Goblin Knight - Chapter 297



Only Noblemtl

EP.297 Time Problem (5)

“Based on what I’ve seen so far, our knight has only one skill that can be called a finishing move. Why, he sticks his sword into the ground, brings his hands together, and then slashes with one stroke… Is there a separate name for that skill?”

“… … I don’t know. I just learned it by seeing.”

“Really? Well, that’s pretty good, but since it’s basically a swordsmanship technique, there are limits to the situations in which it can be used. You can’t use it while the slaughter is coming at you without a moment to breathe.”

Perhaps Ella was wrong about that one thing.

The reason Blanc considered this technique truly great was because it allowed him to create a path through prayer even in situations where prayer was absolutely not allowed.

But it was true that it was not very versatile, so instead of refuting it, Blanc waited for the next words.

“From what I’ve seen, there are three main areas where the knight struggles the most. The enemy simply has overwhelmingly higher specs than you, the enemy is very far away, or there are a lot of enemies.”

“… … Oh, isn’t that obvious?”

“Of course… up to the level of Bannerlet, whose physical specs simply surpass those of humans.”

Ella scratched the dirt floor with a poker.

What she drew was a straight line divided into seven sections.

“You know the Rule of 3, right? The Rule of 5 is a mercenary term used in the military, so don’t get confused.”

“I know. It means that one elite soldier can fight three civilians, and one squire can fight three elite soldiers.”

“That’s right. But that’s not very accurate. To be honest, it’s hard for one squire to defeat nine normal people, and even among bannerets, there can be huge differences in skill depending on experience, and a knight of the Holy Fire is better at defeating monsters than an imperial banneret… .”

“Hmm.”

“So I’m dividing the categories like this.”

Ella pointed to each section with a poker and said.

“An ordinary person. He can’t even handle a single weapon properly.

Elite soldier. He can handle one or two trained weapons to some extent, but his physical ability is that of a person who has worked out a bit. If he gets caught up in a neighborhood fight, he might get beaten to death if he is unlucky?

Squire. These guys are classified as knights, so they seem to fight a bit. If they have decent backgrounds, they can use weapons quite well… Anyway, they won’t be able to fight against normal people anymore.

Knight. He is skilled in at least three weapons, has horsemanship skills, and has his athletic ability raised to the limit of human ability. His level of military power alone is enough to be recognized as noble.

Bannerlet. Not only is his weapon proficiency lacking, but his body is on the level of a superhuman. He is a great man, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to be the head of a small knight family. Although the level of our group is so strange that it’s hard to understand.

“Up until now, I could talk about it quickly because it was an area that even you, the knight, were familiar with… but from the Master’s point of view, there’s a lot more to talk about. Let’s take a moment to relax.”

Ella moistened her mouth with water and continued speaking.

“Master. A state of training where no one can deny that you are a superhuman. And at this point, usually… you awaken to some special ability that you were unable to use before.”

“awakening?”

“It’s usually called a fantasy… … .”

Ella aimed the poker at Blanc, then slowly closed her eyes as if concentrating on something.

After a while.

“… … !!?”

Blanc forgot that he was resting and jumped up in shock, having no choice but to place his hand on the hilt of his sword.

The warmth of the campfire and his comrades was nowhere to be found, and before he knew it, he was thrown alone into a bloody space filled with the screams of empty ghosts and cold blood running up to his ankles… … .

“Well, it’s like this.”

“T, this is… what is… … ?”

Everything returned to normal as Ella’s voice was heard from beyond the pool of blood.

But the unpleasant stickiness that clung to his feet, the creepy sensation that made his hair stand on end, still lingered in his fingertips and made his hands tremble.

He couldn’t understand what was happening to him, so he could only stare blankly at Ella.

“Master, why all of a sudden… … .”

“What was that just now? Was it magic? No, if it was magic, Annely would have noticed-”

“It’s not magic. Sir, have you ever been so overwhelmed by an enemy before you even fought that you couldn’t move properly? Or have you ever seen a rat standing in front of a snake freeze without being hit?”

“Well… there is something like that… … .”

“I guess you could say it’s a super super super enhanced version of that.”

Ella shrugged.

“All beings have the ability to make themselves known to other beings, right? To see with the eyes, hear with the ears… something like that, the five senses.

But after living in a fight for a really long time, I often find that my opponent gets scared and runs away or freezes in fear even though I haven’t done anything.

I was curious as to why, so I asked him one time before I stomped on him to death, and he said he already thought his head had exploded.

“Something that could not be explained by the five senses was forcing my will on the other person.”

Ella tapped her head.

“Using that ‘sixth sense’, one can force one’s will… a specific image onto the other person. That is the condition of a master in my opinion.

I don’t know exactly when or how they were able to awaken that sense, but all those who used it had a level of power that could be called a master.

At first, it can only be used to intentionally make the opponent hesitate or get their feet tangled.

But once you get used to it, you can continuously show incredibly specific illusions like you did to the knight a little while ago, or you can use it as a target to momentarily forcibly raise your abilities by one level.

“If you reach a level that goes beyond that… … .”

It was Annelly who spoke those last words.

“You could force your imagination on the world.”

“… … I’ve never seen or used it, so it’s just a guess. How do you know?”

“When I listen to it, it seems similar to the form of narrative magic in that it ‘forces one’s existence.’ Does it mean that when you reach that high a state of nothingness, your existence itself becomes mysterious… … ?”

“What is narrative magic?”

“It’s a branch of magic. It’s a form of magic that manifests the narrative you’ve built up by processing it into a mystery. But since this isn’t the story we need right now, I’ll continue on to the next opportunity. So please wait for the next time.”

Annelies urged Ella cautiously.

Judging by the way her eyes sparkled, it seemed like the story she didn’t know was quite interesting.

“Well… I went on and on about something long, but this is the reason why those who are at the level of masters can overcome the hardships I mentioned earlier.

If the enemy’s specs are overwhelmingly strong, you can force yourself to think of ways to bring them down.

Even if the enemy is far away, if you know that he is aware of you, you can subdue him without lifting a finger.

Needless to say, if there are multiple weak enemies.

“It’s not the kind of swordsmanship you normally think of, but… isn’t this an ability that could be called a finishing move?”

“Certainly. But Ella, why didn’t you teach it to your master first?”

“First of all, I just thought that you weren’t ready yet. Just because you can crush Bannerlet doesn’t mean you can become a Master.

Second, just learning the imagery won’t help you improve your overall skills. To be honest, in a sword-to-sword fight, ‘unknown techniques’ are much more fatal. If you don’t consider time, it’s better to just build up your basics.

And finally… As I said earlier, I didn’t think it was that urgent. I didn’t know exactly when or what would trigger the awakening, and I didn’t want to make a peaceful journey too harsh.

But since the knight has chosen to make his own journey difficult, I have no choice but to comply.”

Ella chuckled and slung the poker over her shoulder.

“So, sir, from today onwards, I’m going to change the training content a bit. To put it simply, it’s going to be a course where I’ll push you to the brink of death every day.

I know it sounds absurd, but I can’t help it. The reason I came to my senses was because I got cut down four times in a row by one of the executioners. There’s no other way known.

But I won’t gain anything by just beating them up one-sidedly, so I’ll mix in some of the swordsmanship I know. I’ll learn by cutting with my own eyes and body-”

“……no.”

“huh?”

Ella’s eyes widened at Blanc’s sudden denial.

But after chewing over Ella’s explanation and thinking about it deeply, he…

“I won’t have to force myself to learn it.”

“Huh? Why!? Now that I’ve experienced it myself, I can sense how useful this technique is-”

“Probably… I’m already dealing with the image.”

“what?”

Ella tilted her head as if she was hearing this for the first time.

But Annelie, who noticed where Blanc’s gaze was directed, let out a small “Ah.”

Yeah, I didn’t have to go far.

Silver sword.

To be exact… my mother’s iron sword, named Eun-geom.

This ordinary longsword was destroyed without its owner being able to fulfill his purpose, and was not even passed down.

What was the reason that it never broke despite countless battles and was able to cut down evil spirits that even the consecrated silver sword could not cut?

Put your will into the sword… … .

“Yes, is there any image as clear to me as that?”

Blanc, who noticed the truth, smiled quietly.