God of Tricksters

Theo was ranking up people's skills as usual before he suddenly felt a sudden change in his Friend Seal.

He abruptly stopped and turned around, looking at the sky through the window.

"What's wrong?" Ryo asked, not knowing what was happening for Theo to suddenly stop.

Theo smiled while closing his eyes. "Nothing much. It's just one good piece of news."

"I see." Ryo nodded and stepped back, allowing Theo to return to his job.

…

On the other hand, the Sword Saint was overjoyed by his daughter's achievement. He never expected the first one to have an Order to be his daughter, not his son.

In the past, the Sword Saint believed Sojuro would be the one to become an Authority after him.

Although Rea had shown her talent as well, it wasn't in the place where she could become a good fighter.

Yet, Theo changed everything when he began teaching Rea.

While putting down his daughter on her bed, the Sword Saint sighed and closed his eyes, recounting all the memories of her.

…

Twenty years ago.

"Haa!"

"Haa!"

The eleven years old Rea was swinging her bamboo sword in the backyard.

"Ouch." She suddenly dropped her sword to the ground before looking at her palms. Unlike a normal eleven years old girl, her palms were covered with blisters. Even others would be weird out by her palms.

"It doesn't bleed…" She assessed her palm before reaching for her sword. After knowing there was nothing wrong with her hands, she started swinging her sword again.

Little did she know, the Sword Saint was actually watching her from afar.

Even he didn't know why Rea was working this hard. Ultimately, his curiosity got the best of him as he walked to her and asked, "You haven't finished your training?"

"Ah?!" Rea was startled and turned around, seeing her father approaching her. "Honorable Father! I apologize. I'll finish my training as soon as possible."

"I have said this before, but training too much will just put a strain on your body. You have to know when to take a rest." The Sword Saint glanced at her hands filled with blisters.

"I know. That's why I have made my schedules like this: eight hours of sleep, two hours of learning about school materials, and five hours of studying other things. That last one hour is the combination of eating and taking a shower. While studying, I can get some rest, and the sleep should also be good for my body."

"Ugh." The Sword Saint was speechless. "How about playing outside? Your brother has finished his training and gone outside, you know."

Rea shook her head. "Honorable Father. I know I'm not as talented as my brother. That's why I'm going to work harder than him. Of course, I know my limit too, so I won't go beyond my physical training.

"As much as I want to train longer, I can't make Father lose face as well. If I don't have enough sleep, my body can't develop as it should. And if I can't take care of my face, I'll become a stain in our family's honor.

"That's why I'll make sure that I can become beautiful, strong, and knowledgeable."

"You…" The Sword Saint sucked a cold breath. This eleven years old daughter was so mature and thoughtful, making him a bit embarrassed.

"Still, don't you need people to converse with? If you're like this, you'll end up alone, you know."

"Don't worry, Honorable Father. Isn't Brother doing exactly that?"

"!!!" The Sword Saint's body shook a bit, realizing what she meant. Rea considered Sojuro 'playing around' as a way to improve connection. It was true that Sojuro would have a hard time playing together with a normal kid. All his friends came from the upper circle, so it could be called a connection.

And Rea seemed to be planning to use that to her advantage in getting connections.

At the same time, she didn't spend any time on it for the time being to improve herself as a whole. The study time was the same as the physical training time, allowing her to research many things.

This was beyond what a normal eleven years old kid could do.

Rea seemed to have prepared an answer for every concern he had, making him unable to stop her from practicing.

Of course, he never thought about marrying Rea away or treating her as a political tool. He just wanted his daughter to live the way she liked.

Meanwhile, Rea adored her father and her brother so much, wanting to improve herself even if it meant sacrificing her time. She wanted to stand beside them.

That was why she had been working this hard for quite a while.

However, the reality wasn't that kind.

One year later.

*Kacha!*

The bamboo sword dropped to the ground as Rea fell to her knees with her hands shaking.

Sojuro was standing in front of her while looking at her with a weird expression. "I'm sorry, Rea. It seems I've used too much power."

"Sojuro!" The Sword Saint immediately stopped him from talking that way. After all, his expression and his emotionless tone disregarded all her hard work. That was right. Her talent wasn't enough to catch up to him. He might be training the same amount as her, but he lacked the knowledge, information, and tactics Rea learned during the rest of her days.

Yet, everything was shattered. The knowledge, hard work, and time she put into it were shattered into pieces by sheer talent.

Upon realizing it, Rea gritted her teeth and grabbed her sword again before running away, crying.

"Rea, wait!" The Sword Saint wanted to chase her, but he didn't know what to do at the moment. He also wanted to berate Sojuro, but the latter never knew that his sister had been doing her best to catch up to him. Sojuro was also only twelve years old, so he didn't have that sensitivity when talking.

In the end, the Sword Saint chose to chase after her first to calm her down. However, it was futile because Rea ended up locking herself in her room, not wanting to meet anyone.