In the center of the courtyard, not far from William, Rogas smiled wryly.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
"Of course," William replied. "I'm just following the way you play."
"I'll kick your ass."
"I'll smack your nose one more time."
"Well! This is the final and most decisive battle! Are you two ready?" Taupin's cry boomed. As soon as William and Rogas nodded, the village head signaled, "Start!"
The audience cheered.
William swung his sword first, strong and fast with a terrifying whoosh. But Rogas managed to fend off, no less quickly. Then it was Rogas' turn to advance with a stab to the body. William parried with a more fierce slash.
William attacked with explosive energy and full of emotion. His sword whirled wildly, above his head, into the middle of his enemy's body, and also down to the feet. A series of attacks that would make his enemy's sword bounce off if he were just an ordinary soldier. Rogas was not an elite and disciplined soldier like the royal troops, but he had sufficient combat experience. In fact, he was the one who taught William many things about swordsmanship. So for a while, Rogas was still able to fend off the attacks.
But after that, he started to get tired and couldn't keep up with William. William managed to push Rogas to the edge of the battle circle. He swung his sword as hard as he could from top to bottom. Rogas couldn't help it. The sword slipped from Rogas' hand, and the man fell to his knees.
Everyone cheers.
William grimaced as he pointed his sword at Rogas' face. "I told you, I'll beat you up."
Roger growled. "Take off your sword. We use bare hands. Do you dare?"
"No problem." William threw his sword aside.
Rogas jumped quickly. His head butted into William's stomach.
William did not expect it, his stomach immediately rumbled and his body was pushed back. Luckily after a few steps, he was able to strengthen his stance and keep his balance. His two fists hit Rogas' body from left and right. However, because their distance was too close, the swing was not optimal. Rogas seemed to feel no pain at all. The man backed away, then swung his left fist, landing heavily on William's jaw.
William was dizzy. His consciousness was lost. Fortunately, the reflex movement of his left hand managed to block Rogas' right blow. William lost his stance and almost fell over if his left hand hadn't grabbed Rogas' hair, then pulled and pressed the man's head down with all his might, reversing the attack. William pulled his right leg back, ready to kneel Rogas in the face.
If he succeeded, maybe that unfortunate face would be out of shape later. Rogas who smelled the danger butted in again to narrow the distance. The move managed to save his face, as well as head William in the stomach once again. But as a result, his defense became open. William continued his kick into Rogas' stomach until the man let out a suppressed moan from his mouth.
William lifted Rogas' head with his left hand and swung his right fist. His punch landed on Rogas' nose. The man staggered, then fell to the ground.
William jumped up, about to hit again with the final blow. But Rogas seemed to have lost his strength. He raised his hand in surrender.
"Hey, hey! Enough! It's enough!" He clutched his bleeding nose, and screamed in annoyance, "You broke my nose!"
William snorted. His chest rose and fell. "You already know that … you know I have every reason to smack your nose."
"Why? You're a damn vengeful brat!"
"No, I'm just teaching you a lesson."
"You arrogant brat. You will get a lesson too later!" Rogas cursed, but his face was no longer as irritated as before, instead, he was grinning.
William was quite relieved to see him, for his friend had not been angry with him for long. As for the broken nose, well … if Rogas treat it a little later it will definitely heal. Although maybe the nose will be a little crooked.
Taupin stood up from his chair and walked over to William and Rogas. Her face beamed. "It seems obvious, you are the winner!" he said to William, to an immediate cheer from the crowd. "As I said, I'm looking for the deputy troop leader. You proved yourself to be the strongest and bravest person in this place. I hope you can be trusted too. So, do you want to accept it?"
William looked at Taupin for a moment, then shook his head.
"I want to join your army, and you can trust me, but I don't want to be troop leader or deputy troop leader. Let him do it," he said, glancing at Rogas, who was still rubbing his nose. "I think he wants this job more."
Taupin nodded while stroking his beard, then turned to Rogas. "Then I'll offer you the position. Are you ready?"
Rogas smiled slyly. "If the pay is good."
Taupin retorted, "We can talk about it. Right now?"
"Yes. Right now."
"We'll talk at my house."
"I want my little brother to come into the discussion," Rogas replied. "He also needs to know. If I become your deputy, then he will become my deputy, or … the deputy of your deputy, so to speak…"
Taupin glanced at William, apparently surprised. "He's your brother?"
"Yes. I'm Dall, he's Tuck. I think you can understand now, sir, why he wanted so badly to punch me in the nose." Rogas grimaced, then answered his question himself, "Because we are brothers."
Taupin just looked at him without smiling, then retorted, "Unfortunately I don't understand what you mean. But I'm glad you two are here. Your strength is very much needed."
"Only if the pay is right, sir, don't forget," Rogas said.
William understood now. That was the reason why Rogas bothered to display his skills in front of everyone. To increase his price in Taupin's eyes. Rogas probably didn't really care about his position as a deputy troop leader. All he could think about was the fee, and of course, the fee for the deputy of the army was greater than the fee for an ordinary soldier. Good thinking, but still annoying and dangerous. William hoped that word of this fight would not spread until it was heard by Mornitz and his gang.
Taupin invited William and Rogas to sit on the veranda of his house. Cups and teapots with drinks are served. Meanwhile, the twenty people who had been watching them fight before now gathered in the courtyard. They seemed to be fishermen and hunters from Orulion or other small villages who were willing to join the Taupin army. They didn't look as convincing as soldiers, but maybe after some training, they would get better.
Taupin glanced at William. Handing him the tea the village chief asked, "Tuck, what do you think of them? Are they strong enough?"
William shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know what you're doing here. Making troops? If this is a troop, where are the weapons?"
"It's in the warehouse. Swords and spears, enough for thirty people. I collected it from various places. Just simple weapons, but I think that's enough for now until we can get better ones."
"I heard the Hualeg people are terrible," said Rogas, looking like he was about to provoke talk into the subject of pay. "Do you know?"
"Of course I know," said Taupin. "I myself was attacked by them a few years ago and managed to survive. That's precisely why I took the initiative to create this army because I couldn't expect help from Alton's people. You know, at times like this, those people from the royal army are useless."