Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap Chapter 46 : Duel (1)

Duel (1)

To begin with the conclusion, Plerine's plan was scrapped.

"Everyone knows about the upcoming duel. In this situation, if the opponent dies, I'd be the first suspect, right?"

"Even if it's all handled smoothly, with no evidence left behind?"

Plerine spat out the murderous suggestion without any change in expression, but after a brief consideration, she ultimately rejected it.

"First, let's prepare to win the duel. If it really seems impossible, we'll reconsider. There's still ti before the duel."

Running the shop was essential for my survival rate and growth.

For this shop to run smoothly, my standing and reputation in the village were critical.

Fleeing from an honor duel, or my opponent dying before the fight even began, would only complicate shop managent.

'Therefore, plan A has to be winning the duel.'

If I could win this duel, I could display my strength as a cook, earn a reputation, and establish my shop's position.

Of course, if there's no way at all, I'd have to follow Plerine's advice and prepare accordingly.

"Alright. Since that's what you say, boss, I'll wait for now. But if things seem hopeless, I won't just sit by and watch."

Her words reminded that the woman in front of was a terrifying high-circle mage.

Yet, it was also reassuring to have such insurance.

"Okay, so don't worry. I'll make sure none of you have to put yourselves in harm's way."

I tried to sound confident, but the two employees' reactions were less than enthusiastic. Naba even fidgeted anxiously, gnawing his lower lip. It was getting pretty awkward when—

"Boss, wait a second."

"Hm?"

"Soone's running toward the shop."

Before the words were even finished, the shop door began to shake. Bang! Bang!

"Hey, is anyone in there?!"

Recognizing the familiar voice, my tension faded. Naba began to rise as if to respond, but I stopped him.

"Sit down."

"O-oh, yes."

Instead of the employee, I personally walked over to open the door.

Clink. Creak.

I flashed a bright smile at the middle-aged man panting on the threshold.

"Long ti no see, Flaco."

"You, you son of a bitch!"

Flaco started off with a burst of anger.

"When did you get back?! If you're here, you should have reported in first!"

Why's this guy so worked up?

"I left a gift at your place, Flaco. Didn't you see it? It's a bow I bought for a hefty price at Grey Fortress, about this size."

"... How was I supposed to know that?!"

Flaco shouted in a strange mix of annoyance and relief, then coughed a few tis, glancing furtively into the shop before speaking softly.

"... Naba? Is he here?"

I nodded toward Naba with my chin. Naba approached with a beaming smile.

"Flaco! I was feeling awkward since I hadn't paid my respects yet."

"... Damn brat."

Flaco stared at Naba for a long mont, then bowed his head and muttered.

"I told you to call uncle, not Flaco."

Naba responded with a "Huh?" but Flaco raised his voice in return.

"Ha! Good, that's good! Things were getting annoying anyway!"

With that, the hunter spun around and began to walk off. I barely stifled a laugh.

'Looks like they've grown fond of each other while I was away.'

Well, who wouldn't get attached?

He's a well-behaved, cute kid, and the son of a close friend. Hard not to adore the little one.

I'd been slightly worried Flaco's hunter's instincts might pick sothing up, but it turned out to be an unfounded concern.

Flaco's lonely figure receded—and suddenly, Naba dashed past , running after him.

"Flaco, please help us!"

Choking back tears, Naba grabbed Flaco's sleeve.

"... What are you talking about?"

Flaco's head turned slowly to look at , his brow deeply furrowed and fierce killing intent radiating from him.

I was just as flustered, but Naba shouted desperately:

"Our boss is going to have a duel in three days!"

"...?"

"Please, please help us!"

Oh, my aching head.

*

Whether he was an unwelco guest or a reinforcent, a new figure joined the eting table, which, until a mont ago, had been our dining table.

'Even if I know how to cook, I'm not trusted for my combat prowess, huh.'

A sad reality.

After briefly introducing Plerine and Flaco, I explained the situation to Flaco again.

News about would reach his ears sooner or later anyway.

"What?! Sergeant Pab? You an that giant in Hank's company?!"

This guy was being extra dramatic today.

"Most likely, yes. Why? Is he famous or sothing?"

Flaco looked at with pity and said,

"Don't worry. Even if you die, I'll take care of Naba and the shop."

Son of a...? It looked like his lips twitched for a mont.

"No tasteless jokes, please."

"Does this sound like a joke to you?"

"Anyway, if you know anything about Sergeant Pab, please tell everything."

Flaco blinked a few tis at my words.

"You're serious, aren't you. Hah."

I almost lost my temper at Flaco's condescension, but Naba, who had been watching quietly, stepped up first.

"Flaco, please—any advice you can give us."

Flaco coughed, then spoke, seemingly moved by Naba's earnest plea.

"Battalion commander, madman Jeros, Legion Special Investigator, Lantz, Hank, Devanne—company commanders."

"?"

"Other than those, the strongest person in this village is Sergeant Pab."

Gulp.

I heard Naba swallow hard.

The child's face wasn't just pale; it was the picture of despair, but Flaco continued dispassionately.

"He's a squad leader in na only; his skills match that of a company commander. There's no one else in the 3rd-rank who can hold a candle to him. I hear he's practically knocking on 4th-rank's door."

Flaco then described the wiry company commander's fighting style.

He fought with a near-perfect Flowing Sword style for an exceptional defense, and he used his uniquely long arms to make decisive preemptive strikes.

"To my knowledge, he's never lost in a sparring tournant. In fact, he's overwheld every opponent."

The more I heard from Flaco, the more shocked I beca inside.

Green-eyed Hank, that bastard.

Did they set up an outsider like to face soone this strong?

'ticulously done, you son of a bitch.'

As I realized the opponent was even stronger than expected, part of my mind feverishly calculated ways I could possibly win.

Then Flaco said,

"Run away."

The unexpected suggestion threw off a bit.

"That's under consideration."

To be precise, if Plerine went for the assassination and got caught, I'd run.

"Under consideration? You've just now learned mana and you're only at first-rank—what are you—?"

"What if I'm not first-rank?"

"If you're not first-rank...what? You an—?!"

"Yes. I'm at 2nd-rank now. I'm almost at the 3rd-rank, too."

"... What the—! You, an outsider, not only learned mana but reached 2nd-rank? All in such a short ti?"

"My primary sword style is Quick Sword, want to show you?"

"No, never mind. If my hunter's instincts are right, it must be true. Damn it, oh gods above."

Flaco sighed as if the world was ending.

"Anyway, even if you're at 2nd-rank, the result will be the sa. Pab is 3rd-rank—you can't match him."

"We'll see. Can't know unless I try. As you know, I've beaten people above my rank before."

"...?"

Flaco missed the implication for a mont, then exploded.

"You little—! You think I'm a pushover?!"

To the sound of the dieval hunter's yelling, I began sketching out my victory plan. Naba, hang in there. Keep him calm.

'If an underdog like is to defeat Pab, what should I do?'

First, I reviewed my own experience.

How had I, a first-rank, managed to defeat a 2nd-rank hunter?

... In truth, the biggest reason was Flaco's carelessness.

'If he'd had one or two more arrows left, who knows what would have happened? I'd either have died or been gravely hurt....'

No point in tempting fate any further.

In short, the result of that fight was because—

'I closed in and fought him at a distance advantageous to .'

That's why he nearly died and I could almost win.

In such a straightforward match, where no outside factors are present, controlling the distance is vital.

'In other words, I must take the opponent's distance while creating my own.'

It's the similarity between gas and sword duels.

But then, how could I close the gap and get in range against that long-ard monkey and Flowing Sword style?

Learning a movent skill—footwork—was the obvious solution, but unfortunately, I had no one to teach .

... Damn Jeros.

That bastard probably knows a movent technique or two.

Increasing my own attack range wasn't easy, either.

My swordsmanship was specialized in kitchen knives.

It would be silly to suddenly start using an arming sword now.

'Hm?'

Suddenly, an odd or rather, ingenious idea popped into my head.

"What about this, then?"

"??"

Flaco fell silent with curiosity, and naturally, the three pairs of eyes fell on .

"What? Co up with a good idea?"

It was a bit embarrassing now that the stage was set, but the basics of brainstorming are quantity over quality.

Forget logic, just throw it out there.

"For the next three days, I train with a spear instead of a sword. With a spear, I'd have the range advantage."

"......."

"......."

"......."

Goddamn. The atmosphere couldn't have gotten any colder.

After a long mont, Plerine asked,

"Can you learn enough in the little ti you have to actually use it in the duel?"

"With my talent, who knows."

"Hah! Talent, my ass!"

Flaco protested.

"Got anyone to teach you spear techniques?"

Even before I could answer, Naba timidly raised a hand.

"Boss, if it's about range, why not use a bow instead of a spear?"

"... A bow?"

"Yes, a bow. If it's archery, you can learn from Flaco."

Naba's cute idea was better than mine, but it wasn't the right answer.

"Against Flowing Sword, ordinary archery won't work—unless you have a skill like 'Hunting Ti'."

That's what I said, but I'd still like to learn archery if the opportunity ca up.

I'd been a good marksman in the army. Wouldn't it be easy to learn the bow, too?

As I entertained these thoughts, Flaco suddenly grew uncharacteristically serious.

"Ian."

He called my na with a grave expression.

"How do you know about 'Hunting Ti'?"

A chill ran up my forearm.

No way... This guy—

Can he use 'Hunting Ti'?!

*

You know about Korean gars.

They may not care for ga lore or story,

but when it cos to character specs and builds? No one knows their stuff better.

I was your average Korean gar:

a ten-year Belkhazium veteran.

Of course, I knew 'Hunting Ti'.

'The core skill of physical ranged builds—Hunting Ti!'

Normally, ranged attacks have lower 'accuracy' compared to lee attacks.

But if you use the 'Hunting Ti' skill, your 'accuracy' increases dramatically, letting you land valid hits even on targets with high defense or evasion.

'In short, if I have Hunting Ti, I can use a bow against Flowing Sword!'

Of course, reality is different from the ga, and the skills will vary, but even so, I felt a glimr of hope.

"Flaco!"

With only days until the duel,

I steeled myself to treat Flaco as my teacher rather than Jeros and bowed my head.

"Please! Teach archery and Hunting Ti!!"

My desperate cry echoed through the shop, but there was no reply.

Sensing sothing strange, I looked up and Flaco awkwardly scratched his nose.

"No."

This bastard?

"Why not?"

"You think archery's that easy?! I don't know how you know about Hunting Ti, but there's no guarantee you can even learn the basics of archery before the duel, let alone Hunting Ti."

Calm down, Ian.

He's just a dumb dievaler.

"And besides, I, Flaco, hate wasting ti on pointless things."

—I almost punched him in the face,

but thankfully, Naba stepped up first.

"Flaco, our boss has a natural talent for martial arts. I've seen it! Alone, with just a kitchen knife, he's beaten multiple opponents. He'll learn archery just as quickly."

Startled by Naba's fervor, Flaco fumbled before replying.

"Still no! Even if that damned Ian sohow manages to learn my archery, I've got a certain quota of fresh at to deliver every day. I can't afford to miss even a single day of hunting."

"... Right, I forgot."

Knowing Flaco's workload and routine, Naba fell silent in dismay.

A great solution ca to in that mont.

"I have a stash of fresh at. How about I share it?"

Naba imdiately responded.

"Right! The boss caught plenty of at! If it's that big haul, Flaco could afford to take a few days off!"

"... What do you an?"

With a dumb look on his face, Naba dragged Flaco off to the kitchen. After a mont, Flaco returned with an even dumber expression.

"Who caught that?"

"I did."

"Huh? You?"

"Yes."

Flaco muttered in a resigned tone.

"Aren't you supposed to be 2nd-rank? How'd you take down an Ice Bear so cleanly?"

No need to ntion Plerine's help, so I moved straight to the negotiations.

"As paynt for teaching archery and Hunting Ti, you can have half of the Ice Bear at. Sound fair?"