Chapter 63: Rejection
by fnovelpia
I stretched with a groan and glanced back at the book I’d been poring over since leaving the training ground.
[Royal Family Genealogy]
This tome chronicled the Derpardt royal family’s 600-year history, meticulously recording every monarch, queen, and concubine who’d ascended to the throne over the centuries.
With no solid leads on the possessed, I’d initially aimed to find those linked to the royal family, but so far, nothing substantial had emerged.
Considering cases like mine, Ponpon hyung’s, and Primitive Jessica’s, the possessed likely had names derived from slight modifications of their favored weapons or techniques.
However, despite hours of reading, no such names had surfaced.
‘Assuming possessed individuals appeared every century, excluding 600 and 200 years ago, I should focus on 500, 300, or 100 years back….’
Even concentrating on those periods yielded no names resembling the possessed.
It seemed they hadn’t directly influenced the royal family through marriage, but rather indirectly through descendants who became queens or concubines.
Investigating the queens and concubines might prove fruitful, but their sheer number and limited means of investigation made it practically impossible.
‘Let’s summarize… The lunatics likely to have been possessed here are….’
Unlike me, the Royal Academy had several madmen spouting nonsense.
Zorro the Dashing, who championed the rapier, a weapon that increased the probability of AIDS infection.
Thor Kim, almost certainly Primitive Jessica.
Sword Length = Dick Length, who advocated for the inefficient two-handed greatsword.
Bondage Master, who called the whip a sexy weapon, ignoring the supreme beauty of the katana.
Gun Enthusiast Association, who proclaimed non-existent weapons as the strongest.
There was also a madman who insisted ninja throwing stars were swords and ninjas were the strongest. His username was Bukkake, wasn’t it?
‘Come to think of it, no one but me chose a proper username.’
Current (World’s Strongest Sword Technique Baldo)
100 years ago (Unknown)
200 years ago (AIDS Carrier Rate #1 Rapier)
300 years ago (Unknown)
400 years ago (Unknown)
500 years ago (Unknown)
600 years ago (Hammer, Weapon for Idiotic Meatheads)
Excluding the gun lance, a weapon that shouldn’t exist or be born, the two-handed greatsword, whip, and throwing stars were the most likely candidates.
‘The gaps are 100, 300, 400, and 500 years ago, so there’s still one spot left….’
As I pondered who it might be, I recalled someone I’d thoughtlessly excluded from the candidates.
Gintokang, who proclaimed bare hands as the strongest, claiming the ultimate endpoint of all weapon techniques was weaponless martial arts.
Even now, thinking about that trash made my hands tremble with rage.
Logically speaking, if a bare-handed person defeats an armed opponent, isn’t it the person who’s strong, not the bare hands themselves?
When I pointed this out, that shameless bastard retorted that by that logic, it wasn’t baldo that was strong, but the person using baldo.
Afterward, I spent about 5 hours explaining why baldo was strong, but no matter how much I explained, he couldn’t understand.
Unable to continue, I ended up blocking him for my mental health, but someone spouting such nonsense would surely have been kidnapped into the novel while still talking nonsense until the last chapter.
‘I’ve roughly narrowed down the candidates, but the method to find them….’
It would be great if the library had books on the history of trash weapons, but when I asked the librarian, no such books existed.
“Haa….”
Closing the royal genealogy, I sighed and rubbed my face. As I stood up to take a breather, I felt a gaze intently watching me from afar.
‘…Who is it?’
Slightly turning my gaze, I saw Hori approaching with a large book in hand, tiptoeing to muffle her footsteps.
She seemed to be trying to surprise me, but given how obvious her gaze was, her plan was doomed from the start.
I waited until Hori approached from behind to surprise me, and just as she was about to place her hand on my shoulder, I turned around.
“Hi Hori!”
“Ah…!”
Startled by her failed attempt to surprise me, Hori stumbled back and asked,
“How did you know?! I tried my best to muffle my footsteps…”
“Even a blind person would notice if you stare that intensely. Anyway, what brings you here?”
“Oh, nothing special. I just happened to see you, Ian…”
Hori sat down next to me and looked puzzled at the book I had just closed.
“Royal Family Genealogy…. You’re reading an unusual book. I thought someone like you would be reading about baldo.”
“There’s not a single piece of knowledge left for me to gain about baldo from books. But what book were you reading?”
“Th-this is nothing…”
As she trailed off, hiding the book behind her back, I realized it must be some suspicious book.
Anticipating what would happen next, Hori quickly stood up and tried to distance herself from me, but I caught her by the back of her collar before she could.
“Let me see what book it is.”
“Ack…!”
I forcibly snatched the book Hori was holding and froze when I saw the cover.
[100 Most Toxic Poisonous Plants in Human History]
“…Hey.”
“Uugh…!”
I expected something like this, but I never thought she’d actually be reading such a book. I’d probably end up eating the poisonous plants written here soon.
“…Why were you reading this book?”
“Well… You seem to have developed a resistance to poison recently, so I wanted to look up stronger poisons for reference– Ouch!”
Before she could finish, the water whip pulled from my pocket lashed out at Hori’s head.
Clutching her head and crouching down, Hori looked up at me with teary eyes.
“Ian…! That hurts…! If you wanted stronger poison for training, why are you hitting me?!”
“No, I don’t mind drinking it, but it just pissed me off.”
Imagining Hori gleefully reading that book to make potions with side effects (originally non-existent) irritated me beyond control.
“…I know you won’t listen if I tell you to abandon that useless conviction. Just don’t cross the line.”
“Don’t worry about that! I won’t make any potions I can’t drink myself!”
“Haa….”
Sighing, I continued investigating heroes’ tales from various regions to gather information on the possessed.
Hori, having finished her research, helped from the side, but by the library’s closing time, we hadn’t found any promising information.
“In the end, we found nothing…”
“Yeah, sorry for making you waste your time.”
“It’s fine. But why heroes’ tales?”
“Well… I’m looking for people… more precisely, the descendants of people I’m searching for.”
“Descendants?”
Those who were possessed before me are all dead or past their prime, so I can’t demonstrate baldo’s superiority by using it against them.
But if I use baldo to defeat their descendants who inherited all their techniques, then baldo’s superiority will be proven.
“…It’s just something like that.”
“Hmm… I don’t quite understand, but good luck!”
“…Thanks.”
With Hori’s encouragement, this day ended without any progress.
“Yaaawn…!”
The next morning, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, raising my stiff body with a yawn.
Yesterday, I only got about two hours of sleep, making up for the baldo time I missed while investigating the possessed.
Perhaps because of this, my face in the mirror looked haggard with fatigue.
“If I knew it would turn out like this, I should’ve just practiced baldo instead of doing that investigation…”
Regretting past actions wouldn’t bring back wasted time. Seeing that it was almost time for school, I hurriedly put on my uniform and headed towards the S-class building.
“Hey, is that him?”
“Looks like it…”
“Quick, avoid him before he makes eye contact!”
It seemed yesterday’s minor incident had already spread rumors, as several students who appeared to be in the same year hurriedly moved away from the path as soon as they saw my face.
Hmm… This is the proper attitude non-baldo practitioners should show towards a baldo practitioner.
Receiving the reverence and fear that baldo should have originally received, I arrived at the S-class exclusive building.
As I reached the entrance to the classroom, I sensed intense hostility directed at the door from the other side.
Judging by the inability to conceal the hostility, it wasn’t an assassin, which meant the person behind the door was most likely Jessica.
Sniff…!
To think that Jessica, who only knew how to confront those stronger than her head-on, had learned the art of ambush!
Tears welled up at the sight of Jessica’s remarkable growth.
Unable to ruin Jessica’s first memorable ambush, I boldly opened the door, completely defenseless.
However, what awaited me in the classroom was…
“You’ve finally arrived!”
Jessica, sitting with her legs crossed, holding a hammer in one hand.
Not only was her posture unsuitable for combat, but there was also no sign of an impending ambush.
Rising slowly from her seat while maintaining an elegant posture, Jessica pointed the hammer at me and said,
“You really did it yesterday! Today, I’ll finally correct that arrogant habit of yours!”
“Haa….”
Just when I thought she had come up with the admirable idea of an ambush, Jessica hadn’t grown at all and remained the same baby Jessica as when we first met.
“Jessica, give me back the tears I shed.”
“What nonsense are you spouting! If you won’t come, I’ll make the first move!”
Saying that, Jessica swung the hammer at me, which I easily dodged by tilting my head back.
Although Jessica’s speed and power had grown significantly since we first met, I hadn’t been idle either.
The gap between Jessica and me had only widened, not narrowed in the slightest.
“First, confiscating the hammer.”
I grabbed Jessica’s hand as she swung the hammer, applied pressure to weaken her grip, and snatched the hammer away.
“Ah!”
Deprived of her hammer, Jessica flailed her hands, trying to reclaim it, but I held it high, out of her reach.
With over 20cm height difference between Jessica and me, simply raising my hand with the hammer was enough to keep it out of Jessica’s reach.
“Ugh! Gi-give it back quickly!”
“Are you going to say that to your enemies too?”
What had started as a serious confrontation for Jessica quickly devolved into childish play. Jessica lunged at me with a tearful expression.
However, her attacks, barely above beginner level, suggested she hadn’t received proper combat training beyond the basics. They failed to have any significant impact on me.
“Jessica, you should get some hand-to-hand combat training since you use a one-handed weapon. Unless you’re holding a shield or something in your other hand, you’re basically letting one hand go to waste. Also, kick techniques can be useful in real combat…”
“Shut up! Why are you giving advice to your enemy in the middle of a fight?!”
“Well, this hardly qualifies as a fight.”
After pushing away Jessica who was charging at me, I tossed the hammer back to her. Facing Jessica, who glared at me resentfully, I said,
“Jessica, let’s face reality. With your current skills, do you really think you can beat me?”
“If-if I use mana…!”
“Can’t I use mana too? Anyway, you understand that you can’t beat me in a one-on-one match, right?”
Faced with this barrage of facts, Jessica pouted.
“…So what are you getting at?”
“Let’s settle this with something other than a one-on-one match. That way, we might have something resembling a fair competition.”
“Something else?”
In a month, there will be a test to navigate through a labyrinth created by Marina.
The test involves forming teams to reach the lowest level of a labyrinth infested with magic beasts. Teams can have up to 10 members, but any number below that is fine.
“Whoever reaches the core of the labyrinth first wins that test. The loser has to do one thing the winner says.”
For reference, I plan to tackle the labyrinth alone, without forming a team with anyone.
After hearing this, Jessica looked at me suspiciously and said,
“…Why would you propose a competition that’s disadvantageous to you… No, never mind! You’re just looking down on me, that’s why you suggested such a match!”
“Exacta!”
“I don’t know what that means, but I can tell you’re mocking me…. So what will you demand if you win the match?”
“Baldo, of course!”
If Jessica loses the match, she must become my disciple and learn baldo alongside me.
As I described the blissful days of constantly honing baldo while listening to my perfect baldo theories day and night, Jessica’s face turned pale, and she shouted,
“N-no way!”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“With such an inhumane punishment, I absolutely won’t agree to such a match! I’d rather have this body defiled than endure that. I absolutely cannot allow it!”
“…Huh?”
That’s strange? She should be accepting it gladly.
Why is she refusing?
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