Chapter 285: Had I Forgotten? (1)
Chapter 285: Had I Forgotten? (1)
Veins bulged on the boy’s forehead. He wore an expression of someone desperately suppressed his temper as he spoke.
“…It’s Perios Shun.”
“Ah, right. Sorry. The names are so similar I got confused.”
Similar? In what way?
The young boy felt a deep sting in his heart.
Children at that age were bound to be sensitive. With his lips pressed thin and his fists clenched tight, the boy channeled his fury.
“Here I come!”
He unleashed his rage toward the ‘demon.’
Boom! Crack!
His sharp fists tore through the air in rapid succession. Though he was still young, the punches of a formally trained monk carried significant weight.
If he were a knight, he’d be around 2-Star.
Patrick thought to himself as he casually dodged the boy’s strikes.
Normally, he would have sent the kid flying with a single blow and looked for his next opponent, but he couldn't do that this time.
I thought drawing out his energy would make the Demonic Energy stronger… but it’s actually getting weaker.
It was strange.
There was Demonic Energy inside the boy, but it wasn't synchronizing with his will. In other words, there was a high probability that the boy hadn't accumulated that Demonic Energy of his own volition.
Regardless, this is the only lead I’ve managed to grab.
He couldn't let it slip away. Patrick made up his mind. He traded a few more blows with the boy, then spoke.
“You’ve got talent.”
Twitch.
At Patrick’s blunt remark, the corners of the boy’s mouth twitched.
Look at him, he loves it.
Patrick smirked at the typical stubbornness of a pubescent boy who couldn't admit he was happy.
“Well then, shall I try doing it this way for the first time in a while?”
Patrick sheathed both his swords, spread his bare hands, and beckoned.
“Bring it.”
“Do you know how to fight hand-to-hand?”
“Well, it’s not my specialty. But…”
Patrick let out a short laugh.
“I know enough to teach you a thing or two.”
“Then, I won’t hold back.”
The boy lunged at Patrick again with sharp movements. This time, instead of dodging, Patrick moved his hands on the spot to parry the boy’s fists.
Pang! Pa-pang! Pang! Pang!
Patrick’s hands shot forward, swatting the boy’s fists away before they could even fully extend.
“Urgh…”
No matter how many different angles the boy swung from, Patrick’s arms formed an impenetrable wall. If anything…
Whoosh!
“My hands can reach wherever yours can. Don’t just focus on attacking; pay attention.”
Staring at Patrick’s fist, which had stopped right in front of his face, the boy bit his lip hard.
He leaped back, spun rapidly in place, and launched a kick toward Patrick’s temple. The heel of his foot sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, heading for a direct hit—
Shshshk!
“Huh?”
It passed right through.
The boy gasped in shock. Down below the training ground, Matthew and Oliver watched with wry smiles.
“He’s really putting on a show.”
“No kidding. To think he’d even use the Mirage Step.”
Patrick’s Afterimage Step was already famous within the Schneider Duchy. It was a technique so perfect it could deceive even superhumans who had stepped into the 7-Star Realm.
To the boy, it must have felt like he was being haunted. Indeed, the boy was currently looking around the training ground, unable to even locate where Patrick had gone.
Then, a voice came from behind him.
“Over here. Right here.”
“Kuh…!”
The boy hurriedly threw himself forward and twisted his waist. He unleashed a flurry of consecutive attacks, but…
“Too much flash. Tsk. Punching is all about substance.”
In his past life, the masters of punching that Patrick respected most were from the Shaolin Temple. The Shaolin warrior monks would get furious, asking how he dared to call the sacred Shaolin martial arts ‘punching,’ but…
[What kind of nonsense is that, you shavelings? If you fight with a sword, it’s swordplay; if you fight with your fists, it’s punching. Am I wrong? Am I?]
He hadn't listened to a word of it.
Regardless, Patrick acknowledged the fists of the Shaolin monks. The simple yet powerful strikes launched from an immovable stance were the epitome of ‘stillness overcoming motion.’ Unlike those who used weapons like swords, sabers, or spears, their martial arts possessed a simple yet magnificent essence.
“Like this.”
Thump!
A stomp dug clearly into the floor of the training ground. The rebound force of the earth, traveling up through his firmly anchored lower body, was wound through his waist and delivered through his shoulder to his fist.
A simple but difficult art. A technique that only revealed its true power after decades of boring, constant repetition.
Its name was…
The Straight Punch.
PHWAAAAAAAANG!
The fist, stopping right before the boy’s eyes, let out a terrifying boom that echoed clearly in all directions.
Some of the monks watching the strike stood up abruptly, their faces masks of shock.
“That… that punch just now…”
“Was it like this? No… like this…”
“Uhhh… no, that… uh…”
The monks couldn't hide their astonishment. It wasn't surprising that the Double Dragon was stronger than them. He might even be stronger than the Paladins currently out on the battlefield. The reputation of the Double Dragon was that great.
But even so, wasn't he a swordsman? They had wondered if he could even form a proper technique with his fists, regardless of strength. But…
What was that just now?
The stance and discipline felt like they pursued something beyond perfection.
Mmm… I guess a monster is a monster no matter what he does?
Patrick smirked at the conflicted expressions on the monks' faces.
I think that was enough of a hint.
The Twin Dragon Sect did have fist and foot techniques. Given the sect’s nature of fighting with two swords, they weren't something they poured their souls into—more like self-defense for when they were unarmed—but they existed.
However, there was no point in showing these people the flashy, entirely different styles of the Central Plains. Instead, a Straight Punch like this would much more deeply stimulate the hearts of those who pursued martial arts with their bare hands.
In fact…
“That… what was that punch just now?”
Perios’s eyes had turned sparkling and bright. Patrick smiled at the boy.
“Do you want to learn?”
“Yes. I desperately want to learn.”
“Fine. Then I’ll teach you.”
Patrick had hooked the boy perfectly.
*
“It’s weird.”
“It’s suspicious.”
“It’s logically impossible.”
The gazes of Oliver, Matthew, and Riman as they looked at Patrick back at the lodging were drenched in deep suspicion.
“What is it with you guys again?”
When Patrick snapped at them, Riman spoke up.
“Why are you so willingly teaching that boy?”
“What’s the angle? What are you planning this time?”
“Young Master. It’ll be trouble if you cause an accident here. If your identity is revealed, you’ll be purified—Gack!”
Thwack!
Kicked by Patrick, Oliver was slammed into the wall of the Holy Kingdom’s guest room.
“This guy seems to truly believe I’m a demon more and more every day. You need to learn to distinguish between a joke and reality.”
It’s because it feels like reality.
It’s a logically sound suspicion.
Patrick looked at the two of them after kicking Oliver.
Well, I suppose it’s time they knew.
Security was paramount, so he hadn't said anything until now, but it was better for them to be aware at this point.
“What I’m about to say is top secret.”
Patrick then explained his purpose for coming to the Holy Kingdom.
“What? A dark mage in the Holy Kingdom?”
“You found Demonic Energy in that kid?”
The three of them were speechless after the explanation. Riman spoke up hurriedly.
“Wait, so the reason you secretly brought the Third Sage along was for that?”
“Yeah. If things go south, there’s something that old man needs to do.”
The Third Sage was part of the Schneider Duchy’s delegation, but his identity was being kept strictly hidden. They hadn't understood why he was brought along, but now the reason was clear.
“Then, has that kid Perios been corrupted by a dark mage?”
“Who knows…”
Patrick replied with an ambiguous expression to Oliver’s question. He continued.
“I have to find that out from now on.”
“How?”
“My way.”
Oliver was already starting to feel uneasy.
*
Perios Shun.
An orphan taken in by the temple at a young age, he had shown talent in martial arts and switched his path from apprentice priest to monk. Perhaps because he grew up in the temple, he was diligent and meticulous.
To someone like Perios…
“Drink. Drink up. This is all part of learning about society. Drink.”
“…….”
This was like encountering an alien species.
To be clear… it wasn't that priests didn't drink. They had wine with meals, and there was ritual alcohol made directly by the temple. But that was literally just drinking in moderation as a beverage…
“Oh, he drinks well!”
“Down the hatch! Chug, chug, chug!”
“Miss, bring the whole cask over here. The whole thing!”
This wasn't ‘drinking.’ The only way to describe this scene was ‘reckless pouring.’
Were these people, who had rented out an entire tavern to drink riotously, truly the knights of the Schneider Duchy who were famous across the continent?
As the boy stood frozen by the gap between reality and his ideals, Patrick spoke.
“I told you to drink, why aren't you drinking? It’s not like alcohol is a taboo for you guys like it is for those shavelings. Though, those bastards ate and drank everything while calling it a taboo…”
Thinking about it made him angry again.
‘Grain tea’? Grain tea, my foot. They stuffed their faces just fine, yet they treated me like a villain just because I had a little drink in the Great Bear Hall? Thinking back, those guys weren't chanting ‘Amitabha,’ they were chanting ‘Double Standards.’
“Double Dragon.”
“Hmm? Why are you calling me that, you…”
“It’s Perios.”
“Right. What is it?”
The boy spoke to Patrick with a solemn expression.
“Didn't you say you would train me?”
“I did. And I’m doing it right now.”
“How is this training?”
“Ahem. For a kid like you, experiencing how the world works is all part of training. It’s a huge mistake to think you can grow mentally by just staying cooped up in a temple punching things your whole life.”
“…….”
“Experience the world and understand how ordinary people live. Unless you want to rot away as a hothouse flower forever.”
For a moment, Perios was swayed by Patrick’s words. But he soon shook his head to clear his mind.
No, this isn't it.
Where in this scene of knights stripping off their shirts, putting their arms around each other, singing, and guzzling booze was the life of ‘ordinary people’?
Perios firmly declined.
“I may only be a low-ranking monk, but I am still a clergyman who serves God.”
“I know.”
“Disorder of the mind begins with disorder of the body. How could I recklessly indulge in intoxication?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“Of course not.”
To Perios, who answered as if it were obvious, Patrick pointed toward one side.
“Then what’s up with him?”
Where Patrick was pointing…
“Wooooh! Since the Double Dragon told me to drink, I shall drink!”
“Wow, this guy can really hold his liquor.”
“He’s as good as Oliver!”
“Hahaha! I won’t lose when it comes to drinking!”
“What? Bring it on! I’ll beat you at swords and at drinking!”
“I won’t hold back!”
“Come at me, come at me!”
Antorius Denar, who had started a drinking contest with Oliver, was chugging from a whole jug. He was completely corrupted.
Perios couldn't bear to watch Antorius any longer and turned his head away.
“Ahem… ahem… Sir Denar must have his own reasons and intentions, right?”
Perios couldn't bring himself to say anything about Antorius, who was of a higher rank than him. Even in clerical society, rank was everything.
Patrick smirked as he looked at Perios.
“Kid. You can’t overcome what you don’t know.”
“…Pardon?”
“Asceticism to overcome worldly desires begins with knowing those desires. Simply staying away without knowing what they are isn't endurance; it’s just avoidance.”
“…….”
Perios fell silent. There was an inexplicable sense of profound wisdom in Patrick’s words.
“Drink. If your training is the kind that collapses over a single glass of wine, it was meaningless to begin with.”
Perios quietly accepted the glass. As he brought it to his lips, the aroma hit him hard. It was real alcohol, on a completely different level from the wine he sipped during meals. As he downed it in one go…
“Cough… Ahem…”
A burning sensation, as if he had swallowed a ball of fire, flared in his stomach. And with every breath he exhaled, the heat of the alcohol circulated through his body.
The entire experience was foreign, but strangely, he didn't hate it. In fact…
It feels good. So this is why people get drunk.
He felt like he understood why people drank strong liquor until they were intoxicated.
“You drink well. Have another glass while you eat some snacks.”
“Yes. I will.”
Perios accepted another glass. Seeing Perios continue to drink, Patrick smirked.
That’s it. Keep drinking. Keep going.
A short while later.
“Hahahaha! I feel refreshed, like I could fly! Double Dragon!”
“Oh, is that so, kid?”
“I’m not a kid, I’m Perios Shun.”
“Right, kid.”
“Not a kid…”
“By the way, what do you usually do all day? Who do you usually hang out with?”
At Patrick’s question, Perios spoke with a hazy expression.
“…Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.”
“Ah, I see. I usually attend to His Holiness the Pope. My main duties are…”
Perios began to ramble on with his answers. Patrick’s eyes turned sharp.
So he’s directly under the Pope, huh?
Patrick knew. A person’s mouth is at its loosest when they are drunk.