Chapter 23: Victoria(2)
Chapter 23: Victoria(2)
Nassen caressed the still-unhealed wound—a hideous scar that ran in a straight line across his abdomen. It was from when Lina had sliced his body in half.
“Barely made it out alive.”
“You were too careless, Nassen. Buhik.”
“It’s not that I was careless. It’s that the blonde-haired bitch is just that damn strong.”
Nassen still couldn’t forget it—the torrent of sword strikes that had rushed toward him. Her level of swordsmanship was unbelievably high for someone her age.
“Are you sure they’re really here?”
“I’m almost positive. They have to come. I saw it in their eyes. Weren’t they the eyes of someone mad with vengeance?”
“Buhik! Buhik! A familiar look. Those types are fun to kill.”
Besides, if Lina’s party didn’t show up, Nassen would be in trouble.
The White Witch’s Seal.
Those bitches had played dumb, feigning ignorance, but they had to be the ones who had it. It wasn’t like the orb had grown feet and walked away on its own.
“Vengeance isn’t a right reserved only for you.”
It had been a long time since he’d suffered such a humiliation. The wound from the blonde-haired woman still throbbed with pain. His newly attached leg still felt awkward to move.
“Nassen. We’ve finally arrived at the castle with our next target.”
In the distance, a rather large castle came into view. There must be a lot of people living inside. It seemed like a good idea to use all the residents as sacrifices while they were at it.
“It’s been a while since our last meal. Buhik. But how do we confirm if they’re here?”
If Lina and Natasha were here, they couldn’t be ignored. They needed to prepare a solid countermeasure. No more failures would be tolerated. There was a limit to how long they could deceive their superiors.
Nassen used his magic to hypnotize a patrolling guard, making him come to their location. What followed, of course, was brutal torture.
He made the man’s arms and legs rot and showed him hallucinations. He stabbed him just enough to keep him from dying.
“Aaaargh! An extraordinary blonde-haired woman… she definitely came here a few days ago! Please… please spare me!”
The guard writhed on the ground like a caterpillar, begging for his life. They had the information they needed.
“So they were here after all.”
He’d figured they might have arrived first, since he’d been delayed treating his wounds. And now, he realized he had no chance of winning in a direct confrontation.
“Damn it. If it weren’t for that man who suddenly appeared… we wouldn’t be going through all this trouble.”
The man who had shown up with firebombs when they were about to counterattack with the ghouls.
That one insignificant man had completely turned the tables. If you’re weak, you should just keep your head down.
Nassen pondered for a long time how to complete the assassination mission.
Furuku was a pig who could only think about eating, so this kind of work was entirely up to him.
He glanced to his side and saw Furuku drooling as he watched the guard crawling on the floor.
“What? You haven’t eaten him yet?”
“You didn’t tell me to. Buhik.”
“You pick the strangest times to be obedient. That’s enough. We don’t need him anymore, so you can eat.”
“N-No! Save meeee!”
“Time to eat! Buhik!”
Crunch— Crunch—
Listening to the pleasant screams, Nassen came up with a good idea.
*
Why me, of all people!
Of course, the duel with the guard captain was a safe match using wooden swords. But even training swords had iron cores, and they hurt when you got hit.
Even in a practice match, I could get seriously injured. If I got hit in the wrong place, I could even die.
Unlike superhumans like Natasha, who could get hit with an iron club and recover just fine, Kerry was an ordinary person.
“Husband… are you worried about the duel?”
“…You know I’m weak, Natasha.”
For now, at least.
“Then why don’t you just say you don’t want to do it?”
If only it were that simple. But seeing Lina so determined to save Victoria, it was hard to just look the other way.
It wasn’t something Natasha, who knew nothing of the situation, would understand.
“If you don’t want to do it, Husband, you don’t have to. Even if it makes Lady Lina uncomfortable, you have me. Who cares if that Victoria woman lives or dies? I just met her today.”
She was right. Victoria was a woman he’d just met today. She had nothing to do with Kerry.
If Lina hadn’t wanted to save Victoria, I wouldn’t have stepped up like this. Must be nice for Natasha, not knowing anything.
But what’s done is done. And I didn’t want to disappoint Lina now.
In the end, Kerry had no choice but to head to the training ground where Lina was waiting.
Lina was standing in the middle of the grounds. With her blonde hair tied back, she was a picture-perfect sight.
“You’re here. I’ve been waiting, Sir Kerry.”
“Yes. Am I a little late?”
I needed time to prepare myself mentally. The one silver lining was that the bet with Victoria had been pushed back two weeks.
It was thanks to Lina requesting more time, calling it a sudden duel.
Thanks to her, I was spared from getting beaten to a pulp right away. Feeling wronged, Kerry had asked Victoria.
“Why me, of all people?”
“Because it seems more fun that way.”
Damn it. Victoria may be the hero’s former companion, but nobles are still a pain in the ass. If she weren’t so pretty, I would have cursed her out, at least in my head.
Anyway, for that reason, my training with Lina began.
For the record, in the two years I’d been getting knocked around in this world, I’d never had a chance to learn swordsmanship properly. It was hard enough just to get a meal.
Somehow, I’d managed to get my hands on an old sword and used it to scrape by.
I had developed my skills fighting monsters for two years, but it was questionable whether you could even call it swordsmanship.
Clack— Clack— Clack!
The two wooden swords clashed. I charged at Lina with all my might, but as expected, I couldn’t even create an opening.
I guess I really don’t have a talent for the sword.
That’s fine. I had no intention of struggling to swing a sword in this world anyway. As long as I have magic, that’s enough.
“Your swordsmanship is quite crude.”
“…I never had anyone to teach me, so I learned on my own.”
Though I had occasionally gotten tips from adventurers I got along with on how to hold a sword or the best way to cut things.
“Yes, it looks that way. But it’s not bad for someone self-taught.”
“…”
Was it really not bad? Could it be that I had a talent for the sword after all?
But one look at Victoria’s expression as she watched us from the side told me that wasn’t the case.
I could see her shaking her head at Lina’s compliment.
Lina was just saying that to encourage me.
Then again, if I had a talent for the sword, wouldn’t I have been a much cooler adventurer?
Two years wasn’t a short amount of time, after all.
“Your style is crude, but you’re good at exploiting openings. However…”
Lina cut herself off and began to press me. She was controlling her strength, so I never dropped my wooden sword, but I was being pushed back by her technique alone.
I brought my sword up to block Lina’s. Her blade seemed to wrap around mine, and before I knew it, her wooden sword was pointed at my neck.
“…While a practical style is good, there are many techniques in swordsmanship that are impossible to counter if you don’t know them.”
“How did you just do that?”
“It’s not as difficult as it looks. In fact, it’s more of a cheap trick. But it’s a technique that’s hard for someone who doesn’t know swordsmanship to block. And it’s a technique you will be learning from me.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Two weeks is not a long time to learn swordsmanship. It’s far too short. Of course, we’ll do our best to improve your fundamentals during that time, but it’s always good to have a hidden ace up your sleeve.”
A hidden ace. An ace that Victoria was watching me learn right now.
“You don’t need to worry about her. To her, this is just a duel for entertainment, and she’s not one to play dirty.”
Lina seemed to think highly of Victoria, but I didn’t see her in such a favorable light.
I was only going through all this trouble because of her.
But learning swordsmanship from Lina isn’t a bad thing.
I didn’t know much about swordsmen, but it was clear that Lina was skilled enough to hold her own anywhere.
The opportunity to learn swordsmanship systematically from an expert like Lina would probably count as expensive private tutoring, if you put a price on it.
“I was worried at first, but now I think this might be a good opportunity. It’s not a bad thing for you to improve your skills, Sir Kerry.”
“That’s one way to look at it, I suppose.”
It would be easier to think positively if it weren’t for Victoria, who was still smiling at us from the corner of the training ground.
“And above all, you’re following along better than I expected. It seems your experience as an adventurer wasn’t for nothing.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Either way, I had to beat that guard captain. Only then would things go smoothly from here on out.
It wouldn’t hurt to learn it as a form of self-defense.
To Kerry, swordsmanship was just that. He preferred magic over the sweat-drenched art of the sword.
As Lina’s swordsmanship lesson continued, Victoria, who had been watching with a faint smile from the corner, slowly approached. What is it? What’s going on?
Victoria’s playful expression made me uneasy.
“Was my watching you a distraction?”
“Not at all.”
Lina was quick to deny it, but I didn’t answer.
“…”
I only said no after Lina nudged me with her elbow. Victoria let out a small laugh, as if she found the sight amusing.
“So my presence did make you uncomfortable. Hehe. But there’s no need to hide your skills just because of that.”
“?”
What kind of nonsense was this? She’d been watching me get my ass kicked by Lina this whole time, and now she was saying I was hiding my skills?
Victoria laughed again at Kerry’s dumbfounded expression. He really was an interesting man.
To think he’d hide his skills so thoroughly over a bet that’s half a joke. What a meticulous man. At a glance, you’d think he was a real beginner.
Watching Kerry get beaten by Lina, Victoria had concluded that he was hiding his true abilities.
Kerry found himself in an increasingly awkward position due to Victoria’s misplaced expectations.
No, I really suck at fighting! I’m not pretending to be bad!
In the first place, I wasn’t some barbaric medieval person.
Victoria had probably been holding a sword since she was a child, and the same likely went for Lina and Natasha.
But Kerry had held a sword for the first time after coming to this world. How could he possibly beat people who had been wielding swords since birth? This was driving me crazy.
“Since you’re so uncomfortable that you’re hiding your skills, it would be rude of me to stay any longer. I’ll be on my way. I look forward to an entertaining duel.”
Victoria left with a knowing smile. Lina remained silent for a moment before speaking with a grin.
“Looks like we’ll just have to work harder, Mr. Hidden-Talent-Swordsman.”
“…Lady Lina.”
As Victoria left the training ground, she laughed in amusement. Seeing her cheerful smile for the first time in a while, her escort knight asked from her side.
“What do you find so amusing?”
“Isn’t he interesting? That man, Kerry.”
“I’m not sure I see it… Isn’t he just an ordinary man? If anything, it’s the women around him who are more eye-catching.”
“That’s what makes it interesting.”
“Pardon?”
“My father always told me that clever people don’t genuinely follow those inferior to them.”
“That seems to be true.”
“But what about that man, Kerry? Is he superior to the women around him? To be honest, I’m not so sure yet. But those women follow him. The red-haired woman is one thing, but that Lina is no ordinary person. A warrior of her caliber is subtly relying on him. I don’t know if she’s aware of it herself.”
“…I did get the feeling that he was the one in charge.”
“That’s why that man, Kerry, is so interesting.”
Victoria’s steps were light, as if she were excited.
It won’t be boring for a while.
Just thinking about Kerry was enough to make Victoria smile.