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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Kerry trained with Lina for a week. Lina’s teachings were so valuable that he could feel himself growing.
‘I think I now understand how dangerously I’d been swinging my sword all this time.’
It was fortunate that most of the enemies he’d fought were stupid goblins or kobolds. If he had faced even a slightly skilled swordsman, he would have been stabbed in an instant and killed.
“Defense and evasion are more important than attack.”
The sound of Kerry and Lina’s wooden swords clashing echoed in the training ground.
Compared to before, Kerry showed a completely different appearance. Lina remained as composed as ever, but Kerry had changed into a somewhat proper swordsman.
It was different from the time when he just swung his sword haphazardly.
The effect of focusing on the basics was evident, even after only a week of training.
Kerry gripped his wooden sword, panting and catching his breath. Facing her like this, he understood how strong Lina truly was.
Throughout their sparring sessions, Lina hadn’t even broken a sweat. While he, on the other hand, was completely exhausted.
Lina was inwardly impressed as they sparred.
‘Kerry learns faster than I expected.’
It wasn’t that he was a genius. However, his learning speed was definitely fast. Lina believed the reason lay in Kerry’s experience as an adventurer.
Kerry had begun to fully recognize the necessity of swordsmanship and was making an effort to learn. It could even be said he had a certain ferocity.
‘His two years of experience as an adventurer must finally be coming to fruition.’
Kerry’s hardships weren’t in vain. That experience was steadily becoming his flesh and blood.
But Kerry inwardly shook his head.
‘I still prefer magic!’
When he learned magic from the White Witch, there was no reason for it to be this difficult.
Of course, if he had learned it properly, he would still be studying those thick books until his head exploded.
‘Why suffer when there’s an easy way?’
He was already resentful about being dragged into this other world, and he wanted to avoid hardship even more. He wanted to live comfortably and easily, enjoying the sweet life. That was Kerry, the ordinary man.
“You still have a long way to go, Kerry! At this rate, you won’t be able to beat a guard, let alone the Captain of the Guard!”
It was a lie. Kerry could now easily defeat a regular guard. She said it to motivate him a little.
‘Damn Captain of the Guard!’
Although he grumbled inwardly, Kerry felt the need to learn swordsmanship.
Even if he focused on magic, the danger of close combat always lurked in battle.
Since it had come to this, he decided to train hard. Kerry practiced swordsmanship with Lina during the day and accumulated mana in his heart through mana breathing techniques at night.
Interestingly, as his physical training progressed, accumulating mana through mana breathing techniques was becoming increasingly easier.
‘Come to think of it, I heard that swordsmen above a certain level strengthen their bodies with mana…’
Lina and Natasha’s superhuman strength was all thanks to mana. He didn’t know the principle, but now that Kerry could handle mana, he wondered if he could do it too.
He was already learning magic, but could he also walk the path of a swordsman? Curious, he asked Lina.
“People who combine magic and swordsmanship are called Magic Swordsmen. Magic Swordsmen certainly exist, but as far as I know, it’s not a very efficient profession. It’s difficult to master even one, whether magic or swordsmanship, but to master both requires exceptional talent and effort.”
A lot of effort meant a lot of hardship. Kerry erased the path of the Magic Swordsman from his mind. He wanted an easy life!
‘Magic is definitely more convenient. I have the White Witch and the orb shortcut on this side.’
The magic storage orb he had obtained by chance felt especially precious.
‘I should go see the White Witch soon and find out more about the orb.’
Break time was over. Lina’s instruction continued. The scorching sun beat down. Just standing still in this place was arduous.
“Lina, your beautiful skin will burn. How about we rest a bit and continue when the sun is less intense?”
“It’s alright. Thanks to my body being strengthened by mana, I don’t get sunburned easily.”
So, the secret to Lina’s honey skin was mana! Half-hearted excuses didn’t work on Lina. She was a tough woman, especially when it came to teaching.
“Husband, keep fighting! Your skills have improved a lot!”
“You’re doing well, grandson-in-law!”
Natasha and the old woman cheered him on. He appreciated their support, but it was somewhat irritating.
Natasha and the old woman looked like they were on a picnic.
“Where are your eyes wandering?”
While he was glancing at Natasha and the old woman, Lina lunged. Truly merciless.
Of course, judging by the fact that he could block her, she must have been going easy on him.
“Do you want to rest?”
“Yes. It’s too hot today. Let’s take a short break.”
“The enemy doesn’t care if it’s hot or cold.”
Then why did she ask! He blocked Lina’s wooden sword, which was thrusting at him again.
Lina’s attacks were always diverse, so if he wasn’t fully focused, he’d get hit constantly.
“If you can last just one minute against me, I’ll let you off for today.”
“Really? Promise?”
With those words, Kerry charged. Lina emphasized defense and evasion, but that was when their skills were similar.
If Lina decided to take him down seriously, there was no way he could withstand it.
Based on what he had learned so far, he took the most aggressive stance and pressed Lina.
‘Last one minute! I will last! Let’s rest today!’
Kerry’s happy isekai life didn’t include strenuous training.
But enduring for a minute was, as expected, impossible.
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There were those who were discreetly watching the training ground. They were the guards. They had come to observe Kerry on the Captain’s orders.
“That guy’s pretty good.”
“His skills have improved a lot. When I first saw him, I thought there was nothing to worry about.”
The guards reported Kerry’s growth. Hearing this, the Captain of the Guard was annoyed.
“No matter what, I won’t lose to a guy who’s only trained for a week. Those bastards are running their mouths off.”
‘If you’re so confident, why did you send us to spy on him?’
The reporting guards cursed inwardly, but they couldn’t say it out loud.
‘There’s no way I’d lose to a guy who looks like such a wimp.’
The Captain of the Guard had a ferocious appearance, even among the barbaric men of this world. His intimidating face and scars worked wonders for his job as a guard.
Most people wouldn’t dare mess with him.
“Captain, if you don’t believe it, why don’t you see for yourself? His skills are really different now.”
“This bastard? You want me to embarrass myself by sneaking around and watching?”
“Isn’t it the same whether we watch or you watch directly?”
“Shut up.”
With that, the guard closed his mouth. He was truly terrifying when he got angry with that face.
The Captain of the Guard had been incredibly irritated lately.
He had luckily landed the sweet position of Captain of the Guard, but because of two idiotic subordinates, he was now held responsible.
Lady Victoria had clearly stated:
[If you win the bet, I won’t hold you responsible for your subordinates’ actions. But if you lose… you know my temper, right?]
If he lost, she would surely raise hell. Victoria, despite her appearance, wasn’t so gentle.
The fact that she cut off the hands of his subordinates for some petty embezzlement was proof enough.
‘Isn’t this dangerous for me too?’
She probably wouldn’t cut off his hands for the subordinate issue, but the Captain had committed his fair share of misdeeds.
The problem was that it was becoming more serious because Victoria was promoting the match between the outsider and the Captain like some kind of event.
“Did you hear? The Captain of the Guard is having a match with the outsider. They’re even holding a sparring tournament for the commoners.”
“Ah, I heard about that. They said they’re even allowing street vending at the event. We might be able to make a quick buck if we play our cards right.”
“It’ll be fun to watch after so long. It’ll be especially entertaining if the Captain of the Guard gets beaten.”
In this world lacking entertainment, violence was a very amusing pastime.
Of course, it was just a sparring match with wooden swords, but it was more than enough to watch when bored.
Especially when the target was the Captain of the Guard, who usually treated the residents with arrogance.
“Damn it. Things have gone wrong.”
The Captain of the Guard needlessly cursed at his subordinates. It seemed like it was all because of his stupid subordinates.
Meanwhile, Kerry finished his training with Lina. Sweat poured from his body like rain.
After washing his sweat-drenched body, he came out to have dinner with Lina and her party.
“Beer. I want a cold beer.”
“Yes, then let’s go have some beer.”
When she wasn’t training, Lina was as kind as usual. He wished she was like this during training too.
As he hurried towards a tavern known for its good beer, a shabby beggar grabbed his pants.
“What?”
“Please give a poor beggar a coin.”
It was begging. A common sight anywhere in this world, where the concept of welfare didn’t exist.
Usually, he would have yelled at the beggar to get a job if he was able-bodied and ignored him, but today was different.
He had an audience. The angel-like regressor was looking at him. Lucky beggar.
“Buy yourself some bread with this.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
Lina smiled at him warmly. Natasha didn’t seem to like it very much.
“Husband, you’re too kind for your own good. If you keep helping people like that, they might continue living as beggars.”
Personally, Natasha’s view was closer to his own values. Lina seemed to think differently, but she didn’t argue.
Kerry opened his hand discreetly, away from his companions’ eyes.
‘What’s this?’
There was a note in Kerry’s hand. The beggar had secretly slipped it to him when he gave him the money.
[I want to see you, adventurer-nim. I’ll be waiting at the inn with the red roof in the inn district. Please come by when you have time. – Ellie]
Ellie? Could it be that brown-haired Ellie? But why did that beggar have Ellie’s note?
He looked back, but the beggar was gone.
‘Ellie’s asking for a secret meeting? That’s not like her.’
There was no reason for Ellie to be here in the first place.
Was it a trap? If it was a trap, it might be one set by that skeleton and pig. No. That was strange too.
Those guys didn’t just suffer moderate injuries; they ran away with one having his body split in half. How could they know that Kerry had met Ellie without his companions noticing?
Honestly, it was very suspicious, but his curiosity was piqued. More than anything… the thought of Ellie’s skills in bed aroused him.
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Early that evening, Kerry went to the inn where Ellie was supposedly staying.
If it were a trap, they wouldn’t have chosen the inn district, which was always crowded with people.
The soundproofing there was terrible, and the sounds of lustful moans echoed every night.
If they intended to harm him, they should have chosen a more secluded place.
When he arrived at the inn, the innkeeper was sitting and reading a newspaper.
“Innkeeper, has someone named Ellie checked in?”
The innkeeper looked up from his newspaper and stared at Kerry’s face. Then he nodded.
“You mean the brown-haired young lady? My, my. A handsome young man and woman meeting. Such wonderful times. She’s in the second room on the left corridor on the third floor. She said you’d be coming.”
“Thank you.”
Brown-haired. He couldn’t be completely sure based on hair color, but it felt like it was Ellie.
He knocked on the inn room door the innkeeper had indicated.
What was this? There was no response. Was she not there?
Knock, knock, knock.
He knocked again, and he heard the creaking sound of floorboards as someone walked towards the door from inside the room.
Then the door opened slightly. An eye, which he couldn’t be sure belonged to Ellie, peered at him through the crack.
“…Ellie? Is that you?”
Kerry was tense, ready for a blade to fly out. Ready to jump out of the way at any moment.
In a situation like this, he realized how reassuring the swordsmanship he learned from Lina was.
“It is him.”
The voice wasn’t Ellie’s. Startled, he reached for the hilt of his sword.
The door swung open.
Standing at the door was a woman with a well-proportioned figure, exuding a mature charm. She had a pipe in her mouth.
The woman exhaled a puff of smoke and said,
“Come in, darling.”
Who was she calling darling?
“Why would I go in there? Who knows what’s inside. I came to meet Ellie. Who are you?”
“Hmm. Big body, big… well, you’re quite timid.”
‘Where did she hear about the size of my…?’
“You want my introduction?”
“Let’s at least hear who you are.”
As the tension thickened in the hallway, a bright and cheerful voice came from inside the room.
“Adventurer-nim! I’ve missed you so much!”
It was Ellie. She waved her hand as if in greeting, her gesture cute. The tense atmosphere melted away in an instant.
And the woman in front of him laughed as if amused.
“Hehehe. Why are you so scared, big guy? You’re not completely clueless, though. I’m Ellie’s madam. Nice to meet you, darling.”
Just what was going on with these women who were looking for him?
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