this time.

(I've had a string of failures since fleeing the Banfield house, but this time, I'll find a noble family to take care of me so I can live an easy life.)

There were probably many nobles who wanted the Issen-ryu name, and there was the success story of Liam.

However... poverty dulls the wit.

Focused on earning money to live, Yasushi had forgotten something important.

A knight, having seen a flyer, came to Yasushi's dojo, which bore the Issen-ryu sign.

He was a rough-looking man.

"Is this the Issen-ryu dojo?"

"Looking to become a disciple already? That's right. I am the master of the Original Issen-ryu."

Yasushi didn't give his name.

It would be troublesome if they knew he was the Sword God.

"Are you related to that Count Banfield?"

"Ah, something like a distant relative? There are many branches of the Issen-ryu, you see."

"I want to get stronger. Can I become strong if I learn here?"

"Of course! I may not look it, but as an instructor, I'm first-rate!"

The knight grinned.

"That's great. I was exiled, so I was planning to get stronger and get my revenge. It's perfect if I can learn that Issen-ryu."

Yasushi froze upon hearing the knight's words.

"—Eh? Exiled?"

"I had a little 'fun' with the populace, and that bastard of a lord got angry. What a small-minded lord he was. I'm going to get my revenge on him."

Seeing the man's eerie smile, Nina pulled on Yasushi's arm.

"Yasu-kun, i-is this okay?"

"D-don't worry. As long as he pays his monthly fee, he's a precious disciple. A-anyway, from today on, you are my disciple. First, we'll start with etiquette—"

"Knights don't need etiquette! What's important is strength, isn't it!"

"You're absolutely right! Th-th-th-then, let's begin training immediately."

"The same sword style that Count Banfield learned, huh? I'm looking forward to this."

For some reason, a vicious man had suddenly appeared.

◇

There was a man watching from above as Yasushi opened his dojo.

—It was the Guide.

"Yasushi, you're going to do one more job for me."

Next to him was Gudwar, who looked like a human body had grown out of an octopus.

"Is that the Sword God? He just looks like a man with no real skill."

Gudwar had also been looking forward to meeting the Sword God, but he tilted his head in confusion upon seeing Yasushi.

"He himself isn't strong, but he's the man who raised Liam and the other two. He specializes in raising strong people."

"That's perfect! In that case, I'll send a whole bunch of strong guys his way."

The two of them interfered with Yasushi, drawing in wandering knights who were strong but problematic.

And so, they planned to mass-produce Issen-ryu users to intercept Liam.

Both the Guide and Gudwar had a thought.

To defeat Liam, they just needed to raise swordsmen of the same Issen-ryu.

They failed last time because there were only two.

But what if there were many of them, even if they were inferior copies?

If they used swordsmen who already possessed a certain level of skill, not children, they could be shaped quickly.

That was what the two of them were thinking.

"Yasushi opened his dojo at the perfect time. Let's gather more, many more villains."

As the Guide let out a vulgar laugh, Gudwar also looked amused.

"My own country is just starting to get interesting, but pitting Issen-ryu users against each other here sounds fun too."

Gudwar, who wanted to see the strong fight, wriggled his eight legs in delight.

The Guide, in high spirits, directed negative energy toward Yasushi's dojo.

As if lured by it, villains would surely gather.

The Guide, borrowing Gudwar's power, had embarked on a plan to mass-produce swordsmen who had learned the Issen-ryu.

"If we lend a hand, warriors who have mastered the Issen-ryu will be trained in no time. I'm truly looking forward to it."

"Pitting the strong against each other makes my blood boil."

To defeat Liam, who had become too strong, the Guide and Gudwar would prepare a large number of villains who had learned the Issen-ryu.

◇

Meanwhile.

On a different planet, Rinho was facing a lone swordsman.

Her opponent had his sword drawn, but Rinho kept her katana sheathed, her hand resting on the hilt.

She made a taunting gesture.

"Hurry up and come at me. You're the strongest around here, aren't you?"

Her opponent was a man with tattoos on his face.

He was bald and looked every bit the villain.

The man pointed his sword at Rinho, but he was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Lying around them were the underlings the man had brought with him.

A group of mercenaries hired by pirates.

They were a gathering of former knights and swordsmen, all men of some renown.

It was said that if they lent their aid, the private armies of lords would tremble and flee.

The man spoke to Rinho while maintaining his stance.

"Why is the rumored Issen-ryu in a place like this? I thought you guys were rampaging around the Banfield territory and the Hegemony Kingdom."

The Issen-ryu, which Liam had made famous, was finally starting to be recognized throughout the Empire.

Rinho brought her right hand to her mouth and chuckled.

"Just killing time."

Hearing those words, the man stepped in, closing the distance.

The man was also a warrior who had once acquired sword skills as a knight and survived on the battlefield.

After becoming a pirate-knight, he had been active as a bodyguard.

He was a well-known swordsman in the underworld.

(To a little girl like this!)

I can't lose.

Thinking this, he swung his sword down, but it cut through empty air.

The sword was certainly within reach of Rinho.

However, the sword was broken, the blade gone from the hilt.

In front of the man, who quickly backed away, Rinho was toying with the broken blade in her right hand.

"Ahh, how boring. At this rate, I should have gone with my senior disciple."

"Guh!"

The man tried to draw a pistol from his holster, but before he knew it, his arm was gone from the elbow down.

"Wh-!?"

Ignoring the shocked man, Rinho tossed away the broken blade and placed her hand on the hilt of her katana.

She drew her blade and approached the man.

"I heard there was a strong guy here, so I went out of my way to ask my senior disciple to let me have him. This is pathetic. The serial killer from a little while ago was better. He was a little bit fun, I guess."

"A serial killer? Don't tell me... Donir? Donir of the Six Swords, by a little girl like you!?"

He had heard the story that the serial killer who had been terrorizing the area had been killed by someone.

But it seemed he hadn't considered that the one who killed him was Rinho, standing right before him.

"Six Swords? Ah, so he had a nickname like that. I heard he was a criminal feared by nobles and knights alike, so I had some expectations."

He had been a cunning man.

Even while being pursued by the Empire, he had run around and repeatedly committed murder.

The man recalled a certain rumor.

That there was a swordsman who hunted villains.

It had become a rumor in recent years, but he had just thought it was some eccentric person.

However, if the swordsman before him was from the Issen-ryu and called someone 'senior disciple'—

"Is Liam here? Why would Count Banfield be in a place like—"

The man's words did not continue.

Rinho raised an eyebrow, showing her displeasure.

"Don't you dare call my senior disciple by his name without an honorific."

As she sheathed her katana, the man's head fell.

It was then.

A communication came in for Rinho.

A small window appeared in mid-air, and the person displayed was Fuuka.

"'What's taking you so long?'"

Seeing the displeased Fuuka, Rinho tucked her hair behind her ear with her finger.

"You're so noisy. It's already over. More importantly, are you done on your end?"

"'Our senior disciple got bored. He's having Marie clean up, so he says you should come back too.'"

"Our senior disciple gets bored easily, doesn't he?"

When Rinho left the scene, a small shuttle that had apparently come to pick her up was waiting.

◇

A thousand black warships were cornering the pirates.

Commanding them was Marie Sera Marian.

Once known as one of the Three Knights of the Empire, this female knight had been freed from petrification after two thousand years and now swore loyalty to Liam.

On the bridge of the flagship battleship, she was issuing orders as the commander.

"It is Lord Liam's wish. Destroy every last one of them."

The pirates numbered over two thousand.

They were outnumbered more than two to one, but Liam's fleet was equipped with state-of-the-art vessels for their incognito trip.

The fleet commanded by Marie destroyed the pirate ships one after another.

An operator reported to Marie about the pirates' pleas for their lives.

"Commander, we're receiving continuous requests to surrender from the pirates."

Hearing this, the bridge crew made faces that said, 'Not again.'

Marie smiled as she declared her refusal.

"We will not accept pleas for mercy from pirates. Lord Liam has grown bored of it."

Behind Marie, Liam was relaxing in his personal seat.

At first, he had been excited about hunting pirates, but once he realized how weak the enemy was, he had lost interest.

"Well, they claim to be on good terms with a certain noble. They're threatening that it will become troublesome if word gets out that Count Banfield is on a rampage."

"—Oh? They have quite good eyes and ears, don't they?"

The fleet was not displaying the Banfield family crest.

But it seemed they had obtained information and identified them.

Marie turned her gaze to Liam.

To her gaze, which asked, 'What shall we do?', Liam answered curtly.

"Do you think some small-fry noble can defy me now? If they're a noble from my own faction, I'll just bribe them and be done with it. If they're from Calvin's rival faction, I'll just crush them thoroughly. If they're one of the fence-sitters, I'll pay them a visit and see how they react. Put me through to that pirate."

"Yes, sir."

The operator replied and displayed the pirate's face on the monitor, and Liam addressed him with an audacious attitude.

"Who are you connected with?"

"'Hehehe, that's a secret. If Count Banfield would just back off here, we'll keep quiet and let this slide.'"

The opponent seemed to think that Liam would want to avoid conflict between nobles.

Liam had once fought against pirate nobles, but now he was the head of a massive faction with Cleo as its figurehead.

Thinking he must have many constraints, they had revealed their connection to a noble.

"I see. In that case, I'll just investigate after I've crushed you. That's all."

As he was about to end the communication, the pirate was startled.

"'Hey, are you serious!? You don't know who we're connected to! Are you even a noble!?'"

Liam didn't lose his composed attitude towards the pirate.

"It doesn't matter either way. Whether they're friend or foe, I can handle it."

The pirate had a look of disbelief on his face.

"'Why would a big shot like you go out of your way to target us? There are plenty of bigger pirate crews out there!'"

It seemed they had never imagined they would be targeted by the Banfield house.

Liam smiled.

"Size doesn't matter. I just enjoy crushing pirates like you. You know how you feel like taking a detour when you're traveling? It's the same as that."

"'Y-you're going to kill us for a reason like that?'"

"When you plunder, do you ever think about your victims' feelings? —Hey, cut the transmission."

When the communication was cut, Marie approached Liam's side.

"That was a wonderful display, so very like you, Lord Liam. I, Marie, am trembling with emotion."

Towards the blushing and delighted Marie, Liam adopted an expression as if he were looking at something suspicious.

"Ah, is that so. More importantly, there aren't any suitable opponents around."

When Liam turned his gaze to the silently standing Ellen, she herself showed a tense expression.

Marie also looked at Ellen, seeming to have guessed what Liam wanted to say.

"An opponent for Ellen? Shall I capture one of the nearby pirates?"

Liam shook his head.

"No."

Hearing that, Ellen showed a relieved expression, then hastily composed herself.

But Liam didn't miss that expression.

Marie also shrugged.

"You shouldn't feel relieved, Ellen. For both swordsmen and knights, killing is a necessity. You only become a true warrior once you've cut someone down."

Ellen looked down.

"Yes. I-if there's an opponent, I'll do it right away."

"Of course. If you can't become a true warrior, you have no right to learn the Issen-ryu."

Receiving Liam's harsh gaze, Ellen's expression soured, perhaps imagining that she would eventually have to cut someone down.

However, it was up to Liam to decide on such an opponent for Ellen.

And yet, saying there were no suitable candidates, Liam was unable to find an opponent for Ellen.