〈 Episode 45 – Real Combat (1)〉
It has been half a year since I started training under Libero.
Half a year is short if you think about it, but long if you feel it.
During that time, all I did was hone my swordsmanship under Libero.
But the intensity of that training surpassed anything else I could have done.
Eventually, that intense training paid off.
Three months in, I finally succeeded in reaching [Swordsmanship (A-)] from [Swordsmanship (B+)].
Honestly, in an environment like this, it would have been strange if I didn’t reach it.
Excluding the original, it was the best cultivation skill in the game, [Precocious].
The blessing of [Regret God] that increases experience gained through failures.
Plus, with Libero as the best educator.
There probably couldn’t be a better environment than this.
Such a supreme environment even allowed a joke character like Allen Pleuk to reach [Swordsmanship (A-)].
However, the growth stopped there.
‘Is this really my limit?’
No, my limits had long been surpassed.
It was just that, thanks to this ridiculously good environment, I was forced to reach [Swordsmanship (A-)].
As proof of that, I couldn’t raise my swordsmanship further during the following three months of training.
“Do you get it now?”
I ignored Libero’s words and swung my sword.
“Doesn’t it seem like it’s been proven now?”
The guy who was supposed to be my master only spouted useless motivation.
I could ignore him, but…
“You should make better use of your wrist’s elasticity.”
Still, it wasn’t entirely unhelpful.
‘So that was what I was missing.’
I swung my sword a few more times.
Indeed, when I did as he said, the power transferred to the sword increased.
But that alone didn’t fill the sense of something lacking.
‘Damn it, is swinging the sword like this really going to change anything?’
It was frustrating.
Certainly, swinging the sword under Libero’s guidance was a good training method.
Yet, it felt like it had reached its limits.
“Well then, let’s call it a day.”
Libero seemed to have lost interest in my sword swinging.
He put on his coat as usual and tried to leave the basement.
Holding the sword, I looked at him and said, “I admit it.”
Libero stopped and asked, “What do you admit?”
“I am definitely at my limit right now.”
At those words, Libero turned his head.
He wore an expression of suspicion.
“Why are you so suddenly admitting your limits?”
That’s classic Libero.
He instantly realized I had some ulterior motive.
It was worth being suspicious since it was the first time I admitted my limits.
“This way, I acknowledge my limits. Even if this isn’t a limit, it would take a long time to move to the next stage.”
“So you have another method?”
I nodded.
“Yes, rather than staying holed up in this basement, I want to gain real combat experience.”
It wasn’t a guarantee that it would be effective.
But staying cooped up in the basement with no growth was worth a try.
“But what do you mean by real combat?”
To that question, I replied, “Today, I will follow you.”
His expression shifted slightly.
He looked puzzled.
“Do you know what I do?”
Of course I know.
“You punish the ruffians causing trouble in Sakh.”
Libero’s face hardened slightly as he shook his head.
“No, that’s just dirty murder.”
But I wasn’t ready to back down.
“But it’s also about helping someone, right?”
Noticing my stubbornness, he sighed and said, “If you really think so, I won’t stop you. Just adhere to a few conditions.”
*
The conditions set by Libero were threefold:
First, cover your hair with a hood or something.
Most blondes are usually from the Leim Kingdom, and Sakh doesn’t have the best relations with it.
So walking around with exposed blonde hair in Sakh’s shady alleys could result in hate crimes.
On my first day in Sakh, it rained, and I was wearing a raincoat. I felt lucky.
Second, keep a distance from him.
No one really paid attention to him because of his messy appearance, but that was when he was alone.
Unlike him, I was usually dressed neatly, so being seen with him might attract attention.
And third, don’t act until he gives you a command.
That was a condition I could agree with.
With someone at Libero’s level, he could gauge how strong the opponent was.
He could determine if it was a fight I could handle alone.
So I halved my training time and began to follow Libero for a while.
“Hey, Mister.”
The tavern where Libero’s regulars gathered.
It was the first place I had come to look for him.
The innkeeper placed a drink down and asked Libero, “Who’s the boy next to you?”
Libero answered in a low voice, indifferent, “Nephew.”
“I never thought someone like you had relatives. But he doesn’t look much like you.”
Libero didn’t respond to that.
He simply held his drink and sipped.
There was a time when I found that puzzling and asked him, “Why do you drink if it doesn’t even get you drunk?”
He replied, “Because I can’t do anything when I drink. It gives me legitimacy.”
That was a mind-boggling answer.
He fell silent for a moment before adding, “If you think secondary effects count…I can gather information when I go to taverns. Getting drunk is also enough to create an alibi.”
He seemed to view that as a secondary effect, but to me, it seemed like the primary reason.
For some reason, he denied it.
At that moment, I overheard another group conversing in the tavern.
“Remember that new merchant who came a while ago? That guy got trashed by someone terrible and his shop’s in ruins.”
“Wasn’t that area in the White Tiger Gang’s territory?”
“That’s what everyone’s saying, but something feels off…”
Their voices gradually lowered, as if they were discussing something sensitive.
And one of them chimed in as if wrapping things up, “Honestly, this isn’t something we should worry about.”
They chose to avoid it.
But Libero was different.
He got up from his seat.
‘Here we go.’
Leaving the tavern, he headed straight towards the White Tiger Gang’s territory to the east of Sakh.
I followed him at a distance and asked, “Do you know who the new merchant is?”
“I don’t. But everything in Sakh is in my head. I just have to find the Sakh I remember and check.”
He was right.
He quickly located the newly opened shop.
In fact, I recognized it too. The shopkeeper was someone I knew.
“Are you the one from back then…”
Ah, it was this Mister.
Inside the ruined shop, the shopkeeper, holding a broom, stopped when he saw me.
“What happened here?”
“Like you see, it’s ruined. As if the shop alone being destroyed wasn’t enough, they stole all my belongings too.”
You could tell just by looking.
The important thing was who did it.
“Did you see who the culprit was?”
“Yeah, when I came, it was already like this. I reported it to the police, but they didn’t say anything. Well, that’s to be expected. Being targeted by the White Tiger Gang is my fault.”
He was right.
The police would probably think this incident was orchestrated by the White Tiger Gang.
Since the gang is colluding with the authorities, no one would come to help him.
‘Except for this guy.’
Having found something in the shop, Libero stepped out and walked somewhere.
“Are you going to smash the White Tiger Gang?”
“No. I don’t want to make that big of a scene.”
“I heard the Blue Dragon Gang already smashed them.”
“Those guys crossed the line.”
He seemed to have his own set of standards.
By the way, I wondered where he was headed.
“Originally, the culprit in this case isn’t the White Tiger Gang.”
“Huh?”
“If it were the White Tiger Gang, they wouldn’t bother doing it secretly. They’d just demolish the shop head-on. And there was only one trace left in the shop.”
The one trace left in the shop.
He was following that trace.
“It’s a matter of catching that one person to solve this.”
*
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