CH 256

“How long will you crouch there? Get up quickly.”

“Damn…”

I mumbled something to myself as the old man said that and slowly stood up, holding my stomach. I thought for a moment, “Whose fault is it that I can’t get up?” It was a mock battle? It’s common for the loser to take damage and that’s why I’m crouching down

“Haven’t you ever had someone teach you how to use a sword, Bozu?”

“No.”

“I see.”

I’ve learnt a few things, but I won’t say I was taught properly.

“I prefer your own style of swordsmanship, which isn’t always easy to read and understand, to the clean, model-like, easy-to-read, boring swordsmanship. But your swordsmanship is not at the level of a personal style, nor does it follow a proper style. It’s just akin to a kid’s sloppiness.”

“Kid’s sloppiness?”

“Are you saying it’s not?”

“…Yes.”

I accept that it has not yet reached the level of a personal style. But I don’t think my swordsmanship, which is an evolution of kenjutsu, is at the level of a child’s sloppiness.

“I’ll show you the proof…. Here, come straight at me.”

Saying that, he moved about 5 meters away and waved his scabbard toward me as if to provoke me. Right now, all the enhancements such as spiritualization are still ongoing. I don’t know what he wants to do, but if he doesn’t use that instantaneous movement, I can win.

“Ha!”

I closed the distance almost instantly. Then, I slashed up from the right with the Suikou in my left hand.

“Hoi!”

“Where’s……?”

I fell with my back on the ground, the sheath against my neck.

I know why I’m in this situation, because the sheath entangled the sword I was swinging and I got thrown along with it. But I don’t know the path. How could he throw me in such a split second that I didn’t even have time to let go of my sword, and then put the other sheath on my neck? It seems that he took it easy on me during the first mock battle.

“What you were trying to say was, “I’m trained in swordsmanship, so there’s no way my swordsmanship is at the level of a child’s,” or something to that effect.”

“Oh, yeah.”

The old man said as he lowered his scabbard to his waist and held out his hand to me as I lay on my back. I deactivated all my enhancements and took his hand and stood up. I can’t grab his hand without deactivating the spiritualization.

And no, I didn’t say I was acquiring sword skills. So I guess that means he could tell that just from my sword swing. I think that’s the only way because the appraisal system can be disabled.

“Bozu, you’re indeed swinging your sword sharply. But just swinging a sword isn’t true swordsmanship. True swordsmanship is to think about the various moves ahead of time, such as where to swing the sword for more power, how to swing the sword to connect to the next move, and so on, too many examples to list. Do you swing your sword with that much thought in mind?”

“………”

I’ve never swung a sword with that much thought. I’ve only thought three moves ahead at most.

“What a great thing I said, but this is just my personal opinion.”

“Eh?”

“There is no definition of swordsmanship. The true swordsmanship is the answer that one has thought through.”

Isn’t this getting more difficult and philosophical?

“In conclusion, I would like to say that you should perfect your swordsmanship as you see fit.”

“I understand…”

I think he should have said that at the beginning. I think we’ve gone a long way to reach that conclusion.

“However, your skill to parry an attack is too low. You will need it in the future, too. Hasn’t this been pointed out to you by anyone other than me?”

“Possibly…”

As I recall, I was told so by the Knight Commander. I’m trying to fix it myself, but it’s not always easy to do so when you’re moving reflexively.

“I’m still here. I’ll teach you how to parry them myself.”

“Eh! Hmm…”

It’s true that I am glad that he’s teaching me techniques like the one he used to throw me, but there are only three days left in the schedule before the school match. Will I be able to finish learning it by then?

“I’m telling you, Bozu, you have no right of refusal. I won’t let you leave until you pass the test.”

“Eh?”

“That’s a bit arrogant.”

Sophie, who had been quiet up until now, came up next to me and started talking. I glanced at her face and saw that she was quite angry.

“You should calm down a little, young lady. Can’t you see the risk of offending me here?”

“What are you…!?”

Sophie stopped mid-sentence. Then she grabbed me, jumped back, and tried to activate the magic she had prepared all over the area. I followed Sophie’s line of sight to see what was going on, and saw that the old man had a sword in his scabbard that should have been stuck in a tree. She didn’t see it fly back. And the magic high-speed sensing was not responding either. Had the sword transferred on its own?

“You are very quick…”

The old man pulled out his sword and swung it beautifully as if it were dancing, and all of Sophie’s magic was cut.

“……”

“I don’t want to take it and eat it. I don’t want to hurt you too much, since I owe you a favor from when we were against the dragons..”

“Huh…teach me the art of parrying an attack.”

“Nii-sama!”

Now Sophie is unusually agitated. So I’d better be the big brother here and do the talking.

“I’m going to participate in a certain tournament in King’s Landing, so I’d appreciate your help in the meantime.”

“If you can learn it by then, I’ll let you go.”

I’m going to learn the art of parrying an attack. But what was wrong with Sophie? She was more aggressive than ever. I hope she doesn’t pick a fight with this old man in the future…