Chapter 8
I stumbled to my feet after collapsing on the ground.
How many times have I fallen because this sloppy knight couldn’t even muster a proper attack? Honestly, it has to be at least ten times. I had been counting, but I stopped after that because it became too bothersome.
Taking a deep breath, I brushed the dirt off my face and lifted my head.
The knight standing opposite me couldn’t hide the frown on his face.
No matter how angry he was, isn’t it a bit much to forget to manage his expressions in front of a lady?
He really is a sloppy knight. With such skills, how does he expect to have a Cinderella-style life turnaround?
“Give up, young lady.”
“Try getting me to give up, you sloppy knight.”
“You’ll get hurt if you keep this up.”
“Isn’t it hard to subdue a girl without a scratch? Talk about sloppy!♡”
At my provocation, the knight bit his lips tightly.
Ahaha. Is he really getting serious now? Huh?
What kind of noble knight acts like that? The only thing that fits him would be something like a eunuch knight.
Chortling, I caught my breath.
It had been quite a while since I began this duel with the sloppy knight.
I don’t even know exactly how long it’s been. However, judging by how many knights, soldiers, and maids had gathered as spectators, it can’t have been a short time.
“Shouldn’t we stop this?”
“I’d like to, but the young lady ordered us not to interfere.”
“But…”
“Just wait for a moment. The knight commander is…”
I had never been more grateful for Lucy’s notoriety than today.
Because she had been acting so wildly, those who should stop her were hesitating.
If Lucy had been an ordinary girl, someone would have intervened before things got too heated.
If that were the case, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve my goal of hitting this sloppy knight.
My breathing had calmed a bit.
Though my body still felt heavy, recent training had made it manageable. I could still swing my mace around.
Gritting my teeth, I charged forward.
Despite being sloppy in many respects, at least he was still a knight.
Even in his rage, he showed a sense of duty and taught me how to fight.
Never stop moving your feet.
Always think about what your opponent might do.
Don’t just look at the opponent’s hands; focus on their arms and body movements instead.
Never take your eyes off your opponent’s movements.
He emphasized various things that I had to follow, which was useful since I knew nothing about real combat.
His methods weren’t gentle by any means, but I had improved quite a bit thanks to him.
If you compared me now with the reckless mess swinging my mace this morning, I would seem like a completely different person.
Still, it didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t compete with this damn sloppy knight.
This sloppy knight was strong.
He kept pressuring me without giving me a chance to retaliate, and even when I swung my mace wildly, he dodged as if he knew exactly what I was going to do.
I don’t want to admit it, but this knight was a ferociously overwhelming opponent that I couldn’t beat right now.
Even with all my provocative strategies, my stats had risen significantly, yet it didn’t help.
How great would it have been if this were a video game?
If it were, I would have taken down this knight with some veteran-level techniques.
Yet, even as I approached him, his sword remained unmoved.
This had started happening some time ago; he was intentionally holding back his attacks.
He was probably worried he might lose his temper and mess up.
As a result, I could swing my mace to my heart’s content, unlike before.
The sloppy knight received my swings in silence.
At times he would dodge; other times, he would parry, his movements so polished that he completely neutralized my attacks.
At this rate, I’d end up tripping over my own feet from sheer exhaustion just like before. I had to create an opening.
And I did come up with a strategy for that.
“What’s the deal? Sloppy knight, is blocking all you do?!”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’ll do.”
“Ha♡ You’re so obsessed with defense! You’ve really become weak!♡”
The sloppy knight’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and the speed of his wooden sword increased.
No matter how much provocation I threw his way with my skill, isn’t this a bit too gullible?!
The knight’s assault began.
The successive strikes, magnified by my boosted stats, relentlessly pounded my shield.
He was really giving it without holding back?!
The center of my shield was indented!
How much power was he putting into this?!
Blocking the knight’s attacks using my Iron Wall skill as instructed, I seized my chance.
The moment the enraged knight swung harder than usual.
The moment he assumed I would block his attack.
I was convinced he wouldn’t be able to stop what was coming, so I lowered the shield that had been protecting me.
At that moment, I caught sight of the knight’s bewildered expression.
He swung his sword, presuming I would naturally block it.
Even with a modification in force, he still hit me hard enough to test my defenses.
Suddenly, I lowered my shield.
This was the same knight who had never once let that sword graze me during practice.
This was the guy worried about making a mistake, holding back from hitting me.
So, if the sword was aimed at me, I figured he’d have to figure out some way to stop it.
Clearly, this was a gamble.
A gamble on my belief that the knight could regulate his feelings.
A gamble where I would certainly get hit if I lost.
In that moment, I heard the crowd around me collectively hold their breath, but I remained composed.
Look. Just as you hoped, I’m not closing my eyes even though the sword’s right in front of me.
This is your accomplishment. You should feel elated. Sloppy knight.
While the knight halted his sword, I lifted my mace high.
Time to crush some heads.
A motion I had repeated thousands of times over the past few days.
A motion I even echoed in my dreams last night.
The knight, who was too preoccupied with stopping his own sword, couldn’t dodge as I swung my mace.
Wham!
That felt amazing.
The knight, struck by the mace, frowned as he stumbled back.
I did it. I finally succeeded.
I managed to land a hit!
Watching the disgruntled expression on the sloppy knight’s face, I covered my mouth with my shield-holding hand as I let out a triumphant proclamation.
“Did you get hit?”
“Sloppy trash who got toyed with by a girl!♡”
As soon as he heard my mocking words, the sloppy knight charged at me.
I could hardly track his movement with my eyes.
By the time he lifted a foot off the ground, I had already lost sight of his new form.
What the…?
Feeling flustered, the Iron Wall skill blared in my head.
“Raise your shield!” I shouted.
Just moments ago, while tense from battle, my instincts kicked in and followed the Iron Wall directive.
Bam!
The knight’s fist crashed where my shield used to be.
My body soared into the air.
This wasn’t about blocking or not.
The force behind that punch was too much for me to handle.
As I was knocked back, I locked eyes with the knight.
I saw a rage-filled expression, making it clear he was blanking out.
This is dangerous.
I soared and rolled across the ground multiple times, feeling severe pain from my arm that had defended against the attack, but I hastily got up.
Instincts screamed at me to move or risk dying.
And they were right; the moment I lifted my head, the knight was right in front of me.
He had lost all composure and was lifting his fist high.
What would happen if I got hit there?
I don’t know.
But I was sure it would hurt.
A lot.
It’s probably going to hurt more than it did when I consumed the potion.
While I pondered, the fear-suppressing skill stripped away any terror I had left in me.
…Ha. This skill is remarkably effective.
Alright. I’ll take one hit.
I provoked you and created this pandemonium with my insistence on landing a hit.
Guess the Mesugaki coup de grâce is playing out as a lesson in real-life terms?
As I laid there, intentionally keeping my eyes open while waiting for the knight to swing, suddenly, someone intruded between me and him.
A middle-aged man of immense stature, comparable to Benedict, blocked the knight’s punch with one hand.
“What did you think you were doing, Karl?”
The words of Possell, the knight commander of the Allen family, made Karl look up at the handcuffs on his wrists.
Possell frowned as he held his mouth shut.
Just looking at him, anyone could tell he was furious.
“I stepped in, so it ended as an attempt. If I hadn’t, the lady would have been badly hurt.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then let me ask you, why did you do it? She’s been using foul language for more than just a day.”
Instead of replying, Karl hung his head.
“Karl.”
“…I really don’t know.”
Possell bit down on his lips at that outrageous response and struck the iron bars that separated Karl from him with his fist.
A single blow bent the thick bars as if dozens of knights had tried to assault them.
“You did the deed, and if you don’t know why, who would?”
“I’m sorry. But I genuinely don’t know.”
Despite Possell’s foreboding tone, Karl couldn’t respond.
He didn’t even comprehend why he acted that way.
Karl was a person born and raised in a noble knight family.
From a young age, he had listened to his father speak about what makes a true knight, convinced he would become a magnificent knight like him.
That led him to train relentlessly every single day, competing against various high-ranking nobles while achieving exceptional grades at Soul Academy.
As a result of his dedication, he was able to become the admired knight of the Allen family.
Even after becoming a knight, Karl never forgot his father’s words.
He aspired to become the ideal knight he always dreamed of being.
His initial approach towards Lucy was driven by that ambition to become a noble knight.
Despite knowing the numerous misdeeds she had committed.
Despite warnings from his comrades that people don’t change easily.
Even while wincing at Lucy’s sarcastic comments, he had approached her, believing that if someone from his household sought to improve, he should help as a knight.
Yet, what began as an act of goodwill had spiraled into catastrophe.
How could he swing his fist at someone he was meant to protect?
No matter how harshly Miss Lucy spoke, how could he lose control?
Following the incident, many people expressed anger at Karl, but he had no answers.
The one unable to comprehend Karl more than anyone else was himself.
“Commander, you might not believe me, but I rarely lose my temper.”
“I believe you.”
“I endured insults from many nobles during my academy years and never lost my cool on the battlefield against mercenaries and other knights.”
“I know.”
“But I simply couldn’t bear her ridicule.”
Lucy’s mockery wasn’t particularly harsh.
Compared to the many insults from the battlefield, hers was lightweight.
It hardly compared to the rudeness he endured from noble peers at the academy.
Yet, Lucy’s teasing had easily shattered Karl’s reason.
He simply couldn’t make sense of it.
No matter how he pondered, he couldn’t fathom how things had gotten this way.
Hence, he was in a spiraling state of self-loathing.
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