114. Digging (1)
“The tip of the sword is getting sharper by the day.”
It was the hundredth century. The tips of the two swords met at one point to form the center. While the momentum that did not dissipate gathered and formed a tight tension like a protest, the prosecutors did not move hastily. Her heartbeat and even her exhaled breath were even and secret. The Queen looked into my eyes, and I looked straight into them so as not to give a clue from her gaze.
“Don’t read the movements. You seem to be listening well.”
The queen still had time to spare. But I still couldn’t think of anything other than combat when dealing with her. In order to compete at the same level, you shouldn’t even give an answer to that statement. The queen slightly stepped back with her wet foot. Doesn’t get sucked in. In intervals, I can have the upper hand.
“And, don’t be rash. I remember these words well.”
The Queen congratulated me with a smile. I can’t even say that Seong-eun is reckless. You never knew when her sword would make a difference. Will you come to me with force? Or should I weave my sword body like a snake and try to shake it off, or should I avoid confronting it head-on? My body didn’t move, but the queen and I were constantly fighting through the snow.
“Surprisingness reveals the fragments of talent, but relying on unexpectedness reveals the limits of talent. Your opponent may be reading all of your actions that seem unexpected to you.”
Saying that, the queen gently pushed the tip of the sword. I accepted the force without resisting and stepped back. The powers of me and the queen were in even balance. The Queen was waiting for the balance to break in one way or another.
Shall we move first?
The Queen’s goal was always obvious, as if it wasn’t obvious. Throw the options in front of you and wait for them to bite you. Of course, there are no real options. Both are always bait. The battle between me and the queen was always determined by whether I, having bitten the bait, pulled her into the water, or whether she pulled me out of the water. In the invisible line between the swords, I drew a sword path in my head.
“-Hoo.”
flash of a moment. I pushed through. The tense balance has collapsed. The Queen’s eyes lit up in interest, but then she did what she had to do. The Queen does what her instincts tell her to do. Unlike other knights who create formulas for battle in their heads.
Therefore, the Queen’s sword is passive. Waiting for the opponent to come in first. A prudent, mischievous sword that does not go first. I can do anything, so I won’t try.
“It’s been a while since I came in first. Did you change your tactics?”
The answer is to hear it with a sword. Pushing with force was useless. Because I was the first to leave. If you rush as if to counter my sword, I just have to do my job. What I do best. To advance only for one goal without breaking the sword.
The queen lowered her sword. The sword in the left hand raised to attack was blocked by the queen, and the right hand was freed. I pushed the sword on my right arm forward.
“-!”
The queen twisted her back. I chased after her and started swinging my sword faster. The queen failed to respond and landed blows from time to time. The Holy Sword had said it. In the end, it is the moving side that rises to the top.
“You really never let me down, Illroy.”
The Queen accepted my sword with a deep smile. Despite the fact that the outcome of the match had already been decided, the queen looked happy. I dropped my sword on the queen’s jade body for the last time before stopping. My blade stopped just above the queen’s head. The Queen put her sword on the ground and looked up at me as she sat on the ground. My body ached all over. It was because of the accumulation of damage from the queen’s counterattack while pushing the queen.
“lost. It’s interesting that your win rate seems to be increasing. I’m glad I started this. Seeing you grow stronger day by day, and realizing my shortcomings together.”
The queen stood up, shaking her head from side to side. Compared to me, the queen was almost unscathed. Her hair was a bit disheveled and her cheek was cut.
… Wait, no cuts to the face.
I quickly approached the queen and wiped the blood from my cheek. Watching my actions that came out so casually, the queen stood in a daze.
“Are you all right, Your Majesty?”
“No work.”
The queen looked at me as she answered in a slightly broken voice. When I tried to sneak away, thinking I was getting too close, the queen mischievously grabbed my collar as I was stepping back.
“Why do you want to back down? It’s not like I ate it.”
“… I apologize.”
The Queen smiled in front of my nose. It was a smile that still stabbed icicles down his spine. The Queen tried to pull me in a little more, then let go and spun back.
“Report. How many lessons have you had by now?”
“There is no student yet who can be identified as an agent of a demon worshiper. Because you can’t kill people with suspicion alone. However, it is not that there is no progress at all. We are digging up clues to counter the sixth plague.”
“Good news. But the devil worshiper… .”
Turning back to me, the queen had a blushing face.
“I think it is enough to arrest and imprison only with suspicion. Isn’t it a situation where you don’t know how they are secretly acting? Even if you do that, I don’t think there will be any complaints.”
“Your Majesty, do you know why the witch hunts of the past broke out?”
I answered the Queen’s words with a question. The Queen looked at me with a slight frown.
“It fosters doubt and fear in people. this person is a witch Witches are bad and should be killed. Like this. Fear spread among people. And authority through a given just cause. The slightest suspicion is enough to turn an innocent person into a witch.”
I brushed off the dirt from the sword and put it in the scabbard. The Queen’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Even if that person isn’t a witch, if the Stalker and the mob accuse her of being a witch, she will die as a witch. The real witch hides in the crowd and laughs.”
“Keep talking.”
“If you start trapping people simply for being suspicious, it’s all too easy to blur the essence. It is easy to use it as a political tool by being falsely accused of worshiping evil spirits.”
I paused, then spoke again as I approached the queen.
“Without catching the real devil worshipers.”
The Queen listened to me and shrugged.
“It must be a good way to use it for those who don’t listen to me. Of course that would make you hate me, so I won’t use the information you give me that way.”
I didn’t say more and kept my mouth shut.
“Being like you is a good reason to rebel against me, Illroy. If it were me, I would have thought of using it to protect the safety of the royal family and wielding it at will by limiting information.”
The Queen then smiled bitterly.
“I’m glad you’re a warrior.”
The queen said as she arranged her sword. I could hear the relief and apology in the Queen’s voice. Even the slightest guilt. It seems that she always felt a bit sorry whenever she faced me.
“The fact that you dared to teach those children must prove your character.”
“I am not such a nice person. It could be simply self-gratification.”
The queen returned to her usual form before she knew it and handed the sword she was using to the old knight. The old knight looked at me with a hearty smile and took my sword for training. For some reason, the old man’s smile seemed like he was watching his grandson.
“If that’s the case, let’s go back to your report. If you’re not going to catch and imprison the suspicious, how are you going to stop the demon worshipers from setting up within the Mage Tower?”
I let out a short breath. It wasn’t that there wasn’t a way to think of it. I wasn’t sure if it would really work.
“We have to cast the bait.”
“Do you think that those who are so cautious will only fall for the bait?”
“An evil spirit worshiper would be compelled to bite.”
I looked at the queen with a puzzled expression and smiled.
—
“… It brings back not-so-good memories.”
Eugene muttered as he walked through the woods. The sky, seen through the dense roof-like leaves, said it was daytime, but the shadows in the forest were as dark as any other evening. The shadows glimpsed between trees and rocks resembled monsters. Eugene had to concentrate all his nerves so that he would not be deceived by the shadow and use his magic recklessly.
“It’s a practice where you have to endure the attack of monsters alone in this forest… . I think I’m going crazy.”
Yujin looked around and murmured. As if in response to Eugene’s words, something growled nearby. Did you misunderstand the sound of the wind? Eugene held his breath, suppressing his beating heart and the mana that kept rising like vomiting.
“… I’d rather just come out quickly.”
And then the raid began. Eugene quickly cast his magic in the direction of the rustling sound, but the fire from his fingertips only blew the tree.
“back-!”
Eugene cried out and rolled on the ground. With a hair’s breadth, the monster’s claws clawed the ground. Eugene swallowed a dry saliva at the sight of his clothes being cut off.
From nob le mt l dot com
Kreureung-!
At the monster scratching its neck, Eugene fired merciless magic. The demon screamed in agony and turned into a lump of charcoal. He was already a high enough student just by not committing the mistake of running wild with magic in fear.
“next!”
As soon as I said that, two monsters attacked from both sides at once. After forming a protective shield, Eugene first blocked the monster’s attack. At the same time, the magic to end the two monsters was completed in Eugene’s grasp.
“About two guys!”
The ice spear pierced the monster’s body. Could it be because of nervousness? The degree of completion of the magic was much higher than usual, but it consumed a lot of mana. However, there was no room for him to worry about the consumption of mana.
“Oh, really.”
The monsters continued to attack irregularly, and Eugene defeated four more and was eliminated after getting his throat cut by the white wolf’s fangs. Eugene, who was thrown out of the barrier, was receiving admiring glances from the many freshmen who had been eliminated first and were seated.
“Eugene Grayson, seven monsters you killed. Enduring time… 20 minutes. Good enough.”
A voice as handsome as his face came from above. What Yujin saw as she lifted her head was the face of the hero looking down at him with his back to the light.
“… How many times have I been eliminated?”
“There are now two left. Third place.”
The other two are Cora and Natalie.
Eugene sat down on the floor and clicked his tongue. And at the same time he clicked his tongue, Korra bounced out of the barrier. She raised her head and looked at Eugene with a triumphant expression, and Eugene returned a frown.
“Cora Poison. Eight monsters slain. The holding time is 23 minutes. good job.”
At the hero’s praise, Cora blushed and nodded. And, after quite a long time, an expressionless Natalie walked out of the barrier. The hero turned his head toward Natalie and smiled.
“Natalie. Fourteen monsters were killed. The holding time is 30 minutes. You did really well.”
Natalie only nodded lightly in response to the hero’s praise. Eugene stuck out his tongue at Natalie’s skill at killing just twice as many monsters, but was half relieved that she had no choice but to be eliminated in the end. It didn’t seem like a monster that much. Somehow, he was making an expression that was nothing like being killed by a monster.
“It would be good for everyone to remember today’s results. You will have to use that record as a stepping stone to show more and more progress.”
The hero looked at his watch and then turned his eyes back to the students.
“Today’s class will end here. Everyone worked hard.”
“”Thank you for your effort!””
The students answered with a unified voice and left the Ururu classroom. Eugene and Cora looked behind them, then turned to take Natalie away. And somehow, seeing Natalie boldly approaching the hero, she frowned slightly.
“… What is he going to do?”
The hero greeted Natalie with a slightly embarrassed expression. And, when Eugene heard Natalie open her mouth wildly, she opened her mouth wide in amazement.
“I want to be taught separately by the professor.”
The hero’s eyes were stained with more bewilderment.
They’re really pushing Illroy lmao 🤣