Episode. 03 Trance (1)
“Brother, I brought you a drink.”
It was when I was taking a break after training. Aaron, who had not been seen for a moment, brought wine.
“Sir Balak is a well-known alcoholic drinker, so he will like it.”
“It is, but… … .”
I stared at the wine.
Balak likes to drink. that is undeniably true.
But it wasn’t that I brought you a drink to please Balak.
“As expected, this isn’t enough.”
That eccentric and picky old man will only take away alcohol and I will just ignore myself.
“Whoa.”
He grabbed the wine bottle and closed his eyes.
Something tickling yet warm passed through my hand into the wine bottle.
『Gives 50 Faith to the object.』
『It has the properties of the lowest-class holy wine.』
On the surface, the wine didn’t change at all.
But now, since it has been transformed into the only drink in the world, it has become a perfect bait for fishing for Balak.
“The time has come for the meeting to end soon.”
“okay. let’s go.”
I left the gymnasium with Aaron and headed for the main palace.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Is this it?”
In front of the door of the luxuriously decorated VIP room.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
However, there was no response from the room.
It was a time when I wanted to go out for a short walk.
Suddenly, the door opened.
“What are you?”
Huge physique and formidable impression.
The bandit boss also cried, and the old man who had a shop burst out of the room.
He was Balak.
“My name is Richard Battenberg. I have come to say hello to Lord Balak.”
I politely bowed my head.
“… … Richard? You mean that crap?”
The old man’s voice over the top of his head was endlessly begging.
What else can you call trash in a person’s face?
“joy.”
he snorted.
It was a face that seemed to know what I was looking for.
“it’s bothering. Give up that drink and get out of here.”
Balak’s gaze turned to the bottle of wine I was holding.
I quietly hid the wine behind me.
“Please accept me as your disciple.”
Ballack hates talking in circles.
I don’t like it too much, so I brought it up to the point.
“I heard that Lord Balak has been looking for lumber to become a disciple for a long time. Why don’t you give this Battenberg bloodline a chance?”
“… … .”
Balak glanced at me for a moment, then smiled.
It was an obvious laugh.
“Your older brother and that older brother’s older brother. They all said the same thing to me. However, there was no one who was full of my last name. Even more so, it’s a waste of opportunity for a scumbag like you.”
He held out the holy wine to him who was about to close the door, saying that he had nothing to listen to.
Like a one-of-a-kind drinker in the world, Balak almost reflexively accepted the castle wine.
“This is a healthy wine. It was an honor to meet you like this.”
“good.”
With that, the conversation ended.
bang-
The door was slammed shut.
It was a truly callous response.
Aaron asked in a puzzled voice if he didn’t know it would happen like this.
“… … Bocchan, are you okay?”
“uh.”
I knew it would be like this anyway.
“How about recognizing another teacher?”
“It can’t be without this person.”
What kind of person is Balak?
Balak is the swordsman who inherited the sword of the Sword Master, now forgotten behind the scenes of history.
This was a fact that no one knew except Ludwig.
It is only known to the world as a very strong swordsman.
“Don’t worry, we’ll do the rest of the training.”
The bait was cast.
In addition to that, I thought the lord of the castle would not be enough, so I threw another one, and he would have noticed.
I looked at the firmly closed door and turned my steps.
◈ ◈ ◈
“… … hmm.”
Balak looked at his hand with a hard face.
The moment Richard handed me the wine, my hand touched it, albeit very briefly.
“He has mana?”
At that moment, a strange sensation flowed through my hand.
It was clear that Richard had intentionally spilled mana.
I made up my mind so that only Balak could feel it.
“They said it was insensitivity to mana… … .”
That wasn’t the end.
Kwak-
Balak clenched his fists. A sudden surge of vitality ran through his body.
Something that Richard spilled along with the mana gave Balak vitality.
It’s not a magical energy.
Rather, it was a very bright and good energy. To the extent that he didn’t fit in with Richard, who was known to the world as an idiot.
“He was an evil boy. I was hiding my teeth in my own way.”
Balak, as the heir to the one-man legend of the Sword Saint, was shouldering the heavy responsibility of having to recruit disciples.
But no one was satisfied with Balak’s last name.
Especially the lineage of Battenberg.
Since they were born, they stood high in the sky, and they did not match the power of the Sword Saint, who was growing beyond their limits from the bottom up.
“Hmm.”
Balak rubbed his chin and thought.
The Richard he had just seen was certainly not the idiot Balak had known.
‘It’s like he’s treated politely without changing his expression even though he was deliberately blunt.’
For Balak, the unexpected appearance rather attracted his interest.
“Shall we play around with it for a bit?”
She had no intention of accepting Richard as her pupil.
It’s just a curious curiosity.
It will be no more than an old man’s entertainment.
However, it was when he inadvertently drank the wine Richard gave him that a major change came to the entertainment.
bang!
Balak opened the door and grabbed a knight.
“Guide Richard right now!”
For Balak, the first priority is a disciple, and the second priority is alcohol. To him, holy wine was the devil’s drink that he couldn’t stand.
◈ ◈ ◈
I looked at the old man in front of me.
‘The effect of the bait was amazing.’
I never thought it would come in less than an hour.
“The wine must have been right in your mouth.”
It was as if he had already drank all the holy wine.
“What kind of wine is that?”
Balak asked, adjusting his expression. Even so, it was not the same as constantly licking my lips.
“greatness!”
Seeing the meaning of my gaze, he cleared his throat.
Soon his face regained its color.
It was clear that he had driven out drunkenness by using mana.
That doesn’t mean you have mana.
“okay. It doesn’t matter now.”
Was it his pride as a swordsman? Ballack pretends not to be interested in wine and takes his luck.
“Stupid bastard. You intentionally spilled mana only on me.”
At his words, I smiled shyly.
It wasn’t intentional, it was just all the mana I had.
It was so small that only Balak could feel it.
Anyway, I deliberately shed mana for a reason.
The wandering swordsman Balak.
He traveled all over the continent looking for talented people to make his disciples, but he was unable to find a worthy successor.
It’s like a huge opportunity for me.
So I stimulated him using mana and faith.
“I have no intention of accepting you as a disciple.”
Despite the firm voice, I was calm.
what was already expected. He couldn’t find a disciple even after wandering around the continent for the rest of his life.
It’s still the same now, but I had a corner to believe.
“But it’ll be enough to kill time while you’re here.”
It’s heartbreaking.
Still, I smiled.
It seemed that he had succeeded in attracting Balak’s attention.
◈ ◈ ◈
“It is now.”
“ha… … .”
I sat down on the floor breathing heavily.
This is because Ballack ordered them to run along the perimeter of the gymnasium in the name of checking their basic physical strength.
I think I ran over 30 laps like that.
“It certainly seems that you have been trained to some extent.”
“I worked really hard.”
He quenched his throat with cold water and replied.
“Take it.”
He threw a wooden sword at me.
I thought I was finally practicing swordsmanship, but I heard Balak’s voice.
“Don’t think I’m going to teach you my sword. I will only teach you the basics of the sword.”
Balak said as if to stop dreaming.
“All right.”
“Hoo. Are you just agreeing?”
“What would you do without a foundation?”
Suddenly, his eyes went crazy. Ignoring Balak’s gaze, I picked up the wooden sword.
“Tsk. Sounds out of place.”
He clicked his tongue and took a stance.
The grim expression on his face changed in an instant.
A serious face as if facing a real enemy.
“Look smart.”
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The wooden sword in his hand cuts through the air.
Since it was a basic swordsmanship, there were only slashes and thrusts without any skill, but even those seemed different when Balak practiced them.
After swinging his sword several times, Balak opened his mouth.
“Pose yourself.”
“like this… … You mean?”
It was when he clumsily imitated Balak’s posture.
Just-!
“evil!”
The wooden sword in his hand fell on the top of my head without realizing it.
“Do you wear your eyes as decorations? It means putting the tip of the sword at eye level.”
If you tell me a little more kindly, where will it go!
Dissatisfaction welled up in his tingling crown, but he had no choice but to hold it in.
Let’s see.
One day I will rob him of all his money.
“Relax your shoulders! Are you going to wield the sword only with your shoulder?”
His comments continued even after that.
A lot of mental strength was consumed even to hold a posture.
And it was only natural for his wooden sword to fall one after another on the top of my head.
“Keugh! Stop the jeongsuri… … !”
I tried to raise my voice of defiance because I thought I might get blood, but what came back was his wooden sword.
“As expected, you are filthy and have no talent. Giving up your interest in swords early would be beneficial to your health.”
I cursed inwardly at those words.
I heard that I had no talent without ever wielding a sword.
Is this my problem or ‘Richard’s’ problem?
maybe it’s both
‘Write.’
It had just begun, and Ballack was already on the verge of quitting.
“Do you know? I wonder if I have any hidden talents.”
“You must know the old saying of the East Continent, ‘Nangjungjichu (囊中之錐). You are just a pebble in your pocket.”
What came back was the fact that it was stabbed like a dagger.
“… … .”
He pursed his lips and remained silent. Only then did Balak tell me what to do next.
“From now on, it’s a horizontal cut.”
It’s been a hell of a time since then. Lateral cutting was followed by longitudinal cutting, followed by stabbing.
Throughout that not-so-short time, Balak’s nagging didn’t stop. As a bonus, even a wooden sword that hits the top of the head.
In the process of learning basic movements such as horizontal cutting and vertical cutting, it was by far the top of the head that was abused the most.
rumbling-
“Blood, blood!”
In the end, my head couldn’t stand it and spurted bright red blood.
“joy. Don’t make a fuss.”
Balak’s expression was insignificant, but I saw it clearly.
When I thought something was flowing from my head, his eyes slightly widened.
“Even if you bring in a farmer from the country, he will learn faster than you.”
I had nothing to say.
Of course, it wasn’t because I agreed with him.
Because a brightly shining system window appeared before my eyes.
“specialty ? You have learned basic swordsmanship.』
『Current proficiency – F』
『You can increase your proficiency through training and faith.』
“Heh… … .”
The sentence that came to mind when I was beaten and barely completed all the moves.
It was exactly as expected.
‘As expected, this one focuses on the game system. At least for me.’
It was a reminder that came to mind when the characters in the game learned something.
A bloody laugh came out.
“It is light.”
The system window that appears whenever you are at a loss and gives you hope couldn’t be this nice.
On the other hand, Balak clicked his tongue with an expression that he saw all sorts of strange things.
“What’s so good about spilling blood? Have you finally tasted it?”
Soon, Balak put down his wooden sword.
It seemed that quite a bit of time had passed since the surroundings had already become dark.
“It will take a lifetime just to master the basics.”
Balak said, shaking his head, and disappeared without looking back.
It was evident from his back that he was once again disappointed in me.
“It’s been a week.”
As far as I can remember, that was about the time Balak was staying at the House of Battenberg.
“You need faith.”
You need to increase your basic swordsmanship proficiency by pouring your faith into it.
To the extent that he changed Balak’s mind within a week.
A situation that is no different from a time attack.
Looking at the back of Balak’s head as he walked away, he burned his will.