142 – Taming the Madman (2)
There was an area in the Saint that was inaccessible to uninvited people.
Since only a handful of less than a hundred people used the luxurious and spacious area comparable to the imperial palace, it was quiet and secluded, and it was rare to encounter strangers.
Silverine and Elisabeth were passing through the long corridor while having a light conversation in the Plaza de Flence, named after the current saintess.
Thanks to the sky-high ceiling, the golden sunset passed through the corridor.
Her hair shimmered and shimmered as she gaited in Silverin.
In the meantime, Stitch passes over the corridor with a buzz and sound. It was a very subtle sound, but Silverin sensed it and slightly squinted. Pretending she wasn’t, she was implicitly caring.
Ezebet caught the subtle action and said.
“Your heart seems to still be in Eternia.”
Silberine deftly avoided Herzébet’s gaze.
“… My disciple has been losing contact lately.”
Ezebet smiled softly.
“Children in the adjustment period tend to focus their attention on their surroundings. The child will be fine.”
“… “
“I didn’t expect you to be so concerned.”
“When I first brought it, I didn’t expect it to be so affectionate.”
In the meantime, an old man walked out from the other side of the corridor.
Gray hair and beard. Her stocky body and straight limbs did not make her look old at all. As if he had waited for Sylverine and Erzébet, he lightly bowed her head to show her respect.
It was Kalios, the sword master of the empire called the ‘white lion’. He stopped about ten paces away.
“Heh heh, I didn’t expect to meet the hero of the north by chance again.”
Silverine and Elizabeth also bowed their heads slightly in the same way. These were spherical. The first was on the northern battlefield, and the second was at Damian’s master’s class screening.
Ezebet said.
“See you again. Sword Master, Kalios-sama.”
Carl Rios waved his hand.
“I am too old now to bear that irritating title. Sooner or later, I plan to hand over my position to my juniors and concentrate on nurturing juniors. This old body was just invited to the church as an elder educator.”
Ezebet said with a grin.
“We were also invited as educators.”
“Heh heh, I guess so. I have a story to share, so could we walk side by side for a while?”
Ezebet readily agreed.
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“As much as you like.”
Three of them proceeded through the corridor side by side.
Ezebet first asked a light question.
“Are you still working as a teacher in the Empire?”
“Now I have to give up. When I first started, I believed that anyone could grow to the pinnacle, but I realized that it was an illusion and that I also had my limits.”
“This is a story we can relate to.”
“It is said that great masons do not carve, but excavate what is sleeping in rocks. I desperately wanted to realize that. Choosing the right jade is the key to the best work. You have to bring out the potential of a pebble to become a pebble. I have wasted my time growing cobblestone.”
“Not all of that would be meaningless.”
There was a difference between his complaint and the reality. Some of Kallios’ disciples were making a name for themselves on the continent. He was only dissatisfied with the lack of a disciple to succeed him.
“I hope so too. Rather, it is said that a rare boulder was brought into the Chengdu this time. Have you heard the story about Zel’dan’s successor?”
Sylverin said.
“I’ve heard rumors that she has a friend who makes a fuss in the church.”
Kalios said as he walked with his hands behind his back.
“It seems that the Church has chosen him as the successor of Dan Zel. In other words, it means that the northern front will be reorganized around the boy and his next saintess.”
And, the role of growing the descendants of Zeldan was to be entrusted to the convened archmages and sword masters.
“How do you feel, Mr. Kalios?”
“This body has already been requested by the church and confronted the boy. I even crossed swords once. Indeed, it was so outstanding that the church was turned upside down. There were no gaps in the basic skills, and I learned the sword techniques of numerous schools and freely transformed them according to the situation. It is said that he has never lost a match against his peers. It was the most outstanding potential among the guys who went through the Imperial Royal Academy.”
“It’s been a while since Kalios gave such a generous evaluation.”
“Actually, I didn’t like it because the church was unsightly, but I had to admit it.”
Ezebet nodded slowly with a thoughtful face.
“Interesting. Kalios was also in charge of judging the Masters Class. Can we take this opportunity to hear a sincere evaluation of Damian, who Eternia has in mind?”
Kalios let out a heavy sigh and spoke with difficulty.
“Hmm, here? Trying to get me in trouble I will tell you the way it is. The boy’s basic skills are embarrassingly lacking. The way you fight is also reckless. Not only that. The way the sword is powered is not even close to a butcher’s butcher’s. Over-reliance on improvisation is also a problem.”
In front of the teacher who raised Demian himself, they poured out comments close to curse words, but Elizabeth and Silverine smiled without the slightest hint of displeasure.
Kalios paused for a moment and continued speaking briskly.
“Nevertheless, this body is the most wonderful talent I have ever seen in my life. I’ve held a sword all my life, but since I can’t find a jade stone better than you, how can I not be ashamed?”
***
The knights gathered in a circle to prepare a simple sparring arena. It seemed that a pack of wolves seeking their prey had surrounded the lambs.
The man who had tripped on Damian’s feet took off his helmet and tossed it beside him. A scar was drawn vertically from his cheek to his neck.
He said, running his finger across the scar line.
“I will leave a prettier mark on your face than this. Take it as the decoration of your first life lesson.”
Since it is a duel fought for honor, no responsibility can be held for any injuries sustained during the fight.
“… “
Damian did not respond to the provocation and took out the sword Silverin had given him and wiped the blade with his handkerchief.
The knights of the escort giggled at Damian’s appearance. It is a battle that can never be won. In the first place, the confrontation itself leaned excessively to one side.
He is a newbie among newbies who has just finished his first semester of his first year, and his opponent is an honors graduate from the Imperial Royal Academy and an escort knight with experience in combat.
No matter how much you belong to the best academy on the continent, there are always limitations in age and experience. Eternia and the Imperial Academy also conduct exchange battles. Thanks to the accumulated experience, the Imperial Academy no longer places Eternia on her rock and worships her.
No matter how good you are, the first year of Eternia is no match.
It must have been that he threw an unreasonable provocation at the back of Eternia and Silverin, ignorant of the world.
The escort knights were secretly waiting for this situation. A kid who behaved disrespectfully towards his master. He even went so far as to criticize the academy the knights belonged to. Damian is not on his side here. In the world of knights, those who act without knowing their subject will die. This arrogant young man will learn a painful lesson from this.
After the preparations, we stood facing each other with three steps left. Each looked into the eyes of the other from a distance where the tip of the sword was barely touching.
The man with the scars saw Damien’s posture and laughed inwardly. From the beginning, it was sloppy.
Knives broke the confrontation first and rushed at him with his sword flashed. And so the duel began.
“aaah!”
With a roaring spirit, he drew his sword diagonally.
Kang!
The swords met each other.
Damian’s sword shook slightly. You don’t need a long time to evaluate your skills. You can feel it right away when you face each other.
Damian seemed to be a little pushed away from his strength.
“It reminds me of the old days. In exchange matches, seniors who are your ancestors also made me crawl on the floor.”
“… “
“I will forgive you if you hang it under my crotch even now.”
Damian didn’t respond and just received the sword with his eyes filled with murder.
I put strength into the sword where the cuts were touching and pushed Damian. He was pushed back a few steps without much resistance.
Before he could straighten his stance, the knife cuts again.
“Die!”
Chang! Visor!
Damian repeatedly blocked the blows filled with supernatural power. His reflexes were quite usable, but he was pushed back a little as he was so busy defending.
“It seems that Eternia professors only teach students to retreat.”
Damian gradually began to be pushed to the limit where his knights stood.
Onlookers booed and ridiculed him.
Judging by his momentum, he looked like he was going to end the fight without much change.
The man with the scars spurred on, swinging his sword more violently.
Chang! Visor!
The swords collide so strongly that sparks fly.
Demian was one-sidedly inferior, but not a single decisive blow was entered.
The man with the scars bit his teeth.
Even though he was cornered, Damian was blocking all of his attacks with baseless body movements. And he was never pushed beyond the limit line.
The faces of the other knights watching this stiffened slightly.
“Die, die!”
The knife-scarred man strained his neck to the point of blood. The speed of the sword attack increased and the distance between sword strikes became narrower, but he did not suffer a single scratch.
The opponent, who was highly medicine, completely threw away the option of defense and started cutting indiscriminately like a scarecrow.
Chang! Visor! Visor!
Damian even defended all of them, moving around the limit line as if walking a tightrope.
It was a spirited movement, as if performing an acrobatic stunt.
After all the attacks ended at the level of cutting through the air or blocking it, the man’s face gradually began to drain.
The phase of the confrontation was slowly changing. He seemed to have gotten used to that attack pattern by now.
It was a situation that could not be called Damian’s one-sided inferiority.
And the onlookers froze as they realized that the aspect of the duel was going strangely.
Damian avoided the sword attack that slashed the top of his head and kicked the opponent’s stomach with the sole of his foot.
“Queok!”
The man spits out and leans over and is pushed all the way behind him.
The knights who were watching looked at it with expressions like, “What did I see?”
That kick was the first effective hit in this duel.
Damian has stepped forward now.
The man grabbed his stomach and swung his sword in a large semicircle as if threatening.
“Ahh!”
Only his feeble scream echoed in the air.
When the stomach pain eased a little, the man jumped out to catch him off guard.
As expected, Damian blocked his attack with the sword in one hand and slipped it. He then grabbed his sword sheath with his free hand and swung it like a club.
Paak!
The sheath hit the man’s wrist with precision.
“Aagh!”
The sword fell to the floor, and the man grabbed his wrist and rolled across the floor.
Those who saw the scene had their mouths wide open.
Damian saw the man rolling on the floor, put his scabbard in his waist and brushed his hands.
If it had been a real fight, the man’s wrist would have been cut off. It was as if the decision had already been made.
Damian turned around and walked out of the arena.
Then the man with the knife marks crawled over him, picked up the fallen sword again, and shouted.
“It’s not over yet, you bastard.”
As soon as he finished his words, something flashed and flew right next to him tearing through the air.
Kang!
The sword Damian was holding flew like an arrow and stuck into the helmet on the floor.
The blade of the sword pierced the helmet’s face.
The man with the scars did not stand up and stared at the pierced helmet with a hesitant attitude. He looked like he didn’t understand what he was doing.
Damian, who was about to leave, turned around and entered the arena again.
“You will regret those words.”
***
A soldier clattered his armor and ran hurriedly to the tent of his aide, Gerald.
“My, Gerald, I think you should take a look at the commotion at the knight camp of the 1st Battalion.”
Gerald wrote a letter to send to the principality and replied as if it was not a big deal.
“What happened?”
“The knights argue with each other and are fighting a duel.”
“Isn’t that so special?”
When the days of tranquility lengthened, the knights would sharpen their fighting senses through simple sparring. Isn’t that what knights usually do, a duel? It wasn’t strange.
Moreover, even if a problem arose, I wondered why he had to bring it all the way to Gerald when he was the commander of the 1st Division. He was in a position where he could receive a report on the post-mortem results.
“That’s…The archmage’s apprentice and an escort knight are fighting a duel.”
Gerald stopped looking at his office and showed interest.
“What? Where is the commander of the 1st Division?”
“You accompanied the escort captain Nielen on Lady Vivi’s walk.”
Gerald bit his lip. This was a big bad news for Damian. When those who handle the sword unite, they turn into a pack of wolves. If it does not benefit the group or if you try to break the rules, you will be bullied as a group, biting and bullying for fun.
Damian seemed completely branded as a loser in the pack of wolves. Even Gerald had to step in and mediate the situation. It was necessary for Damian, not for the escort.
He jumped up and put on his coat.
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“Take me to the place where the duel took place right away.”
Gerald followed a soldier’s guidance and headed to the 1st division’s camp. He had no ants around the neatly arranged tents and bubbling pots. In a clearing far away, knights were crowded in a mess. It was where the duel took place.
However, the scene that should have been noisy was as quiet as cold water. No booing or ridicule was heard.
And in that silence, a dull sound of blows was spreading.
Puck, puck, puck.
“What is it? Everyone come out!”
As Gerald shouted loudly, the knights hurriedly opened the way.
As if the curtain call had come, the stage appeared smoothly.
In the center, a man was riding on top of someone and brutally stabbing him with his fists. Next to it, I saw a sword embedded in a helmet, blood spattered on the floor, and fists stained red.
Gerald looked at the person on top and squeezed his eyes open.
I didn’t see it wrong. Damian was in the midst of one-sided violence against the knights of the escort.
As Gerald stood behind him, his fists stopped in the air as if he sensed this. He seemed to know who he was even without looking back.
Damian unmounted and stood up slowly. Then he greeted Gerald with a gentlemanly gesture. The greeting felt grotesque because the body was covered in blood.
“You will have to give me an explanation for this incident.”
“I was only challenged to a duel by a knight of the escort, and I was forced to fight for my honor. As you can see, all these men are witnesses.”
Gerald shouted at the knights who were watching.
“A duel, is that true? Is it without any injustice or deceit?”
No one answered. Of course, if it was a simple fistfight, the knight’s colleagues wouldn’t have stood still. If so, it means that Damian was unable to subdue this knight with only his pure skills and threw away the muksabal.
A student who just started the first semester of the first year of Eternia.
It was hard to believe even after seeing it with my own eyes.
The knights gathered there also had faces immersed in shock they had never experienced in their lives. I was fed up with just one boy.
Damian looked up at Gerald. His eyes were closer to that of a beast than a human, because he still had speculation.
Damian said.
“Due to this duel, there is a gap in the escort manpower. We need to find a more usable replacement and reinforce his strength.”
The tone was serious, but there was a hint of sarcasm in it. As if he was deliberately reminding of his request to be put in the escort.
Gerald slipped away from Damian’s subtle provocation.
“We will collect more convincing evidence to determine the disposition of the two who caused the disturbance. Disband this meeting immediately and put that friend on a stretcher for treatment.”
The situation was quickly resolved. Gerald spun around and left the room.
He kept a solemn face the whole way back, but as soon as he entered the tent, a smile of relief came over him.