Chapter 24
The sparring with Zain was over.
The result: defeated without even touching him.
It was embarrassing even to call it sparring. It was basically a one-sided beating.
It was almost like an adult fighting a child.
I realized the skill gap right away and surrendered, but he still beat me up anyway. Thanks to that, there's not a single place on my body that isn't hurting.
“It wasn't even this bad when I fought Alex.”
In martial arts stories, even the greatest masters are just a little strong in the eyes of the authorities, and that was exactly what this was.
When you're up against a skilled adventurer, a gladiator, or a knight, you're nothing.
Zain looked down at me as I lay sprawled on the floor.
“Where did you learn swordsmanship?”
“From a retired mercenary at the arena. His name was Doban.”
“I see.”
“You know him?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“That's not the turn I was expecting.”
What I had imagined was...
‘What? Doban? The mercenary king Doban?’
‘I can't believe he was in a place like that.’
Something like that.
Could he be a fraud?
Was all the swordsmanship I learned fake too?
Of course it was. That con artist bastard.
What? He'd pay me back if I succeeded?
You can forget it.
“I don't know who you are, but you seem to know your way around a sword. At the very least, you have the fundamentals.”
Well, of course.
He's my first teacher.
Though he was unknown, there was no doubt about his skill.
Teacher, I believed in you.
I'll come see you soon.
“From the looks of it, you don't bother defending yourself. Is there a reason for that?”
“I'm not very good at it. I'm small, so if I take a direct hit, I get overpowered easily. Dodging is safer. More than anything, I believe in the theory that offense is the best defense.”
In the arena, matches are fights between strength and strength, not technique and technique.
If I tried to block someone trying to crush me with brute force, my body—still basically a child's—wouldn't hold up.
I preferred a strategy of dodging nimbly and slipping into close range using my small frame.
“Besides, they don't even heal you if you're injured, so if I wanted to avoid getting hurt, dodging was my best option.”
“I see. Understood.”
I had recovered enough to get up. I brushed off the dust and stood.
“Your current style doesn't suit a knight.”
“Is there any swordsmanship that does?”
“A knight swings his sword to protect his master from danger. You, on the other hand, swing yours to stay alive yourself. You may live, but your master will die.”
“Taking out danger before it becomes dangerous is...”
“If you're going to spout such irresponsible nonsense, put down your sword and leave Edelheid right now.”
“Really? I can leave?”
“…Put down your sword and go back to the manor.”
I thought he was letting me off the hook.
“Looks like you're planning to keep going.”
“Of course. I don't have any other choice.”
“Good. I'll tear your swordsmanship apart and rebuild it from the ground up.”
***
Under Zain's instruction, Helena and I began sword training.
A sword not for my own survival, but a sword to protect my master.
Zain said he'd rebuild my swordsmanship from the ground up, but he didn't start with basics like stance training.
The roots are the same even if the branches spread in different directions.
It was no coincidence that Doban's teaching—that stance is both the beginning and the end of swordsmanship—came back to me now.
-Tak!
Two wooden swords crossed in the air. The dry impact echoed through the training yard.
The person sparring with me was apprentice knight Helena. Since she was the only candidate here besides me, that was only natural.
“Hup!”
With a kiai, Helena knocked my sword aside. Using the recoil, she created distance.
A brief standoff.
We read each other's breaths and rhythm.
Helena's skill, as I had learned after trading blows a few times.
“Rock solid.”
She was practically a textbook example of swordsmanship.
Gladiators in the arena usually had one thing they were good at and another they weren't, so you could exploit the gap, but Helena wasn't like that.
Overall, her balance was so good it was hard to find an opening.
“So this is what an apprentice knight is like.”
Purely in sword skill, she's above Alex. It makes me realize once again that I'm just a frog in a well.
“Still, it's not like there's no way.”
I nodded slightly.
Meaning: come at me.
Helena didn't hesitate.
She kicked off the ground and closed in fast. Her orange ponytail whipped roughly through the air.
A clean diagonal slash followed.
Her target was my neck.
-Tak!
I raised my hand and tilted my blade. I blocked the descending strike.
Helena didn't stop.
Left.
Right.
High.
Low.
She pressed the attack without giving me a chance to breathe, following the path of my sword and waiting only for the instant I exposed an opening.
All at once, I lifted my sword high. Then I brought it straight down at Helena's crown.
-Thunk!
Helena casually turned her blade sideways and caught it.
And immediately swung her arm.
A perfect winding counter.
My sword was swallowed up and twisted along with it.
That was the moment. I didn't resist. I simply loosened my grip.
No, to be exact, I added a wrist snap to the force she was using to shove it away.
-Ting!
The wooden sword flew out of my hand and shot into the air. Helena's eyes reflexively followed it upward.
A natural reaction.
The instant Helena's gaze was fixed on the sword, I slipped one step inside.
“——!”
Helena belatedly looked down at me. She tried to assume a defensive stance, but it was already too late.
My fist shot straight into her undefended solar plexus.
-Pow!
“Kehk!”
The scream that followed wasn't Helena's but mine. Something violently slammed into my side.
I rolled across the ground. When I jerked my head up, Zain was looking down at me, eyes narrowed.
“I clearly told you not to step outside the circle.”
-Tap, tap.
Zain tapped the ground. There was a circle drawn in the sand there.
Right.
Today's assignment from Zain was to focus entirely on defense. I wasn't even allowed to dodge the opponent's attacks.
If I dodged, the master standing behind me would be in danger, or something like that.
For that reason, he drew a circle just big enough for one person at my feet. It meant I was to spar with Helena without leaving the circle.
“But what if I see an opening?”
“You see an opening? If you rush into it, where does that put your body?”
“......Forward, I guess.”
“Then what about your back? Who protects your master?”
“......”
“That one second you spend on the offensive. For the enemy, that's the perfect chance to cut your master's throat.”
I was at a loss for words.
I didn't say anything stupid like, “I'll kill them quickly and be back in one second.”
There was no way the other knights hadn't thought of such a one-dimensional approach too.
There was a reason people said battlefield lessons were written in blood. Zain must have had his reasons for saying it.
“Don't misunderstand. This isn't the arena. In a gladiator match, if you killed your opponent, you lived. But here, even if you wipe out the enemy, if your master dies, you lose.”
Defeat.
In the arena, defeat meant death. But for a knight, defeat doesn't end with just my death.
Failing to protect one's master is a disgrace and humiliation greater than death.
Even if I die, as a knight, I have to protect my master no matter what.
“Y-you...!”
I turned toward the stinging gaze from beside me.
Helena was glaring at me, her face bright red. Her voice trembled with anger.
“What?”
“What do you mean, 'what'? That wooden sword just now! You dropped it on purpose, didn't you?”
“Yeah. You seemed really interested in my sword. I could tell at a glance you'd fall for it.”
“Coward! A knight's sword is said to be more precious than a lover! How can a knight use their sword as bait?”
“But I won, didn't I?”
-Smack!
“Ow!”
Pain flared across the top of my head.
“Shut up. Do you think sparring is about winning?”
“But practice should be like real combat...”
“Hup.”
“Yes.”
I shut my mouth promptly.
Zain let out a short sigh and turned his gaze to the still-huffing Helena.
“Apprentice knight Helena.”
“Yes, y-yes!”
“You may not like it, but what this brat said isn't wrong. Just because we're knights doesn't mean our opponents are knights too.”
“But...!”
Zain raised a hand to cut off Helena's objection. Then he continued.
“The whole world can't be honest. There are plenty of bastards like him who'd sell their souls to the devil just to survive.”
“Why am I suddenly the target...?”
“Use this chance to learn what you can from this brat as well, apprentice knight Helena. In terms of real combat experience, he's no less than a knight.”
“...Understood.”
With Zain's calm persuasion, Helena reluctantly nodded.
“Both of you, pick up your swords and get back in position. We'll spar again.”
***
Helena and I only managed to finish training for the day after sparring several more times.
“Haa.”
“I'm exhausted...”
I caught my breath lightly, while Helena lay spread-eagle on the ground, panting.
“You both worked hard. Let's meet again tomorrow morning.”
With those flat words, Zain left.
We dragged our dirt- and sweat-soaked bodies toward the well.
I drew a bucket of water and handed it to Helena.
“Here.”
“What, you're giving it to me first?”
“That's basic manners.”
“I thought you were the type to throw your sword in a spar and stab me in the back when I turned around... Anyway, thanks. I'll drink it up.”
Just what do these people take me for?
Don't belittle the techniques I honed while staking my life on them.
Helena gulped down the water and handed the bucket back. I drank too and washed off the dust.
“Phew, I can live again.”
I flopped down on the ground. Dinner would be soon, so I should hang around until then and leave after that.
‘They're not going to make me do servant work too, are they?’
Nah, if they had even a shred of conscience, they wouldn't do that.
...Probably.
“By the way, how old are you? You seem young, but you're really strong.”
“Maybe fourteen?”
“Fourteen? You look way younger than that.”
“I'm just short...”
“Ah, sorry.”
It was way too early to give up. Sure, I was short, but I was still growing.
With Renoa's support and eating like a pig all this time, I'd grow a lot.
Please.
I'll say it one more time.
Please.
“Then when did you start learning swordsmanship? I've been thinking it since your spar with Gerard, but after fighting you myself, you seem even stronger.”
“Hmm, I've been working as a gladiator for a few months? I've only been learning the sword for two months?”
“T-two months? You've only been at it two months? No way!”
Helena was shocked once again.
Her reaction was subtly different from before, and this time she looked completely unable to believe it.
Well, even I think that growth rate is insane. It just means I'm getting that much help from the status window.
Of course, I'm working hard too. Even without the status window, this level is a breeze.
No conscience, you say?
‘......’
Quiet.
“Two months... And you even use mana?”
“I do.”
“Are you really a slave? Wait, are you actually from a noble family? Like a knightly house? Or maybe the hidden son of a Sword Saint?”
“I wish. That would have been possible too...”
“You sound really sad. Sorry, somehow.”
Helena apologized with refreshing honesty. It's a very unfamiliar attitude to me.
“I've thought this since our first conversation, but Helena doesn't seem to care much that I'm a slave?”
“Really?”
“Or is she secretly cursing me out? Like, 'you lowly slave bastard' and all that.”
“I've never done that. Don't slander me.”
“Sorry.”
Still thirsty, Helena took another drink of water.
After wiping her mouth, she looked up at the sky.
“I may say I'm a noble, but in reality I'm pretty much no different from a commoner. And I'm not in any position to look down on anyone either.”
I knew that most apprentice knights were nobles with their own stories.
Helena seemed no different. That was probably why she let me speak casually too.
“Whoa, it's the young lady.”
I followed Helena's gaze. A second-floor window of the manor. Renoa was looking at us.
For a second, I thought she was a ghost.
“I shouldn't say this, but that person's aura is way too scary.”
“Yeah...”
I agree. Not just her aura—she's genuinely scary.
“Anyway, we'll have to train together for a while, so please take care of me.”
Helena held out her hand. I took it and gave it a light shake up and down.
“Likewise.”
Soon after, Helena left.
I was about to head off too, but I glanced up at the second floor once more. Renoa looked at me, then suddenly disappeared.
“What's with her again? Creepy.”
At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow and found her stuck to the ceiling, watching me.