The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 67: Grandmaster

“Hey, Isaac.”

“Hm?”

Two more days passed on the battlefield.

At this point, Blackthorn no longer had the will nor the troops to resist.

Sharen approached Isaac quietly and asked, glancing at him.

“Do you smoke?”

“Hm?”

It was an odd question that came out of nowhere, but then Sharen covered her nose while frowning.

“I was going to rest in your tent, but the tobacco smell was too strong, so I left.”

“...”

There were a few points that Isaac wanted to address from what Sharen had just said.

First of all, he wanted to know why the hell was she even trying to rest on his tent instead of her own, but...

That was the less important matter, so he let it go for now.

“Tobacco smell?”

“Yeah! It was reaaaally strong! Did you feel the bitterness of your divorce and went, ‘Haa... My life...’ or something like that?”

“...Where did you learn that?”

“The North. The knights did it often.”

“...”

Now that I think about it, there were a bunch of smokers there...

“But, the tobacco smell is much stronger than the ones in the North! It shocked me! We Helmont have a sharp sense of smell, you know?”

Though she had lost her mother, Sharen was coping well in her own way. At first Isaac worried if she could ever return to her old innocent self, but it turned out that it was an unnecessary worry.

Seeing her overcoming her grief and moving forward in her own way made his heart feel warm.

“I don’t smoke.”

“Really? So, someone went into your tent and smoked then?”

“...”

‘Strong tobacco?’ With a nagging feeling, Isaac started walking.

It can’t be.

Though his mind kept telling him that it was impossible, expectation welled up in his heart.

When he arrived at his tent, his nose caught the faint, but strong scent of tobacco.

[This is life.]

At that moment, the Grandmaster’s voice, who used to say those words with a smile, echoed in his ears.

Having once been a smoker himself, he had experienced how strong her tobacco was firsthand.

While blowing out smoke from that strong tobacco, she’d say words that would sound like complaints with a bright expression.

But it wasn’t because she enjoyed saying such things, but because she enjoyed seeing people’s reactions to her antics. That was the kind of person the Grandmaster was.

“Ugh! The smell!”

“Sharen, stay here.”

Leaving Sharen who was following him behind, Isaac entered the tent.

Being a Helmont, he had been given a luxurious personal tent.

Inside that luxurious tent, he found a black-haired woman, standing with a cigarette in her mouth.

Pointy wolf ears.

An odachi slung over her shoulder.

A gaze as sharp as a blade and eyes that held the moonlight.

A fluffy tail curled behind her back.

Master...!

He almost called out to her without realizing it.

That was how elated he was to see her, and at the same time, how startled he was at this sudden reunion.

Although, he did wonder why the Grandmaster, who should have been on the rocky mountain, was here, in his tent of all places.

“Huu.”

The Grandmaster silently blew out tobacco smoke and spoke to Isaac.

“Good thing the red kid didn’t come in.”

What she was trying to say was simple.

If Sharen had come in, she’d have had to kill her.

Which meant she had no intention of showing herself to anyone other than Isaac.

“Who are you?”

“Consider me a noble visitor. Someone who has taken a great interest in your sword.”

The Grandmaster tapped the ground with her odachi, still holding her cigarette in her mouth.

She probably thought that showing the same type of sword as the one he wielded would be enough to convey what was in her mind.

“I have several questions, but there isn’t much time, so I can’t ask them all.”

“...”

“I’ve watched your duel. All the rumors about how you’ve broken Helmont’s sword weren’t a lie.”

She watched my duel with Lohengrin...

Before he realized it, he felt secretly proud after hearing her words.

After all, those words meant that the Grandmaster recognized him.

“Anyway, I originally came to recruit you, to ask if you’d be willing to walk the same path with us.”

“Recruit me?”

Is the Grandmaster affiliated with some kind of organization at this point in time?

Of course, Isaac didn’t know everything about the Grandmaster’s life, including what she was up to at this point in time.

So naturally, he wanted to hear about it, but...

“However, there’s something I want to ask first.”

The Grandmaster’s gaze turned sharp.

“Who is your master?”

Isaac almost answered without thinking, but he quickly closed his mouth. Noticing that he had no intention of answering, the Grandmaster nodded.

“I asked because I have a feeling that your master is an old acquaintance of mine—“

Twitch.

Her wolf ears quivered.

At that moment.

Clang!

They both drew their tachi. If Isaac hadn’t noticed her wolf ears moving first, he would’ve been caught off guard by her.

“...!”

But instead, it was her who was caught off guard.

She hadn’t expected him to counter her ‘Iai’ with his own.

“What are you doing?”

Isaac asked in bewilderment, and the Grandmaster answered with sad eyes.

“I didn’t intend to harm you, I was going to stop in front of your neck.”

“...”

“You’re a clue to the friend that I thought I’d lost. So, please, tell me. Who is your master?”

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Isaac was perplexed. He had never seen the Grandmaster acting like this before.

A friend? Her close friend?

Even in his previous life, the Grandmaster never brought up stories about her past.

No one asked her, and she didn’t say anything about it either.

“I thought I had lost everyone. But seeing your sword, it’s clear that we’re from the same school.”

This was probably the reason why the Grandmaster had chosen to raise a lot of disciples, and why she hadn’t spoken about her past.

“I want to see my friend.”

Her plea made Isaac’s expression darker and more clouded.

Damn it...

His chest ached and started to throb.

If I don’t tell her that I’ve learned this sword from her, won’t I be letting her build false hope?

Should I tell her?

If it’s her, she’ll probably trust me, right?

As Isaac was pondering this...

“A beast has come.”

The Grandmaster’s eyes flashed as she leaped back.

At the same time, the tent was cleanly split in half, and they were greeted by a murky sky and strong wind.

What separated Isaac and the Grandmaster was a massive greatsword.

Its owner was none other than Arandel Helmont.

“Petty tricks.”

With his greatsword slung over his shoulder.

Arandel stood in front of Isaac, glaring at the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster let out a hollow laugh as she drew her sword.

“You misunderstood, I’m not related to Blackthorn’s Transcendent Race.”

The sudden commotion drew a bunch of knights from the surroundings.

Even Sharen, who had been just outside, came over to Isaac’s side and stood by him.

“A-Are you okay?!”

“This...”

Oh no, this is bad...

From her appearance, the Grandmaster looked like a Transcendent to anyone who was looking at her.

Strictly speaking, she was mixed-blood, but unlike Jonathan, her Transcendent blood was thicker, that was why she had ears and a tail.

And now, they were at war with the Transcendent Race.

If he were to defend her here, he could just be branded as a traitor to humanity, but...

“Father! She’s not an enemy!”

Isaac didn’t care.

Seeing him stepping forward in such urgency, Arandel’s eyes twitched.

“Oh?”

The Grandmaster, on the other hand, stared at Isaac with interest.

Isaac hoped she would take this chance to escape, but unfortunately, the Grandmaster stood firmly on both legs and declared.

“I’m gonna take him with me.”

“Wait—!”

The Grandmaster, now certain that Isaac had information about her friend...

Refused to back down no matter what, even if she had to face Arandel for it. That was how desperate she was.

Unfortunately, this meant that she had to be prepared for the consequences.

“Not now.”

Arandel stepped forward, passing by Isaac. Extending his greatsword to block the space between them, his red eyes emitted a faint light.

“This guy is a Helmont.”

It was clear what he meant; he wouldn’t hand Isaac over no matter what. Seeing this, the corner of the Grandmaster’s lips twisted upwards.

Clang!

She then unleashed a Flash Strike that was several times faster than the Iai she used on Isaac.

It was so quick that even Isaac failed to follow it for a moment.

“Hmm...”

In that instant, a sword wound was carved into Arandel’s shoulder.

However, it was the Grandmaster whose expression darkened.

“Foolish.”

She probably intended to cut off his arm entirely but only ended up inflicting a small wound on him. This outcome made her click her tongue.

Whatever the case, the line had already been crossed. This was no longer an incident that Isaac could intervene and resolve.

“At last, a worthy opponent has appeared.”

Crimson Essence, close to blood-red, poured out from Arandel’s entire body.

Just its sheer power and mass instantly dominated the surroundings. Every core of his being was now focused on this one woman.

“Tch.”

Seeing his Aura, the Grandmaster clicked her tongue.

“What a crude way of fighting.”

Though she said that, she didn’t relax her guard one bit. She gripped her odachi with both hands, looking for an opportunity, but...

She had to admit it wouldn’t be an easy task.

In Isaac’s previous life, she had once described Arandel as a deterrent force that could even suppress the Transcendent Race from making a move.

Despite her words, she acknowledged Arandel’s strength.

A fierce battle was to be expected to ensue between them, but it was hard to imagine Arandel losing to anyone in a one-on-one sword fight.

Arandel’s greatsword swept in.

Calling it a simple swing wouldn’t be accurate.

The Crimson Essence contained in his greatsword swirled like a storm, extending towards the Grandmaster.

It was more majestic and massive than any single strike he had shown on the battlefield.

“...!”

However, as if defying the laws of physics, a long line was drawn through the red storm.

The Crimson Essence was split into two.

In the next moment, the Grandmaster squeezed through the vertical gap that was created.

[Aura? Are you trying to make me laugh? When you reach the pinnacle, you don’t need such things.]

It was exactly what she said.

Unlike the current Isaac, who relied on Brikala’s mana to penetrate aura...

She was able to cut through Arandel’s Crimson Essence with just a sword; a sight that was so shocking that it even left the Helmont’s knights bewildered.

However, Arandel didn’t waver.

Rather, as if he had been waiting for this, he clashed swords with the Grandmaster who flew towards him.

Boom!

With an explosive sound that rang out, the exchange between those who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship continued.

——————————————————————————————-Grandmaster