—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘Oh shit. It hurts like hell.’
Crack crack.
That was the sound of my wrist automatically twisting the moment I used the technique.
All the techniques of the Merida-style swordsmanship were developed assuming the physique of elves.
In other words, there were techniques that were impossible to perform with a human body.
What would happen if I tried to forcefully use those techniques through a trait?
The answer was simple.
It would somehow be realized by surpassing the limits of the body.
Even if it meant breaking my own wrist bone.
The wrist, swollen bright red and dangling, hurt as if it would burst.
“I, I lost?”
Yerina still seemed unable to believe her defeat, blankly staring into the void.
Was the first defeat that humiliating? Her face turned red in an instant.
‘Was I too sloppy?’
Even I felt a slight prick of conscience.
First, I pushed Yerina with the Thakia-style swordsmanship, which I was most proficient in.
When the flustered Yerina began using techniques, the system window automatically popped up.
[Trait ‘Frost-style (lv.1)’ is given.]
The Frost-style swordsmanship was successfully acquired.
Originally, it was a trait that could only be obtained by receiving swordsmanship training from Yerina, but it seemed the match was also judged as a type of training.
Thanks to that, I was able to exploit Yerina’s openings with the Frost-style technique I had copied.
And then I finished it off with the Elvish swordsmanship at a timing she never expected.
‘It wasn’t a fair fight from the beginning.’
I entered the fight knowing everything about Yerina, while Yerina fought without knowing any of the three swordsmanship styles I used.
They say if you know yourself and your enemy, you will never lose in a hundred battles.
With such an overwhelming information gap, you can win even if there’s a difference in weight class.
“How? How did you stop the sword midway?”
“…”
She was quick-witted too.
She immediately cut to the heart of the matter.
It wasn’t by my own will that I stopped the sword in front of Yerina’s eyes.
It wasn’t that I stopped, but that I had no choice but to stop due to the range of motion of my broken wrist.
Yerina seemed to suspect that too, but couldn’t be certain.
“Why didn’t you strike down my face? I clearly said there were skilled healers…”
“I couldn’t dare inflict a wound on Your Grace’s face. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if a scar was left?”
“It wouldn’t be troublesome! A scar left on a demihuman’s body is a glorious wound!”
“The one who would be troubled is me. I feel like my heart would ache every time I see Your Grace’s face.”
“…”
Crunch.
Yerina unconsciously bit her lip, then her face turned bright red.
She seemed to take it as such a great insult that she couldn’t control her face rapidly turning red and pale.
Huh? Was that not it?
Judging by her ears folding back, she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.
“I admit my defeat. I’ll receive treatment, get dressed, and come out. The attendant will guide you to the banquet hall.”
“What banquet?”
“It’s originally a courtesy we extend to guests who come to Palana. We’ll treat you with the utmost care during your stay in Palana, so don’t decline.”
Yerina spoke in a chilly tone as if reluctantly offering it.
I was dumbfounded.
There was no reason to refuse what was being offered.
It was good that my travel expenses were secured too.
Soon, Yerina, who had put on her fur coat and crown again, whispered as she passed by me.
“About today’s match. If you blab about it, you won’t be able to leave Palana alive.”
“…”
A chill ran down my spine.
If I had been intimidated by this eerie voice and kept my gaze fixed on the ground, I wouldn’t have noticed.
That Yerina’s ears were perking up and fluttering.
This meant she was in a very good mood.
“Whew…”
I was starting to understand the situation.
Maybe conquering Yerina would be easier than any other heroine.
***
“Let’s calm down…”
Slap.
Yerina forced herself to calm down by slapping her own cheek with her hand.
It was true that she had declared in the past that she would marry someone stronger than her.
But that didn’t mean she had to unconditionally marry the person who defeated her in a match.
It just meant there was now one candidate she could marry.
She couldn’t push it forcefully since there was also the other person’s intention and circumstances to consider.
Moreover, the other person wasn’t even a demihuman, but a human.
“That man doesn’t even know anyway. What it means that he defeated me in a match.”
As an outsider, there was no way he would know about the declaration I had made in the past.
I had even threatened to kill him if he blabbed about the match result.
He probably thought I was an ugly woman who was being spiteful because I was upset about losing the match.
“Ah. I don’t like that though…”
Swish.
The hand covering her face slowly fell, smearing all her makeup.
She’d have to do it again.
Yoo-jin had already arrived at the banquet hall a while ago.
Not having the courage to face him again, Yerina was unconsciously repeating the cycle of ruining and fixing her makeup several times.
“You’re late.”
“…”
In the spacious banquet hall.
He stood out even in that chaotic place.
A human man sitting alone at an empty table, enjoying the banquet.
He had the same nonchalant expression on his face as he had in the afternoon.
“Did everyone greet each other? This is Yoo-jin, who traveled here all the way from the distant southern continent. Thanks to him, a banquet is being held for the first time in a long while, so please give him a round of applause.”
Belatedly, Yerina introduced him, and a round of applause poured out for Yoo-jin.
The royal family was famous for being frugal.
Unless there was an important event or celebration, they rarely held banquets.
As the round of applause from the hundreds of people gathered in the banquet hall was about to end,
Yerina sat in front of Yoo-jin and faced him.
“I don’t know what to do with myself after such an enthusiastic welcome.”
“It’s nothing much, so don’t feel burdened and enjoy yourself. You deserve this kind of treatment.”
Because you’re the only person who has defeated me in a match.
Currently, you’re the one and only candidate for marriage.
Although you’re of a different race, no one knows what the future holds, so I can’t treat you carelessly.
“So why did you come to Palana?”
“I came for sightseeing. I heard it was an incredibly beautiful place.”
“So you just came all the way here from the southern continent alone without a plan? It seems there’s another reason.”
“You have good intuition. Actually, I came to find a bride. I heard it was a place with many incredibly beautiful women.”
“…”
Yerina’s tail drooped in disappointment.
Was he the type to chase after women?
Minus 10 points as a marriage candidate.
“So was the rumor true?”
“Yes. It wasn’t wrong. There were indeed many beautiful women, but I only saw one person who matched my taste.”
“Hmm. I see. Where’s your hometown?”
I don’t care who you fell for.
Whoever it is, I won’t give up a single woman in Palana to you.
Yerina openly displayed her dissatisfaction through her ears and quickly changed the subject.
“It’s ambiguous. I don’t have a place to call home. I’m a wanderer who moves from place to place.”
“What about your family?”
“I no longer have any blood-related family in this world.”
“Oh my. So you make a living with the swordsmanship you learned?”
“Yes. I travel around and sometimes work as a bodyguard knight…”
The banquet (which was written as ‘banquet’ but read as ‘background check’) continued for a long time.
Each question and answer was indispensable.
As the questions and answers went back and forth, Yoo-jin’s score in Yerina’s mind went up and down.
An orphan with no blood relatives.
A commoner, but seemed to have received quite a bit of education.
Had outstanding talent in swordsmanship.
No lover.
No hometown to return to.
Somewhat handsome. No, actually very much so.
‘I really don’t want to let him go…’
Except for the drawback of being human, almost all the factors were perfect.
It would be difficult to find a better marriage partner even if she searched the entire continent.
Moreover, this man had even defeated Yerina in a match.
Perhaps she had started to be drawn to him from the moment they first met.
To the man who wandered the snowy mountains with a bold gaze.
To the man who drew his sword and faced a bear for a woman he met for the first time.
To the man who endured hypothermia to give up his fur sleeping bag to a woman he met for the first time.
To the man who seemed clumsy but had genuine swordsmanship skills.
‘If I let this person go, there won’t be a second chance.’
There probably wouldn’t be another man who would defeat Yerina in a match in the future.
Even if one appeared, it would be when Yerina’s marriageable age had long passed and her strength had started to decline.
There was only this one chance.
And in that one chance, the best husband candidate appeared, with the only flaw being that he was human.
She had to catch this man no matter what.
Yerina’s ears trembled with tension.
“Speaking of finding a bride, I don’t plan to take my time.”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s an urgent matter. I want to find one quickly and hold the wedding ceremony.”
“Pfft. It will probably be difficult. Demihumans tend to have a long dating period before getting married. I heard humans often get married first even if they don’t love each other.”
“Yes. The nobles are like that. For commoners, it’s more common to have a long courtship like demihumans.”
“That’s interesting. The marriage customs differ by class. By the way, may I ask why you’re looking for a bride so urgently?”
“About that…”
“Wait a moment.”
Something felt off.
Yerina, with her ears perked up, asked Yoo-jin for a moment and observed the atmosphere around them.
People were chuckling while looking at the table where Yoo-jin and Yerina were sitting.
And it wasn’t just one or two people, the overall atmosphere of the banquet hall was like that.
It seemed they were talking about something amusing that only this side didn’t know.
Yerina hurriedly called the butler and asked about the situation.
“What is going on?”
“Your Grace. It seems there’s a rumor going around.”
“What rumor?”
“That Your Grace was defeated in a match, but in fact, you intentionally lost because you wanted to marry a man named Yoo-jin…”
“Wh-wh-what did you say?!”
Yerina’s face turned bright red in an instant.
The details of the match had leaked out?
There was no one among the bodyguard knights or attendants who would divulge that.
Then the culprit was narrowed down to one person.
“You! How could you spread false rumors!”
Yerina slammed the table with her face flushed up to her ears.
The sound was so loud that the startled people filled the banquet hall with silence.
Nevertheless, Yoo-jin still focused his gaze on the food and said nonchalantly,
“I don’t remember spreading false rumors. I only spread the fact that the Frost Duchess was defeated by me. The part about intentionally losing seems to have been exaggerated along the way.”
“Didn’t I clearly tell you? If you blab about the match, you’ll die.”
“It slipped my mind. So are you going to kill me?”
“…”
When Yoo-jin responded brazenly, she was at a loss for words.
To think he would so brightly ignore the warning of death from the absolute ruler of this place.
He must have had his guts sticking out of his stomach.
Or had he noticed my favor?
That couldn’t be.
Because I had hidden my favor and treated him coldly the whole time.
“Thanks to you, I’m in a very awkward position now! Like this, it seems as if I’m admiring you!”
“That wasn’t my intention, and I’m very sorry. May I suggest a way to resolve this situation?”
“What is it?”
“You can marry me.”
Yerina’s ears slowly folded back.
The conversation from a little while ago came back to her mind and pieced together.
The woman Yoo-jin was urgently looking for, to hold a wedding with.
And the woman Yoo-jin said matched his taste, the only one he found.
She had just realized who they were referring to.
“Although Your Grace is not human and I am not a noble, how about we follow the custom of human nobles just this once? Since it has come to this, even if we lack love for each other, we can start with marriage first and…”
“C-c-crazy! You crazy bastard!”
“Your Grace!”
Bam.
Amidst the attention, Yerina, unable to endure the embarrassment, flipped the table with one hand and ran away.
As Yerina strode out of the banquet hall, her tail attached to her rear swayed side to side.
Meanwhile, Yoo-jin just sat still and waited for the attendants to restore the table.
Once the table was back in place and the food was served again, Yoo-jin resumed his meal alone in a leisurely manner.
It was a rare opportunity for a banquet, so he intended to enjoy it to the end before getting up.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Damn
Está algo loco XD
This dude’s ruthless