PAID

After Returning to the Academy from China.

I dismissed the party members and headed straight to the training ground.

The training ground had become so familiar to me that it now felt almost monotonous.@@novelbin@@

Even though the facility was equipped with devices that automatically restored it after each session, there were still deep footprints where I had repeatedly stood, and scars from countless sword swings that hadn’t fully healed.

‘Hmm.’

I stared at the training ground. It felt strange to be here, doing nothing but looking around. This was the first time I had ever entered the training ground and just stood there, doing nothing.

Then, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me.

Usually, she would move so quietly that you wouldn’t hear a thing, but she always made sure to make her presence known in front of me—such was her subtle consideration.

Yes, it was my master.

Baek Seol-hee.

“Master.”

I turned my head to look at her, and there she was, with the same expressionless face as always.

“…”

She squinted her eyes at me, her eyebrows twitching twice.

“You’ve mastered the sword.”

I had intentionally refrained from drawing my sword to surprise her, but it seemed my plan had failed right from the start.

‘Well, even two eyebrow twitches are a sign of significant surprise.’

A double eyebrow twitch was something you rarely saw, even when she was deeply impressed. I chuckled and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. I mastered it during the mission in China.”