WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

[Translator – Aren]

◈Chapter 268 If it Exists (6)

“Victory!”

“I’m next!”

“No, me……!”

How did it end up like this?

I was fiddling with the hilt of my sword after claiming yet another victory in the open yard in front of Sir Walter’s house. Walter, of course, was the name of the Knight who had invited me.

“Valentin, you’re up.”

“Yes.”

“Are you able to do another round?”

“…I think I’m fine.”

I had taken down three knight trainees already, but… My HP hadn’t gone down much. I hadn’t let any of their attacks land, and the recoil damage from blade clashes—somehow a lot less than when a certain someone patted me on the back—was compensated by my natural regenerative powers.

I shrugged as I watched my HP drop by the second, only to climb back up again thanks to my natural recovery.

“Good. Then let’s keep going. Valentin, take your place.”

“Yes!”

There wasn’t any complex reason for how this all started.

I half-reluctantly accepted his invitation—there wasn’t any real reason to refuse—and when I reached Sir Walter’s home I was greeted by the sight of seven knight trainees—so that was probably the ‘support’ the stall owner had mentioned—and Sir Walter just casually suggested I join them in a warm-up spar before dinner—probably to test my skills or something.

“We shall compete in the name of God.”

Of course, had I known that these warm-up duels would drag on so long, I would have declined. Actually, no. Would I really have turned it down?

“Start!”

I focused on my opponent lunging towards me.

At first I thought that his high guard posture would only allow for a downward strike, but just by handing his knees, lowering his waist, and angling his wrists, he was now in the position to cut toward my thighs or midsection.

Clang!

The only reason I could block it was pure physical strength. It wasn’t like I had the skill or technique to do it properly. I just happened to be a bit stronger with faster reflexes.

Still, people who trained properly did fight differently.

The moment his blade was blocked, he didn’t push against me. Instead, he twisted his wrist in the opposite direction and spun the blade. The rotating edge came at me from the opposite direction.

Clang!

But I had seen this move already from the three that came before him.

I blocked that too. Clang. Then, as if anticipating it, he grabbed the tip of his own blade—the foible.

Half-swording. His blade tilted along the point where our swords met, bringing the crossguard and grip toward me instead of the edge.

If I didn’t act, the crossguard would jab me right in the throat.

Claaang!

But would I just sit there and take it?

I forced his arm upward. He was a Shaggi, so he was larger, but I was still stronger. Using the very half-swording move I had seen from them, I stabbed the tip of my blade toward his throat.

However, my opponent quickly twisted his waist and neck, moving his arms as well.

He spun around the blade that had been momentarily lifted upward by my strike, rotating the forte to knock my sword aside. Clang. A sharp metallic sound split the air.

The hem of my slightly loose tunic fluttered as I was thrown back. Whoosh! My opponent slashed down at where I had been, then raised his blade again.

Again with that. Quite different from me, who was lowering my blade with one hand as I retreated.

Claaang!

But this clash ended a little differently than before. I had no reason to fall for the same trick twice, or perhaps because I wanted to see more variations in his response, I completely changed how I swung my blade.

The moment my sword met his, I moved mine, drawing a figure eight in the air, before he could even think of moving, completely deflecting his sword, then lunging toward his upper body.

Sliiice!

Suddenly, his curved blade arced toward my head. His sword had twisted as if trying to dodge, but this left me with no other option.

I abruptly yanked back my sword, which was about to perform a thrust.

My right hand, gripping the hilt, came to rest above my left shoulder, right next to my head. While doing so, my left hand slid down and supported the blade’s lower part, as if sweeping it forward.

My sword, now acting as a shield, knocked my opponent’s blade away.

Of course, if I just stood there, he would simply adjust his stance and strike again.

But why would I just let that happen? Taking advantage of the moment his blade was knocked away, I thrust my sword forward again. My strength, which laughed in the face of inertia, propelled my blade forward.

While simple and brutish, this slash was a lot more threatening than anything else.

“Stop!”

Just then, Sir Walter shouted. My blade stopped a hair’s breadth from my opponent’s neck before pulling back.

“That was a good fight.”

“Likewise……”

Each spar was short like this… But even in those brief moments, there was much to learn. I gave a respectful bow, replaying my opponent’s actions in my mind.

“You really……”

Sir Walter had approached me while I was lost in thought, wearing an expression difficult to describe.

“If not for your constitution, you’d have become a Knight who’d go down in history.”

“…That’s too much praise.”

“No, I’m not exaggerating. Absolutely not.”

He gently tapped my posture with the cane he was holding—‘Straighten your back. You’re using too much strength here. Don’t spread your legs too wide’—and sighed deeply as he did.

“How much strength did you put into that final strike?”

“Erm. Just……”

“If I hadn’t stopped you, you might have actually completely pierced through his neck, right?”

“…I had no intention of harming him.”

“Of course not. I’m sure you were confident you could stop at the last moment.”

“Hmm…”

“Seriously, that’s an outrageously brutish amount of strength you’ve got there.”

Sure, I did rely on brute strength for that last move and acted a bit reckless, but wasn't that a little harsh? I felt a little hurt by Sir Walter’s choice of words.

“Do you think I’m joking?”

Seemingly sensing my thoughts, Sir Walter gave my shoulder a light tap. Remembering I had spit out some blood earlier, he didn’t use as much force. It was just enough that I could feel that he made contact with my shoulder.

“Then let me give you an example. Among those you’ve faced, not one of them has been wielding a sword for less than ten years. While they may not have mastered it, they’re more than capable of using decent techniques through proper control. Now, do you think any of them could replicate what you just did, assuming they don’t use Arcane Power to strengthen themselves?”

“Erm……”

“Absolutely not. Learning how to apply and take away strength in bursts is within the realm of practice, but the total amount of strength one can exert is something more reliant on talent than effort.”

“I… see.”

It was at this point that I realized what Sir Walter was really trying to say. True, drastically increasing one’s raw strength wasn’t just about training. It did require some amount of natural talent.

“Also, from your sword form, I can tell you’ve only been trained properly for a short amount of time. The rest was probably self-taught… which only further proves how talented you are. Being able to control your strength like that purely on instinct means that, with real training and practice, you’d be able to perform techniques on a whole other level.”

“……”

So, at least when it comes to my physical body, I was just naturally talented…… Since I usually relied on Arcane Power in fights, I hadn’t really noticed that my body was basically a cheat as well. It made me feel a bit strange.

“Of course, I’m saying your physical abilities are outstanding, not your technique or form. If not for your absurd reflexes and strength, even Huve would’ve overpowered you. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Huve probably was the first of the trainees I faced. The guy with uncommon green hair……

Well, not like it really mattered or anything.

I politely clasped my hands together in a subdued manner and glanced sideways at the knight trainees whose eyes were no gleaming. Maybe because I didn’t beat them with technique, they didn’t seem particularly hostile toward me.

“Starting today, we’re adding more strength training.”

“Ugh, why’d I have to be born a Sland……”

“Meat. The answer is always more meat.”

Ah, but it seemed like they were all fired up about bulking up their muscles to avoid this from happening again. I looked around at the faces ranging from their twenties to thirties, all glowing with renewed determination and passion, feeling a strange excitement.

“Anyway, everyone sit. I’ll go over what each of you did wrong.”

“Yes!”

Still, I had plenty to learn too.

I waited until all of Sir Walter’s boarders had taken their seats, then settled myself at the very end of the row. Coincidentally, I was right next to Valentin, with whom I had sparred last.

His red fur reminded me of someone, so I kept subtly averting my eyes away from him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice.

“You’re really strong. That’s the first time I’ve ever lost in a strength match.”

“You were… the first person I’ve faced that made me feel challenged as well, Sir Valentin.”

In return, I addressed him with the honorific ‘Sir’. It was initially to deflect my awkwardness. I just wasn’t sure how to address a knight trainee, so I just settled with ‘Sir’.

Still, it seemed like it pleased him, seeing the corners of Valentin’s fur-covered lips twitch slightly.

How should I put it? Like master, like student. Both were surprisingly weak to polite compliments. Not that I thought it was bad or anything, since it worked to my benefit.

“Huve, you know what you did wrong, right?”

“Yes……”

“Don’t assume every large opponent is going to be a Shaggi. Plus, the way Middles and Shaggi apply strength to their swords is vastly different. Keep that in mind next time.”

“Yes!”

Anyway, while I spoke a little with Valentin, Sir Walter continued to offer feedback to the trainees. He pointed out what they did well, what they didn’t, and how they could improve. He truly was a gifted teacher.

“Valentin, I think you already know without me having to say it.”

“Yes.”

“And lastly, you……”

Sir Walter glanced at me and hesitated for a moment.

“Just to be sure, are you left-handed?”

That was a rather unexpected question.

“…I’m ambidextrous, but I lean more towards being right-handed.”

“Really? Then why does your sword form look strangely awkward……?”

Woah, he actually caught that? The moment I heard Sir Walter mutter that, I felt a chill running down my spine. Even though I leaned more towards being right-handed, I had always been using my left hand to swing my sword, so using techniques with my right hand felt relatively awkward.

“Ah, and one more thing. Do you have real combat experience?”

“Well… Yes.”

“It was probably mostly against beasts or Demons, rather than humans?”

He even figured out the types of enemies I had mostly been facing. I felt like someone who just watched their wallet getting stolen in broad daylight. I had no other choice but to acknowledge it.

I had wanted to project an image far removed from combat, but what was the point in hiding it now? Since I had already been seen through, I simply nodded.

Hmm… Even if it was a little scary.

“As I thought.”

Sir Walter nodded, his head bobbing up and down.

“I won’t ask how someone with your condition managed to hunt those things. Well, you can’t use Arcane Power, but from what I’ve seen, I believe you could still manage somehow.”

The only silver lining was that Sir Walter didn’t pry any deeper, not doubting me. I silently expressed my gratitude for his understanding.

“But as I said earlier, you’re lacking in technique.”

“Yes.”

“However, that’s not your fault. It’s not just that you haven’t had proper instructions… The direction you went with your self-teaching was completely different.”

“…Direction?”

“Let me put it this way.”

Then, Sir Walter pointed at the other knight trainees after I asked.

“Our swordsmanship is based on fighting humanoid enemies.”

As he continued to speak, he went on to point at me.

“But your style is clearly geared towards fighting opponents larger than yourself, and not humanoid at that.”

I understood immediately.

“That’s why all your movements are big and lack technique.”

It was true that I had rarely ever faced humanoid enemies in serious fights. Even when they did show up, most of them went down in a single blow, so I never actually needed technique to bring them down.

In that sense, his evaluation made perfect sense. I accepted it without any comment.

“Then, what should I do now?”

Accepting something and finding ways to improve are different matters. At my question, Sir Walter stroked his mustache.

“To be honest… I’d really like to take you on as a student and train you for a few years.”

“…Is it really that much of a problem?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. The reason I’m saying you should train… is simply because it’d be a shame to waste your talent. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the way you fight right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. What’s the point in discussing technique when your intended enemies are different? If your opponent’s a giant, technique doesn’t really matter. It just comes down to whether your blade can pierce their hide or not.”

“In that case……”

“Of course it wouldn’t hurt to learn some of these minor techniques. You might end up fighting people more often than Demons as life goes on. Not that it’d matter much anyway, with your physical abilities. Unless you’re up against another Knight, most of the time technique won’t come much into play.”

Sir Walter once again praised my natural talents, saying that I could overpower most people with my strength and reflexes. If I hadn’t made up that story about being unable to use Arcane Power—it wasn’t really that much of a lie, actually—he might have dragged me off to the Academy on the spot.

“Still, since you’re staying in my house anyway, you might as well learn some techniques against people while you’re here.”

Though I couldn’t really accept staying here like that, and he probably knew that, he offered me this compromise. There was nothing bad about it for me. The only issue was the penalty from my Disguise skill, but whatever. I could manage somehow.

“Yes.”

I gratefully accepted Sir Walter’s offer and stood up. Since the evaluations were over, I figured we were probably going to have dinner next.

“Hey, have you really hunted Demons before?”

“Not just Skeletons or Ghouls, but actual massive beasts and Demons? Really?”

“If you don’t mind, could you tell us a bit about what it was like……?”

However, my assumption was a little off. While this was supposed to be mealtime, it was more like dinner disguised as a forum and social gathering.

“Here, try this. My wife’s apple pie is fantastic.”

“How did you get so tall? No matter how much I eat, I never grow……”

“What sort of training do you do? I’ve been thinking I need to start working more on my strength……”

Surrounded by the warmth of a kindly elder, the excited chatter of a green-haired youth, and the fiery passion of someone with red fur, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

There were so many people around me, and yet I felt strangely alone.

_________________________________________________________________________

Join our Discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/wetried