108 Episode 17 Charlottes Swordsmanship (1/2)

Standing in front of me is Charlotte Cremeria, daughter of the first Countess of the East.

She is in high spirits, perhaps because she is finally ready for the match she has been looking forward to.

She is now dressed in her practice uniform, and is wearing a breastplate and other protective gear.

Her long, silky hair is kept in a simple bun, and her thin, supple fingers are protected by a thin basket.

Her hair and skin are as beautiful as a young lady of the deep.

Everyone in the room is gazing at her graceful figure.

Once she stands in the kendo hall, will she be a refreshing breath of fresh air in a heated place?

No. No, this is a potion that stimulates the fencer's appetite for hunting.

The swordsman's dignity is quietly asserting this.

The intent of the cut is like a low level of static electricity.

The exposed skin is tormented by a prickling itch as if it were pierced by a needle.

On the other hand, watching from the wall is Ian Cremeria, the eldest brother of the Cremeria family.

Dressed in traditional aristocratic attire, he stands calmly.

He is not holding a sword, but at a glance, you can't see any flaws.

After all, he must be a man of considerable ability.

His gaze seems to be sharper than Charlotte's, who is about to face him right in front of her.

Eventually, the young man who had just fought with Charlotte stepped in as the referee, and both Charlotte and I stepped forward.

As he looked at her, he noticed that her wooden sword had a longer hilt than those of the others.

I can't say for sure what the purpose of this is, but...

Charlotte took a half-hearted stance with the tip of her sword sticking out, a basic stance for fine swordsmanship.

I have seen this stance many times since I arrived at the dojo today, but the only difference between Charlotte and the other students is that she is wavering her cutting edge.

It is said that in ancient martial arts, there is a stance in which the tip of the cut does not stay in one place, but moves in a similar manner.

I don't know the truth, but that's beside the point.

As soon as the judge says the word ”start,” Charlotte moves first.

There was no pause in the reading.

She took a big step forward and threw a direct thrust as a greeting.

”Shoo!

In contrast, I jumped back to the side as if I were being hit, and dodged it.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

I'm used to seeing sharp thrusts from ...... Crave and Noah, but her thrusts were also quite good.

She immediately tried to step in with a puller, but Charlotte reacted immediately and quickly stepped back to separate the two.

............

............

It seems that she won't let you fight back easily.

And now it's time for us to attack.

She stepped forward and struck without saying a word, but the wooden sword did not hit Charlotte.

The wooden sword does not hit Charlotte. She strikes in rapid succession, but this is narrowly avoided.

(Can't hit: ......)

It's not so easy to hit her.

It's almost the same as when dealing with Crabbe or Noah.

In fact, Charlotte's move seems to be more dangerous.

The reason why I feel this way is because the timing of her evasive maneuvers is different.

It is neither too late nor too early.

The timing of the transition is just too perfect.

Even the actual sword that he hits after feinting is read and does not hit.

This is the ability of a soke.

It is the result of experience acquired through daily training.

Or maybe you have acquired an unusual power of concentration like myself.

I don't know which it is, but it is not hard to imagine that if you are in a hurry and play poorly, you will be met with a painful counterattack.

After a brief exchange.

After a brief exchange, Charlotte's thrust was met with a quick pull back, followed by another thrust. A series of thrusts.

I pull the wooden sword to my body and minimize my body movement to parry the thrusts.

Because of the fierce attacks, you are unable to launch a counterattack.

Just as you are about to catch your breath after surviving a series of quick thrusts, another thrust strikes.

Just as he was about to catch his breath, another thrust struck.

In response, he lowered his right foot and rotated his wooden sword, which was held in the middle position, so that it fell to the right side.

He then immediately aimed at her neck and slashed up, but the sword blow went through the air.

Immediately after, he stepped in front of her and opened his body to spread his arms in front of him.

Charlotte is startled and reflexively reacts to the gap.

Swordsmen rely on reflexes because techniques and patterns are learned through repetition.

In addition, since their immediate movements are the ones they often take, their attacks tend to be monotonous as well.

Charlotte's attack is biased toward thrusts. As predicted, the tip of the cut is thrust into her exposed chest. As soon as I saw the expression on her face, I used the wooden sword in my right hand to knock away the thrust of the wooden sword to the left, and used the return blade to cleave the body.

”Hey!

Charlotte was struck by the wooden sword with her right hand.

Charlotte did not resist the blow, but instead turned and moved out of the way. Instead, she spun around with the same momentum.

She's going to try to hit me in the right temple.

Or maybe I should just move back and avoid it.

Immediately after the shadow of the sword appeared at the edge of my field of vision, my back was seized by a bad premonition.

This premonition became an alarm bell, probably because I had a hand-to-hand fight with the old man when I followed his life.

I should not have dodged this by a hair's breadth.

Remembering such an experience, he did not immediately move out of the way, but instead threw himself down low to escape the side-knife.

Once on the wooden floor, she thrusts her hands to the side like a beast on all fours.

However, Charlotte's right hand was not at the base of the sword, where it should have been, but at the hilt of the wooden sword.

Oh no, she dodged me.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

...... The technique of extending the area of the sword strike by letting the hilt slide away from the handle is said to exist in various schools. In particular, this technique is so basic that it is even popular in schools that handle long objects, such as cane fighting.

It is said that it is mostly applied in sword fighting.

Charlotte smiled childishly, like a child who has been caught playing a prank.

In some schools, this technique is a must-kill, but for her, it was just for fun.

However, it is frightening that she can perform such a difficult technique without hesitation, as if the handle would fall off and fly away.

His expression is happy.

He should be angry if he dodged the technique, but there was no sign of that.

The corners of his mouth are slightly lifted in a smile.

People like this often play and experiment.

Just as I had almost been seduced by someone inside of me earlier.

Suddenly, Charlotte's left hand moves.

As she moved to brush away the left hand that was held out like a blindfold with her wooden sword, it moved below her.

Reflexively, she shifts her head to the side, and the wooden sword extends upward from below.

(Branch and leaf stabbing: ......!?)

The sound of wind rushing by.

The sound of the wind slicing through the air.

I felt my skin flush with the sensation.

It was a blow that was almost invisible, both in terms of its occurrence and behavior.

It was used by a dojo student earlier, but it was originally meant to be used as a hidden technique.

Noah had used it many times before, so this time he was able to avoid it.

She turned her head and immediately fell back.

Charlotte, on the other hand, moves in one big leap.

She is light on her feet. It feels like she's always jumping up and down. In addition, she can jump a long distance in a single step.

It's not a good idea to match Charlotte's movements.

If you stand on the same field, you will lose without a doubt. If you chase after her, the moment you move too slowly, you'll lose.

Then you should take a firm stance and handle your sword.

Steady. Steady. Don't be tossed about. Don't chase. If you get drawn in even a little, you're skewered. You should move with that in mind.

(...... Thrusts and slashes come from all directions in front of you.

In addition, his footwork is flexible. The ankles are soft and supple, as if they had bearing balls in them.

This must be another technique of the ...... soke of fine swordsmanship.

I don't know how he can move his feet like that and not have a limp ankle.

To be honest, it makes no sense.

People in this world are crazy, both physically and mentally.

Moreover, even if I launch a sword attack, there is no sign of a hit.

There is no way that we can be caught, and our swords are simply evaded.

It is as if the trajectory of the sword is known in advance.

I wondered what subtleties of my own were being read, and how my future movements were being sensed.

In order to confront her, I should first find out.

That's what I thought, and that's when I started to concentrate.

Suddenly, I'm pierced by Charlotte's gaze.

”Guh!

At the moment when I was pierced by the arrow-like force, I groaned involuntarily.

At that moment, a strong thrust struck.

A blow aimed at the torso.

He hurriedly moved his wooden sword forward, and then hurriedly stepped back.

However, the powerful twist of the thrust deflected the wooden sword that he had drawn in desperation.

I thought my belated retreat would have come true by a hair's breadth, but the tip of the blade reached my abdomen.

”Ugh. ......

”My tail...

No, it's shallow.

No, it's shallow,” Charlotte said in response to the referee's decision.

Shallow. Well, maybe it was shallow.

Even if it was serious, a small portion of the tip would have pierced the flesh.

Charlotte holds her sword up in front of her.

A cold sweat broke out in her pores.

If she hadn't learned to concentrate like that, this would have been settled now.

That was such a display of strength and thrust.

I can hear the voices of the dojo students.

”You are no match for my daughter.

”You've done well.

”You're no match for her.