“Each person’s sword is their own. A victory for me isn’t a victory for you, nor would it uphold your honor,” Gino said softly. “I defeated the last Sword God because I wanted what Nina and I have now. That’s why I act this way. I didn’t do it to uphold anyone’s honor, and I didn’t do it because I wanted to be your nursemaid. If you don’t like it, you’re free to leave. I wouldn’t mind stepping down as Sword God, but if I turned over the title to you, you’d drive me out, wouldn’t you? I have no strong objection to leaving, but it’s a bad time for me right now, while our children are still so young.”
There was a sigh from the Sword Saints as they looked at the floor again. I half expected someone to call out, “That’s not the problem! Why can’t you understand?!” The energy in the hall was atrocious. Apparently, things weren’t going too well between the Sword God and his students. Was it because Gino was still young himself? If he didn’t work things out with these guys, he could easily find himself surrounded by enemies.
“There’s no need to be like that. You could at least give them a show.” It was Nina who broke the silence. She raised her head from Gino’s shoulder, sat up straight, and tucked her legs underneath her. “I’d like to see you fight too,” she said.
“All right! Just for you, Nina.” Just like that, Gino got to his feet, as though all his reluctance so far had been no more than an act. Did Nina have him that whipped? More to the point, if he could change like that, was he even stable? To me, at least, he looked anything but. Was this guy okay?
“How about you, Eris?” Nina said. “Gino’s stronger than he was.”
In response, Eris rose to her feet too. “Okay,” she said. She looked at me, then tossed something. I caught it without thinking, then saw it was her sword—the magic sword Windpipe. It was the sword the previous Sword God had used.
Gino and Eris moved into the center of the training hall, where Alec stood.
He shrugged. “All right, who do I fight first?”
“The weaker one, obviously,” Eris said, pushing Alec back. He nodded in acceptance, then came back over to us. There wasn’t a drop of sweat on him. I’d never seen him sweat, not even… Wait, that wasn’t true. In the Biheiril Kingdom, I’d seen him drenched.
“What a bunch of good-for-nothings,” he whispered as he sat down beside me. “Here they have the chance to learn from those better than themselves, but they’re not interested in learning.”
“Yeah, even I could see that.”
“Right? They’re even worse than that gang that hangs around my grandmother.”
To be fair, it was a little different for Atofe’s personal guard. For them it was learn or die, so they had no choice but to get stronger.
With that thought, I looked up just in time to see Eris raise her wooden sword. As usual, she held it above her head in an offensive stance. Sword God Gino dropped down over his back foot, his hand on his sword. The stance reminded me of Ghislaine, but Gino’s was far more tranquil. When Ghislaine dropped into that stance, she wagged her tail with a fearsome glint in her eyes, like she was waiting for the right moment to sink her teeth into her prey. Gino, meanwhile, was empty. Like Orsted earlier, he was so still it seemed as though time had stopped. Nothing could get by him.
Eris slowly edged toward him. If it hadn’t been for our earlier conversation, I’d have my heart in my mouth. He might hit her, but she wouldn’t die.
This was going to be okay, right?
Maybe I should open my Eye of Foresight, just in case. But even with the demon eye, I still wouldn’t be able to see his sword move. Could I count on Orsted to stop him if he were about to go for a killing blow?
“I assume you don’t need a start signal?” Gino asked Eris.
“No,” she said.
And then, it was over.
Eris takes a blow to her sword hand and drops to one knee. Her wooden sword spins away through the air to hit the wall of the training hall with a clatter.
That was all I managed to see with the demon eye before, scarcely a second later, it became reality. To me, it looked like Eris moved first. Before she finished saying “No,” the tip of her sword was already a blur, but she’d lost. Gino had been faster, and his strike had broken her sword arm. Except, it wasn’t just her sword arm. The big toe of Eris’s front foot was bent in the wrong direction. So he’d struck twice? A multi-hit attack?
Eris’s arm and toe were broken, but she didn’t back down. It’d take more than that to stop her. She charged forward with her one good leg, a savage grin on her face…and then, all of a sudden, she relaxed and yielded.
“That’s enough,” said Orsted, his voice ringing out through the hall. At this, people began to let out admiring “Oohs” and saying things like “Incredible!” But they were the minority, and even then, their voices carried a note of confusion.
The Sword Saints whispered among themselves.
“What happened? Did she dodge the first strike?”
“He struck at her ankle first. She didn’t fully dodge it, so her toe…”
“But what about the second strike?”
It was over so quickly that they couldn’t tell who the winner was, but it was obvious at a glance. Eris sank to the ground, sweat pouring off her, while the Sword God, still standing, languidly lowered his sword. Gino had agreed to the Sword Saints’ demand for a demonstration, yet they couldn’t even work out what he’d done. What was the point? Perhaps frustrated by this very thing, the Sword Saints’ faces were stony. Underneath that, I saw a hint of relief. The honor of the Sword God school was safe. If their egos were satisfied, then that was a win for me.
“Incredible, Sword God!” Alec said a bit too loudly. “Your first strike was aimed at her ankle, but then you swung up along the shortest possible path to hit her wrist. It didn’t matter if you hit her ankle or if she dodged. Either way, you delayed her first strike just long enough that you created an opening at her wrist where you could counter. Only a fighter with total confidence in the speed of his sword could perform such a feat!”
It sounded like he’d heard the Sword Saints’ confusion. They nodded, saying, “Ah, I get it now.”
Thanks for the commentary, Alec.
Alec remained sitting, but there was a hint of reproach in his eyes as he looked at Gino. It was a look that said, You’re their master. You should teach them.
“In the old days, you would still have attacked me, even in that state,” Gino said.
“If this were the time to stand my ground, I’d still be fighting,” Eris replied.
“You really are something, Eris.” With a hint of a smile, Gino nodded slowly.
In response, Eris laughed, but there were beads of sweat on her brow. A broken wrist or ankle wasn’t enough to make Eris cry, but it still had to hurt. I stood and dashed over to her.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “I’m fine. Hurry up and heal me. But don’t get any ideas about touching anything else! We’re in public.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I promptly cast a healing spell to mend Eris’s broken bones. Since I’d been duly warned, I didn’t try to cop a feel. Despite it being a mock battle, Gino had hit hard enough to break bone. I shuddered to think what would have happened if he’d hit her head or neck. At least Orsted was here, so as long as he didn’t actually take her head off her shoulders, there was no permanent harm done.
The Sword God sure was something. I hadn’t seen his sword move at all, just like his predecessor. I did not want this guy as my enemy.
“Well?” I asked Eris.
“He was devastating. I hate to say it, but I never had a chance.” I’d been asking about her injuries, but that was the answer I got. She sounded genuinely regretful and she was frowning. Being a mother hadn’t made Eris less serious about her sword work. In the context of that, she—oh, who was I kidding? She was just frustrated because she’d lost. Eris had always hated losing.
“It must be my turn, then.”
As I led Eris back, Alec got to his feet, his face aglow with excitement—but before he could rush in, he looked back at Orsted.
“Sir Orsted, may I?”
“As you like.”
Was Orsted giving him permission to beat the crap out of Gino? That could change the order of the Seven Great Powers. Gino had declared his neutrality, and Eris’s defeat just now had satisfied the Sword Saints’ egos. As of now, the Sword Sanctum was neutral. If the Sword God lost, the equation changed. Not only Gino, but most of the Sword Sanctum might turn against us. This was tricky. Should I put a stop to it?
Nope! I couldn’t say anything, not after Orsted had given the go-ahead. All I could do was think about how to repair it if it went wrong.
“En garde!” Alec stepped forward. This was a mock battle with wooden swords, but the fighters were still a North God and the Sword God. It was no exaggeration to call it a battle between Great Powers. Seven was just an arbitrary number. Which would win?
In terms of experience, Alec had the advantage. The Sword God had beaten his predecessor, but he was still young. He hadn’t done enough yet. And Alec had his pride as North God Kalman III. He’d also gotten a preview of his opponent and could follow his moves.
Alec stood with his sword held out in front of him. Gino dropped down over his back foot. Who would move first? Usually, you’d expect Gino, the Sword God Style fighter, to attack, and the North God Style fighter to counter. But I had the feeling the opposite could happen.
It was Alec who moved first.
This time, I saw it: a thrust from the center, moving so fast it was like no-motion rather than slow-motion. Gino’s sword was even faster. He timed his slash perfectly to meet the tip of Alec’s thrust, deflecting it a scant few degrees…and that was as much as I saw. The next thing I knew, Gino’s sword had vanished. A moment later, I saw Alec’s left hand hanging limp and broken. Simultaneously, Alec stepped back. A black line remained on the floor of the training hall where he’d stood. Gino must have used the same simultaneous attack he’d beaten Eris with, but this time hit the wrist first.