Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: 3 Matches, 2 Wins (3)
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Yohan remembered it clearly.
How could he not?
That day—the day he lost everything he had lived for!
And the words spat out by the monster who had severed his leg!
“Even after losing one leg, if you’re confident you can run faster… then I’ll accept your third challenge.”
Yohan’s voice was flat, but Ralph, who knew the old Yohan, felt his chest ache.
Yohan Redner.
Now called the Crippled Sword, but back then, the word that defined him was ‘Cloud Dragon.’
A being that soared through the clouds like a dragon.
Yohan’s movements, honed to the extreme through the Redner family’s secret Cloud Dragon Arts, were more than worthy of the name.
Even the Sword Lord had marveled at his speed.
For such a man, that one leg had been his entire life.
Seeing Ralph’s face harden, Yohan waved a hand lightly.
“Why’re you looking so serious? I’m the one who lost the leg.”
“…Senior.”
“No need to worry. I got a new enlightenment worth more than my life in exchange… so losing one leg was a bargain.”
“…….”
“Heh heh, it took getting to this point to realize it. My old skills could never beat that monster. To catch a monster, you need a weapon fit for it.”
A heavy conversation after fifteen years apart.
Yohan scowled at the damp mood and his junior’s pitying gaze.
“Hey, you pig bastard, I’m still kicking! Why’re you looking at me like some washed-up has-been?!”
Ralph’s stiffened face relaxed at hearing Yohan’s familiar crude talk after so long.
He sneaked a smile as he watched Yohan chug drink after drink with an irritated expression.
‘I’ve gotten old too… worrying about him when I’ve got no one else to worry about.’
When Ralph was a fresh-faced newbie just entering Yoram, Yohan was in his final fifth year.
The talent Ralph saw in him back then was a shock beyond words.
‘Even with one leg lost, this man is… Yohan Redner.’
The undisputed strongest among the countless geniuses Yoram had produced.
The one and only usurper acknowledged by the Sword Lord.
And the man whose back Ralph had chased his whole life.
Thinking of that, Ralph shook off his heaviness and fired back playfully.
“Didn’t I tell you not to call me a pig? This is muscle, not fat!”
“Oh, right. Muscle pig bastard. No, you’re old enough now—still doing that brute training? Your muscles look even bigger, don’t they?”
“Age brings strength to the body, as it should.”
“Even so, your body’s over the top.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. This is perfect!”
“Oh? Now you’re trying to teach me?”
“Hey, it’s just a five-year difference. We’re both getting old—why fuss over it?”
“Hey now, a whole five years younger! And a guy who’s never beaten me once is trying to school me? Dream on!”
As Yohan puffed up, a vein bulged on Ralph’s forehead.
Matching Yohan shoulder-to-shoulder had been his lifelong goal, so they’d sparred countless times.
Of course, his record was total defeat.
Even if it was against his idol, who wouldn’t feel bad about that?
But as Ralph started to bristle, he hesitated, then shook his head.
“Let’s not.”
“…What? Normally you’d charge out like an angry wild boar for a match.”
“What’s the point of beating you now?”
Yohan’s face hardened instantly at Ralph’s words.
He glared at Ralph with a fierce expression.
“What’s that supposed to mean? That a cripple like me can’t match you anymore?”
“Don’t get mad. That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s how it sounded.”
“No. If it’s you, Senior… the Yohan Redner I know… even with one leg gone, you’re still fast and strong. That skill you used to toy with me hasn’t gone anywhere.”
“…….”
“But the one I truly want to surpass isn’t the Crippled Sword Yohan Redner. It’s the Cloud Dragon Yohan Redner. The great usurper who challenged the Sword Seat! Let me ask once. Can the current you… beat the you from fifteen years ago who challenged the Sword Lord? Can you confidently say you’re at your peak like back then?”
Yohan had no answer to Ralph’s question.
A heavy silence stretched on before Yohan finally spoke.
“So basically, my skills aren’t what they used to be, and you don’t wanna spar?”
“…If you put it that way, I’ve got nothing to say.”
“You damn brat.”
Yohan shot him an annoyed glance, then smirked and shrugged.
“Well, you’re not wrong. I’m not at my peak now. But I promise you this.”
Yohan’s eyes sharpened suddenly.
“If the moment comes for me to challenge the Sword Lord again… I’ll give you that first loss on your record before I go.”
“Heh heh, I’ll hold you to it.”
Ralph grinned happily at Yohan’s declaration of war.
As the tension eased, Yohan grumbled.
“Anyway, you got Shari or not?”
The conversation looped back to the main point after a long detour.
Ralph glanced warily, remembering their original purpose.
“Uh, no.”
“Your voice is shaking?”
“W-who? Me?”
“Ugh, you big lug, always so sly despite your size. If you don’t wanna give it, just say no—instead you’re lying about not having it.”
“If I say yes, you’ll steal it even if I say no!”
“Heh heh, our time together wasn’t wasted—you know me so well. So hand it over, nicely now.”
“What is that thing! It’s hard to get even with money!”
“I know. That’s why I came to you. You’ve got that rare item, and for free no less.”
Ralph’s shoulders trembled at Yohan’s shamelessness.
Yet he couldn’t flat-out refuse.
‘Ugh… still a sly fox as ever.’
He’d spent his life chasing Yohan’s back, owing him debts beyond measure.
Yohan knew that, which was why he was so brazen.
“Ha ha, our Ralph’s grown up. Making your senior wait. Should I call out the whole sixth cohort of Yoram?”
At Yohan’s renewed threat, Ralph gave in.
And resolved himself.
If it was getting taken anyway, he’d extract something from Yohan first.
He’d use this to his advantage.
As he pondered what to demand, an idea flashed through his mind.
His eyes lit up.
“Fine, I’ll give it. But!”
“But?”
“I have a condition.”
“Condition? Con-di-tion? Ha ha, no deal. Time to rally the whole cohort under me.”
“Do it if you want. But no condition, no item!”
“You little….”
Surprised by Ralph’s firmness, Yohan backed off first.
“…What’s the condition?”
Shari was rare; he didn’t know when he’d get another.
He needed it for his plans ahead.
Ralph’s gaze shifted at Yohan’s softened question.
It landed on Yuri’s round head, sleeping like the dead.
“That is…….”
With that opener, Ralph laid out his condition.
A moment later.
Ralph’s lips twisted into a sly grin after stating his terms.
“Well? Do you accept?”
A highly provocative smile and tone.
Yohan’s lips twisted to match.
“Hoh? That’s awfully cheeky.”
“You in or out?”
Yohan’s sly smile deepened twofold at the renewed provocation.
As if saying, ‘You, provoking me?’
So his response was set.
“Fine, let’s do it!”
The moment Yohan agreed, they huddled right there to plot the details.
Meanwhile, Yuri sat a few meters away.
“Ughhh…….”
Even deep in sleep, as if foreseeing his unlucky future, he shivered.
* * *
Yuri passed out the instant they arrived.
After sleeping like the dead for over twenty hours, he woke the next morning.
After a brief introduction to Ralph, and with the homeowner away, Yohan explained.
Yuri blinked and tilted his head at it all.
“What do I have to do?”
Yohan answered as if he’d been waiting.
“Spar!”
“…Why me?”
“Didn’t you hear? Want me to explain again?”
“No, I got the gist. So to get that Shari thing, I have to spar? With that Ralph geezer’s grandson?”
“You got it.”
“So why me?”
“…This brat wanna play word games with me?”
“Whoa, calm down and hear me out. So Shari’s something that can temporarily seal my wide-open spirit vein, right? With it, I won’t need the geezer assisting me—I can circulate my mana channel alone.”
“That’s right!”
“Then we don’t need Shari?”
“Huh?”
“The geezer can just keep assisting me, no?”
“You little shit… do you know how grueling that is? One time and my joints creak like crazy!”
Yohan yelled, upset at being asked to do that heavy labor again, then flinched at Yuri’s sly expression.
“What’s with that look?”
“Hmm, so basically, the geezer’s gonna wear himself out, hence needing Shari?”
“I-it’s not exactly like that. Once you enter Yoram, I can’t always be by your side, right? You’ll have to follow their schedule, and how can I tag along every time? This is all for you.”
Yuri’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at Yohan’s kind explanation.
Yohan glanced away at the blatant stare.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?”
“It’s weird. If it was the old you, you’d have yelled ‘shut up and get ready to fight’ by now… why explain so nicely? Like you absolutely need me in this spar.”
“…….”
“Be honest, geezer. There’s more on the line than just Shari, right?”
Yohan broke into a cold sweat at Yuri’s probing.
‘Damn sharp kid.’
Yuri’s piercing gaze confirmed his suspicions.
Stung, Yohan sighed and raised the white flag.
“Sigh… fine, you’re right. Shari’s the condition for the spar, first off.”
“And you made a bet? On whether I win or the geezer’s grandson?”
“That’s why I hate sharp kids…….”
“Huh?”
“Ahem. Anyway, yeah. Ralph and I bet on the spar’s outcome. I bet on you winning; he bets on his grandson.”
“Hoh? What’s the prize?”
“If Ralph’s grandson wins…….”
Yohan paused.
Anger crossed his face.
“If Ralph wins the bet…….”
“Wins?”
“That guy… that guy… is gonna call me ‘bro’!”
“…….”
“He said he’ll call me ‘bro’!”
“…That’s it?”
“It’s not! He’ll even drop the honorifics from now on! Cheeky bastard!”
“That’s all?”
“Hey! ‘That’s all’? You don’t get it! Yoram’s cohort hierarchy is strict even in society! A junior calling a senior like sky-high above ‘bro’ and using casual speech?!”
“…Boomer.”
“What’d you say?!”
Yohan’s eyes blazed.
Yuri shook his head at the sight.
‘He’s not joking.’
Look at him.
So mad he couldn’t hold it in, his cheeks even quivered.
Yuri shook his head pityingly and asked offhand.
“Then if I win?”
“Huh?”
“What do I get if I win?”
“Oh, that? Nothing much. Just a sword.”
“A sword?”
“Ralph’s pretty renowned as a swordsmith too. I needed one anyway, so I asked him to make me one.”
“Greedy much. That geezer’s sword looked pretty good.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“Huh?”
“It’s not my sword—of course it’s yours. You planning to enter Yoram without a blade? Fight with a stick?”
Yuri’s eyes changed at Yohan’s curt reply.
“Mine? My sword?”
“Yeah.”
“The opponent’s only thirteen?”
“Huh?”
“Best of three, first to two wins, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Don’t worry, geezer. I’ll make sure that bear cub never dares utter the ‘bro’ from ‘brother’ to you again!”
“…No Incarnation.”
“Psh, why pull out Incarnation against a thirteen-year-old? Bring that bear grandson—cub bear, whatever! I’ll crush him flat!”
Yuri clenched his fist tight.