Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 34

While strumming the lute to honor Zhuge Liang’s noble intentions, I discovered something. [Zhuge Liang was a famous strategist from the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, known for his wisdom and loyalty.]

Clearly, the core was mine, but a part of my body still retained traces of Zion Claussen.

Wasn’t the proof that I could effortlessly play the lute, an instrument I had never touched before?

‘It’s not like Zion Claussen never learned swordsmanship at all. He can probably swing it around roughly.’

He calls himself a knight who will be responsible for the future of the kingdom, but he is still just a candidate.

More than anything, Ludwig is now a fool blinded by the intense temptation to show off his cool side.

“Shall we begin?”

Just by looking at him, you can tell he’s so full of himself that it’s oozing out of him.

He seems to be seriously underestimating me, probably because Zion Claussen avoided sparring with Ludwig every time.

‘I don’t know what the hell this guy was thinking, arguing with Kim Yu-hyun like that, damn it.’

It would have been nice if Kim Yu-hyun enjoyed killing a little more.

Kim Yu-hyun’s heart softens when he judges someone as relatively weak or pitiful.

And Zion Claussen took advantage of that, clinging to Kim Yu-hyun and tormenting him until the end.

“I can concede the first move.”

Ludwig says, striking a pose as if to tell me to come at him.

Does he think he looks cool doing that?

To me, he just looks like some punk holding a wooden sword and swaggering around.

‘Then I won’t refuse.’

I decided to test how well this body can wield a sword.

Zion dashed forward and swung the sword vertically.

The wooden sword was heavier than expected, and I worried that the other person might die if they got hit properly.

I was also afraid of getting seriously injured if they counterattacked, but the sword was swung nonetheless.

It wasn’t bad.

It seemed he had some experience handling a sword himself.

But that was it.

“Too slow!”

Clang!

Ludwig easily blocked Zion’s attack by swinging his sword.

I expected this, but even though this body has swung a sword a bit, it’s nothing compared to Ludwig; it’s just child’s play.

In the original story, Kim Yu-hyun would have cut off one of his arms, making him unable to wield a sword anymore.

‘Oh, shit. Look at how tingly my hand is.’

Even though it was just a wooden sword hitting another wooden sword, my hand felt like it was buzzing.

I could even feel a tingling pain, making me wonder what it would be like if this were a duel with real swords.

“Is that all you’ve got? Zion Claussen?”

“…Yeah. I guess that’s it.”

“Then it’s my turn.”

How should I deal with him?

Should I overwhelm him until he collapses on his own?

Or should I persistently target his weaknesses and inflict damage that will make him groan for a while?

He wanted to crush that annoying face of his, but Ludwig had to refrain from doing so because he knew it would cause a huge backlash.

‘First, the legs.’

Ludwig swung his sword, planning to break his balance and make him roll on the floor of the training ground.

No, to be exact, he was about to swing his sword.

“I surrender.”

…Huh?

Ludwig, who was rushing forward with great momentum, suddenly stopped.

Surrender?

What do you mean, surrender?

What did I even do to make him surrender?

Could it be that he’s surrendering just because his attack was blocked?

“What are you doing, Zion Claussen?”

“I said I surrender.”

Zion raised both hands slightly, showing no intention of defending himself.

It was a truly perfect declaration of surrender, and Ludwig felt a sudden sense of anticlimax.

He knew he was a coward, but he thought he would at least put up a fight once he started the duel.

But as soon as his attack was blocked, he readily surrendered.

“Ha.”

Ludwig, now dumbfounded, trudged towards Zion.

He had never seen such a cowardly and weak guy before.

The strict order of the Redenen Marquisate is to fight to the death once you enter a battle, and it is the pride of the knights and the duty of the soldiers. [A marquisate is a territory ruled by a marquis, a high-ranking nobleman.]

But this guy, this man who is said to be the eldest son of the Claussen Frontier Count, this likely successor of Claussen, who is called the shield of the kingdom, this damn pretty-faced bastard!

“You weakling! I’m disappointed, Zion Claussen!”

“Yeah. Gotcha?”

…Huh?

Something touched my neck.

Ludwig lowered his head slightly and was soon able to see what it was.

Zion, who had been raising both hands as a sign of surrender, had lowered one arm and was pointing the wooden sword he was holding at his neck.

“W-What are you doing?”

“You said the duel ends when you aim for the neck. I’m the one aiming for the neck, and you’re the one being aimed at. Therefore, I’m the winner, and you’re the loser. Do you understand, you magnificent knight candidate?”

“W-What the hell are you trying to do…”

Ludwig couldn’t understand what he was trying to do.

Using such a cheap trick in a duel?

Deceiving his opponent in the sacred swordsmanship arena?

“You wanted to see the swordsmanship I used on the battlefield. So, I showed it to you, right?”

“Nonsense! This is just a prank! Are you mocking me, you bastard!”

“If you have a problem, we can do it again. Deal?”

Ludwig gritted his teeth and accepted Zion’s nonchalant offer.

He had already conceded the first move, and since he had used such a dirty trick on him, he was planning to attack immediately and end the duel right away if they started again.

‘You son of a bitch! You only have a pretty face, but everything you do is trash!’

It seemed Ludwig had some sense when it came to judging people.

The only problem was that the Zion Claussen in front of him was no longer the Zion Claussen he knew.

“Let’s start, Ludwig.”

Thud!

As soon as those words were spoken, Ludwig kicked off the ground and rushed towards Zion.

Originally, he wanted to smash his head, but he thought it could cause a real problem, so he aimed for a light injury, targeting his opponent.

Zion took a defensive stance, but it was easily breakable.

At a glance, it seemed he had handled a sword a few times, but he hadn’t made it systematic or more accurate.

‘This is the end, you bastard!’

Oh, no. You idiot.

Zion chuckled and kicked his foot up with all his might without a second thought.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

From the moment Ludwig started expressing his anger, he had been subtly touching the floor of the training ground, gathering sand and dust on his shoes.

The sand was fine and small, so it wouldn’t hurt even if the opponent fell, and it seemed that even a small kick would create a cloud of dust.

Ludwig, who was instantly covered in it, struggled and slowed down.

His vision was blurred, but more than anything, he couldn’t do anything because of the stinging in his eyes from the dust.

“Gotcha again?”

Thud.

Zion chuckled and brought his sword to Ludwig’s neck again as he struggled.

It ended so cleanly and perfectly.

The self-proclaimed future top knight, who had been standing still, was dumbfounded.

“W-What the hell are you doing? Using tricks not once, but twice in this sacred swordsmanship duel…”

“You wanted to see the swordsmanship I used on the battlefield. Wasn’t that your request? I just did what you asked, so I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. Ludwig Redenen.”

“Of course! How can a knight use tricks! This is cowardly! This is cheap! This is a dirty trick! What the hell are you, using this openly twice…”

“So, you’re the knight who will be responsible for the future of the kingdom, who has been caught twice by a cowardly, cheap, and dirty trick?”

Tap, tap.

Zion lightly poked Ludwig’s Adam’s apple with the tip of his wooden sword and continued speaking with a cold face.

“I don’t know what kind of crazy fantasy you have, but I’ll tell you for your sake, since you’ve never been to the battlefield. The only cowardly thing to do in battle is to run away without fighting. Otherwise, anything goes on the battlefield. I’m telling you this because you’ve been cooped up at home, swinging your sword, and you don’t seem to know how the world works. Listen to your older brother. Don’t get hurt later.”

For the record, they are the same age. He’s not his older brother. Not yet.

“I was going to just do it roughly, but you kept looking down on war and asking me to show you the swordsmanship I used there, so I changed my mind. I’m giving a special lesson so that our little sister Ruby doesn’t get her neck cut off like that in the future.”

“Nonsense! I won’t fall for such a cheap trick…”

“You will. Do you think a knife won’t go into a knight’s neck? The process of getting it in is difficult, but the ending is all the same. If this were a real war, I would have lived, and you would have died. Not just once, but twice.”

Zion took the wooden sword off his neck and chuckled, patting his shoulder.

The guy who was about to beat him to a pulp just a moment ago was now glaring at him with a look of disgust on his face, which made him want to dance.

“Again! Let’s do it again, Zion Claussen! One more time!”

“Oh my, how pathetic. You’ve already lost twice, and you want to do it again? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“Argh!”

“It looks weird to others too. Even if you win one more time here, it’s still my victory with a score of 2:1. Why don’t we just end it cleanly with a score of 2:0, Ludwig?”

“You won by cheating!”

“There’s no war in the world where you’re treated as a loser for winning by cheating. A duel is also a preparation for that war, so get used to it quickly.”

“I can’t accept it! Let’s do it again. Let’s do it one more time!”

Then Zion moved his steps and approached Ludwig.

Ludwig looked tense, wondering if he was going to use another trick.

But Zion dropped the wooden sword in front of him with a thud and whispered in his ear.

“You know, Ludwig.”

“…?”

“I don’t listen to those who are weaker than me.”

With a line that made Bleachworm’s heart swell, Zion defeated Ludwig as he was. [This is a reference to a popular manga/anime series, implying the line was something a character from that series would say.]

In his life, although it has only been 20 years, it was the first time Ludwig had heard that he was weak.

He was dumbfounded, speechless, and furious, but he had lost twice, so he had nothing to say, and Ludwig Redenen had to stare at Zion with his lips moving.

‘Damn, this is so refreshing.’

He had made a fool of someone who had been ignoring him like a bug (although it wasn’t the real him), and he had even tasted the sweet victory, twice.

His swordsmanship was nothing special, but at least he was able to find openings, and Ludwig was just a kid who was good at swordsmanship but didn’t even know the truth of the world yet.

Justice is found in the courtroom, not on the battlefield where people kill each other. That’s just an insurance policy set up by the losers. A ridiculous insurance policy that says they lost because the enemy didn’t fight fairly.

Winning is the most important thing, and defeating the enemy is all that matters. Nothing else matters. It’s a world where you’re a hero if you win, no matter what you do, and you’re an idiot if you lose.

‘What.’

As Zion was walking, he made eye contact with someone.

He didn’t know how long he had been watching, but a middle-aged man with a sturdy body almost as big as a young man was looking back and forth between him and Ludwig.

Zion stopped and bowed his head in greeting.

“Marquis.”

Volko Redenen, the current Marquis Redenen and a man who had made great achievements in many wars.

The father of Ludwig, who was standing there dumbfounded, and a man who had a rather ambiguous relationship with the Lichten Frontier Count.

“It’s been a while, Zion Claussen.”

“Is that so.”

“So, how was it?”

“Pardon?”

Zion was slightly taken aback by the sudden question of how it was.

Was he perhaps asking how it felt to beat his son with tricks?

If that was really his intention, he had to think carefully.

No parent would look kindly on someone who did something strange to their child.

“Didn’t you personally show my son the swordsmanship you used in war?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’m asking you how that war you experienced was like.”

At those words, Zion raised his head slightly and looked at Marquis Volko.

His eyes had a cold light, but it didn’t seem like he was blaming him.

He didn’t seem to mind that his son had lost due to cowardly tactics.

Rather, he was making a slightly interested expression, and it seemed he was quite interested in the changed Zion Claussen.

‘The man in front of me is a nobleman who is better than Ludwig.’

Zion quickly racked his brain.

What should he say to please this marquis?

How could he make Ludwig eat shit one more time and achieve a perfect victory of 3:0?

“…War.”

He didn’t hesitate for long.

Zion lowered his voice as much as possible and created a somber atmosphere.

As if he would get goosebumps and tears would well up in his eyes just by thinking about the nightmare of that day.

“War was something that looked sweet and wonderful only to those who had never experienced it.”

“…”

There was no answer.

But there was definitely a reaction.

Marquis Volko raised his eyebrows as if to say, ‘Look at this guy?’

This was certain.

Ludwig had lost to Zion again.

With a score of 3:0!

‘Father, I sincerely thank you, you unfilial son! Kkyaak!’

He was so grateful for the ‘Collection of Cool and Awesome Quotes’ that his father had bought after getting drunk one day and suddenly feeling inspired.

[Author’s Note]

I’m uploading 4 chapters in a row.