Published: January 15, 2026
【Talga】
“Begin!”
The moment Dee said that, Lord Van’s figure vanished from right in front of me.
“...!?”
His speed was unbelievable, as if his previous movements had been a lie. Intuitively predicting that he was approaching while keeping low, I held my wooden sword diagonally downward and stepped back.
Immediately, the clash of wooden swords rang out sharply, and the impact transmitted through my arm.
“Eh, he blocked it!?”
I heard a surprised voice from my left-hand side. Had he moved while striking my sword? Moreover, he moved exactly as the basics teach: moving to the opposite side of the opponent’s dominant hand.
Careful not to panic, I quickly turned and prepared my sword.
But there was no one there.
Had he gone left or right? Or had he circled around me? Either way, I knew one direction where no one was.
Without even pausing to take a breath, I stepped one, then two steps forward into the empty space and swung my sword backward. Turning back with that momentum, the tip of a wooden sword appeared right before my eyes.
“Match over!”
Dee’s voice rang out loudly, and my vision finally cleared. Lowering my gaze as I caught my breath, Lord Van’s face came into view, smiling happily.
“You did it! You can’t afford to miss the first round because it only gets harder to win after that.”
Lord Van said this while lightly swinging his wooden sword side to side, and Dee smiled as well.
“Talga. Don’t let your guard down. Lord Van always uses clever tactics that make me admire him. Well, it might be inevitable since he’s always sparring with knights of a higher rank.”
“That’s true. Kamushin has grown to a size comparable to adults, so I want to practice with the other trainees too.”
Lord Van’s complaint was met with wry smiles from not only Dee but the other knights as well.
That was understandable. Thinking back on the bout just now, Lord Van clearly possesses a certain natural talent. Using his small stature to his advantage, he employed various tricks to get out of my line of sight. His stance felt like the tip of the sword was held a bit too high, but that was probably to draw my attention upward. Even his movements were telling — at the start, he lowered his posture and lunged toward the hand holding the sword, trying to use any cover, however small, to hide himself.
In fact, that brief moment of my loosening vigilance was effective. My sword was about to be deflected, and unconsciously my focus shifted to the right hand side. Seizing that moment, Lord Van must have circled behind me. Now that I think about it, the voice I heard from the left side wasn’t exactly from the side but maybe somewhere near the front left.
“...Once more, please.”
This time, I was the one to challenge. With that in mind, I bowed deeply and requested another mock match. Dee nodded and raised his hand.
“Then, once again.”
“Eh— I want a break—”
Lord Van pouted to the side as Dee prepared to start the match, but his posture was solid, firmly holding his wooden sword. Everything was a setup. Every action, every word, designed to lull me into a false sense of security.
As soon as I realized that, I found myself smiling for some reason.
“Begin!”
Upon hearing Dee’s signal, this time I moved with the intention of keeping my vision wide from the very start. Lowering my hips and stepping back one pace, I prepared to respond in any direction he moved. This should turn into a pure contest of swordsmanship and physique.
Yet, seeing me ready and steady, Lord Van smiled happily.
From there on, the battle took on tactics that you would rarely see in a mock fight between knights. As Lord Van tried to dash deep to the right-hand side while parrying my sword, I chased after him and swung my wooden sword. However, before my sword could reach him, Lord Van dove to the ground and rolled.
I couldn’t make sense of what was happening, but one thing was certain: if I didn’t keep Lord Van directly in front of me, I wouldn’t know from where the sword might strike.