Chapter 31 - Training
Chapter 31 - Training
031
"Det."
It's an unfamiliar ceiling.
In fact, buildings in this world are all made of wood, so they all look pretty much the same.
However, the reason I said it's unfamiliar is because the ceiling I'm looking at is made of stone.
And it's an expensive-looking material at that. What is this? Did I die and come to heaven?
"You almost died."
Suddenly, a beautiful voice came from beside me.
What is this? Did some bard come here? Or an elf...?
Elves are a no-go! That's a race that specializes in targeting married men or male adventurers!
"You almost kicked the bucket in my establishment while pulling some pathetic bravado, you fucking asshole."
"Huh...?"
"Huh my ass, you crazy bastard! Are you really an assassin sent by someone? Huh?"
It's that woman I saw yesterday. But she looks fucking pissed.
Judging by what she's saying, did I piss her off...?
"No, what kind of assassin would I be..."
"Hey!!! Do you know what happens if someone kicks the bucket at the training center? Word gets around that the training is shit and my livelihood gets cut off, you fucking asshole! Were you sent from somewhere else? Huh? Say something, dammit!!!"
The woman grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth padak-padak.
Her grip strength was so strong that my whole body felt like it was shaking in an earthquake. Plus, her voice was so loud my eardrums felt like they were going to burst!
"It's not like that!"
"Then why the hell did you pull that bullshit!!!!"
"...I don't know."
As for the reason why I ran myself to the brink of death, I don't really know either.
Was I just trying to screw this woman over?
To put my life on the line over something so petty.
'Did my mind go temporarily crazy?'
Someone like me who has never even visited a psychiatric department. Why did I do something like that...
In the first place, I don't have the kind of temperament to risk my life just to screw someone over.
"Huu! Huu! Fine. Anyway, I didn't pull this bullshit to get a confession out of you, so I'll let it slide."
By the way, I thought this woman had a very serious personality like Karl, but turns out she's an absolute wild child!
"Now get up!"
"Y-Yes?"
"You came to the training center, didn't you? Didn't you stage that fucking protest asking me to teach you how to kill people?"
Well, to be fair, that was my original goal.
"My name is Edel Baz. I suppose you've heard of it at least once."
"Never heard of it."
"...You don't know the youngest Sword Master and one of only 30 S-class adventurers on the continent?"
"Don't know her."
An S-class adventurer.
They say that when an A-class adventurer builds up a certain amount of experience and major achievements, they can be promoted to S-class.
Most of them are stronger than A-class, though. That doesn't mean there's a massive, insurmountable gap, however.
For example, Isabel apparently won against three S-class adventurers.
"That S-class adventurer rank changes all the time, you know."
The title of S-class adventurer is actually based on a ranking system with fierce competition, so it changes almost every single day.
They say it wouldn't even be strange if an adventurer who ranked 3rd yesterday dropped to the 20s tomorrow morning.
"Shut up! Anyway, you just need to know that you're extremely lucky. It's not like I teach just anyone, you see! Now bounce on outside."
Without even looking back, Edel walked straight out of the room.
I quietly followed behind her.
"Your weapon is over there. We're going to use that. Pick it up."
The two of us came out to the training ground.
Grateful that it had returned to me without anyone stealing it, I put on the weapon, armor, and gauntlets lying on the training ground floor.
"My training method is simple."
Edel took a stance.
What's this? Is she planning to fight? But I can't beat this woman.
"Land even a single hit on me, and training is over. You may graduate from my training center."
"Just a single hit?"
Even though I'm a rank beginner with nothing to my name except for imps and drains.
That person isn't holding a weapon right now.
Of course, an A-class adventurer is a weapon of mass murder even with bare hands. Most of them can supposedly take a fireball head-on with their bare bodies.
However, to say I can't land an effective hit—that's not necessarily true either.
No matter what, I should be able to hit her at least once.
"I won't launch any attacks against you. I'll just dodge, so do as you please."
Alright. So that's how it's gonna be?
It's time to test the performance of my newly bought morning star.
I readjusted my grip on the handle and stepped forward with my left foot.
"H-eup!"
With the feel of the baton I swung back during my military service, I drew an arc and struck down toward Edel's head.
This hit. No matter how fast she is, there's no way she can dodge a swing at this speed.
"Oh-ho? I haven't even told you to start yet."
It missed.
No, to describe what actually happened accurately:
Edel stepped with her feet as if dancing, stepped back slightly, and dodged my morning star by a hair's breadth.
It looked like she barely dodged it... but no. She had leisurely watched it until right before the impact and dodged just before it touched.
"Well, shall we consider it started from now on, then?"
How arrogant!
I lifted the morning star stuck in the ground again and slashed diagonally.
"You've got good strength. But your motions are way too big. You're just wasting stamina doing that."
She dodged it by a hair's breadth again.
At this point, it pisses me off. I retracted the morning star and swung it hard again.
"Oh? This one almost hit."
The chunk of metal kept cutting through the air making whistling boong-boong sounds, but it never hit her at all.
It was like trying to swat a flying feather with your hand.
Trying to swat a small-surface-area feather that flies well in the wind with your bare hand will just exhaust you for nothing.
"You do have some talent, though."
"Don't... make fun of me!"
Did I swing it about 50 times?
I thought at least one in three would hit, but even after throwing 50 swings, not only didn't it hit, it didn't even graze her.
'It's not just that she's fast.'
She was predicting my attacks close to prophecy.
The fact that all my intentions were read was extremely unpleasant, but I was gaining a lot more than I thought.
'I guess you could say I'm learning how the morning star should be swung.'
When dodging, this woman doesn't just move; she subtly twists her body at an angle that makes it easy for me to swing.
To be precise, she's probably guiding my attacks.
Repeating that several times made me naturally learn how to wield it.
"You have talent. For sure."
"...Ugh."
"Ha, I underestimated you, but you've got more grit than I thought! Is it because you're a guy? If you were a girl, you would've quit everything and walked away by now."
Edel had a satisfied expression.
Did I get acknowledged...?
"Today's lecture ends here. Crawl back here later."
Right. I don't have the heart to do any more either.
I quietly nodded my head at her, then turned around and walked out.
"....That's what happened."
I told Karl everything that happened at the training center.
Anyway, since I'm in the same boat as her (physically too), I suppose I should talk about things like this.
"Do you think it's right to keep learning techniques from that psycho woman?"
"Hmm."
Karl quietly drained his cup and let out a grunt.
"Keep learning from her."
His answer was dismally simple. There were no reasons attached, just keep learning—that was the end of it.
"Understood."
Of course, if Karl says so, then it is so. I have no intention of arguing.
Accepting it roughly, I walked over to the counter to take on the next request.
"Ah, it's Dennis-ssi."
The receptionist, recognizing my face, welcomed me warmly.
"Dennis-ssi. You know that the debt repayment period is already two weeks overdue, right?"
"...I know. I'll pay it back soon."
"Understood. Still, Dennis-ssi, you're lucky. Because someone bought your debt."
Someone bought my debt?
Who on earth would do that?
"Hmm, was it a few days ago? When Dennis-ssi left to exterminate goblins, Lumine-ssi came to the guild building."
"Lumine did?"
It was surprising that that stuck-up mage actually made a personal appearance instead of using an errand boy.
Usually, things with mana flowing through them have terrible tempers to begin with, so they'd normally try not to even step into buildings like this.
"She said she had her own circumstances, so she passed the bond over to someone else in exchange for the payment."
"Hmm... By any chance, would you know who bought that debt?"
The receptionist wore a hesitant expression at my words for a moment.
Who the hell bought my debt?
"Uhm, Isabel-nim, the A-class adventurer, bought it."
"Isabel!"
Why, that crazy bitch!
Did she buy the debt because sending someone over last time failed...?
"Hooooh!"
"Anyway, if you don't pay back 20 silver coins within the remaining period, ownership will pass to Isabel-nim. You'll either be sold at an auction or sold as an arena slave."
"I'll pay it back in no time!"
That's why I'm working so hard right now to pay off that massive debt!
"Understood, Dennis-nim... Ah, anyway, you're looking for a request form, right?"
"Yup!"
"Talk about good timing. There's a request that's a perfect match for Dennis-nim."
The receptionist pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to me.
"By any chance, do you know about changgwi (ghosts of those killed by tigers)?"
...No?