Chapter: 164
Karl never thought that Frey would grow enough to make Lucy feel rushed before the final exams ended.
‘Lady Kent certainly possesses talent that will go down in history. Before long, she’ll easily be the one knocking people out. However, Lady Alrn is in the same boat.’
Frey is a genius.
She only learned the basics of swordsmanship from her father, but she compensated for everything else with her raw talent, becoming the top prospect on the continent.
Unfortunately, her rival is equally impressive.
Lucy Alrn is also a genius.
With just about a year of training under her belt, she possesses overwhelming talent sufficient to surpass Frey.
But she’s not lazy either. She’s the most diligent of all Frey’s acquaintances, continuously honing her skills.
Overwhelming talent paired with remarkable mental strength.
Either one alone would qualify anyone as a genius, yet greedy Lucy manages to possess both.
So, even if Frey puts in her utmost effort for a month, it will be difficult to close the gap between them. Maintaining the status quo would be fortunate.
‘However, victory in battle isn’t determined solely by talent and skill.’
Karl would suggest otherwise.
If the straightforward approach doesn’t work, then another method must be used.
‘Lady Alrn has certainly become much more reasonable compared to before, but that doesn’t mean she’s lost her personality.’
‘What are you trying to say?’
‘Lady Alrn is incredibly innocent.’
‘Innocent?’
‘Yes. She’s naïve enough to collude with me and Lady Kent even knowing our plan.’
Frey tilted her head at the excessively far-off word about Lucy, but instead of explaining further, Karl laid out his plan.
Lucy is accustomed to provoking others but isn’t used to being provoked herself.
So, if Frey stands before her and insults her, Lucy is likely to engage.
Having done as Karl instructed, Frey quickly realized the truth in his words.
Without a doubt, anyone could tell that Lucy’s expression after being provoked wasn’t pretty.
*
A loser?
A coward?
Puhaha.
I never expected to hear such words.
Listening to Frey’s dry provocation, I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
Who would have thought I’d hear someone else call me a loser?
Surely, Frey wouldn’t think this herself; it’s probably Karl’s strategy, right? He must be aiming to shake my emotions and make me drop my guard.
He knows that hiding behind my shield and dragging it into a war of attrition won’t work, so he wants to create variables instead.
But seriously, isn’t it a bit too blatant?
If you’re going to use a tactic like that, you need to keep your intentions hidden and gently scratch at my emotions.
Doing it with an expressionless face while calling me a loser makes it hard to overlook.
I glanced over at Karl, who was playing the role of assistant teacher, with a smirk and a palm to his forehead.
Ah, you didn’t expect Frey to provoke like that, huh?
Haha. Should’ve practiced a bit, you fool.
[What will you do? ]
‘Hmmm.’
Honestly, if I ignored that provocation and pushed my shield forward, I could easily overwhelm Frey.
It’s true she’s improved a lot in the last month, but she hasn’t gotten strong enough to break through my shield.
Sooner or later, she’ll fall for my provocation and make a mistake, and that’s when I’ll seal the deal.
But still… it feels a bit pride-damaging.
I could smash Frey without even needing a shield, and yet I’m being called a coward hiding behind one.
As if I’m just a pathetic swordsman relying on mere talent.
‘Should I play a little?’
Given the gap between Frey and me, I won’t lose just because I relax a bit.
I need to show her how things stand…
[Child, it seems you’re becoming consumed by the blessing, huh? ]
‘…Huh?!’
I snapped back to reality after hearing the old man’s words.
Why was I even considering playing into my opponent’s hands just moments ago?!
Sure, Frey may be weaker than me now, but she’s not someone to let my guard down around?!
She has enough potential to overturn that gap if I’m careless.
Whoa. Is this what happens from my mesugaki skills affecting my mind?!
Having only taunted others until now, I had no idea it would come back to bite me!
Ah. This skill just keeps piling on the drawbacks as I dig deeper. Can we get more benefits instead of just shortcomings?
And hey! What about the clumsy fox’s blessing? Isn’t it supposed to do something?!
If it can’t resist the mental drawbacks, what’s the use?!
Look at all the trouble I went through just for your sake!
I endured humiliation and even wore a bunny outfit—why isn’t it working?!
Are you telling me the mesugaki skill’s drawbacks exceed this point?!
No way!
Sure, it’s a blessing bestowed by that ridiculously clumsy fox, but its performance is supposed to be solid.
In the game, it could typically block most mental-style debuffs, and now the drawbacks of the mesugaki skill are too strong for even that?!
This mesugaki skill is just trash!
Whoever came up with this must be brain-dead.
Think about the balance! If you’re putting such a bizarre skill into a game people have paid for…
Ah, right. This was a mod. Yeah. Typically with mods, the balance is just messed up.
But usually, it’s just the positive aspects that go haywire—why are the negative aspects getting so wildly out of control too?
[Stop pondering and look at the enemy before you. ]
‘Um. Right.’
Focusing on anything else is just rude to Frey.
Besides, even if I think, it won’t yield any answers, so let’s clear my mind right now.
I can worry about picking up some more mental skills later to resolve this.
…That’ll be okay, right? Right?
“Cowardly loser! Are you too scared to come closer?”
As I became acutely aware of the new drawback from my mesugaki skills, I could feel heat rising in my head.
Wow, this could definitely become a problem later.
It’s a good thing I figured it out now; otherwise, it would be a disaster in an actual fight. Ugh. Just imagining it sends chills down my spine.
I should thank Frey for that.
“So, aren’t you too scared to approach?♡ Who are you calling a coward when you’re a scaredy-cat?♡”
“Yep, I’m a scaredy-cat. And you’re a coward too.”
So, I might as well be generous and give Frey some payback, huh?
I’m willingly stepping into an unfavorable battlefield, but she deserves this level of compensation after helping me out, right?
I should clarify that it’s definitely not out of anger!
I’m completely composed right now.
I just feel like giving her a little bump on the head.
After taking ten breaths, I tightened my grip on the mace.
[Are you going? ]
‘Yeah.’
[Go ahead. It’s about time to expand your repertoire of fight techniques too. ]
Alright, then let’s do this.
Holding my breath, I took a step forward.
In an instant, the distance between Frey and me closed.
Seeing me charge, Frey decided to swing her sword instead of stepping back.
With me advancing, her sword swung freely, unhindered by any restraints.
The trajectory was so clear it was almost beautiful as I inserted my shield into its path.
This is forcing it.
I’m trying to block a perfectly executed strike with a shield in an unsteady position.
Yet, based on overwhelming strength, my shield technique made that forced attempt succeed.
The shield and sword collided.
And guess who stepped back? Frey’s sword.
Ting!
Through the ringing of the clear sound, I caught sight of Frey, biting her lips in irritation.
Ha! Who dared provoke me? You fool!
With the small opening created by the sword’s backlash, I took a swing at Frey’s head with my mace.
Frey wasn’t easy pickings.
While she could have easily been caught off guard by my sudden charge, she chose the perfect option even in that moment.
She twisted her body to dodge my mace, and,
retrieving her rebounding sword,
she swung it straight at my wrist, which was forward from my swing.
Sharp.
If I try to deal with this half-heartedly, my wrist would be gone.
My response to Frey’s impeccable technique was rather crude.
I simply slammed into her shoulder, knocking her off balance as she was focused on swinging her sword.
Frey, unable to react to my charge, tumbled to the ground.
“Loser swordsman♡ With your weak self, can you even talk?♡ Isn’t that embarrassing?♡”
“Not even a bit.”
Sure, it must have hurt, but Frey showed not a shred of weakness as she got back up.
And she took her stance again.
“So is that it for you? Just a loser, huh?”
“What is it? Are you desperate to get beaten?♡ A loser♡ and a weakling♡ on top of being a total masochist♡? Disgusting!♡”
“…Tch.”
Puhaha! Why provoke a mesugaki to a verbal battle?
As long as I have my mesugaki skills in play, I’m unbeatable in a war of words.
“Come at me, loser.”
“Just wait♡ I’ll make you beg for your life♡”
Alright, let’s go give Frey a bump on the head.
*
Provoking my opponent and drawing out their attacks went according to plan.
Thanks to that, I successfully created a battlefield in my favor.
But that didn’t eliminate the gap between Lucy and me.
Darting back just in time, Frey dodged my mace aimed at her head, only to be hit in the abdomen by my shield.
“Not giving up yet?♡ Seems you really have a masochistic side!♡”
Lucy is strong.
Despite abandoning her original fighting style to step into my territory, she remains impressive.
Overwhelming physical abilities.
Ability to manage both offense and defense with a shield.
Unbelievably advanced combat logic for someone my age.
Not lacking in any aspect.
Because of this, the desire to swing my sword only grows stronger.
When swinging my sword to breach Lucy’s shield every day, my heart was full of red emotions.
That shield drove me crazy, I couldn’t bear it.
I’d charge blindly at it and fall for one of Lucy’s traps.
But right now, it’s different.
My heart might still rage with red emotions, yet there’s another color mixing in.
As I stand shoulder to shoulder with Lucy, fighting fiercely, I can’t help but smile.
What is this?
I can’t quite put my finger on it.
But it doesn’t feel bad at all.
Frey, just stepping back to avoid the shield pushing at her, smiled.
In her world, between her and Lucy, there was only the two of them.
Could it be because of that?
Frey’s sword grew faster, gradually erasing everything but Lucy and herself from her mind.
And with that, a faint blue light began to fill the track left by her sword.
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