Chapter 27: Sparring(1)
Chapter 27: Sparring(1)
Hearing the rumors about those bastards from the madam might have been a stroke of luck. At the very least, it meant I now knew they were nearby.
She’d said people from the surrounding villages were going missing. Were they trying to make more ghouls? Cruel bastards.
What they were after was Victoria's assassination, the White Witch's orb, and probably revenge on our party.
Whatever it was, I couldn't let them have their way.
After parting with Ellie, Kerry returned to the inn where the party was staying.
“A son-in-law should come home a little earlier.”
“Husband, I was worried!”
I got an earful for staying out late, but I knew it was all because they were worried about me.
In any case, moving around at night was dangerous, so we decided to rest until morning. I considered telling the others about the rumors I’d heard from the madam, but since nothing was certain yet, I decided to investigate on my own first.
‘Having good eyes certainly makes things convenient.’
It wasn't a difficult task. All I had to do was go to a crowded place like the market or the town square and observe people.
Using the Goddess's Eye, of course.
The next morning, I went to the square and began examining people's status windows one by one. It was early, but there were plenty of diligent people already about.
The square looked as peaceful as ever on the surface, but...
“It’s completely rotten on the inside.”
The results of my investigation were a bit shocking. About one out of every ten people was afflicted with voodoo.
Fortunately, most of them were only in the initial stages of the curse, suffering from nothing more than fatigue.
‘One in ten... If this continues, does that mean at least several hundred people will become ghouls?’
And that was just the beginning. The terrifying thing about ghouls was their infectious nature; the thousands of residents here could all eventually turn into them.
‘Well, I’ve secured clear evidence that they’ve started their work.’
The fact that they didn't know about the Goddess's Eye was incredibly useful. No matter what they were plotting, I could get at least a rough picture of their scheme.
“What we need is... a large amount of holy water.”
Thankfully, a town this populated was bound to have a temple.
*
After finishing his investigation, Kerry informed the party that their enemies had arrived.
“Is that true?”
“Yes, Lina. I’m certain. The symptoms are similar to the early stages of the voodoo we saw in the last village.”
Lina clenched her fist. The righteous Regressor would never forgive such atrocities.
“Husband, you’re amazing! You’re going to save a lot of people, just like in the last village.”
“Natasha, we don’t know how things will turn out yet.”
“Don’t worry. You brought us the information, Husband. Lina and I will figure out the rest.”
“Natasha is right. We will not stand by and let this happen.”
What was a little surprising was that they believed me without question, even though I hadn't offered any proof.
It made me realize how close we’d become.
The grandmother let out a huge yawn and rose from her seat.
“Hmm. To think a wicked spell has been cast on the villagers... As a great shaman, I cannot simply stand by. I’ll go and take a look myself.”
I never knew my influence in the party had grown this strong. It was a moment that made all my past struggles feel worthwhile.
“Grandmother, I’ll go with you! Husband, I’ll go with Grandmother to check on the people and prepare the holy water. We need holy water to break the voodoo curse, right?”
“Natasha, if that’s the case, I should also...”
“No, you can’t. Husband, you have to train your swordsmanship. Lina, please take good care of his training.”
I mean, let me go with you! I want to take a day off too, damn it!
“Leave it to me, Natasha.”
Lina’s eyes blazed with determination. God, this was so damn stressful.
I was practically dragged to the training ground by Lina. Seeing my reluctance, she linked her arm with mine and pulled me along.
I could feel Lina's soft breasts against my bicep. Hey, this is nice. I'd already made up my mind to train, but I figured I should at least pretend to hate it until we arrived.
It was after we reached the training ground.
“Lina, I was thinking, shouldn’t we tell Victoria about the voodoo?”
Lina seemed to ponder my words carefully.
“...It would be of little use to tell her. She will not listen to us until we win the bet. Of course, if you insist on telling her, I will not stop you.”
“No, that’s alright. If you say so, then I’m sure you’re right.”
She had known Victoria for far longer than I had, so she was probably right.
“It seems the fastest way to persuade her is for you to win the bet. I apologize for placing such a burden on you, Kerry...”
So it came back to that again. For now, Natasha and her grandmother were preparing the holy water, so that shouldn't be a major issue.
The voodoo was progressing, but since it was still in the early stages, there wouldn't be any serious problems for a while.
First, win the bet.
Then, explain the situation to Victoria and use the holy water. That would put an end to their plan.
‘Right. The only way to solve this is to win this ridiculous bet first.’
“Lina, let’s start training right away.”
“It’s good to see you so motivated.”
“If I’m going to do this, I might as well win, right?”
“Yes. And this is something I heard yesterday while you were out... It seems Victoria is making this a bigger deal than we thought.”
“?”
“I see you haven’t heard. It appears she has turned your duel with the Guard Captain into an event sponsored by the castle.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“She’s apparently added a tournament for the townspeople to your duel. It seems like quite a lot of people will gather. You’ll have to train even harder if you don’t want to be embarrassed.”
Damn it. I had no idea. Why wouldn't they tell the person involved about his own event?
Victoria didn't seem like a bad person, but I was starting to dislike her more and more.
‘Past-life comrade or not, just you wait until I get my hands on you. I’ll teach you a lesson.’
For now, the duel came first. I had considered using magic as a last resort to win, but that seemed out of the question now.
I didn't want to show off my trump card in front of so many people.
“Let’s start training now!”
Kerry said as he stretched. His determination was on fire. He would win for all to see and knock Victoria down a peg.
The duel with Lina began. When it came to training, Lina showed no mercy.
She set a precise schedule for training and rest, and she stuck to it like clockwork.
“Your sword movements have become quite a bit smoother. You’ve also gotten much better at improvising.”
“Well, after getting my ass kicked this much, I’d better have improved at least that much, don’t you think?”
“There are many who lack the talent to even keep up with this.”
Lina said that was enough basic training for now, then demonstrated the technique she had shown me on our first day.
No matter how many times I saw it, it was amazing.
One moment, our wooden swords would be crossed, and the next, I’d find my sword pointing at the ground while hers was at my throat.
“If you’re lucky, you might be able to win easily with this. It’s nothing more than a cheap trick, though...”
Lina dismissed it as a mere trick, but I saw it completely differently.
To use a game as an example, a Sword Master might see a first-job skill as nothing but a cheap trick, but to a beginner, it's a different story. It felt like that.
“I’m sure you’ll learn this in no time, Kerry.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best to learn it.”
That day, I focused entirely on learning the technique Lina taught me. The sound of wooden swords clashing echoed endlessly in the training ground.
As early evening arrived, the shadows grew long.
Kerry was completely exhausted, sprawled out on the ground.
“You worked hard, Kerry.”
“You... too... Lina... huff... huff... you worked hard...”
Lina didn't look tired at all. If anything, she was smiling at me with a look of satisfaction. How could anyone be so diligent?
As I brushed the dirt off my body and headed out of the training ground, I saw Natasha and her grandmother coming to meet us.
“Husband!”
“Tsk. Looks like you went at it hard again today.”
The grandmother gave me a look of pity. I was a little grateful for that, but Natasha was completely different.
She was giving me the same proud look as Lina. I felt like I’d become some kind of RPG character they were power-leveling.
“Ahh! Husband, you smell so good, even with all the sweat.”
Natasha threw herself into my arms, not caring that I was filthy. The grandmother, watching us, chimed in.
“So? Do you feel a little stronger?”
“If you could get strong after just two weeks of training, there wouldn’t be any weak people in the world.”
“That’s true enough.”
“Well, I can see a path to victory, at least. I learned a trump card.”
“That’s my son-in-law. So dependable.”
Before I knew it, I was no longer finding it awkward to be treated as their husband and son-in-law. Is this what brainwashing by repetition feels like? I should make sure to refuse more strongly next time.
“What happened with the holy water?”
Even now, Lina seemed to only think about the mission. That was just like her.
“We asked the nearby temple for the holy water. At first, they told us not to talk nonsense and said some unpleasant things, but when Grandmother proved the curse with her shamanism, their faces turned pale.”
“Well done, Natasha.”
“Hehe. Thank you, Husband.”
That night, we all had a huge dinner together. The training was so intense that every meal tasted like heaven.
Time passed. Before long, the day of the duel with the Guard Captain had arrived.
“Today’s the day, right?”
“The day the Guard Captain fights that outsider.”
“I heard the outsider is a big guy too. If I had to choose, I hope the outsider wins. Hehe.”
“I agree. Those guards don’t know when to stop lining their own pockets.”
The townspeople, who only knew that the Guard Captain's opponent was an outsider, chattered freely even as Kerry walked right past them.
Kerry let out a sigh as he headed to the training ground with his party.
“There are so many people here.”
Did none of them have anything better to do?
Then again, in a medieval world with no entertainment, watching a fight was probably as exciting as the Olympics, to exaggerate a little.
“People go crazy for this kind of stuff. I see a lot of street vendors, too.”
“I heard, Husband, that some people saved their spots since dawn just to get a front-row seat.”
This was insane. I know there isn't much to see in this world, but still.
“Boredom is part of it, but most of them are just trying to make a quick buck. They’re keeping it quiet, but I’m sure everyone has placed bets on this duel.”
“Then I’ll bet my entire fortune on my husband!”
‘You don’t have any money,’ Kerry thought. ‘You’re always getting an allowance from Lina...’
They were even betting money on my match with the Guard Captain. Like noble, like commoner.
Just then, Lina headed off somewhere. She stopped a young boy, asked him something, and handed him some money.
“Don’t tell me... you too, Lina?”
“Yes. I placed a light bet of 50 silver, including Natasha’s allowance.”
“Wow! Lina, you’re the best!”
“The payout is three to one. It seems an overwhelming number of people are predicting your defeat, Kerry.”
“Now that’s a little infuriating.”
I was the man who had endured Lina's hellish training. I wasn't the same person I used to be. I took out the emergency funds I had been saving from my pocket. Of course, it was only a small fraction of the nest egg I had stashed away.
“I’ll bet 50 silver on my own victory.”
“You sound confident. That’s the spirit.”
If I won, I’d make a cool 1 gold and 50 silver. I considered betting all the money I had, but the betting pool itself was probably small, so a large bet would just lower the odds.
As I looked around the training ground, which had turned into a bustling marketplace, I saw the guards in the distance.
At the center of the group was the Guard Captain. That bastard had one nasty look on his face. Judging by the rather manly scar on his face, he seemed to have plenty of real combat experience.
He was chatting away cheerfully, looking completely at ease. Then, he suddenly shot up from his seat in surprise and saluted.
It was Victoria's entrance.
Victoria was entering the training ground, escorted by her knights. Every single resident bowed their heads to her in a show of respect.
Damn, what a picture. In another world, being a noble really is the best.
Victoria gave the guards a small wave of her hand before coming directly to our party. That must have stung a little for those guards.
“I trust you’ve prepared sufficiently?”
Lina answered on our behalf.
“Thanks to your consideration, Lady Victoria, we have. Thank you.”
Consideration, my ass. She should have just listened when we offered to help her. I was so annoyed that I shot her a dirty look, but for some reason, Victoria just looked at me and smiled as if she found it amusing.
“Well then, it’s still a little early, but let us begin the dueling event. Announcer, you may begin the proceedings.”
I hadn't heard it from Victoria directly, but I'd already been told. It made sense; a simple duel between me and the Guard Captain wouldn't be enough of a pretext to make it such a big event.
An announcer stepped forward in Victoria's place and began the event.
“The dueling event will begin with a tournament for the commoners! And for the grand finale, the Guard Captain and the outsider, Kerry! They will close out the event. Everyone, please enjoy the festivities!”
The crowd roared, and a joyous, festival-like atmosphere took over. Of course, neither the Guard Captain nor I were in any mood for it.
A commoner’s dueling tournament? Who gave a damn? It had nothing to do with us anyway.
In the distance, commoners were fighting a tournament with wooden swords, but I didn't spare them a single glance.
The Guard Captain was the same. He and Kerry continued to glare at each other. The fight had already begun.