Chapter 18 . Fighting talent

'Dad! Why am I pairing up with this guy!"

"That's right. I think it's unfair "

This was the only time that Saraswati and I agreed.

I don't want to train with her, because I don't want to train with her.

I can see that Saraswati would be annoyed by her constant interruptions.

"I'm sorry, Saras  but this is a deal. So, kid. I am the teacher. You, disciple. Yes, what do you want to say?"

 "---Huh? Don't play the fool!"

"No, it's . Nothing, master ?"

 I was aware that my smile was cracking, but I managed to suppress my anger.

 I'm going to beat the hell out of you someday for sure.

"But, Dad!"

"I'm not going to tell you right now, but this is something you has to do. There's a lot you can learn from this boy"

 Schneizel crouches down and speaks with Saraswati at eye level.

 But, like a rampaging horse, the young lady only puffed out her cheeks.

"I have nothing to learn from him !"

"Oh? Is that so ?"

"Of course !"

 Schneizel smiles.

For some reason as he smilead i can sence smile of my father

"Then, try to beat hin ".

Oh, was that conversation on purpose to bring about this turn of events?

"If   you wins the fight against the boy, there will be no need to talk about the partner. I'll even take you as a disciple."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"All right, all I have to do is beat him, right?"

 Saraswathi glares at me with full of motivation, and Nicholas is smiling behind him.

I'm his disciple, too, in case you were wondering. Don't proceed without me.

But I have no right of refusal.

"Schneizel-, please tell me the rules in detail for now."

"Oh, yes. You have to hold a wooden weapon in your hand, and the first person to hit the other person with the wooden sword wins. "

"I understand. Just to be clear, no magic?"

"Naturally ."

"Yes, magic. -----"-

 Saraswati looks at me with an astonished expression when he hears the word "sorcery.

The reason is that Saraswathi has not mastered any magic even at the beginning of the story. I wonder if she is ashamed of what I she said earlier,

There nothing i can learn from him

"Saraswati, you're going to follow the rules, too, right?"

'No, I don't care. I will win no matter what the rules are.

That's very confident of me.

'Then choose your weap"on of preference, both of you."

 Schneizel pointed to the weapons already laid out on the ground. The fact that the two of us are not the only ones who are not in the same boat.

 I wonder what the purpose is.

The Saraswati I know is a girl who loves the sword more than anything else, but her talent is not as good as it should be.

 Above her is her father, a hero, and just below her is her sister, who is just as talented.

 She hates herself for being the only one who has nothing, and once turned away from the sword.

However, when she meets the main character, Arthur, and sees the extraordinary effort he puts into his sword, she begins to build it up once again from the ground up.

After that, she reconciles with Lucy, and her efforts pay off as she trains with her father and Lucy, whom she had been deliberately avoiding...

 Hmmm.

 At this stage, Schneizel probably sees that Saraswati has no talent.

I am sure that this is the reason why he does not allow her to become his disciple.

Then, what is required of me now is hard work?

I can't believe that I am five years old, but I have wisdom and skill in magic.

Schneizel probably wants his daughter to see the hard work that lies at the root of it all.

 That's good, isn't it?

If I could win Saraswati over, I might be able to win Lucy over, and Schneizel, too, like a hot potato.

"Okay, let's try it."

 I've never held a sword before, so I picked up the wooden spear.

"Boy, you sure you don't want a sword?"

" Yes, I have never held a sword before."

I don't think I can win with a sword against an opponent with experience, no matter how talentless she is.

If I aims to clear that condition, I think a spear is the best choice here, as it seems to be able to stick with the difference in reach.

"I'll go with that."

 Saraswati's choice was still the sword.

 It was a shorter weapon than a spear to begin with, and being for children, it was only about half the length of the spear I had taken.

"So, are you ready?"

"Anytime ".

I don't know how to do the setup and stuff. ------ Oh, fine.

"Okay. Let's get started!"

⚪️.

 Schneizel referees the duel from a short distance away.

Let's get into stance for now.

But how do I get ready?

 I don't know, but I guess  i just kind of sit back and point spear at opponent.

"What's that?"

It's my first time!"

"Well, I've heard good things about you."

Immediately after I made the spear virgin remark, Saraswati came running with a nasty smile on her face.

 In her hand was a sword, and she was going to hit me with it.

No, this is scary!

 I couldn't just show my back and run away, so I held my shaking hand as hard as I could to fool him, and first I held out my spear to check him.

 However, with a flowing response, it was passed over...

"Don't evade!"

"Don't dodge!"

A wooden sword came to hit me in the brain, but I back-stepped to avoid it.

 Forgetting to hold the spear, he hides his head in his hands as if to protect it.

Seriously, really, really, really?

I'm seriously going to punch her now, right?

 Are she os really six years old? Does a six-year-old do such a bad act?

Or better yet, is it really no talent?

I don't know, she just kind of passed me off normally, you know?

 Even though I am an amateur spear-handler, is it really that easy?

'Boy. she is train for hours every day. There's no way she's weak."

 Schneizel's voice was full of pride in his daughter's bravery, but with a somewhat regretful look on his face.

 Oh, yes, that's right.

 I know Saraswati's passion for the sword.

In the story, she had reached a level of strength that an ordinary person could master before anyone else, until she hit the wall of her talent.

No way she could be weak.

I had underestimated it because she was six years old, but I wouldn't let my guard down anymore.

"Come on, "

"I'll do it even without being told!"

 I did my best to observe Saraswati, who was coming toward me again.

To be honest, I was so scared that I wanted to run away, but I endured my fear for now.

From the looks of it, no kind of feint.

 It was a child's foot, so it was not that fast, and there was nothing that looked like a strange technique to the untrained eye.

I made up some hypothesis by comparing her appearance with the future girl I knew from Arcue.

---Perhaps all Saraswati can do now is the basics.

She has an advantage because she is dealing with an amateur, but she may not be able to do anything complicated.

Okay, then, let's give it all I' ve got.

 First, check with the spear.

 The same as before, of course Saraswathi came to parry it.

'Hoi!"

 I had anticipated this and quickly pulled back my spear before I was swept away.

 And as I pulled back, I retreated, again gaining distance as Saraswathi approached.

"You!"

Saraswati, who had become desperate, came at me again, but I could not get close to her at all by running back or sidestepping and poking her with my spear.

After a while of attacking and defending in this way, I gradually get a little more relaxed.

 It is in the realm of swords that she becomes a threat to me.

If I don't let her get close and poke her with a spear from a distance, she is not much different from an ineffective girl.

 Saraswati probably doesn't know how to deal with an opponent who is on the run.

"What the hell!'

Finally, Saraswati, impatient, challenged him to a reckless thrust.

Okay, I'll just use my spear as a check, and then catch her with my foot....

Such avarice came out of me, though.

"How fast?"

 The rush through without regard to damage was faster than I had expected.

 Ignoring the spear that was there to check me, it thrust into my body, and while my face contorted in pain, I moved forward even more.

 I found myself looking at the frustrated face of Saraswati.

 Zero distance, deadlocked?

I hurriedly shortened my spear, but Saraswathi, who was already in attack mode, was unlikely to catch up with me.

 At this point, the disadvantage of a long weapon and the difficulty of handling it in compact spacing was bad enough.

"Damn, if I don't get this right..., no, no."

 I don't have to stick to spears, do I?

As Saraswati came up with the idea, She held down te hand gripping the sword and, by bringing her body close to it, further inhibited the right hand's movement.

Even so, I could not completely stop the attack, but the attack that reached me after the two interdictions was completely non-painful.

"Now..."

"No way!"

Saraswati stands there, stunned as her attack is nullified.

---I win!"

I hooked her leg and rolled her over, taking complete advantage of the horseback riding.

 In a fight, I would have mounted him and punched him down, but this was a duel.

 I turned back to Schneizel, the referee.

"I win, don't I?"

"Eh, , ... ------"

But what came back was such a hazy response.

⚪️.

Schneizel could not believe what he had just seen in the duel.

 First, Norwin.

As announced earlier, it seemed that he had no experience with a spear, and his stance and strikes were extremely awkward.

 But that doesn't matter.

 He just didn't know how to use a spear. He will be able to become a better spearman as soon as he learns the kata and fights.

 What was important was that he remained calm, even though it was only his second battle.

 As was the case when he attacked the vampire's hideout, Norwin fought by observing his opponent and his surroundings, always looking for ways to gain an advantage.

I wondered if a child in his first battle against vampires would be able to do that much.

 At that time, I was so caught up in the fight that I was too late to save him.

This time, I saw the same movement.

He judged Saraswati's ability with the first and second attacks, and after that, he sealed off the fight from a distance by taking advantage of his spear's spacing.

 If an expert had done this, it would still be understandable.

But if an amateur with no skill were asked to do the same thing, how many would be able to do it?

 A five-year-old? A child who was treated coldly?

 It's just too unbelievable.

 ---Norwin's thinking ability is not only an advantage.

While Saraswati moves by intuition, Norwin's reaction was slightly delayed as he once put a thought between his thoughts.

It was a duel between inexperienced fighters, so it did not affect him, but the method of being late every time he made a move would not work up there.

 But even that could be remedied if his quickness of thought were improved.

 A gem in the rough.

 Norwin is truly a gem in the rough that will shine when polished.

Whether or not he is talented with the spear remains to be determined, but the way he puts his thinking into battle will definitely make him a great fighter.

, Schneizel's mind was filled with such confidence.

 ---And then there is Saraswati.

 She had been a good-for-nothing girl up to the end, but her final charge was spectacular.

 She charged through without regard to damage, but twisted her body just before hitting the spear to avoid the vital point, and even that twist was a brilliant sword stroke that carried momentum.

 Norwin's thinking ability to intervene in two steps at the last minute was extraordinary, and it was praiseworthy enough.

 However, it was also Norwin who pulled off the coup de grace.

 Why did Saraswati show growth in that one moment?

 Schneizel sees it in Norwin's fighting style.

 He uses complex thinking to exploit his opponent's weaknesses and maintain his advantage.

 From the opponent's point of view, this is equivalent to being constantly pointed out as being inadequate.

 Saraswati had his weak points pinched many times during the battle, and he corrected them little by little through repeated assaults.

 That assault was not really a reckless plan.

 It was an attack after confronting Norwin and repairing some of his weaknesses.

This is more than I could have expected.

 A girl who is not blessed with talent will surely hit a wall someday.

 I kept thinking that I would have to do something about it sooner or later, and for the time being, I applied Norwin.

I knew that these two should be trained together.

(They should  training together ).

 Schneizel vowed to himself.

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