Episode 18
My wooden sword staggered and swung randomly toward the air and hit his chin.
“KKKKkkhh!”
Naturally, his body was knocked up in the air, shoved away, and rolled on the floor. On the contrary, I had already lost my balance, but I managed to use the sword as a support to avoid falling.
“What happened?”
Silence quickly lurked around because of the hit.
“Ugh?!”
I pointed the disproportionately shaken wooden sword at Baltian, who stood up with a perplexed look on his face, unable to understand the situation.
The foundation for the sword technique I used was to show one’s weak point, and it was about tricking the opponent thoroughly.
“Pfft.”
Unlike him, who was angry, laughter poured out from the audience. He didn’t expect the blow.
“I’ll kill you!!”
Perhaps it was because he got smashed by someone to whom he yielded the lead to.
The guy staring at me with an eerie expression came in quickly, his sword pointed at me.
An old eagle was definitely better than a young crow.
His swordsmanship was definitely sharper than the kids his age, as he participated on behalf of the Voltiz Kingdom. His postures were well established, and his sword’s movements were quite accurate.
However, because of his lack of experience, his actions were too predictable.
That applied not only to Baltian but also to most people.
Whoooong!
With the sword down, I took a step toward him and raised my weapon.
From the axis of the legs to the shoulders and the waist, it seemed almost impossible to restrain him because it was a sloppy posture that was swung without being properly supported.
In an instant, my sword was deflected away from my body by the blade he swung up, and I heard the sound of gasps from all sides.
There was also a worrying cry from Winley, who was surprised.
Even those who were proud of knowing the situation seemed to think that I just accidentally struck Valtian’s sword and that such a coincidence would never happen again.
Well.
Paang!
Seemingly unable to let it slide, he lifted his wooden sword towards me. In retaliation, I straightened my legs and distracted my balance.
“Eek.”
At the same time, my body followed his weapon’s flow of momentum, spinning, collapsing, and avoiding his attack.
Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Simultaneously, my sword swung away directionlessly as it dodged his.
I hit his forehead that time.
* * *
“Kkkh!”
The same situation happened again. People were surprised by the jaw-dropping moment.
Baltian was one of the brightest to participate in the upcoming competition, even though he had a bad temper.
On the contrary, I was known as a weak prince who just recovered from a six-year-long coma. I couldn’t have relearned the way of the sword properly.
In fact, the careless attitude I showed would’ve instilled more confidence in his mind.
However, the results were different from their expectations.
Unlike their prediction that I would be defeated, losing the duel in a second, I knocked down Baltian with my sloppy swordsmanship twice.
If it were a real fight, not a duel, he would’ve been killed twice already.
“That stupid trick!”
“Well, I’m winning. Your skill must be worse than I thought.”
Baltian, who jumped up at my words, had his face red full of shame.
Pffftt!
As someone burst into laughter as if they couldn’t hold it in anymore, he got madder, almost as if that added more fuel to the fire.
“That’s terrible.”
“To a beginner who doesn’t know how to swing a sword.”
“Who said Prince Baltian is one of the most skillful competitors?”
“Argh!!!”
He couldn’t argue with them, so he glared at me with his teeth clenched instead.
Just like how he had already suffered twice, his defeat was a fixed fact, but he refused to admit it. Now was the time to give him a little stimulation.
Unlike the beginning, his senses became cautious. Reflexively, he was afraid of being hit by nonsense coincidences.
I could bet he thought that if he became extra careful, he could never lose. With that logic, he observed me from a distance.
If he didn’t come, I would have to go. Hence, I came after him in a sloppy manner.
Then, I swung my sword wildly.
I was displaying a messy technique that was no different than a child swinging a branch recklessly. It had no distance, no distribution of power, and no formalization of direction.
Smack!
I couldn’t balance my bodyweight properly. Hence, I couldn’t put a lot of strength on my sword.
Smack! Smack!
As I watched the guy calmly stopping the attacks I delivered, the people inside the banquet hall seemed to think his weapon would soon hit me.
However…
Paaah!!
The blindly-swung sword struck him on the temple, and everyone opened their mouths in astonishment.
* * *
“Oh, my God!”
I gave off a flurry of seemingly random swordsmanship.
My attacks were so slow and weak that any person who had learned how to fight properly could easily avoid them. Everyone could see that.
If so, then why did he get hit again?
Baltian looked confused and was soon staggering after sustaining three blows to the head.
“Hmm, did you get hit?”
I jokingly asked such a ridiculous question. Laughter came from the audience again.
“What happened? I thought he was an expert?”
“I can’t believe he’s here. How come he got beaten by swordsmanship like that?”
“Maybe he really is nothing…”
“Since he did it three times, not once or twice, then I’m sure…”
Nobody thought that I wasn’t making it happen on purpose anymore.
“Oh, no! No! That is not it!”
“That’s a lame excuse.”
“Tut-tut-tut-tut.”
By that time, Baltian’s expression looked really mad enough to jump. It was as if he was being treated unfairly.
He stopped, recollecting his thoughts. He couldn’t block the first hit, and the same could be said for the second attack.
Despite my seemingly poor skills, he had gotten hit. Baltian knew there was something more to what other people could see.
Of course, making excuses for him wouldn’t change anything. I grinned at him, who was currently huffing.
This was why I had learned this sword technique.
It was called,
The [Drunken Swordsmanship.]
It was literally swinging a sword like a drunk man.
It was a swordsmanship style invented by the heavy drinker Dok Go-jun at the Hall of Heroes and was completed by Haris, the Sword God.
‘Damn it, even though I made it, this is such an evil technique!’
This technique made the bad-tempered Dokgo-jun click his tongue.
-Don’t use it unless you really want to bury someone socially. If you have a conscience for the same person, that is.
Haris, who was organizing the structure of the completed sword style, also frowned and said, “Don’t use this technique unless absolutely necessary.”
Was it because they were heavy? Sharp?
It wasn’t. It was because of the deceptiveness and playfulness that embodied the entire swordsmanship style.
It was so full of malice that even the two swordsmen belonging to an entirely different league felt that it shouldn’t be used.
Its objective wasn’t something grand like achieving something, protecting someone, or killing a target.
No, its objective was to shame a bastard in front of everyone.
What could describe it better than evil swordsmanship?
I was staggering as if I was drunk, avoiding or offsetting the opponent’s attacks and delivering a sudden and unexpected attack.
To be honest, it was quite an efficient sword technique since it frustrated the hell out of the opponent. If it was used in a situation where people were watching, its effect became even greater.
Just like now.
“Well, I’m not sure whether I was lucky or my opponent is weaker than I thought.”
“Damn it!”
Since it was almost a style made for entertainment purposes, I actually gave it the ridiculous name of Entertainment Swordsmanship rather than Drunken Swordsmanship.
Even if it was called the entertainment meta itself, it was no exception.
Of course, it would be meaningless if it was just fun and weak.
Even if it was made for entertainment in the first place, would the swordsmanship created by those swordsmen be weak?
An unexpected result unfolded.
Baltian, embarrassed by the situation, eventually began to summon Mana, emitting sword energy.
“Prince Baltian! I can’t believe you are using your sword energy at someone who’s not a knight in a duel! Are you out of your mind?”
Princess Ileana shouted faster than Barris, who looked just as enraged as her.
However, Baltian ignored her and came at me with spiteful eyes.
“I’ll kill you!”
I took a step back at the very moment he attacked with the sword energy, acting as if I was scared.
“It’s too late to dodge!”
“Brother!”
The moment Barris, who shouted in despair, ran out to protect me….
“If the coincidence persists, I will be suspicious.”
There was a person who seemed to be unable to understand the situation ever since it started.
Eventually, I stopped fooling around, took a step back, and collapsed as if my legs lost strength.
Paang!
At the same time, the weapon containing the sword energy sliced through the air where my head was supposed to be, scattering in the air aimlessly.
What a moron.
“Huh?!”
Right before it hit me, I fell backward and avoided the offensive, and as I did so, I saw his eyes widen.
I murmured, speaking in a hushed voice, having no intention to be heard, making his eyes fill with even more anger.
He soon realized something went wrong and tried to run away.
It was a little too late to go back. There was nothing I could do now except continue executing my Entertainment Swordsmanship technique.
“Ugh!”
My staggering feet tripped his legs, which made him lose his balance and fall toward me.
Thump! Thump!
We got entangled as we rolled over the floor. Those who watched our miserable and unsightly battle were silent as if they were at a loss for words.
Whoooong!
And, by the time the cloud of the moment was over…
Miraculously, I preempted the position of pressing him down from above and reflexively hacked my sword down, hitting the floor inches away from his head.
It looked as if my sword, which I used for nothing but supporting my body, had delivered a clean hit.
“…”
Baltian was on the floor. I sat on him and purposely missed his head.
As the winner of the match was determined by a coincidence, astonishment and cold silence surrounded the banquet hall.
I felt everyone’s eyes on me, surprised by the ridiculous situation.
As I looked up, Baltian, who had rolled on the ground with me, looked up at me with a disbelieving expression.
There were a lot of surprises.
Lightly, casually and slowly, I lifted the sword that struck the space right next to his ear and smiled. Immediately afterward, I heard the sound of him breathing in deeply.
“I think I won.”
‘Pretend you don’t know anything,’
The silence lasted way longer than I thought.
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