Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 226 - 24: Trapped by the Door, Caught in a Dilemma

Chapter 226: Chapter 24: Trapped by the Door, Caught in a Dilemma

"Teacher, are you alright?" Nuremberg once again pulled out a small stool from behind and spread it on the ground for Richarter to sit down, then quickly poured him some tea.

Richarter sat down with his eyes closed, took a sip of tea, and said slowly,

"My strength is exhausted, I cannot fight again. You all go in, do not disgrace our honour."

This translated to the Sword Saint having just used power beyond the limit of the Magic Tide and now must suppress the edge of an uncontrollable Spirituality; he would no longer participate in the fight, and it was up to the rest of them to handle the Mutant and ensure a clean and respectable victory, to avoid losing face.

"Alright, I’ll stay here with the teacher," Nuremberg said respectfully, then turned his head, "So, Hans..."

He was about to give the usual order for Second-in-command Hans to lead the team, but as if he remembered something, he changed his words and said,

"Chief Aske, I wonder if you could take over the leadership? I need to stay here with the teacher, so..."

"What?!" Except for Hans, all of the Swordsmen nearly exploded.

If it was just about this guy holding the title of Chief, although they were unhappy, they had tolerated it since it was the teacher’s decision.

But now they were expected to have this guy lead them into battle! What if he were an utter rookie? That could lead everyone down the path to annihilation!

Some of the hotter-tempered ones, like Swordsman Martin, went straight to Hans’s side and gestured with their eyes for him to protest.

"I have no objections," said Hans. "Chief Aske, do you have any problems?"

The Swordsmen were staggered. Where were Hans’s witty remarks? His poisonous tongue? His command had just been snatched away! Wasn’t this the time for a piece of brilliant, sharp sarcasm?

"No problem," Aske replied. "But I’m still unfamiliar with everyone’s strength, so let’s start by having each person report on their level of swordsmanship."

Well, this one really took the role of leader seriously. The Swordsmen’s dissatisfaction grew, but they saw Hans ’oh’ in response and step forward to say,

"I’ll start then. My name is Hans Dublinger. I’m currently the second-in-command of the Swordsmen, at Level 7, training in the Master’s ’Fury Sword’ style."

"Hmm," Aske nodded. Richarter’s swordsmanship had five major schools, among which the "Fury Sword" was biased towards offensive suppression and was considered to be quite powerful. "Show me a few moves?"

A demonstration on the spot? Were they treating them like circus clowns? The Swordsmen felt they couldn’t stand it, but Hans seemed nonchalant as he drew his Longsword from behind and swung it adeptly in place.

Double Moon Slash, Stepping Rush, Spinning Throat Slash, and finishing with Back Jump Mountain Crashing Strike.

"Is that sufficient?" Hans stopped and asked.

"I have a rough understanding," Aske nodded, "Next."

No Swordsman spoke up, then Hans, hanging his Longsword on his back again, pointed to a Swordsman in the crowd and said,

"Third-in-command Andrew Jordan, step forward!"

And there you were, reduced to acting as somebody else’s underling! Tears streamed down Andrew’s face in his heart as he stepped forward listlessly and said,

"I’m Andrew Jordan, third seat in the Swordsman Corps, and I practice the ’Divided Swordsmanship’ passed down by our teacher..."

Despite the swordsmen’s varying degrees of resistance, arrogance, or taunt, displaying all sorts of uncooperative expressions, Aske maintained a calm demeanor and, with Hans’s help, managed to thoroughly understand each swordsman’s school of practice, level, and fighting habits.

"These two ladies, won’t you introduce them?" Hans turned his gaze to Medea and Nora, his tone clearly suggesting, "What about your two arm ornaments?"

"This is Medea, our team’s Flame Arcane Mage," Aske introduced. Since Mind Mages are a sensitive subject in the West, it would be better to pretend she’s a Flame Mage.

Medea caught on quickly, snapping her fingers, and flames surged from her fingertips.

"Ohhhhhh." The swordsmen’s expressions cleared up a bit. After all, the sight of Medea, a great beauty with a hot figure who could manipulate flames, and obviously assured fighting capability, instantly won them over—of course, it would have been better if she weren’t part of this detestable fellow’s team.

"The other is Nora, our team’s Healer," Aske continued.

"Hello everyone, if you get hurt later on, you can come to me," Nora said with a soft smile.

"Awoo, awoo, awoo!" The swordsmen grew even more excited. A doctor! That’s practically a swordsman’s best friend, as who could guarantee they wouldn’t get hurt in battle? Usually, comrades would help each other apply medicine and bandage wounds, but now, with such a young and pretty girl taking care of them, the pain would surely be halved while treating their injuries!

"Lastly, there’s me, Aske. I currently serve as the Squad Leader of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps. At your teacher’s invitation, I’m also taking up the position of Chief of your Swordsman Corps," Aske finally said, "I’m proficient with a variety of weapons in combat and, well, I know some tactics too. I hope everyone will cooperate going forward, and I wish us a pleasant collaboration."

The swordsmen coldly turned their heads to look at each other, the ceiling—anywhere but Aske.

"Alright, then let’s set off!" Aske, undeterred by their coldness, cheerfully announced, "Everyone line up and go through the door!"

And so, Hans led the swordsmen, one by one, through the narrow gap of the iron door. Although people in Frank tend to have larger frames, these swordsmen didn’t seem to eat much, and with their intense training, they all were quite lean and quickly made it through the narrow gap.

Nora squeezed through the gap, feeling a bit of strain... Had she gained weight recently? A warning bell went off in her head, and she silently dropped her dinner plans.

Next was Medea. She tucked in her body, carefully edged along the Iron Wall, and entered the gap...

...and then got stuck.

"Stuck?" Medea was dumbfounded, as were Nora inside and Aske outside when they saw what happened.

"She’s indeed stuck," Aske said as he tried to push her. "You’re too fat."

"Me? Too fat?" Medea felt a surge of nameless fury in her chest and almost cursed out loud.

This was an unavoidable circumstance, as the gap was not very wide. Sometimes, it was just enough for a person to hold their breath and squeeze through, relaxing even slightly could prevent passage.

However, for a woman, body shape is a sensitive topic. It was especially irritating to consider that all the swordsmen had made it through, but she, a delicate woman, could not. The contrast made the situation even more frustrating.

Am I fat? Medea desperately wanted to curse. I’m just a bit curvy, okay?

With everyone’s awkward gazes upon her, she ultimately refrained from letting the curses fly, instead glaring fiercely at Aske.

Aske borrowed some sword oil from Nuremberg—which is usually applied to swords when not in use, to keep them from rusting by isolating them from air—and used it as a lubricant to finally push Medea through.

She curled up in Nora’s arms, her expression pale and silent, looking utterly traumatized.