Kolnman was a city-state resembling a fortress nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains, with royal castles and houses clustered in a basin surrounded by mountain ranges.

When they reached the center of the town, a small market appeared, and at the entrance of the market, there was a small water fountain.

As Ariel and her companions, Ron and May, appeared, an old man with white hair sat on the fountain and stared at them.

“Seems like you’re from out of town? Atlan’s carriages have been coming and going.”

Despite being only fourteen years old, Ariel’s clothing exposed her noble status, so the old man asked her with a gentle tone.

Ariel looked in the direction of the voice.

The owner of the voice was an old man with long, white hair covering his eyes.

Seeing that he was leaning on a cane, it was clear that he had a back problem.

Ron, her escort knight, became highly alert to his behavior and placed his hand on the sword in his sheath.

Ariel cautiously approached him and asked.

“Do you know where Swordmaster Hyle’s house is?”

“Why are you looking for that guy?”

When she asked about Hyle’s residence, Ariel wondered if it was just her imagination that his gaze, hidden behind his hair, turned fiercely intense.

The old man spat out his words with a rough tone, revealing an inexplicable hostility.

Ariel clenched her dry lips as she considered her options.

She had to speak carefully, as what she said now might reach Hyle’s ears later.

“My life is being threatened….”

“Y-your life is threatened?”

May, who was standing beside her, muttered to herself in surprise upon hearing the story for the first time.

But Ariel remained unfazed, looking at the old man with a composed expression.

This made the old man lower his hostility.

Soon after, he curiously asked Ariel with eyes full of interest.

“So? Are you asking me to be your escort?”

“No. I’m asking you to become my mentor.”

A response came out of the mouth of the noble lady that no one could have imagined.

His eyes, visible through the white hair, glittered for a moment.

“Oh, I see. You want to learn directly, huh?”

“Yes, I want to become a swordmaster. Because that person might try to kill me.”

“Who is that person?”

“That’s difficult to say… If you know where Hyle’s house is, please let me know.”

Ariel pleaded with her hands clasped together, lowering her eyes to appear pitiful.

But he hesitated for a while before answering.

‘Does he know about it?’

Ariel didn’t miss a beat.

If she acted a little more pitiful, she had a good feeling that he would tell her right away.

“If I go back to my hometown like this, my life would be wasted.”

When Ariel spoke with a desperate voice and feigned tears, he closed his lips with a contemplative expression.

He finally moved his lips, as if attempting to say something. The old man spoke.

“It’s me. Hyle Robert, the swordmaster.”

The old man, who had been sitting at the fountain, stood up. With his back straight and er*ect.

Ariel was startled and took a step back.

‘Considering it’s an old man’s body, he looks excessively healthy…’

Although he looked small in stature, he had a strong and firm body.

The skin peeking between his clothes looked firm.

At that moment, the old man, who was claiming to be Hyle, swept his hand through the white hair that covered his face!

Well, the face that appeared was not that of an old man, but that of a boy who seemed to have experienced various hardships.

“What?!”

Ariel took a step back in surprise. She felt chills all over her body from the unexpected turn of events. She put her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

“Oh my. Hurry up. Why does your expression look like that when you meet the person you were looking for?”

A dazzling smile appeared on the boy inside the shining wall.

But his actions were exactly like those of an old man.

The robust boy pounded his waist, making a groaning sound.

“Are you Swordmaster Hyle Robert?”

Ariel asked with round eyes, surprised.

She was surprised first because she thought he was a grandpa, and second because she accidentally encountered the person she was looking for on the street.

“Are you really that Hyle? Are you, really?”

Ariel asked again, as if she couldn’t believe it, approaching Hyle. It was to get a closer look at his face.

But no matter how she looked, he only looked like a white-haired boy.

How can she believe his words? The sight of Ariel touching her forehead with the palm of her hand looked quite awkward.

“Oh, well. Do I have to show you my sword to make you believe?”

As Hyle raised his staff, Ariel stepped back.

But when she carefully observed what was in his hand, she saw that it was not a staff, but a longsword.

Hyle’s sword had a matte dark blue scabbard, and the hilt was the same color as the scabbard.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary, unremarkable sword.

“I thought you were a grandpa at first because of your white hair.”

“In appearance, I may look like this, but I am indeed an old man. It’s been a hundred years. I was cursed when I fought against the dark sorcerers. A curse that doesn’t make me old or die. Be careful of curses yourself, as they won’t be undone.”

Curses by dark sorcerers.

They briefly appeared in the original work. Ariel had hired them to harm Leise. They were caught by Leopold, and all were exterminated.

Ariel’s emerald-green eyes trembled slightly.

Because he was shrouded in a veil, the journalists targeting exclusive stories couldn’t reveal Hyle’s true identity, even though he was a swordmaster.

She had seen Hyle’s portrait in the newspaper, but it only depicted him wearing armor and a helmet.

Should she believe him when he claims to be Hyle?

Ariel watched his movements without being convinced of his true identity.

Hyle said he felt energy from her and mentioned that she seemed to be born with the ability to become a swordmaster. Soon, his gaze pierced through Ariel’s whole body sharply.

To Ariel, who knew nothing about mana or swordsmanship, it seemed like he was trying to estimate her abilities and potential.

But Hyle expanded his normally dormant mana senses, gauging the amount of mana she possessed.

This was possible since he had reached the level of a swordmaster, allowing him to faintly sense the mana within a person’s body after about a hundred years.

Hyle sighed suddenly, furrowing his brows.

“Ha, how is this even possible?”

Mana cores, which acted as mana storages, had predetermined sizes from birth. The sizes varied greatly, ranging from the size of an egg to filling an entire upper body.

However, through training, a mana core could become stronger and hold more mana, making the hardness of the core more important than its size.

But what occupied her whole body was a mana lump so unstable that it was hard to call it a core.

In other words, her whole body was a mana core itself.

Hyle was convinced that if he trained the hardness of her core, she would become a swordmaster surpassing even himself.

“I must make you my first disciple. You are undoubtedly born with the ability to become a swordmaster.”

As soon as his words entered Ariel’s ears, her hair stood on end.

It was because he noticed the ability she had never told anyone about.

This was one piece of evidence showing that he was a swordmaster.

The old man in the appearance of a young man was the Hyle she had been looking for, and Ariel’s pupils trembled at the fact that she had achieved her goal as soon as she arrived in Kolnman.

Elation, anticipation, and anxiety.

Since all of these emotions were mixed within her heart, it was impossible to capture her exact feelings in just one word.

“With just latent abilities, one cannot become a swordmaster. Without training, they are merely an unpolished, good-quality gem.”

Hyle was confident that only her will could turn her into a master.

Placing his hand on Ariel’s shoulder, he opened his mouth.

“Are you prepared for this? Advancing to the level of a swordmaster requires you to pay a greater price than you think. Or how about not making a decision right now and giving it enough thought? I have plenty of time anyway.”

Ariel’s face darkened at Hyle’s words.

Paying a price to become a swordmaster was something she had never even considered.

‘It seems like I’ve taken it too lightly. It’s about becoming a swordmaster after all… I thought of it like a child’s play.’

All this was to prevent her life from being taken by Leopold’s hands, which was not an insignificant goal.

She had to live the rest of her life as a noble lady who had been reincarnated into a novel, or a nobleman’s wife who was not allowed to move in and out of social circles.

But as someone from the modern era, she couldn’t be satisfied living like that. She wanted to accomplish something and live a self-determined life.

Ariel bit down hard on her lower lip and clenched her fists so hard her fingernails could dig in.

Her emerald pupils, filled with determination, were directed towards Hyle.

“No, I’ve made up my mind. From now on, I will serve you as my master.”

Having said that, Ariel bowed, tugging her dress in one hand, following the etiquette of the empire.

Satisfied that she did not change her mind, Hyle nodded with a faint smile.