chapter 3
3 – Became the butler of a ducal family (3)
The duke and I followed the village chief who offered to show us the way, and we moved to the small gymnasium in the center of the village.
In the center of the gymnasium, you can see the men sweating and wielding swords.
They checked our party and took a silent stance.
Then he took his sword and retreated to the corner of the gymnasium.
At the same time, the attendants who were waiting nearby quickly began to organize the gymnasium.
Soon after the gymnasium becomes somewhat clean, the Duke opens his mouth.
“The way to prove it is simple. Have a sparring with one of my training knights.”
“Who’s my opponent?”
As if waiting for him to say this, the blond young man standing behind the duke took a step forward.
Then, while kneeling in place, he bowed his head deeply and opened his mouth.
“I dare to ask the Duke to choose the knight Fleur as his opponent.”
“You?”
“Yes. I want to see with my own two eyes the sword that killed our soldiers.”
“Hmm.”
The duke’s troubled gaze.
It looks like it’s stuck on something.
‘It doesn’t matter who comes out.’
My honest feeling is that I just want to finish it quickly and get the money.
I replied in a low voice.
“I don’t care.”
“……Is it really okay? Fleur is a genius who reached the ‘middleweight’ at the age of twenty.”
Middleweight?
In this world, what weight class is the level of the sword divided into?
“I’m not really interested in middleweight or whoever I’m up against. I just want to finish it quickly and get some rest.”
“You’re honest.”
“That’s my forte.”
It was quite rude and arrogant, but people just frowned and couldn’t point it out.
Aside from the fact that he had a great status as the benefactor of the duchy,
If the killing of the assailants was real, it would have been like the appearance of a supernova.
Most people don’t believe it now that they haven’t proven their skills yet,
What if his skills were real?
Even among official knights, only a small number of people can reach the realm of ‘mana users’.
An area that criminals cannot reach. Among the knights, not many have risen to the middleweight ranks.
However, the beginner-class knights, who are just beginning to feel mana,
What if you fight an equal duel against Fleur, who has reached the point of being difficult to reach even after decades of hard work?
It was the birth of a talented person who might become a swordsman in the future.
‘But it’s like there’s no possibility.’
The duke, along with his knights, soldiers, and attendants, sat in the bleachers outside the gymnasium.
Now, the only people standing on top of the oval arena are me and Fleur.
“Your opponent is bad.”
“Even if he really killed those beasts, he’s no match for Fleur.”
“So. Are you a genius for nothing?”
“Because he’s the heir to that swordsman’s family.”
The duke nodded inwardly at the conversation of the knights whispering behind him.
Among the beasts that killed his own soldiers, there was not a single middleweight mana user.
Thirty-two beginners, the lowest-level mana users, and one feather one step higher than that.
It’s because Catherine sneaks out without permission and doesn’t have a proper escort.
If the usual escort knights were attached to her, it wouldn’t be a job to deal with such trash.
And Fleur,
Among such escort knights, he was a great genius.
A master who is also a close friend and has only 100 people in this vast empire.
Isn’t he the eldest son of the swordsman Earl Price’s family?
He is only taking him with him at the request of a close friend who wants to let his son experience a different territory.
The talent inherited from my father combined with hard work,
It was clear that this genius, who had risen to the middleweight division at the young age of twenty-two, would later succeed the swordsman.
“Leon will win.”
The duke’s eyes widened slightly at the sound of his daughter’s voice from beside him.
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes. He is strong.”
How long has it been since my daughter expressed her opinion so clearly?
The strange look of the daughter looking at the red-haired boy with deep blue eyes like a lake.
I thought you were still shocked by the terrible horrors you experienced in the mountains.
What the hell happened in such a short amount of time that we can trust this much?
“Catherine. The skills of the knights you usually see may not be everything.”
“Leon is strong, Father.
There is deep trust in his voice.
A slight bewilderment mingled with the Duke’s cold expression.
“Maybe that boy was lucky enough to have saved you.”
“He won’t lose.”
“Huh…”
Despite her father’s sighs and sighs, Catherine did not take her eyes off Leon.
He clearly remembers that moment yesterday when Leon put a protective shield on him.
The sight of him laughing brightly as if he was having fun in a desperate situation where dozens of assailants rushed at him at once.
An unbelievable scene where the skin on the whole body, which had been torn off with the knife, was restored in an instant like a lie.
The boy’s expression wrinkled a little when he noticed the gaze of the duke’s daughter.
“I’m anxious.”
“Why is that? Are you afraid already?”
“Uh. I feel cheap.”
Fleur throws out a provocative word, but the reply is erratic.
The young man opened his mouth with a firm expression after receiving the wooden sword handed to him by the attendant.
“Your words have been short ever since.”
“You don’t seem to have much of an age difference with me, do you need to be respectful?”
“I think he said he was 11 years old. For reference, I am 22 years old.”
“It’s only twice as much.”
“‘Barely’? When you were just born, I was the same age as you are now.”
what? Why is this kid doing that?
It’s a nuance that I don’t like.
“Are you dissatisfied with me?”
“have.”
The blond young man nodded obediently.
“Your attitude.”
“attitude?”
“Yes. I am definitely grateful for being the benefactor of the duke’s family.”
“However, the rude attitude towards His Excellency is completely unacceptable.”
It’s because of that.
“I can’t help it. I’ve lived like that all my life. How can I fix it?”
“If you’re 11, you can still fix it. That’s why adults like me exist.”
“No, because it’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible in this world.”
He drew his wooden sword towards the boy and took a stance.
“I’ll show you that myself. Now, raise your sword.”
“Then I must show you.”
I snatched the wooden sword from the hand of the attendant standing next to me with an annoyed expression.
Then, with the long sword hanging down on the floor, he continued talking while looking at the young knight with indifferent eyes.
“There are things in this world that are impossible no matter how hard you try.”
“Since I am the benefactor of the lady, I will keep the circumstances in my hands.”
As we got into our stance, a middle-aged knight who assumed the role of referee raised his right arm high.
A very short time passes,
As the middle-aged man’s arm goes down to the floor,
Fleur kicked the ground.
“fast.”
“As expected, that speed is unparalleled.”
A young man who quickly approaches Leon with a wooden sword.
The knights who were watching his quick movement muttered in admiration.
Fleur focused his swordplay with the intention of piercing my left shoulder.
“I’ll be fine if I take a month off.”
Shik-!
Fleur reached the front in the blink of an eye.
A wooden sword filled with his sharp energy is pointed at his shoulder.
Even if it’s a wooden sword, it’s going to be quite painful if it gets hit like this.
But the moment I thought I was right,
I moved quickly and disappeared from his sight.
A wooden sword that only cuts through the air.
“what!?”
The bewildered young man’s eyes turned to the air.
There, I had bloody eyes shining in the posture of taking the ceremony.
“What is it?
“A wooden sword without a scabbard, a bald sword?”
The knights looked at me with incomprehensible eyes.
At that gaze, the corners of Leon’s mouth are torn.
An expression similar to that of a demon in mythology.
‘How can a person smile like that?’
“You’ll get better in a month?”
“…!”
Before reincarnating to this world, I met a certain man in China.
The man who introduced himself as Namgungcheon was a well-known Awakener.
He lunged at me, boasting that it was a great honor to see his family’s venerable swordsmanship.
But the man
As soon as I saw the sword technique, I immediately followed it, and I was frustrated.
The heavenly sword talent, the Heavenly Sword Jiche (天劍之體)
Even the whole body throwing method that allows you to follow any technique you have seen once.
He was devastated by the overwhelming difference in talent.
And that talent never goes away.
It does not degenerate because its body has become young and its physical abilities have fallen to the lowest level.
Of course, compared to the previous life, there will be differences in the duration of the battle and the strength of magical power.
But now, this weak body is enough for me to knock him down.
There is nothing wrong with weak strength and magic power.
It’s because you can take out the experience and skills you have and use them.
Memories engraved in my instincts.
The history of the struggle I built up.
Yang Baek-ho’s effort and talent,
And the fruit of blood and sweat.
Whole body fighting method
and this,
The history that a man who despaired at his own weakness, but stood up again, wanted to protect.
A history built up by a famous swordsman who tried to put the sky in the sword.
Changgung Muaegeombeop
“One thousand.”
Wedge juice!
Let’s swing the first swordsmanship, starting with the sword, from the waist as if shooting it,
The middle-aged knights who were sitting behind Julius stood up with shocked faces and shouted.
“That’s…!”
“Nonsense!”
The blue sword radiated from the sword of the young knight, who blocked the black sword with white and blue symbolizing the blue sky.
Quagmire and light!!
“Turn off, ugh…! aaa!!”
The two energies rising from my sword and Fleur’s wooden sword collided.
A roar reverberated throughout the gymnasium, and blue smoke rose like mist.
The expressions of the fellow knights hardened at Fleur’s shouts coming from inside.
Eventually, when the smoke that filled the two surroundings dissipated,
Everyone except Katherine’s expression was tinged with amazement.
“Heh, heh…”
Fleur, whose whole body is full of scars, as if it had been scratched here and there by the blade-like wind,
He was on one knee, barely supporting himself on the broken wooden sword.
“To think that we’ve come to this point after only using one skill. We’ll have to grow up quickly, damn it.”
Oh, it’s so hard
I murmured with my right arm holding the sword drooping in front of him.