Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 012
Chapter Title: EPISODE.003 (4)
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─Thwack!
“─Guhk!”
A sudden ambush!
From those cute little paws came a blow so heavy it was hard to believe.
Under that powerful strike, Barison—who had been about to charge forward—tumbled to the ground right there.
Thud thud thud─.
“Gulk!”
A dull pain surged up from his jaw, hammering hard against his skull.
It happened right after. Something sharp raked along his sprawled body.
“Kuuk!”
When he wiped his face, he felt something red and sticky smear across his palm.
“Blood…?”
It was blood.
Blood flowing from a gash torn across his own face. Staining his palm with crimson. Barison looked up in stunned disbelief.
There, one of the beast cubs had landed on the ground, baring its teeth at him with a haughty glare.
Grrr─.
A fox cub whose appearance vaguely recalled a raccoon dog, its fur faintly shimmering with gold.
Its hackles raised, it directed an inexplicable hostility toward him.
“Fuck, what the hell is this fox pup─!!”
Barison spat curses as he hauled himself to his feet. He meant to snap the neck of the thing that had clawed his face.
But─.
Grrrng!
The fox kicked off the ground with a thump, and Barison's wooden sword sliced futilely through empty air.
“Huh?”
Before he could voice his confusion at the miss, the fox's paw struck the air once more.
Pop, papapap!
It darted nimbly between the trees, clawing and slamming into Barison with paws and head.
Thud, thunk, papapapow!
“Th-this!”
Mind the claws, and the attacks themselves weren't that threatening. The real issue was the humiliation of being toyed with by some beast.
A small question mark floated above the eyes of Kuhn, who watched from afar.
‘Why that guy?’
…
‘Repaying the favor of all the meat I shared?’
He had no idea why it was helping him. But─.
‘No need to pass up a chance like this.’
Before the thought even finished forming, Kuhn smashed the temple of one of the charging trainees.
Crack─!
“Gehk……!”
The flat of the wooden sword struck the vital point dead-on. The hit trainee's eyes rolled back as his body collapsed.
Kuhn casually stepped aside to dodge the falling form and flicked his gaze around.
‘Now just… two left.’
There wasn't a speck of doubt that the fox cub would lose to Barison.
How could there be?
The thing had movements so swift that even Kuhn could barely catch it with his own hands.
No way it'd fall to a guy like Barison.
And sure enough, pop, papapap─!!
Barison couldn't hold back his rage amid the relentless body slams and let out a furious bellow.
“Uwaaaak! You fox pup, I'll kill you!”
His scream— as if the thread of reason had snapped clean— echoed thunderously through the night forest.
“Uwaaaaak!”
Just as his sword came slashing down toward the bushes where the fox cub had landed, kakakaka!
A wooden sword shot in from somewhere and blocked his blade.
─Kak, kakaka!
It wasn't just stopping him.
The motion wrapped around his sword like a tight bind. Friction from the clash sent wood chips flying right into his face in an instant.
Crunch!
Naturally, the one who had blocked Barison's wooden sword was Kuhn.
He had dashed right up to Barison in a flash and parried the strike.
‘When… did he get here?’
Beyond his wide eyes, he saw the gang's trainees all collapsed on the ground, faces buried in the bushes.
Every one with limbs twisted at grotesque angles or blood trickling from their faces, eyes rolled back… clear signs they'd all been taken down.
‘Already all of them down?’
These useless brats who couldn't help at all?
Rage boiled up at the sight, making Barison's eyebrows twitch.
But… it didn't take long for that surging fury to twist into terror.
A chilling energy was rising around Kuhn's body, who had blocked his sword.
Whoosh!
An aura so eerie it sent chills straight down the spine.
‘Th-this……?’
The familiar, ominous memory made Barison's entire body shudder involuntarily.
‘Now!’
Kuhn didn't miss the opening. He shook off the sword.
Not with brute force, but technique— driving out Barison's massive frame!
Crunch!
“You damn bastard, pulling cheap tricks?”
Not to be outdone, Barison regripped his sword with both hands and lunged at Kuhn.
The foundational form of Lion Tempering Swordsmanship: Nape Hunt Strike—one of the top three in raw power.
“Dieee!!”
A slash like a lion tearing into a nape rushed straight at Kuhn in an instant.
At this rate, it wouldn't just smash his nose—it'd snap his neck clean!
At that moment, the sword in Kuhn's hand began to move at a bizarre angle.
‘Astal Style
Basic Swordsmanship…….’
The blade in Kuhn's hand rode over Barison's wooden sword like a carp ascending a waterfall… piercing the air.
─Pheew!
…
“Huuu……”
A long breath escaped him.
It had been ages since his last one-against-many fight, and on top of that, the fox's sudden swift movements…
His still-unfinished body breathing ragged wasn't all that strange.
At least it was over. That was a relief.
‘Lucky it ended with just scratches. If this body took a real injury…….’
Mindful of that, Kuhn slowly regulated his breathing amid the now-quiet forest.
Plus… testing it in real combat had revealed some definite facts, so it wasn't all bad.
As if to prove it, Kuhn glanced over his arms and legs, muttering to himself.
‘Tensing muscles all over more than needed.’
That's why they say practice and real fights are different, Kuhn thought, shaking his head with a lonely tilt.
A habit to mull over his minor mistakes from the fight.
‘Even with the size difference, that judgment felt a bit off.’
‘Here, better to parry and disrupt his breathing than deflect?’
‘Same here—if I delayed a beat and mixed in a feint…….’
That was when Kuhn was replaying his errors.
A cry rang out from overhead.
Grrrng─.
Sometime during it all, the fox cub had climbed a tree. It looked down casually, as if nothing had happened, licking its front paw.
The fur there was tinged a bit red… but probably just some of Barison's blood from the clawing.
‘No injuries on it?’
He still didn't know why it had helped him… but the aid was undeniable.
Kuhn spoke toward it.
“Thanks.”
Grrr─.
As if sensing his gratitude, the cub let out a thin whine while frantically licking its paw.
Moments later, it stretched long on the branch, then leaped between boughs and vanished into the darkness─.
Papapap─.
Kuhn slowly turned his gaze, leaving the fox cub's pattering retreat behind.
Then to his feet.
To Barison and his gang, collapsed a short distance away. He checked their states.
“Kuuh─.”
“Uh, uhh. Uhhh……”
Alive, but limbs shattered, unconscious on the ground.
Left like this, they wouldn't make morning training—hell, beasts would devour them before the night was out.
But─.
‘No reason for me to care that much.’
They struck first, after all. If he'd been even a bit weaker, he'd be the one down now.
From Kuhn's view, sparing their lives was mercy enough.
Gazing at the snake meat and mushrooms trampled and smeared underfoot like crushed worms, Kuhn spoke.
“Looks like… no dinner tonight after all.”
A hollow sigh trailed after.
4.
The next day─.
During the brief break, Lion’s Den trainees sat in small groups on the training grounds, chatting away.
Having finished the morning session, their uniforms were soaked with sweat and caked in sand and dust.
The topic was, naturally, Barison and his crew.
“Know where they went?”
“Beats me? Haven't seen 'em since leaving the dorms.”
“Why're they gone?”
Just yesterday, they'd been strutting around in their pack, souring the mood.
Now all five missing at once… bound to stir talk, good or bad.
“Instructors aren't even looking—think something happened?”
“Nah. No way.”
“Those guys always rolled deep.”
The instructors had already found the bodies in the woods, so no search. But the clueless trainees could only speculate.
Taylor let their murmurs flow past one ear as he quietly turned his head.
His gaze settled on Kuhn, resting a bit apart.
‘Last night, they definitely followed that guy into the forest.’
He'd spotted it purely by chance—from his window, while resting in his quarters.
Taylor tilted his head slightly.
‘But he came back alone.’
Barison, their ringleader, had a grudge against that guy—Ethan, Kuhn's alias.
No need to explain why they'd chase him into the woods.
And… the wounds scattered over Kuhn's body were clear battle scars.
He seemed to hide them, but not perfectly.
Prime example: the dark bruise on his wrist.
‘Not a direct hit—more like grazed by a wooden sword.’
Staring at the bruise, Taylor flicked his eyes to Kuhn's face.
Untidy auburn hair cascading to his shoulders, like he had no intent to groom it.
Reddened eyes that instinctively put others on guard—fierce yet decadently alluring.
As Taylor peered into that face, he muttered inwardly.
‘Did he really take down Barison's whole crew alone?’
He didn't like the guy, but skill-wise, Barison ranked high in the Den.
His boasts of leading beggar scum weren't entirely empty—talent wasn't bad.
‘Plus four lackeys. Taking down all five at once…….’
His grip tightened unconsciously.
─Crunch.
‘…He could.’
But even without breaks, he'd have to brace for worse injuries than Kuhn's.
He'd suspected hidden skill. But…….
‘Didn't think it was that much.’
Merchant's eye and swordsman's competitive fire intertwined subtly around Taylor's gaze─.
‘…Gonna need to keep an eye on him.’
Several more months passed after that.
The senior instructor who had assembled the trainees looked them over and spoke in a solemn tone.
“From today… we begin the Lion’s Trial.”