Chapter 134: The Former Marquise’s Brilliant Method 7
*
Let’s do this! Right now!
Just as I drew my Sword with that level of enthusiasm, Lana called a halt.
We were forcibly relocated outside the town.
Naturally, I protested.
“Hey, what happened to the rules?”
“Guild Staff have a duty to protect the safety of those using our facilities.”
I almost tilted my head, not understanding what she meant.
Just as Lana’s mouth formed the shape for “Ba,” I understood and frantically waved my hands sideways.
Seeing me, Lana gave me an incredibly cold look.
“Would you have preferred if we changed the rule to disqualification if a building gets destroyed, instead of just the fence?”
That sarcasm really stings.
Even Jen-san doesn’t lay it on that thick, does she? No, wait, maybe she does.
Erica thanked Lana for her consideration regarding the sudden rule change, while I, face bright red, could only manage a grunt.
Yeah, I couldn’t even argue back.
Ezz and Pal carried the referee, Lana, while we headed out to the north side of town.
Lana, carried like a log in Ezz and Pal’s arms, looked completely lifeless, but since she was the one who insisted on changing locations, she just had to endure it.
The north side of Hecate, facing the Demon Realm, had no fields or anything else.
Usually, there’d be one or two people practicing their Sword swings or magic on the north side, but today, there was no one.
It seemed the rumor about us taking the Promotion Exam had indeed spread, causing many adventurers to take requests in distant towns or venture into the middle layers of the Demon Realm, something they wouldn’t normally do.
Honestly, it wasn’t like I didn’t wonder, What did we ever do to you guys? but I kept it off my face.
I knew Lana would just call me a Barbarian again.
Still, facing Erika head-on like this, Sword in hand, reminded me of the Swordsmanship classes back at the academy.
Naturally, being a Swordsmanship class, there was sparring, but since the academy was fairly realistic about combat, sparring partners changed constantly.
However, due to certain circumstances, my partner was always fixed, so I never once crossed Swords with Erika.
Always, just like always, I could only watch her from afar.
I couldn’t help but envy my classmates who had their arms struck, Swords knocked away, got tripped by leg sweeps and sent rolling on the ground, or had sharp thrusts stopped inches from their throats by her.
That sharp gaze she had, especially when stopping a thrust just short, was the absolute best.
I wanted her to look at me like that too.
As I reminisced about those long-gone academy days, my eyes met Erika’s.
She looked displeased.
My confusion must have shown on my face, as Erika spoke up.
“Letting your mind wander in front of a lady is quite rude, you know? Shin.”
“Sorry, I was just remembering the Swordsmanship classes at the academy.”
I could tell from Erika’s expression that my words had made her recall the past too.
“Come to think of it,” Erika murmured.
“I don’t recall ever being matched against you in the academy classes.”
Suddenly, Erika’s brow furrowed.
“Were you skipping?”
“I attended class diligently,” I replied with a wry smile to her rather serious question.
If I’d skipped, I wouldn’t have been able to see you, after all.
“Due to certain circumstances, my partner was fixed,” I explained while stretching my arms.
My body was sufficiently warmed up, but I couldn’t stand still.
“Speaking of academy classes, what should we do about the Promotion Exam rules? The academy style is fine too, you know?”
Academy style? A question mark floated in my mind for a second, but then I understood.
“No, let’s allow Physical Enhancement. If it were purely a Swordsmanship match, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“There you go with the modesty again.”
Erika offered a wry smile, but I wasn’t being modest in the slightest.
If I fought Erika with Swords without Physical Enhancement, I probably wouldn’t last ten exchanges.
The use of Physical Enhancement was forbidden in the academy’s Swordsmanship classes, ostensibly to prevent students from developing bad habits.
This meant that in matches between males and females with physical disparities, the males usually had an advantage, yet Erika had remained undefeated since enrollment.
Sons of militaristic noble families, whose entire clans seemed dedicated to the art of war as if it were their sole duty, were easily tossed around by Erika. How enviable.
Erika’s reputation at the academy, the Prodigy of Sword and Magic, was no exaggeration whatsoever.
“Shin.”
Maybe I’d last about eight exchanges? Probably get my fingers crushed so I can’t hold my Sword, then get disarmed and pinned to the ground, I mused, when Erika spoke with a serious expression.
“Physical Enhancement allowed, but no magic (projectiles). And no stopping blows short, except for attacks aimed above the neck.”
Those were some rather extreme conditions.
Almost like a formal duel between nobles.
In other words, Erika didn’t think I’d miss stopping a blow aimed above the neck.
“Understood. If by some chance I scratch your face, I’ll take responsibility.”
I conveyed my agreement with a joke common among nobles who took the availability of Healing Magic for granted.
For a fleeting moment, Erika nodded with a strange expression.
Did she forget some condition? Just as I was about to ask, a voice cut in.
“Alright then, can I assume mutual agreement has been reached?”
It was Lana, looking exasperated.
“Before any more Barbarian rules get added, here’s an addition from the Guild. If the road—well, you’re far enough away, but—if the road is damaged, the match will be stopped immediately. Furthermore, you will be responsible for bearing the cost of repairs to the road.”
The time-honored Faltar rules for noble duels were being called Barbarian rules.
“Just so you know, even nobles don’t really do duels nowadays, okay?”
My thoughts must have shown on my face, as Lana pointed it out.
Naturally, I pretended not to know what she was talking about; I couldn’t stand being called a Barbarian any more than necessary.
In the corner of my vision, Erika also put on an expression that seemed to say, Whatever could you mean?
“Ah, I won’t press the issue, okay? We’re starting now, okay? When I give the signal…”
Lana pointed towards Ezz and Pal, who were about a hundred paces away.
“Please begin once I’ve evacuated—I mean, moved—over there.”
Erika and I nodded silently in response, and Lana quickly raised her hand.
“Begin!”
*
The awkward pause while Lana ran to Ezz and Pal’s position passed in a flash as I found myself captivated by Erika’s serious expression.
Following the rules of a noble duel, we stood five paces apart, Swords still sheathed.
Our breathing was deep and quiet, chests still, so as not to reveal the timing of our breaths to the opponent.
With the rhythm of our breathing gone, a flat, tense silence stretched between us.
A hard, flat silence with no room left for tension——but it ended quickly.
The instant my Physically Enhanced ears caught the sound of a footstep on the hard road, I had a vision of my torso separating from my body.
No way, came the surprised thought, immediately followed by a sarcastic sense of acceptance, Of course.
My opponent was Erika. It was only natural she’d come at me with an all-out killing blow right from the start.
The only reason I managed to dodge Erika’s terrifyingly fast opening strike was simply due to experience and the straightforwardness of Erika’s gaze (Magicka).
Bending my knees and leaning my upper body back as far as possible, I thanked my master.
I was astonished that the day had actually come when that insane training—where three times out of five, my torso would bid farewell to my lower half—would prove useful.
My mind registered that Erika had closed the five-pace distance dictated by noble dueling rules in the blink of an eye, her swung Sword whistling past the tip of my nose, only when I saw her mercilessly preparing a follow-up attack on my severely off-balance form.
Incidentally, falling to the ground and rolling sideways, or trying to block with my Sword from an awkward position, were bad moves here.
Even when I managed to dodge it two times out of five during training, I failed every single time I tried those counters afterward. Damn you, Master.
The correct answer was a leg sweep.
Planting my left hand on the ground, I used it as a pivot while still leaning back and unleashed a Kick towards Erika’s feet.
It was a Kick unlikely to even break her leg if it connected cleanly, but Erika avoided it by halting her forward step meant for the follow-up attack.
Thank goodness. She chose the easiest option for me.
Using the momentum of the Kick and my left hand to regain my balance, I finally drew my Sword.
My breath already mingled with Magicka.
I felt a wave of relief at having avoided the most pathetic way imaginable to lose—losing without even drawing my Sword.
——But then, the Magicka Threads raining down on me left me speechless.
No way, is it really all of them?
Faced with not just ten or twenty, but countless Golden Magicka Threads (her gaze), my body instinctively constructed a second Physical Enhancement Magic Circle. While using Healing Magic to mend my twisting insides, I prepared to intercept her Sword.
Erika’s gaze (those threads) wasn’t a precursor to a spell like an Ogre Knight’s.
It was merely Magicka riding on her line of sight.
Which meant blocking it required exceptional kinetic vision.
In a different way than my master, whose gaze was impossible to follow, hers was extremely difficult to defend against.
The thought ‘Could Solntseri’s Sacred Sword break?’ crossed my mind only after I’d already parried it more than five times.
Of course, it was a baseless fear.
Terrifyingly, Solntseri’s Sacred Sword, barely half as thick as my own Sword, didn’t even let out a single spark no matter how many times our blades clashed.
And to think its true nature isn’t even a Sword, but a Magic Tool… it really speaks volumes about the sheer perversion of whoever crafted it.
The clang of metal on metal struck my ears. I’d lost the initiative from the very first exchange, and try as I might to regain it, her Sword—wielded with speed and density exceeding even an Ogre Knight’s—gave me no quarter.
Ah, but even so.
How beautiful Erica’s Order Swordsmanship is!
Despite being under intense Physical Enhancement, her movements held no crudeness, no wasted motion.
Behind those movements, one could perceive a profound understanding of the art’s principles, and the sheer discipline honed through training.
An art developed for the Knights of Faltar, designed to combat both humans and Monsters.
Its defining feature, predicated on group combat, is overwhelming prowess in single combat.
The core idea is simple: ‘I will kill the enemy before me.’
This simple philosophy grants unparalleled strength in exchanges where one stands their ground.
The human body, after all, is merely two legs and two arms.
It only bends the way it’s meant to bend, moves the way it’s meant to move.
Though martial arts styles are many, push any to its extreme, and you arrive at matters of spirit and will.
Beyond the slash or the thrust lies the simple question of ‘what’ to target and ‘how’.
For Order Swordsmanship, premised on the notion that fallen comrades beside you are instantly replaced, the answer distilled down to the simplicity of facing ‘the target before you,’ ‘head-on.’
Which means, all I need to do is get to her side.
Accepting a bit of crudeness in my own form, I forcefully batted Erica’s Sword aside.
The opening this created against Erica lasted less than an instant, but the key was simply to move faster than that.
I resigned myself to the unseemly scrape of my soles digging into the ground.
Against Erica, I had no leeway to worry about appearances.
I’d taken her flank! My entire being surged with elation that my speed had actually worked against Erica.
I was thrilled. Maybe Erica would even praise me.
And then, I understood.
Indeed, she truly was a child blessed by Sword and Magic.
The Golden Magicka surged toward my chest as if drawn by a magnet, while her jade-green eyes locked onto me head-on, despite my having circled to her flank.
As if glued to my own motion, Erica pivoted to face me directly, moving as though she were spinning atop a gyroscope.
Is that even humanly possible?
Moving without shifting her feet, gliding as if on ice… I nearly let a complaint slip out.
Who was it that said the human body was merely two legs and two arms?
In any case, by the time I registered Erica’s movement, all I could do was abandon all other options and brace myself for excruciating pain.
I desperately abandoned the stance for the horizontal slash I’d aimed at her hard-to-dodge torso, thrusting my left hand forward while half-praying it would be in time.
Right into the path of Erica’s thrust.
Did you know? Having the bones in your hand utterly shattered hurts way more than getting gutted, you know?
＊
I didn’t scream from the pain simply because I didn’t want Erica to hear it. Managing to intercept the thrust aimed at my right chest with my left hand was nothing but sheer luck.
The impact sent me staggering back about four steps. A quick glance confirmed my left hand still vaguely resembled a hand, much to my relief.
Bracing for the immediate follow-up attack I expected, I brought my left hand—healed only enough for the fingers to barely twitch—back to my Sword’s hilt.
Seriously though, it really hurts!?
Just now...
But instead of another attack, it was Erica’s voice that reached me.
I thought I had you there,
Hearing the faint hint of frustration in her tone, I almost forgot the pain.
Her voice reminded me of the obvious: this wasn’t a real battle.
And so, a bit of banter slipped from my lips.
Wasn't the rule 'no magic'?
I asked, recalling her earlier movement.
Oh? Did I not say 'no projectiles'?
—See?
Wearing the expression of a child whose prank had succeeded, Erica demonstrated the move again.
With a whoosh of displaced air, Erica spun gracefully on the spot without moving her feet.
She was propelling herself with Wind Magic.
Erica performed it casually, but the technique itself was outrageous.
Some adventurers use similar tricks, but I’d never seen anyone capable of activating magic from multiple points on their body with such fine control, like Erica.
After spinning, Erica smoothly cancelled her momentum with opposing Wind Magic, but that wasn’t something one could normally do with such a nonchalant expression.
Although, for me, the sight of her red hair catching the sunlight as it danced in the wind, shining like rubies, was far more captivating.
And here I thought speed was my only advantage...
I grumbled, recalling Erica’s earlier maneuver.
If she could maintain flawless form while using Wind Magic assists, breaking through her defenses with speed alone would be nigh impossible.
I sighed, looking not at the mark from her light, almost playful spin just now, but at the deeper gouges carved into the ground by the Wind Magic she’d used to track my movements during the actual exchange.
If you wish for me to elaborate on the splendor of your Swordsmanship, Shin-san, I'm afraid it will take quite some time. Would you like me to proceed?
Perhaps enjoying the chance to wield her Sword—something she likely couldn’t do often at the academy—Erica offered flattering words.
If I started talking about how incredible your Swordsmanship is, Erica-sama, the sun would set before I finished. But, well, our time is limited.
I gave my now fully healed left hand a little wave.
This was fun. Acknowledging that