Ch.41Duel #4

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

After persuading Helena, I immediately visited the guest room where the dark elves were staying to ask this question.

Since they were guests I had invited, it was only right for me to look after them, even if I had nothing else to do.

It was only natural for the host to show their face to the guests they had invited.

“No, not at all. The bed is spacious, and the furniture and bathroom are nice… It’s truly heaven on earth.”

Ellen and the other dark elves seemed quite pleased with the Krauser mansion.

Judging by their childlike excited faces and enthusiastic voices, that was the impression I got.

Though they weren’t usually women who openly displayed their emotions, they seemed to have relaxed their guard somewhat thanks to the good treatment they’d received.

They particularly seemed to like the bathroom filled with magic items.

Unlike in the field or ordinary homes, the fact that they didn’t need to worry about prying eyes seemed especially appealing to them.

Above all, they appeared delighted to have an environment where they could wash comfortably.

Like me, they too seemed to prefer cleanliness.

If not, they wouldn’t have maintained such a neat appearance.

“That’s good. By the way, when do you plan to visit the land you received through our contract? I’d like to guide you there…”

“Even though mercenaries can be materialistic, I haven’t completed the mission yet. So I’ll ask you when everything is finished.”

Ellen, true to her reputation as a mercenary with high credibility, seemed to prioritize completing the mission over receiving the reward.

It appeared she wanted to give the impression that she wasn’t blinded by compensation. That was the kind of attitude that inspired trust in others.

Whether it was her innate character or a skill she had cultivated throughout her life, I wasn’t sure.

What was certain was that either way, it left a good impression. At least, that’s how I felt.

“Yes. Thank you.”

◎◎◎

“You’re too weak when you thrust to the left. When you twist your waist to block with the right side of your body, you show too many openings.”

“Huff…! Huff…! Is that… so?”

“By my standards, yes. It might be fine normally, but if you keep doing that whenever you’re in a hurry, your opponent will notice.”

On a certain day with one week left until the duel, I was engaged in an even more intense training session with Helena as usual.

More precisely, I was pouring buckets of sweat trying to improve my capabilities even a little bit.

Though I knew it wasn’t actually a hot day, sweating like this made it feel as sweltering as midsummer.

In contrast, not a single drop of sweat appeared on Helena’s forehead.

Her breathing remained consistently composed, and even the tip of the wooden sword in her hand was unwavering.

She looked so relaxed that I wondered if we were really moving under the same sky.

“I don’t know how much you can fix in the time we have left. But it’s better than doing nothing, right?”

“Of course… it is.”

Helena spoke with a deliberately cold tone while slightly moving the tip of her wooden sword.

Her gaze revealed an unstable emotional state that contrasted with her movements, which reminded one of a sturdy tree.

The trembling was so severe it seemed as if an earthquake might have occurred.

I forced myself up while catching my breath. My side where the wooden sword had struck was throbbing, but it was bearable.

No, even if it wasn’t bearable, I had to endure it. That’s what I needed to do to increase my chances of winning even slightly.

“Well then, let’s start again.”

After staring at me silently as I urged her on, she swung her wooden sword without a word.

The blade mercilessly targeted my still-aching left side.

But it wasn’t an attack I couldn’t react to.

If Helena had swung her sword without holding back, I obviously wouldn’t have lasted even a few seconds before being covered in bruises.

In other words, it was an attack precisely aimed at the upper limit of what I could respond to.

“Ugh?!”

Though I had mainly trained in unarmed combat, I had also learned how to face opponents with weapons.

It was the result of history’s contemplation on not just throwing techniques but also how to dodge and block an opponent’s sword.

When faced with an opponent wielding a sword or other weapon, I usually preferred to strike the blade to alter its trajectory.

I particularly liked striking upward, as if lifting the opponent’s chin.

It was just a personal preference, but I found it easier than striking downward.

However, that only worked against people with similar or lower skill levels than me.

Masters like Helena would often ignore the fist aiming for their sword and swing faster, or subtly change the sword’s path.

And among those changes, the simplest and fastest was changing the direction of the blade.

Not replacing the blade, but changing its orientation.

“If you make a mistake, you’ll hurt your hand.”

“I know…!”

Helena turned her horizontally swung blade vertically, creating a right angle.

This meant my fist, which was trying to strike the flat of the blade, was now extending toward the edge.

That was essentially the same as asking to have my fist split in half.

With Helena’s kind warning, if she had been holding a real sword instead of a wooden one, my hand would likely have been shattered.

It would have been fortunate if I could react and dodge, but if not, I would have lost the use of my fist.

“Yes! That’s how you should block!”

Helena laughed joyfully despite her sword being deflected.

She seemed very pleased that I had managed to twist my body and strike away the blade.

“But you shouldn’t be satisfied with just this!”

Joy heightened her excitement, and the sword swung with that excitement was noticeably faster than before.

Rather than resisting the force that deflected the sword, she flowed with it like riding a wave.

As a result, the sword that had spun around suddenly approached within reach.

The sword was aiming for my shoulder.

More precisely, it seemed to be trying to cut diagonally from my shoulder down my arm.

It was a strike too difficult to dodge for someone who had lost their balance by twisting their body. It was clear I would be hit while trying to regain my posture.

Sensing this, I deliberately made my already unbalanced posture even more unstable.

I judged that if I was going to lose my balance anyway, it would be wiser to completely throw it off to dodge.

It was actually quite effective.

“Huh…?”

My body collapsed to the ground in the blink of an eye.

As a result, Helena’s wooden sword drew a line in the air, and I took the opportunity to swing my leg with all my might. My target was Helena’s ankle bone.

The kick was simple. I didn’t even infuse it with mana.

Still, it wasn’t an attack to be taken lightly. If it connected properly, it could break an ankle bone or cause significant damage.

This would be true even for a Sword Master with stronger bones and muscles than an ordinary person.

One might think it was too vicious to display in mere sparring.

But soon I would have to fight with my life on the line.

Moreover, Helena wasn’t a woman I could afford to take lightly.

Look.

Even now, she was quickly reacting to the leg I had swung.

“That movement was smooth. It’s a useful surprise attack.”

Helena calmly praised me while continuing to swing her wooden sword all the way to the ground, planting it firmly.

Then, putting more strength into the hand holding the wooden sword, she showed a posture like doing a handstand.

As a result, my leg, having lost its target, merely swept through the air meaninglessly.

Considering the speed of the movements, it was clear that Helena was faster.

Even as I was falling, the wooden sword continued to point downward, and applying force would make it stick into the ground faster.

But the time it took to make that judgment was incredibly fast. In fact, I wondered if she had really thought and acted, or if it was something else.

Since I couldn’t get inside Helena’s head, I couldn’t be certain, but I suspected she had moved instinctively.

Otherwise, such a movement would have been impossible.

“Damn it!”

I rolled desperately to get out of the wooden sword’s range as quickly as possible.

I even pushed against the ground with both hands to add more force.

There was no time to worry about the dirt sticking to my clothes and face, making me look unsightly.

If I had been distracted by such trivial matters even for a moment, I would have been hit by Helena, who had already regained her posture.

“Haaah!”

After using the force and rebound from rolling on the ground to get up, I once again caught my breath while watching Helena intently.

I was half-kneeling on the ground, but that wasn’t a big problem. I could either stand up immediately or push off the ground to retreat.

“Shall we stop here? Or do you want to continue?”

“We should… continue.”

I put strength in my legs and stood up straight.

Though I was well aware of the large skill gap between Helena and myself, I was determined to land at least one hit on her.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to cloud my reason. That was thanks to the effect of Steel Mentality.

Because of this, my nerves were now at their sharpest.

Within the limits of my ability, but at least I didn’t seem to be leaving any margin within those limits.

Just one hit, just one hit…!

I’m not a domestic abuser, nor do I hate my fiancée.

Still, at this moment, I thought of her as no different from an enemy.

If I didn’t think that way, my tightly clenched fist might loosen.

“Be careful not to get hit!”

I shouted as spiritedly as possible while running as if kicking off the ground. I shouted this despite knowing full well that I wouldn’t hit her.

It might seem like useless bravado, but it didn’t appear entirely meaningless.

At least it could inspire myself.

◎◎◎

And yet she really doesn’t let me land even a single hit.

I complained inwardly while lying spread-eagle on the ground.

The woman sitting beside me, smiling brightly, was still spotlessly clean without a speck of dust, and seeing that made me sigh.

“This is hopeless.”

“That’s not true. On the contrary, I could see you’ve improved much more than before.”

Helena responded seriously to my inadvertent muttering.

Judging by the earnestness in her eyes, she wasn’t making it up.

“Really?”

“Yes. Unlike before when you trained mechanically, lately you’ve been full of enthusiasm and proactive. Since your attitude has changed, it’s only natural that your skills would develop differently, don’t you think?”

When I asked, her answer was convincing.

Moreover, she had accurately seen through my psychology, leaving me speechless.

Even I thought I had never neglected training, but it seems Helena saw it differently.

“You knew… that I was mechanical?”

“I could tell by feeling. But that doesn’t mean you were half-hearted about training. I know better than anyone how diligent Jion is. It’s just that I hadn’t seen the kind of desperate earnestness that’s so evident today.”

“Ah… I see.”

Desperate earnestness. I nodded without being able to refute those words.

I could feel my head rubbing against the rough ground.

The sky looks nice.

Helena and I were quietly looking ahead without speaking.

I was looking at the sky, while Helena was looking at the forest beyond the training ground. It was a small forest created for landscaping instead of a garden.

I felt comfortable despite what should have been an awkward silence.

Perhaps because I had moved with the desperate earnestness Helena had mentioned, I also felt refreshed.

Thanks to that, it felt like a tangled skein of thread was being unraveled.

“I thought you were just a fiancé… but your movements are quite skillful.”

However. Was the peaceful moment only meant to be brief?

With a feeling of regret like when school recess ends, I shifted my gaze toward the voice that broke the peaceful silence.