Dream Life Vol II Chapter 66.1: “Rathmore Village Martial Arts Competition?: Part 2”

　July 10th.

　The Rathmore Village Patrol is training around me, and today’s star was Zack. The previous lord said he would check to see how well he had improved his skills.

　Mel, the current lord, and Byron followed. Zack was blown far away in the last round. Fortunately, he was not injured, and my heart was relieved, but it seemed that the previous lord was still determined to continue. He named Nicholas Garland as Zack’s next opponent.

　I was a little confused about the decision.

　I had heard that Mr. Garland was a squire of the Lockhart family and had once been a great swordsman. However, from what Zack had told me and from my impression at the welcome banquet yesterday, I could only get the impression that he was a mature man with a mixture of honesty and meekness. I am sorry to say this, but I have the image of a quiet civil official who has already retired as a soldier and is in charge of internal affairs.

　Even so, as one would expect when he is fully equipped – metal armor and a kite shield – he has the air of a veteran. But even so, his soft smile softened the swagger of his equipment, and I couldn’t help but think that he didn’t seem to be wielding a sword.

　I thought he was trying to make Zack a little more comfortable after his exhausting sparring with Byron.

　But I soon learned that I was mistaken.

　Mr. Garland was standing quietly at a distance of about five meters from Zack, holding a rather wide, one-handed wooden sword.

　The sight of him gave me goosebumps.

　There was absolutely no gap between them.

　To a civilian, Byron would have looked stronger. Byron has a huge body and a strong air, but Mr. Garland has a gentle smile on his face that would be better suited to playing with a child.

　However, I felt that Mr. Garland was more frightening than Byron.

　He was wearing scarred metal armor, with his left kite shield slightly behind his back and his right sword held out lightly in front of him, looking as natural and beautiful as if written in a picture.

　However, there was not a single gap, and no matter where he attacked, the image of a counterattack only came to mind.

“Master Zack. Please attack anytime.” (Nicholas)

　After saying that quietly, Mr. Garland took a slight step forward.

　Zack, as expected, did not talk lightly, but went straight ahead with a fierce, fiery spirit.

　But it was no mere reckless charge.

　Just before he entered the space, he changed his trajectory to the right side, and before Nicholas knew it, Zack was throwing the throwing sword he was holding in a sideways manner.

　I said, “It’s decided!” and my cheeks, which had been a little tense, relaxed.

　It was his winning move.

　After releasing the throwing sword, he landed on his right foot, and without killing his momentum, he flew through the air. He did a somersault with his body stretched out and then backed up diagonally to the right. It wasn’t just to escape. He twisted his body in mid-air and released another projectile sword while flying through the air in a compact posture.

　Without changing his gentle expression, Mr. Garland hit the first one with his sword and then the second one with his shield. Then, in order to close the gap with the fleeing Zack, he stepped forward with sharp footwork.

　It was a very smooth movement, as one would expect from a “skilled swordsman”. It was not as explosive as the one Byron had just shown, but a reasonable movement, trained in actual combat. He predicted where Zack would land and released a sharp slash like a cleave.

　Zack’s anticipated that Mr. Garland was aiming at his landing spot, and in addition to a complicated twist, he was using wind attribute magic to forcefully change his trajectory. What had initially been heading diagonally backward was forcefully modified to a forward trajectory.

　No one would normally think of using wind-attribute magic—sending wind magic to change trajectory in the small amount of time they were in the air. The first somersault is a beautiful movement, like a dance. However, when the trajectory is forcibly changed by magic, the movement suddenly turns strange and, yes, unpredictable.

　Mr. Garland was also splendidly surprised by the movement. His soft smile is slightly distorted, and a look of bewilderment appears on his face. Zack was able to get behind the bewildered Mr. Garland with his intricate movements.

　If he had stayed away from him, there would have been no need to say anything about the degree of confusion.

　But when he did this in front of me, I would have been quite surprised. Even a very skilled person would almost certainly lose sight of his or her opponent if they saw him doing that for the first time.

　Yes, Zack always really thinks things through.

　I can just swing my spear on instinct, with little thought, but not him.

　I once asked him why he did that.

　He laughed and said, “If someone stronger than me takes the initiative, it’s over.”

　The first forward movement and the sideways movement after that move as if crawling on the ground, giving the impression of a sharp movement. Then, when the opponent sees through his own movement, he suddenly switches to a three-dimensional movement.

　Of course, a reasonably skilled fighter, including myself, can follow that level of movement. The great thing about Zack is that he knows this, and he is able to deceive his opponents.

　He knows that if he is a somewhat skilled fighter, he will aim for the timing right after he releases his second throwing sword. He also dares to use somersaults to make it easier to bait the opponent to move forward.

　Somersaults may look flashy, but they are not suitable for actual combat. On the contrary, it is a fool’s errand to do somersaults in a real fight. In a swordfight, jumping up into the air means losing a stable foothold.

　If you lose your foothold, it’s easy to lose track of your moves. Usually…you cannot change your trajectory in mid-air, and it is easy to predict at what point in the air you will reach the apex and where you will land. So, they seldom jump up, even to surprise you.

　But if, as Zack did, he is able to magically change his trajectory in the middle of the air, Mr. Nicholas is puzzled, if only for a moment, as to whether his prediction is correct. The obvious becomes less obvious. The more experienced the player is, the greater the confusion. In other words, when an opponent move based on intuition, you are forcibly creating a situation in which your “intuition” is off.

　The timing of the attacker’s attack, that is, when he is most concentrated, is the time when he makes a major change in his movements. When he makes a move that even a monster would not make, I sometimes lose sight of his movement, if only for a moment.

　The person who did it, Zack, is in a different situation. He knows from the start where his opponent is going to aim. As long as he knows his opponent’s timing, it is not so difficult to predict where he will move and when he will attack.

　In other words, Zack intentionally shows his opponent, who is more skilled than himself, many openings in order to take the initiative.

　This is not a normal thing to do.

　Of course not. The opponent is superior to him. It takes a lot of guts to intentionally show an opponent an opening against a superior opponent.

　Most of the opponents are at the mercy of Zack’s unusual moves. I often lose track of him when he suddenly attacks me too. I’ve gotten used to it recently, but it’s such an unusual move that it’s almost inhuman.

　In fact, Mr. Garland also fell into Zack’s trap and was successfully taken from behind.

　Zack didn’t miss the opportunity either, with minimal movement, he delivered a clean thrust.

　Once again, I thought to myself, “It’s decided!”

　But the next moment, something incredible happened.

　Zack, who was supposed to have thrown a thrust from behind, came crashing down in front of Mr. Garland.

　There was no way he could have been removed from that position. In fact, however, Garland had detected Zack’s movement, which he should have lost sight of, and by shifting his body slightly just before the attack hit, he had managed to avoid Zack’s full body thrust.

　Immediately after that, Mr. Garland swung his wooden sword at Zack’s arm, striking his defenseless back in a more fluid motion.

　The speed of the strike was so fast that it would be difficult for an average warrior to even follow it with his eyes. In fact, I heard only one sound, a smack, as Zack slammed his face into the ground.

　Zack was slammed face-first into the ground and did not even grunt.

　Mr. Garland did not panic at all, but took one look at Zack and bowed lightly to the previous lord.

　The tense air around suddenly relaxed.

　Even so, Mr. Garland, the previous lord, and the other squires did not try to help Zack.

　I was so angry at their behavior that I almost screamed. But I knew there was no time for that, and I ran to him immediately.

　Call me overprotective, but I don’t care.

　But these people here are overdoing it. If they keep doing this, he’s going to end up with serious injuries someday.

　I reached him, outraged, and slowly picked up his unconscious body.

　As expected, Lydiane was worried this time and slowly approached me. But the smile had not disappeared from her face.

“He was brutally beaten. Are you okay?” (Liddy)

　I couldn’t help but snap at the sound of her carefree voice.

“There was no way he could be all right! He needs a healing spell now! He didn’t break any bones in his arms, but his back is in bad shape! If it’s bad, he won’t be able to move for the rest of his life!” (Beatrice)

　Lydiane said, “Yes, yes. I’ll heal him right away, so calm down,” chanting the spell in her usual tone.

“O Arbor, God of Wood who created the forests. Spirit that nurtures life, heal my wounds. I offer the power of my life as payment. With the power of healing, Heal.” (Liddy)

　Her right hand glows faintly and a pale light surrounds Zack’s body.

　He let out a small moan and slowly opened his eyelids.

“…as expected, that won’t work on Nicholas. …It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good one…” (Zack)

　At that moment, Mr. Garland was coming up behind me,

“You were a little impatient. It’s nothing compared to before. But it seems that you’ve gotten even sharper.” (Nicholas)

　He said this with a smile, but I was not convinced.

“Do the squires here not know how to take it easy? If they were as good as you, you could have gone easy on him!” (Beatrice)

　Mr. Garland looks a little troubled by my words.

“Even if you say that…” (Nicholas)

“Beatrice. It’s alright, but more than that can you please put me down?” (Zack)

　I realized that I was still holding him in my arms and my face was burning.

　Lydiane noticed my blush and began to tease Zack.

“It’s too bad. If you hadn’t been wearing your gear, you could have enjoyed the soft feel of Beatrice’s bountiful Mt. Fujis. Fufufu.” (Liddy)

　Zack returned the lighthearted comment, “Yeah, it’s a shame, indeed.”