I’ll Use a Reverse-Edged Sword

“Show that dimwit Eden his place”
“Brother, don’t you trust me? This is an opportunity father has arranged for me. I don’t know what trick that pathetic Eden used in the dining room, but I’m Andrew Castillo. I’m not someone who’ll lose to a rootless guy like Eden.”
Next to Adrian, Andrew was warming up lightly and burning with fighting spirit.

Two days ago
Baron David Castillo told his son Andrew an unbelievable story.
He said he would arrange an official duel with Eden before he leaves for the academy, so be prepared.
Andrew looked at his right hand, still throbbing from the unsavory incident in the dining room.
“I’ll completely destroy him. How dare he, not knowing his place-”

“No, father’s arrangement of this duel is to reestablish the family hierarchy. It’s for your benefit. So, you shouldn’t harm his body too severely. Just recover your pride and instill enough fear in him so he won’t dare to rise up again”

“Haa… I don’t think I can control my strength… Brother, you saw that bastard’s arrogant expression then too, right? That bastard was a bit strange. Damn it, I can still see his expression”
Andrew gripped his sword tightly with his throbbing right hand.
Then he swung the sword gently towards the empty air.

“You need to make your breathing smoother, and the balance of your lower body is subtly off. Are you not concentrating?”
Andrew’s anger was rising even more at Adrian’s criticism.
“There’s no need to be so serious about dealing with that one bastard! Just watch quietly, brother. He might not even be able to go to the academy this time”

“Sigh…”
Seeing Andrew’s passionate appearance, Adrian shook his head with a sigh.
It seemed his advice to go easy on Eden and not harm his body too much was not easily accepted by Andrew.
Although he feared father might be angry if Eden’s body was severely injured after arranging this opportunity,
in fact, even Adrian might have been hoping in a corner of his heart that Andrew would fail to control his strength.

That movement that bastard showed in the dining room that day.
Could it be that he, who had been observing the bastard for a long time, had missed something?
‘That bastard… he couldn’t have been hiding his strength all this time, could he? No… that’s impossible. The reports from the watchers I placed on him over the years. He’s just a pathetic troublemaker. The movement in the dining room was a coincidence, yes, it must have been a coincidence.’
Adrian tried to suppress the rising anxiety in his heart as he stared at Andrew warming up.

After a while
At the entrance of the training ground, that bastard’s figure was appearing.

As I entered the training ground, I felt a new sense of emotion.
The training ground that only the family’s knight order could use
Except for when I was very young, this was the first time I had entered here.
Even within the knight order, Raymond was the only one who didn’t openly ignore me and treated me properly…
Even then, Raymond was ostracized among the apprentice knights for occasionally associating with me.
Of course, Raymond wasn’t the type to tattle on these things to me (in fact, even if he did, there was nothing I could do about it),
but it was harder not to know that Raymond was being ostracized.

“Huff… huff…”
“What? Are you going out to duel? Why are you shaking so much?”
“The training ground… it’s been so long, I feel a bit strange”
“What? How can the training ground be unfamiliar to an apprentice knight?”
“Well, there aren’t many strong guys in our knight order who can be my opponent, haha”

Although Raymond was trying to laugh it off nonchalantly, maybe this bastard was suffering much more discrimination than I thought.
I felt the guilt I always felt towards Raymond growing even more.

“I’m getting engaged after this duel is over.”
“What?!”

Raymond was startled by my words.
“Why are you so surprised? Is this the first time you’ve seen someone get engaged?”
“You were always busy training with me or chasing after Lady Alice, weren’t you? Where did you find a fiancée?”
“I didn’t find her… it’s more like I’m being sold off, I guess?”
“Which family is crazy enough to buy you?”
“What did you say? Do you want to die, you bastard? I may not look like it, but I’m still a baron’s son”
“Ahem… whoever’s daughter it is, I really pity her, poor thing.”
“Anyway, after I get engaged, I’ll be enrolling in the academy.”
“What?!”
Raymond screamed out that strange noise again and opened his eyes wide.
“You’re… going to the academy”
“Why would the academy accept you?”
“Haa…”
He was truly a consistent friend.
But even in Raymond’s playful expression, an undisguisable regret was leaking out.
For Raymond, who could only call one person a comrade in this family, of course it would be like that…

“You’re not a noble, so you can’t easily enter the academy like me, but train hard and try to take the exam next year. Let’s attend the academy together. You don’t have dreams of becoming something in our family’s knight order, do you? A man should have bigger dreams. I’ll come often to be your sparring partner”

“Come on, Young Master Eden… who’s helping whom? Just be careful not to get beaten by Young Master Andrew and break something, preventing your academy enrollment”
Raymond responded in a playful tone, but his eyes seemed to be burning with some kind of determination.
Just as I had found a new life goal, it seemed he had found a new goal too.

“Would Young Master Andrew and Young Master Eden both please come forward”
It was time for the duel to begin.
As I moved towards the center of the training ground, only then did I notice the faces of the family members seated here and there.
Father, Lady Cordelia, and Adrian were seated in the most prominent seats,
and led by Knight Commander Jake, all the members of the knight order had come to watch.

“What’s with this sudden official duel? Can Eden even be a match for Young Master Andrew?”
“Yeah, does anyone know what this is about?”
“I heard from a maid that there was a minor altercation between Eden and Young Master Andrew in the dining room a few days ago. Apparently, Young Master Andrew got his hand slightly injured then”
“Young Master Andrew? Eden injured Young Master Andrew?”
“That’s what I heard, but who’s Eden? Isn’t he just the publicly acknowledged illegitimate child of the Castillo family? If he tries to climb up or show unnecessary greed in the succession structure because of this, how noisy would the family become? It’s a time when some kind of ranking is needed…”
“Ah, so this is an official occasion to boost Young Master Andrew’s morale, is that it?”
“That’s one way to look at it.”

The whispering voices were so clearly etched in my ears.
I wonder if there’s even one more person cheering for me in this place besides Raymond?
A smile escapes me as I think of Amy’s face, probably locked up in her room crying because she can’t bear to watch.

“You’re smiling? Still haven’t grasped the situation?”
Andrew, standing in front of me, was already glaring at me.
“I might accidentally cut off one of your arms or legs. ‘Accidentally’, you know. Do you understand the situation now?”
“Do as you please”
Crack
At my calm response, Andrew’s expression twisted even more, as if it wasn’t the reaction he had expected.

“Well then, you two. The duel begins now.”
The knight member in charge of the proceedings announced the start and quickly ran away, distancing himself.
Everyone in the training ground held their breath for a moment, staring intently at Andrew and me.

Ching
Andrew roughly drew his sword from its scabbard and immediately threw the scabbard far away.
“You draw yours too, you bastard. Let’s play properly”

Ching
The reverse-edged sword in my hand came out of its scabbard with a crisp sound.
“That… that’s that cursed thing from back then? You bastard, did you gain some confidence just because you hit my hand once with that ridiculous toy?”
“Is there any need for long talk? Come at me.”
“How dare you, you ill-mannered bastard”

Andrew adjusted his sword and charged at me with a maddening speed.
But
‘As expected… it’s just like that feeling from before.’
Each of Andrew’s charging movements seemed to be in slow motion.
A real sword swung mercilessly, aiming for my left arm.
Andrew might not know, but it was clear that he had decided to inflict serious injury on me in this duel.
However,
in front of me holding the reverse-edged sword, Andrew would not be able to accomplish any of his intentions.

Clang
Thud Thud
It was just a moment.
Deflecting Andrew’s incoming sword and hitting both his legs once with the reverse-edged sword…
“Ugh… Aaargh!! Aaargh!!”
Andrew’s sword had already flown far away,
and his two legs, broken helplessly, could no longer support his body.
“Aaaaargh!! My legs!! My legs!!!”

A duel decided in just one exchange
In the training ground, no sound could be heard except for Andrew’s screams.
I approached Andrew, who was wailing in pain, step by step.
And then
“Brother, imagine if what I held in my hand was a sword with a proper edge. The fact that only your two legs are broken is my consideration towards you.”

Although I was someone who couldn’t have come close to Andrew with a real sword, at this moment, I couldn’t resist delivering this line.