How to Live as a Martial Arts Writer in a Fantasy World

50 – 50. Going Crazy, Really (2)

50.

It all began when the children from Quen Lung visited the Eastern Swordsmanship Department.

The reason Allen is now stuck here, having been invited by Albert, head of the Eastern Swordsmanship Department in response to a direct request from the Quen Lung children, who expressed a desire to display their martial arts, is because of this.

As expected, today, too, Maya follows closely behind him.

“…Maya. Why do I have to witness this?”

“Hard to say. It’s only a show that seems to display the Quen Lung recruits’ desire to gain favor from your lordship.”

The swordplay from the Quen Lung recruits was magnificent.

The weighty taste of the Western Empire’s unique swordsmanship evoked the image of Western swordmanship, while the Quen Lung recruits’ swordplay vividly revealed the distinctive style of the Eastern Empire.

Seeing the clash of Western Knight swordsmanship and Eastern martial arts caused a whirlwind of confusion in his mind.

‘It’s stunning.’

The disciples of the Eastern Swordsmanship Department thoroughly countered with the Western Empire’s style of swordsmanship, and the Quen Lung recruits rigorously responded with the Eastern Empire’s style.

Although it was said that the Eastern Swordsmanship Department researched the swords created by Shuren, it was strange that no trace of it was visible.

It felt as though they deliberately eliminated all those elements.

Allen rested his chin in his hands.

In his line of sight, Albert was climbing up onto the competition field.

-Head of the Eastern Swordsmanship Department and ambassador, Albert Eling Von Muller.

Alan’s expression crumpled.

‘Why do I hear the phrase ambassador there?!’

A procession of mind-numbing comments followed.

From Alan’s perspective, everything he was witnessing was dizzying in itself.

– It’s an honor to meet Duke Albert.

– You flatter me.

-Although not representative of the Krun sword, I have trained in the style of the Jiang sword. I request instruction!

-I accept. Come forth!

Watching Albert, who was striking in every way, Alan clutched the back of his neck.

“I will go insane, really.”

***

In conclusion, Alan was on the brink of collapsing backward, clutching his forehead at Albert’s performance that day.

Carried on Meia’s back all the way to their lodgings, Alan laid on the bed and groaned in pain.

It looked like he had received a level of shock that mirrored psychological damage onto his physical body.

“I feel like I am going to faint and die, Meia…”

“You mustn’t pass away, my lord.”

“No, I don’t want to die yet.”

“Then, you’re okay.”

Alan frowned in silence at her blunt insistence.

“But I never knew my brother could behave like that.”

“Of course, it was shocking. Seeing you study and execute Shuren’s sword technique, your talents are indeed…”

“Such talents that I really can’t understand.”

Alan grumbled, suppressing his forehead with a damp towel Meia had kindly provided.

I can’t understand how he could execute exactly what he read in the novel.

“He’s a monster, a monster. I can’t understand my brother’s talent.”

“If your lordship heard that, he would be heartbroken.”

“I think it’s fortunate that he’s my brother.”

Watching Alan frantically try to cope, Meia slightly raised the corners of her lips.

“It’s mid-term season soon, my lord.”

“…Already?”

“It’s June soon. If you don’t get the fifth volume out quickly, the release could be delayed until after the school break.”

Allen let out a sigh.

The midterms, an unavoidable event for students, were just around the corner. The sheer thought of it made his head throb.

And it was not something he could avoid.

As a student, it’s an event he couldn’t escape. Just two months later in August, it’s the final exam time. Then there’s a month-long break from September to October.

“You don’t have much of the school break left, do you…?”

“You’re already thinking about the break.”

“Well, of course. Learning new things is fun, but playing is still better than studying.”

Watching Allen grumble, Maya grinned.

“But you still have to work hard for now, sir.”

“I know.”

But studying still makes my head hurt, and I don’t like it, Allen added.

While learning new things was good.

“You also have to think about club activities.”

“That’s true.”

With a groan, Allen rose from his seat.

Listening to Maya made him feel that he could not be lying down like this any longer.

“I need to stop by the club room first.”

***

“Allen, this.”

In the clubroom, the art club members and Leila were inevitably occupying their spots.

It wasn’t surprising, so Allen chuckled as he took the manuscript Leila offered.

Looking over the manuscript, Allen asked.

“Is this next week’s manuscript?”

“Yep. Episodes 1-2.”

Since they decided to serialise by partitioning the volume into portions, the content of Episodes 1-2 was from the very beginning of the first volume.

As Allen reviewed the manuscript, Leila asked.

“Allen, how about the next volume?”

“I’m writing it. I mean, I did say I stopped writing, but I never really stopped.”

“That’s a relief.”

“So when is the next volume coming out, Allen?”

“I think it won’t be out until before the midterms at least.”

At Allen’s answer, Felicia crossed her legs as if she was discontented.

Of course, the delay of volume 5 was more than what was anticipated, so it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand her dissatisfaction.

Felicia said,

“…it would be nice if such unpleasant incidents don’t happen again.”

“I don’t hope for such incidents to happen again either.”

Allen snorted with a bitter smile.

I really don’t know what the bastards at the Graphite Church are thinking. I can’t even understand why they stole something like a sword art.

When I think about it, the fact that Albert is dominating as the representative of the Eastern Sword School while wearing the Kuenryungpung hanbok doesn’t really make sense.

‘Ah, headache.’

The human called a brother who is the most immersed is the problem, problem.

In response to the sudden headache, Allen massaged his forehead.

I wish someone would write a book worth reading, but it feels like there’s no progress on that, it may even be worse.

“I heard that Glinghears Newspaper’s sales have surged, Allen. You must be happy.”

“I am happy. But I should write more quickly.”

It’s not finalized, so the speed is not right to serialize it steadily.

Of course, the speed at which Allen writes is quick, so the serialization speed is probably ahead of the comic’s release.

Allen nodded his head as he reviewed the manuscript.

“Since the newspaper serialization is weekly, there’s a reason to write more quickly.”

“Can you write faster?”

“Volume 5 is already complete, and the manuscript will be transferred to Adonel Publishing soon. As I said earlier that it will be out before midterms…”

“…Isn’t that too quick?”

Felicia had an incomprehensible look on her face.

Allen shrugged his shoulders.

“It would be better than coming out during midterm exams.”

“That’s right. If it comes out during the midterm period, I’ll bite you.”

Felicia growled like a puppy.

She was 100% serious.

Allen changed the topic.

“Ah, did you watch the tournament at the Eastern Swordsmanship Club today?”

“Ah, that one? It was quite a topic. I would’ve never thought that senior Albert would actually put on Kunlun’s traditional attire and participate in the fight. I couldn’t watch it myself because I had some other plans.”

Felicia seemed to have heard the rumor too.

Layla suddenly piped up.

“I saw it too.”

“How was it?”

“Shocking.”

With just a single word, Layla managed to convey the shock she had experienced.

Alan thought that was quite an efficient way of communicating.

“It would surely be a topic from various perspectives. We never thought senior Albert would wear Kunlun’s traditional attire.”

“I was surprised too, at that.”

Alan’s sigh was heavy.

Felicia gave a puzzled look.

“Why the sigh, Alan?”

“No, it just struck me how influence can spread to unexpected places. I never thought my brother would do something like immersing himself so much into a novel… How much must one involve in a novel to do such a thing?”

“Well, it could also be a proof of how much he likes it. I’ve heard the number of students interested in Kunlun’s culture is increasing these days.”

“It’s a good thing to be interested in another country’s culture. As a matter of fact, conflicts arise because of failure to understand each other.”

At Alan’s words, Felicia gave a nod of agreement.

“That’s true. The empire doesn’t want to worsen its relationship with Kunlun. Alan’s novels seem to be having a great influence on that.”

“… That’s quite a scary thought when put like that.”

“Not only that, the story includes aspects about Oslian, which makes it even more interesting. The perspective on orcs was fresh. Especially the fact of dealing with Aura.”

Alan scratched his cheek.

Of course, orcs in regular fantasy are far away from an superior skill like Aura.

The original purpose of these minor characters usually consist of being slaughtered by the protagonist.

Typically, they appear as sacrificial lambs for showing the protagonist’s power in the early stages.

“… There wasn’t any part in the novel claiming that the orcs belong to Oslian.”

“But they seemed to be clearly inspired by Oslian’s orcs, didn’t they? Of course, there are slight differences from reality.”

“That’s true.”

The orcs of Oslian are quite physical.

Alan also learned from Professor Teia that among the orcs of Oslian, very few make use of the Aura.

The elite warriors of the orcs fundamentally adopt what is known as the physical training method in martial arts, and their skin is tough and resilient to the point that it is difficult for a knife to penetrate.

Upon hearing this, Allen thought they might as well be practicing an iron shirt technique.

“Even the barbarians of Osiria have robust bodies, let alone the orcs of Osiria.”

“Have you seen them in person?”

“I’ve kept a good distance from Osiria. I have seen them a few times when emissaries came. It was shocking.”

Felicia who had slightly interrupted, resumed the conversation.

“It was possible because Osiria halted its expansionist activities.”

It wasn’t long ago that Osiria stopped its expansionist and aggressive advances.

This happened before Duke Mueller was revered as the Empire’s Sword King.

Roughly about 40 years ago based on the Imperial Calendar, long before Allen was born.

Felicia beamed a small smile.

“Well, why don’t we discuss what we are going to do in our club, President~?”