svetikya #216 - No skills, just protection
#216 - No skills, just protection
In the expansive courtyard.
This wasn't a training ground or anything of the sort, but due to the strong insistence of a certain important figure, the two were engaged in a swordsmanship contest here.
One of them was Zunzun, and the other was…
Reinhardt.
This man was undoubtedly the strongest in the world.
In a world where some claimed to be the strongest only to be sliced in half, lying completely flat and unable to revive, where some claimed to be able to defeat anyone with one punch yet struggled to gain an advantage against ordinary people, where some claimed to be the ultimate life form only to drift in space outside Earth, amidst all sorts of bizarre events.
Being the strongest was like a curse, something no one could bear, as their prestige would invariably plummet.
Reinhardt was the same.
In reality, there were timelines where he would be defeated.
And the person who defeated him was none other than Natsuki Subaru.
But do you know how many times Natsuki Subaru had to die to defeat Reinhardt?
Over a thousand times.
And even then, he didn't defeat him physically, but rather mentally, turning the Sword Saint into an ally of the Emilia camp.
Under such circumstances, Zunzun absolutely didn't believe he could surpass Reinhardt.
Just like now.
“Huff… Huff…”
Zunzun, holding a wooden sword, faced Reinhardt from a distance, focusing all his energy to be wary of the other's wooden sword, but in contrast, the Sword Saint seemed completely relaxed, even to the point of being overly lazy.
One hour into the training battle.
He was completely suppressed.
The two were simply conversing through swordsmanship, yet Zunzun's pride, 'Seamless Garment,' was completely useless, as Reinhardt effortlessly breached his defensive range.
The original intention of Seamless Garment was to amplify one's senses, allowing one to counter or parry before detecting the opponent's malicious intent, whether in offense or defense.
However, Reinhardt harbored no malice.
No, to be precise, his malice was hidden.
It wasn't that Reinhardt was actively concealing it, but rather that the micro-spirits floating in the atmosphere were doing it on their own, just like when Zunzun had barely managed to graze Reinhardt's cheek, the micro-spirits in the atmosphere, as if unable to bear the sight of his handsome face being injured, completely healed him.
WTF!
Who exactly is the vessel of a god!?
Goddess Eris, I demand a different cheat!
Just as mystery is ineffective against a higher mystery, Zunzun's cheat was simply no match for Reinhardt's cheat, so no matter how he attacked, it would be parried, and his own Seamless Garment was learned by the opponent, even strengthened considerably.
Are you Ikki Stella?
The most infuriating thing was that Zunzun couldn't learn anything from Reinhardt.
No skill, all blessings.
The Sword Saint's blessing made one marvel at the disparity of the world.
Thus, the sweating Zunzun decisively raised both hands to him, shouting respectfully:
“I surrender, I admit defeat.”
“…Is that so? Then it can end here, right?”
Reinhardt slowly put away his wooden sword.
Zunzun took a deep look at the knight's sword with dragon claws at his waist, the dragon sword seemed like an inanimate object, not moving at all, then asked somewhat unwillingly: “Reinhardt, if you were to evaluate my swordsmanship, how would you rate it?”
“Hmm…”
The Sword Saint thought carefully for a moment, then said very seriously: “Lord Zunzun's swordsmanship is very strong, as strong as the Empire's Cecils Segmunt.”
Cecils Segmunt was one of the Empire's Nine Divine Generals, ranked first.
He was considered the Empire's strongest swordsman.
To be praised like this, anyone would be overjoyed, right?
However, Zunzun sensed the hidden meaning in his words.
“Only swordsmanship?”
“Only swordsmanship.”
Understood.
After all, he was the Empire's strongest, so even though his swordsmanship was exquisite, he definitely wouldn't rely on swordsmanship alone, such as extraordinary speed, extraordinary strength, and two swords that could be called demon swords, and so on.
Perhaps the other party was hiding even more powerful abilities, but facing the Sword Saint, who could not be defeated no matter what, he chose not to use them, knowing that exposing them would only be self-defeating.
Zunzun wasn't discouraged either, there was absolutely nothing wrong with his path of swordsmanship, he simply didn't have enough stats to beat the Sword Saint.
Moreover, Zunzun had learned one thing in his short life…
Never argue with a monster with broken mechanics!
“Puhahaha—”
Seeing Zunzun's defeat, hearty laughter echoed in the courtyard, although unorganized, the laughter was extremely contagious, making people feel cheerful.
Except for Zunzun.
He was the object of ridicule, it would be strange if he could be happy.
“You're really embarrassing!” Felt laughed heartily, pointing at Zunzun and mocking: “I thought you were so strong, but I didn't expect you to be only this much.”
“Annoying.”
Zunzun rolled his eyes unhappily.
This guy really had the nerve to say that, he was the one who saved her life, but now she was mocking him like this.
In fact, Zunzun also understood that Felt was expressing her dissatisfaction towards him.
“Felt, that's enough, I don't seem to have lied to you, right?”
“What did you say!?”
“So, you're already wearing the yellow robe, with fish and meat accompanying every meal, and even people to serve you, even if you said you wanted to hold a grand banquet here, you would definitely be satisfied, what else are you dissatisfied with… Ah, thank you, Flam.”
Zunzun took the white towel from the short girl with peach-colored bangs.
But Felt snatched it away.
“What are you talking about! You… Although I said I wanted to live a rich life, it's not like this! What's the difference between me now and a caged canary, tell me!”
The red-eyed, blonde-haired girl kicked at Zunzun's head, but it was easily blocked.
Lowering his head slightly, he could see the white scenery.
He couldn't beat the Sword Saint, but he couldn't beat you?
“Lord Felt, please don't do this!”
The short girl with peach-colored hair but straight bangs screamed and tugged at the other's skirt after seeing Felt's disorganized behavior.
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Her name was Glacis, Flam's younger sister.
The two sisters were maids that Reinhardt had specially found to take care of Zunzun and Felt, hoping that the two would not feel unfamiliar because of their similar ages.
Zunzun was very comfortable being taken care of.
Felt was very resistant, whether it was the light and airy skirt or the behavior that had to maintain noble etiquette, it made her very uncomfortable.
“People should know how to be content, Felt.”
“Hah!?”
She asked in a very unhappy tone.
In reality, Felt was now wearing a pale yellow, gorgeous western dress, and she was also wearing expensive accessories that she coveted very much, if she didn't speak, people would think she was a noble young lady from some family.
Huh??
Zunzun suddenly realized that all the women he encountered were static beauties, whether it was Darkness, Aqua, or Cecilia.
“Besides, Reinhardt hasn't restricted your freedom, right?”
Felt was brought to the Sword Saint's mansion, of course she resisted fiercely, clamoring to leave from the beginning, but Reinhardt certainly couldn't agree, but he couldn't stand Felt being too stubborn, so Reinhardt proposed a condition.
As long as Felt could escape without being discovered by Reinhardt, Reinhardt would not chase after her.
However, over the past week.
Felt had never succeeded, she even ran into the Sword Saint, who was waiting there early, as soon as she stepped on the mansion's wall.
“So, why don't you help me! If I have your help—if you use that trick to completely destroy the mansion, I'll definitely be able to escape easily!”
“I'm afraid I have to refuse. What if I hurt someone? Even if I don't hurt someone, it's wrong to hurt flowers and plants. Besides, with Felt as my companion, I have a special sense of security, let's be good caged canaries together.”
“Hey…!”
Seeing the other party's malicious smile, the girl felt like the boomerang from a week ago had hit her right in the brow.
Besides, Zunzun couldn't possibly agree.
He still needed Reinhardt to help him open the space tunnel, how could he leave?
Zunzun had said this the second day he agreed, Reinhardt expressed confusion, but eventually agreed, the condition of the exchange was that Zunzun was required to stay in the Sword Saint's mansion before the Council made a decision, and he would be released after confirming the fifth Dragon Priestess.
And Zunzun agreed, and said that as a thank you for staying in the Sword Saint's mansion, he would help 'take care' of Felt, so every time she planned an escape route, Reinhardt would know about it.
“Speaking of which, the Council's side…”
“Yes, they are currently discussing it, in fact, after I reported it to Knight Commander Marcos, he seemed quite shocked. I think the adults in the Council must be worried.”
Reinhardt's mouth curled up slightly.
Probably feeling troubled like him, an inexplicable person appeared, and the Dragon Crest had an anomaly.
Maybe it was a new revelation from the Dragon.
This was even more important than the royal selection for the pro-Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, after all, the entire kingdom was under the Dragon's protection.
“Forget it, that's not important.”
Zunzun waved his hand and said: “Speaking of which, did Subaru reply?”
“Yes, I received his reply this morning.” Reinhardt handed over an opened letter, and said somewhat embarrassedly: “I know this is Subaru's letter, but…”
“I understand, to ensure safety, right?”
Zunzun didn't feel angry about his letter being read, besides, he didn't write any unspeakable secrets. It was just a normal greeting between friends.
“How is Subaru?”
“Should I say good or bad… These are not very important, the key is this letter…”
It was rare for Reinhardt to not know how to describe it.
Zunzun felt a little strange.
But when he saw the letter, he understood why he was like this, so he also had a tangled expression.
“Hey, what did the little brother say, why are you making this expression?” Felt couldn't wait to snatch the letter over, and was dumbfounded after taking a look: “What is this written, is it a ghost drawing!?”
As an orphan from the slums, Felt was illiterate.
Reinhardt had arranged a literacy teacher for her after considering this. Although she couldn't read the text fluently yet, she still knew whether it was written well or not, and Natsuki Subaru's letter…
It was very touching that he wrote the letter by hand to show his sincerity, but she still hoped that he could find someone to write it for him in the future, this was too much like a ghost drawing!