Chapter 172.
As the mana formed a bluish hue on my sword, Lisbon also hurriedly drew up his mana. When I approached and gave a broad slash, Lisbon calmly blocked it.
Kang-!
When my sword and Lisbon’s sword collided with each other, the mana also clashed and created sparks.
"Keup!" With the addition of my mana, Lisbon groaned as it became harder to receive my sword.
"Cheer up! How can a knight lose to an office worker?" I shouted and continuously struck down with my sword repeatedly.
Kang! Kang! Kang!
It was a basic attack with no technique at all, but Lisbon focused entirely on blocking it. Considering the difference in ability between Lisbon and me, this was a natural result. However, this outcome should only occur when I was trying my best. Currently, I was consciously limiting my strength to be slightly weaker than Lisbon, so it was strange that he was showing weakness like this.
“Did you perhaps have your guard down?”
Lisbon flinched at my words. I was even considerate enough to tell him not to let his guard down, but he still relaxed because I’m a civil servant who works in an office. He didn’t have the proper attitude needed to wield a sword.
I mixed a little bit of killing intent with my fighting spirit and shot it at Lisbon, who quickly stepped back three or four steps in surprise. Unexpectedly, it seems he had never experienced true killing intent before, as he had cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and his hands were trembling.
"I guess the knight school teaches you that it’s okay to let your guard down when sparring?”
Lisbon swallowed his saliva at my cold voice, his mouth dry.
"The grandpa in my neighborhood who taught me the sword also told me not to let my guard down even if my opponent was a little kid. I guess the education at the knight school is pretty lax."
The grandpa in my neighborhood who taught me the sword was Elder Weger, the master of Uncle Bloody, Gawain, and Mac hyung. For your information, I was the 10-year-old little kid who was mentioned at the time. Those subjected to his discipline were the disciples of Elder Weger, who were smashed by my swordsmanship. After losing to me, the students received hellish training hell as punishment, and I remember it was fun to watch.
At my admonition, the light in Lisbon’s eyes changed, and he nodded. "Sorry. I’ll come at you with my full strength."
Lisbon clenched his trembling hand, and his spirit started to become full of determination. Seeing that he managed to overcome my killing intent in a short period of time, it was clear that he was full of talent. I smiled brightly at him.
"Haap!" Lisbon quickly approached and swung his sword.
However, it’s too late to change your mind after already getting on my nerves. The time for playing is over.
Kang!
I harshly struck Lisbon’s sword aside and cut at his left thigh. Even though it was a fake sword, because there was mana running through it, a little blood was drawn.
"Uuk!" As Lisbon’s posture fell apart, I cut his side and instantly went behind him, raising my sword to his heart. If we were fighting with our lives on the line, I would have stabbed him through, but we were just sparring with a bet.
"Do you admit defeat?"
His stance totally ruined, kneeling with one knee to the ground, Lisbon announced his surrender, "I... lost."
At his surrender, I pulled back my mana and put the sword back into the sheath. Then, I reached out to the somewhat shocked Lisbon. "Do you know why you lost?"
Lisbon took my hand, stood up, and pondered. "...Is it because of my carelessness?"
I shook my head at Lisbon’s response. "Well, there’s that, but no."
"Then?"
"Rather than your attitude, it basically comes down to your lack of real fighting experience.”
In terms of just physicality, I was worse than Lisbon. Even my footwork that caught Lisbon’s back at the end was just at a basic level. I didn’t mean to, but what determined the victory between Lisbon and me was the killing intent that I released.
Releasing my killing intent to get him to focus instilled fear in him and dulled his skills. Even though he overcame the killing intent and attacked me, a person who encountered killing intent for the first time could not overcome it completely. Due to this, he couldn’t stop me from attacking his thighs and ended up revealing his side and back to me.
"Have you had a lot of real fighting experience?” Lisbon seemed to sympathize with what I said. He fought hard for his life against the demons, but it was only for a day.
"I had a lot of experience from back in my hometown. As you know, my hometown is near Warrant and the Olympus Forest.”
Lisbon seemed convinced by what I said. Lisbon’s hometown was also in the north, so he would have heard about the fierce life-threatening fights with monsters every day.
But soon, he looked at me strangely. "Then you should have taken the test for knights, not the civil service exam. With this level of skill, it’s basically the same as having won the top spot, with the scholarships on top of it."
Having the top spot at the knight school would be too noticeable to Uncle Bloody’s eyes.
I shrugged at Lisbon. "Ayy, I’m not that good. I only learned it for self-defense.”
Demons were dangerous, of course, but in a village surrounded by monstrous plants and animals that fought for their territories against the demons, sword aura was included as part of basic self-defense.
In terms of the weakest person, even my oldest sister with the worst constitution in the village was able to produce sword aura. However, if you were to ask if my big sister was strong, her strength would have her lose to a high-ranking knight in the empire. Even if you had a good physique, if you didn’t have the skills to back it up, you would just end up like Alphonso.
"Ayy, you’re lying.” Lisbon stuck his tongue out at me.
"I’m not lying. Compared to my brothers, my skills are nothing."
When I was in my hometown, if I faced my older brothers without magic, my chances of winning were only about 20 percent. Now, of course, outside the Olympus Forest, if I were to use magic, I was 100 percent confident in winning.
"Thank you, Alphonso, for letting me display my abilities."
When I won, the spectating Alice and Yuria looked at me in surprise. Apparently, they didn’t believe me when I said I knew swordsmanship.
Alphonso accepted the sword and looked at me with sparkling eyes. "Wow, Den! You’re so strong!"
"You’ll be able to fight at this level soon, too.”
"Really?!" Alphonso opened his eyes wide in anticipation. Seeing his expecting look, it pricked my conscience to have said such empty words for no reason.
“Can you make sword aura?” I asked.
“Yep!” Alphonso nodded at my question and produced sword aura.
“What’s your sparring record against Lisbon?”
“124 matches: five wins, 98 losses, and 21 draws.”
I couldn’t figure out how he could naturally produce sword aura while his skills were so bad that he would lose to Lisbon. Considering the amount of time he learned from Uncle Bloody, it was amazing that his skills weren’t even up to my level.
"Uh... Yeah, you’ll be able to fight at my level in about half a year."
It might take longer, but I said this optimistically as it seemed like he was able to reach draws often these days.
I smiled playfully while I looked at Lisbon. "That’s one to zero. Shall we continue to the next event?”
"Yeah, can we do it tomorrow?” Lisbon held his wound and pretended to be injured.
He’s just trying to delay the match as much as possible.
"Well, sure." I treated Lisbon’s thigh and side with simple healing magic.
* * *
Glont headed to the prime minister’s residence in the imperial palace. According to the formal procedures, he was supposed to have an audience with the emperor and Orphina rather than heading to the prime minister’s residence. However, Orphina and the main unit were still on their way back, so when Orphina arrived, they would have a full-fledged audience with an award ceremony.
"You’re here, General Glont-nim."
Glont smiled slightly when he saw Arcanta stop working, standing from his seat, and welcoming Glont.
"Ohhohoho, general? The reserve forces have been disbanded, so you should call me guild director.”
"Oh, you’ve already disbanded?" Arcanta seemed regretful. He was trying to reinstate Glont as a general this way, but he had already lost his opportunity.
The call-up and dismantling of the reserve forces were under Orphina’s authority, as she was appointed as the commander-in-chief, so there was no room for intervention from the prime minister and the imperial court.
"Did you hear about the situation?"
Glont nodded at Arcanta’s question.
The prime minister asked carefully while preparing refreshments and black tea, "I’m sorry, but can you somehow help guard the palace for a while? I think you’re the only one who can fill the vacancy left by the seriously injured Bloody."
Glont shook his head, savoring the black tea Arcanta that brewed. “My mind has not changed.”
“Still...”
Glont spoke firmly to Arcanta as he trailed off, "The person who is in charge of the royal guard division is also strong and talented. He’s plenty capable of filling Bloody’s vacancy."
"But if you consider the treasure robbery situation-”
Glont cut off Arcanta’s rebuttal. "That was an inevitable occurrence. Even if I was there, I don’t think the results would have changed. Furthermore, if I enter the imperial court temporarily, there is a risk that the hierarchy of the royal guard will be shaken. If the hierarchy falters, it’ll be worse than if I hadn’t returned to the imperial court in the first place."
The firm refusal soon deterred Arcanta. "Yes, if you say so, then all right. However, I want you to lend me a hand when we need it, just like you have done so far."
"Of course I will.”
Looking at Glont nodding his head, Arcanta sighed inwardly.
Glont calmly looked at the prime minister’s complexion while drinking his black tea before talking about the purpose of his visit. "First of all, I’d like to report on the ruins."
Glont’s words reminded Arcanta about the ruins that he had forgotten due to the Turtle Carrying a Mountain suddenly moving southwards.
"Yes, I’ve heard that the ruins have collapsed. What happened?”
Glont took the envelope out of his bag and handed it over to Arcanta. "I wrote the details in the report. To just tell you the conclusion, we failed."
Arcanta’s expression hardened at Glont’s report. "So the last legacy of the Holy Tribe has fallen into the hands of the 12 Zodiacs?"
As a result of combining the preliminary investigation from the Big Mama Information Agency and the imperial library, he knew that Aries would take action soon, so he tried to move first to occupy it in advance. As such, he was discouraged by the news that they had failed.
The mere thought of the threat posed by the enemy now that the Miracle Crystal, the last legacy of the Holy Tribe, had fallen into their hands made his stomach hurt. However, Glont had a subtle expression.
"What’s wrong?"
"No, we failed, but it didn’t fall into the hands of the 12 Zodiac."
At Glont’s words, Arcanta asked while pulling out the report from the envelope, "Then is it buried with the ruins that collapsed?"
Glont answered the question with a dejected smile, "No, a thief named Lupin stole it."
"...What?" Arcanta was confused and looked through the documents. Why is Lupin appearing all the way out there?
The prime minister couldn’t help but be surprised. These days, Lupin had stopped appearing, so he had stopped searching. Yet, his head was burning at the thought that he might have to change the civil servants stationed at the treasury again.
"We’ll have a conference on state affairs soon, and it’ll be a headache if the thief causes a ruckus again."
The conference on state affairs was a meeting where high-ranking nobles and officials from all over the nation gathered every year to discuss state affairs for the next year. At the same time, because of the incident of the great demon moving southwards, the award ceremony for Glont and Orphina was scheduled to take place at the same time.
With Arcanta’s sigh, Glont wondered whether he should reveal the truth that Lupin was actually Denburg. After thinking about it, Glont told the truth. This made Arcanta take stomach medicine, and 30 minutes later, Arcanta was taken to the hospital due to acute poisoning.
Because of the emperor’s strict order disallowing Arcanta from being comfortable by himself, the empire’s best alchemists, therapists, and high-ranking priests clung to him. Arcanta recovered in a day, and his suffering continued.
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