Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Battle for the Porter - Imperial Capital (2)

Kanna drew a circle on the ground around where I stood. A small circle — barely room to shift two steps in any direction.

"What kind of exam is this?"

"As you said, the Guard is currently deploying on operations, but the Guard's fundamental duty is not offense."

Kanna sheathed her sword after drawing the line.

"It's protection. The Guard must move as a single body. The skill to hold your position and defend no matter what happens — that's what's required."

So this was a defense exam. Fair enough. If it had been a straightforward spar, I'd have been in a bind. Against someone like Sijipo, I could just steamroll to a win, but Kanna was a girlfriend candidate of mine. I couldn't crush her without mercy.

Kanna didn't notice the disrespectful thoughts running through my head and continued.

"I'm going to attack you from all angles. All you have to do is block. Don't even think about counterattacking. You'll get hurt."

"Yes, understood."

That constant composure was adorable. If only that Kanna would show a cute side just for me......! Ah, I was already getting excited.

"Here I come."

Kanna approached at a slow pace. I could tell — she wasn't coming at me with any real intent.

My build was on the small side. Small even by Korean standards, and in a place with Western-sized physiques, I'd look even smaller.

That was Kanna's consideration. Cold with her words but different with her actions — that was the kind of woman she was.

Her sword path came straight and honest. This was a purely basic test. I didn't even meet the blade — just deflected it aside.

"Oh?"

Curiosity colored Kanna's eyes.

That was the right answer. During my Hunter training lectures, I'd done a few sparring exhibitions too, and they always started like this. Meeting the blade head-on meant amateur; deflecting meant decent skill.

Blocking with the sword was a last resort. Avoiding was best. Because the instant you blocked, you also blocked your own opening to attack.

"So you have the fundamentals."

"Feel free to move to the advanced exam."

"I was about to."

Kanna's sword paths grew more complex. The difficulty climbed in real time. She was thinking the same thing I was.

Starting gently, accommodating the opponent, and drawing out their true limits. I'd used that approach partly because I dealt with new Hunters and partly because cameras were watching, but Kanna was different. Kanna was simply that kind of person.

"I think you can handle a higher tier."

Kanna began moving her feet in earnest. Her speed climbed rapidly. Feints and variations multiplied — a thrust that turned into a pull, then a slash, a pommel strike angling in from a blind spot.

I dodged everything I could within the circle and met sword with sword when I had to. Pommel strikes I blocked by lifting a leg and wrapping mana around my thigh.

Dust began rising between us on the training ground. Grains of sand floated on the mana currents.

The crack-crack of impacts drew the stares of every soldier drilling nearby. A commanding officer who'd been drilling soldiers hard paused to watch our exam.

"First decent person the prince has brought in a while."

"Isn't that insubordination?"

"More than having no eye for people, the prince tends to...... well, take in people who look pitiful. Great intentions but lacking ability — that's most of them. It's a shame, but it can't be helped."

More carbonation fizzing out like a shaken bottle. She'd almost certainly said this to Gatos's face at least once.

"Let's go to the final tier. You're the first soldier to reach this stage."

Despite her words, she was now genuinely curious about me. Mana wreathed her wooden sword. The wood cracked with a sharp sound, but the mana compressed the blade — the edge looked harder than before.

"Here I come."

Kanna, kind enough to announce her attacks. She thrust with ferocious force in a straight line. The path was honest. But it was incomparable to the beginning. Like a tidal wave bearing down.

I lowered my center of gravity and met her blade tip with mine. When extremes collided, the result was an explosion.

CRASH—!

"Wh-what the......?"

A bewildered voice drifted over from a soldier watching at a distance. I'd struck the precise point where she'd focused her mana.

Every grain of sand on the training ground around us was upturned. When she saw that I'd met blade tip to blade tip, her eyes went round. It was the first time I'd ever seen Kanna caught off guard.

But only for a moment. She returned to her composed expression.

"Impressive."

"I'm merely grateful."

"You pass."

Kanna incinerated her now-ruined sword. I didn't know the incineration skill, so I just stuck mine in the dirt.

Kanna's eyes naturally drifted to the ground. That was when her composure fully shattered.

"...You're no ordinary person."

What she saw was the circle she'd drawn around me. That line maintained its perfect shape without a single distortion. Of course it did. I'd been protecting it the whole time.

She'd clearly assumed the circle would be scuffed by now. Even her voice was trembling.

"Rules only mean something if they're followed."

"You're right. I'm the one who came up short here."

Kanna tried to reclaim her composure, but it wasn't coming easily. She turned her back immediately.

"Rest today. Starting tomorrow, report to the Guard. Roll call is at 0700 hours."

She said in a still-trembling voice and left the training grounds. I was the only one remaining. Every pair of eyes in the grounds was on me.

I should probably run too.

***

This was my free time. A full day of it. I could head to the Guard barracks now, but I should get familiar with the Capital first.

There'd come a time when I'd walk alongside Marina, and I'd need to guide her properly. During my first blind date with an A-rank Hunter, I'd walked right past the restaurant I'd picked and ended up circling the block several times. I got roasted for that. Never again.

My first stop was the library. I needed to unlock as many skills as possible.

In my bag right now were the thick Ancient Yensian-Trafviche dictionary and the Seongmun Basic English Vocabulary, and in my Skill Book collection was 「Solid Foundations: Trafviche Language Study」from Airi. With these, I'd just have to cross-reference and piece things together.

Asking around, I found the Imperial Library, where a librarian with curly pink hair and round glasses greeted me. The moment I walked in, she asked in a library-appropriate quiet voice.

"Which division are you with?"

"The Second Prince's division."

"Which unit within the division?"

"I've been assigned to the Guard starting tomorrow."

"Ah, I see. Normally you'd need to show your identification badge, but since you don't have one today, please feel free to use the library."

A flexible person. I'd expected nothing but rule-obsessed types in the Middle Ages. This was what made life worth living.

"Thank you."

I gave the library a thorough once-over. As expected of the Imperial Library — the scale and interior were on another level.

A spiral staircase unfurled from the center, with circular bookshelves arranged in rings around it.

At least six floors, with a full glass ceiling that flooded the space with light. If I'd joined the library division, this was where I'd have worked. Sounded like outright slavery.

Being a library, there were study desks too. The wood grain was distinctly imperial — the sort of mahogany desk a chairman would use.

The building was empty during work hours, which suited me just fine.

"Studying a new language at my age."

On another note, I didn't know every detail of this world's lore, but wasn't the deal for Yensi people grossly unfair? The Skill Window existed, yet it was written entirely in Trafviche.

This was a world where the divine was explicitly real. What was God even doing? The irony that such unfairness actually proved the existence of the divine was one hell of a paradox.

I studied diligently. Cross-referencing the Seongmun Basic English Vocabulary with the Ancient Yensian-Trafviche dictionary. I was essentially learning two languages at once.

English, and the worm-like script of Trafviche. Naturally, progress was glacial. Even if I had a young brain in this body, this was ridiculous.

I decided to open the dictionary and look for shortcuts.

"What was that word again...... 'Thought.' Starts with a T."

【Thought: Thought [θɪŋk]】

The ever-convenient Skill Window. Looking at it now, it was such a basic word that I felt embarrassed. If anyone saw this, I'd die.

Using that as my base, I searched for the Trafviche equivalent of "thought." Found it. Was there a match in my Skill Window? At this point, I was going full inductive-method skill unlocking.

There was a match. But another word was attached after it. That part needed to be looked up in Trafviche, meaning I had to manually flip through the dictionary. Damn Trafviche-centric system.

After searching, the word turned out to be "acceleration."

【Acceleration: Acceleration [əkˌseləˈreɪʃn]】

【Skill: Thought Acceleration Lv. 8 — Unlocked】

【Skill: Thought Acceleration Lv. 8 — Active】

I had a skill like this? Made sense, though — in combat, you had to consider multiple factors simultaneously. Adrenaline kicked in during a fight, and adrenaline made you think faster. The skill must have reflected that.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

I looked up to find a child's face floating in midair. Honestly, that was cheating. I was so startled I fell backward off my chair.

"Ha ha ha."

The floating-face child cackled. A library ghost? If I'd had a skill called "Composure," this wouldn't have happened. Damn world.

"Who are you?"

"Never mind that. You were studying something interesting, and I haven't seen you before."

Look at that — straight to casual speech. That meant this was a child of significant rank. The kid fluttered something in the air, and their full body became visible.

A cute child with wavy golden hair and green eyes. I knew instantly. This was the youngest prince, Gatis — the one who'd monopolized all of Marina's adoration.

"I greet His Highness the Prince."

When I gave the formal salute, Gatis's eyes widened slightly.

"How'd you know?"

"A magical item, wavy golden hair, and green eyes — anyone in the Imperial Palace who failed to recognize you would be no servant of the court."

Though I'd only been here a day. Gatis innocently waved the transparent something in the air. His hand, concealed behind what appeared to be an invisibility cloak, looked like it belonged to someone who'd lost their wrist on a battlefield.

"The Mage Tower Master gave this to me. He said it wasn't finished and told me not to use it, but I just wear it around anyway."

"Is that so?"

Why was a prince suddenly popping up here? As far as I knew, this kid was trouble. Had he been studying in the library?

"Hey, since I ran into you, help me with one thing."

A golden question mark seemed to float above Gatis's head. As if a sudden quest had spawned. But unlike a regular game, this quest couldn't be declined. He was a prince.

"What is it, Your Highness?"

"Just an easy question. But the answer's supposedly in this library, and I just can't find it."

If it was easy, couldn't he find it himself? I barely swallowed the scream rising in my throat. I was busy studying.

"A tree whose roots grow deeper as its branches grow thinner and its flowers vanish, yet whose branches grow lush and whose flowers bloom gorgeous as its roots grow shallow. What is the name of that tree?"

What — a riddle? Who'd asked him something like this? It was the kind of riddle with no single correct answer. Before I could even share my thoughts, an emergency alarm blared throughout the entire palace.

"This is Captain Kanna Karamov, Second Prince's Guard. All guards attached to the First Prince's and Second Prince's divisions, assemble at the East Gate immediately."

What — did I need to go too? Another Black Tree, a Corrupted Tree, must have appeared. The Guard was busy indeed.

"Hey, you're in the Guard? Why are you packing up?"

"Yes, I'm in the Guard."

"You have to answer before you go! Otherwise you can't leave!"

Good grief, this kid. I tossed out an answer without running it through my brain.

"The answer is people."

And I grabbed my things and sprinted for the East Gate.