CH 40

Sword Training

I pulled the cart in the direction with the most orc sightings, and then left it at the edge of the forest.

Then I stealthily searched the surrounding area. While they had a sharp sense of smell, the direction of the wind did not matter. Because they wouldn’t run even if they noticed me. And so I traveled around the forest while maintaining the same distance. That’s when I saw a shadow in the far back. While it was far away, it was quite large. It must be an orc.

As I slowly got closer, I saw that it was sniffing the air and looking around. Clearly, it had noticed me.

Rustle.

I deliberately made some noise and showed myself while running in the direction of the wagon. And just as expected…it chased after me! There was about a hundred meters between us.

I returned to the edge of the forest, and then unsheathed my sword and waited behind a tree. I could see it running loudly towards me. But it wasn’t very fast.

Once the distance was only about twenty meters, I jumped out from behind the tree and charged at the orc.

“Fugaaa!”

The orc looked surprised for a moment, but it quickly bared its tusks and raised its club into the air.

However, I was already within striking distance. And so my sword would be faster than its club. And so I slashed at its thigh and rushed past him.

“Fuga! Buga!”

It was a good hit, but I quickly turned around and held my sword up in front of me. The orc’s leg had been severed, and it was now thrashing about on the ground. The sword, with its new weight and all of my power had been more than enough against the orc.

However, even while on the ground, the orc continued to swing its club wildly, and I could not get close to it.

And so I stood outside of its reach and waited. And when it moved closer towards me, I stepped away.

“Gaa…”

The eyes that had been filled with rage started to turn into fear. And then it moved back. Now!

I rushed forward and cut off its head.

Then I strung it up by one leg from a tree and bled it. In the meantime, I hid behind a tree and watched the area. Orcs were sensitive to smell. And with the way that the wind was blowing, the smell of blood would likely attract others.

And so I entered the forest and waited for some time. And then two more orcs came out of the forest. They seemed very cautious.

But perhaps the scent of blood was too thick, as it seemed they hadn’t grasped my position yet.

I went around them so that the wind was against me, and then I slowly bridged the gap between us. Once I was only five meters away, I dashed forward. The orcs turned to look at me in surprise. The second time that I’ve seen that expression today!

“Fuga-gaah!”

I immediately kicked it away and freed my sword, but then the other orc howled and swung its club at me.

It was aimed at my head, but I did a half turn and blocked it with my shield. Then I slammed my sword into the orc’s stomach.

While it bled, it was not a lot. Their muscles and fat were too thick!

That being said, it was difficult to aim for the head when it was over two meters tall. And so we backed away from each other and glared. It was furious over the loss of its friend. It was no wonder.

“Fugagagagagaa!”

Mad with rage, it roared and charged at me with its club. I could not dodge it!

“Gah!”

…While I could not dodge it, since it had charged at me with its mouth wide open, I thrust my sword straight into it.

If you were going to charge like that, you had to protect your vitals, otherwise it was practically self-destruction.

No more orcs appeared that day. I carried them back to the village on the wagon, and to a warm welcome. Iit was then decided that the hunter Zender, and his son would accompany tomorrow.

I listened to Zender speak as we walked around the forest towards the direction where the orcs were most likely to appear. We then repeated the process of bleeding, carrying and carving.

On the fourth day, the orcs stopped appearing, and since we had found the abandoned settlement they had been making, the quest was considered complete. In three days, we had hunted twenty-two orcs, which was enough to sell to the neighboring village as well as the royal capital.

And so I returned to the royal capital with the carriage that was going to sell the orc materials and meat, and then went to the guild to make my report.

“Twenty-two orcs! You are quite skilled, Mr. Ajifu!”

Ms. Eily was astonished.

“It wasn’t all at once. If it was a whole party, we could have attacked the settlement and killed them all. That’s why some got away in the end.”

“If it was a settlement, that would change the request fee, and it would become a D-Rank quest. In the first place, there wasn’t even an investigation request. You did more than enough.”

I grew with praise, so you should praise me more.

I received the four pieces of gold, and left the guild with a warm feeling inside. Then I took a room at an inn, washed my clothes, and did some maintenance on my gear and restocked on supplies for the next day. The life of an Adventurer was not easy.

The following day, I went to the training grounds and was caught by that woman. When did she even work?

“Hey, you ran away from me last time.”

“No I didn’t. I made no promises, did I?”

“You said we could talk outside!”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Anyway, are you going to tell me your name? Ah, I am Ajifu. An E-Rank Adventurer.”

“Mejit. D-Rank. Ajifu, there is something I want to ask you.”

I guess I couldn’t get out of this one. Oh, well.

“I see. So, let’s hear it. What do you want?”

“You’re not from here, are you? Where did you come from?”

“The Fia Kingdom.”

“And when did you come to the capital?”

“Last week.”

“Why did you come to the capital?”

Hmm? These questions were going in a strange direction. Perhaps she recognized me, but could not remember where we had met?

“I wanted to learn to fight with a sword.”

“…”

“Uh…?”

“I’m sorry. You can go now.”

She tilted her head and left. I wasn’t sure if she was satisfied.

Once she was gone, one of the pupils who had been watching started to talk to me.

“Hey, newcomer.”

I guess that’s what I am now.

“Yes, what is it?”

“You two seem to be pretty close. What is your relationship with Mejit?”

“The same as you. We’re pupils of this school.”

“Oh? So you’re going to feign ignorance, eh? You have a lot of nerve. All right, I’ll do you a favor today and help with your training. My name’s Jirido. Get ready and meet me on the training grounds.”

That day, the training was brutal. Jirido was a spear-wielder, and he made me train with him until I was exhausted.

“Now, now. Why don’t you counter?”

But I didn’t even see an opening to do that? Still, if he was going to say that, then I would have to try!

“If you insist!”

I moved within range and swung my sword.

“Oh! Not bad.”

My sword bounced off the spear. I see. So that’s why he used that form.

I stood back up no matter how many times I was knocked down, and drank potions when I needed to.

“You’re a tenacious one! But if you have time to waste making eyes at Mejit, you should use it to train!”

“Ha…ha… I came here to train with the sword! And I’m not going to lose to some jealous fool!”

But every time I swung, he would sweep it aside. While he was clearly getting tired, I was shaking on my feet.

Crash.

“That’s what you are!”

I was knocked off my feet, but there was no strength left in my arms. And so I stood up with just my legs.

“Then what is this training for! Yes, hold up your spear like that! One day, I will beat you into the ground.”

I’ll kill you. With real murderous rage in my eyes, I steeled myself. Then I held my shield up and lept forward while unleashing a slash at his neck.

Clang.

As expected, he moved his spear to block it. Only, the sound that rang was quiet, and the pressure light.

“What!?”

A feint, without any upper body strength!

I had saved my strength, and with the fastest speed, turned my sword in order to slam it into him with a slash attack. Or I tried to, but he swiftly ducked and rotated his spear so that it hit me in the jaw.

I had no idea he could do that with that form…

And then I fell unconscious.

The next day, as my body would not move, I stayed in the inn and spent my time rotating the pen while moving my magic energy. Even the day after that, swinging practice was the most that I could do.

After resting for two days, I returned to the training ground, and was met by severe training once again.

And since a more experienced pupil was spending time teaching me, I actively participated.

It took two days to recover, and then I went back for more.

This time, my body moved well, and I finished the training without losing consciousness.

This happened three times, and since I got up every time that I was knocked down, I could see that Jirido was starting to get tired. Perhaps I should let him rest.

“I’ll be gone for a while to take on some quests, but we’ll continue when I get back! Don’t you dare run away!”

I said before leaving.

He looked very annoyed, but replied,

“You can act smug after winning at least once!”

Oh? He was still quite fired up after all. Very good. I’ll keep him company as soon as I return.