The soldier of Ksaham greeted me with a quite respectful attitude.
While assisting with the Monster Takedown, he tried to maintain good relations with the villagers by being as kind as possible.
Thanks to his kindness, I was able to meet Ksaham safely.
However, since my appearance had changed significantly, we couldn’t have a one-on-one meeting.
Even Ksaham couldn’t recognize me right away.
After a bit of conversation, Ksaham finally recognized me.
“Who is the person next to you?”
“Hello, I am Niv. We are friends.”
The Demon King innocently introduced himself and subtly stepped back from the conversation.
“It’s been a few days and you’ve grown so much; is that how all the demon races are?”
“The sudden growth of my body was something I didn’t anticipate either.”
“So, what brings you here?”
“I would like to see your swordsmanship.”
Ksaham showed a rather surprised expression at my words.
“Are you saying you want to learn my swordsmanship?”
“No, I just want to see it first.”
“If you see it, will you learn?”
Ksaham was subtly expressing his desire for me to learn his swordsmanship.
Currently, my swordsmanship skills were at the basic level.
I hadn’t properly learned anything beyond that.
“First, I want to see what kind of sword you have.”
“Well, it’s not that great of a sword. That’s why there’s no one to teach it.”
According to Ksaham’s explanation, it was not a strong swordsmanship.
He described the techniques he had honed nearly his entire life as quite insignificant.
Curious about why he said that, I asked, and he quietly responded.
“Because I couldn’t even leave a scratch on that guy with my sword.”
He claims his swordsmanship isn’t great, but such a person wouldn’t have reached his current position.
Though it was only twice, I felt an unknown danger when I faced Ksaham’s sword.
He was either hiding his skills or there was some secret within his swordsmanship.
“Please go easy on me.”
“Are you going to use scrap metal again?”
Ksaham didn’t seem to like that I was using daggers.
“I don’t have any other sword with me.”
It was hard to find a sturdier sword than the two daggers I currently possessed.
“I’ll lend you mine.”
The Demon King reached into the space of the air and, after rummaging for a moment, pulled out an old sword.
“Is this okay?”
Ksaham looked pleased as he briefly examined the sword the Demon King had pulled out.
“Follow me.”
It seemed we would be heading toward the training area downstairs, looking in the same direction as before.
Unlike last time, the training area was empty.
“No one is here?”
“Not long ago, the forest burned completely, and there was no food to be found nearby, so they were sent to the city.”
Now, in Tunnek, aside from Ksaham, there were only a few subordinates left.
“I was thinking of sending them away anyway when we sparred.”
“You seem to be quite reluctant to show your skills to others.”
“Since there is no one else, I’ll just tell you. My swordsmanship originates from the style of someone who once endangered the world long ago.”
“Still, there must have been times when you needed to show your skills to others?”
At my words, Ksaham drew his sword and demonstrated cutting, thrusting, and swinging motions.
“Your basics are solid. If you don’t use certain techniques, you won’t be able to be specific.”
In other words, it seemed he was willing to show everything in this place where no one was watching.
“Alright, hold your sword. For now, try to block ten attacks like last time.”
As I raised my sword, Ksaham quickly began to close the distance.
I tried to block Ksaham’s sword as it approached, twisting my body to dodge.
His sword sliced through the air, but he maintained his balance and thrust forward.
To avoid the sharp thrust, I rolled on the ground.
“Ha ha. Your movements are like a trainee who has been taught for at least a year.”
If I hadn’t previously collided with Ksaham’s sword, I would have blocked without thinking.
“However, it gets dull if you just keep dodging.”
Swish, swish, swish!
Without even giving me a chance to get back into position, Ksaham’s continuous thrusts followed.
Since I couldn’t regain my stance just by evading, I had no choice but to meet his sword.
Clang—!
“Ugh!”
The moment I blocked the thrust with the blade of my sword, a jolt ran from my hand to my arm.
“Now there are nine left.”
“Does that mean it’s one for each time I block?”
“That’s right. Now let’s continue.”
Following that were a series of slashes and thrusts!
Despite appearing to be quite an elderly man, Ksaham moved with remarkable agility.
His attacks were clean and precise, with no unnecessary movements.
A few of his attacks were blocked even when I hadn’t intended to block them at all.
It was strange.
Ksaham’s attacks didn’t seem to be targeting me.
It felt more like they were aiming at my sword.
Clang!
As the speed of his attacks increased, the more I faced Ksaham, the more I felt my strength slowly draining.
Since I couldn’t just defend, I began to look for openings to attack.
Boom!
The moment Ksaham’s sword sliced through the air, an opening appeared.
My sword tapped against his armor at the side.
Clang!
“Haah…”
I felt exhausted and heavy even though I hadn’t moved much.
The ten attacks had long since passed.
Clang!
The moment I blocked a thrust with the blade of my sword, my grip loosened and I dropped my sword.
“That’s enough.”
Ksaham’s sword was pointed near my neck, signaling the end of the spar.
“You didn’t attack much, did you?”
“I haven’t learned how to attack yet.”
“It’s just like attacking a monster.”
In fact, this was my first time having a sword duel against a person.
“So, how was my swordsmanship?”
“To be honest, I have no idea.”
“It’s not very noticeable. That’s why I could keep it hidden for so long.”
“However, I can tell that I should avoid directly clashing with your sword.”
I realized that after blocking Ksaham’s attacks a few times.
Continuously blocking wasn’t going to benefit me in any way.
“You saw well. That’s the strength of my swordsmanship.”
“Is the technique such that the more you fight, the weaker you become?”
“Is that trivial?”
“No matter how light the sword is, if you keep swinging it, you’re bound to get tired.”
If someone primarily uses a sword, they won’t easily tire from swinging it for days on end.
It’s only possible because their stamina supports them.
“What if you could speed that up intentionally?”
“Can you really do that?”
“You dropped your sword at the end; what if that had been a dagger? Would you have been able to keep holding onto it?”
Just a moment ago, I was determined to hold onto my sword, but my grip had slipped involuntarily.
“I probably would have dropped it.”
“That’s what my swordsmanship is about.”
Though it isn’t a very flashy or extremely powerful technique, it is considerably fearsome in actual combat.
If your sword slips from your hand when you need to block an attack, there could be no worse scenario.
“Is that a secret technique?”
“This technique is merely the basics for using a secret technique. Just wait a moment and I’ll show you.”
Ksaham asked me to bring a wooden post from the corner of the training area.
It was thicker than my torso, but I easily levitated it using magic.
“This is my secret technique.”
Ksaham held his sword and tapped the wooden post in three places.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The wooden post showed no change for a while.
When Ksaham lightly prodded the wooden post with the tip of his sword, it burst with a bang.
The splintered wooden post crumbled to dust on the training ground floor.
“Secret technique: Explosive Darkness.”
“Even if the opponent is human…?”
“It would happen like that.”
Ksaham pointed at the wood dust with the tip of his sword and replied.
“There is one condition.”
“What is that?”
“If you say you want to learn this swordsmanship, I’ll teach you.”
I found it hard to get the words “I want to learn” to come out.
“I won’t ask you to learn it immediately. I’ll give you some time to think.”
“Then I’ll think it over.”
While it would be great to learn Ksaham’s secret technique, what attracted me more was the technique for exhausting the opponent.
I wondered if I could at least learn that, but Ksaham replied that it wouldn’t be possible.
“This technique, once you learn it, you’ll realize the secret technique on your own without anyone else teaching you afterwards.”
In other words, it meant he couldn’t teach it.
After finishing the spar with Ksaham and returning, the Demon King seemed to appear slightly brighter.
“Did it end?”
“Yes.”
“Then, come back when you’ve made your decision.”
I said my goodbyes to Ksaham and left Tunnek.
On the way back to the village, I discussed the swordsmanship of the Demon King and Ksaham.
“It seems like a good technique, but it’s a bit extreme.”
“Extreme?”
“Yes, it’s a technique that absolutely cannot be fought while watching the opponent. Hence, there’s a technique to weaken them beforehand.”
“Could you win if you got close?”
“Me? Hmm. That seems a bit difficult.”
Even the Demon King found it hard to judge against Ksaham’s secret technique.
When I returned to the Academy, I thought I would diligently learn swordsmanship.
Upon returning to the village, I found people gathered in the square with a statue.
The first thing I noticed was the armored Ratnia Knights.
Next to them stood several members of the demon race in suits.
Among the demons, there was also a familiar face.
“Reinforcements have arrived, it seems.”
The reinforcements called by the Demon King appeared to be agents from the Intelligence Department.
As I approached, Solche recognized the Demon King and came over to greet him.
“How have you been?”
“Yeah. What brings the Intelligence Department here?”
“It’s support for Monster Takedowns.”
Solche seemed completely unaware that the Demon King had requested support.
“Who is the person next to you…?”
Even Solche, who had seen me transformed for a long time, couldn’t recognize me now.
“A friend.”
The Demon King wore a playful expression.
Deciding to join their conversation for a moment, I stayed quiet.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
“That’s right. It was in Tolis, wasn’t it?”
At my answer, Solche had a look on her face as if she had just been hit on the head.
“C-Could it be! Ririan?”
“Yes.”
Solche seemed quite surprised and quickly looked me up and down.
“Did you grow through magic?”
“No. It’s a bit difficult to explain.”
“Well, I understand. Then the captain must be here too, right?”
Although it seemed likely they would have met first, it appeared they hadn’t encountered each other yet.
I wondered if Aila would actually want to meet Solche in this situation.
“I’ll finish up what I need to do and come back.”
“We are leaving the village today.”
“That’s great. I need to deliver my duties, so let’s go together.”
As Solche disappeared into the crowd, the Demon King and I made our way toward the cave.
“What!?”
When I mentioned my encounter with Solche, Aila wore a very troubled expression.
“We have to go together to Kant anyway.”
“Why are you deciding things on your own! How am I supposed to explain this?”
It seemed Aila really didn’t want to reveal her current state to Solche.
While she was restless and pacing back and forth in agitation.
“Ah! I’ve got it!”
Aila suddenly came to a stop, her expression brightening as if she had thought of a good idea.
