Chapter 32 : Days in the Free City of Loren (8)

Chapter 32: Days in the Free City of Loren (8)

“Focus a little more.”

-Whoosh!

“Put more strength in your lower body and keep your balance. If you apply strength clumsily, you are bound to collapse.”

It was a very gentle and detailed explanation.

To a third party who knew nothing, it might have looked like the ideal image of a teacher.

However,

-Swish!

-Crack!

“Listen to your senses. A blessed mystery flows within you. Do not reject it, and accept the flow with trust.”

Judging by the stones that flew at the end of each lecture, the person going through it would certainly not agree.

“Gah-!”

A stone had just struck his shin.

Of all places, it was the leg he had set on a stake to try to hold his balance.

-Thud thud thud!

Thanks to that, Shatien could not endure the dizzying pain and rolled across the ground.

The old man clicked his tongue as he watched.

“At first I thought you were holding up well, but you crumbled right away.”

“If I maintain that ability, my stamina drains in no time. What am I supposed to do, Master.”

“What do you mean, what? You have to regulate it.”

“Please do not just say that…”

At Shatien’s sullen words, the old man clicked his tongue.

“Think about it. How were you when you first went into battle? You were probably tense and full of strength like you are now. You could not regulate yourself.”

“Certainly... I was like that back then.”

“But now standing on the battlefield feels natural, does it not? Surely you are not still trembling with nerves, yes?”

“Hmmmm.”

It felt just out of reach and vague.

Still, he had a rough idea of what the old man meant to say.

Maintain a proper level of tension. Not too much, not too little. And the old man clearly meant that the mysterious power should be handled the same way.

But how?

Up to now he had not known how, which was why he could not do it.

“You are dull. You have such good power, yet your thinking is lacking. Is this also the providence of the gods who value balance?”

After lamenting for a moment, the old man looked at Shatien.

“My disciple.”

“Yes, Master.”

“There are two paths to enlightenment.”

One was to seek endless wisdom and put true knowledge into practice.

The other was to realize it through endless execution with one’s own body.

In the old man’s view, this young mercenary disciple was clearly the latter.

“It seems this suits you best. Now, let us try again.”

“W-Wait a moment, Master! Just a moment…!”

-Swoosh!

“Ugh!”

* * *

From that day on, Shatien came here every single day.

In the mornings he quickly finished his mercenary company duties, and around noon he went to the training yard set up in the guild’s back courtyard and trained all day.

He rolled in the dust every day, and he worked so hard that even the old man had to stick out his tongue.

‘His grit alone is remarkable. Not like the impatient mercenaries I am used to.’

Most mercenaries the old man had seen had wasted their lives steeped in drink and women.

There was the pressure of never knowing when they would die.

There was the shame of selling their lives for money.

And since their birth and station had given them no chance to learn with patience, there was an unfocused restlessness.

Mercenaries who steadily endured tedious repetitive drills like Shatien were extremely rare. Moreover,

-Whoosh!

-Clang!

-Clank!

-Whooosh!

-Thud!

“Ugh.”

It was a grueling training that hurt quite a bit when you got hit.

‘In truth, his talent is not all that bad either. He is managing to keep up.’

He did not have the brilliant talent to learn one thing and know ten, but he was keeping up with everything the old man taught him.

Considering that most people struggled to follow even a single lesson, this was quite good.

On top of that, he possessed a mysterious power that compensated for the talent he lacked, which made it even better.

‘Or rather, thanks to that power, his steady grit is doubled.’

In a way, he had the best talent for learning by doing paths.

‘It is certainly worth teaching him properly. Hmm...’

Even without Branch Manager Marhen’s request, he was worth teaching. What master would wish for his swordsmanship to end with him just because he had grown old. A man who had built a school of his own naturally wanted to pass that achievement on to his descendants. The old man was no different.

It’s just that he had simply failed to find a disciple worthy of it.

“Huff, huff. Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong again...”

“...That is some quick perception.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind.”

How did he know he was thinking about him?The old man waved his hand.

“So, how long do you plan to stay here?”

“Uh, well, about that.”

Shatien hesitated for a moment.

“It seems I have a little less than three months. Around then the weather will start to warm, and the armies will find it favorable to move, right?”

“That is true. As the weather begins to thaw, the nobles who have been crouching will surely stir their bulging bellies. And look at you, eating steel for a while and now you see that much huh. Heh.”

Finding it commendable that he had his own thoughts, the old man chuckled. Watching the old man’s reaction, Shatien carefully opened his mouth.

“I… suppose time is tight, is it not, Master? Should I perhaps return once in the middle if needed?”

“Ha-! A mercenary who has rushed out to the battlefield coming back? What kind of pathetic question is that?.”

“Is it not too tight? Your honor as my master is at stake after all. If my proficiency is lacking.”

“Your thought is admirable, but...”

The old man looked at Shatien and grinned.

“How could time be lacking?”

“Huh?”

“At times like this there is always a method. For someone like you who learns through his body, a crash course is what is needed.”

Something felt ominous.

Shatien sensed a wrongness in the word crash course. The old master he had watched so far was as cantankerous as they came.

And soon.

-Shing.

Shatien understood what the master meant by a crash course.

“Now, for a crash course, nothing beats a spar that is like real combat, yes?”

“Ahaha... Master, how could I dare cross blades with— Hup!”

At the sudden, chilling red sensation, Shatien quickly bent back as if springing away.

-Fwish!

The old man’s sword skimmed by, shearing a hair’s breadth from his hair.

“Oh ho. Yes. Your senses are still sharp I see! Then shall we see how long you can maintain it for?”

“U-Uwahh! Master!”

“It seems you still have the energy to talk!”

-Flash!

-Slice-!

Sword light flashed.

Left and right.

Sometimes from outside his field of view.

Each time, Shatien parried or diverted and endured with all his might.

The old man was surely matching his level to some degree.

Yet every moment was a crisis and a turning point.

‘God damn it!’

Shatien ground his teeth.

If he was going to give him a crash course, then he had to follow, even if with tears in his eyes.

-Vmmm.

As Shatien set his will, the mystery began to stir.

However, it did not surge out of control as before.

It held an appropriate tension.

His training had begun to take effect, and he could regulate it.

Thanks to that, information from every direction did not flood his mind as before.

‘Left—’

-Clang!

Only as much as was necessary.

Refined information within Shatien’s range was guiding him.

“Good. You are much more solid than before. But the swordsmanship I taught you is not some foolish style that only defends, is it?”

“I was about to go on the attack.”

No sooner had he spoken than Shatien set his stance and cut diagonally like lightning.

It was that strike that cleaved space which the old man had shown before.

-Clang!

Although it was blocked, it was so sharp it would have chilled even the old man’s liver.

And he did not stop there.

With the help of the stirring mystery, Shatien unleashed successive strikes.

Sparks flew in the air.

The exchange reached a speed the eye could not follow and split the space.

“You make good use of what you have learned! My disciple.”

“Was that not why you taught me, Master!”

As he spoke, Shatien suddenly thrust forward.

It was an attack from outside the field of view, cutting the flow in the middle of a conversation, but the old man blocked it naturally as if he had expected it.

At the same time, like flowing water, the old man’s sword flashed and shot back toward Shatien.

-Scree!

It was a sharp counter as expected.

He already foresaw it.

Following the path guided by his mysterious sense, Shatien twisted into a cross guard.

-Clang! Grind.

The old man’s pressing blade locked in place as if glued tight.

If it had ended there, it would have been a simple exchange.

“Hup—!”

Shatien’s next move was perfect for stealing the old man’s breath.

-Creak!

-Whoosh!

In the briefest instant.

He shot his blade into a needle sized gap he saw at that moment.

The sword rushed toward the old man’s face, which was effectively defenseless.

‘It worked?!’

Seeing his master’s startled face, Shatien felt certain. If his master stepped back to avoid this attack, Shatien would chain his offense and make his conviction firm with results.

Of course, that was,

-Crack.

Shatien’s perfect delusion.

“Guk—!”

The old man’s body seemed to lean back slightly, and like a circus trick a kick flew up from below and smashed Shatien’s knee.

-Thud thud Thud!

Shatien lost his balance and tumbled across the ground.

“Well now. I did not expect you to make me use my feet. You rascal, your skill has improved a great deal in the meantime.”

“Ugh. Master, that is something a villain would say. And a kick too?”

“A knight’s swordsmanship does not only come from the sword. One must also know the basics of close combat.”

Watching the grumbling Shatien, the old man spoke.

“I did not think you would grow this quickly.”

“Really? Since you scold me for being lacking every time, I thought I didn’t grow at all?”

At the unexpected praise, Shatien joked happily.

Instead of shouting him down, the old man laughed along.

“Yes. I misjudged you. Hahahaha.”

He was progressing much faster than expected.

The speed with which he absorbed the teaching was astonishing.

Thanks to that, the old man was delighted.

“Uh, master?”

After reaching a plateau for some time, he had been frustrated.

If things went well, this adorable disciple might improve to the point he could share life and death with the old man one day.

If that happened, he might take another leap toward the end of swordsmanship.

Thanks to that, the old man’s fighting spirit boiled for the first time in a while. He thought only of driving this young disciple even harder to raise his skill.

-Shiver.

Of course, Shatien felt goosebumps run over his whole body.

“Would… you please calm down a little, Master? Please?”

“What do you mean your master? Come now, raise your sword. Let us have some fun. Uh heh heh.”

And no sooner had he finished speaking,

-Swish! Swish!

Sword light far faster and more chilling than before wove lines through the air.

‘Damn it—!’

A spar like real combat had begun in earnest.

* * *

“Heehee. So, Elder, how is that friend these days?”

“Which friend do you mean?”

“The disciple I introduced to you. I hear he leaves the guild every day looking like porridge… Is his skill that poor?”

As a merchant, Marhen could only misunderstand that he got beaten up every day because his skill was lacking.

“Heh. Poor skill you ask… That is an amusing way to see it.”

At those words, the old man let out a dry laugh.

Such is the way with merchants.

Marhen cocked his head and asked again.

“Is it not so?”

“It depends on what standard you use to talk about skill. If you judge that lad by someone like me, then would he not be lacking without end?”

“Hmm. That means if we use an ordinary knight as the standard, then he is doing fine?”

“Yes, indeed he is.”

In fact, he was not merely fine but outstanding enough to topple most knights. However, the old man did not bother to say that.

It was true he was still endlessly lacking compared to the old man.

One should always set the standard toward the very best.

“By the way, why do you ask?”

“I have something to have him do. I can borrow him for a while, right?”

“That is for that lad to decide, isn’t it? If you pay a mercenary, he will do any job without refusal. I have already granted him two weeks of rest, so use him as you wish.”

“Oh, thank you, Elder!”

And so, Shatien was as good as sold off (?) without even knowing it.

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