Chapter 134: Repayment (1)

To be honest, it was half a gamble.

For a swordsman who primarily uses Baldo techniques, the most troublesome opponent is one who has completely grasped the distance required for Baldo.

Once a sword is drawn, it takes time to return it to the scabbard. If the first draw misses, there’s a gap until the next draw.

Against an opponent who fully understands Baldo’s timing, you’re at a disadvantage. They can either bait you into missing from outside your range or close in too tightly for you to draw.

In that sense, Bukkake, who had fully grasped my Baldo timing, was the worst possible enemy.

Not only had he completely figured out my timing, but after doping, his physical abilities exceeded mine. I had no choice but to take a gamble.

Baldo Art: Agito.

It’s an unorthodox technique that opens the side of the scabbard like a beast’s maw to draw the katana sideways and strike the enemy.

To use this technique, you have to grip the scabbard differently than usual. If you hold it normally, your fingers would be cut off.

Aware that the observant Bukkake might notice this, I changed Wolffang’s form to a tachi, lengthening the blade so much that it couldn’t be fully gripped with one hand.

As a result, his attention was focused on the extended blade, and he didn’t notice how I was holding the scabbard to expose its side.

“Subjugation complete.”

The gamble, with its uncertain outcome, paid off brilliantly thanks to unexpected luck.

After returning Wolffang and its scabbard to their original form, I sheathed it and spoke to the two men collapsing on the ground, turning into foam:

“That was a close one. If my luck had been just a bit worse, I’d be the one lying there now.”

“Damn it…!! Of all people to die to…!! I should’ve just died back then…!!!”

Bukkake disappeared from this world with a miserable death cry, turning into a handful of foam.

As Bukkake vanished, my eyes met Baek Jeong-nam’s, who had been holding him from behind.

Baek Jeong-nam, whose cut surface was slowly turning to foam, looked like he was about to breathe his last. Just before his final breath, he glared at me with bloodshot eyes and shouted in a resentful voice:

“You… traitor!! You stab me in the back like this?!!”

“Someone might misunderstand. Since when were we comrades?”

We had merely cooperated briefly against a common enemy that suddenly appeared. We were never comrades.

Moreover, the reason I came here was to subjugate Baek Jeong-nam, who had killed numerous knights and occupied the castle. What betrayal was he talking about?

“Or did you expect some kind of suspension bridge effect? Did you think our fight to the death just moments ago would be forgotten because we cooperated once in the face of a strong enemy?”

“You, you bastard…!!!”

“Don’t blame me, even by mistake. If you want to blame someone, blame your blockhead for mistakenly judging me as a comrade.”

“Ugh…!!”

Baek Jeong-nam tried to spit something back at me, but before he could, his heart crumbled, and he turned to foam before finishing his words.

Thus, the battle of the possessed, where Baldo, ninja, and Taekwondo clashed, ended with Baldo’s victory.

As if the author who sent us here acknowledged this, a message window appeared before me, announcing the rise in Baldo’s rank.

[Baldo Art: Agito]

[Rank: S++]

[A technique that minimizes friction during the draw to strike the enemy’s weak point with enhanced power. Considering that Baldo is a surprise attack technique, this might be the ideal Baldo.]

[You have successfully acquired a derivative skill with a higher rank than its base skill.]

[The rank of Baldo is rising.]

[The ranks of derivative skills that were limited due to insufficient base skill rank are rising.]

[Baldo] [Rank: SS]

[A technique to instantly draw a sheathed sword and strike the enemy, you despicable bastard…]

Despicable or not, the fact that I won doesn’t change. Complaining about dishonor or despicableness is always the role of the loser.

If someone asked me to choose between being an honorable loser or a despicable winner, I’d choose the latter without hesitation.

“Well… now that it’s all over, you can come out!!”

I called out to those who had been watching the fight from behind the castle debris. They slowly stood up, wearing somewhat disgruntled expressions.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No… It’s just that it seems a bit cowardly…”

Jessica spoke up, representing everyone’s thoughts. The other knights nodded in agreement.

“Cowardly? What… Should I have only cut down the Myne and spared him when I could have taken them both out? Should we have fought again after that?”

“It’s not that, but… Just wondering if this was really okay… That kind of thought…”

“What kind of nonsense…!!”

As I was about to snap back at this ridiculous notion, a sudden pain in my chest silenced me.

An extreme chest pain, as if a huge rock was crushing my heart, overwhelmed my body.

I couldn’t breathe properly. As I unknowingly fell to one knee, Jessica, startled, rushed towards me.

“I-Ian!!!”

My breathing became increasingly labored, and I started to lose consciousness. The last thing I saw before blacking out was Jessica’s face, so flustered that a tear had escaped, through my blood-tinged vision.

——

The ceiling, an unfamiliar ceiling.

As this common novel opening became reality, I felt relieved.

Waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling meant someone had taken care of my injured self and provided treatment.

“Urgh…!!”

“Ian!! You’re awake!!”

As I struggled to sit up in bed with my aching body, a familiar voice rang in my ears.

Turning my head towards the sound, I saw Hori with a ghastly bruise on one cheek, beaming with joy.

“Hori… How long have I been out?”

“It’s been a week as of today!! We knew you were safe, but we were worried since you wouldn’t wake up!!”

“I see… But what happened to your cheek?”

“Oh, this… Jessica…”

Listening to her explanation, I learned that on the day I collapsed from side effects, Jessica had slapped Hori, blaming her for the unnecessary side effects in her potions.

“…You deserved that. But did anything happen while I was asleep?”

“Well, first…”

During the week I was unconscious, reinforcements from the royal family and other territories had arrived.

They had come boasting about taking down Baek Jeong-nam, who had occupied this castle, but upon hearing that I had already defeated him, they dispersed to deal with the barbarians scattered across the region.

With the royal Archwizard going to repair the broken barrier, there was no longer any worry about barbarian invasions.

All that remained was cleaning up the scattered rabble, so it was safe to say the situation was mostly under control.

“I heard from a maid here that some of the territory’s people are calling you a hero, Ian! How does it feel to be a hero?”

“Well… Suddenly hearing that doesn’t really stir up any particular emotion…”

How much emotion could you expect to feel from suddenly being told, “From today, you’re a hero”?

Especially considering the cause was that fight with that idiot, it felt even less impactful.

“Other territories are sending supplies too, so even if it’s tough right now, they say the territory will regain its former prestige in a few years.”

“That’s good. So, you being here means you’ve been taking care of me?”

“Yes! That’s right! It wasn’t just me, Jessica was here too, but she’s gone to freshen up for a bit!”

“I see… You two have been nursing me…”

I was touched for a moment by the fact that they had stayed by my side for a week to take care of me…

‘Wait, does that mean they’ve been handling my… bodily functions too?’

As that thought occurred to me, I started to feel an unfamiliar sensation in my lower body that I hadn’t noticed before.

Carefully lifting the blanket covering me up to my stomach, I saw various devices attached to my half-exposed lower body for easy handling of urine and feces.

“…”

Faced with this unbelievable reality, I turned to look at Hori. She blushed and said briefly:

“It… was bigger than I expected…”

“…”

I wanted to die. Unable to just lie there looking at Hori’s face, I removed the devices stuck all over my lower body and stepped outside, claiming I needed some fresh air.

I had left the room, but this wasn’t my castle, so I had nowhere particular to go. I just aimlessly wandered the corridors.

After walking for who knows how long, a sudden cool breeze caught my attention. Following it, I came across an open terrace where Jessica was leaning against the railing, her expression melancholic.

“Jessica…”

Perhaps because I had shown her such an unsightly state for a week, my voice lacked strength as I called out to her.

However, somehow hearing even that faint voice, Jessica looked up. With an expression of disbelief, she hurriedly ran to me.

“I-Ian…!! Are you okay now?!”

“Everything’s fine now, except for my shredded dignity.”

As Jessica tilted her head in confusion, I smirked and pointed to my lower body. She blushed and averted her gaze.

“If you can joke like that, I guess you really are better now.”

“Yeah. But what were you looking at out here?”

As I joined Jessica on the terrace, the castle’s scenery, which must have been magnificent once, now resembled a battlefield due to the devastating damage from the fight a week ago.

Although the lord had returned and restoration work on the castle had begun, it would be a long time before this castle regained its original appearance.

“Why were you looking at this?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? Did you think I was wallowing in sadness looking at the ruined castle?”

“Huh? Wasn’t that it?”

“No, it wasn’t. Of course, it would be a lie to say I feel nothing, but considering the barrier fell, this ended relatively lightly, didn’t it?”

She said that for the sake of the people who had no one else to rely on, she had to look forward. There was no time for despair.

If she had been an ordinary young lady, she might have despaired or cried, but her unwavering forward-looking attitude seemed somehow cool.

“Jessica, you’re kind of cool.”

“Cool…? There are other compliments like beautiful or something, you know.”

“Then should I call you cute? I used to do that often before. Cute Jessica… like that.”

“Stop it!! Just thinking about that time still makes my blood boil, so don’t you dare call me cute!!”

“Really? That’s a shame… Jessica is really cute though.”

“Again, really!!”

Jessica blushed and patted my chest, but perhaps considering that I had just risen from my sickbed, there was no strength in her pat, making it feel just cute.

“What’s the big deal? I got this castle back for you, didn’t I? If you think of it as repayment, it’s a bargain, right?”

When I mentioned the compensation we had talked about before, Jessica hesitated for a moment, blushing to an unusual degree.

Then, her lips trembling slightly, she hesitated before seemingly making up her mind and asked me:

“…So, you want repayment. Is that it?”

“Huh? Well, I guess so, if you put it that way? Why, are you really going to allow it?”

“…No. I-I’m going to do something else instead.”

“Something else?”

Saying this, Jessica moved closer to me until her chest was almost touching my stomach. She stood on her tiptoes, bringing her face towards mine.

“…Huh? Huh?”

As I stood there confused, I felt a soft sensation on my cheek, accompanied by the sound of skin touching skin.

“…Jessica?”

“…”

With a whoosh, Jessica turned her head away. Unable to hide her embarrassment even after what she had done, her ears turned red, making it easy to guess her complexion even without seeing her face.

“I-is this enough?! Now that I’ve repaid you sufficiently, don’t call me cute anymore… Eek!!”

Just as Jessica was about to leave after turning away, for some reason, my hand was roughly grasping her soft breast.

Surprised by the sudden grasp on her chest, Jessica reflexively turned her head back, and our eyes met.

Her gaze was ambiguous, neither rejection nor acceptance. In this situation where I might be branded a rapist if I wasn’t careful, I trusted my instincts and pressed my lips against Jessica’s.