159. Festival of the Sword (2)
#159
“Who is this? Aren’t you the hero who brought spring back to the islands?”
“hmm?”
Ronan turned his head. A smartly dressed young man was standing with his back to her. It was a contrast to Ronan, who had become a beggar after traversing a difficult road for five days.
It looked like the son of a noble family, but no matter how hard I looked, it was a face I couldn’t remember. A young man with his collar straightened shook my hand.
“nice to see you. “Your name must have been Onan, right?”
“What are you?”
Ronan frowned instead of shaking hands. The first impression was not very good.
It wasn’t just the face that looked like rotten pasta or the rudeness of getting the name wrong from the first meeting. In many ways, I didn’t think he had come to participate in the Sword Festival.
‘How did this piece of shit get here?’
First of all, it was too weak. The amount of mana felt from the core was, at best, at the beginning level of Sword Expert. The ornate rapier hanging from his waist also seemed like an object suited for ceremonial purposes rather than combat.
Ronan, looking around, realized why this idiot was able to come all the way here with a gaunt face. Two lightly armed knights were standing about three steps away.
‘aha.’
The pattern engraved on the armor was identical to the one embroidered on the young man’s uniform. It seemed like a knight belonging to a family. Do you want to come this far? The young man laughed shamelessly after seeing Ronan’s reaction.
“ha ha ha. This is a little embarrassing. This is Almas Ranijak de Pashadone, the eldest son of the Pashadone family. “It appears that the rumor that he was born as a commoner is true.”
“what?”
“Ah, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’m just surprised that you don’t recognize my family’s emblem. “I think that might be the case.”
The guy who was called Albas or something stiffened his neck. Ronan laughed. This was something I hadn’t seen in quite a while. If there is a difference in social status, regardless of whether the other person has made a contribution, look down on them first.
I wanted to immediately grab him by the hair and slap him three times, but it wouldn’t be too late to do it once I heard what he was saying. Ronan raised his eyebrows as if asking a question.
“So what is your business?”
“Please cooperate with me. “We will make sure you can step foot on the sacred site.”
“···ok?”
“This is our third time participating. “I never made it to the sacred site because I missed it each time, but I still managed to climb up to just before it.”
I wondered what kind of nonsense this was. Suddenly, the young man brought his face closer. My thick double eyelids were so burdensome that I wanted to slap them. He said in a whisper.
“From what I hear, there is something unusual about this festival. It seems to be true that the elders of Farzan had strange dreams. “With the unprecedented number of participants, it is clear that the screening tests will be very difficult.”
“What do you mean, a strange dream?”
“Hehe, your information skills are lagging. it’s okay. “It can happen.”
The sarcasm made me want to pull my nose out and put it in my mouth, but it was beneficial to dig up any information I could. He just nodded his head in silence and let the young man talk as he pleased.
“The information was leaked by a servant of the elders, and it is said that he had a dream of a pure white meteor crashing into a sacred place. In the place where the star fell, a sword was stuck, sprinkling brilliant light. “Isn’t it interesting?”
“Damn, then is this old man’s delusion the reason why so many people gathered here?”
“You might think so. But what if all seven elders had the same dream?”
Ronan’s eyes widened. It was definitely not normal for seven people to have the same dream.
“How is it? I think this is not a bad offer for Onan either. It looks like this is our first time participating, but joining forces is a good choice in many ways.”
“How can you trust me?”
“Why are you like this? Everyone knows that when you captured the Witch of Winter, you accomplished a feat comparable to that of Archmage Lorhorn. Flowing Fire Itargand and Lodolan’s inquisitors only helped.”
The young man let out a dark laugh. Ronan’s mouth twisted. It wasn’t entirely wrong, but I still didn’t like how it belittled people who had worked hard.
“I have no idea, so find someone else. “I think Schlieffen also participated. Why don’t you go and talk about it?”
“How can you compare a dying star with Onan? Instead of doing that, think about it some more.”
The young man said, bringing his face closer. Ronan’s brow furrowed.
“What does this mean? “That bastard is a dying star?”
“Isn’t that true? He was praised as a genius when he was young, but he has not been able to leave any notable achievements in recent years. “I think Schlieffen Sinivan is an old man who only rides on the glory of Grancia.”
The young man suddenly started chewing on Schlieffen. Ronan laughed. In real life, it’s obvious that you won’t even be able to make eye contact.
‘This is what happens because they take away all my work.’
It seemed like I was receiving some kind of evaluation every now and then just because I was practicing quietly. If you think about it, the reason Schlieffen became a sack of barley was largely due to Ronan’s regression. Because he took away most of his achievements, including the Witch of Winter.
‘Why are you so upset?’
Suddenly, I felt irritated. Anyway, there was no reason for Schlieffen to be scolded by this idiot. Even though that bastard was a bit unlucky, he was a really good guy. Ronan took a deep breath and brushed his bangs.
“I see… That’s right.”
“yes. Then shall we go quickly? “Time is not far.”
The young man spoke urgingly. He already seemed to regard Ronan as one of his knights. Ronan nodded slowly.
“···I have to go. But do you have any skills?”
“haha. It may not be as good as Onan. Still, I have some confidence in my quick sword skills.”
“okay?”
Ronan naturally placed his hand on his waist. The guard knights still did not take their eyes off the young man. Ronan raised his index finger to the hilt of his sword and gathered mana.
‘I already wanted to test how fast it was, and it turned out well.’
I could feel the sleeping Lamancha inside the scabbard turning red. It had to fool not only the knights but also the eyes of about a dozen onlookers. These people gathered after recognizing Ronan, who had become a celebrity in his own right.
“Onan?”
It was the moment when the young man called Ronan again. His hand disappeared from sight. The slash, drawn at an imperceptible speed, passed by the young man’s body. Dozens of straight lines were engraved on his top and bottom.
– Crispy!
“ah?”
The young man, sensing something strange, shrugged his eyebrows. At the same time, his clothes exploded and scattered. The wind that blew just at that moment blew the shredded fabric far away. It was a dreamlike sight, as if the clothes had turned into butterflies and were flying away.
“Huh?!”
The young man, now in his original form, let out a scream. Unlike Butterfly Rose’s naked body that he had seen not long ago, he was extremely obscene. The female prosecutor who was watching their conversation nearby covered her mouth with both hands.
“Aaaah! Rice, you’re a pervert!”
“Oh, I can’t believe such a beast came into the sacred sword festival! watch!”
Then, violent reactions erupted from everywhere. Ronan shrugged her shoulders and giggled. It was a nostalgic feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Ahhh···!”
The young man, whose legs were weak, sat down. The eyes of the escort knights grew so big that they almost seemed to pop out.
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“What is this!”
“young master!”
They rushed straight to the young man without going through Ronan. Looking at his reaction, it seemed like he didn’t notice at all. The slash did not touch the skin at all and only cut down to the underwear.
‘As expected, there is nothing like this to sharpen your quick sword. ‘It’s still useful.’
It was a rewarding result. If I had called him by his name at the end, he might have been shown mercy, but it was just a pity.
I felt a little better now. Ronan, with his back to the commotion, was trying to follow her. Slowly. Something caught at his feet.
“ok?”
Ronan lowered his gaze. A colorful dagger was shining. The scabbard was engraved with the coat of arms of the Pashadone family to which the young man belonged.
‘It must have been a sidearm.’
It seemed like pants and coats had been blown off and rolled all the way here. Ronan looked around. All the crowd’s attention was focused on the screaming young man.
‘It’s not bad.’
It looked quite expensive as it was decorated with jewels. If you think of it as compensation for wasted time, it was quite a nice trophy. Ronan slyly bent down and picked up the dagger and put it in his inner pocket. As expected, no one noticed…
“thief.”
“f*ck.”
It was a moment when I thought… A voice came from right behind me. Ronan closed his eyes and cursed at her. He turned his head, creaking like a rusty pump. There was no one.
“ok?”
To be exact, no one was paying attention to Ronan. He was tilting his head in confusion. The same voice rang out quietly.
“This way.”
“ah.”
Only then did Ronan realize that the voice came from below. When I looked down, a white head caught my eye. A small girl was crouching at his feet.
“···you?”
“I saw it all.”
The pure white hair that hung down to the floor gave the impression that it was so abundant that it was overflowing. The girl slowly got up. Even when her body was fully erect, she was so short that the top of her head only touched Ronan’s solar plexus. She raised her head, locked eyes with Ronan, and opened her mouth.
“You did it. “I also took off that boy’s clothes.”
“huh? “I have no idea what you’re talking about…”
“Don’t act like a fool. “It was exactly number 23.”
“what?”
“The number of times you swung your sword.”
The girl answered dryly. A shiver ran down Ronan’s spine. I never imagined it would be read so accurately.
Ronan, whose mind had gone blank, was wandering around looking for something to say. The girl suddenly raised her hand and patted Ronan’s bottom.
“But it’s okay. “I’ll look at you because you’re handsome.”
“huh?”
“The face is what I like.”
Ronan looked at the girl dumbfounded. Judging by her expression, it seemed like she wasn’t joking or lying. Her bright eyes were sparkling with a clear water color.
‘What is it, boy?’
The girl was now openly touching Ronan’s butt. The sticky hand movements made it look like it hadn’t been massaged once or twice. Ronan stopped her by holding her hand and spoke in a whisper.
“Stop touching me, man. So, does that mean you won’t say anything?”
“huh.”
“Thank you for that… I told you to stop touching me.”
The fern-like hand was creeping up the back of my thigh again. Her Ronan stopped her again. the girl mumbled, puffing out one of her cheeks.
“It’s not worn out, but it’s a bit flimsy.”
“This is a very yellow little boy. “He’s doing something that only my classmates would do.”
He looked cute, but the things he did were no different from those of his fellow drunken punitive soldiers. The girl shook her head resolutely.
“Not kid. “It’s Lady.”
“under.”
Ronan snorted. She felt like she was seeing Asher declaring that he was a man.
“What about Lady? “If you hit it a lot, it’s around thirteen to fourteen years old.”
“I am older than you. And I am also a participant.”
“what?”
“look. knife.”
The girl who said that tied her hair back and grabbed it. The sword hidden by her hair was revealed. She was carrying her long sword, which seemed to be about the same height as her, out of the way.
Looking at the condition of the hilt, it was a very old sword. However, because the sword body was hidden in the scabbard, it was unclear what level of weapon it was exactly. When the girl relaxed her grip, the longsword disappeared into her hair again. Ronan asked in astonishment.
“Can a kid like you participate in the sword festival?”
“You’re a lady, not a kid. “I’m going now.”
“Are you upset?”
The girl didn’t answer and turned her back. Her bobbing head spun a step later.
“Lady doesn’t sulk about things like this. “It will start quickly, so you should go back quickly.”
“Uh…yeah.”
“See you again.”
She waved at Ronan, who was dumbfounded. Ronan called out to the girl again, but she disappeared into the crowd without even looking back.
“···What the f*ck.”
Ronan looked at the spot where the girl disappeared and muttered softly. It seemed like she had been meeting a lot of strange kids these past few days.
The moment when I guessed the number of times the girl swung the sword was flashing. Number 23. How can you calculate so accurately what others cannot even perceive? A belated shiver ran up my limbs.
‘···I’m a little excited.’
The first participant I met was an asshole, so I was almost disappointed about the event called the Festival of Swords itself, but I felt like that void was filled. Ronan walked back to the square he had left.
