Chapter 68: Garden Sword Technique
Madam Fran returned, and soon after arriving home, she learned about the contract Xilutiya had signed a few days earlier.
“Only sold three hundred bottles? I thought you would have more guts.” She didn’t mind it and instead teased Xilutiya playfully.
For this veteran third order gardener, truly precious things were those rare treasures above ‘third order’, while things like ‘sunflower seed oil’ were just the sunflowers she casually planted daily, and even for sunflower seed oil, she had even finer ‘second order · Blazing Sun’ nature collections in her cellar, so she didn’t care much about those unusable ‘first order’ inventory.
On the day Xilutiya became her formal student, she gave the key to the first layer storage room to this maiden; it wasn’t that she was careless, but she truly had no use for those things.
“Since you’ve learned to do business for the first time, leave all that to you from now on.” This teacher really seemed lazy about handling such chores.
“Just don’t sell at a loss, and occasionally you can barter for things you want instead of taking money.” She advised Xilutiya.
“Yes, Teacher.” Then Xilutiya mentioned the three crates of gold coins from that day’s payment.
“Gold coins? I see, just put them in the storage room; no use for them for now.” This madam thought for a moment.
“As for the Tree Jade Spirit Sword you mentioned, I estimate I’ll still need to find a suitable craftsman to craft it for you, but someone with such skills isn’t in Jiaoshi City.”
“I once thought about getting a similar weapon myself, but after advancing to third order, I no longer needed close combat life-or-death fights, so I didn’t pursue it.” Madam Fran recalled.
“At your current stage, many abilities of the ‘Emerald Honey’ nature cannot yet be learned or developed, so you can only make do with external aids.”
“Since you chose a sword as your self-defense weapon, have Lining teach you some sword technique; she’s very skilled at it.” With that, Madam Fran called the maid.
“Lining, do you still remember the Garden Sword Technique I taught you in my early years? Tiya wants to learn it this time, so you teach her.”
“Yes, Madam.” Lining respectfully bowed and agreed.
……
In the afternoon, Madam Fran attended a friend’s tea party, leaving Xilutiya and Lining to watch the house; at this time, Lining was also teaching Xilutiya knowledge about Garden Sword Technique.
“This set of sword technique is the inheritance of gardeners, used for trimming excess branches and leaves in the garden, and it can also pair with some of Emerald Honey’s abilities for self-protection.”
“Overall, it’s a sword technique biased toward defense and defensive counterattacks; its offensive power isn’t strong.” Lining drew a black longsword and demonstrated in front of Xilutiya.
Her actions weren’t fast, mostly two-handed grip on the sword, with an overall smooth and flowing style, without stagnation or major action flaws.
（Garden Sword Technique proficiency +16）
Garden Sword Technique Lv.0: Still a skill being learned, current progress （16/100）
After watching it through once, Xilutiya also held a wooden sword and followed along to learn; this sword technique’s style was balanced and steady, just as Lining said, with few flaws but not strong in attack, clearly different from military sword technique that emphasized battlefield killing.
While observing Lining’s actions, Xilutiya’s attention couldn’t help turning to this maid.
Speaking of which, Lining’s strength was probably stronger than that instructor at the training ground before, and Xilutiya even felt that even a third order knight might not gain much advantage over this maid.
Name: Lining
Race: Human （Mortal Body）
Status: Healthy （No abnormalities）
Talent: High Speed 【Excellent Grade】, your reaction and actions are very fast, hard for ordinary people to match.
Fate Card: 【Sword-Wielding Maid】 （Second Order · Blood Law）
‘A maid gripping the sword blade, guardian of the mansion, a dashing and swift servant.’
–
Effect 【Agile Body Lv.4】, after adjustments from breathing technique and power burst, your body has greatly adapted to the flow of ‘Blood Law’, gaining faster speed and reaction
–
Effect 【Magic-Breaking Sword Blade Lv.2】: A special ability achieved by fusing ‘Steel Sharp Blade’ and ‘Magic-Breaking Blood’ abilities, which can be applied to weapons to break barriers constructed by extraordinary power.
Ability Card: 【Breathing Technique Lv.5】 【Swift Shadow Footwork Lv.4】 【Wind-Listening Position Lv.3】
Skills: 『Basic Sword Technique Lv.6』 『Blood Leech Sword Technique Lv.5』 『Maid Skills Lv.5』 『Garden Sword Technique Lv.4』 『Secret History Knowledge Lv.4』 『Gardening Technique Lv.4』
——
No wonder the madam always went out so confidently without worrying about robbers or such at home; with this maid around, ordinary people couldn’t beat her at all, and even in all of Jiaoshi City, few could defeat this maid.
A fifth stage breathing technique; now Xilutiya understood why she had never seen this maid sweat or pant—probably her daily work was as easy as child’s play.
Under Lining’s guidance, Xilutiya spent half a day preliminarily mastering the usage techniques of this sword technique; Lining was somewhat surprised and sized her up for a long time.
“You might be a good seedling for learning sword.” Even she herself had taken three days to learn it back then, which had earned Madam Fran’s praise.
Tending the flower field, familiarizing with Flower Blooming Technique, practicing sword technique—Xilutiya’s daily life was fulfilling and orderly, and such days passed quickly.
Time reached late December; at this point, snowflakes finally drifted in the sky, but unfortunately, such snow melted upon landing and didn’t pile into vast snowscapes.
In past other wind seasons, this time would probably be when heavy snow sealed the mountains, making travel and outings very inconvenient.
“Tiya, I want to go home.” One day, Talil brought it up.
Because Madam Fran was often away from home, Xilutiya was basically in charge now.
“It’s been almost half a year out here, huh.” Xilutiya suddenly recalled waking up in the forest back then.
“Sister asked me to bring some winter supplies, and I also want to see how Grandfather is doing lately.” Talil mentioned the old village chief.
At this, Xilutiya felt tempted too; she had basically stayed in the mansion for the past month without going out, and now wanted to get out and walk around.
“I’ll ask Lining; then we’ll go back together.” Perfect timing to also visit that old man and search for clues at the place where she had awakened.
Soon Lining learned of Xilutiya’s request and nodded slightly in agreement.
“Miss Tiya can certainly go out, but I hope you can return within a week, as delaying too long might cause issues with the flower field and the plants you’re directly cultivating.”
“Got it.” One week was plenty; she wasn’t planning to stay long in Fir Village anyway.
Having decided to return to the village, Xilutiya and Talil first went to the marketplace to buy things; following Winnie’s list, they bought smoked meat, smoked sausage, salt, fruit jam, winter thick clothes, blankets, daily soap, candles, medicinal wine, gauze, and such.
With preparations complete, the two hired a horse carriage and then set off.
