Basically, Signiel's strategy was "hit and run." His sharp sword that
specialized in speed made full use of his speed. Its strength enabled him to
kill his opponent in one hit using their blindspot. As a result, his opponents
would often be forced to go on defense. Even the Amelia kingdom's best
swordsman, Arnold, had been forced to go on defense as Signiel kept
attacking his blindspots.
That was why the scene happening right in front of me subverted all kinds
of expectations.
Even though Signiel was running at his fastest speed and slashing with his
long sword from behind, Kai effortlessly repelled him with a make-shift
wooden sword without even so much as turning around.
Even though I couldn't see anything but Signiel's afterimage when he
diagonally attacked Kai from behind, Kai's wooden sword easily parried the
attack.
Signiel then slashed from the diagonal-left, aiming to behead Kai. However,
he had expected that attack to get parried, so he closed in the distance and
swung his dagger toward Kai's abdomen. Nevertheless, Kai's wooden
sword still struck down the dagger.
（What's the meaning of this?）
To be honest, for me, Rosemary Loto Amelia, the battle between Signiel
and Arnold from a while ago had been far more amazing.
For some reason, I couldn't feel the same heat in this fight as I had in the
previous battle. Unexpectedly, I could capture every movement of Kai as if
he were moving in slow motion. Against such slow motion, Signiel's
godspeed should allow him to win this battle with the first strike. Yet,
Signiel always failed to land a hit.
「Arnold, why are none of Signiel's attacks landing on Kai?」
""
My doubt led me to ask such a question to Arnold, who stood beside me.
He was absentmindedly looking at the battle.
「…」
「Arnold?」
「Y-Yes. E~h, that's… I think it's simply a difference between their
mastery.」
「The difference… between their mastery?」
「Yes, to put it simply, it's like the difference between a veteran who has
been swinging his sword for decades and a newbie who had just picked his
sword. The difference between these two is even greater than that.」
「B-But, regarding talent, Kai is—」
「No, please make no mistake! This isn't something as simple as talent!
Difference in talent alone is far from enough to create such a massive gap
between their mastery of sword! This hopelessly massive gap is the result
of overwhelming experiences!」
Is there that much gap between them? I mean, this was the first time I saw
the gentle Arnold speak with such a harsh tone. The color drained from his
face when he looked at the battle.
「Overwhelming difference in their experience?」
The more I heard, the more confused I became. Kai had reached a level that
only those old swordmasters could reach. But, he was far younger than
Signiel.
「Yes, my sword master is always telling me about it. A person who swings
his sword not for fame, conceit, and joy forgets everything when he swings
his sword. One can only arrive at the true meaning of swordsmanship when
one abandons all thoughts and just innocently swings the sword. Maybe,
Kai has arrived at that state after the end of years of training.」
「B-But, Kai is still 15 years old!」
「I'm sure something's wrong with his age. Given his skill, I'm sure that he
has lived a far longer life than all of us. His sword art is the basis for my
guess. It speaks of an overwhelmingly long period of training.」
Arnold declared so without any hesitation.
Has Kai really lived a far longer life than all of us? Could it be that he's an
elf? High elves are known to live especially long lives. I've heard that they
can live for a thousand years. If it were so, I could accept it. However,
Kai's birthplace was confirmed. He was a human, not an elf or a high elf.
There was no doubt in this regard.
「Look, it's about to end.」
I snapped out of my train of thought when Arnold made that remark.
I saw Signiel drop the sword in his right hand when Kai's wooden sword hit
his right hand.