Dragon Maken War

Chapter 32 - Those Who Teach (1)

Arrieta and her party’s journey was smooth. After leaving the territory of the Western Border Guard, four days had passed without anything dangerous happening.

However, this didn’t mean there weren’t any problems. The mood within the group was steadily getting worse.

The culprits were Azell and Boar.

Wa-jang-chang!

As they finished their meals within the camp, the empty bowls were noisily flipped over. Then Boar let out his murderous intent.

“Stop trying to mess with me.”

“We are in the same party, so I’m trying to assign the dish washing duty. Is that me ‘trying to mess with’ you? That concept is new to me.”

“That work is only suited for a base born like you. You dare to request someone with noble blood to do such work?”

“Whoa, how scary. How dare a mere knight like me not recognize a lord. I treated you wrongly. May I ask how many knight are pledged to your service, lord?”

Azell was being sarcastic. Enora, who was far away, had a hard time breathing, because of the murderous intent emitted by Boar. However, Azell didn’t show any signs of being intimidated.

Boar growled.

“You are holding up your head too high, since the princess favors you a little bit! I don’t know where you rolled in from, but your base born blood doesn’t know anything about honor. How dare you talk to a knight with such a dirty mind!”

” I didn’t realize the title of a knight was so important in the era after the rule of Nadick Empire’s Emperor Haven. Even back then knights weren’t considered to be so special. Also…”

Azell smirked in front of him.

“When a talent-less bastard with a trash-like mind praises himself to be a ‘noble’, it really nauseates me. ”

“What? How dare you not know your place! I was being patient, because we are in front of the princess. However, I can’t stand it anymore!”

Sssroooong!

Boar was enraged, so he unsheathed his sword.

Azell looked at him as if he was pathetic. Boar made a request to Arrieta.

“Princess! His man has insulted my honor! Please allow us to have a duel!”

“Mmmm…..”

Arrieta had a conflicted expression.

The event had progressed this far, so her decision was simple.

The party moved with an emphasis on speed, so they hadn’t stayed in any of the towns. They had camped along the way, and Enora had been in charge of cooking the food. Azell didn’t mind doing the odd jobs, and Giles, who was used to military life, also helped with the work.

Arrieta wasn’t in a position to do anything. She didn’t want to refuse doing chores, but her station didn’t allow her to do these kinds of work. Most of all, Enora was resolute in blocking her from doing the chores, so she could take part only when her magical power was needed.

During all of this, Boar did nothing. He refused to gather dead leaves and branches as they got ready for camp. He didn’t help in the dinner preparation, and he didn’t wash the dishes. When it was time to leave, he didn’t pick up after himself.

If one considered his past, it was a reasonable attitude. He was born into a noble family, and he was promoted to the royal knights. During that time, he didn’t have much experience of traveling outside, and even when he did, he had his underlings do the annoying work. Even though, Azell could guess his circumstances, he wouldn’t tolerate his attitude. Eventually, Azell told him he was doing less work than the princess, and that was too much. Azell tried to put him in charge of washing the dishes. When he did, Boar exclaimed, ‘How in the world could he do such a thing’, and he became angry.

‘He is making such a fuss, because he really hates washing dishes. If I had to make an award for the world’s most irritating noble, then he would probably be nominated.’

Originally, there were a lot of people like him in the ranks of the nobles. In any situation, they refused to do ‘menial work’. They insisted those works would damage their honor.

During the Dragon Demon War, the population was going through such a harsh tribulation that such perception had thinned out. However, now that the world had become livable again, their dirty true nature had spread again like a disease.

Azell took a peek at Arrieta. Without moving his lips, he used Whispering to relay his intentions to her.

-Please allow it, princess.

After a moment, Arrieta also used Whispering to reply back. Whispering could be used with Spirit Order, but it was a technique that also existed within Dragon Demon magic, and magic.

-Mmm? But….

-Any ways, wouldn’t it be hard to order him to wash the dishes in your position?

-If it is needed, then I will.

-Miss Enora will stop you. We need to use this opportunity to step on him once. Moreover, I want to.

-Mmm. This feels like participating in a bad prank.

-Jeez, I know you find him annoying, princess.

-I won’t deny that.

Arrieta laughed bitterly.

She had a much more noble bloodline than Boar, but Arrieta was surprisingly very self-aware. She was taught by teachers, who possessed carefree attitudes. Also, she had grown up being influenced by the ideal that said, ‘Your power exist to protect the people.’

Arrieta spoke.

“I understand. I’ll allow it.”

“Princess?”

Enora was surprised, so she turned to look at her. However, Arrieta continued to speak in a calm manner.

“Except you can’t forget about the mission you have accepted. I order you to do your best not to harm each other’s life.”

At those words, Boar spoke.

“I understand. No matter how insolent and lowly a person is, life is a precious thing. I just wanted to fix his attitude. I have no intention of taking his life.”

Azell’s eyebrows shot up at those words.

‘Ho-oh?’

His insolent words grated a little bit against his nerves, but his other words were a bit unexpected. I guess he wasn’t scoundrel, who treated other’s lives like flies, when his pride was involved?

Arrieta spoke.

“The loser has to respect the wishes of the winner. As the Dragon Demon Princess Arrieta Weil Rulain, I’ll be the witness to the duel between Sir Boar Zilred, and Sir Azell Zestringer.

Azell and Boar stopped at a location a little bit off from the camp fire. Azell took out his sword. While they looked at each other, both of them placed their swords in the middle so it slightly touched.

Arrieta made the declaration.

“Start the duel.”

2

Azell and Boar stood face to face.

Both their figures contrasted each other. When he set out as Arrieta’s guard, he had received a sword that was big enough to be used with either one or two hands. Azell loosely grabbed his sword with both hands as his sword pointed downward. If seen at a glance, the posture made him look like he wasn’t interested in fighting.

On the other hand, Boar had a long sword in his right hand, and a shield on his left. He was in a typical knight’s stance. His shield was in front of him, and he was positioned to swing the sword at any moment.

Boar taunted.

“Your body is so weak that I don’t know where I should hit.”

Azell’s eyebrows rose.

For reference, Azell’s body had improved quite noticeably. He had trained his body during the travel, so his body was taking shape incrementally.

However, his body was still frail compared to a completely trained, muscle-bound knight.

‘This guy really… He has a talent for annoying others?’

Azell didn’t even think about the fact that he had also taunted his opponent. He glared at Boar.

Even though he didn’t have much muscles, his body was rapidly becoming strong. It was because of the Dragon’s power he had drunk using the Dragon Slayer’s ritual. On the surface, there weren’t much change, but a human body that has drunk a dragon’s power becomes robust. Even if someone has the same body build, there are those who are stronger than the other. In the same vein, there was a difference between becoming sturdier through the dragon’s power, and training one’s body.

‘Well, if we compare our pure physical traits, the bastard is on a much higher level than me.’

Azell passively accepted his fact. Azell was taller than him by a finger length, but Boar had a thoroughly trained body. He ignored his emotions, and he was able to coldly assess his opponent. This ability was something every one of his teacher had complimented on. Azell studied Boar, and he was able to analyze Boar’s power in a flash.

“I’m different from you, who grew up in a nice environment. I’m able to think rationally. This is why I’ll tell you this. You will be hurt badly. You will be hit until you feel pain akin to dying. However, I won’t injure you in a fashion where your power will diminish.(TL:he won’t hurt his cultivation) I’ll promise you that.”

Azell had already completed his 3rd Ring of Life in the past couple days. He had wanted to test out his power, so he liked this turn of event.

‘Yes. I knew I needed to beat this bastard at some point.’

Boar responded to Azell’s taunt.

“Hnng! That is what I should be saying. As a knight, who knows about honor, I’ll let you attack first! Come at me!”

“Really?”

Azell decided not to refuse his offer. He took one long stride.

In a flash, Boar became surprised.

‘What is that?’

Azell had taken a step. However, the distance of 5 meters that existed between the two disappeared in that one step.

Tuh-ung!

“Kuk!”

The sword struck the top of the shield, and Boar’s body shook.

‘What is it? What is this damage?’

It was weird. The sword strike wasn’t especially ferocious, but the moment he blocked it the blow traveled through his entire body. Even his bones hurt.

He started to slowly retreat when Azell took another step. His light step looked like he was taking a stroll, but he had moved to an ideal distance for bring down his sword.

Tuh-ung!

After another strike was applied, Boar staggered backwards.

When Arrieta saw this, she let out a sigh of praise.

“That is an interesting technique.”

If one watched from the side, the move could be understood. Azell looked like he was taking a normal stride across the surface of the ground, but he was actually sliding to close the distance. It was like sliding across ice.

When facing him from the front, it was hard for an unsuspecting opponent to decipher his movements. It ruined the timing and sense of distance of the opponent, so one would have a hard time responding to it.

Even when he was sliding, there was no noise. This meant it was a Spirit Order technique. However, Azell was very adept at disguising his magical energy use that one couldn’t read what he was doing.

Giles spoke.

“His sword strikes are surprising.”

“I wouldn’t say it is surprising. It would be more apt to call it spiteful.” (TLN: the word used is a mixture of spiteful/naughty)

“…….”

Giles laughed bitterly at Arrieta’s observation. He completely agreed with her sentiment.

Azell had broken Boar’s timing and sense of distance. His attacks were like a bait being thrown to a fish. These attacks were perfectly made for a shield to block. From Boar’s perspective, he wanted to block with his shield to make an opening, so he would counter attack.

However, Azell had foreseen his tactic, so he was using this Spirit Order technique. The impact bypassed the shield, and it spread across Boar’s entire body.

The same pattern repeated three times, and Boar finally saw through Azell’s tricks. On the fourth sword strike, Boar didn’t block it with his shield. Instead, he avoided it then he counter attacked.

Azell lightly flowed past it. Boar staggered a few step forwards before he was able to regain his balance.

“Ooh-ook. That is a surprising technique!”

“I can’t hold back my excitement at being praised by such a noble person.”

“Truthfully, I’m impressed. When an opponent is good, it is a knight’s duty to acknowledge that fact! I’ll acknowledge that you posses high level techniques.”

Boar glared at Azell with eyes burning with his fighting spirit.

He already knew from Azell’s first sword strike what he was trying to do. Even if he knew this, he couldn’t block the 2nd and 3rd strike. Initially, he thought Azell had thrown an easily block-able strike. However, the impact had passed through his shield, and he couldn’t defend against it.

If one was a Cord Rope master, one was able to easily bypass a wall to strike at an enemy. Even if the opponent was wearing a thick armor, it was possible to deliver damage past the armor.

Also, when one uses such a method, the opponent usually uses an offsetting technique. However, he knew that Azell’s technique was coming, but he couldn’t come up with an move that would cancel it out.