Chapter 747: Chapter 745

Bear-san Fighting Juubei-san

“Yuna’s strength lies in more than that.” (Jubei)

“What do you mean?” (Shinobu)

“Yuna’s moves are ingrained in her body.” (Jubei)

“Does it mean that her body moves before she thinks?” (Shinobu)

“No, I move with proper thought in mind.” (Yuna)

I denied Juubei-san’s words.

“You certainly think about your moves. I know this because you were anticipating Shinobu’s multiple ranges of action and moving accordingly. But you also blocked Shinobu’s unexpected attacks without any delay or hesitation. That is evidence that your body moved before you thought.” (Jubei)

Indeed, as far as unexpected attacks were concerned, I moved my body out of instinct and prevented Shinobu’s attacks.

“It must have taken a lot of blood-soaked efforts and time to get to that point.” (Jubei)

Blood-soaked efforts or not, I didn’t even attend school, and I was spending all my time gaming.

I think I spent more time playing the games than most people.

After all, there were other people who were even more addicted to gaming than I was.

However, I was also making sure I was getting enough sleep.

Besides that, I was rarely invited to parties, so I could play the games at my own pace.

Furthermore, unlike in the real world, even if I got hurt in games, I could recover my strength and magic power by using recovery items or resting at an inn, so I (or my avatar) could return to fighting immediately.

If I died, I would just be sent back to my home.

But this world was different from a game, so they could not become strong in the same way I did.

“Blood-soaked training…” (Shinobu)

Shinobu was thinking about Juubei-san’s words.

No, I didn’t get to that point.

No, you didn’t have to make such a serious face.

“Shinobu, Yuna is not a genius or anything. She may have had talent, but what she had achieved was not based on talent alone. And even if she did have talent, it would never blossom if she didn’t do anything with it.” (Jubei)

“Yuna-san has been working hard to become stronger, right?” (Noa)

Noa said sincerely.

It was all in the game, though.

I did play the game all the time aside from when I was sleeping, eating, and going to the bathroom…

“Shinobu, I know you work out more than anyone else. But Yuna has done more than that.” (Jubei)

“You mean I have to do more than Yuna?” (Shinobu)

Jubei-san shook his head.

“What are you looking for beyond strength? Do you really need that strength?” (Jubei)

“If I had been strong, I would not have been injured by the wyvern. If I had not been injured, Sakura-sama would not have been forced to work so hard.” (Shinobu)

“Shinobu, you were thinking that? I never thought it was Shinobu’s fault.” (Sakura)

“Sakura-sama is kind…” (Shinobu)

“There are things one can do and things one cannot do. I cannot fight a wyvern, but I could channel magic power.” (Sakura)

“But if I had not been injured by the wyvern… If I had defeated it easily, I would not have put Sakura-sama in danger.” (Shinobu)

“That’s an ideal situation. There are no “what ifs”. Having said that, I have wished many times that I could fight myself and deal with all the troubles on my own, but I can’t.” (Sakura)

“…” (Shinobu)

“Everyone lives with regrets. But if you stay stuck in them, you will never be able to move on. You are strong. Be confident.” (Jubei)

“…Master.” (Shinobu)

I didn’t think I was the right person to point this out to Shinobu, so I didn’t interject until now. Thankfully, Sakura handled it appropriately.

Anyway, the practice match with Shinobu was over.

It was worth it if I could be a source of inspiration for Shinobu.

“Well then, where shall we continue our tour?” (Yuna)

“Well, before that, can you fight with me this time?” (Jubei)

My words and Juubei-san’s words coincided. We were saying the same thing in the beginning, but our last words strayed in the opposite direction.

“Huh, Juubei-san, what did you say? I thought I heard you say something about [let’s fight], but I must have misheard you.” (Yuna)

“No, you didn’t mishear me. I’m sorry, but I’m asking you to fight with me. I want to show Shinobu Yuna’s fighting style with swords. And most of all, after watching the fight just now, I would like to fight as well.” (Jubei)

This guy was a combat freak.

Me?

I was not a combat freak.

I just wanted to win.

And I get very frustrated when I lose.

Besides, I enjoyed gradually becoming stronger and defeating stronger opponents.

So, I was never a combat freak by any means.

“Shinobu-san, is Jubei-san strong?” (Noa)

Noa asked as Shinobu came over to where Fina and the others were.

“Yes, he is strong. He is one of the best in the entire country.” (Jubei)

“You mean he is not the best?” (Yuna)

“That’s because there are fights I’m good at and not so good at. Even Master has his weak points.” (Shinobu)

Even in the game, there was something called compatibility of attributes.

Swords were strong against bows, bows were strong against spears, spears were strong against swords, and so on…

Fire was strong against grass, grass was strong against water, water was strong against fire, and so on…

It was like rock-paper-scissors.

In some cases, there would be lightning, earth, wind, wood, dark, light, and so on…

As one could imagine, it became perplexing when there were too many attributes to think about.

Plus, it may vary from game to game. Further, this increases the confusion.

“I want to see how Yuna handles swords.” (Jubei)

Jubei-san was using a slender sword. He offered me a similar wooden sword.

I was not given the option to decline.

“Fina, Misa, Shuri, you must not interfere with Yuna-san. Let’s get out of the way.” (Jubei)

“Yes.” (Noa)

Noa led Fina and the others away.

“Sakura-sama, it’s dangerous here. We need to leave too.” (Shinobu)

“Jubei, Yuna-san, please don’t hurt yourself.” (Sakura)

Sakura and Shinobu also went to Noa and the others.

That left Jubei-san and me in the center.

I didn’t say I would accept, though.

But when I looked at Noa and the others, they were already in a spectator mood.

Noa and Shuri seemed to be enjoying themselves, Fina and Misa looked anxious, and Shinobu and Sakura looked at me with serious eyes.

I couldn’t refuse.

Besides, I think it was too much trouble to find an excuse not to accept it. I didn’t mind fighting.

I grabbed my wooden sword and moved away from Jubei-san.

“Just to confirm, using wind blades during our clash will also be prohibited, right?” (Yuna)

“Yes, weapons only.” (Jubei)

He would usually use wind blades when fighting with swords, which was quite tricky to deal with. It would make it difficult for me to scale the proper distance of his attacks.

But if it were a purely physical fight, I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

Jubei-san and I readied our wooden swords.

“I’ll go first.” (Jubei)

Jubei-san made the first move.

The speed of his wooden sword was fast.

I read the trajectory and twisted my body to avoid it.

But Jubei-san’s attack did not end at that. As the wooden sword reached its peak of movement, it was then redirected back at me.

I quickly blocked the attack with my wooden sword.

The wooden swords clashed, creating an echoing sound.

Both of our wooden swords went for a second strike.

This exchange continued for several more times.

After blocking all the attacks, Jubei-san jumped backwards lightly, and as soon as he landed on the ground, he raised his wooden sword into the air. His right arm was pulled back.

Was he aiming for a thrust?

Jubei-san’s legs strengthened.

Everything was in place as soon as he landed.

The stance, the preparation for the thrust.

Jubei-san’s thrust attack followed.

A three-stage thrust!

The first blow, I moved backwards and avoided it.

Jubei-san took another step forward.

I parried the second blow with my wooden sword.

But he quickly pulled back.

The third strike.

I turned my body to the left. I prevented all three strikes from hitting me.

However, I suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Next, I noticed the position of Juubei-san’s left hand.

He was preparing a fourth strike.

I quickly used my earth magic.

The earth rose from the ground, blocking Jubei-san’s attack.

I backed away to prevent a follow-up attack.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I used magic.” (Yuna)

I apologized for using magic, even though it was forbidden.

“No, it doesn’t matter. I used my hidden weapon as well. Besides, it was probably an instinctual action that was ingrained in your body. That’s one of Yuna’s strengths. Your body understands how to protect itself.” (Jubei)

Indeed, that was a reflex action.

“Do you want to continue?” (Yuna)

“No, it is unnecessary, you blocked my 4-step attack, and I lost. After Yuna prevented my 3-strike thrust last time, I thought of this new attack. It was cowardly of me to use a hidden attack, which I was not supposed to use. And since it was also prevented, it was my loss.” (Jubei)

“But I prevented it with magic.” (Yuna)

“That’s irrelevant. As soon as I used the side strike, I lost. I just wanted to see if I could get through to Yuna and if she could handle it. I lost completely.” (Jubei)

My use of magic was a foul, but Jubei-san was also technically in the gray area. At the beginning, he said it was a weapons-only match. So it wouldn’t be an issue to call the hidden attack still part of a weapons-only fight.

But Jubei-san admitted that he lost.

Jubei-san looked at Shinobu.

“This is the strength of Yuna. I’m not asking you to be this strong. It will be difficult to aim for.” (Jubei)

“Are you telling me to not aim for it?” (Shinobu)

“That’s for you to decide. You should consult your heart so that you won’t regret it.” (Jubei)

“If the Master were me, what would you do?” (Shinobu)

“I’m only good at swordsmanship. If I were you, I would just try again and again.” (Jubei)

Did he mean that he would challenge me over and over again?

I didn’t want to do that because it would be too much trouble.

But I did enjoy the match with Jubei-san, at least a little bit.

“But your main goal is different from mine. You need to fight, but that’s not your only role.” (Jubei)

Shinobu listened to Jubei-san’s words and pondered.

“Think about it and decide. You are still young.” (Jubei)

“…Thank you, Master. I will think about it.” (Shinobu)

I did not know what Shinobu was thinking, but her expression seemed to be clearer than it had been at first.

“Yuna-san, you are wonderful.” (Noa)@@novelbin@@

“I’m impressed.” (Misa)

“Yuna Onee-chan, good job.” (Fina)

“Yuna, you were so cool.” (Shuri)

Noa and her friends came over.

“I’ve never seen a match between Yuna and Juubei before, but I didn’t expect it to be so fast.” (Sakura)

“I’m sorry to show you something embarrassing.” (Jubei)

Jubei-san apologized.

“No, it was a great match.” (Sakura)

Well, it was fun for me as well, after all these years, to be able to fight like that. The match during the fairy incident was stressful, and it was not a fun fight.

Sometimes it was simply good to have friendly sparring sessions like this.

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