Let the Whales Fight, This Shrimp is Leaving! - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 60
I’d been bustling about since early morning to prepare for Joaquin Perez’s escort.
I regarded his still-swollen face with a measure of sympathy.
“Your Highness, you look absolutely dreadful.”
“Jus’ shuddup.”
“And your speech is positively slurred. What a ghastly sight.”
When I offered him a bright smile, Joaquin’s fists began to tremble.
Watching him shake with shame and fury, I felt a delicious surge of satisfaction.
It wasn’t my hand that had reduced him to this state, which was unfortunate, but I’d grown fond of seeing his usual arrogance so thoroughly crushed.
“You’ll come to rue how foolish your defiance was.”
“P-pardon? What was that? Would you mind repeating yourself more slowly?”
I fixed Joaquin with a burning gaze and needled him without restraint.
“Your diction is simply so poor, I couldn’t understand a word.”
“Idir!”
“Now you can’t even say my name correctly. It’s Idir Hubert, if you please.”
Giggling, I scraped away at his composure and turned to leave.
Joaquin climbed into the carriage bound head to toe in rope, a black cloth pulled over his face.
The men he’d brought were loaded onto supply wagons to prevent any mischief.
His knights were likewise disarmed and restrained.
Sending them to the royal court of Cordi in this state would doubtless provoke a furious response, but what of it?
I’d never wanted good relations with them.
I’d only needed to pretend.
The guards I’d assigned surrounded their carriages.
I made certain to reiterate the Messenger delegation’s orders with absolute clarity.
“Even if war is declared, it matters little. Lodge a formal protest regarding Joaquin’s outrages and demand the promised compensation. And above all, return safely.”
“Fear not, Ducal Princess. We shall return before any cause for concern arises.”
I also left them with instructions: if Cordi attempted to detain them, they were to attack without hesitation and escape by any means necessary.
Once the farewells were complete, it had grown late afternoon.
The training bouts would still be in full swing.
I’d meant to go straight to my Office, but instead turned my steps toward the Training Ground.
I wanted to check on how the duels were progressing.
As I drew near the Training Ground, the distinctive noise grew louder.
Voices cheering on fellow knights, advice on technique, the clash of steel on steel.
By the time I arrived, inhaling the acrid smell of churned dust, a bout between a knight and Deyan had just concluded.
The victor was, unsurprisingly, Deyan.
Looking at the slate board where match scores were recorded, the win rate was pitiful.
‘Only three victories? That’s it?’
Whether weight class and raw strength truly held such dominance, or whether Deyan’s reckless onslaught simply proved devastatingly effective when it landed, I couldn’t say.
“Ah, Ducal Princess. You’ve arrived.”
“I came to observe for a moment.”
“Let us prepare a seat for you.”
“Oh, there’s no need for such fuss.”
“Nonsense. Please, come this way.”
The knights who spotted me quickly made space.
They laid down a fresh towel and formed a line behind me, creating shade, so I was able to sit comfortably and enjoy the matches.
‘I should have the Kitchen prepare refreshments.’
The knights at close range were mostly caked in sweat and dust.
Judging by the brackets on the match board, they’d been conducting a tournament-style training regimen with real intensity.
‘Nemanic stirred them up.’
It was an excellent sign.
I smiled warmly and watched the next bout commence.
“Now it’s Giselle’s turn.”
“Is it? I’ve arrived at just the right moment.”
“I do hope Giselle wins.”
The knight who spoke kindly gazed at the match board with a bitter expression.
His name was among the eight who’d faced Deyan.
“Next time, you’ll certainly prevail. I’ll be cheering you on.”
“Thank you.”
“What did you notice about Nemanic’s swordwork?”
“Well, first, he tends to press down with considerable force. Also…….”
As I conversed pleasantly with the knights, Deyan and Giselle—having caught their breath and dried their sweat—faced off.
The other knights training nearby abruptly stopped their movements.
With all eyes fixed on the two of them, Giselle yielded first strike to Deyan.
Deyan accepted the courtesy without refusal.
To the uninformed, it might seem cowardly, but Giselle was nearly his perfect counter.
It was a contest of technique against brute strength.
‘If it comes to it, to dispatch him in one moment…….’
I watched, considering whether Giselle could kill him should Deyan ever turn his blade upon me.
Metal scraped as Deyan bore down from above, pressing Giselle back with a harsh, grinding sound.
She twisted her head to evade the killing stroke and drove her heel into his face in one fluid motion.
Caught off-guard, Deyan took the blow full and staggered backward in alarm.
‘In a duel, there’s no rule that only swords count.’
Giselle pressed her advantage, slashing rapidly at his wrist, forearm, and shoulder in succession.
As her blade reached his shoulder, Deyan—having grasped the pattern—counterattacked with a reversed grip.
Several more exchanges followed.
Deyan’s attacks were heavy, but they left wide openings.
Giselle struck at every subtle gap she perceived, but her thrusts lacked weight.
‘Is it a matter of sex?’
One must acknowledge the unavoidable limits of the body quickly.
Only then can one find a workaround to overcome them.
And Giselle was exceptionally skilled at doing precisely that.
“Ohhh!”
“Press forward! Don’t let up!”
The knights leapt to their feet in excitement.
Giselle, realizing she couldn’t prevail in a direct blade clash, had shifted to unorthodox tactics.
Deyan began to give ground steadily.
‘He must be tiring.’
It wasn’t a lack of skill or stamina on his part.
But anyone’s mental fortitude crumbles when performing unfamiliar movements.
And I’d personally ordered them to fight with real steel.
Simply being aware they held sharpened blades must be weighing on him.
Ingrained habit was like that.
Fighting with live steel when the intent wasn’t to kill—the tension had to be tremendous.
Deyan had been the same yesterday.
Clang, clang! The metallic reports quickened in pace.
Cornered, Deyan finally resorted to blocking with his bare forearm.
A bad habit of his had surfaced.
But Giselle didn’t oblige him by following his lead.
Balancing on her toes like a dancer, she pirouetted sharply and slipped inside his guard in a heartbeat.
Then, aiming to pierce his jaw from below, she thrust upward with lethal precision.
Sensing the danger, Deyan jerked his head back, and his body tumbled away.
Everyone held their breath, watching intently.
In that instant, something glinted in the air.
‘What was that?’
“Wow!”
“Giselle!”
But before I could identify what had flashed, the thunderous voices of cheering knights filled my senses.
Deyan, losing his balance as he tumbled backward, rolled across the ground.
Giselle pressed her relentless advantage, striking at the earth with her blade to drive him further.
‘No……!’
Desperate, he seized her blade with his bare hand.
Before Giselle could lose her sword, she yanked her elbow back sharply, and the sharp edge sliced across his palm.
Blood dripped from his split hand with a wet sound.
“……Ah…….”
The air, the moment, everything seemed to freeze.
“Ugh.”
Staring blankly at his bleeding hand, Deyan suddenly flung his sword away.
In the same motion, he crouched down and began clawing at his own head.
“The Pendant!”
Only then did I recognize what had glinted earlier.
The Pendant that suppressed Deyan’s Berserk had flown off.
“Giselle! Get away from there, now!”
I cried out in urgency.
Simultaneously, I ordered the knights to flee.
“He’s going to Berserk!”
Deyan was the man who’d torn out Lyle’s jawbone with his bare hands and killed him in an instant.
I saw his vacant, hollow end superimposed over Giselle’s form.
“Nemanic! Please, hold on!”
I cried out in desperation, gathered my skirts, and ran toward him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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