Chapter 5
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Child's Heart (2)
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Start—!
At that instant, my opponent charged. He thrust his sword right from the outset.
A blade slicing through space.
He closed in aggressively, like a rowdy thug. I didn't recklessly clash swords with him. Instead, I simply slipped my blade into his sword path.
Cling—
I deflected it with a bounce and retreated, maintaining distance.
"...Oh ho?"
The man paused briefly and grinned.
"You're a fencer style, huh? Playing with distance. How cute."
Cute must be his favorite word.
Anyway, he wasn't wrong.
The swordsmanship I'd learned from YouTube—that is, [Active Knight A]—was fencer style.
A fencer relies on sharp distance sense and nimble footwork to strike and retreat. Naturally derived from fencing, it's akin to an outboxer in boxing.
"No openings for you."
He muttered as he took a massive step forward. An enormous first step.
I saw his charge with my eyes, but my body reacted first. My right hand swung the sword. But the target wasn't his blade. It was the 'space' he was invading.
Chaaang—!
A fairly loud ring echoed out.
He staggered back a couple of steps, then touched his blade with a stiff expression.
"...You. Did you just mimic me?"
He asked. I didn't answer.
Earlier, he'd tried to dominate space over the person. I'd briefly mimicked his approach.
A natural manifestation of Look-See-Do.
"I'm asking you."
But I couldn't let him grow wary. To him, I had to remain an ordinary toddler.
The tension in this duel shouldn't build gradually. It needed to stay flat like a single stroke, then spike in an instant.
That pivotal moment of inflection would be my victory—and his defeat.
"What was that just now? Do it again."
He jabbed his sword casually, like swinging an arm.
"Do it again, I said."
His cocky tone and expression.
The perfect mix of carelessness and curiosity.
"If you don't, I'll come get you."
Grinning widely, he gripped his sword and took a big step.
Again, the charging first step.
Now.
"...Hoo."
A small breath in.
I summoned Perion from the Notebook. Just a thought like 'opening a file' was enough.
Like opening a memo with the desired content, it was simply calling the desired memory into my body.
—.
In the center of my dantian, Perion's energy mixed with mana and erupted. It raced from my core throughout my body.
The divine mana substance amplifying every part of the human form. It first sharpened my senses to the extreme via the central nervous system, then extended to my limbs, vastly strengthening my muscles.
Whiiiii....
Thus, senses so acute they grasped even the texture of the wind.
Time slowing to a crawl.
Accelerated thought, decelerated world.
Fssshhh....
My opponent's foot crushing the ground.
Dirt mist blooming like spilled ink.
...Tss!
His step, a mere instant before, was now visible.
Beyond just 'seeing' it, I too stepped forward.
The exact same first step as my opponent.
"!"
I leaped, and his eyes widened. Seizing that fluster, I swung my sword. He raised his in response. Wind gathered sharply at the blade's tip.
Kwaaaa....
My sword descending from above, his rising from below.
Two identical trajectories, differing only in direction, met—
Chaeng....
I released my sword.
The freed blade hung in the air. His gaze locked onto it.
But from the start, I never intended to fight you with swords.
—!
Second step. I burrowed into his guard. Like flipping a switch, I shifted the fight to close quarters—grappling.
Grip—!
I seized his right arm and hoisted it. His lanky frame uprooted and soared.
Uh....
A dazed sound leaked from his spinning mouth in midair.
Bam—!
I slammed him into the ground.
Fssshhhh....
Dirt mist spread like fog. Scattered particles glittered clearly on the arena.
But I couldn't waste time.
Movements had to chain cleanly and swiftly.
Before he recovered, before the sand settled, before his carelessness shattered....
Crackkk—!
I wrenched his arm free.
A glob of spit flew from his mouth.
Not mere dislocation. His joint must've been crushed.
Yet, something was off.
He didn't even scream.
"...Whoa!"
Instead, he marveled and swung his leg up, smashing my head hard.
"Kuh!"
The impact rattled my skull. As I staggered, he'd already risen. From over ten paces away, he clutched his shoulder, staring.
"Whoa... my arm's out."
Praising me, he twisted his body. His right arm dangled like an invertebrate.
"Arm's out, out, really out. See?"
Smiling, he showed his limp arm to the entire mercenary corps.
No reaction.
Silence.
Both our side and theirs seemed yet to grasp how that fleeting clash had unfolded and ended.
"Man, I'm losing it. My arm's just shattered."
Anyway.
I couldn't move anymore. My vision shook relentlessly. Definite concussion.
A kick to the brow. One blow, and TKO.
"How about it?"
Suddenly, he asked the bald vice captain. The vice captain silently shook his head.
"...Oh yeah?"
His expression hardened slightly as he cracked his neck.
"Sorry. I wanted to pass you."
His dislocated arm remained, but his aura shifted entirely.
The childish demeanor vanished. He'd already seen through the pistol ploy.
"Can't overlook it."
Grinning, he waggled his brows.
"But I'll remember you. Sion Askal."
Faint blue mana flickered at his feet.
"Good work."
That was it.
He seemed to bounce off the ground, then shoulder-tackled my chest like teleportation.
"-Urk!"
What the hell.
That simple body slam knocked me out.
...After the brief event ended.
On the highway leading to the capital, Edshila.
The truck carrying the Blue Talon Mercenary Corps rumbled quietly along.
"When Libra's matriarch built that orphanage, it was prime wall land worth 10 million ren."
Jedric's commissioned mission had succeeded effortlessly. No disguise slip-ups. The orphanage would be scrapped, replaced by Jedric's commercial district.
"Stayed at 10 million for a century. But in the last decade, land value tripled—thirtyfold. That plot alone's worth at least 300 million ren. What the hell's happening to this country."
The vice captain at the wheel glanced sideways, rambling about land prices.
The man with his arm in a cast seemed dazed, barely listening.
"Arm okay?"
The vice captain asked. The man—Kigen—merely twitched his brow silently.
Precise scans showed pulverized shoulder bone shards tangled in muscle, needing intensive mana therapy or whatever.
Even as vice captain, it was absurd.
Of all people, Kigen getting done like this.
"...More importantly, vice captain. Got info on that kid?"
"Plain as day. Askal family. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather—all lifelong Libra loyalists. Know his dream job?"
The vice captain twisted his lips into a deliberate smirk. Kigen turned slightly.
"What?"
"Libra knight. Wants to devote his life to Libra."
Kigen snorted in amusement.
"Pfft. Orphans are the problem. Think raising them makes 'em saints."
He rolled down the passenger window. Cool wind swirled in.
"Libra's lucky. Picking up a famed sword from an orphanage."
The vice captain raised a brow.
"Dunno if they'd recognize a famed sword. That butler Henry actually praised you, Kigen. Said your acting was top-notch."
"...Acting."
Kigen pulled tobacco from his pocket. He stuck one in his mouth, muttering contempt.
"Fair enough. They just read books and crunch numbers—blind idiots who can't see the real world."
He exhaled misty words out the window.
"Anyway... I remembered the name."
The vice captain chuckled soundlessly.
This side of Kigen was rare. Like college days, eyes mad with competitive fire.
"Obsessing over a moment of carelessness?"
Carelessness.
Psychological warfare matters in duels. But what lingered in Kigen's mind wasn't some precocious kid's mind games.
"Nah. That kid's got mimicry power."
"...Mimicry?"
"Yeah. Pure talent. Can't buy it. Body moves on instinct."
The moment the kid tossed his sword and charged with his first step.
It was unmistakably Kigen's own.
"Rare, but some are born with it. Called 'Look-See-Do'... Kid seemed beyond that."
Imitating form is one thing; loading it with proper power is another level.
Kigen smirked, continuing.
"Butler Henry's half-blind, missed it. Wonder about the other one."
"Other one?"
The muttering vice captain prodded.
"Zia? The youngest wants nothing to do with succession. Won't inherit a dime."
"Yaaawn... Yeah, probably. Just curious."
Kigen leaned back. He gazed out the window.
"Anyway, talent like that? We'll cross paths again soon."
Vast night sky. Stars crowded in, suffocating.