Andre was delighted that Bruce had agreed to his request.
He knew all too well that the swordsmanship club faced a constant threat from the Swordsmanship Hall.
He had been born in Rhode Town, and it was precisely because of that connection that he had chosen to open a Wind-Cutting Swordsmanship Club there.
Previously, the Swordsmanship Hall had held a monopoly in Rhode Town. Any second establishment would be driven into bankruptcy.
Andre had only managed to keep his club open thanks to support from the Wind-Cutting Swordsmanship Club's headquarters. The club had a well-established reputation, with several branches in Folendana City alone, so the Swordsmanship Hall had to show it some respect.
But that respect was merely for appearances.
The Swordsmanship Hall had never stopped trying to undermine him behind the scenes. Fortunately, his swordsmanship was formidable. The people it had sent to challenge his club had suffered crushing defeats every time. After that, its members had stopped coming to provoke him and deliberately cause trouble.
But if he left, especially for nearly a year, there was no telling what underhanded schemes the Swordsmanship Hall might come up with.
Yet he had no choice but to leave.
Andre's friends and relatives were all from Rhode Town, but almost all of them were ordinary townsfolk. They certainly would not dare cross the Swordsmanship Hall, especially with wealthy backers whose interests were tied to it.
Although Laura's older brother was a constable, he worked in the center of Forendana. Distant help could not solve an immediate problem, and a constable was hardly a high-ranking official anyway.
They would not fear a mere city constable. They had done nothing openly heinous, so the law had nothing to hold against them.
As things stood, Bruce was the only person Andre could ask for help, and he had gotten to know him fairly well.
After several weeks together, Andre felt he understood what kind of person Bruce was: earnest, courteous, and a gentleman. Their conversations had also revealed that Bruce had inherited the estate of a landowning uncle. He was well-off, a wealthy man in his own right.
It was precisely Bruce's wealth that had prompted Andre to ask for his help and hope he would come over.
While studying in Sokvinia, Andre had met a few wealthy people and learned a little about the rules governing their dealings with one another. They were not as blunt and straightforward as rough fellows like him.
The wealthy always considered their own interests first: how they would be affected and whether other matters would be dragged into it. They did not simply tackle the conflict on the surface, much less come to blows over it.
With Bruce at the swordsmanship club and his standing lending it support, the wealthy backers of the Swordsmanship Hall would probably hesitate to make trouble.
Besides, Bruce's swordsmanship was good enough that he had nothing to fear from anyone looking for a fight.
Andre might have been a rough fellow, but he was no fool.
Knowing that traveling between the village and the town would be a hassle for Bruce, Andre invited him to stay at his home.
The constant trips were indeed tiring and wasted a great deal of time on the road. Staying at Andre's home was a good option, and Bruce gladly accepted.
The affairs at Wayne Manor had mostly been settled, and everything was gradually getting on track. Bruce's next tasks came down to just two steps: become a Wizard, then resolve the troubles afflicting Fawcett and Ghost.
There might be a few minor interruptions along the way, such as interviewing a butler or hosting a party at the manor. Bruce would have to attend any unavoidable social engagements, but he would leave routine matters to Danvers.
Bruce had little interest in parties, mainly because he felt out of place in that sort of setting. To him, a party was little more than a venue where men sought women and women sought men.
He had nothing against music, dancing, and flirtation. If he felt the need, he could simply visit the red-light district. Rhode Town was quite lively at night, and not just in its red-light district.
Parties did offer opportunities to meet people of status and influence, but Bruce clearly was not ready for them yet. He had received no formal instruction in etiquette.
If he went, others would only look down on him, and no one would want to befriend him. Besides, Bruce was about to enter the realm of the occult. Once he stepped into that world, he could die at any moment. He had to be careful and handle the people and matters he encountered with due caution.
He was no longer the fool whose head had initially been filled with fantasies.
Then again, he seemed to have had some awareness of the danger from the start.
How could he not, when the Grand Trend kept warning him of danger? Since becoming a landowner, he had not enjoyed a single carefree day. There had also been the property agency and the inheritance to deal with, endless paperwork, and office staff who dragged their feet.
Recently, though, updates from the Grand Trend had become less frequent.
Andre's home was at 21 Pompeyde Street, a right turn south off Lozick Street. It was a small four-story building, only a few hundred paces from the swordsmanship club.
Perhaps because two women lived there, Andre's home was furnished in a compact, delicate style. Chairs, rugs, wooden bookcases, and desks filled the living room, with a fireplace at the far end.
"The living room and kitchen are on the first floor. There are two bedrooms on the second, mine and my younger sister's. Laura's room is on the third floor, along with a bathroom. There are two empty rooms on the fourth floor, both with beds. They might be a little dusty, but I'll have them cleaned before you move in. You can stay in either one."
Andre showed Bruce around his little home. His parents had retired to New Thought Village in Rhode Town rather than living in the town itself.
Bruce took a quick look at the accommodations and found them decent enough. Afterward, he returned to Wayne Manor to pack some clothes and everyday necessities.
Although Bruce had agreed to Andre's request, that did not mean he would actually spend an entire year at the swordsmanship club. During that time, he had another extremely important task: becoming a Wizard.
After becoming a Wizard, he would still have to resolve the troubles afflicting Fawcett and Ghost. Unforeseen complications might arise, and such uncontrollable events were bound to have consequences. Those consequences would have to be dealt with.
"Let's see whether this Swordsmanship Hall knows what's good for it. If they know I'm here and still come looking for trouble with no regard for their lives, I won't need to show them any courtesy."
It was not that Bruce was conceited or thought himself particularly impressive. The Swordsmanship Hall genuinely did not strike him as much of an obstacle.
After all, he too was a wealthy man and a landowner.
Bruce had already looked into Rhode Town's Swordsmanship Hall.
The key part of its name was "hall." In reality, it was an upscale establishment offering somewhat risqué entertainment; swordsmanship was merely a label. Fortunately, he had chosen the Wind-Cutting Swordsmanship Club. Otherwise, he would certainly have been disappointed and wasted a sum of money.
The Swordsmanship Hall had been established some years ago with funding from Rhode Town's Parker Family. A few genuinely capable Swordsmanship Masters were attached to it, but only in name.
Learning swordsmanship had been extremely fashionable in the Rune Kingdom a few years earlier, and the Royal Family had even held swordsmanship gatherings. The Swordsmanship Hall had opened in Rhode Town around that time, while the Wind-Cutting Swordsmanship Club had ridden the same wave to establish branches across the country.
Those who wanted to learn swordsmanship and could afford it were generally young and well-off, or at least came from families with some money. These young people were the Swordsmanship Hall's target clientele. It emptied their pockets with flashy, hollow swordsmanship and the beauty of its female Swordsmanship Masters.
Its intentions were truly vile-a cancer preying on the young.
The Wind-Cutting Swordsmanship Club taught genuine swordsmanship, and Andre was a good instructor. Naturally, the Swordsmanship Hall regarded it as a thorn in its side. Constrained by Andre's formidable swordsmanship and Rhode Town's laws, it could only pressure and slander the club behind the scenes.
Fortunately, with Andre holding the fort, the swordsmanship club could weather it.
It was easy to imagine the Swordsmanship Hall stepping up its attacks as soon as Andre left. Six months to a year would be more than enough to ruin the Wind-Cutting Swordsmanship Club. No wonder Andre was worried and had asked him for help.
"You think so highly of me, Andre. Naturally, I won't let you down."
Bruce knew what Andre valued in him. It came down to two things: his refined swordsmanship and his status as a wealthy man.
His wealth was probably the more important factor, but his swordsmanship was no slouch either. It was an innate ability, after all.
He drew the Cross Sword and ran his fingers along its spine. A silver gleam flashed along the edge. The intensive training of the past few days had increased his strength, but it was still somewhat lacking. Andre had reminded him, however, that he did not need to obsess over that deficiency. Speed could make up for it.
The Fast Sword Technique was formidable too. It could claim a life in an instant.
Bruce could not help recalling a famous saying from his previous life: Of all martial arts under heaven, only speed cannot be overcome.
Bruce had not trained his hand speed since childhood. Swordsmanship Mastery gave him command of swordsmanship rather than simply making his strikes faster. Of course, he was working on improving his speed.
That evening, Bruce also told Danvers about the swordsmanship club. Naturally, she would not stop him from doing what he wanted. She merely urged him to be careful. She often attended balls and heard plenty of gossip. Apparently, the Parker Family had a poor reputation, and the people at the Swordsmanship Hall might be capable of anything.
Bruce would naturally keep that in mind.