An Old Country Bumpkin Recommends a Sword

“But how many years has it been? Have you been well, Sensei?”

“I’ve been doing all right. You look well, too, Balder.”

“You bet. Just look at this body!”

Balder flexed his biceps with a grunt, punctuating his words.

He really did look well. He seemed like the sort who’d never get sick or injured.

“Sensei, do you know him?”

Allucia had watched Balder and me exchange greetings with some surprise. She voiced what was, from her perspective, a perfectly natural question.

Allucia and Balder hadn’t been at the dojo at the same time, after all. It was no wonder she didn’t know him.

“Yeah. This may surprise you, but he was one of my former students, too.”

Balder Gasp...