I got out of bed and packed my stuff, including my wooden sword. But this time, unlike in the dream, I decided to give the letter to the receptionist at the tavern and told him to give it to my dad when he arrived.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIz7itnjJh
I went to the merchants’ gathering spot, where they were getting ready to leave. I tried convincing them to let me travel with them, but none of them agreed because I didn’t have enough money. I realized no one would let me travel with them, so I started walking around looking for a cart to hide in.
After a while, I heard a voice calling me.
“Estora! Estora! You damn fool!”
“Who is it?”
A curtain opened inside one of the carriages.
“It’s me, Nara, you moron.”
“Narami! You scared me. You didn’t have to be so rude. I thought it was someone trying to kill me.”
“Heh, you’re late.”
“What do you mean, late?”
“You were so insistent about leaving that I thought you would be here a lot sooner.”
“I’ve been looking for someone to take me with them for a long time, but none of these merchants accepted. I didn’t know you were this kind. You waited for me this whole time?”
“Of course not. I just saw you by accident and thought it wouldn’t hurt to have another traveling companion who can keep watch while we sleep. So just jump in before we leave you behind.”
“Hahaha, you’re so bad at lying. Thank you for inviting me, but who owns this carriage?”
“My friend introduced me to the owner. I’ve only met him a few times before. His name is too long, so I can’t remember it, but people call him Sarin.”
“Are you sure we can trust your friend and travel with this Sarin guy?”
“Heh, I didn’t know you were scared of old men. My friend said Sarin is like a brother to him, so don’t worry. Our trip will be easy.”
“So how much will he charge me?”
“Only half of what these other guys charge. You’ve got enough, right?”
“Yes. So now tell me, what are we going to do?”
“After studying the situation, we need to find out what happened to your mother and where her killers are.
“Once we arrive at the capital, we’ll act like we’re interested in joining HDO so we can get as much information as possible. During the tournament, we’ll get close to them and gather whatever information we can.”
“Are you going insane? I will never join hands with those murderers, no matter what!” I said.
“Will you ever listen to me for once? I hate this plan way more than you do, but it’s the only way I see,” Narami said.
“I’m still not doing it. I’ll just catch one of them and beat him up until he tells me everything,” I said.
“Heh, do whatever you want. Just don’t beg me for help when you’re about to die to a weakling.”
“The only weakling I see here is you. Look at your stupid-looking hair. How can anyone take you seriously?”
“Don’t touch my hair! You’ve done it now. Step outside and fight me if you dare before I choke you in this carriage!”
“Jah, jah, jah! Enough, kids. This isn’t a playground. No fighting in my carriage. Is that the friend you told me about, Narami?”
“I apologize, Mister. My name is Estora. Please allow me to join you on this journey.”
“Very polite. I didn’t expect that from Narami’s friend. So where are you from, kid?”
“I am from—”
“Enough wasting time with small talk. Let’s start moving since we’re all here,” Narami said.
“You’re always in a rush, but very well. Let’s start our journey while we still have plenty of daylight.”
A few hours later, we stopped to take a break and have lunch. But something had been worrying me the whole time. This tournament was said to be extremely tough, and I needed a strong partner going into it.
Is it really a good idea to go with Narami without knowing if he’s strong enough to hold his own?
“What are you looking at? You’ve been staring at me weird this whole time. Are you jealous of my smooth hair?” Narami said.
This is my chance to provoke him into fighting me so I can test him.
“I’m just wondering how you can have that much confidence when you look so weak.”
“Fondo isn’t here to stop me this time. So if you really want to get beaten up before the tournament, try me and I’ll make your wish come true,” Narami said.
“You don’t even carry a sword. I won’t fight an unarmed man.”
“As long as neither of you makes me stop for a doctor afterward, I’m willing to lend you my spare wooden sword,” Sarin said.
Narami stood up with Sarin’s sword in his hand.
There is no need to hold back after all that talk. I am finally going to see how strong he really is.
I saw no reason to hide my first attack. I charged Narami with a full overhand strike. It was an obvious attack that even a rookie should have been able to dodge, so I expected him to move out of the way easily.
But to my surprise, he blocked the blow head-on.
He immediately came at me with a barrage of heavy swings, putting all his strength behind every attack.
I carefully dodged them and quickly realized that he was the type to go all in from the beginning. I decided to end it quickly with a series of fast attacks that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with.
I rushed forward and struck the edge of his sword where it was weakest, then quickly hit his guard to loosen his grip and—
His sword fell!
“Seriously?!”
“What a farce! After all that nonsense you were talking, we barely exchanged a few strikes and I already knocked the sword out of your hand. I should’ve known better than to join you on this journey!” I shouted.
Narami remained silent and slowly approached me.
“Well? Say something!”
“The fight isn’t over until one of us surrenders, and I haven’t surrendered yet! And I never asked for a sword in the first place!”
He continued walking menacingly toward me with empty hands.
“So unless you’re scared of the unarmed man standing in front of you, come at me!”
“Hahaha! You should’ve just admitted your defeat, but fine.”
I attacked him with multiple strikes, but he dodged them calmly. I continued the barrage, aiming at his knees and joints to bring him down, but none of my attacks connected.
I’m not sure what his intention is, but he keeps slipping away before I can finish my swings. I need something faster.
I rushed him with a series of thrusts, eager to try the new technique I had been practicing. It wasn’t perfect yet, but against an unarmed Narami, it didn’t need to be.
He’s still dodging, but I’ve pushed him back quite a bit.
Finally, I saw an opening and lunged at him with one powerful thrust to end it all.
At that moment, his eyes gleamed.
He slipped past my thrust, grabbed my leg, and tackled me to the ground. Before I could recover, he climbed on top of me and pinned me down with his weight.
I pushed against his chest and twisted my body, trying to throw him off. For a moment, I managed to turn onto my side, but Narami immediately shifted with me and trapped my leg between his.
What the hell? Every time I move, he moves with me.
I planted my foot and tried to explode upward, but he pushed me flat again and caught my wrist.
“Got you.”
Before I could pull my arm back, he swung his leg over my head and dropped his weight backward, pulling my arm straight with him.
“Aagh!”
My elbow felt like it was about to snap.
“Admit your defeat or I’ll break your arm.”
“I’m not giving up to some cheap trick!”
“Okay, you two, that’s enough!” Sarin shouted.
Sarin rushed over and pulled us apart.
“I think we have a clear winner here. That was a clean arm lock. There’s no need to drag this out any longer,” Sarin said.
“No one asked for your opinion, and I never surrendered! Who allowed you to stop the fight before it was over?”
“You should be grateful to him that you still have your arm intact,” Narami said.
“Even with one arm, I would have… I would have…”
Fine. I will not be a sore loser.
“I’ll admit my defeat, as long as you fight me again using that technique of yours.”
“I still have enough energy to take down a mountain. Come at me anytime,” Narami said.
“Enough of this ruckus. We need to get going. You two can continue this another time,” Sarin said.
I hate to admit it, but my energy was almost completely depleted. Narami was breathing heavily too.
I wouldn’t want my rematch while he wasn’t at his best anyway.
“Fine. But you won’t have it your way next time.”
We continued traveling until the sun set. Sarin decided to stop along the road so we could rest.
“We need to rest here. I’ll keep watch tonight. You kids get some sleep,” Sarin said.
“No, I don’t need to rest. You two can sleep while I keep watch,” Narami said.
“No, I’ll keep watch. You need to conserve your energy for our fight tomorrow.”
“Heh, I don’t need any energy to defeat you. I could beat you with my eyes closed.”
“Okay, well, I already lit the fire, and I’m sleeping tonight. I’ll let you two decide. Goodnight,” Sarin said.
“Go to sleep, moron. I’ll stay up.”
“How about we fight now, and the winner keeps watch?”
“Heh, pick up your wooden sword and let’s get this over with. If you can land one attack on me, you win.”
We started our fight, and I made sure to keep my distance from him. After a couple of exchanges, I managed to graze his shoulder.
“I won! If I had my real sword, your arm would be gone.”
“Hah! You call that a strike? That wouldn’t have even scratched me.”
We fought over and over again. Neither of us wanted to end the night on a loss, so we kept fighting.
“Ahh, what a beautiful morning. Let me grab my tea and wake up the boys… Though I wonder what that swooshing noise is.”
“Unbelievable! When did you two manage to wake up and start fighting like this?”
I took a few deep breaths.
“Wake up? What do you mean?”
“Why do you two look so exhausted? When did you sleep last night?”
“We never slept. Every time I beat him, he challenges me again.”
“Nonsense! Every time I tackle him, he gets back up talking about how I won’t catch him again!”
“You two were supposed to keep watch, not start your own tournament beside my carriage,” Sarin said. “But now I’m curious. Who won the most?”
“I won nine times to his six,” Narami said.
“Liar! You probably just made those numbers up. I’m sure I won more than that.”
“Come on, let’s start moving. There’s no time to waste,” Sarin said.
We continued our journey toward the capital city of Hali. Narami and I spent most of the day sleeping and woke up only a few hours before sunset.
“Finally awake, huh? We overslept a little,” Narami said.
“A little? Hahaha, it’s almost nighttime, and we haven’t even eaten anything yet.”
“You’re right.”
Narami and I shared some leftover rice as the carriage continued down the road. While we ate, I got curious and asked,
“Who taught you to fight like that? I’ve never seen anyone grapple at that level before.”
Narami stared at me and stopped eating. For a few seconds, he didn’t say a word. His whole demeanor suddenly changed.
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To be continued…
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