The Lazy Swordmaster Chapter 186:
“…”
“…”
The two didn’t say anything . Only their wooden swords clashed with each other and that signaled the start of the duel .
It seemed they were very focused . They didn’t notice that Ryan had come to stand next to Nainiae . They both lightly pulled their wooden swords from the clashed standoff position as they dragged their feet .
‘As I thought . ’
Inaril and Riley were dragging their feet in opposite directions from each other . Riley spun his body around once and swung his sword in a diagonal angle .
He didn’t use mana .
He had decided to fight Inaril with pure swordsmanship alone . Inaril’s clothes were making flapping sounds in the air . Her sword was making a sweeping sound through air as well . Riley started to chase these noises with his ears .
‘I think I understand . ’
By making decisions based on the visual, sound and intuition, Riley was going to avoid Inaril’s sword and deal a blow . However, Riley’s sword was not able to strike the target . Instead, it collided with something solid .
It was Inaril’s wooden sword .
It seemed she was also surprised by Riley’s move . She opened her mouth lightly and then turned her body .
For the third strike, her footing changed .
‘He is…’
Inaril muttered inside . She raised her senses to the edge in order to read Riley’s next move . Inaril swung her arm .
Pak!
Against an ordinary opponent, she would have dealt a strike well before the third attempt . However . . . only another blunt collision sound could be heard, much like earlier .
‘…Someone who was blessed by the sword . ’
‘…Someone who was blessed by the sword . ’
They both muttered those words inside . It looked like they were declaring that the warm up was over . They both tightened their grips and accelerated their speed .
‘I’ll end it in next five moves . ’
‘I’ll end it in next four moves . ’
‘No, three moves!’
‘No, two!’
‘I’ll just end it now!’
‘I’ll finish it now!’
The two had a conversation through their swords . They either glared or gritted their teeth and started to swing their swords .
Their swings were so fast that they were invisible . The only thing that others could confirm from their movements was that they could hear the sounds of something being swung through the air . It was to the point of being impossible for them to check what was being swung to where and at what speed .
“Are they really… not using mana?”
“… Yes . ”
Ryan was watching their duel . He asked Nainiae who was also vacantly watching the duel . Detection magic sparkled in her eyes; she checked the duel and nodded .
“Not even a little?”
“That’s right . From what I’ve observed, I think so . ”
As if she was mesmerized, Nainiae watched the two swing the swords and twist their bodies . She then realized that there were others who had been inside the house, who were watching this by peeking from the window .
‘Is everyone awake?’
Nainiae had soundproof magic placed surround the area so the sounds of the swords won’t leak out . She opened her eyes big and checked who it was .
‘Mr . Ian…’
Of the people who were watching through the window, he had the most serious face . Nainiae bit her lips and focused on their duel again .
‘That woman… She can’t even see . How is she able to endure Young Master’s sword like that?’
‘That man… He said he is not even a dragon . How is he able to endure my grandmother’s sword like that?’
Nara and Iril were watching the duel from the window . They muttered like that inside and gulped .
“…”
Near the chin and the tip of a foot, their swords grazed past them very closely . Again, like snakes, their wooden swords started to get tangled up in strange ways .
Pak!
Pak!
From the next exchange of blows, the wooden swords made a loud cracking sound and spat a piece of wood . The two both tilted their heads to the side to dodge it and started to swing the swords again .
‘As I thought, she is incredible . I think I can understand a little why other people complained so much about my swordsmanship . ’
Riley had never had a duel last this long in his entire life . He thought about how people had said he was ridiculous after facing his swordsmanship . Riley looked at Inaril .
‘You are incredible, but…’
Her way of swinging or the type of footing she used was very different, perhaps because she had lived in a different world from his . However… she was evenly matched in skill .
‘I think it would be good to end it here . ’
Before Inaril’s body could be harmed as Nainiae was concerned about, Riley decided to end this duel now . He started to breath a little differently so he could move the mana inside his body .
“Will you be all right? After that…it could be dangerous for you too?”
Because she was blind, her energy sensory was a little ahead of Riley . Having realized the mana movement, Inaril asked Riley . Riley responded,
“Who is worrying about who?”
Riley wrapped his sword in a blue light as he asked back . Inaril also layered her sword with blue light .
“I already died once . However, Young Master, you…”
“Well, I already died once too . ”
Riley jokingly said that . He then pulled the wooden sword to his back and charged in .
“… It’s coming . ”
“What?”
With a serious look on her face, Nainiae mumbled . Ryan asked while looking at her, wondering what that was about . However, he didn’t get to hear an answer .
Kwang!
Unlike blunt noises so far, it was a more solid collision sound that echoed throughout the area .
“Uuuk?!”
“Kuuuk…”
Ryan and Nainiae’s bodies faltered .
‘Just now, that was?’
Their swords were wrapped in ample amount of mana and they were swung and collided . The collision caused a whirlwind which swept through the area .
Ryan gasped for air and narrowly opened his eyes that he had tightly shut earlier .
The whirlwind still continued .
It was so powerful that Ryan was ashamed of the fact that he was titled ‘Strong Sword . ’ He felt like he had finally seen a glimpse of real strong swords . It was at that moment .
“…?!”
Again, two swords of blue light seemed to be drawing two lines across the air, and… Once again, they caused a loud sound of explosion and whirlwind .
‘What is this…’
Ryan was pushed far back . He blocked his face with his arm and narrowed his eyes so he could see what was happening in front of him .
Kwang!
Kwang!
The exchanges of blows were no different from earlier in speed and intensity . In fact, they were significantly faster . Ryan held his breath and strained his eyes .
‘Is this really the height of swordsmanship achieved by human beings?’
If it was Ryan who was performing such moves, then he would have exhausted all of his mana with a single blow of such kind . However… as if Riley and Inaril were snorting at Ryan’s inside question, they were pouring out mana into their weapons and swinging away .
‘She can’t even see, yet…’
From the clash of the swords, Inaril’s old house shook .
‘He is so young, yet…’
From the clash of the swords, the tree branches shook .
‘Is this… a dream?’
Ryan watched the wooden swords crossing the air without finding their targets and occasionally clashing against the opponent’s sword . He vacantly watched such moments continuing . He realized this was not a dream . He was impressed .
‘… This should be about the limit for her . ’
Riley still hadn’t realize that there were people watching . He was only fixated on Inaril . He clashed his sword with hers once again and muttered inside,
‘Although it is from a past, as expected of someone who was blessed, I think I would have had to exchange blows for days if there was no handicap . ’
Riley was glaring at Inaril who was parrying his sword blows . The handicap that he was thinking about was the time .
He was not thinking about a minute or a second . He was thinking about her lifespan .
‘My body is…’
It seemed that Inaril had also realized this . She cringed her face a little .
Her body was at its limit . The very first symptom that appeared as a response to this was her ivory white skin .
Her skin was as white as it was before the duel . Now, her face was as pale as a corpse . Even Riley furrowed his brows because he felt bad about this .
‘I’m not saying this because she managed to do all this despite being blind . I’m more surprised that she demonstrated such abilities despite having a dead body . ’
Riley thought about what Iril had told him . She said that Inaril was always next to the fireplace and keeping watch over the Salvation . Also, she had spent a lot of time covering her cold skin which was due to her dead body . While thinking about these…Riley pushed off Inaril .
‘Um?’
Inaril was pushed to the back . At the same time, Riley had a moment to spare . At that moment, he detected the gazes from various people who were watching them . He moved his eyes toward outside the isolation barrier .
“…”
He found the faces of people who were sticking close to the house’s window . Riley’s eyes ran into Ian’s . Riley hesitated for a moment .
‘He let his guard down!’
It was a split second . However, among skilled swordsmen, a gap in defense like this was huge . Having found this, Inaril thrusted her sword toward Riley, aiming at his neck .
‘… I won!’
Inaril thought she precisely pierced Riley’s gap in defense . She was certain of the victory . At that moment,
“As I thought, you are sharp . ”
The tone of his voice sounded like he was thinking that was a close call . He avoided Inaril’s sword with a paper thin margin . He put strength in his arms and bounced away Inaril’s wooden sword from her hands .
“Kuk . ”
Inaril lost the sword from her hands . Wondering how it had come to this, her face moved towards Riley .
“How did you do it?”
Inaril was sure that she had won . However, at an instant, Riley shifted his position to the side . She was asking about that .
“At an instant, your movement…”
When she aimed for the gap in his defense, she was not able to read his movement . She muttered in puzzled tone . Riley responded,
“If I was my former self, the game would have been decided by that gap just now, but…”
Riley pierced the ground with the wooden sword he had . He shrugged and added,
“I’m different from who I was from my past life . ”
To resolve the curiosity that Inaril had, Riley explained that he had used time magic .
“Time… magic?”
Although it was only for a moment, Riley was able to move so fast that even Inaril’s senses could not follow . It was because Riley had used Acceleration .
“I see . Magic…”
“If you think that was cheating, then you could think that too . ”
“… No . ”
Inaril shook her head .
“I knew that you were holding out a move for the sake of me who is an old woman . Also… it is not right to let good abilities or weapons rot away without using them . ”
Inaril thought about why she was able to aim for the gap in Riley’s defense . She then realized that he was being considerate .
“That was magnificent . ”
Inaril bowed and expressed her gratitude . She looked at her hands . They were shaking . It was due to the reaction from the duel but also because she was overcome with emotions .
“I should be the one to say . ”
It seemed Riley also learned a few things from the duel against Inaril . Although it was hard to tell, his hands were shaking as well . To calm them down, he tried making fists and releasing them . Riley also lowered his head .
“I have resolved all of my longings . I have nothing left now . ”
“Is that so?”
Riley lifted his head and asked Inaril who was vacantly standing there .
“You really don’t have anything left?”
“…”
Having heard the question, Inaril aimed her face toward Riley . She then lightly smiled and said,
“I have a dead body now but I used to be a human before . It is not like I don’t have any regrets left . However…Should I call this a lifelong wish…Something I had wished for a very long time that has been resolved?”
Riley felt like he knew what her wish was . Riley asked as if he was trying to get her to spill the beans .
“You mean losing?”
Inaril nodded .
“Yes . Losing…”
“…”
“…In swordsmanship, to someone . ”
Riley was quite sympathetic to this .
Since his past life, he also had been wishing he could lose to someone .
“Didn’t you say you had lost once to Ian?”
“That was…”
With a lightened heart, Riley shrugged . To switch the mood, he brought up Ian . Inaril hid her lips with her fist and started to snicker .
“Huhuhu… Yes . That’s right . That’s true . ”
Inaril started to explain the other wishes she had that she was afraid that she might leave unfulfilled .
“Perhaps these are not regrets or dying wishes…I do have a few things that I could call my worries . ”
Inaril said she was aware that she was not in position to ask for favors, but she asked if she could leave them to Riley . Inaril started to explain what they were .
“First, it is about Iril, my granddaughter . So that she could protect herself, I taught her swordsmanship, but that’s all I taught her, so she probably doesn’t know much about how the world works . I’m worried about that . ”
“Since you said ‘first,’ then it sounds like you have another one?”
“Second, it is about Ryan, the last pupil that I took in . I took him in because Iril asked me to, but I have not yet taught him much… You said you two were siblings, right?”
“And?”
“I heard that monsters will swarm Romella Village soon . I don’t know if my body will last until then . I was indebted to many people, so I would like to step in, however…”
“…”
Although Riley was waiting, the answer he wanted to hear was not coming . He slowly moved his eyes and looked at Ian . He was stuck in the window like a cicada .