NOVEL NEXT Episode 10: "Sword Saint"
Episode 10: “Sword Saint”
“—Incompetent, take up your sword.”
Standing in the middle of Merin’s plaza, pointing his sword at me and exuding an intimidating presence, is none other than the familiar stubbled old man—yes, the “Sword Saint.” As expected, this is how it turned out. Well, I did provoke him quite a bit.
Even so, it’s impressive how he can do this with representatives from various countries watching. As expected of Lord Arlight.
—How did it come to this? The story goes back to when I arrived at this plaza. It was about ten or fifteen minutes ago.
—
“Ah, excuse me! Are you Mr. Mine by any chance!?”
“Yes, I am. …Um, who might you be?”
Three days after arriving in Merin with the king and the border count, I came to the plaza in front of the lord’s mansion to check the route to the meeting place and ensure the surrounding area was secure. It’s dangerous if someone hides magic around here. Miltia might do something like that without a second thought.
That’s when this woman called out to me. A beautiful lady with black hair and brown eyes. She looks about my age. I have no memory of her, though… I’d definitely remember someone this beautiful.
“I’m Aria Sairen. You helped me during the entrance exam for the Alteria Royal Academy…”
“Exam? …Oh, that time!”
“Yes!”
I remember now. The headmistress mentioned someone like that. The girl who looked like she was about to die back then has become so beautiful. …Wait, why is she here? Weren’t the top students supposed to go to the central academy?
“Why are you here?”
“Well…”
The story starts before she took the entrance exam. Her family is a baronial house in the remote area with most of their territory being forest. Because of that, they weren’t very wealthy. One day, her father was seriously injured in a battle with monsters attacking the village. Luckily, there was a healer who saved his life, but the medical costs and village reconstruction expenses put the barony in financial trouble.
At that time, some patron earl offered to help. The condition was that she would serve as a maid in his house. Well, maid in name, but practically a concubine. She was around ten years old then, right? What a pedophile. He should be castrated.
The only way to politely refuse the offer was to get into the Royal Academy. Once accepted, no one could interfere. Well, a certain marquis once tried to interfere but got scolded for it.
“But I was so nervous that I felt sick…”
Apparently, I was the one who spoke to her at that time. As a result, she passed the exam safely, but the earl’s pressure on her family continued. Moreover, that earl had close ties with a powerful noble from the aristocratic faction and even interfered with her career after graduation.
“That’s why I’m currently working in the military, managing supplies and such.”
“Wow, what a waste…”
There’s always some troublesome person around. And putting such a talented person in this kind of job? Alteria is done for. If they don’t need her, they should give her to us. Maybe I’ll try recruiting her, even if it’s a long shot. In Hartelia, she’d be in high demand.
—
“What are you doing here!”
“Ugh.”
“I’m terribly sorry!”
The familiar stubbled man who appeared was the “Sword Saint,” Marquis Arlight. He doesn’t look as much like me as I thought. Maybe if you squint… Gaia said we looked similar, so I was worried. But this should be fine. He still doesn’t suit that stubble…
“Return to your post at once!”
“Yes! I’m sorry, Mr. Mine. It’s my fault.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.”
“You, that emblem… Hartelia’s… Wait. Are you that ‘Incompetent’?”
Don’t recognize me. No, it’s rather convenient as a decoy.
“You, as an incompetent, dared to lay hands on Cain.”
“……”
“And you spread bad rumors about my house!”
“……”
“Hey, incompetent! Are you listening!”
“……”
Did Cain tattle to his dad? Pathetic. Shouldn’t he thank me first? I did save your family and territory, after all. Not that I’d be comfortable with a sincere thank you.
And now, because this guy is shouting, people are gathering. Even the border count and Mr. Fenfield are here. Oh no, what should I do?
—
“Hey! Useless, say something!”
“…Oh? Were you talking to me? My apologies, I didn’t expect to be called useless by someone from another country out of the blue.”
“What did you say?”
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am Mine Fireworks, honorary baron of the Hartelia Kingdom. Nice to meet you… or rather, you don’t need to remember me.”
I made it clear to everyone that I am from Hartelia while giving a slight taunt. I think these people are also from Alteria, but what’s with “It’s starting again…”? At least make an effort to stop it, you cowards.
“…You’ve become quite arrogant for someone who’s useless.”
“Thanks to being kicked out of the Arlight family, I was able to meet people who properly appreciate me.”
“…Hmph, for someone as useless as you to be valued, Hartelia must be lacking in people.”
“Oh? Is that an insult to the Royal Academy of Alteria, which evaluated me?”
“……”
“As expected of ‘Sword Saint’. The Royal Academy of Alteria is nothing to fear, it seems. How enviable.”
Oh my? His stubble is twitching. Ah, that’s right, he got scolded, didn’t he? Sorry about that.
Now, let’s push a little more.
“Oh, you mentioned something about a bad reputation earlier, but I never say anything that isn’t true.”
“What?”
“Oh, don’t worry. For the sake of ‘Sword Saint’s’ honor, I won’t mention it here.”
“……”
Oh, the twitching got worse… Well, the surroundings are getting noisy too. People are murmuring things like, “Could it be that the ‘Sword Saint’ is a miser?” and “So the rumors were true…!”
Guys, stop it, his face is turning red.
“—Useless, draw your sword.”
—
And so we come back to this. Just because you can’t win with words, you pull out a sword? Such a short temper. Well, at least he’s not attacking right away. Maybe someone warned him?
But since he drew his sword, it’s okay to go ahead, right? I glanced at the border count, who nodded with a grin, along with Mr. Fenfield.
“Are you listening? Draw your sword—”
“I refuse.”
“Hmph, are you scared? Useless is useless after all.”
“No, I’m not a swordsman. Are you the type who enjoys winning in areas your opponent is weak in? ‘Sword Saint’ is laughable.”
“……”
Telling a mage to draw a sword? What if you were told to draw a bow? Well, the scary part about the ‘Sword Saint’ is he might be able to cut rocks with a bow, but surely he has no aptitude for bows. Right? He can’t do that, right?
“—You, useless—”
“You keep saying the same thing. Do you know there’s a saying for that? It means you only know one trick.”
“—You, how dare you be disrespectful to me!”
“Well, being called useless repeatedly by a foreign noble…”
Look, even the older men around are nodding. It’s funny to see a few people with Alteria emblems among them. Seems like the ‘Sword Saint’ isn’t well-liked.
“If you insist, I can humor you in a duel. As long as I can set the terms.”
“—Fine. Tell me.”
“How about anything goes, and the first one to land a hit wins?”
“Hmph, very well.”
Oh, he looks so pleased. Does he already think he’s won?
—
“[Magic Armor]”
I moved to the center of the square and activated [Magic Armor], wielding my usual twin maces. The judge seems to be some random guy nearby. Maybe he’s from Melnier?
“Hmph, what’s with that stance? Are you an amateur?”
‘Who kept challenging this amateur to a duel?’
“……”
If you’re going to be silent, don’t provoke me in the first place.
“Are both sides ready?”
“Of course.”
“Yes.”
“Then… begin!”
“Useless, I’ll let you have the first move—”
“[Bullet]”
“—What!?”
Ignoring his words, I floated a large number of [Bullets] around the ‘Sword Saint’ and smashed them into him. Didn’t I land about thirty hits? That means I win.
Who said anything about fighting with maces, you idiot.
“It’s over.”
“””Whoa!”””
“””’The Sword Saint’ lost!?”””
“The duel is—”
“Dirty tri—ugh!”
“That’s enough, isn’t it?”
He seemed unconvinced, so I had no choice but to punch him square in the face. The “Sword Saint” went flying from the clean hit. Since I didn’t use my mace or the explosion magic embedded in my [Magic Armor], he shouldn’t be dead. It looks like he instinctively increased the output of his [Body Enhancement]. This part is different from Cain.
Well, I do feel a bit better now. After all, I finally achieved my ten-year-long goal.
“You! How dare you do this to me…”
Uh-oh, the “Sword Saint’s” [Body Enhancement] just got stronger. I thought I broke his nose, but he still seems ready to fight.
“You will die he—”
“Blade!!”
“—! Lord Fidel!?”
“You lost. Don’t make a fool of yourself.”
“But—”
“You agreed to the terms: anything goes, and the first to land a hit wins. You accepted those conditions.”
“But this man mocked—”
“I said stop embarrassing yourself. You were the one who called him ‘useless’ first.”
“……”
The one who stopped the enraged “Sword Saint” is probably the prince of Alteria. I think he’s a character from the original story too. Since the king is still alive, I didn’t have much interaction with him in the original.
Honestly, what a meddlesome move. I was looking forward to beating him up. Well, it would be a disgrace for the country if their main forces ended up fighting a foreign noble and got defeated. They probably also don’t want to lower the “Sword Saint’s” reputation any further. His presence is a deterrent to other countries for Alteria.
Even though he lost, whining afterward is disgraceful for a noble. Everyone who watched knew I had three chances to kill the “Sword Saint”: during the initial [Bullet] attack, when I punched him, and right after the punch.
Some of the onlookers are openly mocking the “Sword Saint’s” behavior, so it’s a bit too late, but I guess they don’t want his reputation to drop any further.
“I apologize on Blade’s behalf. Can you let this go?”
“No, I cannot.”
“””What!?”””
“””You’re being disrespectful!”””
The Alteria faction bristled at my words. Refusing a request after the prince apologized is a big deal. But there’s no way I’d let it end like this.
“Is this a grudge?”
“Partly. Marquis Arlight tried to attack me after the duel was decided. I don’t want to back down now and then be attacked later.”
“Hmm. You have a point…”
“””Your Highness!?”””
He seems to be a reasonable person and seems to know about me. He must have gotten reports from Earl Hertia and those who participated in the battle of Arania.
Now, how should we settle this? Even I know it’s bad to keep refusing the mediation of another country’s royalty. Eventually, I’ll have to compromise. The question is where to draw the line.
—
“Very well… Blade—no, the Arlight family is forbidden from harming you or those around you in the future. Directly or indirectly. Unless you attack or provoke excessively, or unless our countries go to war. Additionally, they will pay you compensation. How does that sound?”
“What are the penalties for breaking the agreement?”
“Hmm… Immediate abdication of the head of the family. And if there are damages, compensation equivalent to the loss. Agreed?”
“That’s acceptable. Ah, I don’t need the compensation. Instead, let me visit my mother’s grave in Arania once a year.”
“Agreed.”
I guess that’s a reasonable compromise. I wanted to punch him a few more times, but I suppose this will do.
This prince really understands the Arlight family. He knows that Blade would never genuinely apologize. I don’t expect an apology anyway.
“Blade, is that understood?”
“But—”
“Understood?”
“……Yes.”
“Everyone here is a witness. Do not embarrass me.”
“Yes…!”
That’s how it is. Blade looks very displeased, but there are too many witnesses from other countries. Hopefully, he stays quiet for a while. Though I doubt it…
—
“Oh… There’s something I’ve always wanted to say.”
“…Tell me first. I don’t want you to provoke him further.”
“Okay. His stubble doesn’t suit him at all.”
“Pfft… Excuse me. That’s a delicate issue, but I largely agree. I’ll tell him when the time is right. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, thank you.”
See? I knew everyone thought it didn’t suit him.
“Ah, by the way, can I ask you something too?”
“What is it?”
“About what happened in Arania, thank you.”
“No, my mother’s grave is there.”
“I see.”
Hmm, he’s quite normal. Handling the ‘Sword Saint’ of Arlight must be tough, but hang in there and keep him under control, okay? Otherwise, the ‘Sword Saint’ might go wild.
—
“Kid, you did great!”
“Beating that ‘Sword Saint’ is quite something!”
“How about marrying my daughter—”
While people call out to me from all directions, I head towards the border count and Mr. Fenfield. There are a lot of people from Mishinela, so I must have caused some trouble during this expedition. Also, a few people from Alteria patted my shoulder silently. It’s funny how much everyone hates the ‘Sword Saint.’
“Man, that was something to see!”
“It was impressive. How was the ‘Sword Saint’?”
“Thank you. He seemed really strong. I think it would be tough to face him head-on.”
Actually, the ‘Sword Saint’s’ proficiency in [Body Enhancement] is incredible. This time, I won thanks to the rules and his overconfidence, but if we were to fight seriously, it would be very difficult. I don’t think I would lose, though.
—
“That was impressive! To commemorate, let’s set off fireworks—”
“Your Majesty.”
“…Is it no good?”
“It would cause a commotion.”
“Ugh.”
When I went to report to the King, he tried to set off fireworks but was stopped by the people around him. If he did it all of a sudden, people who don’t know what’s happening would be surprised.
Still, how much does this guy love fireworks? I hope he didn’t bring me here just for the fireworks and the ‘Sword Saint’ was just an excuse.