How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 150

166. An Unexpected Sign (3)

Arriving at one of the training grounds used by the knights and soldiers of the Duchy, I saw a silver-haired boy wielding a sword in the middle.

“…….”

His sword was silent.

He swung his sword fiercely, but strangely, there was no sound, and no dust flew.

Accurate and fast swordsmanship.

I watched him unfold the techniques, master them, and repeat them.

‘He’s really working hard…….’

For now, I didn’t say anything and engraved his swordsmanship in my eyes, as if trying to memorize it.

Not that I would gain anything directly from it.

‘As expected, his greatest pride is his swordsmanship, just like in the original…….’

In the original story, Sylvester doesn’t hesitate to master and use various skills such as magic and elementalism.

Still, his greatest affection and obsession would be with swordsmanship.

Above all, the first thing he wants to achieve since opening his eyes in this era is to reach a higher level than his former master.

He wants to become stronger.

It is a primal desire and a desperate wish.

I understand it too.

‘By now, has he roughly crossed the threshold of Sword Master [a highly skilled swordsman]?’

Terrifying.

Unlike me, he achieved this purely through effort, which makes it even more impressive.

His physical age must be similar to mine, but he has an absurd growth rate.

‘Well, I don’t have to worry because I can just go with the flow.’

As I continued to watch, there was a change in Sylvester’s movements.

The speed of his swordsmanship seemed to decrease, and at some point, he stopped, put his sword back into its scabbard, and turned to look at me.

“Ah, were you waiting? You seem to have been watching for quite some time.”

As expected, he noticed.

Since I wasn’t trying to hide, I just clapped my hands.

“Did I disturb your training? Your swordsmanship is so excellent that I hesitated to interrupt.”

“……I was just about to take a break, so don’t worry about it.”

Yeah. I guess I bothered him.

Someone who was about to rest was swinging a sword like crazy? Huhu. What a hypocrite.

Sylvester, who was answering with a friendly smile, looked at me intently and pondered for a moment.

He probably still doesn’t remember my name properly.

“You are… um….”

“I’m Ailan, Mr. Sylvester. Ah, I heard your name from Rusel.”

“Indeed. Haha. I’ll make sure to remember it this time.”

He smiled, seemingly a little embarrassed that he hadn’t remembered, and approached me.

At least on the surface, he doesn’t seem wary of me?

“It seems Rusel has caused you quite a bit of trouble.”

“Yes. A lot.”

Uh?

Sylvester tilted his head.

Well, usually, people would say no, but I’m a man who speaks honestly.

“I’ve occasionally heard about you from Rusel. Well, we’re not that far apart in age, and we have to work together. How about we speak more comfortably?”

“That’s certainly not a bad idea.”

Sylvester nodded and then awkwardly let go of honorifics.

“Then, please take care of me, Ailan. Ah… is this right?”

“Of course, I was greatly helped by you last time, Sylvester.”

Even if it was just a formality, we spoke casually and shook hands.

“By the way, you came to see me now… I guess you heard the story from the Grand Duke?”

As expected, he knew.

“Well, as you can see, I’m just a mere merchant, so I came to say hello in advance, thinking I might cause trouble.”

“A mere merchant…….”

He seemed to be itching to say something.

If it were Rusel or Princess Elenia, they would have immediately said, ‘What kind of merchant are you!’ but he’s holding back, which is just like him.

“And I also have quite a few things I want to give you.”

“Things you want to give me?”

“It’s a simple token of friendship. A gift to wish you well in the future.”

As expected, the best way to get close is with a gift.

The basic rule of social life is that it’s best to hand things over with a heavy hand rather than an empty one.

I want to put that into practice directly.

I took out the bundle I had brought and handed it to Sylvester, half pushing it onto him.

There were various things inside.

New potions, snacks I made for fun, and so on.

At least there shouldn’t be any room for complaints.

I also packaged it well, giving it the feeling of a holiday gift set.

There!

This is how I treat the protagonist.

If you’re worried about being wary, give a gift first to lower their guard. Don’t just pull out a knife or stammer, take out a gift!

Even children like gifts.

This is Ailan’s way of social life, Protagonist攻略法 [Protagonist Strategy Guide] Chapter 1.

Gift offensive.

Take it, Ailan Gift Set No. 1.

“……This is…… Thank you. But I haven’t prepared anything.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just think of it as you’ll owe me that much in the future.”

If things go wrong, I’ll put you in front and only support you from behind.

You can think of it as payment for that.

Receive this gift and work hard like a cow.

“Then I will gratefully accept it.”

Sylvester reluctantly accepted the gift I was pushing onto him.

Even if he looks like that, he won’t dislike it.

I know his personality and inner thoughts through the original description.

The protagonist is also a person. They like it when you give them gifts.

Now, shall we achieve the purpose of finding this guy?

I didn’t really come just to give a gift.

“By the way, Sylvester, I have a small favor to ask. Would that be okay?”

“I’ll listen to it first.”

Sylvester nodded deliberately.

He’s received so much, it would be awkward to refuse.

He would refuse if I asked for something too reckless, but I think this is okay.

“You’re already training, so it wouldn’t matter if you sweat a little more. Right?”

“That’s… true, but.”

“I also want to hone my skills a bit, so I’d like you to spar with me for a while.”

What I want is a match with Sylvester.

A request to compete directly in skill here.

He seemed genuinely surprised.

“Unexpected… or is it as Rusel said?”

“That brat… no, I don’t know what that elf said about me. There is a reason.”

I started to make up excuses.

“We’re practically strangers. We don’t know what each other can do. But we’re going to be working together soon, right?”

Then it would be much better to check each other’s skills, right?

Let’s get to know each other.

I made up a suitable excuse and begged Sylvester to spar with me.

Of course, I have other intentions, but I have no intention of revealing them.

“You’ll rarely have the chance to fight against someone who uses elementalism and other things. I don’t think there’s any loss for either of us?”

“Indeed… is that so.”

Sylvester muttered as if he was troubled.

Even though he looks like that, he has a strong side that likes to fight, so he’ll be quite drawn to it.

I heard that he heard about me from Rusel as well.

Then he must be quite conflicted.

“Okay. I’ve received so much, it would be stingy not to grant you that much.”

“Huhu. Yes. Good conclusion.”

In the end, Sylvester and I, who had come to an agreement, took a suitable position and faced each other at a distance.

‘The protagonist’s skills.’

Aside from my ulterior motives, I was interested in the boy’s skills.

‘How much difference is there compared to me now?’

Of course, I can’t help but be curious.

“……You can attack first, Ailan. I’ll give you the first move.”

“I don’t need to refuse.”

I’m the kind of person who readily accepts if you offer.

I unhesitatingly sparked lightning in the air.

The lightning spirit Sprite appeared in front of me.

“So, elementalism first…….”

Sylvester erased the relaxed and gentle atmosphere from before, drew his sword, and exuded a sharp aura.

It’s almost as good as when he faced Elraut last time.

He’s not letting his guard down.

As promised, I immediately shot out lightning.

The lightning spread in all directions, splitting into five strands and shooting out as if to surround Sylvester.

However, it’s just a simple check.

I don’t expect it to work right away.

As expected, the lightning that rushed in from five directions burst the moment Sylvester swung his sword.

He must have quickly swung his sword to block them all.

‘Is it a trick to create a wall instantaneously with aura by unfolding sword energy?’

Even the best master would find it difficult to actually cut lightning with a sword.

Therefore, he is not cutting it, but blocking it.

He is simply creating a wall to defend by unfolding aura through the sword.

Since I know the basic information about his swordsmanship through the original work, it is easy to infer it.

‘Then? What about this?’

I deliberately created blunt, non-lethal water arrows and deployed them.

The pouring water arrows, before reaching the aura wall he created.

‘Teleportation.’

Immediately skips a paper-thin gap for a short time and reappears.

“……Indeed…… you had that ability too.”

Sylvester grasped what had happened in that short moment and put strength into his body.

The aura surrounding his body spread strongly and blocked the water arrows that were hitting his entire body.

Although it was a spar, so I weakened the power, even if I poured it out with all my strength, he probably wouldn’t have been able to easily break through his defense.

‘So I have to attack in conjunction right away.’

The ground under his feet shook, and at the timing when he was guarding against my water arrows, stone spikes soared up.

Temporarily surrounding and trapping Sylvester as if 끼우듯 [squeezing] between the spikes.

“How about fire there?”

At my signal, pillars of fire soared up.

His entire body was swallowed up in flames.

The advantage of my elementalism is to push forward with free and uninterrupted continuous activation.

However, I don’t let my guard down, hardening my body with tension.

I know it anyway.

This is not enough.

“Then I’ll start attacking.”

As if a thin line was drawn, all the flames disappeared.

Sylvester, who had split the pillar of fire with his sword, was not covered in soot.

As expected, it doesn’t work.

Rather, it would be troublesome for me if this worked.

Now, you have to live up to the protagonist’s value?

Immediately, he rushes at me with the momentum as if trying to meet my expectations.

“……?”

However, Sylvester would soon notice that my energy is strange.

I don’t avoid it, and I don’t back down.

Rather, I’m waiting for him to approach.

When I reached out into the air, a subspace opened and my favorite magic sword popped out from within.

“……Sword?!”

His eyes widened.

That’s unexpected.

He probably didn’t imagine that I would openly draw a sword against someone who specializes in swordsmanship.

‘Is he evaluating me only as he heard from Rusel?’

If it were a real battle, I wouldn’t do such a reckless thing.

However, it’s just a mock battle.

Then, can’t I try various things recklessly?

“Hah!”

As soon as I drew my sword, I swung it.

Sylvester, wary of my sword, which could be easily blocked, deliberately stepped back greatly to create distance.

And he narrowed his eyes because he thought it was a mistake.

Swish!

The ordinary swing, which was disappointing considering how wary he was, futilely stirred the air.

Because it was swordsmanship that even an ordinary soldier would swing better.

“You didn’t think I could even do swordsmanship, did you?”

“…….”

He missed the opportunity to land a blow because of misunderstanding and wariness.

He’s overestimating me too much.

“And I have this too.”

I immediately took advantage of the gap and chanted a spell.

“……Magic.”

Sylvester also immediately drew up mana as if he had prepared for it.

He probably heard from Rusel that I use magic.

“Poison Fog.”

“……Not a chance.”

The magic circle to spread the poison fog was about to unfold, but it broke the moment Sylvester chanted a spell.

Dispel.

For him, who is estimated to be a 3-circle mage according to the original information, my magic, which only has a 2-circle proficiency, is something he can somehow break.

‘Of course, I know that very well too.’

However, even magic that is 파훼당하는 [nullified] has its own value.

Because it buys time.

‘What if I use this while he’s distracted by magic?’

I released the magic sword’s ability after a long time.

Chains of magic began to surround and entangle Sylvester like numerous snakes.

I unleashed the binding magic chains, which are the ability of the chain sword.

He probably doesn’t know what kind of sword this is yet.

Also, he can’t cancel the magic sword’s magic yet.

“……Amazing. How much do you have?”

Sylvester muttered in an admiring voice and swung his sword.

The sword energy, mixed with blue and silver light, sharply scattered and cut off the magic chains in an instant.