Chapter 295: Dual Swordart [III]

I watched Juliana cool herself off in the soft breeze, stretching her arms before tugging her tank top straight.

Then she bent, picked up her leather jacket from where she’d tossed it earlier, and slung it over her shoulder while muttering something about needing a proper bath.

She looked both refreshed and tired from the practice.

And her face had already fallen back into its usual calm, polished, unbothered, and unreadable expression.

While mumbling about getting back to the camp together, she stepped me—

Or, well,

tried

to step past me.

Because I moved a foot in front of her and said something so unironically, stupidly unbelievable that it surprised even me, "Teach me."

The beat of silence that followed was so loud it felt like the trees flinched.

Juliana stopped mid-step.

Slowly,

excruciatingly

slowly, she turned her head toward me.

Her face carried the exact expression of someone who had just been ambushed by a particularly stupid request.

"

...Teach

you?" she repeated.

I nodded like it was the most normal thing I could’ve asked for. "Yes."

"Teach you...

what

?" she blinked once. "And please don’t say swordsmanship."

"Swordsmanship," I immediately followed with the most innocent smile I could put on.

Another silence followed.

This one was somehow even longer.

Juliana stared at me like she was waiting for the punchline.

Unfortunately for my poor

Shadow

, I wasn’t making a joke.

I was being unapologetically serious.

So I stared back at her like I genuinely believed I was being reasonable.

Both of us held our stances like two idiots locked in a contest of mutual delusion.

Finally, she breathed out through her nose. "Young Master."

I batted my lashes at her. "Juli."

"You can barely hold your axe without threatening your own allies!"

"What? That’s just not true!"

"You almost killed Vince when we were in the shadowed region!?"

"Okay, Vince stands in stupid places."

"He was standing right behind you!"

"Again, a stupid place to stand while I’m just out of a battle and my nerves are on edge! Besides, don’t act like you don’t want Vince dead so you can loot his supplies either!"

"Yes, but that’s not the point!"

She shut her eyes for a moment, clearly praying for patience she absolutely did not have. When she opened them again, her stare was flat enough to iron fabric.

"Okay. Why," she said slowly, "should I teach you? What makes you think you can learn anything from me?"

"Because I want to," I said simply, once again putting on my most innocent smile.

Her eyebrows twitched upward. It was a small, quick change in expression. But for Juliana, it was the equivalent of a full-blown gasp.

"You

want

to?" she echoed. "That’s your reasoning?"

I scowled. "Hey, do you have any idea how rare it is for me to want things that aren’t either liquor, money, or women? That alone should tell you how serious I am!"

Juliana almost facepalmed. "Again! That’s not the point!"

"That’s

exactly

the point!" I sighed and stepped a little closer before lowering my voice. "Look, you’re the only one I know who possesses not just one but

three

dual-wielding sword techniques. So you’re the only one who can teach me. I had been meaning to ask you this for a long time, but I never got around."

She didn’t say anything for a few heartbeats, but this time the silence between us felt softer.

Then she shook her head. "You

know

what I’m trying to say. What makes you think you can learn anything from me... when I can’t trust you to never use what I teach you

against

me someday. When I can’t trust you to

never

stand against me?"

Her words were neither sharp nor angry.

If anything, they were just honest and quiet. They were calm and cruel and painfully reasonable.

I frowned at her, feigning utter confusion. "Why would I ever stand against you? Give me

one

reason I’ll ever be your enemy!"

She gave me a look. A very

specific

look.

The look that said she wanted to summarize several months’ worth of my questionable decisions, impulsive choices, mad strategies, erratic mood swings, and everything else I do.

"Do you want the list alphabetically," she said evenly, "or chronologically?"

"I—okay, rude." I threw my hands up in mock surrender. "But we’ve already been over this. The very reason I didn’t, you know,

kill

you when I killed Rexerd was because I wanted you on my side. We also have taken an oath to not harm one another. And I have promised to help you take your revenge."

Juliana exhaled. "Sure, but then what? That oath is not eternal. And what’s your goal once I’ve accomplished mine. You say you want to dethrone some Monarchs, but why? You talked about... what was it? The Syndicate? Are you against them? Why? When I asked you all this, you said your reasons don’t concern me. But the problem is, Young Master, it does. I don’t know your true alliances. But I do know one thing... it’s that if you ever need to raise your sword against me, you’d do it. I know you’d do it

without

hesitation. Tell me if I’m wrong."

I was quiet for a brief moment.

Truth be told, I wasn’t even offended. Or defensive.

I was just a little surprised that Juliana had ditched her mask and decided to talk to me so openly without beating around the bush like she usually does.

So I shrugged once again. "Okay. Yeah. That’s fair."

She frowned mid-blink, as if she hadn’t expected me to agree. "...Fair?"

"Yes." I lifted a shoulder. "You’re not wrong."

Her expression flattened. "Y-You’re agreeing with me?"

"I am," I chuckled at her disbelief. "I mean, come on, Juli. You’re smart. You know me. If the universe ever decides to throw us on opposite sides, we’d both adapt. You’d stab me in the face. I’d stab you in the ribs. If we deny it, we’d be fooling no one."

"So...?" she muttered.

"So, I’m not promising eternal loyalty," I said softly. "

But

I can promise you this: as long as we’re on the same side, I’ll

never

betray you."

Juliana kept holding my gaze, then smirked. "Very sweet, almost romantic, Young Master. But there’s nothing you can do or say to convince me—"

"And I’ll also promise you fifty Essence Stones a day for every day you teach me dual-wielding," I added immediately.

"—Consider me convinced!" she clapped her hands excitedly like a greedy car salesman. "We can start right now, if you want!"

What a fucking gold digger.