17
My Villains Chapter 17
5-2. Maintenance (2)
The gang Gillius belonged to consisted of six members: four warriors, one archer, and one cleric. The leader of the gang was a mercenary named 'Grania'.
I came to be acquainted with this gang thanks to Gillius's sociable nature.
After the battle at the docks ended and we received our compensation, he approached me, acting friendly while collecting the spoils of war.
Of course, there were a few people in Grania's gang who were wary of me. It was a natural reaction, as they must have seen me rampaging like a madman during the battle. The blood magic I used also had an ominous appearance in many ways.
But thanks to my polite attitude and normal appearance, I soon built some degree of friendship with everyone. Their attitude seemed to be that while they disliked lunatics, they didn't mind if the lunatic was on their side.
After having a drink together, the whole gang moved their lodgings to the Ship's Horn Inn. They said they had complaints about the inn they were staying at, but... They were truly boisterous mercenaries.
The person I became closest to after Gillius was the gang's leader, Grania.
She was the red-haired female warrior whose skills I had admired, awestruck, during the battle at the docks. That was Grania.
I'm not sure how she is the leader, but from what I could see, she was definitely a skilled warrior.
Thwack!
"Focus!"
"Ah."
Taking advantage of my lapse in concentration, Grania pushed up her round shield, deflecting my wooden sword and arm.
As soon as my guard was open, Grania's wooden sword thrust towards my chin.
Whoop!
I quickly pulled up my buckler to block it, but Grania used the rebound from hitting the buckler to twist her wrist and—
Thwack!
She struck down on the opposite shoulder.
"Tch, you got me."
As I admitted defeat and stepped back, Grania also stopped and asked, "Did the gap between your shield and sword widen again this time?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"When using the buckler?"
"Pay special attention to the coordination between both hands."
"Right. Let's go again."
As soon as she finished speaking, Grania took her stance.
It was a stance where she covered her head and shoulder diagonally with the round shield in her left arm and held the sword at middle level.
"Phew."
I also took a deep breath and assumed my stance.
It was a stance where I spread my legs slightly front and back, bent them, and extended my wooden sword and buckler forward together.
Grania was one of the more skilled mercenaries.
Even though I was limiting my strength and speed, Phoenix still had an absolute advantage over Grania in terms of physique, reach, and weight.
Despite this, due to the difference in skill and experience, I could hardly handle her.
My sparring sessions with Grania would end in three or four exchanges if short, or about a dozen if long, and would immediately start again.
Through this repetition, I could continuously receive corrections, gain experience, and embody the theory.
It had already been five days since I started learning swordsmanship from Grania like this morning and evening. No, I should say I was learning about combat techniques in general, including shield techniques, not just swordsmanship.
This came about because of my request. Remembering her skills, I offered compensation and asked her to teach me.
When she first received my request, Grania looked suspicious.
I had gained the not-so-funny nickname of 'Mad Swordsman' due to my performance at the docks.
When someone like me asked to be taught swordsmanship, Grania thought I was joking.
Of course, after a few sparring sessions, she withdrew such suspicions. She realized that I was a beginner who didn't even know the basics of fencing.
Grania was puzzled by the enormous gap between my skills and physique but didn't ask any particular questions. She just sparred with me as much as she was paid for.
Grania's teaching was practical as expected, and scientific beyond expectations. Or should I say, mechanical?
Clack!
As the wooden swords collided in mid-air, I tried to push slightly while maintaining the binding (keeping the blades in contact with each other).
"Hup!"
Grania, who was retreating, exhaled shortly and swung her round shield upwards, shaking off my wooden sword.
A small gap was created like that.
Thwack!
The wooden sword that instantly dove into that small gap hit my breastplate, making a crisp sound.
"Ugh. I lost."
"I told you to be careful of external forces. And when binding, don't just press..."
"Press and pull or press and push. Flexibly."
"That's right. Shall we go again?"
Grania once again took her stance and began to approach.
Ugh, with the upper body completely blocked by the shield, I don't feel motivated to aim there.
Landing an effective hit through Grania's shield required tremendous concentration and luck.
Grania wasn't particularly large in build. Would her height be in the mid-160cm range?
Of course, being short didn't make her look weak. The scar across her nose, her tanned skin, and her small but firm muscles spoke of the experience she had accumulated.
I carefully took steps while looking for an opening.
She was wearing a round helmet and a quilted armor, but her lower body only had cloth pants that exposed her calves.
In the end, unable to resist the temptation of those firm calves, I thrust my wooden sword towards her lower body.
"Hut!"
Damn, Grania quickly pulled her hips back and swung her wooden sword down, aiming for my head.
Thwack!
After deflecting the attack with my buckler, I thrust my wooden sword at Grania's arm. The quick thrust succeeded in hitting her forearm, but Grania's wooden sword had already grazed my wrist.
As I raised my hand, Grania took a short breath and asked while stepping back.
"Huff, huff, where are your arms attached to?"
"The shoulders."
"Huff, and not to where?"
"Not to the hips."
"Right. When aiming for the lower body, you're at a disadvantage in reach, so you always need to be careful of the upper body."
"Got it."
As soon as the words ended, the sparring resumed.
When Grania made three or four simple checking attacks, I calmly deflected the wooden sword and slowly approached.
Then suddenly, Grania charged in, holding her breath.
"Hup!"
Grania's hands crossed as the tip of her sword pushed the inner side of her round shield. The round shield was flipped to the right, and from behind it, the wooden sword sprang out.
It was an irregular thrusting attack where the positions of the shield and weapon changed in an instant.
Thwack!
I quickly twisted my wrist to deflect the attack with my wooden sword and pushed Grania's shield with my buckler. While doing so, I entangled her shoulder with my arm and tripped her leg.
Grania swung her wooden sword again, but I was already too close to her for an effective hit to be possible.
"Ugh."
Grania tried to hold on somehow, but her upper body was already subdued and her leg was tripped.
I completely knocked Grania down with an inner leg trip.
Whoosh.
The distance was too close to finish with the wooden sword, so I quickly dropped it and lightly tapped Grania's chin with my fist.
"Ugh, I lost."
Admitting defeat, Grania grabbed my hand to stand up and continued speaking.
"You've become familiar with wrestling now. No, not just familiar, but proficient?"
"Pfft, is there a difference?"
At my question, Grania shrugged with a bitter smile.
"I thought I was at least superior in technique, but now I'm not so sure. Are you really learning this for the first time?"
When I just smiled silently, Grania had an uneasy expression.
Surely she doesn't think I spent five silver coins just to play a prank?
Regardless of what she thought, Grania's teaching was worth every bit of the price I paid. I even felt like I might have paid too little.
It was only five days of training, but I had made tremendous progress.
My record against Grania on the first morning was 41 losses out of 43 matches, but this morning it was 11 losses out of 21 matches... In terms of win rate, it had increased more than tenfold. If the current me fought against the me from the first day, I think the current me would win nine out of ten times.
This was partly due to Grania's excellent teaching, but also because of the memories inherent in my body.
The playable characters in the Dark World game were not ordinary civilians from the start, but well-trained individuals.
Even the Elemental Mage, according to the setting, wasn't a boy or girl who knew nothing about magic, but a mage who had trained for ten years in the La-Palais.
The same was true for the Blood Knight.
Phoenix was of knightly stock. The class name 'Blood Knight' itself was due to this setting. It meant a knight who had manifested blood magic.
Being of knightly stock meant dedicating most of one's youth, starting from childhood, to mastering combat techniques.
Phoenix probably did the same, and it seemed that even if those mastered skills weren't retained in the head, they were engraved in the body. That's probably why my skills improved rapidly during sparring.
And if I were to cautiously guess, I don't think I've fully drawn out all of Phoenix's abilities yet.
After all, Phoenix, who was a knight in all but official appointment, couldn't possibly be inferior in skill to a mere mercenary.
In the following sparring sessions, I only let go of the exhausted Grania after winning three times in a row.
Grania, who had slumped down by the well, grumbled while shaking off sweat and dust.
"Haa, haa- I'm dying. Are we doing this again this evening? Aren't you going down to the sewers tomorrow?"
"We should rest today. And I'll practice alone for a while."
"Oh really? Well, I didn't have much left to teach you anyway. Refine your skills in real combat. If you really learned this for the first time, you must be a born genius, so your skills will improve quickly."
Grania nodded her head, seeming both relieved and a bit regretful, then asked as if she'd just remembered something.
"Ah, didn't you say you ordered a shield?"
"Yeah. I was just about to go pick it up."
"Your buckler seems quite good, don't you feel bad about replacing it? You've gotten pretty good at handling it too."
Though I'd only experienced real combat twice, I'd learned a lot while going through life-threatening crises.
And in those crises, the most threatening thing was none other than arrows.
I nearly died from arrow wounds on the ship, and at the docks, I almost wet myself because of arrows.
I was several times more afraid of arrows that flew in the blink of an eye than the spears or axes right in front of me.
That's why I ordered a large round shield like the one Grania uses.
I didn't care if the buckler I'm using now was a magic item or whatever. If circumstances didn't allow it, I might have even torn off a door to carry it around. That's how scared I was of arrows.
"It's fine. I practiced a lot with Gillius's shield. And I'd prefer something a bit heavier anyway. This one's made of iron, but it's so small."
"True, a buckler is convenient to carry but lacks stability. It's a bit lacking for use in large battles."
After chatting about various things, Grania went into the inn, and I habitually drew water from the well to wash my face.
That's when it happened.
"Hey."
"Huh?"
I looked up in the middle of blowing my nose, and there stood Ellen.
What's with this girl? Why does she keep popping up from somewhere?
I quickly finished washing my face and roughly wiped around my eyes with my sleeve before asking.
"Weren't you going to meditate?"
"I was going to, but I couldn't concentrate well."
"Concentrate? Hey, originally you're supposed to do those things by enduring with your butt even if you can't concentrate. You're so young, what are you..."
"Aish, if someone heard you, they'd think you're really an old man. Stop trying to lecture me when there's barely any age difference between us."
...Look at this kid, she was quiet for a while but now she's at it again.