17 Chapter 17 swordmaster (5)

"Well, there's no way he's talented in that humble thing. He must be great with throwing a stick around by now since he's been doing such a stupid little thing for months now. That's the only way for commoners to think they can wield a sword."

Reika stopped walking. She frowned. She could ignore it as always, but she didn't like something this time from Luke's words.

"…Asher is talented with the sword."

"Ha, you're defending that lowly bug. You've really gone crazy now."

"Shut up."

Reika spat out sharply. Asher was her teacher. She could have ignored it if Luke was cursing her, but she couldn't stand someone so disgusting and vile cursing Asher. Luke's corners of his mouth curled up even more as if he had caught onto a weakness of Reika's.

"Get a hold of yourself. My sister, you're an aristocrat, and he's a commoner. The noble are the only ones who have the right to give to others. You should never learn or take teachings from a dirty commoner. You're degrading our nobility."

"I said shut up."

Reika picked up a wooden sword. Luke opened his arms and burst into laughter at her attitude.

"Ha! You're gonna hit me? Me, the eldest son and heir to the lordship? Okay. Hit me. Let's see what happens!"

Reika bit her lips. Luke was the successor. If she hurts his body, even the daughter of the Lord could not avoid punishment. but…

"…I guess I'll do as you please."

Reika approached Luke. Luke stepped backwards suddenly, his false bravado completely gone, and a pale white face to replace it.

"You…you! If you hit me, Things won't end nicely!"

"Oh you just told me to hit you and now you want me to stop?"

Reika laughed and held the sword. To hell with her future as a bride to some fat and oily noble with a personality like her brother's. Luke fell on the floor. As she was about to try and strike the sword, a voice rang out.

"The eldest daughter is trying to hit the eldest son. Now this is a rare sight."

Reika looked away in a hurry.

Luke exclaimed, "Oh, my god Father!"

An old man was smiling and looking at them speaking the words, and Lord Halvark was pressing his forehead as if he was utterly annoyed with something right behind him.

Reika groaned.

***

"What a fun and exciting family."

"…please say any more."

Van Ester spoke in a cheerful and jovial manner while Lard Halvark looked fatigued. Reika flinched at the sight as her behavior ended in failure luckily before something terrible happened, but it was not something that could just be overlooked. Luke pointed his finger at Reika, sticking behind Lord Halvark like a leech.

"Father! Reika dared to beat your successor, ME! Hurry up and scold…"

Luke, who was shouting in crisis, suddenly stopped shouting and shut up on the spot. The old man Reika first caught a glimpse of and that was standing next to her father, was staring at him. Luke was unconsciously discouraged by the penetrating and stern gaze.

"You're not even worth being seen as a successor in my eyes."

Luke's body trembled at the heartless words. He tried to point at the man and jeer at him, but Lord Halvark hurriedly blocked him before Luke did anything more idiotic than he already had done. The old man walked toward Reika without even caring about Luke.

"Oh, hello there little miss?"

Reika stepped back without realizing it.

She could tell from his appearance that he was not an ordinary old man. Perfectly straight, jet-black hair, beard, and a muscular build that didn't fit his age. There couldn't possibly be any kind of normal old man like that. In addition, her father was hiding Luke who was about to jeer at him like he was trying to protect him.

Above all, Reika's instincts were screaming at her at that moment. The old man in front of her was dangerous. Her senses continued to scream and yell at her to run away, and the grip in her sword unconsciously strengthened.

The old man looked at her in admiration.

"Huh. That's more than I was expecting. I've never seen a kid quite like you before."

The old man reached out with a smile. His hands suddenly shot out in a fluid motion toward the neck of Reika.

Reika held her sword reflexively and followed her screaming instincts. She lowered her posture and slashed at the stretched out wrist, giving the old man a look of surprise as he quickly dodged it with ease.

The old man smiled. At the same time, the tip of Reika's sword turned flexible and wound around in a curved trajectory like a snake. It was a way for her to strike back, avoiding any possible strikes from the man's palms.

"That's great."

The old man shot his hands forwards ignoring her sword completely and once again dodging with ease, grabbed her wrist in admiration and twisted it. Reika dropped the sword, holding back the pain.

"Hahaha!"

The old man kicked the sword on the floor away from her. Reika quickly thought about her options in that split-second. What did Asher tell her to do at a time like this?

'Oh. I remember now.'

She pulled herself back towards the man in reverse, doing the opposite of trying to run away and tucked her other hand in a palm strike, aiming for his chin. When the old man put his arm in between and blocked it, she immediately dropped her body, rolled away and grabbed the sword that was on the ground.

Somersaulting back onto her feet, she kicked off the ground and struck at the man's achilles tendon. A dull sound rang out.

"…huh?"

Reika groaned. It was hard. It wasn't the feeling of a sword and flesh hitting against each other. It was like the feeling of punching iron with a bare fist.

"…this is ridiculous."

The old man mumbled, his arm clasped. What he just did to Reika was one of his bad habits.

Whenever he saw a fairly talented youth, he would pressure them and see their reaction. But so far, not one of these 'talented' youth had endured his first gesture.

But Reika not only withstood his first gesture…. She didn't get flustered unlike the many other youth he had tested with this little game, but actually counterattacked with incredible split-second decision making. It was a possible counterattack because he hadn't expected it and dropped his guard naturally since it was a child, but… to have his gaps exploited? By a child? One of whom he had expected nothing better than the average so-called 'talent'.

"Who are you?"

The old man pushed his face towards Reika with curiosity. Reika murmured with a pale face.

"I am Reika Halvark, but…."