Chapter: 258
The battle resumes.
The scene is much the same as before.
Skeletons attack and I defend against them.
The only thing that has changed is the voice of my grandpa ringing in my ears.
[Hey, Young Lady. Do you remember why all the skilled ones emphasize the basics?]
‘Of course! Grandpa nagged about it endlessly!’
What everyone calls the basics is the foundation upon which to build something else in that field.
If you ignore the process of honing those basics and start constructing on top of them, it may seem like you’re building quickly at first, but soon, it’ll collapse like a deck of cards, and you’ll end up worse off than before.
I’ve heard Grandpa drone on about this repetitively.
There’s a reason why all the masters stress the basics, and how can I forget when he nagged me every time I tried to shortcut my proficiency?
[The skeleton mimicking Garad... I’ll just call it Garad, alright? Anyway, that guy's swordsmanship is the epitome of these basics.]
Grandpa says that Garad’s sword isn’t special.
Given that I feel helpless facing him, it sounds utterly ridiculous at first glance.
But I think I understand what Grandpa was saying.
The attacks from the skeleton aren’t fast. I can’t find any of the pressure from Frey’s specialty, Flash Sword, here either.
But the sword isn’t heavy either. I don’t see any intimidation that steals away the concept of defense like I did in the Allen Family’s Knight Order.
So, is it flashier? Not at all. His sword is painfully plain and practical.
The same applies to everything else.
Garad’s sword is exceptionally ordinary.
But it’s strong.
So strong that I can’t even see how to break through. The sword is always where it needs to be, making it impossible for me to move forward.
[That guy became a part of the heroes' tapestry with that ordinary sword and was called the mightiest knight of his time. Do you know why?]
‘I don’t!’
[While others built structures on foundations, that guy kept stacking those foundations.]
The various extraordinary sword techniques known to the world can be seen as buildings.
They can be fearfully high skyscrapers.
Or castles that have no apparent way in.
Or mazes with no escape routes.
Or bizarrely sturdy houses built haphazardly.
But Garad’s sword isn’t a building.
It’s the foundation.
He piled dirt upon dirt to create a hill of similar height to the other buildings.
Garad didn’t build a structure; he piled a mountain instead.
[Do you know what the results of that insane endeavor were? He could drag anyone he met into his battlefield.]
From on high, everything is visible.
The weak points of skyscrapers.
The shaky bits of castles.
The map of mazes.
The columns of hastily constructed houses.
That’s why you can strategize.
Crush the opponent’s strengths, dig into their weaknesses, and make them frantically leap out of their structure as you overpower them with your overwhelming height.
[This is the reason you felt helpless. A mountain so high that the peak isn’t visible brings despair in itself.]
Understanding Grandpa’s explanation wasn’t hard, but my mind still felt far from refreshed.
‘So what am I supposed to do?!’
The most needed thing.
I didn’t hear how to take that guy down.
Frustrated by Grandpa’s praises for the person suffocating me, I yelled, and he chuckled.
[If there’s a mountain, you have to climb it. If you keep climbing quietly, you’ll eventually see the peak, right?]
‘What kind of nonsense is that?!’
Seriously, what does that even mean?!
No matter how I think about it, his words feel like a jumbled mess!
My head spun for a moment, and I yelled, but Grandpa didn’t respond. It was like he said everything he needed to.
Kyaaaah! Summarizing like that and making me feel stuck is definitely enough!
Grandpa! You’ve been serving that Shoddy God and now you’re picking up his bad habits?!
If I’m gradually turning into a pervert like that, I’ll be laughing like an idiot soon! Haha!
…Then does that mean my surroundings will be filled with perverts?!
No! I can’t accept such a horrifying future!
As I let my irritation spiral, I momentarily lost grip on the skeleton’s sword.
Only belatedly did I hear the warning of Iron Wall and managed to raise my shield, but the skeleton wouldn’t let me set my stance that easily.
With my unstable posture, I was struck by the skeleton’s sword and went flying, crashing into the ground.
I could taste blood in my mouth.
“Looks like you don’t even have time to talk now, huh? Hah. Seeing that little mouth shut brings me joy.”
Hearing the skeleton’s laughter, I stood up.
I felt the divine energy swelling from the Shock Transfer. I must have taken a proper hit.
Spitting out the blood pooling in my mouth, I healed myself with Armadi’s touch. Thanks to Ankir boosting my divine rank, my condition returned rapidly.
“Are you just going to watch? I’m a bit embarrassed being so exposed though.”
Ignoring its mockery, I reflected on Grandpa’s words, but getting an answer wasn’t easy.
Aside from high school, I’d never climbed a hill before, so asking me to go hiking was a tall order.
“Have you given up?”
But one thing did come to mind.
When I was treated like a slave at work, my boss had a saying.
That bald pig said that climbing a mountain was just walking on the ground until you reached the highest point. Just like work, if you put in the effort, you would finish overtime in no time.
…Huh?
Wait a minute.
“This is it.”
Thinking it over, I felt my mind clear, and I chuckled.
Ha. I wanted to beat that guy up every time he would ramble on while leaving work. Who would’ve thought it would actually help now?
“…Hmm?”
As I chuckled, the skeleton tilted its head.
Does it think I’ve lost my mind?
Whatever. I don’t care how it thinks.
I organized the divine energy flowing within me and grasped my mace and shield tightly.
“Oh? You’re not giving up? As expected…”
“Shut it, you Eunuch Skeleton!”
At first, Grandpa said my strategy was flawless. He would vouch for it with his name on the line.
“Did you lose your manhood? You’re babbling like a nosy aunt!”
If my strategy is right,
If the mountain path I’m climbing is correct,
I don’t need to look around while climbing to the top.
I just need to keep my eyes on the path and move forward.
“Want to find a new identity now? I’ll lend you a dress! Go wear it! I mean, nobody would feel strange about a hollow skeleton in the middle of it!”
If this interpretation is right, it means Grandpa’s words were ultimately telling me not to doubt myself.
Keep going as I am. Until it works. Keep moving forward.
If I feel it’s lacking, just effort more into my steps on the ground.
Trust in the path I’ve chosen.
“Hero Garad in a dress, huh~? Ha! It might actually suit you!?”
“…Yeah. I guess it’s on me for giving you an opening to speak.”
I’m not sure if this interpretation is correct. It might mean I’m heading for a cliff instead of a peak.
But who cares? If I’m about to jump off a cliff, Grandpa will surely yell at me.
Then, I could just blame him for not explaining properly.
“Did you just realize that? You really are slow to think, aren’t you? Having no manhood and being a fool, how pitiful!”
With a click of its tongue, I caught the incoming sword.
It was time to climb the steep path.
*
Always by Lucy’s side, Ruel believed that the talent Lucy possessed was genuine.
Her persistence, refusing to give up through numerous hardships, and the speed with which she absorbed lessons were clear evidence she had the potential to become a hero.
However, Lucy had one major problem.
That was her overwhelming knowledge.
Having been chosen to receive the love of the gods and directly hearing their words from the sky, Lucy’s knowledge was so vast that even Ruel could hardly imagine its scope.
Moreover, another surprising point was that Lucy managed this vast amount of knowledge remarkably well.
She always pulled out the optimal information when needed, creating the quickest and safest path.
Watching Lucy overcome risks made Ruel wonder how nice it would have been if those past heroes had been that competent.
But such knowledge sometimes placed Lucy in danger. Because her knowledge was so useful, she would become trapped in it.
Even now.
That madwoman, Karon, created a skeleton that resembled Garad endlessly.
Even Ruel, who had been with Garad for over ten years, could momentarily confuse them.
The swordsmanship of the skeleton was identical.
Previously, Ruel told Lucy that Garad’s sword had no weaknesses, but that was only true for Garad himself.
Garad’s sword, backed by overwhelming stature, had no true weaknesses.
But that was only when supported by overwhelming size.
Without that stature to overwhelm opponents, Garad’s sword would become a sword with neither weakness nor strength.
Currently, that skeleton was in such a case.
Having had its vast magic power stripped away, it was moving precariously with insufficient evil god energy, leaving it incredibly weak.
It was pressuring Lucy with all the combat experience gained through numerous battles, but that was all.
Its basic stature was similar to Lucy’s.
So if she maintained her strategy, she might not win, but she could definitely land a hit.
In fact, in the early part of the battle, Lucy was in control.
She pushed the skeleton back with movements like she had memorized its habits perfectly.
That would have been enough against an average opponent.
If Lucy disrupted the opponent’s emotions with her unique tone, they wouldn’t even realize something was wrong before charging recklessly into destruction.
However, this opponent was no average foe.
This was the skeleton bearing the memories of Garad, who had gone through countless battlefields.
It was smart enough to identify problems even amidst fury and countered Lucy by changing its sword techniques.
From that point, the tables turned.
As Lucy’s knowledge became useless, she started to waver.
Emotionally entangled, she began to dance to the skeleton’s tune.
Ruel observed the whole process but said nothing.
He wanted her to realize the issue by suffering a horrifying defeat.
Lucy was not a child who wanted to become a hero. She was a child who had to become one.
With my assistance defeated the skeleton, she would eventually encounter another powerful foe that would threaten her life in the same manner someday.
Better to lose here, where there was no real danger to her life. That’s what Ruel thought.
The reason Ruel shifted his thoughts was simple.
Seeing Lucy grasping her shield looked too desperate.
And he was just plain annoyed by that bastard torturing a girl that felt like a granddaughter.
It was a purely emotional judgment.
So Ruel regretted telling Lucy a lot of things, but that could wait till later.
Right now wasn’t the time.
“Why do you keep glancing at my legs? You can’t even stand, can you? Ah! Is that an old habit? You must have been a huge pervert back in the day!”
“…Enough already!”
Lucy was climbing the mountain.
Firmly believing she was on the right path.
Upwards. Upwards. Once again upwards.
Heading towards the peak.
The battle’s initiative had long since flipped.
Lucy felt relaxed while the skeleton felt urgent.
This would not do.
The weak skeleton couldn’t penetrate Lucy’s shield.
So it needed to create an opening instead of being swept along by Lucy’s provocation, but it was charging in recklessly.
Ha. Why was this capable kid behaving like that just moments ago?
If it knew how to fix it, it should’ve done so long ago.
Well, that confidence isn’t entirely a problem, but it’s an issue I can gradually teach.
For now, let’s be satisfied with this.
[Hey, Young Lady.]
‘What now, Grandpa?! Keep it short!’
[The key. Attack with it. It felt inferior being shorter than those around him.]
‘…That’s actually useful advice!’
Now, I guess I’ll just enjoy watching that Garad-lookalike skeleton get teased.
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