Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Ch. 11 .｡.:✧ Yerina Frost (3) ✧:.｡.
—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“This ice cave will serve as the arena.”
“Wow. It’s beautiful.”
“Right?”
Yerina smiled confidently as she guided me to the ice cave that shone like crystal.
She seemed excited to beat me up and sit on top of me from now on.
She was such an honest girl that she didn’t even bother to hide it.
“Can I set two conditions?”
“What? Now?”
Yerina suddenly made a tearful face and turned around.
She had been planning to chew me up, tear me apart, taste me, and enjoy herself to relieve stress without any restrictions, but she seemed upset that it was being blocked.
But there was no need to worry.
I had no intention of changing the match rules or imposing penalties on Yerina’s side.
“Well… As long as they’re not unreasonable conditions, I’ll accept them. It would be too advantageous for me if there were no conditions at all.”
“First. I need time. Give me exactly 5 minutes alone.”
“…You’re not planning to dope, are you?”
“If you’re suspicious, search my body. I didn’t bring any drugs. There’s just a book I want to read a passage from before the match.”
“What’s this?”
Yerina took the book I pulled out of my bag, flipped through it once, and quickly lost interest.
Of course. To Yerina, it was a book written in Elvish that she couldn’t even read.
“I guess it’s for religious reasons. Alright. What’s the second condition?”
“It’s the condition for when I lose.”
“Oh my… Are you, as a man, proposing such a condition? Are you serious?”
Yerina’s expression crumpled.
She seemed to think I wanted to take out insurance in case I lost.
“Yes. If I lose, I will receive 10 gold from the bodyguard knight on Your Grace’s right. Do you agree?”
“10 gold? Did I hear that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well. Let’s do that. Bodyguard knight, you can give 10 gold, right?”
“Gladly.”
Yerina asked the bodyguard knight with an absurd expression, and he also agreed.
As if my defeat was already decided.
With this, I had obtained all the conditions I wanted.
As I smiled with satisfaction, Yerina tilted her head even more, looking completely clueless.
“You said you would set conditions… Why are both of them meaningless?”
“They might not be meaningless to me. Now, will you give me 5 minutes alone?”
“You can use that room over there.”
In Yerina’s eyes, I must have looked like I missed a golden opportunity.
If I wanted, I could have set conditions like sealing Yerina’s slashing techniques or sealing her thrusting techniques.
But even if I used such cowardly tricks, it wouldn’t greatly increase my chances of winning, and it would result in the worst outcome of lowering Yerina’s affection.
‘The goal is to put up a good fight. I have to at least leave a deep impression on Yerina.’
Entering the match fully prepared and suddenly displaying skills that would surprise Yerina.
Since Yerina values strength the most, I had to show a good side here.
The conditions I had just set were for that purpose.
Entering the cave wall on the other side that Yerina pointed to, I sat in front of a table made of ice.
And the moment I opened the book written in Elvish, a system window popped up.
[Trait ‘Merida-style (lv.1)’ is given.]
[Trait: Merida-style (lv.1)]
[You learn the traditional Elvish one-handed swordsmanship that was adapted from human swordsmanship. Your understanding of one-handed swords increases.]
I had stopped by Petenburg on my way after leaving Hameln.
And what I had received from meeting Yulia was this martial arts book.
It was an item that allowed me to acquire one swordsmanship trait.
In fact, I wanted to stay in Petenburg longer, but it was clear that Jill would immediately come looking for me and invade Petenburg first, so I had to leave in a hurry.
‘With this, I have gathered two swordsmanship traits.’
Now, I had learned one each of the swordsmanship that the main heroines Jill and Yulia gave me.
If Jill’s Thakia-style was the final boss-type trait that awakened in the late game and beat everyone up, Yulia’s Merida-style was the strongest swordsmanship in the mid-game.
It was still only level 1, so it would be difficult to use as a main technique, but it could be used as a sure-kill move to pierce Yerina’s opening.
Then what about the swordsmanship that was strong in the early game?
That was what I had to learn from Yerina from now on.
But if I didn’t catch Yerina’s eye in this match, forget about the swordsmanship trait, I wouldn’t even get a chance to meet her in the first place.
‘It should be activating about now.’
And one more thing.
[Trait ‘Guardian Knight’ activates.]
[Stats]
[Strength: 13(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Stamina: 12(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Mana: 12(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Agility: 20(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Luck: 14(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
It finally activated.
What I learned while staying by Jill’s side wasn’t just how to deal with the childish saintess’s whims.
I had also studied the activation conditions of Guardian Knight in more detail.
And I discovered a loophole.
The condition of “when protecting” that Guardian Knight spoke of was satisfied when the target itself recognized that they were being protected.
It didn’t matter what form the protection took, no matter how trivial.
Whether I directly wielded a sword and took the lead in protecting the target’s safety, or protected the target’s property from afar, it didn’t matter.
‘In other words, I’m in a situation where I’m protecting the bodyguard knight’s money.’
The bodyguard knight, who was set to lose 10 gold if I lost, was in a position where he would only secure the money if I won.
He probably wouldn’t want to see his ruler suffer a miserable defeat, but somewhere in his heart, he would also have the desire not to lose 10 gold.
It didn’t matter how small that desire was.
Unless that bodyguard knight was a crazy bastard who treated money like pebbles scattered on the ground, Guardian Knight would definitely activate.
“Now. Let’s go.”
All preparations were complete.
Now I closed the martial arts book, stretched my body, and came out.
Let’s go.
To protect the poor bodyguard knight’s precious 10,000 won from the evil Frost Duchess.
***
‘The atmosphere has clearly changed.’
The man who walked out from behind the wall, dragging his sword.
Yerina’s eyes, following that sight, twisted.
He seemed to be trying not to show it, but it couldn’t escape Yerina’s eyes.
His spirit when entering and exiting was definitely different.
At first, he clearly looked like he was carrying a sword that didn’t match his status.
Now, he was exuding the aura of a seasoned expert who could skillfully handle even that light one-handed sword.
‘As expected, he used some kind of trick.’
She had searched his body before sending him in, so it wasn’t drugs.
She had briefly suspected him of being a vampire who gained strength upon awakening, but judging by the color of his pupils, that didn’t seem to be the case.
In the first place, his complexion wasn’t that pale for a vampire either.
‘He was hiding his strength!’
All the better.
She had been worried that it might be a somewhat one-sided fight.
No, actually, at first, she had proposed the match because she wanted to see how eloquently and disgustingly this man would avoid fighting…
Although she was a bit perplexed as to how it had come to this, it seemed like it would be a quite thrilling fight, so that was that.
Yerina took off her fur coat and picked up the crude greatsword handed to her by the bodyguard knight.
It was a complete mess of a sword, with the weight balance off and the blade dull from not being sharpened for a long time, but once it was in Yerina’s hands, it was already an excellent weapon.
‘Suddenly, a declaration I made in the past comes to mind.’
-I, Yerina Frost, will marry a man stronger than myself.
Of course, I had no intention of getting married at all and had said that in a roundabout way to express that I would dedicate this body to the nation.
But why did that declaration suddenly come to mind?
There was no way I would lose anyway.
“Can you handle minor injuries? There are skilled healers on standby, so don’t worry too much.”
“Hahaha…”
“Let’s fight in good faith. Excluding mana and using only swordsmanship.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes. That’s all the rules.”
The rule Yerina proclaimed was ‘in good faith’.
It meant there was nothing else besides the basic rules.
Unleashing force without limit and making the opponent surrender first was victory.
Whether to stop the sword right in front of the neck or not was up to the individual.
Whether to shamefully continue the fight without surrendering when the sword stopped in front of the neck was also up to the individual.
‘Heh. I’m looking forward to this.’
When she stopped the sword in front of him several times.
Would that man cowardly knock away the sword and continue the match, or cleanly admit defeat?
If he continued the match, how many times would she have to humiliate him before he admitted defeat?
It was a rule that had the fun of watching that.
“Shall we begin?”
“Start whenever you want.”
“…”
She gave the first move.
But even after hearing those words, Yoo-jin just maintained his posture and remained still.
Since she had told him to start whenever he wanted, Yerina couldn’t move an inch until Yoo-jin did.
Just as Yerina let out a deep sigh, thinking he might be trying to back out like this,
‘Huh?’
She noticed that Yoo-jin’s feet had already been moving.
She was late to notice because it was slow.
He was slowly but surely moving his feet and changing his stance.
The moment his stance changed very subtly,
Yoo-jin’s leg muscles swelled and he shot forward like a bullet.
“Thrust?!”
Clang.
The sword that charged forward like lightning aimed to pierce Yerina’s chest.
Yerina skillfully deflected it, but couldn’t help being surprised.
Originally, thrusting inevitably exposed many openings.
There weren’t many swordsmanship styles that opened with thrusting…
“Kuk?! Ugh!”
That thought was fleeting.
Yerina’s expression crumpled as she frantically blocked the attacks pouring in from both sides.
It was fast.
And fierce.
She had never seen such an offensive swordsmanship before.
Perhaps this was what the swordsmanship of ancient times, when there was no active exchange between swordsmanship styles, was like.
But that didn’t mean it was easy to break this swordsmanship.
‘It looks like he’s just recklessly pouring out attacks, but that’s not it either?!’
Although she was somehow blocking it since her reaction speed was superior, there was no gap to launch a counterattack.
She could force a counterattack if she really wanted to, but that would also be part of the opponent’s scheme.
If she went in honestly at a timing that was clearly visible, she could get hit by a counter and pass out.
If he was this skilled in offense, he would be confident in counters as well.
There was no way a swordsmanship that was specialized only in offense could exist.
‘It seems a bit early to reveal my hand, but…!’
There was no other way.
She had tried to go easy on him with just the basics, but now she couldn’t hold out any longer.
Yerina decided to showcase the secret techniques of the Frost family’s swordsmanship passed down for generations, and raised her foot high.
“Kuk!”
Clang.
Yoo-jin’s sword failed to follow its intended trajectory and was blocked midway with a clear sound.
Caught off guard by the unexpected pattern, Yoo-jin stopped his fierce attack and retreated about ten steps back.
Meanwhile, Yerina still had her leg raised high, showing off the iron shoe covering up to her ankle.
Clack.
As the shoe landed on the ground, the ice on the floor cracked and shattered.
“Sword and body becoming one. It refers to reaching the state where the sword becomes me and I become the sword. But how could that be possible? It’s something that can only happen in fantasy novels, but we struggled to find a way to imperfectly realize that state. The swordsmanship developed at the end of that is the Frost style. A swordsmanship that weaponizes the entire body.”
“…”
On her feet were iron shoes.
On her fingers were rings made of steel instead of gold.
On her wrists were steel bracelets.
They all looked like accessories that could be worn normally, but in fact, they were meant to be used as swords and shields in case of emergency.
If you attached thick and sturdy materials that could withstand the impact of a sword not to the torso but to the extremities, it would place too much restriction on movement.
Any human would think that way.
But it wasn’t a big problem for demihumans whose physical abilities were far superior to humans.
If you could use your entire body as a sword and shield just by attaching a little sandbag, that was a much bigger merit.
‘This man, his defense is terrible?’
Yerina’s eyes narrowed as she poured out attacks, linking kicks, punches, and sword slashes like flowing water.
Yoo-jin only kept retreating backward without launching any counters at all.
Thinking it might be an act pretending to be clumsy at defense, she deliberately made attacks with many openings that were easy to counter, but Yoo-jin consistently ran away.
Only then did Yerina realize.
The fact that Yoo-jin’s offense was just a bit decent, but his defense was completely lacking.
“How long are you going to keep running away!”
“Kuk!”
Bam.
Imitating Yoo-jin’s movement when he first charged in, she quickly leaped out and pounced on him.
Behind him was an ice wall.
There was no more room to retreat.
Yoo-jin barely avoided the incoming punches and kicks, but soon ended up in a posture where he couldn’t react in time to the sword blade swooping down.
‘It’s over.’
Although he seemed to have learned some barbaric swordsmanship, it was far from enough with just that.
A boring man who had nothing interesting to offer besides the element of surprise.
Just as she was already looking forward to when this man would admit defeat, something unexpected happened.
“What?!”
Clang.
Yoo-jin’s shoe sole rose high and the sword blade was stuck in it.
In an instant, the sword blade dug into the sole, and Yoo-jin twisted the angle of his foot right before it was split in two, knocking the sword away.
‘He copied the Frost style technique already?!’
It didn’t make sense.
That technique was taught as a way to deflect a sword with leather shoes when iron shoes weren’t ready.
He intuitively deduced and learned it on his own just by seeing a few Frost style techniques?
It was impossible.
Yerina decided to acknowledge it now.
Yoo-jin wasn’t the type to strut around after learning some cheap swordsmanship.
He was a true expert.
A talent not unworthy of formally teaching the Frost style swordsmanship to.
‘But I still won!’
However, separate from that, the outcome of this match was decided just now.
Because Yoo-jin’s body had floated in the air due to misjudging the direction to twist his foot.
Cutting an enemy suspended in the air was a piece of cake.
She couldn’t really cut his body in half, so she would have to hit his waist hard with the back of the sword.
‘His tenacity is impressive.’
But Yoo-jin’s movements flailing in the air were strange.
It was as if he was trying to swing his sword and cut Yerina’s neck.
Of course, it was an impossible angle given the position of the sword.
Even his persistence in not giving up until the end was impressive.
Thinking that, Yerina was about to end the match, but,
“Ah?”
Whoosh.
A sharp blade stopped precariously in front of Yerina’s eyes.
Right before cutting the eyeball.
At a precarious position.
“…?”
She couldn’t understand.
Because the sword had definitely bent at an angle that was absolutely impossible.
She was frozen in place, wondering what kind of sorcery this was, when Yoo-jin’s body soon fell and rolled on the ground.
“Ow ow ow…”
Only after seeing Yoo-jin’s arm as he rolled on the ground did Yerina understand the whole story.
Yoo-jin’s wrist was swollen and dangling.
The bone was broken.
An impossible angle meant an angle that was impossible in terms of human body structure.
Yoo-jin had changed that angle by breaking his own bone.
As if using the swordsmanship of a race with completely different body flexibility from humans.
“You! What kind of swordsmanship did you learn?!”
“It’s my victory, right?”
“What?”
“If I hadn’t stopped just now, you would have died like that. Are you planning to not admit defeat here and continue the match?”
“…”
Yerina’s eyes, which had been about to urgently question him, widened.
She brought up the outcome of the match that she had pushed back because she was too surprised.
“I, I lost?”
And then, she stiffened in shock at the realization that she had been defeated for the first time in her life.
At the same time, her face turned red all the way to the tips of her ears.
“Ah!”
-I, Yerina Frost, will marry a man stronger than myself.
She recalled what she had declared herself in the past.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇