Chapter 476: Clash of Swords

Editor: Tseirp

Clash of swords.

A battle between swordsmen.

The blue man had a height and build almost identical to Abel’s.

His sword was also about the same size as Abel’s magic sword.

“Swordsman, you’re wielding an interesting sword.”

“Blue man, people usually have names, you know.”

Abel responded to the blue man’s provocative words with words that were purely provocative themselves.

“Is that so? I didn’t know that. So, swordsman, what’s your name?”

“Is that so? Didn’t know that either, huh? Well, here’s another thing you might not know: when you ask someone their name, you’re supposed to give yours first.”

“I didn’t know that either. My name is Lau.”

“...You’re surprisingly straightforward.”

The blue man, Lau, answered honestly with a laugh, but Abel still didn’t give his name.

“If you’re not going to tell me, that’s fine. I’ll just call you the descendant of Richard.”

For a moment, Abel was at a loss for words upon hearing Lau’s comment, spoken with a grin.

Though at a loss for words, his sword and body kept moving.

Both were in the midst of their sword fight.

“How do you know about King Richard...?”

“Him? Well, that’s because I fought him a long time ago.”

“Seriously... between djinns and ghost ships, how far did my ancestors roam?”

“Hmm? I don’t think it was a ghost ship back then... but whatever.”

Lau’s final words were too quiet for Abel to hear.

“So, why do you think I’m Richard’s descendant?”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? That sword of yours.”

“This?”

Abel was confused by Lau’s remark.

Abel’s magic sword was glowing red as usual... but it wasn’t some legendary sword passed down from king to king.

Technically, it had been one of the swords lying dormant in the royal treasury, and he had just picked it up when he became an adventurer.

He had indeed been drawn to it in the treasury, but...

“I just picked it up because it was lying around.”

“ ‘Ex’ was just lying around? The world’s full of mysteries.”

Abel, rather honestly, explained.

Lau tilted his head in confusion.

“Well, no matter. Capturing a descendant of Richard would still be quite the prize.”

“Try it if you can!”

Abel’s sword skills had dulled during his three years of royal duties.

Of course, he practiced whenever he found time, and he occasionally engaged in mock battles, but it wasn’t the same as the life-or-death stakes of his adventuring days.

There was no sense of danger.

Naturally, he became rusty.

But since returning to the battlefield, he had fought and defeated Orenj, a minion of the djinn, and then been thrust into the Archipelago region, where he stormed enemy ships and seized their flagship.

His senses had sharpened.

He had gained new insights through experiences unlike any he had had before.

He’d encountered new sword techniques, knife skills, and all sorts of combat methods.

These experiences had pushed Abel to a new level, beyond even his adventuring days.

Abel himself hadn’t realized it.

He simply felt his body moved better than he expected.

Ryo, however, had noticed Abel’s growth.

While wielding his sword on the deck of the Lone Dark as usual, Ryo had been certain of it.

As a magician who also wielded a sword.

Ryo had long observed Abel’s swordsmanship.

That’s why he had noticed.

Though, he hadn’t told Abel.

There wasn’t really a need to go out of his way to mention it.

If this had been before the Djinn War, Abel likely wouldn’t have been able to defeat Lau.

It might have been decided in about ten strikes.

But now...

“Ugh...you’re strong, descendant!”

“What’s with calling me descendant? That’s too vague. My name’s Abel. Remember it.”

Three thrusts followed by a sweeping slash.

Abel’s sword aimed for Lau’s neck.

Clang!

But of course, Lau wasn’t easily defeated.

He deflected Abel’s slash, and the roles of attacker and defender switched.

The two swordsmen’s battle grew fiercer with each exchange of attack and defense.

A short distance from this swordsmen’s duel, another pair were engaged in their own clash of swords.

“I will make you and that swordsman my eternal captives.”

“I refuse.”

“You seem strong enough. I might even make you a royal guard.”

“Uh, are you even listening to me?”

The conversation between the blue woman and Ryo was completely disjointed.

“Before making you my eternal captive, I suppose I should ask for your name. I am Fan, your future master. That’s the name of yours truly. Now, what’s your name?”

“Um, Fan, I’m not planning to be anyone’s captive...”

“Your name is ‘Captive-san’? That’s an unusual name.”

“No, no. It’s Ryo. My name is Ryo.”

“Ryo... A nice name.”

“T-thanks, I guess?”

Fan suddenly smiled and complimented Ryo’s name. Catching him off guard as he said ‘thank you’.

Despite their strange conversation, their sword fight was intense.

Fan attacked, and Ryo defended.

Occasionally, Ryo countered, but Fan skillfully evaded his strikes.

To Ryo, this was a familiar pattern.

During this exchange, he analyzed her swordsmanship.

Naturally, Ryo’s defense was flawless.

So, even though he was on the defensive, it wasn’t a problem.

Or at least, it shouldn’t have been...

“Hmm...”

Despite his best efforts, Ryo found himself with minor cuts.

He was certain he had dodged every strike.

Was it magic?

But the cuts appeared on his body through his Fairy King’s Robe.

The robe had a self-repair function, quickly restoring any damage, but...Ryo’s body didn’t have that luxury.

“This is strange...”

Ryo muttered, and it seemed Fan heard him, as she spoke.

“Your Fairy King’s Water Robe can’t block my attacks.”

“What...?”

Ryo was shocked that Fan knew about his robe, but even more so by the fact that it couldn’t block her attacks.

Two layers of surprise.

“Could you tell me why it can’t block them?”

“I’ll tell you if you become my royal guard.”

“I’ll have to decline.”

Ryo politely refused Fan’s offer.

“Why do you refuse? You’ll be freed from all suffering.”

“The royal guards are skeletons too, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then I must decline.”

“Why?”

“Because skeletons can’t eat cake!”

Ryo scowled as he answered.

Wasn’t it obvious?

“What is cake?”

Fan didn’t know what cake was.

“If you didn’t know, I suppose it can’t be helped...”

Ryo looked at Fan with pity, as if seeing someone truly unfortunate.

Then, he returned his thoughts to the battle.

He was taking damage that he couldn’t see.

In that case, he should equip .

He had been thinking that since the beginning of the fight.

However...

He had a bad feeling about it.

He wasn’t sure why, but it felt like using would be a bad move.

Ryo believed that his brain was subconsciously warning him, based on all the knowledge and experience he had accumulated.

‘It’s kind of a bad feeling’, or ‘It doesn’t feel right’.

Those weren’t just whims.

They were genuinely ‘bad’ and ‘no’.

Even if he couldn’t explain them to others logically.

Of course, it didn’t mean that he was always right.

That was natural.

Humans aren’t capable of being right 100% of the time.

Even when the ‘bad feeling’ comes from logical thinking, it’s not always correct.

Still, when working with others... such vague feelings like ‘this doesn’t feel right’ could cause problems...

“I wish I knew why I feel this way...”

Ryo muttered to himself.

He was amid an intense swordfight with Fan, skillfully defending, though he was accumulating small cuts here and there.

“Earlier, Fan said, ‘The Water Fairy King’s robe can’t block my attacks’.”

Of course, it could be a lie.

There was no guarantee that the enemy would be truthful in a fight.

But whatever decisions were made, the first step was to consider the information at hand.

“The Water...Fairy King’s robe...?”

There had been others before who recognized Ryo’s robe as the ‘Fairy King’s robe’ at a glance.

Akuma Leonor, Sera, Obaba-sama of the Western Forest, the Djinn Garwin... none of them were human...

But not one of them had ever called it the ‘Water Fairy King’s’ robe.

They just referred to it as the ‘Fairy King’s robe’, without specifying ‘Water’.

Could that be a clue?

Ryo looked at the blue, glowing woman in front of him — Fan...

“Blue? Water? Could it be... some sort of water-attribute monster?”

Ryo’s words slipped out of his mouth.

Fan quickly rushed forward.

Not giving him the chance to reset the fight.

Which made her predictable.

For just a brief moment.

Truly just an instant.

Water danced.

Almost simultaneously, Fan’s head was sliced off.

“Impressive!”

Abel praised.

Ryo nodded once in acknowledgment.

Then took three deep breaths.

He had calmed down.

After checking his own calmness and surveying his surroundings, Ryo took a potion from his pocket and downed it.

Though he had left his usual bag in the captain’s quarters of the Lone Dark, he had brought his homemade potion along.

Since it was stored in Ryo’s ice container, it wouldn’t break from a battle.

As Abel approached Ryo, he noticed that Ryo had left the blade of Murasame drawn.

Abel, too, was holding his beloved sword unsheathed.

“Ryo, what do you think?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I saw Abel cut off the other guy’s head and heard her say that ‘Lau lost’, so I cut off her head too... But whether they are the rulers of this ghost ship is still unclear.”

At that moment, Ryo stiffened in shock.

Abel immediately looked in the same direction as Ryo.

There... stood two headless corpses, rising to their feet.

Simultaneously, they picked up their rolling heads.

And placed them back on their necks.

“I must say, I’m impressed! I never expected Abel’s sword to be that strong.”

“Ryo won. I admit defeat.”

Lau, the blue man said, and Fan, the blue woman added. Both praising them.

“Leonor and these people... it’s totally unfair that they don’t die even when you cut off their heads.”

“Yeah... I completely get that.”

Ryo lamented, shaking his head repeatedly, and Abel agreed, nodding.

At the same time, a rattling sound echoed as something rose from below.

It was the skeletons that had boarded the large ship.

Since Lau and Fan had admitted defeat, the skeletons seemed to be withdrawing.

“Do you two want to come with us?”

“We’d be happy to have you.”

“We’ll pass.”

“We respectfully decline.”

Fan asked, and Lau added. Abel and Ryo both replied, turning them down.

“You could even become the captain of the guards.”

“And you can keep wearing that leather armor and robe.”

“But we’d still be skeletons, right?”

“Yes, we’ll politely decline again.”

Fan and Lau proposed, and Abel and Ryo declined again.

Lau and Fan exchanged glances and nodded at each other.

“Abel was strong.”

“Ryo was strong too.”

“These ‘bodies’ were too weak to fight against them.”

“Someday, I’d like to fight you with my real body.”

Hearing this conversation, Ryo and Abel were puzzled.

“Abel, they said something about their real body.”

“Let’s just pretend we didn’t hear that.”

And so, they pretended not to hear it.

“Ah, Fan, can I ask you something?”

“What is it? Have you changed your mind about becoming a guard? If you want, I can make an exception for you and give you blue bones instead of white ones.”

“No, I’ll have to refuse that offer. I am a little curious about the blue bones, but... no, I don’t want to become a skeleton.”

Ryo quickly corrected himself, seeing Fan move as if preparing to do something.

“I believe both of you control water-attribute magic.”

“Yeah, I won’t go into detail, but that’s pretty much correct.”

“Then, I’d like you to try and take control of something I’ve created with my magic.”

“Take control of your magic?”

Ryo chanted.

“”

An ice wall appeared beside the two of them.

“Hmm, that’s quite an interesting spell. Did you learn it from the Water Fairy King?”

“No, I didn’t learn magic from him.”

“Really? But you’ve got a robe, a sword... even boots from him?”

“Yes. My master only taught me swordsmanship.”

“...He’s still as weird as ever, I see. So, what do you want me to do with this wall?”

“Can you move it, Fan?”

Since the ice wall was created by Ryo’s magic, no one else should be able to move it...

But the ice wall lifted into the air and floated.

“Like this?”

“Ah, as I thought...”

Fan asked, and Ryo sighed in frustration.

“So, when you talk about magic control, this is what you meant. Yes, I can take control of it.”

“Thank you very much.”

Ryo said, bowing politely as Fan made the ice wall vanish.

Since Fan had taken control of the magic, the ice wall was no longer Ryo’s but Fan’s.

“I have a question too.”

Abel said with a stern expression.

“Hmm? What is it?”

Lau asked, still smiling.

“Why do you attack human ships? And why do you kill the crew?”

“We attack human ships to replenish our crew. And to be precise, we don’t kill them. We capture them.”

“Capture? You turn them into skeletons, don’t you?”

“Yes, we do.”

“So you kill them and turn them into skeletons?”

“That’s a misunderstanding.”

Lau shrugged in response to Abel’s remark.

“Lau, I don’t think humans fully understand skeletons yet.”

“Oh? Ah, I see. So that’s why they reject being captured.”

Lau nodded in agreement with Fan’s point.

“Have you ever wondered why most of the beings humans call ‘monsters’ have magic stones, but skeletons and wraiths don’t?”

“The energy that keeps them moving...where does it come from?”

Ryo replied, answering the question with a question.

“Energy... that’s a nostalgic word. So, Ryo, you’re that kind of person...”

Lau murmured, looking at Ryo with nostalgic eyes.

“Uh, well...”

“No, don’t worry about it. Just something on my end. Well, it’s as Ryo pointed out. Skeletons don’t eat, they don’t drink water, they don’t take anything from those they kill... Yet they can still move. And, of course, it’s not like they’re getting energy from magic stones like alchemy.”

“Yeah, that is pretty strange.”

“The truth is, skeletons are a little different from what humans call ‘death’.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s all I can tell you.”

“Eh~!”

Ryo protested.

After saying so much, to stop the conversation there was frustrating...

“Well, since we’ve lost to you two, we won’t take the crew from the first ship. We’ve healed the ones who were seriously injured, so I hope that’s enough.”

“I see...”

Lau apologized, and Abel reluctantly accepted Lau’s apology, though he still seemed dissatisfied.

“Although, we didn’t actually kill them... it’s more like a transfer of allegiance, or just abduction.”

“Even abduction is frowned upon among humans.”

“...Humans are so complicated.”

Fan and Lau’s unsettling conversation continued, but Ryo chose not to say anything.

In this world called ‘Phi’, humans were the weak ones.

The weak being hunted by the strong is a law of nature.

In that regard, there is no distinction between humans, animals, or monsters.

In a sense, there’s a surprising level of equality.

The strong survive, while the weak are hunted.

Just as humans on Earth hunt animals and gather plants for sustenance.

‘Phi’ has its own unique version of this process... and that’s all there is to it.

Of course, Ryo didn’t want to be hunted, so he made efforts not to be.

“Well then. Until we meet again.”

“You can always join the guard.”

With that, the ghost ship Ruri carrying Lau and Fan disappeared.

Into the clouds, just as it had arrived.

“That was a complete defeat.”

“Huh?”

“Or rather, it wasn’t even a proper fight to begin with.”

“But you did cut off the head of your opponent, right?”

“I won with the sword but lost with magic.”

Ryo shook his head in frustration, clearly disappointed.

“Oh, that ice wall thing?”

“Yeah, I didn’t use magic at first because I had a bad feeling, and that decision was correct. But still...I need to get stronger!”

“Uh, sure.”

“Lately, I’ve been too caught up with alchemy and haven’t been practicing magic control as much. I need to train more.”

“Your magic control training. You mean building ice towers and making ice cakes, right...?”

“Exactly. But I shouldn’t get in the way of the crew, so I’ll do it in midair.”

“Huh?”

“The ship will be moving the whole time. So I’ll have to move the structures while constructing them...hehe, this sounds like a real challenge.”

Ryo smiled with excitement at the thought of his grueling new training regimen.

While Abel stood beside him, dumbfounded.

Then Abel murmured.

“Guess I should start swinging my sword harder than ever too.”

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