CH 194

Episode 194 – A Strange Strategy with Kreim Grass

At my declaration, the slightest hint of amusement flashed across Aruna’s nearly expressionless face as she nodded slowly. I took the nod as a sign of approval and lightly gripped the sword at my waist with my right hand.

“Then… here I come.” (Lewin)

The moment those words finished leaving my mouth, I began to act according to what I had simulated in my mind earlier, synthesizing a plant in my left hand.

The first thing I synthesized was Kreim Grass. I had found this plant on my first trip to Mount Cornello, but I had given up on collecting it at the time because I didn’t have enough space in my bag. I had also synthesized it once before as a candidate for an ingredient in making a powerful potion. It had been rejected as an ingredient because it wasn’t potent enough, though. But as a matter of fact, I had discovered an interesting characteristic about it at that time.

That is, Kreim Grass would emit a lot of smoke when burned. It could give off so much smoke that at the time I had tested it, the grandma had freaked out, thinking that there was a fire. At that time, I had the idea that I could use this property to create some kind of item. Well, a bunch of things happened, and I never got around to making it in the end…

When I simulated the battle in my mind earlier, the first thing that I remembered was this Kreim Grass. In the current situation, there probably wasn’t a more fitting plant than this one to catch someone off guard while doing as little harm to them as possible.

Of course, I could have also ignited some Magical Grass, which was my favorite party trick, but I decided that since my opponent was a human, it would be more effective to take away their vision. Besides, the smoke emitted from Kreim Grass also had an intrinsic property that paralyzed the body, although the effect was weak.

After reconfirming that Kreim Grass was the most suitable plant for catching someone off guard, I took a deep breath and synthesized Bomb Grass. I clenched my fist tightly with a bang, forcing the Kreim Grass to catch fire.

As soon as the Kreim Grass was ignited, a huge amount of smoke ballooned out, filling the room in an instant. I could see a look of surprise on Aruna’s face at the sight of the cloud of smoke that emanated from my left hand, where there hadn’t been anything a moment ago.

The white blanket of smoke covered my vision in an instant, making it no longer possible to make out her figure through the veil. Even though the smoke was so thick that I couldn’t even see what was right in front of me, I had already factored Aruna’s distance and position into my mind.

Well, if she moved then it would be a big failure. But just as one couldn’t move carelessly in the dark, it was also human nature not to move carelessly when deprived of one’s vision. Ignoring the pain in my left hand, I decided to finish things before Aruna could move.

According to my visual measurements, I was three steps away from Aruna.

Lowering my stance, I took two steps forward as if I were about to slip under her reach. The moment I took my third step, I drew the sword that I was gripping lightly in my hand. Grabbing the sword with both hands, I aimed at Aruna and unleashed the downward swing that Kirty had directly imparted to me.

Up until this point, my movements were perfectly aligned with the simulation in my head, without the slightest deviation.

―Or so it should have been.

My sword was blocked before it could gain the momentum on the downward swing, our blades locked right in front of Aruna’s eyes.

“It was close… But unfortunately, I heard you,” Aruna’s voice sounded from in front of me. Hurriedly regaining my posture, I circled around her to try and land a hit from the back. I swung my sword down once more, but… as if Aruna could see my movements, she again raised her sword and blocked my swing before it could come down. I was the one who should have been catching her off guard by robbing her of her vision, but our positions had been completely reversed.

The upset caused me to lose track of Aruna’s position, and the breath I had been holding since the moment I triggered the ignition ran out, causing me to inhale a lungful of smoke from the Kreim Grass. I felt a slight numbness permeate my body, but I hadn’t given up scoring a blow yet.

But in that split second, she must have gotten behind me. I felt the cold metal of her blade press against my neck.

“It’s my win.” (Aruna)

Without a single inflection in her voice, Aruna declared her victory in a tone that was as cold as the blade pressed to my neck.

I didn’t make a single mistake in that match, yet I still lost, huh?

I was just guessing, but this set of moves… it might have even worked against Ahmed or even Kirty. My mind was a mess, unable to comprehend why she was able to block everything. But at the moment I tried to get her to lower her blade… the door I had entered through earlier suddenly opened with a bang.

“You two, are you okay?! I-Is there a fire?!” (Araku Village Owner)

The one who rushed in was the owner, who was alarmed by the large amount of smoke. The only thing on my mind was scoring a blow on Aruna, and I only realized just now that this was still the inside of the bar. I totally forgot to check with her beforehand.

“I’m so sorry! There’s no fire! But please try not to inhale the smoke and leave the room immediately! I’ll explain what happened later!” (Lewin)

“Aruna-san, it’s my loss. Are there any windows in here…?” (Lewin)

“Yeah. They’re over there and there… but you can’t see it, can you? I’ll open them.” (Aruna)

“Thank you.” (Lewin)

So in the end, Aruna could see through the smoke?

From that single remark of hers, I realized that I made a bad move from the very start. However, there was no way I could have known that before the fight, so it couldn’t really be considered a mistake. I just wondered if there was another way I could have taken that fight. My mind felt just like the room I stood in, permeated with thick, hazy smoke.

Aruna opened the two windows, making a way for the smoke to escape into the atmosphere. I watched motionlessly as the smoke drifted out and away.