32 – Cult (3)

This small-scale sparring between certain high-blooded knights had become the biggest event of the social church before I knew it.

Everyone’s view was different.

Some of the older nobles exchanged gold coins, whispering in each other’s ears.

It was a bet on who would win.

Those who knew the nature of wooden sword sparring were predicting Felix’s advantage.

Some of the young ladies rolled their eyes at Damian’s rolled up forearms and his inner flesh revealed by unbuttoning his upper buttons.

In one corner of the onlookers, Joyce was also watching the arena with her arms crossed. Inside, he was going crazy, wondering what kind of image Damian would show.

Truth be told, rumors abounded, and not a single person in the crowd saw Damian wield the sword himself.

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Joyce, of course, was expecting Damian.

Even in the eyes of Joyce, who knew a lot about swordsmanship, Damian was at a considerable disadvantage.

Felix will ignore even the tacit rules of wooden sword sparring and attack.

The level of touching a wooden sword at a vital point does not make a difference.

The nobles don’t know what the problem is, and they don’t care. I just care who looks like the winner.

So, whether it’s strength or skill, you have to show a completely overwhelming appearance.

Damian pulled his left hand to his back and held the wooden sword with only one hand.

Since he wasn’t holding it with both hands, he didn’t seem to intend to fight him with force.

The presenter stood between Felix and Damian and spread his arms.

When both of them finished their preparations, the presenter fell back with a spirit that signaled the start.

‘This is the beginning.’

The spectators watch them with nervous faces.

Felix stood there and stared at Damian’s face for a few seconds.

Damian stood still and waited for Felix to enter.

Soon after, Felix lunged at Damian like a raging bull.

Damian took a few backsteps backwards and fell to the side as Felix got closer.

Felix’s sword cut through the air.

At the same time, the audience gasped and exclaimed.

Felix turned and threw himself at Damian again.

Damian dodged his sword by a narrow margin as if in a stunt, then kicked Felix’s stepping foot.

The heavy body loses its balance.

Felix’s upper body tilted 90 degrees and he ran forward as if he was about to fall.

He struggled and finally fell over.

“Puhahahahaha!”

The spectators burst into laughter as it was so ridiculous.

Felix’s face flushed.

“Damn it.”

The moment you half-raise your body to counterattack and look behind you.

The cold feel of the wooden sword touched his throat.

Felix froze.

Damian came over and was already pointing the knife at him.

A blow to the body could be ignored, but the blade touching the neck in an unresistable state was another matter.

At this point, there was no excuse for Felix’s defeat.

Felix clenched his teeth.

“Damian wins!”

“Whoaaa!”

The audience applauded with admiration.

Damian turned around with a nonchalant expression and moved to the starting point.

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Joyce admired inwardly. He knew how Felix was going to come out and created a clean win-lose structure.

Felix jumped up and walked to the starting point of the sparring.

He was heavily loaded with drugs, and as he passed Damian, he provoked him.

“Is it that scary to cross swords? Cowardly, using tricks and tricks.”

Damian’s face was apathetic even at the provocation.

After confirming that the preparations were complete, the host raised his arms and let out a spirit to announce the start of the second round.

Felix was a little more cautious this time. It was because I had an intuition that it wouldn’t work even if I pushed it.

He threatened to stab Damian with his long arm.

But Damian didn’t even flinch at such a trick.

“Hey.”

On the contrary, Felix, who became impatient, ran again, unable to overcome his habit.

Damian ducked in response.

Felix’s wooden sword grazed Damian’s shoulder again with a short distance.

Damian didn’t fall back and put his shoulder under Felix’s elbow.

Thanks to that, the two bodies were attached and their arms were entangled with each other.

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Just like that, the fight stopped.

‘what… ?’

And again, he felt the cold touch on Felix’s neck.

He blinked for a moment, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Damian’s knife point was also touching his neck as he was still attached to his body.

It felt like the sparring was over before anything happened.

The crowd did not cheer at all, as if they did not understand that the victory was decided in such a short moment.

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Joyce also doubted his own eyes when he saw this.

Felix’s swordsmanship was reckless, but it wasn’t so lax that he could easily be subdued.

However, Damian let it all go easily as if it were full of gaps.

It’s like dealing with a big kid.

“Felix L!”

Then, a slow applause from the crowd followed. Their faces were a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.

Felix still couldn’t realize the difference in skill.

I just thought I was caught up in Damian’s strategy.

He provoked Damian again.

“Don’t you have the guts to fight head-on because you grew up drinking wizard milk?”

Felix was so drugged that he hadn’t calculated that his taunt would be heard by the crowd.

The expressions of the noble ladies and fellow knights became grim after hearing his provocation.

It was an obvious insult to Silverin and Damian.

This was clearly against the chivalry that values honor.

When Joyce got excited and tried to break in, a senior driver nearby stopped him. The senior made a gesture to deal with it after the sparring was over.

Damian didn’t respond.

“… .”

But the provocation apparently worked.

Returning to the original location for the next match, Damian’s eyes were full of murder.

Felix grinned meanly at him.

It was clear that he would respond to the provocation and fight head-on.

And that worked well for Felix. A head-to-head match is overwhelmingly advantageous to him.

The mood of the crowd also subsided.

If Damian succumbed to the provocation, it would be like watching his teacher’s reputation be tarnished, so now he had to punish him clearly.

Due to Felix’s arrogant words and actions, it was no longer a casual sparring, but a duel with honor.

The host immediately announced the start of the third match.

Felix took a big leap, put all his weight on him, and lowered his sword to Damian. The action was too great.

He didn’t care if Damian was attacking through gaps or not.

And Damian did not dodge and threw away his sword.

‘what?’

He took it with no sign of being pushed back.

After correcting his posture, Felix swung his sword at Damian with all his might.

One-sided offensive.

It was a very similar composition to when he shot Julien.

Everyone was expecting Damian to be subdued.

The audience rolled their eyes. Thanks to his rude words, none of them cheered Felix’s offensive.

Damian broke everyone’s expectations and endured.

He didn’t take a single step back.

And each time the combination was made, Felix’s hands began to tingle more and more.

It felt like hitting a stone.

‘What the hell is this… .’

Felix started to panic.

He even crossed swords with Damian and started to press down using his body weight.

However, Damian was not pushed back in the slightest.

Rather, he took a step forward and pushed Felix away.

Rather, Damian was overpowering him with power.

Felix panicked and took a few steps back.

‘What did you do that gave me strength… .’

It was against his intuition.

Then, he released his tingling hands and leaped forward again.

Felix put his weight on and slammed the sword down on Damian with all his might.

And Damian didn’t avoid it either, but rather hit it hard.

Kang!

The wooden swords collided with each other. Felix groaned after a strong blow.

“aaagh!”

The wooden sword flew into the sky, and he grabbed his twisted wrist and took a step back.

Even in a head-to-head match, Damien was completely overwhelmed.

The moment the sword flew away, the game was decided, but Damian didn’t seem to have any intention of ending it.

He just stood still and watched it.

The gymnasium area became quiet for a while.

Damian spat out a word for the first time since sparring.

“Pick it up.”

“…what?”

I looked at Damian’s face.

Pick up the wooden sword again?

I will give you another chance.

It was a word that crushed Felix’s pride.

“Eww,” he said, grinding his teeth. He picked up the fallen wooden sword again with his face reddened.

He straightened up again, but his arms were shaking.

Even though I was very angry, I couldn’t bear to run first.

Damian strode towards him first.

Felix’s body involuntarily backed away little by little.

“Ugh, Mr.”

Damian approached him openly, raised his sword and slashed it down at Felix with an obvious trajectory.

Kang!

Felix blocked it with all his might, but the wooden sword went out again and fell.

“aaa!”

And Felix rolled over in pain.

Both of his wrists were swollen red from the impact. The ligament was broken as much as it was broken.

Still, the fight wasn’t over.

Damian picked up the fallen wooden sword and threw it at him.

“Pick it up.”

Felix looked up at Damian.

“Damn, damn, damn!”

It was only then that I realized that I had touched the wrong person.

Felix closed his eyes and begged.

“Damn it, I lost, I lost!”

In response to his declaration of surrender, Damian finally put down his wooden sword.

Damian crouched down and gave Felix one last word in a low voice. Overshadowed by the crowd, no one heard except Felix.

Immediately, Felix’s face went white.

After that, Damian parted the crowd and left the arena.

Bologna, Nancy, and several other nobles followed Damian.

***

“What kind of fuss did you make?”

After staying for a day at the main building of the Knights, Silverin and Damian started on their way back to the mansion early in the morning.

Damian rested his chin on the carriage window and watched the gently flowing scenery of Wiesel.

“It was just a light sparring.”

“It’s a light sparring, but are those decent nobles screaming so excitedly?”

“I must have been very curious about my skills. the teacher said that People here love to talk…”

“And why did you get so many presents?”

Next to Damian’s seat were piles of letters and ribbon-wrapped presents.

“I don’t know either. I just gave it to you.”

Silverin couldn’t help but pull out one of the piled up letters and read it.

Along with the words that he wanted to keep in touch with Damian, the address of the estate to receive replies was written.

“You are very popular.”

“… .”

“And what did you exchange during sparring?”

Damian replied with an expression that he did not know anything.

“Yes?”

“Don’t be fooled. I was also watching from the window in the main building. Why were you so angry?”

Silverin was watching from afar, so he couldn’t know the details.

“Look at me and say I’m a land kid.”

“… .”

Silverin looked at Damian for a moment with pity. Damian wasn’t shorter than average, but the guy he dealt with was big enough to compare in size to.

“Don’t worry too much. You were definitely bigger than when I first saw you. I’ll catch up with you in a little while.”

Damian replied calmly.

“That’s fortunate.”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

Damian seemed lost in other thoughts as he gazed at the distant mountains.

“No, so what did you reply to him?”

“I asked to see you again during the Eternia entrance exam.”

“… ?”

Silverin glared at him and narrowed her eyes.

‘I think there’s something missing.’

It was clear what had happened the night before. But Damian didn’t seem to want to tell me everything.

Soon she shook her head to herself and gave up asking.

‘Yeah, why don’t you do it alone.’