67 Passing Days

The season is winter.

It hardly snows in the kingdom of Armuard, but Dragon Peak is stained white.

I wonder what Mistral is doing by now.

I wonder if I could find a tribe that's inside me.

I wonder if you're doing well.

I wonder if there are days when you will remember me at all.

I wonder if Priscia is still playing well with Niemia today.

Luiseine, who went to visit the moss square the other day, was tired of being swayed by the Priscians.

Looks like Louiseine asked me what I was doing when I met Old Sleighsta.

But he never asked me directly what was going on. [M]

It's been a long time since I came to see Mr. Zildo.

Every day was indispensable, and when the school was over, I went to Mr. Jildo, who lived on the northern edge of the Wang capital.

For one reason.

To beat Mr. Zildo and receive his treasure.

He fought with Mr. Zildo with his sword, and if he wins, he'll have it.

But it was the first day I visited that I was realized that it was a desperately harsh condition.

He looks like a gentle atmosphere grandfather, but when he sets up his sword, he transforms.

He sees me with a sharp eye and doesn't make me feel any gaps.

I have tried many battles since day one. [M]

We work out dragon qi to the limit and fight with dragon sword dances that we have worked out in training so far.

But I have no teeth at all.

How dragon sword dance draws its opponents into its own dance is important.

Flirt the opponent in a flowing motion and overwhelm him by hand.

Body justice that guides the constant rolling out of sword triumphs, body tricks, and collaboration is precisely the dance itself.

But Mr. Zildo chops up my dance.

I withstand the blow I try to take away, and I am more disfigured. Even with a spinning kick, he flatly defends himself without showing a painful bareback.

They stop the flow even to dance, all the things that don't go well.

Even when working with Mistral, he was often forced to stop his moves.

What should we do when that happens? I had Mistral coaching me each time, but instead of being able to take advantage of it, I get prefetched and collapsed.

Whatever I did, no matter how I scratched my feet, I kept losing the game without meeting with a few matches.

As it is, we could really lose Mistral.

My impatient dance was disturbed.

Knowing my impatience or not, Mr. Zildo deals with me in a soft, low-back manner except for the game.

Outside of the game, Mr. Zildo was a really good man.

Enough to see me keep losing and kindly tell me after the game what I was bad at and why they read my moves.

Plus, he taught me a lot of moves in his free time.

From small moves that can be applied to dragon sword dancing to big moves for confronting big guys.

Mr. Zildo was still a dragon tribe. Some of the moves that taught me were advanced using dragon qi.

While I was being coached by Mr. Zildo, I headed to the elegant stone house on the north end today to defeat Mr. Zildo.

If you run to Mr. Zildo's house, your body won't mind the warmth and cold.

Upon arrival, I greet Mr. Zildo first and meditate to replenish the dragon air.

Jildo, who saw my meditation, admired and praised me.

It seems that none of the Dragon Nation can freely draw strength from the dragon vein by meditating more deeply than I do.

When the dragon is full of strength and the meditation is over, it becomes a quick game.

Jildo said that I need a match closer to the actual battle than I need to practice dragon sword dance.

Indeed, I've been realizing that lately.

Even if you try to bring it into the shape of a dragon sword dance, Mr. Zildo prevents it.

When I'm out of shape, I can't deal with it.

It's because I rely too much on the mould, and if I don't do something about it, I can't seem to beat Mr. Zildo.

When we set our swords against each other, one cuts in without a signal.

These days, there have been more tricks from me. [M]

If you turn to defense, you lose in an instant. So there is only an attack.

Leveraging the maneuvers of dragon sword dance, it does not give Mr. Zildo a gap in attack.

My successive slashes, from which I kick more and attack more.

But Mr. Zildo prevents my attack with precise sword justice and grabs a kick in the leg.

Me taking my legs off and losing my posture.

Then he doesn't let it go, and Mr. Zildo turns to offense.

Mr. Zildo's sword trident was at liberty of transformation.

The moment I think I've come to twist my torso, the sword height jumps to the height of my head.

If I avoid it in a hurry, I will fall ill.

Then my loss would be confirmed without meeting with a few matches.

We played nearly ten games this day, but I guess Lily hasn't even hit each other with a sword combined.

By the time the sun had tilted for a long time, I was exhausted and fell asleep on the ground.

Repeat rough breath.

My whole body was wet with sweat, even though it was a cold winter.

"Still, the movement is stiff"

Mr. Zildo comes to me with a container of water in his hand.

And he sat down beside him, and gave me water.

When I get up, I thank you and drink water. [M]

Kin, and the cold water hurt my throat.

"Ernea is too honest"

"I wonder what that means."

Breathe in, I see Mr. Zildo. [M]

"I know exactly what dragon sword dance is and how great it is. It won't be easy to keep losing, unless it's not."

"That means Mr. Zildo is exceptional and strong."

"Do I look weak?"

Mr. Zildo, with his eyes lowered and a gentle laugh, did not look like an awesome swordsman if only he looked.

But you're not, actually. I'm sure it could be many times stronger than Louiseine. Maybe it's not comparable to Mistral, I expect.

"He just looks like a sweet old man, though."

To my bitter smile, Mr. Zildo narrows his eyes as he touches his long stretched beard.

"If that's the kind of impression you're getting, that's the kind of pot you think you are."

Mr. Zildo gently lifts a rock that is likely to be about the head of someone who was falling at his feet.

"I thought it was a heavy rock."

Tell me, Mr. Zildo, put the rock on my side.

I wonder if it's actually a light stone, and I reach for the rock.

But it was a rock so heavy that I couldn't lift it.

"Ha, would have been really heavy"

Gildo laughs delightfully at my reaction.

"That sort of thing"

"What is it? I wasn't sure."

I lean my neck.

"I mean, Ernea is gullible. I mean honest and kind."

"Mmm."

"Ernea thought it was light because Non lifted this rock lightly with one hand. And they put me on the side, so I tried to hold onto myself."

"Yes, that's exactly right"

"But that's a trap set by Non. You were really caught up in the guide."

Well, was the current series of tricks by Mr. Zildo, who read my behavior and psychology?

"The battle is with us. No, the battle is now more than ever. Confuse, deceive, and flirt with the other person to draw them into their own stream. You can't seem to do that, you can't be top notch."

"Yes."

I understand exactly what Mr Zildo is saying.

I was having a rough time trying to figure out how I could get Mr. Zildo into the dragon sword dance stream.

But Mr. Zildo always reads my movements and gets cut off.

"You can't win with a sword that's too honest. There will always be occasions when you have to win no matter what you do."

"Yeah, well, whatever we do now, we have to win."

"Then think of other hands besides beauty. Show me your will to win no matter how dirty your hands are. I only see beautiful things from you. [M] Or do you really think you don't have to win just by mouth? Are you expecting sweet things at the end of the day?"

"No, that's not true"

I covered my lips.

Mr Zildo is right.

I have to beat Mr. Zildo.

That too by the end of the year.

The deadline has come to a point where there are not many days left.

You have to win anything.

Win.

For that, it doesn't look like it should be as it is now.

I don't know what dirty means. I don't know yet, but I'm too caught up in dragon sword dancing right now. Then maybe it won't take me a lifetime to beat Mr. Zildo.

I'm in a hurry.

How can we beat Mr Zildo by the end of the year?

I couldn't think of a chance of winning, no matter what my worries were.

"When it comes to masters' games, there are occasions when we don't make each other slight"

I listen to Mr. Zildo. [M]

"That's the one called psychological warfare. Trying to read each other's next hand, you can't move."

I snort at what Mr. Zildo is saying.

There's a portrayal that often even stories don't move in confrontation, right?

"Psychological warfare is as important in battle as the moves at hand. As I said earlier, how do you fool, read movements, or flirt with them? If you lose a psychological battle, you lose a battle too. Now Elnea is just dancing in the palm of her hand."

"So I'm unilaterally losing the psychological battle that Mr. Zildo set up."

"Right. At a time when you think you're an old man with a dry appearance or a soft waist, it's a pot that you think you are."

"Ugh..."

Mr. Zildo was exactly right, so I caged my mouth.

"Well, I gave you some advice. It's up to Ernea to see what happens next."

Mr. Zildo stands up and turns his foot to the house.

"Go home already today. Too late, my parents will be worried."

Wave backwards and say goodbye, Mr. Zildo.

I said thank you and goodbye today and stood up.

With the few deadlines left, I wonder what I can do.

I don't have time for that to learn new moves now.

I think one key is the dirty thing that Jildo said.

I ran out to the house to reflect on today's game.

You can't lose Mistral.

Let anything beat Mr. Zildo.

I will do whatever it takes to do that.

Even if it's clever and dirty.