Chapter 7: In this world, the weak have no rights (4)

Chapter 7: In this world, the weak have no rights (4).

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'A strange person.'

First of all, she didn't come because of the chase; she came to this beach to train, as she had done for the past three days.

If it weren't for the chaos caused by a certain boy, she wouldn't have had the opportunity to sneak through the crowd to come here.

But at that time, she saw Leon sitting near the sea.

She didn't recognize him at first glance, but she vaguely remembered his appearance.

Regardless of how uninterested she was in other people, it's impossible to easily forget someone who fell from the sky between one night and the next.

Especially when he was fine despite the high altitude he fell from.

As she was staring at him, an idea popped into her head.

'Should I fight him?'

She approached him calmly but somewhat audibly.

At that moment, his voice came out as he stretched his body.

What followed was the fight she easily and readily lost.

But she didn't feel regret; he was stronger, while she was weaker; her loss was natural.

She only felt surprise; at first, she felt he was a chatterbox from what happened on the coast when he spoke to the teachers.

She even felt that he was a little foolish.

Although that was just prejudice, as it turned out later.

When she fought him, he didn't show any traits of foolishness or chatter; his expression was relaxed as he saw through her and mentioned her flaws during the fight.

His words during the fight were what she didn't understand; it could be seen as boasting, but she didn't think so for a moment.

In the middle of the fight, her body instinctively began to follow his words, and the result was immediate.

She had never had someone guide her to judge the matter, but she was sure that her opponent knew how to guide people.

After that, when he struck her, his blow was certainly painful, but she felt as if he had reduced the force of the blow so that she wouldn't get hurt.

He knocked her down and made her fly several times, but none of the times were severe enough to describe it as a brutal beating.

Was he soft on women?

'That's unlikely.'

She had personally dealt with many male fighters before, and those who were soft on women in battle avoided hitting them in the first place.

At most, he would subdue her without hurting her or stop after showing the vast difference in power between them.

But her opponent didn't hesitate when he aimed his punch at her back, let alone that he had obscured her vision with sand.

That means he had another reason.

She wanted to fight him again.

She knew the extent of the gap between them; therefore, her desire to fight wasn't to win.

She only wanted to improve her swordsmanship.

She might find the answer she hadn't gotten for a long time after she became stronger.

No matter how many times he refused, she would ask him again to fight her.

With this determination in mind, she asked him to fight her for the second time after standing up.

His response was initially expected; she didn't think it was arrogance on his part; after all, he had the right to refuse.

Let alone that the loser doesn't have the right to complain in the first place.

Therefore, she explained that she understood the gap between them but still wanted to fight him.

The boy fell silent in front of her as if unable to speak for a while; he grumbled irritably before telling her.

"Fine, attack me."

His words were confusing enough that words of surprise came out unconsciously.

After seeing her confusion, Leon explained what she would do with an irritated expression.

It was somewhat frightening to see her intentions so quickly.

But that was naturally welcome.

"In any case, I don't use swordsmanship much, so I don't know deeply about how to improve it; this will be your own problem to deal with."

The boy's voice brought her out of her trance as he began to speak.

"…There's no need for that; in the first place, I didn't expect something like this from you."

Asking for something in addition to accepting her challenge was too much, even for her.

Regardless of her obsession with her sword, there were limits that a person shouldn't cross.

Not stepping over the line was one of the few things she was blessed to learn when she was young.

"Your manner is somewhat rude, but that's unimportant; so let's start with your biggest flaws."

Leon said with a sigh, as if he didn't want such annoying work.

"For you, what is the sword?"

"What is the sword…?."

Her voice came out calmly as if she didn't understand the question at first.

"Yes; what is the path of the sword you want to follow? What does the sword mean to you in the first place?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

She fell into deep thought.

What is the sword.

This question had always been in her head.

How many times did this question linger in her mind as she swung her sword?

In spring or summer.

Even after autumn and winter passed.

She always swung her sword, from early dawn to late night, but she never knew the answer.

When people were around her.

When she remained alone.

Even after everyone left her, only the sword remained with her.

And it was the only thing that lingered in her mind.

Swinging, cutting, stabbing.

Night or day; it's the same thing every time.

She repeated the same monotonous movements every day until she was tired.

There were many days when she wanted to give up and do something else.

But every time she tried to stop, she found herself swinging the sword again.

She was someone who lived by the sword her whole life, and she would probably live by it until the day she died.

Often, those people were destined to remain alone their entire lives.

'No matter how many times I think about it, they're exactly alike.'

Seeing the girl's confused look as she seriously considered the question, a fleeting thought crossed Leon's mind.

People would usually answer quickly with an answer or quickly say that they don't know.

In the first place, the sword was just a weapon that people used to fight and kill.

There was no need for most people to understand what "the sword" was.

Only a few fell into deep thought over such a simple question.

For Leon, there was only one person he knew who fell into such a situation.

'That fool obsessed with the sword; after all, there's someone like him in this world, huh?'

He thought, smiling; life really does have all kinds of people.

He waited silently while watching the girl's expression change slightly between understanding and confusion.

'She's definitely the naive type.'

He chuckled lightly at the sight of her little struggle to find the answer.

"…What is the sword? I don't know."

As if she had made up her mind, the girl's voice came out quietly.

It was an expected answer; if she knew the answer, there would have been no need for deep thinking.

In the first place, it wasn't about knowing what the sword is.

The essence of the matter lies in the second question.

What path do you want your sword to take?

As if guessing what was on her mind, Leon said in a deep voice.

"That's right; you don't know, but I don't think that's all, is it?"

She silently nodded at his words.

She had stopped thinking about how he could actually read her mind.

'What my sword can't cut, my mind can't understand.'

This was an approach she strictly followed.

"But what is my sword… that's something I'm sure of the answer to."

Her eyes became stern as she said confidently.

"The sword I aim for is a sword that kills my enemy quickly; it doesn't matter how strong they are; as long as we fight with swords, my sword is faster."

"My sword will become soft when it should be soft; it will become hard when it should be hard."

Agility.

Her supreme and highest sword.

Fast, agile, sharp, and deadly.

She wanted her sword to represent that kind of existence.

The girl focused on speed and the element of surprise in their fight, neglecting everything else.

It must be because of the years she spent her whole life swinging a sword; she had formed a complete idea about the strongest sword she wanted to aim for.

Not strong, not hard, or imposing.

Fast, agile, like the flow of water in a river.

"This is my sword."

As if satisfied with her answer, she concluded her words with such simple sentences.

The sword the girl wanted in front of Leon was truly beautiful.

He could somehow imagine a beautiful woman gracefully wielding a sword while her enemies' heads flew.

'However, she's forgotten one thing.'

He doesn't understand the sword as deeply as that "fool," but there's something even he's sure of.

Even the flow of water isn't always fast.

Water isn't always liquid.

"It's good that you're dedicated to your sword, but…"

As if pouring cold water on her head, Leon's words came out coldly.

"No matter how agile or fast your sword is, what will you do when your defense is weak?"

She wanted to open her mouth to answer, but Leon interrupted her mercilessly.

"I understand that this problem can be solved if you kill the opponent quickly before they attack you, but what if you can't penetrate their defense? You'll be killed."

No matter how fast a grasshopper is, once it falls into the hands of a larger creature, its fate is death.

The river can continue to flow because it changes with changing climate and environment.

The current doesn't always flow quickly.

There's a need to slow down sometimes.

"You focus on the speed of your sword and attack rashly with all your strength to surprise your opponent, but you neglect your defense too much."

"I—"

"I what? You must have noticed this already, haven't you? If I really intended to, your head would already be separated from your body."

This fact was perfectly clear.

If Leon had wanted it, this girl would be dead without knowing how she died.

It was clear given the power gap.

But there was a bigger reason.

Defense.

It was a style that emphasizes protecting something.

Protecting someone, protecting something; it can be said that everything and every existence is a defense of another existence.

In the case of combat, the best defense is when you are not hit by any attack.

A skillful attack is only half the victory.

And that's what the girl neglected.

It's true that a good attack deprives your enemy of any way to protect themselves.

That logic isn't wrong; rather, it's the right thinking.

However.

When you have a good defense, you prevent your enemy from harming you.

This defense, in turn, harms your enemy when thinking about it from a different perspective, whether physically or mentally.

"No matter how fast or agile your sword was, the edge of your sword didn't even touch the hem of my clothes, let alone the fact that I touched all the places I mentioned."

"You missed one."

She protested in a quiet voice and a stoic expression, but he could hear some pride in her voice.

'Did this little girl actually feel some happiness at avoiding my attack? Then I won't tell her; let's leave it at that.'

The mistake she was talking about was her avoidance of his attack on the hem of her clothes on her right arm.

Of course, she didn't notice that he had touched that spot when he avoided her.

"…In any case."

As if embarrassed, Leon avoided the matter by coughing slightly before continuing his speech.

The girl's eyes could be seen becoming slightly bright.

Leon felt some annoyance at her reaction.

'…This brat; is she doing it on purpose? Or are these simply her qualities? When it comes to the sword, she becomes foolish? Really?'

She resembles the female version of that fool in this aspect.

However, this girl is more silent and cold.

"That doesn't deny that the biggest reason for that is your neglect of your defense."

If she hadn't neglected her defense and focused some of her attention on defense when she attacks, it would have been more difficult to attack her easily.

But she can't be blamed; maybe she didn't have a teacher before.

If she had, she would have already understood the importance of defense in battle.

He could get carried away in his guesses and dare to say that she hadn't fought a strong opponent before to make her notice that particular shortcoming before Leon.

Because if she faced such an opponent, she would probably already be dead.

Not everyone in the world is kind enough to guide others.

Everyone was struggling to survive; who would waste their time teaching a brat like this?

Naturally, from what he sees now, there wasn't such a person.

For some unknown reason, the girl felt an unnatural chill down her spine.

But she didn't show it in her expression.

"Of course, I don't expect you to understand this quickly; in the first place, words won't make you understand it easily."

After seeing her still unconvinced appearance, only these words came from his mouth.

If she had only been convinced because he told her so, wouldn't Leon consider himself the greatest teacher in the world already?

She had to experience it to understand it well.

One swing of the sword saves you the trouble of saying a thousand words.

Whatever the case, and wherever the time or place, the rule is the same.

Actions always speak louder than words.

Her shameful loss to Leon would be the impetus to think about what she will do next.

"…So, shall we fight?"

As if she had gathered her thoughts, the girl expressed what was on her mind.

"I would have liked that, but as you can see…"

Step, step, step!

The girl could hear the loud sound of footsteps; it was as if the person, or people coming, deliberately made their voices audible.

Leon smiled faintly as he said.

"I have guests."

A group of people appeared moving arrogantly around.

Leon had a genuinely smiling expression, but his eyes were filled with a frightening malice.

The girl had already begun to feel pity for these people for an inexplicable reason.

"Tsk tsk tsk; I've been desperately searching for you, but you're hiding like a scared chicken and flirting with a girl here?!"

A loud, arrogant voice entered the ears of the girl standing expressionlessly.

The person who spoke had proud expressions, as if he had won the grand prize.