Benimaru and Shion.
Seeing only those two come without the other [Kijin] was rather surprising to Adelio.
If Benimaru had come with Souei, or Shion with Shuna, it would not have felt especially strange. But the sight of those two together was something he had hardly ever seen.
"Did you need something from me?"
Adelio asked out of curiosity, intrigued by the fierce presence Benimaru and Shion were giving off with their eyes wide and intense.
"......"
Before answering, the two of them dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
And then—
"Please take the two of us as your disciples."
"We ask this of you."
—they abruptly asked him to accept them as disciples.
......
"......?"
He was caught completely off guard.
They had been standing there so quietly, radiating pressure, that Adelio had half wondered whether someone other than Ifrit was about to go berserk this time. He made no effort to hide the bewilderment on his face.
After all, there was no real reason for those two to choose him as their master.
'...Why me of all people?'
Benimaru and Shion were already learning the sword under Hakurou.
A swordsman who had been known for centuries by the epithet [Sword Demon], and one of the five greatest swordsmen in the entire world in terms of pure skill.
That was Hakurou.
The only swordsmen equal to or above Hakurou were his grandfather Araki Byakuya, the [Paladin] Albert who had vanished centuries ago, the first [Hero], who now ruled the [Eastern Empire] as its Emperor, and Dino, the undisputed strongest swordsman in the world.
Even Adelio, who had reached a level close to [Catastrophe], Chronoa, who had honed her skill through countless regressions, and even Guy, famed as the strongest [Demon Lord], still fell just a little short of Hakurou if one judged only by technical skill.
There was no point in debating how great a blessing it was to have him as a master.
"You're already learning the sword from the old master. Do you really want to learn swordsmanship from me too?"
Of course, there was nothing inherently wrong with having two masters.
Shizue was proof enough of that. Because she had been taught by both Chronoa and Adelio, two [Hero]es, she had become strong enough to surpass even a saint despite possessing [the body of a sage].
'But these two aren't like Shizue.'
If they took both Hakurou and Adelio as masters, they could certainly become stronger, but that would require a great deal of time.
Because their swordsmanship belonged to completely different systems.
Hakurou's swordsmanship was wholly focused on the [Oboro Style], so that was one thing. But Adelio's swordsmanship was closer to a unique offshoot born from blending together the strengths of many different schools, not the sort of art that could be learned alongside another style.
Shizue had avoided that problem only because she had nearly two hundred years, from childhood until now, to work through it. Benimaru and Shion were different.
Those two needed to grow strong enough within the next few years to defeat the forces of the [Eastern Empire] and the armies of the otherworld. At this point, learning swordsmanship from Adelio would only work against them.
"I understand that the [Orc]s have made you impatient, but there's no need to rush this hard to become stronger already."
Even if there had been no casualties, they had still witnessed monsters weaker than themselves raise an army hundreds of thousands strong. Adelio did not think it strange that anxiety would make them hunger for power, and so he said that, but...
What Benimaru and Shion wanted was not what Adelio had assumed.
"No. The reason we wish to become your disciples, Lord Adelio, is not because of those filthy pig bastards."
Calling the [Orc]s pigs as anger flashed through her voice, Shion spoke firmly, her long purple hair tied behind her swaying as she did.
"We want to learn the original form of the [Oboro Style] that you mastered."
The original form of the [Oboro Style].
What Shion meant by that was the starting point of the [Oboro Style] itself—in other words, the [Oboro Shinmei Style] that Adelio had awakened to in hell through his battle with Agera.
"...Did the old master tell you about it?"
Adelio had mentioned the [Oboro Shinmei Style] only to his companions and Hakurou, so hearing Shion bring it up left him visibly surprised. At his uneasy murmur, Benimaru gave a small nod.
"Yes. A little while ago, when Hakurou was explaining things about you, Lord Adelio, he also gave us a brief explanation of the [Oboro Shinmei Style]."
Benimaru, whose eyes had become an even deeper red after evolving into a [Kijin], lifted his gaze and continued while looking straight at Adelio.
"I know full well that asking this of you, our benefactor, is shameless... but please, help us refine the [Oboro Style] even further."
In Benimaru's eyes as he made that plea, two kinds of fervor burned at once.
One was the fury born from his own weakness. The other was the determination to one day become as strong as the man standing before him.
"......"
It was just like Adelio three hundred years ago, when he had watched the battle between a [Hero] and a [True Dragon] and, for the first time, set [Catastrophe] as his goal.
Benimaru, too, had found his goal in this very moment.
Driven by vengeance against the [Orc]s, and by the sense of responsibility to ensure his people's survival.
'...If they learn only the [Oboro Shinmei Style], then... this might actually work.'
Adelio liked that fire in Benimaru.
The refusal to be satisfied with the power of a [Kijin] he had only just gained, and the drive to seek something greater still, was both a demon's virtue and a shared instinct among monsters.
And more than that, it was a road Adelio himself had once walked.
"...All right. This may not be a bad idea after all."
"!!"
"Then..."
Looking back and forth between the two oni, whose faces lit with expectation at that single quiet sentence, Adelio answered with a faint smile.
"I'll take both of you as my disciples, so do your best."
Could they reach the very peak of the [Oboro Style], surpass the limits they had in the novel, and even overtake Hakurou himself?
With anticipation for the potential of the two [Kijin], Adelio decided to accept his new disciples.
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