As Yereuteu kicked off the ground and leaped, her large frame—for a woman—vanished from sight in an instant.
‘Pretty fast.’
But in cases like this, rather than following with my eyes,
it was enough to predict her movements by sound.
Relying on animalistic instinct rather than rational judgment, I thrust out my wooden sword.
My sword naturally drew a horizontal line across the sky,
deflecting the attack she brought down.
Zzing─.
At that moment.
The impact transmitted to my arm made my bones cry out as if an earthquake had struck.
“Heh, you’re going all out.”
“Scary! You blocked this…? I was serious…!”
I, who in my past life had walked a solitary path devoted solely to the sword.
Having accumulated a certain level of experience in my head, once I crossed blades like this, I could more or less gauge an opponent’s skill.
If divided by rank, Yereuteu seemed to be at the uppermost B-rank or the lowermost A-rank.
And at that level, she would be more than capable of commanding knights in a moderately decent noble house.
The Knight Commander whose name I hadn’t even bothered to remember properly.
I had made a similar internal assessment when facing her.
As expected, perhaps it was because she inherited the blood of Makseu, the legendary hero.
The martial force she wielded now slightly surpassed that of the Knight Commander.
Well, if the two faced off, it’d be a neck-and-neck match.
The reason there was now a gap putting her above the Knight Commander,
was solely that “motivation” was the variable.
‘The Knight Commander simply drew her sword against me to humor me for a moment and got beaten badly for it, while Yereuteu wants something from me.’
Thinking about it, it was quite funny.
I had merely said a single word—that I’d give a reward if she won….
Kwa-bang─!!
How precious that single word must have been to her.
To land even a single valid hit on me, she was earnestly unleashing the clan’s shared secret ultimate sword technique, was she not.
“Your eyes are bloodshot. Your breathing is ragged too.”
“…Focus. Balteureu. Noona isn’t done yet.”
“That’s my line.”
I suppose.
Men in this world were clearly worth risking one’s life for.
I had vaguely understood this even normally.
But this was the first time I had intentionally drawn out such a display.
The feeling I had looking down at her was strange.
To be more precise,
perhaps it was “amusing.”
‘It’s really simple here. Making a woman this desperate….’
But aside from my heart filling with a subtle satisfaction.
Continuing this sparring was a waste of time.
The moment I realized she was a swordsman of around A to B-rank.
she had absolutely no way to beat me.
Sswing─.
Clang─!!
“Just once…! If I touch you just once, that counts…!!”
“……….”
And so I,
after slowly exhaling,
read her now-too-obvious sword,
and fiercely targeted her grip as she closed in.
Smack─!!
“Urk…?!”
When I struck her wrist.
Unable to maintain her grip from the intense pain, she naturally lost her sword.
I was the one who caught her sword as it flipped through the air.
“You got too excited, noona.”
“Ack…….”
Thuk─.
After grabbing her sword like that and planting it into the ground.
The victor of the match was decided then and there.
Thinking of noona’s dignity,
I hadn’t done it in such a flashy manner like with the Knight Commander.
But sometimes, this kind of plain and concise display has the most shocking effect.
“…It’s a complete defeat.”
“Young master…!”
“After the Knight Commander, to dispatch Lady Yereuteu so simply─.”
The fact that all the knights watching this scene could only gape was proof of that.
“You pressed me splendidly. But it looks like you’ll have to earn that wish ticket next time.”
And because it was obvious what kind of reaction a knight who had been proven completely defeated in front of people would show.
I had hurriedly loaded words to smooth over the situation and let them fly.
But the look in her eyes as she gazed at me,
was not that of a defeated knight I had commonly seen.
“Wow……….”
“Noona…?”
“B-Balteureu. You….”
Her face held eyes of awe, as if she had finally glimpsed the realm she longed for.
“I earnestly unleashed the swordsmanship I’ve honed my whole life, yet not a single valid strike worked. And you slipped through a gap I couldn’t imagine and neutralized me.”
There are better places to use that sincerity.
One would think she’d be embarrassed to admit with her own mouth that she had gritted her teeth so desperately to do something to her younger brother.
“It’s not… the Sword Demon himself descending, is it? Right, Balteureu is Balteureu, but.”
At her words entering my ears,
my crisis detection sensor flared.
‘…Dangerous. Now that I think about it, I’ve seen this look before.’
This was exactly the look Balleria had shown during our private meeting in the bedroom, after she discovered I was the Sword Demon.
It was precisely the same.
If she poked around a bit and asked about the origins,
a sudden surge of anxiety that my true identity would be exposed in an instant swept over me.
Well, even if Yereuteu found out, it probably wouldn’t be a problem.
But it’s not time yet.
“Ridiculous. It’s just the same name.”
“If I change my name to Balteureu too, can I become like that? You’re really, amazing….”
However.
Even giving such a half-baked explanation wouldn’t scatter the thoughts in her mind.
I had stepped forward to show off too.
Had I gone too far?
So.
I thought this wouldn’t do and quickly wracked my brain to devise a way out of this situation.
‘Anyway, it’s a problem that she knows so much about the Sword Demon because of family tradition. If that’s why she’s suspicious….’
Wouldn’t acting in the most un-Sword Demon-like way work?
……….
…….
….
Once my thoughts reached that point,
I swallowed a deep, inaudible sigh just to temporarily avoid this situation,
and approached her, drenched in sweat.
Chup─.
“Ehck……….”
“Anyway, good work. Noona.”
And then, a completely awkward kiss, because I had never done it before.
Standing on my toes, I gave it to her forehead.
Not the cheek or the lips, but only the forehead.
At this level, it should be perfectly safe as an action family members could do.
‘Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck….’
As I said that, I stroked her shoulders and gave her a slight hug.
Even after all this, noona was unusually silent, so when I looked up,
unable to even meet my gaze, her face dyed completely red,
with hundreds of question marks floating above her head,
noona’s face, frozen in place while standing, entered my vision.
‘Is she… dead?’
But surely not.
I felt intense regret for this frivolous action,
unbefitting of a past where I had been revered as the Sword Demon.
“I wish to spar with the other members of the order as well, but I suddenly remembered an urgent matter, so I shall take my leave. Train diligently and become the strength of our house.”
I set down the wooden sword I was holding as if tossing it aside,
and escaped the scene as if fleeing.
Damn it.
I shouldn’t have gone near Yereuteu for no reason…!
But as I scratched my head and wandered the hallway, wondering what I had just done.
“………What is this.”
From somewhere, a scent wafted.
I paused my steps for a moment,
and could only blankly stare out the closely lined windows.
Wondering if it was my imagination, I kept sniffing, but the result was the same.
“A terribly disgusting, garbage-like waste stench….”
Normally, one might not even be able to smell this.
No, they wouldn’t even have the perception to feel it.
But I am Balteureu.
If I couldn’t figure out the identity of this smell,
that would be the stranger thing.
“The headcount is roughly fifty. For them to approach reeking so openly of blood, they’re clearly ones who’ve lived tearing people apart like slaughtered livestock.”
They were the ones I hated most in this world.
It was the scent of the Demonkin.
I didn’t know the reason, but they were clearly heading toward this territory with clear malice.
Moreover, seeing how thick the bloody scent was,
they were definitely high-ranking assassins.
Wondering why such individuals would come to a remote frontier like this was pointless.
Judging by their approaching momentum.
I would be facing them tomorrow.
If it was tomorrow, it was as good as fucked.
Once I thought that far,
the me who had been feeling full of shame was nowhere to be found.
Instead, with steps filled with rage, I changed my destination toward where Balleria was.
Because.
Was there not little time left?
What would happen in our territory tomorrow
was none other than a festival.
A festival.
At a place where so many people would gather,
the moment those beings dropped in,
hell was guaranteed.
I hadn’t faced assassins just once or twice.
Therefore, I knew well.
The moment they moved meticulously and systematically, each one possessing the combat power of an infantry battalion,
not a single person attending the festival would remain alive.
‘As if I’d let that happen.’
However.
On the other hand, a fishy smile began to creep up at the corners of my mouth.
The assassin bastards were clearly drunk on their own strength,
and charging into the Takeuryeong without a second thought, but.
These bastards.
It seems they have no idea who watches over this house.