Chapter 66 - 066_The Strongest and the Monster
This is a side story.
This is an update in gratitude.
Please enjoy.
――― Added two chapters (1/2) ―――
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066_The Strongest and the Monster
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This was on a certain warm day one winter after the end of the civil war.
There was a ship that had docked at Beck Port in Dedel Territory. This ship had a strange shape—it lacked the mast that an ordinary ship should have. Instead, there was something unfamiliar at the stern. A pipe extending from something like a box continued under the sea surface.
This was a ship built by Rodney. A generator and motor were installed at its stern. A pipe extended from the motor, and that pipe covered the shaft, with a propeller-like screw rotating below the sea surface to obtain propulsion.
Rodney was using the screw in the manner of a motorboat from his memories of a previous life. In the event the screw stopped working, it could be rowed with oars.
This ship, named Mekitis, was a new model completed this spring, and its owner was the Hacklehoff Trading Company.
Originally it was a cargo ship, but because it was so unusual, many people wished to board it, and recently it also carried regular passengers.
From the Mekitis, which had called in after coming from the west via the royal capital and Bassam, one man disembarked.
That man, who exuded an overwhelming presence just by being there, widened his eyes at the rapidly developing Beck Port and the surrounding area.
That person ——— Alias John Falken ——— was said to be the strongest in the kingdom.
During the civil war, he fought well as the last bastion protecting the king, but in the end he was defeated by Rodney in single combat.
If Rodney had wanted to, he could have cut off Falken’s arm and ended the fight without injury. He did not do so in order to hide the Source Power called Swift Recovery — a very rare power that could be used as a last resort in a sense.
At that time, the limbs that had been shattered by Rodney were completely healed by Swift Recovery.
If he healed a missing body part, it would be revealed that the Source Power Rodney possessed was not Healing but Swift Recovery. However, even if the Source Power that healed the broken bones was Swift Recovery, to an onlooker it would only look like Healing.
Even if someone pointed out the inconsistency, it would be fine to assert it was Healing. Swift Recovery was a Source Power that needed to be concealed to that extent.
Falken headed for the lord’s mansion built on the hill. It was not to take revenge on Rodney. On the contrary, Falken even felt gratitude toward Rodney.
Then why had he come to Dedel Territory? Because he recognized the existence of someone superior to himself.
Falken, who had long been called a sword genius and the strongest in the kingdom, did not know anyone stronger than himself. Although he had never fought him, even that Sage Daguldor would probably be no match for Falken in swordsmanship.
“I am Alias John Falken. I wish to meet with the Head of House, Lord Rodney Elias Forvas. Could you please deliver that message?”
Falken conveyed that to the mansion’s gatekeeper.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I do not. If it is inconvenient, I would like to make an appointment.”
The gatekeepers of the Forvas House were said to be the elite territorial soldiers of Dedel Territory. They were people who understood the atmosphere of a strong individual.
The gatekeeper endured that pressure, which chilled his spine to the point of freezing. Because on the pride of an elite territorial soldier, he could not back down.
The gatekeeper told Falken to wait and went to inquire at the mansion.
Rodney, who was playing with his son Lucas, born in late autumn of the previous year, was informed of Falken’s visit.
Upon hearing that, Rodney left Lucas to Yulin and rushed out of the mansion in a fluster.
“Knight Commander Falken!”
Rodney ran up and called out to Falken like that. But Falken was no longer the Knight Commander.
“I am not the Knight Commander now, Lord Forvas. Moreover, I have also passed the peerage to my younger brother, so now I am merely a retired man.”
Falken had not used his position as Knight Commander to satisfy his personal desires. Unlike the ministers, he had no guilt in that regard.
However, because he had unintentionally acted to protect the ministers, he had been imprisoned. Since among the landholding nobles there were some killed by Falken, he could not be completely exonerated from the start.
The new king, who regretted losing Falken’s strength, granted Falken amnesty at the time of his own coronation. Originally, Falken had done nothing wrong. He had only been protecting the king as the Knight Commander, so he would not be charged with a heavy crime.
The new king immediately requested his reinstatement, but of course he could not accept that. Moreover, he wanted some time to sort out his feelings.
Falken had no wife or children. He thought he would leave the peerage to his much younger brother and go on a journey. That destination was this Dedel Territory.
Rodney had not attended the coronation, but he had heard about the amnesty. Even so, he never expected Falken to appear, so he was very surprised.
“Anyway, come inside.”
Rodney invited Falken into the mansion and welcomed him.
“So, why did you come to this frontier region?”
“I wish to receive training from Lord Forvas.”
“Huh?”
Rodney narrowed his eyes, wondering what the man called the strongest in the kingdom was saying.
“There is nothing strange about it. Lord Forvas defeated me. I have not lost in swordsmanship in these thirty years. I simply wish to become a disciple of the person who did that.”
“No, no, no. I am not even worthy of Lord Falken’s feet.”
“Having defeated me, that cannot be. That would leave me with no standing.”
“Ah, my apologies. However, I was simply blessed with Source Power; my swordsmanship skill is by no means above Lord Falken’s.”
“I do not intend to deny power that includes Source Power. If Lord Forvas had defeated me using emission-type Source Power, I would not have made such a request.”
“...”
Falken pleaded earnestly. Rodney gave in to that enthusiasm and decided to accept.
“But honestly, my swordsmanship is below that of a master. Rather, my younger sister Emilia is the genius when it comes to the sword.”
“Oh, Lady Emilia is that impressive? I would like to spar with her once.”
“I think Emilia would be delighted, so please do give her guidance.”
Having decided to accept Falken as an honored guest, Rodney arranged to train together the next morning.
Of course, there was no way Emilia, Rodmel, and others would not participate in such a juicy opportunity. The next morning, almost all the military officers (knights and squires) gathered at the training ground.
“Hey, Hortus. What about your work?”
“I can see the sword of Falken-sama, the strongest in the kingdom, up close. This is not the time for that, is it?”
Rodney never expected that Hortus, who always spoke sound logic, would say such a thing.
“If even you start talking like Rodmel, the Forvas House will be finished, you know.”
“Hahaha. Please overlook it this time.”
To Hortus, who bowed deeply, Rodney said he understood with a sigh.
Falken stared at Rodney, who was tracing the forms of the Kashima Old Style and swinging his sword as usual.
“I thought this last time as well, but Lord Forvas’s forms are from a school I have never seen.”
“It is a school called the Kashima Old Style. I think you can consider it a school that cannot be seen in the Kuodo Kingdom except in Dedel Territory.”
“Oh, I have never heard of it. Is it a foreign swordsmanship?”
“Perhaps so.”
Regarding the Kashima Old Style, he did not say it was Source Power. According to common sense, one cannot obtain martial arts like the Kashima Old Style as Source Power. Because martial arts are acquired through daily accumulation of training.
“Hmm... I thought it was a school that emphasized the first strike, but that is not the case.”
As expected of the strongest in the kingdom. Just by seeing the forms once, he grasped the characteristics of the Kashima Old Style. However, Rodney was not showing everything. The forms called secret techniques were naturally concealed, and he did not show all the forms either.
“My sword is self-taught. I imitated the good points of each school and arrived at what I have.”
Falken’s sword, which used two blades, was unlike any other. And it was not something anyone could handle. Even Rodney could understand that.
“Lord Forvas. May I ask for a spar?”
“I will be your opponent.”
Falken and Rodney. The Strongest and the Monster met again. Even in training, their fighting spirits clashed. That kicked up dust, momentarily blocking the two’s vision. In that instant, they moved. At a superhuman speed that ordinary people could not track with their eyes.
Falken’s wooden sword stopped just before Rodney’s forehead, and Rodney’s wooden sword stopped just before Falken’s torso.
Someone swallowed their saliva and made a sound in their throat. That served as a signal, and the two took a step back, and the exchange began slowly.
At first, the two moved as if in slow motion, but gradually their movements grew faster.
Falken’s two swords attacked Rodney at a terrifying speed. Rodney received them with a single wooden sword.
To Rodmel and the others watching, the two’s arms looked like ten.
“Twaaah!”
“Kieeee!”
The offense and defense continued as if they never breathed, and finally the wooden sword in Falken’s right hand shattered into pieces. The remaining wooden sword in his left was in a state where it could break at any time, but Rodney’s wooden sword was not in such a state.
This was because Rodney had enveloped his wooden sword in Haki. A wooden sword wrapped in Haki had a hardness surpassing even an iron sword.
Falken had also enveloped his wooden sword in Haki. However, because Rodney had Manipulate, he was skilled in the use of Source Power. Furthermore, because he had Strengthen and Augment, the effects of Source Power increased. That was the difference that emerged.
“As expected of the Monster of the Northernmost Territory. I still cannot reach you.”
Falken was greatly satisfied and showed a smile as if to say he would become even stronger.
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