Volume 9 Chapter 3: A Major Miscalculation

While Liam was searching for Yasushi, the latter was putting up a wooden sign, with the words 'The Original One-Flash' written in ink, on a dojo that looked like a prefabricated hut.

"Fuhahaha! This is my dojo!"

"It looks wonderful, Yasu-kun!"

Nina, his wife, had paid for everything. From the purchasing of the land, to the preparation of the building, but the dojo was under Yasushi's name.

As a matter of fact, he hadn't paid a single cent.

Still, he was a master when it came to putting on airs.

Nina praised her husband, who was wearing a dōgi.

"Yasu-kun, the dōgi fits you so well!"

"You bet! Us humans are all about how we look. Leave it to me to set the vibe."

While Yasushi was getting puffed up with pride, Nina asked him a serious question about how he would operate the dojo.

"But can you teach your students with vibes alone? Yasu-kun, it's not like you're that strong, right?"

"Well, I do have a track record of raising three monstrous disciples. It should be fine as long as I hold back a bit. Who knows, I might become the sword instructor of some lord in the future. When that time comes, I'll make sure to suck him dry."

"I like that asshole side of you too!"

Yasushi nodded in satisfaction seeing how lovestruck Nina was with him.

He was determined not to fail this time.

(It's been a series of failures ever since I fled from the Banfield Family, but this time, I'll find an aristocratic household that I can really latch onto.)

There were many aristocrats interested in the School of One-Flash, and the existence of Liam, who embodied its success, served to further fuel their interest.

However... there was a saying that 'poverty dulls the wit'.

Yasushi had forgotten something important after being blinded by the money he could potentially earn.

A knight who had seen the promotional flyer approached Yasushi just as he had finished putting up the signboard for the One Flash dojo.

One look was enough to tell that the knight was probably an unruly fellow.

"Is this a dojo affiliated with the School of One-Flash?"

"A disciple right off the bat? That's right. I'm a sword instructor of the original One-Flash."

Yasushi did not reveal his name as things could become troublesome once it was known that he was the Sword God.

"What's your relationship with Count Banfield?"

"Um~ we're something akin to distant relatives. There are several variations to One-Flash after all."

"I want to become stronger. Will I become stronger if I train here?"

"But of course! Despite how I may look, I'm a top-notch instructor!"

The knight grinned.

"Excellent. I was exiled and thinking of getting revenge after becoming stronger. May as well learn from the School of One-Flash."

Yasushi's expression hardened when he heard the knight's words.

"—Eh? Exiled?"

"I was just having a little fun with the people, but that bastard of a lord got all angry with me. He's such a petty lord. I'll get 'im for what he's done."

Nina pulled Yasushi to the side when she saw the eerie smile on the knight's face.

"Yasu-kun, are you sure about this?"

"A-all's well. He's an important disciple of mine as long as he can afford to pay the monthly fees. A-anyway, you're my disciple from today. Let's begin with the etique—"

"To hell with etiquettes! Why would a knight need that?! Being strong is all that matters!"

"Y-you're absolutely right! T-then let's start training straight away."

"The swordsmanship that Count Banfield learned, is it? I'm looking forward to it."

Out of nowhere, an ill-bred fellow had appeared.

◇

Someone was watching Yasushi from the sky as he opened his dojo.

—It was the Guide.

"Yasushi, you've got some work to do."

Gudwar, who looked like a human octopus, stood next to him.

"Is that the Sword God? He seems to be a regular person with no skills."

Gudwar had been looking forward to meeting the Sword God, but he was confused when he saw Yasushi in person.

"He himself isn't that strong, but he's the man who raised Liam and the two others. He's basically specialized in raising powerful warriors."

"That's good! I'll send a bunch of strong men his way."

The two decided on gathering wandering knights who were strong but had problematic personalities and sending them towards Yasushi.

They'll then greet Liam with an army of swordsmen from the School of One-Flash.

The Guide and Gudwar both agreed that to defeat Liam, the swordsmen opposing him should also be trained in the School of One-Flash.

The previous attempt had failed because there were only two people to oppose him.

But what if they went with quantity over quality?

Instead of training children from scratch, if they gathered swordsmen with a certain amount of skill, they should take shape soon enough.

Or so the two thought.

"Yasushi decided to open a dojo just at the right time. Let's gather more ruffians for him."

The Guide let out a crude laugh, and Gudwar was also having a good time.

"Things are getting interesting back in my country, but it also sounds fun to have members of the School of One-Flash clash against one another."

Gudwar, who enjoyed watching battles between powerful men, shook its eight legs in delight.

The Guide was in a great mood as well and directed some of his negative energy towards Yasushi's dojo, and ruffians began to swarm over as if they were being lured by it.

With the help of Gudwar, the Guide was planning on mass-producing swordsmen capable of reproducing the One Flash.

"With our assistance, those ruffians will master the One-Flash in no time. I'm already shaking in anticipation."

"A battle between powerful warriors. My blood's boiling."

And so, to defeat Liam who had become overpowered, the Guide and Gudwar was preparing a large army of ruffians that could unleash the One-Flash.

◇

Meanwhile, on a different planet, Rinho was facing off against a swordsman.

Her opponent had drawn his sword, but Rinho had yet to do so, her hand merely on her sword's handle.

She made gestures to provoke her enemy.

"Come. You're the strongest around here, right?"

The man she was up against was a skinhead and had a tattoo on his face, making it obvious that he was an evil-doer.

His sword was pointed at Rinho, but he was having cold sweats as he did so.

The underlings that he had brought had all fallen to the ground.

They were a group of mercenaries hired by pirates, and their group consisted of former knights and swordsmen that had made a name for themselves.

It was even said that the private armies of lords would flee in terror at the sight of them.

While maintaining his stance, he spoke to Rinho.

"Why are members of the One-Flash here? I thought you guys only appeared in areas around the Banfield Family and the Kingdom of Dominion?"

With Liam spreading the word, the School of One Flash was finally being recognized throughout the Empire.

Rinho put her right hand close to her mouth and giggled.

"We're just here to kill time."

Hearing her response, the man stepped forward and closed the distance between them.

He used to be a knight and was trained in the art of the sword. Not only that, he was a veteran that had survived countless battlefields.

Since becoming a pirate knight, he had been active as a bodyguard and was a well-respected sword master in the underworld.

(You're just a young girl!)

There was no way he could lose.

Thinking so, he swung down his sword, only to cut through air.

He was certain the sword would reach Rinho.

However, he realized that his sword was broken and that its blade was missing.

The man quickly took some distance, only to see Rinho playing with the broken blade in front of him.

"Ah~ how boring. If I'd known things would end up this way, I would've just stuck to following Senior Brother around."

"Guh!"

The man tried to pull out his pistol from the holster, but before he could react, his arms were cut off.

"Wha-?!"

Ignoring the man's look of surprise, Rinho tossed the blade away before gripping her sword's hilt.

She pulled it out and approached the man.

"I heard someone strong was here and pled Senior Brother to let me have him, but you're worse than the serial killer from a while ago. At least he was more enjoyable to deal with."

"Serial killer? You mean Donil? Six-Sword Donil? He was done in by a girl like you?!"

He already knew that someone had put an end to the infamous serial killer, but he didn't think it was the girl in front of him that had done the deed.

"Six-Sword? Ah, right. That was his second name. You know, I expected a little more from that criminal since I heard aristocrats and knights alike feared him."

The serial killer was a cunning man that continued to murder people even as a wanted man in the Empire.

The man suddenly recalled a certain rumor about a swordsman that hunted wrongdoers like him.

The rumor had been around for a few years, but the man dismissed it thinking it was the work of a Good Samaritan passing by.

However, he connected the dots hearing the swordswoman in front of him refer to her Senior Brother from the School of One-Flash.

"Liam's here? Why's Count Banfield at a place like—"

Before the man could finish his sentence, Rinho raised her eyebrows, displeased.

"This is for addressing Senior Brother without honorifics."

When she put her sword back in its scabbard, the man's head fell off his body.

Just then, Rinho received a call, and a small window appeared in the air with Fuuka projected inside it.

'We don't got all day, y'know?'

Seeing how moody she was, Rinho replied while using her fingers to put her hair behind her ears.

"Shut up. I've already wrapped things up on my end. How are things on yours?"

'Senior Brother said he's getting bored of dealing with them. He's thinking of having Marie do the cleanup, so you should return as well.'

"It's no wonder Senior Brother's bored."

Rinho left the scene on a small ship that had been waiting to pick her up.

◇

A thousand black ships led by Marie Sera Marian were hunting down the pirates.

As a female knight that was once part of the Empire's Three Knights, she had pledged allegiance to Liam after being freed from 2000 years of petrification.

At the bridge of the fleet's flagship, she was issuing orders as the commander.

"Lord Liam wishes to see every single ship destroyed."

There were over 2000 pirate ships.

Although they were outnumbered two-to-one, Liam's fleet consisted of state-of-the-art battleships that had been prepared so that they could travel incognito.

Under Marie's command, Liam's fleet was shooting down the pirates one after another.

One of the operators reported to Marie that the pirates were begging for mercy.

"Commander, the pirates keep saying they'll surrender."

The crew inside the bridge were making faces that said "Again?"

Marie smiled and refused.

"No mercy to the pirates. Lord Liam's getting tired of them."

Liam was sitting on a special seat behind Marie and relaxing.

He was excited about pirate hunting in the beginning, but he quickly lost interest when he realized their enemies were a bunch of weaklings.

"They're saying that they're close with one of the aristocrats. They're trying to threaten us by saying that things could become messy for Count Banfield if we continue to rampage."

"—Oh? They have pretty good eyes and ears."

Their fleet did not carry the Banfield Family's crest, which meant that their enemies had identified them based on the information that they'd obtained themselves.

Marie turned towards Liam.

Lord Liam, what should we do?

Liam gave a casual reply seeing the question in her eyes.

"Do they think a random aristocrat can go against me? If they're part of the same faction as us, I can just bribe them. If they're part of the Calvin Faction, we can just grind them to dust. If they're part of the group that's waiting to see how the wind blows, I'll confront them upfront. Connect up with the pirates."

"Understood."

The operators heeded the command and brought up the face of a certain pirate on the monitor.

Liam's attitude remained as bold as ever.

"So, who's backing you?"

'Hehehe, that would have to remain a secret. If Count Banfield is willing to withdraw, we're willing to let matters go.'

The other party was making the assumption that Liam wished to avoid a conflict between aristocrats.

Liam once fought against the Pirate Noble, but that was before he became the leader of the huge Cleo faction.

The pirate had revealed his connection to an aristocrat thinking Liam would be shackled down by all sorts of responsibilities.

"Well then, I'll investigate once we're done crushing you guys. End the call."

The pirate panicked when Liam tried to end the call.

'A-are you crazy?! You don't even know who we're connected to! How can you still call yourself an aristocrat!'

Liam maintained his attitude before the pirate.

"It doesn't matter, be it friend or foe."

The pirate stared at him in disbelief.

'Why is a bigshot like you going out of your way to hunt pirates like us? There are a plenty of bigger pirate groups!'

Never did they think they'd be targeted by the Banfield Family.

Liam smiled.

"The size doesn't matter. I enjoy crushing you guys like flies all the same. You know how people take detours when they're on a trip? This is something like that."

'Y-you're killing us for that kind of reason?'

"Do you ever stop to think about other people's feelings when you're looting them? No, right? —Hey, cut off the communication."

The call ended there, and Marie moved to Liam's side.

"Lord Liam, that was wonderful. This Marie is deeply moved."

Her cheeks were blushing, and Liam was staring at her as if she was something disgusting.

"Um, yeah. More importantly, I don't see anyone suitable around."

Liam turned to look at Ellen who was standing silently.

She appeared to be nervous.

Marie's gaze also landed on Ellen, and she understood what Liam was on about.

"If it's about Ellen's opponent, shall I go out and catch one of the pirates in the area?"

Liam shook his head.

"That won't do."

Ellen looked relieved when she heard this, but she quickly recomposed herself.

However, Liam was not one to miss this.

Marie also shrugged.

"You shouldn't be feeling relieved, Ellen. Killing is a must for swordsmen and knights. You'll only be considered full-fledged once you've killed someone."

Ellen became disheartened.

"I know. As soon an appropriate opponent is found—"

"Naturally. You're not qualified to learn One-Flash if you can't even become full-fledged."

Receiving Liam's stern gaze, a shadow was cast on Ellen's face, knowing she'd have to kill an opponent sooner or later.

Liam was supposed to decide who she'd be facing, but he had yet to find an opponent that suited her.

————————————————————————————————————-

Brian (´;ω;｀): "It's painful. Lord Liam is maintaining order in another person's territory. He should really come back."

Brian (｀・ω・´): "On a different note, there will be a collab between 'I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire' and 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs'. If you purchase Volume Two of Intergalactic, which is scheduled to be released on the 25th, you'll also get a special SS where Lord Liam is sent to the world of the Otome Games."

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): "Also, Volume 7 of 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs' will be released in January! If you purchase a copy of it, you'll also receive a bonus SS where Leon-san gets sent to the world of Intergalactic Nations."

Brian (*´ω｀*): "It'll be a double release in December and January."

Wakagi-chan (;゜Д゜): "Be careful. These bonus SS are distributed at bookstores, so people that buy the e-book versions probably won't get them. Nevertheless, for us to have a collaboration with Intergalactic... you never know what would happen in life."