episode_0416

The next day, after going into the bathroom with Ethan for motivation.

Ethan and I exchanged swords in the training grounds again as if nothing had happened.

One thing that has changed is that the me of yesterday and the me of today are completely different.

The lowly swordsman Lilith Blackwood Rosewood, who was eager to cut off Ethan’s sword, died yesterday. What remains here today is a swordsman battle maid who was created solely for victory.

Today, I felt like I was particularly focused, and I was engaging in a swordsmanship duel, swinging both daggers alternately toward Ethan.

-Cheong, chaeng, chaeng!

“Keep on, Lee, Release?!”

“… … .”

Ethan, bewildered at the sight of me confronting him with eyes completely different from usual, takes my sword.

Seeing that he doesn’t even have the time to give me advice on my skills like he usually does, I guess it means that he also has a hard time dealing with my sword.

It was obvious that my concentration was higher now, since Ethan’s motivation wouldn’t have dropped overnight. Also, although it was intermittent, I could clearly see the path Ethan was swinging his sword along.

-Whew!

‘Is it this way…!’

-Chae-ae-aeng!

“Whew, hoo, hoo… .”

“Haaah, huh, haaah… .”

Ethan, who somehow finds an opening and attacks in the midst of the chaos of four swords being swung around, and I, who predicts his sword moves and uses my dagger to block them.

It was a moment when we read each other’s numbers accurately, so Ethan and I looked into each other’s eyes, swords facing each other, in surprise at the same time.

“I didn’t know you’d notice this, release.”

“… I didn’t know either. But I had a gut feeling that I had to block this side.”

“Your concentration has improved so much overnight. Did you do any special training during the night?”

“… No, that’s not true.”

I did do something similar to special training, but it wasn’t at night, it was last night in the bathroom.

Since I couldn’t tell Ethan himself, ‘I touched and kneaded your body to make you want to win,’ the best I could do was just gloss over it.

“Should I take a short break and then do it? I’ve been swinging it for 10 minutes already.”

“If that’s what you want, Lord Ethan, then that’s fine.”

“Aren’t you that tired of the release? Just listening to your breathing makes the release seem harder.”

“… I’m a little tired, but I can still move more.”

“Let’s not do that and take a break. It’s better than pushing yourself to your limit and collapsing on this hot day.”

“… Understood, Master Ethan.”

Compared to the swordsmanship duels I’ve had so far, I had much more stamina today than usual, but I still didn’t bother to stop Ethan when he told me to rest.

Even if we swing our swords and strike each other while both are exhausted, it would only be a half-win. If possible, I wanted to get a ‘reward’ by winning while showing off my maximum power.

It might be a very arrogant thought considering the difference in swordsmanship between Ethan and me, but as I said before, the me of today is completely different from the me of before.

Normally, I would have been pushed to the ground by Ethan five times already, but today, I only fell twice, so it could be seen as meaning that I had become at least twice as strong.

‘Say, could you cool this down with some wind magic?’

‘…huh.’

In case the sparring session would be long, he gave the water bottle he had brought to Sei to cool down, and then gave it to Ethan first, encouraging him to replenish his water.

“Master Ethan, while you’re resting, please replenish your water supply.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for Lilith to drink first rather than me? She looks more tired.”

“No, it is right for you to eat first.”

“… Okay, thanks.”

I’m thirsty too, but I think it’s better for Ethan to quench his thirst before me.

As I silently watched him empty the water bottle he had received from me, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Come to think of it, isn’t this an indirect kiss?’

… Well, now is not the time to worry about indirect kisses or anything like that. We’ve kissed each other directly, and even kissed each other’s private parts, so why bother with it all over again?

Ethan, who had emptied half of the contents in one go, returned the water bottle to me with a relieved expression.

“Okay, drink some release too.”

“… Yes, Master Ethan.”

I don’t really care about things like indirect kisses. It’s weird to even care about something like that now.

But even if it was an indirect kiss, when was the last time you and Ethan kissed? I don’t think we did it in the coastal cave last time.

What we did at Professor Mamamari’s villa wasn’t a kiss with our lips, but rather an act of putting our lips on each other’s genitals, so of course it’s out of the question. So, was that the last time we did pet play…?

… Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I kissed Ethan.

‘Surprisingly, Ethan and I are in a similar state of boredom right now…?’

Just because there was a few physical interactions doesn’t mean it was love. If you think about prostitutes selling their bodies in red-light districts, there was definitely sex without love.

Of course, it’s not like I’m doubting Ethan’s love or anything, but I can’t help but feel a little bit of a sense of crisis when it’s been almost half a year without a single kiss.

‘If I win this swordsmanship duel, should I ask for a kiss first? No, but a kiss isn’t really that lewd, so it doesn’t have to be a reward… .’

“Release, don’t you drink water?”

“… Yes, yes?!”

“You’ve been holding a water bottle for a while now. Are you concerned about indirect kisses or something?”

“… What, what, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?! How could I, who has kissed Ethan directly, let alone indirectly, and even kissed him on the lower part, be this shaken up?!”

“… I understand what Lilith said about not caring about indirect kisses, but I think it wasn’t necessary to say that at the end. It’s a good thing there’s no one else.”

In order to put an end to Ethan’s absurd suspicions, I confidently drank from the bottle as if I didn’t even care that my lips were touching it.

It was really humiliating to pretend to care about indirect kissing after all the embarrassing things I’d done.

-Bam, bang.

“Phaaa…! I, I’ve had enough rest! Let’s get back to sparring, Master Ethan!”

“… Yeah, release.”

It just so happens that I have one more reason to win my duel with Ethan, so in the end, this will also be an element that I can focus on during my duel with Ethan.

With that thought in mind, I got up from my slightly tired body and exchanged swords with him again.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Another hour had passed since the moment they began to fight again after a brief break.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo… .”

“Haaah, huh… . Hoo, haaah… .”

Ethan and I had spent most of the afternoon practicing swordsmanship, so we were both extremely exhausted.

If I had to be picky, I would have been slightly more tired than Ethan due to my lack of basic physical strength, but the difference might not have been that big.

Because in the process of splitting the sword for an hour, my sword was gradually but surely reaching Ethan’s vital points.

‘If I just do a little more, I think I can definitely win at least one round this time… .’

I’m starting to notice Sword Expert’s ‘Sword Path Reading’ a little more. As my swordsmanship level has improved, it means that I can predict the path of the sword to some extent even when fighting against a skilled player like Ethan.

Or maybe it means that even though your body is tired, your mind is still clear and can focus on Ethan’s sword.

There was no need to win completely or put in effort to win the match.

Just one round. Even a draw would be fine, as long as I could land just one blow that would touch Ethan’s body.

The time on the timetable was approaching 7 PM, so this sword fight would be the last of the day in terms of time.

Rather than postponing the possibility of victory, which I had pushed to the limit, to tomorrow, I wanted to somehow win the game today and get my ‘reward’.

“Haaah, phew… . phew… .”

-Whoaah.

I wait for Ethan to approach, putting all my remaining evil power into the daggers I hold in both hands.

Ethan, who had been catching his breath for a while, stabilized his breathing faster than me and ran towards me with quick steps.

-Tadadak!

“… … !!”

It is visible.

For the first sword, from top right to bottom right.

It was a quick attack to ruin my posture rather than a diagonal slash that cuts a wide area, so Ethan’s first attack was a light twist of the body to dodge Ethan’s sword.

-Whew!

“Big… !”

Ethan responds with a flustered voice as soon as I dodge the attack with a relaxed look.

If I had been conscious of the diagonal slash and pulled my body back, I could have immediately followed up with the next attack, but because I anticipated the vertical slash and moved, Ethan ended up wasting a move on a useless attack.

So, it was only natural that it would be my turn to attack this time, and I boldly thrust my body forward, drawing my dagger towards Ethan’s empty left arm after swinging my sword once.

-Chae-ae-aeng!

“… Phew!”

“Haa, haaa… .”

… As expected, it’s not easy.

This time, I thought I had really created a gap in Ethan, but Ethan was also quite adept at dealing with that gap.

Prince Blackwood, who quickly turned his right longsword to block my dagger. However, since it was a means of defending his body in a hurry, it was inevitable that his posture would collapse a little.

The subsequent chain of sword strikes was mostly on my turn. It was Ethan who paid the price for failing to anticipate my accurate reading of the sword path and making a mistake with his first attack.

If it had been me and Ethan up until now, we would have overcome this mistake in a few minutes and Ethan would have overwhelmed me again, but this time it was different.

Just for today.

At least for this match.

At this very moment, Ethan and I were sharing swords to the point where it seemed as if we were almost on equal terms, and even after more than a dozen rounds had passed, the initiative in the duel was still in my hands.

-Chae-ae-aeng!

“… … Big!”

“… … !!”

And then, at the crucial moment when their swords were clashing, Ethan’s weak point caught his eye.

No, this was also a fake loophole that I had seen countless times. Ethan would always show his weakness like this when he was at a disadvantage, and then he would counterattack to break my protective shield.

Exposing one’s left side defenselessly means turning one’s body to the right to avoid being attacked.

At the same time, I twisted my body to the right, anticipating Ethan’s attack that would dig into the left side of my body.

-Whew!

“… … Huh?!”

‘… This is an opportunity!’

It was a moment where both of them lost their center of gravity, so Ethan quickly moved his legs and found a new position.

But my final choice was not to correct my posture like he did, but to deliver a final blow to Ethan in this state.

-Whew!

A dagger extended from my hand and flew straight towards Ethan’s empty side, and there was no way for him to block my dagger throw as he quickly took a stance.

-Tingle!

The sound of the magical shield breaking at the same time as my dagger touches Ethan’s body.

It was the first time in ten days of long swordsmanship training that a match was won.