h.e.l.lo fellow readers! Here’s Chapter 19 of Kanna. Right on time for christmas, though this is more or less me releasing it on the scheduled day. Either way, it’s my little present to you all. Enjoy the read and Merry Christmas!
Tl: Jun
ED: Jun
Chapter 19 n.o.body has said I"m not allowed to do something like throwing it
"…………Horse carriages really do shake around surprisingly."
"Is that so? Even so, this carriage is quite the first cla.s.s one you know. If it was like the one ordinary citizens use, then it would shake even more than this."
The comfort of the horse carriage I"m riding on for the very first time in my life is worse than I imagined. Real is sitting next to me and is acting calmly in contrast to me who is leaking out complaints.
When I think about it a little, there is a clear difference between the vehicles from the real world and the horse carriages from the fantasy world. Before talking about something like the driving force being horsepower, the wheels of the vehicles over there are basically made of rubber, but the wheels here are made of wood. I haven"t seen any products made of rubber since coming to this world. Even the axle part doesn"t seem to have anything like a shock absorbing suspension and the like and also the road isn"t paved in concrete and it"s just soil that"s lightly leveled. So of course it would shake. Being able to sleep anywhere as long as I can keep my head in a fixed position is one of my few redeeming features, so that"s why the shaking is not that much of a problem.
"But even if you say how little it is, ain"t this tough for the lady if it shakes like this the whole time?"
"Although it is temporary, I am prepared for the various inconveniences of journeys the moment I left my house. Besides, this is practice. It was certainly difficult in the beginning, but now I am not particularly concerned about it."
Real and my new employer, Faima doesn"t even show any dissatisfaction and is instead smiling sweetly. There I feel the st.u.r.diness a secluded lady wouldn"t have.
ーーThe next morning after Rand"s visit, we visited the inn we were told beforehand where Faima is staying. The reason is, of course, to form an official contract with each other. When we paid a visit to the room, Faima"s eyes were blinking weakly the first thing in the morning, but as soon as we mentioned we"re accepting the aforementioned discussion, she woke up right away and took my hand too excitedly. I was surprised due to the insufficient opportunity of touching women and her unexpected joy.
It"s just that this time, we had them only add one condition to the contract.
If we"re employed as an escort, then I myself would have no intentions to hesitate playing my hands. However my spirit art is a fitting observation target for Faima. I didn"t tell her it"s 『something that can be done immediately』 and it doesn"t mean that even I have grasped this power completely. More like, I don"t know the methods of explaining it to her. That being the case, we took out the condition that they would refrain from meddling with this spirit art ーーI"m forcing Faima to accept this as magic thoughーー. Being offered that condition, Faima received just a little shock though.
"The spell Mr. Kamishiro is handling is certainly fascinating, but I won"t be able to escape an urgent problem without making some sacrifice, so I suppose I have no other choice."
Is what she said and immediately accepted. She must have predicted we would"ve presented some sort of condition.
Currently, around three hours has pa.s.sed since departing from the town. It"s still early to call it noon. We just departed, but no trouble has happened so far.
"Hey Real, how long until we reach the the next town?"
"If we don"t run into any particular problems, then it should take four days or something along that line. Fortunately, from here flatlands with a good view will continue on for a little while. We may possibly encounter magic beasts, but we should not have too much to worry about bandit raids."
So there are no outlaws who would go out of their ways to approach us directly in the flatlands, where there are no covers to hide behind. As for magic beasts, they basically don"t hold any intelligence, so they would disregard that sort of thing. It"s just that magic beasts who have the intelligence of a common folk seems to exist, but they mostly possess absurd abilities and if ten of them gather, then a whole country can be led to ruin. I only wish in earnest that I won"t meet them by chance in my whole life.
"By the way my Lady, although it"s going to be a short while, we"ll be travelling together. So just in case, please tell me the magic you"re good at."
"…………You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you planning on letting the Lady fight?"
I spoke of a question that"s reasonable to me, but one of the servants raised a voice of criticism. Rand is the coachman of the carriage and another is walking behind the carriage as a patrol. The last servant is inside the carriage hood.
Every single one of the servants are without exception handsome guys and and he"s also without a doubt handsome. Compared to Rand who appears rugged, he looks young, probably somewhere in his twenties. Though not as much as Yuuzuki, he looks cool enough to be basked in high pitched cheers from women.
That kind of Mr. Handsome is glaring at me.
"That depends. In a cornered situation, we may need all the strength from the people here, don"t you think?"
"But aren"t us guards and you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds we employed here in order to prevent that?"
"Listen here, I am only speaking about the worst case scenario. Of course, not letting the Lady be exposed to danger is the best. I have no objections to that. It"s just that, I think that always moving under the a.s.sumption of the worst-case scenario is the job of a guard, that"s all."
Stiffly putting together rules would conversely make it difficult to move. What"s necessary is several hands you can play in a sudden change of situation. The more hands you can play, the more you can increase the available options and I have experience turning the tables on the whole battle situation with just a single hand.
"I"ll take that novice know-it-all like mouth of yours and…………"
I intended to give an accurate explanation on the theory, but Mr. Handsome doesn"t seem to be pleased with that. I wonder what"s wrong. The other party is a pretty boy (go explode), so was it wrong for me to recite that from my mind? Or was it wrong for me to stare at the Lady"s bouncing b.r.e.a.s.t.s whenever it shakes violently once in awhile? Was it wrong for me to imagine which one is bigger; hers or the pair of hills inside Real"s breastplate?
…………Huh? Is this something you would normally get angry about?
"Stop that Agaht. Mr. Kamishiro"s words are correct."
"…………If you say so, milady."
Mr. Handsome draws back with only a single sentence from the mistress. "Serves you right" is what I couldn"t think even a shred of. If a newbie acts arrogant, then they"ll be the guy who won"t feel good if people don"t do very well.
"My most proficient attribute is wind and I am focused on offense and support spells. Next to that I can handle elementary level magic on the other three attributes. I am inexperienced, so I have not achieved acquisition of any superior attribute."
In magic there are the fundamental four attributes. Including the superior four attributes, you can roughly divide them into three categories. Offensive spells that puts emphasis in power. Resistance spells that keeps defense in mind. Support spells that are specialized in support. They call these spell characteristics. The effects in magic is generally determined on the spell attribute and characteristic. Usually, every person has apt.i.tude in a single basic attribute as well as one of the spell characteristics and you will focus on those and also learn other magic.
There is an exception on everything. Real is a good example for that. To make up for the lack of a specially strong attribute, she excels in resistance spells of all attributes and specific support spells. She can"t use any offensive spells but only a portion of the elementary level ones, but she has the super vanguard role, so in that case she has just the right apt.i.tude.
"Adding to that, Rand can also control fire attributed offensive spells and support spells. Agaht and the last one can control neither offensive nor support spells, but they should provide a decent challenge to Rand if it"s only through swordsmanship, isn"t that right?"
"This became quite a well balanced party doesn"t it?"
I"m also a vanguard if anything, but I"m closer to a guerilla because of me also being able to handle long range attacks with my ice spirit art. With Real and the other two as the vanguards, Rand and I would be at the center. And just in case, Faima will give support in the back. To be more lavish, you"d want the healing part there, but with the learning of recovery magic that"s included within the support spells being difficult, those people generally run as a doctor and very few would take on jobs like an adventure.
"So it isn"t as simple as learning it just by spreading your skill points with one click."
Faima and Real looks puzzled to the mysterious expressing for this world, but I smiled and gloss it over.
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you by chance trying to say that you and Mr. Rand are equals!?"
"No really, I was just calmly trying to understand our war potential, you know?"
Mr. HandsomeーーAgaht snaps at me again.
"Mr. Rand is the most influential person among us. You b.a.s.t.a.r.d may seem to be able to handle yourself more or less, but you are no match to Mr. Rand. Know your place!"
"Look, I know that more than anybody else. I was able to win some leeway up to that back alley fight. I"ve been a.s.sociated to my own incompetence for almost seventeen years after all"
I"m used to being ridiculed and spoken ill of by people. My mind won"t shake with this degree of hostility with no malice.
However, with this situation, he doesn"t think well of me going with Faima as her escort. Last night, Rand was talking like the hearts of all attendants were one, but it feels like they reluctantly agreed because it"s the words of the head servant.
"What"s with those eyes? Are you making fun of me, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!?"
He really can flare up on whatever I say, this guy. It has the force makes the words of the guy he doesn"t like become target of complete denial. Is he a kid? I"m pretty much a brat, but this guy"s even worse. No, everyone will become a kid if they become agitated. I pray he will be an extraordinary excellent escort once he"s calmed down.
Some time pa.s.sed after that and at the time when the twelve hour clock is switches, we take a lunch break. They untied the horse from the carriage, tied him to the tree that grew at just the right place and let him eat the gra.s.s around it. We get off the carriage and take our break the way we like while we loosen our muscle that"s gotten tight from sitting.
Real and I perform some training in fighting techniques before lunch. It"s not a genuine one like the time in the town, but it"s something like a light physical training. I would"ve wanted to use my ice spirit arts if that was possible, but Faima and the others have their eyes here so I refrain from doing so. We forbade them to speak, but if ice is produced right in front of their eyes, then Faima"s curiosity would probably run wildly again.
Real is doing practice swinging and checking her posture and I"m doing some flexible exercises and am warming up my body. When I loosened my body after several minutes, I was about to start my exercises.
"Hey, b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Mr. Agaht calls out to me as I"m checking the fasteners of my arm guards.
As usualーーIt was that kind of confrontation, so time didn"t pa.s.s, butーーhe has a stern expression like he has something he can"t stand.
He has a wooden stickーーsword held in each hands and he threw the one in his left hand at me. I received it out of reflex, but I"m just perplexed at this. Mr. Agaht speaks, unconcerned about my state of mind.
"Stand ready. I shall be your opponent."
ーーーーIs this, what you call hazing the noob?
Although the troubled me is looking at Faima and Rand with the request for help, Real"s words cuts in before they could open their mouths.
"Hum, I don"t think it"s bad to have a bout with someone besides me once in a while, don"t you agree?"
She stabbed the sword she had been swinging on the ground. She supports the training with me and Agaht.
"This is a strange way of saying it, but my fighting style is that of a minority. It"s closer to the wrong way that"s off from the proper way of fighting. In addition to that, using a weapon you"re not familiar with on a routine basis is also training. You should also consider the possibility of having to use any weapons available at hand."
"・・・・You mean, like using this wooden sword?"
"Also take off the arm and leg guards, Kanna. Naturally 『that』is also forbidden. There is no problem if you use it to protect yourself in emergency, but I will be judging it as your defeat in that case."
If I"m told this much by the usual coaching role, then I can"t complain. Her words makes sense and I can also understand that well enough.
When I take off the belt where the arm and leg guard are fixed on and have become light footed, I once again grab the wooden sword and tried some practice swinging as a test. I had moments I used a wooden sword and iron pipes for that, will cheats work?
I have advanced the conversation as I pleased, but this isn"t a problem for Sir Rand and Miss Faima is it. Like I said, I would like Kanna to pile up experience even if a little for me, you see."
"It"s no problem" says Rand and nods to Real"s question.
"Everything is moving the way I would like. Agaht is not negligent in the constant training with us, but training with someone besides us will become good experience, I hope. Besides, I am also interested in his way of fighting. Gauging the abilities of the companion you will be fighting shoulder-to-shoulder is also necessary, don"t you agree?"
I can hear uneasiness in the voice full of antic.i.p.ation. I"m confident that what I"m about to show them from now will be quite an uncool fighting style.
"Real. My bad, but I"m a genuine novice with the sword, so I"ll be going with what I"ve taught myself, okay?"
"It"s not officially the time to do training either, this is purely an emergency countermeasure."
"Mr. Agaht, you don"t mind it either right?"
"Do what you like."
Together with a short reply, he points his sword to my eyes. It"s an expert posture, but it lets me feel a weight he didn"t add to himself with only a dray of training. As I think about going with a similar posture, my thoughts stops. The difference in years is clear. Even if we had the same start, it was clear this won"t become a contest. How will I attack.
I once again observe Agaht"s posture. No, no matter how long a fencing novice looks at the posture, I can at most understand information that can be read.
"Quickly adopt a posture, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Or perhaps, have you lost your nerve?"
Even if he spews out words of provocation, his expression is sharp.
(He"s rather tense isn"t he)
The air is so tense like it"s on the verge of cutting strings. Not a single gap can be felt, but at the same time he has no leeway in his mind.
…………I hit upon an idea.
Of course, it"s an idea I"ve used during the time I was in the real world. It"s an effective measure even against people who have studied the correct path of swordsmanship.
"Alright then."
As I"m holding the sword in one hand, I twist my arm and turn it round and round. I continue turning my sword with Mr. Agaht making a dubious expression.
"Real. Please start counting from three."
"・・・・Are you not adopting a posture?"
"It"s fine."
Real follows the point of the sword in my hand with her eyes and before she shrugs her shoulders and began the countdown. I"m sorry. What I"m going to do now is a strategy that is difficult to pull off if I can"t predict the beginning to a certain extent.
"Three"
Let me be frank with you. No matter how I use my self-taught swordsmanship, I don"t have a shred of chance to win against him. I"m convinced I can"t even win against those thugs who attacked Faima.
"Two"
I"m no match for him with sword skill. So in that case, how should I fight my opponent?
The answer is simple. I can just get rid of the 『bout between fellow swordsmen 』. You don"t have to be able to stand on the field your opponent is specialized in.
"One"
The last second.
Mr. Agaht puts his strength into the sword in his hand. It"s a step you take to attack at the same time as the start.
As for me, I step far forward with my left foot, lowering my posture. I draw my body"s springs and store my strength. And at the end I shift the sword in my right hand in an underhanded grip and pull my arms.
"Zero!"
Together with the start signal, Agaht steps forward in a grand way. It"s a quick step. If you took a stance the usual way, a point would probably be taken from you without you being able to respond to his movement.
That"s why I didn"t take a stance like usual. I had no intention of swinging the sword in the first place. My left foot is going far in front of me. My hand is holding the weapon in an underhanded grip.
ーーThat"s right, this is a form of 『Javelin throw』.
"Fury!"
Pointing towards Agaht who is quickly rushing and approaching me, I put all my strength into 『throwing』 the wooden sword. The wooden sword that gained quite a lot of speed, runs through the sky towards Agaht"s face.
I bet he didn"t expect I would ever throw it. Agaht gets very surprised and his rush weakened. And then, the approaching wooden sword flicked off the wooden sword he is carrying in his hand. Although he"s surprised, intercepting a wooden sword with that kind of speed in midair is as you can expect.
But, the response to the follow-up after the wooden sword being flicked away was late. It"s none other than the presence of me. He hardened his body from becoming even more surprised by me who broke into a run immediately following the throwing of the sword.
"Dossei!"
There I do a full speed, all out ram attack. The trick is to aim your thrust diagonally upwards from the shoulder. If my impact can win from the opponent"s weight, then the opponent"s body would float somewhat and that would destroy his posture.
Just as I have aimed, he stumbled a step or two from being unable to bear the impact. There I do a low alt.i.tude tackle. With the trick to mow the opponent"s legs, I hold both his feet. If I can take his feet while his balance is destroyed, then soon he can do nothing but fall down.
As my opponent falls down the ground, I immediately release both his feet and quickly move my body to take on the form of straddling on his body as he is. Now that it comes to this, I can do whatever I please.
Before he could raise his voice and say "Ah", I stuck my first out in front of Mr. Agaht"s face as I got into a mount position.
"Game, set, match, I suppose."
…………Now that I think carefully, this isn"t training, is it?