Chapter 30 : Days in the Free City of Loren (6)

Chapter 30: Days in the Free City of Loren (6)

Shatien lamented inwardly, as if this were some god’s prank.

Of all people, the sword master whom Branch Manager Marhen had invited turned out to be the very man with whom he had reddened faces the other day.

"Where did you meet him? Our Elder is not the type to have wide connections or make friends easily."

"Ahaha… about that."

At the awkward question, Shatien gave an embarrassed smile and trailed off. How could he say they had clashed after fooling around at a gambling den.

From the way they spoke easily, it seemed the old man had close ties with the merchant association.

He had been rude, and not just a little rude.

"Why do you ask about such things? Go on now. You said you would introduce a face, and you have done your part, have you not?"

"Hmm. So does he pass?"

The old man gave a faint smile and replied.

"Pass my ass. We have not even done the interview yet. Off you go. With the branch manager here, we cannot have a proper talk."

"Ugh, alright, alright! Then I’ll leave you to it. You too, do well in your interview, all right? I will be looking forward to it."

Marhen winked, swished her tail, and turned away.

A moment later, the door creaked and thumped shut.

-Creeeaaak. Thud!

The instant Branch Manager Marhen left and the door closed, Shatien hurriedly bowed his head.

"I-I am sorry."

"Sorry? For what? Ah, you mean for that day? Why does a grown man fuss over something so petty?"

"Ahem, still…"

"Enough. I did not spend this valuable time to receive a paltry apology."

The old man cut him off blandly.

His interest was elsewhere.

It was the reaction that Shatien had shown the other day. That alone intrigued him, and his curiosity immediately became intent.

-Flinch!

Shatien sensed it and flinched, then sprang backward.

"It is certainly no coincidence huh?"

The old man’s eyes sparkled as if he had found something amusing.

"The distance you just retreated was perfectly precise, just enough to avoid a cut that would take your neck."

-Screech!

With a screech, the old man, sword already in hand, scored a line across the floor as he spoke.

"It is neither lacking nor excessive, exactly right. This one moment, this one step. How did you know the reach of my intent? How fascinating. You say you are a mercenary, do you have a particularly keen sense?"

The old man tilted his head and asked, but Shatien did not dare answer.

The aura pouring off the old man with his sword drawn filled the room.

‘Kgh.’

He clenched his teeth and forced his body upright, though he wanted to fall to his knees and collapse on the floor that very instant.

-Wooong.

A subtle power had already begun to hum, warning that if he stayed still he would die.

The surroundings were tinting red, just as they had before. He did not know why the old man did this, but he could not simply die quietly like this.

Even a worm could squirm once.

"Oho. Good. Very good. That is how it should be. Hahaha."

As if he had read that resolve, the old man laughed heartily.

"You are better than those fellows who look sturdy only on the outside, just as the branch manager said. Hehe. So, you want to learn swordsmanship?"

"T-That’s right! Elder."

Under the tightening pressure, Shatien all but screamed his answer.

"Swordsmanship… hmm. It is indeed good to learn."

The old man smiled faintly.

Then his face hardened at once.

"But to learn, you must have the right to do so. Do you want to learn?"

-Shing.

The blade, catching the sunlight that entered the room, flashed with a chilling gleam.

Pointing it at Shatien, the old man shouted,

"Then prove it to me! Prove that you have the right to receive instruction!"

-Clang-!

* * *

Shatien did not know how things had come to this.

He had only wanted to learn swordsmanship.

‘Fucking hell-!’

His life was on the line.

-Swish!

A hiss of steel passed his ear.

Had he not jerked his head aside, his cheek would have borne a very large wound.

"Hahaha! I even matched my level to yours as much as I could, and you still dodge huh!"

‘Damn it. He really tried to kill me.’

What made the old man so delighted?

Cursing inwardly, Shatien straightened his broken stance and drew his sword.

"Elder! You must not do this. If something has offended you, at least for the branch manager’s sake…"

"Ahh yes, I know. That is why I am working so hard for the branch manager’s sake, am I not?"

The old man’s calm reply left him speechless, but Shatien had no time to dwell on it.

Clang.

Clang!

The old man’s attacks came on without a moment’s rest.

‘This won’t do.’

Parrying a rapid series of cuts, Shatien thought so. Defense alone achieved nothing. Had it not been said that the best defense was offense?

“Hup!”

He drew a breath.

In a sliver of time, barely carving out an opening, Shatien unfolded a fragment of a knight’s sword art he had honed, the sharp movement of a raptor targeting its prey.

-Clack.

-?!

It was useless.

What he had believed was a perfect swing was stopped with ease by the old man’s raised blade.

"The Owl stance? I do not know where you learned it, but it was fairly plausible."

Unlike Shatien, the old man brimmed with leisure.

With practiced ease he bound Shatien’s blade with his own and pressed in.

-Screech.

-Clack!

Shatien was aghast that as a young man he lost in a contest of strength to an old man, but this was reality.

No matter how he pushed to break free, the old man’s sword did not budge.

"This locked state is called a binding. Hehe. Once it is set properly, you cannot break it by strength."

‘Damn it.’

Just as the old man said, it did not move at all.

To break free somehow, Shatien drew his sword a finger’s breadth toward his chest, trying to unbalance the center of mass and change the situation.

At that moment,

-Ziiinnngg.

A red line passed by his head.

“Hup!”

He sucked in a breath and snapped his head back.

At the same time, the old man’s blade speared through where his head had been.

-Swish!

-Thud, crash!

Having lost his balance, Shatien tumbled across the floor in a sorry state.

"Your sense is good, but your fundamentals are still poor."

"Ggh. I am looking for a sword master to learn those fundamentals."

"Ahh, that’s true huh? Then here is your next lesson. When you set or get set into a binding, you must always raise it above the head."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the old man swung.

-Clang!

As if he had already expected the first block, he flowed naturally into a reverse cut.

But Shatien too had expected this.

‘Now-!’

Just as the old man had shown a moment ago, Shatien raised his sword and cut off the attack.

-Clang!

-Screech.

He showed the binding in reverse, the very one he had just suffered.

The old man then tilted his blade diagonally and thrust straight for Shatien’s throat.

-Thud thud thud!

Shatien rolled on the floor again.

"You follow quite well. To mimic what I showed immediately. But you are a dullard who knows only one thing when you know one."

The old man clicked his tongue.

"If you know that the binding uses the center of mass, you should also know it can be broken by exploiting that. A thrust is very fatal to one trying to set a binding."

"That is a lesson as well, right?"

"Yes. A very precious lesson. Why, do you want to hear more? Hehe."

He had said it roundabout, but Shatien understood.

He was asking whether he would keep charging in.

Shatien stood, rolled his aching shoulder, and leveled his sword.

"Of course."

"Good, good. You are full of spirit, unlike young men these days."

The old man laughed in satisfaction, then pointed his sword tip at Shatien.

"Can you reproduce the cut I showed earlier?"

"The cut…? The crossed attack you mean?"

"Yes."

"I can."

"Is that so? Then come and try."

Even as he spoke, the old man had little expectation. He was only giving points for boldness.

It was a continuous sequence that accounted for the rebound of blades clashing against a guard.

How could one reproduce what had unfolded in the blink of an eye during a bout?

At least that’s what he thought,

“Hyaaa-!”

-Swish!

But the old man did not know that Shatien had a mysterious power.

-Clang!

-Clang!

“?!”

The old man’s eyes widened.

He truly reproduced the cuts in succession.

Crude, but still.

‘How astonishing.’

Moreover, Shatien did not stop there. A binding followed naturally, then even a thrust that struck back as the old man tried to break that binding.

It was rather interesting.

Such a level of acquisition.

Because of that, the old man thought that he should try to raise this fellow.

-Clang!

As soon as that resolve formed,

"Hugh?!”

-Swoosh.

-Thud!

Shatien went tumbling across the floor again, this time burying his head.

* * *

It felt dizzy.

His head spun and spun.

Waking in a cozy sensation, Shatien let out a groan without realizing it.

"U-Ugh…"

"Don’t make a fuss. You are weak. To faint from a single strike like that."

Fainted?

Had he lost consciousness?

At the old man’s words, Shatien tried to rise in a hurry and then sank back down. His head, especially the temple, which was a vital point, was badly swollen.

"What kind of technique did you use?"

"Technique? There is no need to attach such a grand name. It is a basic application. Tsk. How long will you be trapped in the frame of technique? Do you mean to shout out names of techniques while fighting too?"

"Hmm..."

It was hazy, as if he understood and did not.

Rubbing his throbbing head, Shatien straightened his posture.

"Please instruct me."

"Hmph. You at least have the basics to receive instruction."

Watching him, the old man spoke as if he found him commendable.

"Swordsmanship is nothing special. It is a matter of how to unfold a thrust and a cut. In the end, the essence of swordsmanship is that I attack the opponent without being attacked. That is it."

"Then a knight’s swordsmanship only maximizes those fundamentals, without any special secret methods or supreme arts?"

"What else? Did you think, like a hero out of myth, there would be techniques with strange names?"

Shatien’s expression turned subtle.

Then why did a knight’s swordplay look different? Did it mean his goal of finding a sword master to learn from had been wrong? A feeling of sagging came over him.

The old man clicked his tongue and tapped Shatien’s head.

"How foolish. Just because everyone can sing does not mean everyone sings beautifully."

"Then…"

"Because it is fundamental, it is harder. Have you ever thought about why you must swing the sword like this, and why you must thrust like that? Why you must bind as before, and why you must thrust when breaking a binding."

"Ah… Oh?"

It was hazy again, as if he understood and did not.

"Everything has a reason, and if you seek the reason, it ultimately converges to one. The most basic swordsmanship that is clean and without waste. To follow, temper, and train that is a knight’s sword."

With that, the old man settled into a stance and swung in sequence.

From high guard to middle guard, from middle to low, the movements flowed naturally.

There was no waste or swagger in them.

There were only movements close to perfection, faster, cleaner, and more natural.

"If you learn all of this, you will at least not live your life being beaten everywhere. How is it? You told the branch manager you would learn a knight’s sword. Will you learn it?"

"Y-Yes! I will learn, no, please instruct me, Master!"

Entranced, Shatien bowed his head without realizing and shouted.

The old man laughed in satisfaction.

“Alright then! I will instruct you. In return…"

"In return…?"

"Let me ask you a question, my disciple."

Gazing at Shatien with a mischievous smile, the old man spoke.

"What is the power you possess? No matter how I look at it… it seems you handle a mystery, yes?"

"…?!"

"Spill it at once."

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