Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 14

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Act 5: The Upheaval Begins Now

Status updates are one of the most important events for trainee knights.

It’s a testament to how hard they’ve trained for a month and a guide to how they should proceed.

Therefore, trainee knights face this day with nervous anticipation, but on the other hand, they also look forward to it the most.

They can check their stats using the Joma Sphere [a magical artifact used to measure a knight’s abilities].

Those lacking in stamina work on their stamina. Those lacking in swordsmanship hone their swordsmanship.

That’s why today is the day all trainee knights eagerly await.

However, the trainee knights were talking about a different topic than usual.

“Finally, today’s the day of the duel between Lord Julius and that Kainchel bastard.”

“I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep properly last night.”

“Why are you so excited? The result is obvious anyway.”

“That’s what’s fun about it. I wonder what kind of big entertainment Kainchel will provide today? If I could bet money, I’d put 1 silver on him crying as soon as Lord Julius throws down his gauntlet [a formal challenge to a duel]······.”

“Oh, that’s good? I’ll put 1 silver on him begging for his life while crawling on the ground.”

“Then I’ll put 1 silver on him pissing his pants.”

“Hehehe. Usually, in these cases, you bet on the outcome of the duel, right?”

“Crazy. Then there wouldn’t be any betting in the first place. Everyone would bet on Lord Julius’s victory.”

“I guess that’s true! Then I’ll put 1 silver on Kainchel just foaming at the mouth and fainting.”

“Alright, put your coins here.”

Before they knew it, a bet had started among the trainee knights of the Rookie Class.

It was about what Kainchel would do after receiving Julius’s gauntlet.

“Having a lot of fun, I see.”

The trainee knight holding the pouch screamed at the sudden, deep voice.

“Keeek! Instructor Ian? Oh, wasn’t Instructor Bucks supposed to be in charge of the status update today?”

Ian, known as the Devil Instructor, tapped the pouch full of silver coins and said.

“Can’t I come? I was curious to see how much my babies have grown. But it looks like you’re doing something very interesting.”

“T, this is. No, it’s nothing.”

“Trainee knights often bet when they duel. But you’re betting with silver. That’s a lot of money. Back in my day, it was just a few coppers.”

“······I’m sorry. I’ll stop right away.”

“No, I want to join in.”

With that, Ian rummaged through his pouch and took out a shiny gold coin, flicking it with his finger.

“Roughly 1 gold is 20 silver at today’s rate, so calculate the stakes well. If you skim even one copper, you know what’ll happen, right?”

“······.”

Betting 1 gold on a fun bet like this?

Even for a noble, that’s a large sum. Especially for Instructor Ian, who is a soldier, it’s close to a month’s living expenses.

However, betting is more fun the higher the stakes.

“Hehe······, then which outcome are you betting on, Instructor?”

“I’ll bet on Kainchel winning. Everyone else must have bet on Julius’s victory. That’s how you keep things balanced.”

“······.”

Actually, the bet we’re having right now isn’t about who will win the duel.

Unfortunately, none of the trainee knights were brave enough to say the truth.

In the end, a shiny gold coin was added to the top of the pouch full of silver coins.

Instructor Ian crossed his arms and leaned against the corner of the training hall.

A little further away, the trainee knights were gathered, waiting for the status update to begin.

Kainchel was among them.

Ian muttered in a small voice that no one could hear.

“A month ago, your swordsmanship was at 1-star. But two weeks ago, it grew to 4-star. And three days ago······. Hooo-! What on earth is happening to you, Kainchel?”

Instructor Ian was the only one who noticed Kainchel’s growth. He had spent over ten years in charge of the Rookie Class.

When it came to beginner swordsmanship, Ian’s insight was so good that he didn’t even need the Joma Sphere.

Even Ian couldn’t tell what level Kainchel’s beginner swordsmanship had reached.

Every time he saw him, he seemed to have become a different person.

What on earth is going on with that kid······.

One thing was certain: Kainchel’s efforts over the past three years were finally paying off.

“Think of that 1 gold I just bet as encouragement for you, who has participated in my training more diligently than anyone else.”

Just how much has Kainchel grown?

What kind of fruit has his effort borne?

“Damn it. If I had just one more year······. No, even just half a year, he would have been a good match for Julius······.”

Ian was genuinely disappointed.

He worried that the flower that had barely begun to bloom would be withered by someone else’s malice.

He worried that it would be trampled mercilessly under Julius’s feet and never bloom again.

If he had just a little more power, he might have been able to bring about a different result.

However, all Instructor Ian could do was watch from the sidelines.

“Don’t give up, Kainchel······. Yeah, just in case, if you win. I’ll feed you so much beef with that 1 gold that your stomach bursts.”

@

When an instructor with a solemn face entered through the training hall door, the room became as quiet as if water had been poured over it.

“Quiet! I will be conducting today’s status update! Squad members, stand at attention in rows and columns!”

Then, with a salute louder than usual, over a hundred trainee knights moved in perfect order.

The same familiar sight as a month ago.

‘Only one thing has changed······.’

Kainchel caressed the Joma Sphere hanging around his neck.

He had stopped charging it with mana a week ago.

It would be a bit troublesome if a sorcerer detected the foreign mana contained in the magic tool.

Kainchel had eaten a lot of food and made a lot of dishes during the week.

Just how much had he grown?

He was dying to know.

‘So this is the psychology of trainee knights before a status update.’

The level that hadn’t risen at all for three years. The constant ridicule and sneers.

And finally, the stroke of luck he had obtained amidst all that.

Kainchel muttered without realizing it.

“The reversal is just the beginning.”

At that moment, the training hall door burst open with a bang, and Julius and his followers stormed in.

“Is Kainchel van Zistad here?!”

Julius was a head taller than Kainchel.

On top of that, his muscular body was so swollen that his armor looked like it was about to burst.

He didn’t look like the same twenty-year-old as Kainchel at all.

Kainchel, who had been standing among the trainee knights, slowly walked forward.

Julius looked at Kainchel with contemptuous eyes and said.

“You have damaged the honor of Julius of the Conrad family! Furthermore, despite having trained at the Stanise Knight Academy for three years, you haven’t raised even a single level. Isn’t that a sin of laziness?!”

In other words, he was implying that Kainchel hadn’t been training properly and had been skipping out.

In an instant, Kainchel’s eyes turned coldly.

It was a statement that completely denied his past three years.

“If you have a mouth, answer me! Otherwise, how can it be possible that your level hasn’t risen at all! Or do you want to become a clown, having forgotten all your knightly pride, as your nickname suggests? Then crawl under my feet and do some tricks, Kainchel van Zistad. No, Stanise’s worst underachiever.”

Julius still stroked his tingling right hand.

The wound from being hit by Kainchel’s ladle still throbbed. It was a coincidence, but it was a very unpleasant one.

Him daring to use a toy······.

Thud.

Then something flew and hit Julius in the face.

Julius’s face turned red as he realized what it was.

‘A gauntlet!’

The clown bastard had taken off what he was wearing and thrown it at him.

It meant only one thing.

Kainchel had challenged him to a duel!

How could something so absurd happen! Julius felt his breathing become rough with rising anger.

Kainchel slowly drew his sword.

“I’ll prove from now on whether my three years are worth being denied by you or not. Come at me.”

Whoaaaaaaa!

The trainee knights who heard Kainchel’s declaration of a duel cheered.

A reversal that no one had expected was unfolding right before their eyes.

“This bastard! How dare a clown throw a gauntlet at me?!”

Julius also drew his sword.

And so, amidst the gazes of numerous trainee knights.

The duel began.

@

Instructor Ian, who had stepped forward as a referee, rambled on about the significance of the duel, but it didn’t reach the two men’s ears.

They were simply swinging their swords to defeat the opponent in front of them.

The outcome of the duel would be decided when one person surrendered or became incapacitated.

However, Julius had no intention of allowing the word surrender to come out of Kainchel’s mouth.

He was planning to pierce his neck with the practice sword he was holding if he saw even the slightest opening.

With Julius’s strength, even a training sword without a blade would be sufficient.

‘I’ll make you regret not kneeling and begging for forgiveness before Deus [a deity in their world].’

It was common to kill an opponent during a duel.

Moreover, Count Conrad was backing Julius. The opponent was a fallen noble with nothing. There was no need to worry about any repercussions.

Now, all he had to do was pierce that detestable bastard’s neck with the sword he was holding, and it would be over.

The worst underachiever in the history of the Stanise Knight Academy.

Kainchel’s name was used as an insult in itself, and even comparing someone to him was an insulting act.

Even a rookie who had been admitted just a week ago spat in Kainchel’s face.

A pathetic guy who hadn’t raised even a single level despite swinging a sword for three years.

Clearly, the match should have been decided in one exchange······.

However, Kainchel was still fine even after five minutes had passed since the duel began.

Clench!

Julius gritted his teeth.

‘Why aren’t my attacks hitting him!’

He unleashed a storm of tremendous attacks aimed at Kainchel.

However, every single one of them failed to even graze his opponent’s clothes.

Julius was a man who loved muscles. He devoted himself to physical training to build muscle rather than mana cultivation, which was necessary to manifest an Aura Sword [a sword imbued with magical energy].

As a result, he was slower to become a Sword Knight than Vincent, but in return, he gained overwhelming power.

Power is justice.

He had been learning the mana cultivation method passed down from his family for some time, so he would soon be able to use an Aura Sword as well.

Then, the sharpness of the Aura Sword would be added to the power emanating from his tremendous muscles, allowing him to surpass Vincent.

However, even the strongest attack was useless if it didn’t hit.

“Heup! Haaaaaaa!”

Julius roared and swung his practice sword with both hands.

Whooooong-!

A tremendous roar echoed, and the space where Kainchel had been standing just a moment ago split apart.

However, Kainchel easily avoided Julius’s attack by slightly bending his body.

It could inflict a fatal wound if it even grazed him.

But it just wouldn’t hit.

As if he knew where the attack was coming from.

“Kuhhhhh!”

Julius wasn’t an idiot either. The movements Kainchel was showing were impossible to believe for someone at level 1.

At that level, he would be at least 30. No, maybe even higher.

Eyes mixed with astonishment and suspicion began to scan Kainchel’s figure.

‘I don’t know how he raised his level so quickly. But strength and speed, I’m still superior!’

To think he would grow this much in a month.

However, the important thing was that Kainchel was still weaker than him.

He was just barely managing to avoid attacks thanks to sheer luck.

As proof, Julius hadn’t been hit by a single attack either.

The opponent was a sandcastle that would collapse if he allowed even a single attack.

It was overwhelmingly advantageous for Julius to drag out the fight.

‘But it’s a disgrace to even be fighting against that underachiever for several minutes! I’ll end it with this attack!’

Julius pretended to rotate his body to the right and then stabbed his sword at the opposite side.

Kainchel avoided it far too easily.

‘He dodged it again?!’

It was as if he was mocking him, saying that he couldn’t be fooled by something like that.

No, he really was mocking him.

Kainchel stopped moving for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Julius. You know. Aren’t you actually really weak?”

“Kuh, you bastard! What nonsense are you spouting!”

In that instant, Julius lost the last thread of reason he had been barely holding onto.

And he charged straight at Kainchel.

“See, if you provoke him just a little, he charges like a mad cow.”

A smile of certainty spread across Kainchel’s face.

Julius was strong. If it hadn’t been for the help of ‘Fallen Star,’ his neck would have been pierced by his opponent’s sword long ago.

The skill Fallen Star, which sensed hostility.

It was like a constellation of stars, telling him which direction his opponent would attack from.

Kainchel rotated his body around his right foot, dodging his opponent’s charge.

“Ugh!”

The two men’s bodies overlapped at a distance close enough to touch if they reached out their hands.

In that instant, a beastly, savage smile appeared on Kainchel’s face.

“That’s why you’ll be second place forever, Conrad. Disarm!”

As the skill activated, Kainchel’s sword flew, aiming for the gap in his opponent’s grip on his weapon.

Pat-!

In that instant, the sword that Julius was holding flew through the air.

A blank expression appeared on Julius’s face. Could it be that he had dropped his sword in a fight against that underachiever?

I, impossible······.

Kainchel’s attack wasn’t over. He rotated his body and kicked Julius in the head with his back foot.

Thud!

It was the first successful strike in the five minutes since the duel began.

Julius, who had dropped the weapon he was holding and couldn’t control his own strength, lost his balance.

The massive body that seemed like it would never fall was thrown onto the gravel-covered ground.

He rolled around, dangling his limbs like a doll with its strings cut.

The sight was so shocking that those who were watching the duel couldn’t make a sound for a while.

And······.

As if nothing had happened, tremendous cheers and shouts echoed throughout the training hall.

There was no room for anyone to doubt.

The duel was Kainchel’s victory.

The Upheaval Begins Now #2