Taking the most important step for the Sword God Style was indeed something to be happy about, but there was still the first step, the second step, and a long future ahead. Roa couldn't possibly return to the Fittoa Territory with Eris and settle down as a tutor.
Eris was indeed adorable, and Roa did want to teach her more, but true strength came from within oneself.
He couldn't abandon the opportunity to become stronger for Eris's sake. He had many things to do, and he couldn't be with Eris until those things were done.
Eris and Rudeus were both growing quickly, and all they lacked now was practical experience, which would change after the teleportation incident.
Roa's refusal made Eris burst into tears. Roa had no choice but to comfort her, finally giving her a written guarantee and making some unequal promises to appease the little girl.
The next morning, Ghislaine prepared to return with Eris, and Rudeus greeted Roa before following Ghislaine.
Roa thought for a moment and had the stupid dragon give the three of them a ride.
However, during the farewell, a group of male disciples rushed forward, wailing and with tears in their eyes, looking reluctant to part.
"Teacher, I'll miss you!"
"Teacher, thank you for your teachings, I will definitely succeed!"
"Teacher, come visit my house sometime! My house is quite big!"
"Teacher…"
The noisy voices and crying crowd caught Roa off guard. He frowned, grabbed a student, and learned from him who this so-called teacher was.
Rudeus.
It was that guy.
Judging by the situation, Rudeus's influence on the Holy Land of Swords was considerable.
After a little more observation and inquiry, Roa learned the whole story, much to his amusement.
Rudeus had unknowingly elevated his position to the point where he could stand alongside Gal.
Gal taught swordsmanship, their bread and butter.
Rudeus taught techniques, the techniques to find a partner.
Roa rolled his eyes at these guys. No wonder a group of boys were always trying to get close to Rudeus, greeting him whenever they met. So that was the reason.
No, it seemed he would have to teach Rudeus a lesson when he had the chance. This kid was too good at stirring things up.
Standing at the front, Rudeus didn't realize that his students had caused trouble for him.
Rudeus was still immersed in sadness, waving to the crowd and saying, "Don't see me off, everyone. Just remember, and also, you all come from the same school, so help each other out. If there's anything, sit down and discuss it."
Eris was confused. The sadness of leaving Roa was instantly dispelled by Rudeus's interruption.
Eris looked at Rudeus, then at the crowd below, her not-so-bright mind deep in thought.
Always one to ask when she didn't understand, Eris turned to Ghislaine and asked directly, "Ghislaine, is Rudeus that popular?"
Ghislaine also looked puzzled.
Ghislaine shook her head, and Eris continued to listen to Rudeus's speech, wondering what he was up to.
The earlier remarks were normal enough for Eris to understand, but what was all that stuff later?
"Everyone's goals may conflict, so listen to us and discuss it properly. Don't let it hurt your relationship, and don't deceive any young girls' feelings. And don't do anything out of line," Rudeus shouted.
The students below replied in unison, "Understood, Teacher Rudeus!"
Then the three of them left amidst the commotion.
After seeing Rudeus off, Roa sent all the restless guys back, sternly warning the impure young men because he knew Rudeus was instigating them.
"Don't let me catch any of you doing this kind of thing during training. If I catch you, you'll go home and reflect."
That's what Roa said.
After Roa became the honorary principal, he thought the current atmosphere was still too disorganized, with some order, but not much.
Roa directly brought over the educational policies of his previous life's school.
Of course, not everything was copied, but more specific regulations were made on the existing foundation.
The school rules were simple: there would be an assessment opportunity every week to examine how much your strength had improved during that week.
Of course, the examiners couldn't just be Roa and Gal. Recently, after hearing the news of the change in the Holy Land of Swords, some sword kings and emperors from other places had returned.
These newly arrived subordinates could become examiners.
Roa and Gal would just stand above and watch.
Roa's grading standards were also simple.
Those who made great progress would be graded A, indicating they were meticulous and worked very hard.
Those who made progress, and significant progress, would be graded B.
Those who made average progress would be graded C.
Those who made no progress or even regressed would fail.
Each grade was further divided into upper, middle, and lower levels.
Students with a B grade or higher would be given special attention by the examiners, their training would be given more care, and they would also receive occasional small gifts, such as improved meals or better accommodation, which could be achieved in this way.
Every two months, there would be a large-scale combat exercise, which would determine the rankings.
Since there were only one or two hundred students, this wasn't too much trouble.
The rules for the assessment competition were also simple: draw lots, and then assign opponents based on the results.
The winners would advance to the next round, while the losers would go to the revival match.
The revival match would also determine one spot, but of course, those who had to fight in the revival match wouldn't rank very high.
The top three strongest would be praised and given a title, which would be valid until the next exam.
The children who received the title would also receive some privileges, such as a reduction in tuition fees. These privileges might seem insignificant, but in the eyes of these adolescents, they were the best form of recognition.
This was naturally done to encourage the students to work hard.
There were many specific operational details, and Roa wrote two or three pages of them, finally throwing them in front of the old Sword God, saying that from now on, things would be done according to what was written on the paper.
…
The departure of the three also made Roa's surroundings much quieter.
Without Eris's noise and Rudeus's usual sly face, life became much more peaceful.
Although he had become a Sword God, his life hadn't changed because of the title.
The old Sword God came down and surveyed the crowd, instructing them expressionlessly.
Occasionally, the old Sword God's roar could be heard, along with hurried and immature apologies.
Roa practiced swordsmanship and trained with Gal.
In the evening, he began to train his magic, trying to create some new spells.
In this way, half a month passed.
Time really flew by. In the blink of an eye, he had been in the Holy Land of Swords for a month and a half.
It was already the end of autumn, and everywhere you looked, there were withered branches. The ancient trees around him hadn't been spared either. The topmost branches of their thick trunks were bare, and withered leaves lay on the ground.
The fallen leaves weren't sacrificed in vain. They would turn into nutrients, return to the earth, and become compost, ready to revitalize the trees when spring came again.
Roa looked at the gray sky. The time of sunrise was getting later. The weather hadn't been good for the past few days, with fine rain falling intermittently.
Roa got up, picked up a wooden sword from the side, and began to ponder.
He had, in a sense, become the master of the Holy Land of Swords. Even in medieval Europe, the spread of fame couldn't be as fast as in his previous life, but two months was still enough time for the news to spread. Even if it wasn't known to everyone in the streets and alleys, those who needed to know would know.
Roa considered what he should do next.
After thinking for a long time, he finally decided that he had to set off for a new world.
Honestly, every world had brought Roa incredibly generous rewards.
Whether it was the dragon blood from Sword Art Online, the Transparent World and the second stage of swordsmanship from Demon Slayer, or the Chaos power from Bladedance of Elementalers, the help from the Demon Slayer world might not have been as great, but Sword Art Online and Bladedance of Elementalers had certainly made outstanding contributions to Roa's combat power.
Now that a period of time had passed, it was time to put a new journey on the agenda.
After this winter, the teleportation incident would occur in the next autumn, and he had to make more thorough preparations to deal with the impending disaster.
As he pondered, Roa made his decision.
Roa left his small courtyard, passed through his own exclusive dojo, and came to another dojo on the other side, looking around until he finally locked onto Gal, who was sitting bored in a chair at the top.
Gal was leisurely watching the students below, openly focusing his gaze on a well-developed girl.
Roa saw this and felt speechless.
Although Gal had been teaching disciples for so many years without causing any scandals, and his reputation in this area was decent, at least there were no incidents of female disciples running out crying, there was no denying that Gal was still a man.
And most men in this world were associated with lust.
This world didn't have cell phones, and entertainment was scarce. The only thing that could bring joy to people's hearts was sex.
The old man was also a frank person, facing his own heart, looking at the girls openly and never hiding it.
Of course, the old man's gaze was limited to looking. He never groped, after all, his daughter was also in there. If his daughter saw him, a little report would give Gal a headache.
Roa also liked to watch beauty videos and some otaku dances in his previous life, so he didn't have the right to preach any great truths. They were all men, even if the other party was an old geezer. Roa, with humanistic care, advocated treating everyone equally and wouldn't pursue anything.
The students saw Roa's arrival and weren't too surprised, greeting him in unison.
Roa's position in the Holy Land of Swords was also somewhat subtle, feeling more like an honorary principal in his previous life's university. He usually didn't interfere in anything. The one who really managed things was the old man sitting at the top, looking at the female disciples with a lecherous gaze.
The students' greetings were naturally heard by Gal. Gal wasn't surprised by Roa's arrival and was still lazily half-reclined in his chair, saying to Roa below, "It's Roa, what's wrong? Is there anything you need?"
Roa's mouth twitched. Ever since the old geezer had been defeated by Roa, after a heart-to-heart talk, he had finally torn off his disguise. He looked as lazy as possible, and now he wasn't even pretending.
When asked, Gal would use the excuse that he was no longer the Sword God and naturally became even lazier.
He might have had some idol baggage in the past, but now he had given up and was just letting himself go.
But in a way, it did fit Gal's personality.
Roa stood in front of the lecherous old man, blocking Gal's view.
Roa said unhappily, "Old man, what are you looking at my female disciples for? And with such a lewd look."
Gal twitched his mouth, his face not red, his heart not beating faster, and said, "What's wrong? I'm looking at the disciples' flaws in their swordsmanship. I was just a little engrossed."
Gal was very satisfied with Roa at first.
But when he heard that Roa also had a father named Paul Greyrat, that originally smiling old father's expression instantly collapsed.
He still remembered that one afternoon, Gal asked with a stinky face, "Your old man is that bastard Paul?"
After Roa nodded, Gal was stunned by this sentence for half an hour, standing there without saying a word.
Since then, Gal had never mentioned his daughter again.
This made Roa realize once again how unwelcome Paul was when he was young and how bad his reputation was.
And from then on, Gal began to re-examine Roa.
According to Gal, Paul's son was definitely not a good person either. Judging the son by the father's character, if Paul became the Sword God, the Holy Land of Swords might one day all be pregnant with Paul's seed. By analogy, Gal had reason to believe that Roa was not a good person either.
This made Roa silent for a long time, unable to say a word.
Of course, these were just jokes. Although the father's impression on Gal was terrible, the son was still pretty good.
However, from then on, Gal no longer hid his terrible personality.
Of course, these were all afterwords.
Roa told Gal his intentions in detail. Gal frowned and pondered for a long time, finally looking up at Roa seriously and asking, "Are you sure you want to travel for a while?"