Chapter 87. I Wish They Would All Go Away (2)

Patrick Schneider.

His name had become so famous that there was no one in the Academy's Knight Faculty who didn't know it.

In fact, he had been famous in his own way even before.

Mid-term admissions were rare in themselves, and such a rare mid-term admit had caused a major incident as soon as he arrived.

Twice, at that.

Beating up Roist at first could be brushed aside.

But defeating the third-year, Zordic, afterward was a big issue even in the Knight Faculty.

Zordic was a renowned talent, the second-best among the third-years in the Knight Faculty, and also the son of Marquis Panola.

Such a Zordic was crushed by a first-year he had never even heard of and had secluded himself at home, even submitting a leave of absence.

It was an incident sufficient to make the name Patrick Schneider famous within the Academy.

However, up to this point, the image of Patrick was merely that of a skilled freshman.

But…

“Duel me. Today’s the day.”

“Patrick. What are you doing this weekend? Want to get an exit pass and go out? I have two opera tickets.”

“You have time for that, so duel with me.”

“Oh my, Princess. Is that perhaps an abuse of power?”

“…I don’t know. Anyway, a duel.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

Princess Isabella Black Atronia, a single flower of the Knight Faculty and the kingdom’s princess.

Marianne Parmas, the greatest beauty of the Administration Faculty and the only daughter of Count Parmas, the Flower of the East.

After these two started visiting Patrick every day and showing such behavior, the rumors about Patrick spread beyond the Knight Faculty to the entire Academy.

“Hey, did you hear the rumor?”

“I heard. You mean the love triangle surrounding the Knight Faculty first-year?”

“One is the Princess, and the other is the daughter of Count Parmas.”

“The daughter of Count Parmas, that’s her, right? The beauty from the Administration Faculty who’s been confessed to by a string of guys since her first year.”

“Who on earth is he? To enjoy such fortune?”

“Don’t know, do you? I’ve never heard the name of the Baron Schneider family before.”

“Me neither. Maybe he’s rich?”

“No way? I heard it’s the poorest fiefdom in the East.”

“Then what is it? Is he handsome?”

“I heard the butler he brings with him is handsome.”

“Ah, I heard that. They say he has a butler so handsome it’s inhuman?”

“I saw him once, and he was devastatingly handsome. No, beyond handsome… To the point where I don’t know why a man would be so beautiful… Hey. No. No. It’s not like that. Don’t move away.”

“Just stay away for now.”

And so, Patrick instantly became a celebrity within the Academy.

Along with the rumor that he had a butler of transcendent beauty.

“Just once.”

“…For now.”

“There’s no ‘for now’ about it, I said once. Got it?”

“……”

Isabella’s cheeks puffed out in a pout.

In truth, she didn’t know it, but this was something that would have shocked the people of Jianghu if they knew.

The world’s most stubborn, scoundrelly, bankrupt-in-character, full-of-madness, and indifferent-to-unprofitable-matters, the official number one scumbag of the Orthodox Faction, Radiant Dragon Great Master Jin Cheon, had just made a ‘concession’.

If his friends from his past life had seen it, they would have expressed their concern, thinking, ‘Has his time to die finally come?’

‘Agh, really, if only she weren’t royalty…’

Patrick had no choice.

He had dealt with all sorts of opponents, but royalty was still a first…

He couldn’t beat her up, couldn’t yell at her, and couldn’t threaten her.

In the end, he had tried to refuse until the very end, but his opponent was no ordinary leech either.

She clung to him, begging for just one more duel, and honestly, it was extremely annoying.

She stuck to him day and night requesting a duel, so now it was difficult to even go out at night to drink.

‘Right. A person needs some time alone. How can she be so inconsiderate? So inconsiderate…’

In fact, sneaking out at night to drink was originally against the school rules, and that very violation was the cause of this whole situation, but was Patrick the kind of person to care about such things?

“Just once. I won’t do it again.”

“…We’ll see.”

“What do you mean, ‘we’ll see’? We’ll see!?”

“Anyway, let’s start.”

And Isabella was the first to draw her sword and charge at Patrick.

Watching her, Patrick let out a small sigh and raised his sword to receive her attack.

Kaaaaang!

As their swords met, Isabella moved her feet to the side, trying to circle around to Patrick’s blind spot.

Patrick attacked the direction she was trying to move in with the sword held in his other hand, and Isabella hastily retreated.

And as soon as she retreated, she kicked off the ground with her back foot and sharply thrust her sword forward.

“Haap!”

A sharp thrust, charging forward with the entire body behind the tip of the sword.

He swatted that thrust away by swinging his sword.

Kaaaaang!

The thrust, made with all her might, was pushed back by the strong parry, and her posture, which had its center of gravity behind it, was thrown off balance.

But she didn't correct her disrupted center, but rather rotated her body and countered with a sharp spinning slash towards Patrick.

Kaaaaang!

The two’s swords clashed sharply, sending sparks flying.

‘Ooh, she’s put some thought into it.’

Patrick was slightly impressed as he received Isabella’s attack.

Since she kept yelling for a duel, Patrick had thought she was burning with a desire to win against him.

You know how it is, right?

A characteristic of prideful kids is that even after a clean loss, they don’t accept the defeat, make up some reason to justify themselves, and delude themselves into thinking they can win if they fight again.

But Isabella was different.

If she truly hadn’t accepted her defeat, she wouldn’t have paid any mind to the weaknesses Patrick had pointed out in their previous duel.

But now, she was moving in a way that compensated for the weaknesses Patrick had pointed out in her own style.

Thanks to that, her sword, which had been confined to the standard forms, was now a bit freer and more vibrant than before.

This was not a development that someone who does not accept defeat could achieve.

It was a development duly earned because she had accepted her defeat and readily took in the opponent’s critique that had painfully pierced her heart.

‘Well, she still has a long way to go, though.’

Still, Patrick parried her sword a bit longer.

If he had his way, he would have just fired off a Flashing Dragon Strike as soon as they started, knocked her unconscious, and ended it, but if he did that, this leech might cling to him again, begging for one more round.

In that case, it was better to do it properly once and be done with it.

“Your gaze shouldn't follow your sword; you must look at your opponent. Focus.”

“Hup…”

“You can only fight doing whatever you want when you’re fighting a novice. Even if your posture is a bit bad, if the timing feels right, force the sword out.”

“Got… it!”

Receiving Patrick’s critique, Isabella immediately corrected that part and charged at him.

Patrick received Isabella’s sword as if conducting a guided sparring session, and without realizing it, the corners of his mouth crept up slightly.

‘She listens well. A model student.’

When you teach people, it’s truly strange how no two people are the same.

There are people like April who, with their insane talent, understand ninety-nine things when you teach them one, and conversely, there are dullards like Matthew who you have to suffer through teaching by hammering in every single thing.

Sanson wasn’t a genius, but he was a talented student who could understand if he tried, and Oliver actually had better sense than Sanson, but his physical condition didn’t support it, making him the type whose body couldn’t keep up with his thoughts.

Thus, if you teach a hundred people, each of the hundred has clear strengths and weaknesses.

And Isabella was no different.

‘She’s smart. A type with good insight rather than physique. There were many kids like this in the Jaegal Clan.’

In Patrick’s view, the specialties of the Jaegal Clan were cunning tricks and gadgets.

[Research and understanding of strategy and mechanism formations, as well as reading the heavenly energy to gauge the rise and fall of the world….]

‘Whatever, ugly.’

[You son of a bitch!]

Patrick cleanly ignored someone’s protest and continued his thoughts.

Anyway, that was the Jaegal Clan, but they were still a martial family that practiced martial arts.

And occasionally, a master of a level that couldn't be ignored would emerge from the Jaegal Clan.

How did these delicate-looking scholars, who looked like they had never lifted anything heavier than a book, become masters?

In a word, the masters of the Jaegal Clan were those who used martial arts efficiently.

Heaven-Raising Art of Thoughtful Emission.

Moving a thousand catties with four taels of force.

It was theoretically possible, but honestly, it was a school of thought too different from the direction Patrick pursued.

But the masters of the Jaegal Clan were guys who obsessed over that ridiculously tricky logic and developed a level of proficiency that made it feasible.

What was needed for that?

Nothing else.

You had to be smart.

It is generally said that one needs good insight when learning martial arts.

Usually, that’s because most people who say that can progress quickly.

Having good insight means having good comprehension, and a person with good comprehension understands more dense teachings in a shorter amount of time.

So, their progress is bound to be fast.

But kids who are smart enough to go beyond that can add extreme finesse to their martial arts.

To execute perfect finesse in the midst of a fierce battle where sword qi and enhanced qi are exchanged to take each other’s lives requires extraordinary concentration.

A high level of concentration and cognitive processing power to understand what needs to be done first and execute it even while the opponent’s blade is digging into your neck.

If one could embody that at a high level, it would truly be possible to move a thousand catties with four taels of force.

‘She’s of that lineage too. What a shame.’

Unfortunately, the sword of this world was focused on the logic of speed, weight, and strength.

Would it be possible for her to realize on her own the subtlety of the Heaven-Raising Art of Thoughtful Emission, which must be executed with accurate observation, flexibility, and change?

If Isabella were on the level of a great founder like Bodhidharma or Zhang Sanfeng, it might be possible, but otherwise, it would be impossible.

‘I could teach her, but…’

“Why should I?”

“What?”

Patrick didn’t answer Isabella’s question.

Just that the sword Patrick held against hers showed a peculiar movement.

Wooooong.

It was a strange feeling, to call it a vibration.

Patrick’s sword, stuck fast to Isabella’s, moved at high speed as if vibrating.

That small but fast vibration traveled through Isabella’s sword, up her wrist, arm, and shoulder, and reached the center of her body.

At that moment, she felt a strange sensation.

A feeling as if something was digging into her through the sword and interfering.

The peculiar feeling that her body was out of her control and under the opponent’s control, shocked her.

And the moment she tried to forcefully move her body to pull back…

“That’s enough.”

With Patrick’s words, her body floated gently into the air.

One second, two seconds, three seconds. And…

Thud!

She, who had risen higher than her own head, fell straight to the ground.

And Patrick looked at the fallen her, pointed his sword, and said.

“Now, the match is over. Are we done now?”

“…How did you do that?”

“Well.”

“……”

“What? Why? What? Why? Why? Why?”

Honestly, what a personality…

In fact, what Patrick had just shown her was the very principle that could best utilize the talent Isabella possessed.

Because he found her talent a waste and felt she was a tiiiiny bit cute for being so obedient, he had shown it to her once.

But that was as far as it went.

“I gave you a spoonful, that should be enough. Do I have to set your table for life? I’m not your wife, so why should I have to do that?”

“That’s…”

She had nothing to say.

Patrick sheathed his sword and said.

“Just think about it carefully before you forget. A swordsman is like the earth; if you plant a seed and take care of it, it will sprout.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

‘Though when it’ll sprout is purely up to luck.’

He didn't bother saying the last part.

But what could he do?

That's just how enlightenment is.

Patrick sheathed his sword and said to Isabella.

“I’ve dueled you once. Now really, stop following me around.”

“If we do it just one more time…”

“……”

Meeting Patrick’s cold eyes, Isabella shut her mouth.

Until now, Patrick had sent unpleasant glances her way.

In fact, receiving such a gaze from a man was an unfamiliar experience, but Patrick was an exception.

But now, the feeling was on another level.

Feeling a chill as if a blade was pressed against the nape of her neck, she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth further.

Patrick said to her.

“I hate liars.”

“……”

“I’ll assume you’ve understood well enough.”

Having delivered his notice, Patrick turned and walked away. In fact, if she had clung to him and been stubborn any longer, he would have just beaten her up without mercy, regardless of her being a princess, but thankfully, she seemed to have at least a minimum of sense.

‘Well, if she can digest what I gave her today, in about 20 years, she might be able to move ten catties with four taels.’

Even that would be a level that could be sufficiently used in real combat.

And Patrick cleanly turned his back.

-----------------

Rate and review this novel at novelupdates.

( 2 chapters free per review and 1 chapter per rate )

CLICK HERE

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.