Chapter Index





    Ch.8Swordsman Guild (1)

    As I suddenly drew my sword in response to the Guild Master, I was momentarily confused but slowly prepared for battle by drawing my own sword.

    However, separate from that, I wondered if this was normal and spoke up.

    “Is this… how entrance exams are usually conducted?”

    “Huh? Ah, no. The method isn’t different, but we usually change locations.”

    “Then why now…”

    In response to my question, the Guild Master looked back briefly and let out a deep sigh.

    “It’s because of those idiots. There’s a mountain of fools who won’t believe it unless they see the entrance exam with their own eyes. Rather than following procedure and causing gossip later, isn’t this easier?”

    After saying that, he turned back to me and took a casual stance.

    “Besides, you don’t look like someone who can’t properly swing a sword and would embarrass yourself.”

    The stance he took was clearly for combat, but it was somewhat sloppy and showed openings.

    It was obvious he was going easy on me.

    “Well then… Oh, by the way, what’s your name?”

    “I’m Frey.”

    “Right, Frey. I won’t attack, so come at me however you want.”

    And with those words, it became completely certain.

    His attitude was clearly that of someone dealing with an inferior.

    I felt this attitude clearly but showed no reaction.

    Before getting angry or not, the fact that I was weak was obvious.

    So, for now, I just focused entirely on my opponent.

    “Hoo…”

    I forgot about the receptionist right beside me and the spectators watching from behind.

    I erased all distracting elements, leaving only myself and my opponent in this sensation.

    The more I erased, the sharper my senses became toward my opponent. And the more I did so, the more clearly I could see his openings.

    There were six openings visible on the surface.

    But not all six were real openings.

    Most were traps disguised as openings.

    Among them, only one was a real opening.

    ‘This feels like solving a problem.’

    My opponent was giving me a problem, and I was providing the answer.

    It wasn’t much different from what I used to do in school.

    If I had to point out a difference, it might be that I was holding a sword instead of a pen.

    ‘Found it.’

    Having distinguished the real opening among the fake ones, I kicked off the ground and rushed at the Guild Master.

    The fight had started at close range.

    I arrived in front of the Guild Master in an instant.

    Simultaneously, I swung my sword upward toward the opening.

    Shik-! Kaang!!

    Though I thought I had properly targeted the opening, my first attack was blocked too easily.

    Instead of taking time to be surprised, I moved even a little faster. I observed the enemy with my eyes while preparing my body for attack.

    And I swung my sword again.

    I read an opening and struck.

    It was blocked.

    I read an opening and thrust.

    It was evaded.

    I read an opening…

    ..

    .

    I made countless attacks, and all of them were in vain.

    “Haa… haa…”

    Is this what it feels like to swing a sword at an impenetrable wall?

    As my stamina reached its limit, I grew impatient.

    I wondered why my sword couldn’t reach him.

    Was the answer I thought was correct actually wrong?

    Was it a problem with only wrong answers?

    Such doubts gradually ate away at me.

    Eventually, weak thoughts like “Isn’t this enough?” and “It’s just an entrance exam after all” tormented me.

    But I didn’t stop swinging my sword.

    Even though I was out of breath, I couldn’t stop swinging my sword.

    It wasn’t simply because of stubbornness.

    I felt like I could grasp something if I just continued a little more.

    “Hnngh…!!”

    ‘More… more…!’

    Squeezing out my last bit of strength, I increased my speed.

    Kang-! Kaang–!

    As my speed increased, the speed at which I provided answers also increased, but the result remained the same.

    As if saying my answers were wrong, the Guild Master neatly blocked my barrage of attacks.

    Perhaps from repeatedly striking a hard wall, my arms trembled, and my hands were bleeding from cuts I didn’t notice forming.

    But I ignored this and looked ahead again.

    At that moment.

    My eyes met the Guild Master’s.

    Simultaneously, time seemed to slow down infinitely.

    In the Guild Master’s eyes within this slowed time, I could find myself.

    I found myself looking at the opening.

    The moment I realized this, time began to flow quickly again.

    I swung my sword once more.

    Chaak-!

    Finally, I faced a person instead of a wall.

    “Now I understand…”

    What I had been missing all along was none other than myself.

    I was so focused on the enemy that I didn’t think about how he was seeing me.

    ‘What a clever move…’

    It’s as if I boasted to the enemy that I found the answer.

    So naturally, since the enemy isn’t a fool and the answer was leaked, it makes sense to change the problem.

    “For now, you pass the entrance exam.”

    The Guild Master told me I passed with a satisfied expression at the wound on his cheek.

    But despite this news, neither of us lowered our swords.

    “Then, separate from the entrance exam, shall we continue?”

    “Of course.”

    I had been swinging my sword at a wall for so long.

    I hadn’t experienced a proper battle since the first day.

    Satisfying my desire to fight with just one sword strike wasn’t enough after all that had built up.

    I still wanted to rampage a bit more.

    The Guild Master also seemed to want to see more of my swordplay.

    After all, until just now he had looked bored to death, but now his expression showed he was dying of interest.

    Our intentions to continue this moment aligned, and as a result, even though the entrance exam was over, I rushed at him once more.

    Shaak-! Kaang!!

    The overall pattern of the fight was the same.

    I attacked, and he blocked.

    But not everything was the same.

    The sword I swung clearly met another sword, not a wall.

    His defense was no longer perfect, and the more he defended, the more his balance wavered.

    Kaaang!!

    Two swords clashed strongly.

    At the same time, I saw his body fall back slightly.

    Breaking through his defense with consecutive attacks was working.

    ‘Now…!’

    A sword thrust at nearly perfect timing.

    Pashat-!

    Soon, I was able to leave a second wound on his body.

    “Excellent.”

    ‘I’ll press on…’

    Just as I was about to continue my attack.

    I sensed my neck would be cut and I’d fall to the ground.

    No, I sensed it would happen.

    The hair all over my body stood on end, and warning bells kept ringing in my head.

    I belatedly discovered his gaze was directed at my neck.

    The moment I confirmed this, my body moved before I could even think.

    I withdrew the sword I was about to attack with.

    I pulled it back to protect my neck.

    This series of actions happened at extreme speed.

    I wondered if I could even move this fast.

    And the moment my defense was in place.

    Kwaaang–!!!!!

    Right to my left.

    A sound like a bomb exploding came from where I was blocking with my sword.

    I couldn’t tell what had happened.

    The sword I was holding was gone without a trace.

    Only blood dripped from my empty hand.

    Perhaps because I heard such a loud noise at close range, only a ringing sound echoed in my ears.

    And my neck didn’t fall to the ground; it remained well attached.

    “That was fun, rookie.”

    Only when I heard the Guild Master’s voice did I realize.

    I was alive.

    The moment I realized this, the excessive tension in my body released, and I fainted and collapsed.

    * * *

    Kaiden, the Guild Master of the Leheten branch of the Swordsman Guild, looked down at the unconscious Frey.

    “Well, this is an interesting one.”

    As he said this, a smile never left his face, and his eyes looked like they were dying of joy.

    The reason the Guild Master himself came out for the entrance exam was simple.

    To minimize unnecessary noise.

    With looks like Frey’s, rumors would be created just by walking down the street.

    And since she said she wanted to join the Swordsman Guild, it was clear that strange rumors would arise if she joined.

    Like saying a Succubus sold her body to join the guild and such.

    He questioned whether there was any meaning to it, but that wasn’t important. The truth of rumors isn’t important anyway.

    If she failed to join, it would be needless worry, but she seemed skilled enough to pass.

    So he came out personally to minimize unnecessary rumors. His purpose was nothing more, nothing less.

    “I was just going to watch her swing a sword a few times…”

    The entrance exam was as good as passed with Frey’s first strike. Everything after that was driven by his interest.

    “At first I thought she might have learned somewhere…”

    She was eerily good at finding the real openings among the fake ones, so he thought she must have been properly trained somewhere.

    But if that were the case, she didn’t know how to hide her gaze.

    She swung her sword well, but watching carefully, she wasn’t displaying swordsmanship, just swinging well.

    The conclusion he reached was that she was what people commonly call a genius.

    And typically, these so-called geniuses rampage without discernment and become frustrated when they hit a wall.

    He thought she would be the same.

    Considering she didn’t know swordsmanship, she probably never had a proper master.

    But that wasn’t the case.

    Even when she hit a wall, she didn’t give up but found and fixed her own problems.

    ‘These geniuses usually look for problems externally, which makes it harder to find them.’

    On top of that, she even reacted to his attack meant to give her a sense of death.

    He had deliberately given her a hint, but it wasn’t something she should have easily reacted to.

    Because of this, his sword, which he had intended to stop appropriately, had a bit of sincerity mixed in.

    “Where did such a monster roll in from?”

    After muttering this, he turned his gaze toward the reception counter.

    “Elena, lay this one down in the VIP room and prepare an adventurer’s badge.”

    The one who responded to this was a woman sitting quietly at the end of the reception counters.

    Black hair and black eyes.

    An expressionless, cold face.

    A sharp aura that would make the faint-hearted faint on the spot.

    Someone you’d expect to see in an Assassin’s Guild rather than at a Swordsman Guild’s reception.

    She was also one of the few people who didn’t sneer at Frey’s declaration to join.

    “Yes, I’ll prepare a bronze badge. What rank should I assign?”

    “Not bronze, silver. Rank… C-rank. Of course, also prepare to promote her to B-rank soon.”

    At those words, Elena’s eyes widened slightly, but she showed no further reaction.

    She just nodded and said she understood.

    “I’ll prepare it as instructed.”


    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period.
    Note
    // Script to navigate with arrow keys