Ch.378EP.79 – The Man’s Growth is Remarkable (3)

…I suddenly realize.

‘Ah, this is stupid.’

That I’m doing something foolish right now.

A mercenary-style Q&A….

‘I never thought I’d end up doing something so idiotic that I’d only heard rumors about.’

In reality, this mercenary-style Q&A was merely entertainment created by mercenaries to alleviate boredom during long missions, modeled after boxing matches. Originally, the proper way was to fight with soft materials wrapped in cloth over the fists.

Naturally, since mercenaries’ bodies were their assets, it would only hurt themselves if they got injured while trying to relieve boredom, so they fought in the safest way possible. However, when hot-blooded mercenaries gathered, fights would often get heated, resulting in many foolish injuries. Because of this, it was essentially a culture that had died out in the mercenary industry long ago.

Even Ihan had only heard rumors from old mercenaries, and when he first heard about it, he had declared it “truly stupid”….

“So I’m the idiot. Haah….”

Ihan let out a sigh with self-deprecating murmurs.

Wondering what on earth he was doing.

“Haha, stupid? It’s quite a time-honored tradition.”

“What culture involves talking while bleeding from punching each other? It’s just barbaric.”

“It may seem that way at first glance, but whether man or woman, when people clash physically, more sincere conversations become possible. It’s actually a primal way to probe the other’s true feelings—how magnificent is that? It’s a shame it’s fallen out of practice.”

“That’s some convincing nonsense.”

…The problem was.

“I hate that I’m actually intrigued by it.”

“Ho ho! We have something in common.”

Ihan admitted it.

He had quite a few things he was curious about regarding Caesar, and Caesar also had questions for him.

However, it would be absurd for them to open up and show their true feelings when they had only just met, and there was no obligation to share information.

Hence, the mercenary-style Q&A.

“Mercenary Q&A Rule #1: The person who accumulates the most strike points in each round gets the right to ask a question, correct?”

“Rule #2: Anyone who refuses to answer must only defend for one minute in the next round, with no attacking allowed.”

“Rule #3: The above two rules must be absolutely followed… Are there really only three rules?”

“Isn’t that just like mercenaries?”

“It’s quite ridiculous, but…”

[Awoooooo!]

“…I do like how simple it is.”

Whoosh!

The two men lunged at each other as the howling sound rang out.

* * *

Whoosh!

Ihan was the first to throw a punch.

A jab, commonly used to test the waters and known for its lack of power, but.

Bang!

Ihan’s jab boasted explosive power that was hard to believe was just for testing.

Would you believe that a simple extension of his arm made a sound like a falling shell?

But.

“For a youngster these days, you have quite a heavy punch.”

“…You’re tougher than I expected.”

“At 70, I’m still in my prime, ho ho.”

His opponent defended against it too easily.

Ihan threw consecutive jabs experimentally, and with the sound of cutting wind, more than five strikes poured out in an instant.

Nevertheless.

Whoosh!

“Impressive! Such nimble movements with that build.”

“……”

His guard was undeniably solid.

Or more accurately, wasn’t his ability to easily block all of Ihan’s strikes even more impressive?

‘He’s completely seeing through me.’

It wasn’t surprising.

After all, he was someone called a legend.

Honestly, it would be strange if he couldn’t easily block strikes of this level.

So.

“Well then…”

Hook-!

It was clear that underestimating him would only lead to trouble.

Kwaaang!

“…!?”

Ihan’s face shook once.

It happened in an instant.

After evading Ihan’s jab with a smooth weaving motion, he immediately delivered an uppercut.

Ihan reacted quickly and guarded, but.

‘What kind of impact…!’

It felt like being hit full force with a construction hammer.

“You blocked that?”

Caesar, seemingly surprised that his strike was blocked, once again smoothly dove into Ihan’s space.

Ihan also threw a precise punch in response to that movement, but.

Kwang!

…The situation repeated itself.

With smooth U-shaped movements, he effortlessly penetrated through Ihan’s numerous punches and delivered a body blow.

The technique, also known as a liver shot or kidney strike, hit Ihan hard, and Ihan…

“…Again?”

“Damn, why are all the adults I meet stronger than me?”

Ihan fortunately managed to block it with one hand, but his body almost floated up and flew away.

Fortunately, he didn’t cross the line, so it wasn’t out of bounds, but it was close.

Above all.

‘My hand feels numb.’

The arm that blocked felt numb.

It was tingling intensely, and he was freshly reminded that this man was a monster.

Additional information gained:

‘This guy has a complex outboxer style.’

Smooth and relaxed weaving, followed by fantastic ducking that changed movements freely.

Up to this point, he was a typical outboxer, but what was terrifying was that his defense was also considerable, and his powerful strikes, delivered like firing a loaded gun, were incredibly powerful.

He was complete as an outboxer, but also complete as an infighter.

‘It’s like mixing Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.’

He seemed like a combination of legendary boxers, and this was something Ihan could recognize from having watched videos of past legends.

Therefore.

‘This is fun.’

Ihan was interested.

Both as someone who once enjoyed watching boxing, but also.

‘It’s been a while since I had a sparring partner.’

It was pleasing to have someone who could quench the thirst that couldn’t be satisfied by training alone.

* * *

‘What kind of guy is this?’

Caesar was perplexed.

‘He’s blocking everything?’

Whoosh!

Caesar once again smoothly penetrated his opponent’s space.

To others watching, it might look as if the opponent was standing still and only Caesar was moving.

However, this was because Caesar’s movements were remarkably precise with no wasted motion whatsoever…

Woong-.

‘How can this youngster who hasn’t even entered the “Domain” react to this? What strange phenomenon is this?’

There was an insurmountable “difference in class” between the young colleague and Caesar.

Therefore, this match should logically be Caesar toying with his opponent, but strangely…

Kwaaang!!

“?”

“…I’ve been wondering, why do you look so surprised every time I block?”

“Ho ho, the fact that you can’t see through this clearly shows you haven’t reached the Domain yet… Impressive.”

“What are you talking about?”

Whoosh!

The opponent blocked his strike again.

It wasn’t that he blocked it easily, but rather just barely, yet it was still impressive enough.

‘I didn’t plan to drag this out so long.’

Though he used the term “round,” Caesar had actually intended to finish this within the first round after giving him a proper beating.

However, contrary to that thought.

[Awoooo!]

…The first round had ended before he knew it.

“Tsk, ask whatever you want to know. I clearly lost the first round.”

“…Ho ho.”

He stepped back without showing any signs of fatigue, and Caesar let out a hollow laugh.

And then.

“You, why didn’t you use mental energy?”

“?”

He asked a question to resolve the doubt he felt during this first round, rather than what he was originally curious about.

“No, not just mental energy. I heard from my disciple that you know a peculiar technique called [Adamantine]? Yet you didn’t seem to use that either.”

If what he heard from his disciple was true, the opponent wouldn’t have needed to block Caesar’s punches; he could have just endured them and then looked for a counter.

If he had pushed forward with a slugger style—enduring with toughness and then delivering a powerful counter—he might have landed a meaningful blow on Caesar.

Yet he stubbornly stuck to an outboxer style.

In other words, he was fighting while killing his own strengths.

And to this question:

“That’s a strange thing to ask…”

Tap tap.

“Weren’t you the one who suggested it first? Let’s do a mercenary-style Q&A, you said. Then obviously I shouldn’t use anything else. Fighting with just my skills is what a mercenary-style Q&A is about, right?”

“……”

He was reciting the rules with one fist raised.

Honestly, like a fool.

“Well, it’s not in the rules, but I’ve never heard that martial arts techniques are allowed in a mercenary-style Q&A, at least not in the version I heard about. And for me, Adamantine is like a martial arts technique, so obviously I shouldn’t use it, right? It’s just common sense.”

“…You didn’t use it just for that reason?”

“Of course.”

“…Do, do you realize that I’m quite a bit stronger than you?”

“I know that. But what does that have to do with anything?”

The junior knight named Ihan snickered as if to say “don’t talk nonsense.”

“Just because someone is stronger than me doesn’t mean I should admit defeat. If that were the case, I’d have been dead long ago. Among all the opponents I’ve fought so far, none were weaker than me—they were all stronger, if anything. Nevertheless, I’m the one who survived in the end. So at least for me, whether you’re stronger than me or not doesn’t matter. It’s just a trivial matter.”

His ordinary brown eyes were shining.

Like a golden wheat field reflecting the sunset…

Eyes that seemed to pulse with vast and dynamic vitality.

And that was-

“Now that you understand, stop asking stupid questions and ask what you really want to know. Now…”

[Awooo!]

“…The minute is up. Come on, round two.”

“……”

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take your stance?”

“…I apologize. It’s been a while since my heart has been this fired up.”

“?”

“Ahahaha! Damn it, I came here with casual intentions, but this…”

—I need to get serious for once.

Caesar looked at his opponent again with a smile full of exhilaration.

Yes, this was no longer just a promising youngster.

The opponent before him was simply…!

‘A formidable foe that must be defeated.’

A powerful warrior who might tear out his throat if he let his guard down.