268

Chapter 268 — If It Exists (6)

“Victory!”

“I’ll go next!”

“No, let me……!”

How had things ended up like this again?

Having claimed yet another victory in the open space in front of Sir Walter’s house, I fiddled with the hilt of my sword.

Sir Walter was, of course, the knight who had invited me here.

“Valentin would be best.”

“Yes.”

“Can you keep going?”

“…I think I’ll be fine.”

I had already defeated three knight candidates… but I had not actually lost much HP.

None of their attacks had landed on me, and the recoil from sword striking sword—somehow that reduced my HP less than getting slapped on the back—was manageable through natural regeneration.

I shrugged while watching the number drop by the second and then refill through regeneration.

“Good. Then we shall continue. Valentin, take your place.”

“Yes!”

For reference, the reason things had reached this point was nothing special.

I had more or less been forced to accept the invitation—there had been no decent excuse to refuse.

At the house I was invited to, seven knight candidates were already boarding there—which made me suspect this was the support the stall owner had mentioned.

Then Sir Walter had merely suggested that I participate in their pre-meal sparring—which seemed to mean he wanted to see what I could do.

That was all.

“Before the name of God, let us cross blades.”

Of course, if I had known the pre-meal sparring would last this long, I would have refused.

No.

Would I really have?

“Begin!”

I focused on my opponent’s movements as Valentin rushed in from a high guard.

I had assumed a high guard could only be used for downward strikes, but with just a bent knee, a lowered waist, and a change in wrist angle, the posture transformed into one capable of cutting my thigh or waist.

Clang!

I blocked it purely through physical ability.

It was not that I possessed the technique or skill needed to respond.

I was simply a little stronger, and my reflexes were a little faster.

But people who had been properly trained really were different.

The moment the sword was blocked, Valentin did not try to overpower me.

Instead, the wrist twisted in the opposite direction, rotating the sword.

The blade spun around and came in to cut me from the other side.

Clang!

But the previous three had already tried that on me.

So I blocked this one too.

Tap.

As if Valentin had expected even that, one hand wrapped around the far end of the blade—the foible.

Half-swording.

Using the point where the swords touched almost like a pivot, Valentin’s sword tilted, bringing the crossguard and grip toward me instead of the blade.

If I did nothing, the end of that crossguard would stab into my throat.

Wham!

But why would I simply stand there and take it?

I forcibly knocked Valentin’s arm upward.

The other side was Shaggi and therefore larger than me, but I was slightly stronger.

Following what I had learned from the others, I half-sworded my own weapon and brought the end of the blade toward Valentin’s Adam’s apple.

Valentin hurriedly twisted both waist and neck while moving an arm.

The sword that had been knocked upward spun in place, and the rotating forte struck my blade aside.

Clang!

The metallic ring tore through the air.

My loose tunic fluttered as I pulled my body backward.

Whoosh!

Valentin cut down through the space where I had been, then raised the blade once more.

High guard again.

Very different from me, retreating while lowering my sword in one hand.

Clang!

But when our swords collided again, things flowed in a slightly different direction.

There was no reason to fall for the same thing twice.

Or perhaps I simply wanted to see more ways of responding.

Either way, I swung differently.

The instant my sword touched Valentin’s, before my opponent could move, I rotated it almost in a figure eight and knocked the other blade away.

Then I thrust directly toward the upper body.

Swish!

At once, a strangely curving sword came for my head.

Valentin seemed prepared to twist away from my thrust, which took away my options.

I hurriedly pulled back the sword I had sent inward for the stab.

My right hand, gripping the hilt, moved beside my head above my left shoulder.

At the same time, my other hand slid forward beneath the blade as though stroking its lower edge, supporting it.

My sword became an obstacle and knocked Valentin’s blade away.

Of course, if I simply stayed still, Valentin would recover and attack again.

Why would I politely allow that?

The instant the opposing sword was knocked aside, mine lunged forward.

Strength that ignored every scrap of inertia forced the sword ahead.

The sword path was crude and straightforward.

Which made it all the more dangerous.

“Stop!”

Sir Walter shouted around then.

My blade stopped a paper-thin distance from Valentin’s throat, then withdrew.

“That was a good bout.”

“Likewise…….”

Most of the bouts ended quickly like this…

Yet even within those short exchanges, there was an overwhelming amount to learn.

I replayed Valentin’s movements in my mind as I bowed.

“You truly are…….”

Sir Walter approached with an equally indescribable expression.

“If not for that constitution of yours, you could have become a knight whose name would remain in history.”

“…You flatter me.”

“No. That is not an exaggeration. Not in the slightest.”

Sir Walter used the cane in his hand to prod various parts of my posture.

“Straighten your back. Too much tension here. Do not spread your legs so far.”

Then he let out a deep sigh.

“How much strength did you put into that final attack?”

“Um. Just…….”

“If you had not stopped it, it would have been enough to pierce the neck, would it not?”

“…I had absolutely no intention of hurting anyone.”

“Naturally. Because you were entirely confident you could stop even that.”

“Hmm…….”

“What absurdly brute strength.”

It was true that I had relied entirely on strength and gone in with all the subtlety of a brick at the end, but wasn’t that wording a little harsh?

I felt slightly wounded by Sir Walter’s words.

“You think I am joking?”

Apparently noticing, Sir Walter lightly tapped my shoulder.

Perhaps remembering that I had coughed blood earlier, he used almost no force.

It barely felt like contact.

“Then let me give you an example. Not one of the people you fought today has held a sword for less than ten years. I would not say they have mastered it, but they can at least employ most techniques involving the control of force. Do you think they could reproduce what you just did? Assuming, of course, that they did not reinforce themselves with Mana.”

“Uh…….”

“Absolutely impossible. Learning to apply a certain amount of force at once and withdraw it again belongs to practice. Increasing the total amount of force itself, however, belongs more to the realm of talent than effort.”

“I… see.”

Around then, I finally understood what Sir Walter was trying to say.

Increasing total physical strength dramatically really did require some degree of natural talent in addition to training.

“Furthermore, judging by the way you swing a sword, the period in which you were properly taught was short, and you spent the rest learning alone… Taking that into account, your natural talent is even more exceptional. If instinct alone allows you this much control over your strength, then training and education could let you employ far more sophisticated technique.”

“…….”

So when it came purely to my body, I was basically a talent monster…….

Since Mana usually played the largest role whenever I fought enemies, I had never realized my physical body itself was also completely unfair.

Read only on MUGEX

It felt strange.

“Of course, I am saying your physical ability is exceptional, not your technique or skill. Without those insane reflexes and that strength, even Hube would have beaten you. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Hube was probably the first person I had fought.

The one with the uncommon green hair…….

Not that it mattered much.

I folded my hands politely and glanced at the knight candidates watching me from behind with shining eyes.

Perhaps because they had not lost due to a difference in technique, they seemed less hostile toward me than I had expected.

“Starting today, we increase the time spent on muscle training.”

“Kgh. Why did I have to be born Sland…….”

“Meat. Meat is the answer.”

Ah.

Instead, they seemed entirely focused on building enough muscle to prevent the same thing from happening again.

I felt strangely conflicted as I watched faces ranging evenly from their twenties to their thirties light up with determination.

“Anyway, sit down. I’ll tell each of you what you did wrong.”

“Yes!”

But I had plenty to learn too.

Only after all of Sir Walter’s boarders had taken their places did I sit at the very end of the row.

By coincidence, I ended up beside Valentin, the person I had fought last.

Valentin’s red fur, which reminded me of someone, kept making my gaze drift away.

Hopefully Valentin would not notice the strange avoidance.

“You really are incredibly strong. That was the first time I’ve ever lost a contest of strength.”

“Valentin… was also the first person I felt was genuinely difficult to overpower.”

Instead, I addressed Valentin as “Sir.”

I had not originally done it to divert attention from where I was looking.

I had simply wondered what I ought to call a knight candidate and eventually decided to attach the title anyway.

Apparently it felt rather good, because Valentin’s fur-covered lips twitched.

How should I put it?

Like master, like student.

Both seemed rather weak to indirect compliments.

That was not exactly bad for me, though.

“Hube. You know what you did wrong, do you not?”

“Yes…….”

“There is no guarantee that an opponent larger than you will always be Shaggi. And Middles and Shaggi apply strength through the sword in very different ways. Be sure to account for that next time.”

“Yes!”

While we developed a little camaraderie, Sir Walter’s critiques continued.

What had been done well.

What had been done poorly.

What could be improved.

He really was talented at teaching.

“Valentin, you know yours without me telling you.”

“Yes.”

“Lastly, you……”

Sir Walter glanced at me and paused.

“Let me ask, just in case. Are you left-handed?”

It was an unexpected question.

“…I’m ambidextrous, but closer to right-handed.”

“Really? Then why does the way you swing look subtly awkward……?”

Whoa.

He actually noticed that?

The instant I heard Sir Walter muttering to himself, a chill ran all the way down my spine.

It was true that I was ambidextrous while favoring my right hand.

But because I had spent all this time wielding a sword only with my left, my right-hand technique really was comparatively awkward.

“Ah, and one more thing. Do you have actual combat experience?”

“Yes… some.”

“Mostly hunting beasts and demons rather than people, I assume?”

He even figured out what kind of enemies I had mainly fought.

Feeling like someone had robbed me in broad daylight, I admitted that as well.

I had wanted to create an image as far removed from fighting as possible… but now that he had already noticed, what would be the point of hiding it?

That was why I agreed.

It was…

A little scary, though.

“As I thought.”

Sir Walter nodded slowly.

“I will not ask how you hunted things like that with such a body. Well, I suppose from watching you, it does seem perfectly possible even if you cannot use Mana.”

If there was one fortunate thing, it was that Sir Walter did not seem particularly suspicious of me.

Internally, I thanked him profusely for being so understanding.

“Still, as I said earlier, you are somewhat lacking technically.”

“Yes.”

“But that is not your fault. The lack of education is part of it, but… the very direction your self-training took went somewhere else entirely.”

“…Direction?”

“To put it simply.”

While I was thinking that, Sir Walter pointed toward the knight candidates.

“Our swordsmanship assumes a humanoid opponent.”

Then, as he continued, the finger turned toward me.

“Your sword assumes an enemy larger than yourself—and not even a humanoid one.”

I understood immediately.

“That is why every one of your movements is so large and why you lack finesse.”

True.

Looking back, there had hardly been any battles where humanoid enemies were the main opponents.

And when humanoids did appear, they usually died in one hit, so the fight never reached the point of becoming a contest of technique.

Seen that way, perhaps this assessment was only natural.

I accepted his analysis as it was.

“Then what should I do from here?”

Accepting it and finding a way to improve were separate things.

At my question, Sir Walter stroked his mustache.

“If I were speaking from the heart… I would tell you to spend a few years learning the sword under me.”

“…Is it really that bad?”

“No, that is not what I mean. I want you to study under me because… it pains me to see that talent go to waste. I am not saying there is anything wrong with your current sword.”

“Really?”

“Of course. What is the point of discussing technique when the envisioned enemy is entirely different? Against something enormous, refined skill has little meaning. What matters is whether you can cut through its hide.”

“Then…….”

“That does not mean learning small techniques like these would hurt. As one goes through life, one often ends up fighting people more frequently than demons. Though with physical ability like yours, technique will be meaningless against most people unless you are fighting a knight.”

Sir Walter once again coveted my talent, saying that with enough strength and reflexes I could simply overwhelm and kill most ordinary opponents.

If I had not claimed I suffered from a constitution that prevented me from using Mana—which was not entirely a lie, given my current condition—he might have dragged me to the academy on the spot.

“Still, since you are staying at my house anyway, learn some techniques for fighting people while you are here.”

But I was not in a position to do that, and he knew it, so this was the compromise he offered.

There was nothing bad about it for me.

The penalty from the disguise skill bothered me a little, but still.

I could endure somehow.

“Yes.”

I accepted Sir Walter’s offer gratefully and stood up.

Now that all the evaluations were finished, I assumed we would go inside for dinner.

“Have you really hunted demons before?”

“It sounded as though you’ve hunted something much larger than skeletons or ghouls… Is that really true?”

“If you don’t mind, could you tell us what happened then……?”

My expectations were slightly off.

It was mealtime, yes.

But it was apparently also time for discussion and socializing disguised as a meal.

“Have some of this. My wife makes an excellent apple pie.”

“How did you get so tall? No matter how much I eat, I never seem to grow…….”

“What kind of exercise do you do? I’m thinking I ought to work on my strength more too…….”

Amid the inexplicable kindness of a middle-aged man, the chatter of green hair, and the enthusiasm of red fur, I felt a strange nostalgia.

There were so many people around me.

And yet, strangely, I felt alone.