Battle Race in the Fantasy World

Battle Race in the Fantasy World – 48

EP.48 God Whispered, “Do Some Exercise”

“Haa, haa…”

Priscilla stepped back, breathing heavily.

When was the last time she had swung her sword until her body was this exhausted?

It was so long ago she couldn’t remember. It was an unusual occurrence.

As she swung her sword mindlessly, she found herself getting lost in the act.

Even though it was a sparring match, not a duel, she had mixed in killing intent, which was sheer madness.

It wouldn’t have been surprising if her opponent had immediately shouted in anger, asking what she was doing.

“Whew.”

However, the man who had faced her, Kyle Jonathan, was merely catching his breath as well.

He had faced a swordsman barehanded, and not just any swordsman, but one of the Empire’s top ten strongest, and had come this far.

It was an incredible feat. No, calling it incredible was an understatement.

It was something that would astonish the world, something that would make people revere him.

“Are you coming for more?”

At Kyle’s question, Priscilla slowly shook her head.

It was enough. Although her instincts as a swordsman still urged her to swing her sword more,

her barely regained rationality told her that this was sufficient.

“That’s a relief. I’m a bit tired myself.”

Saying that, Kyle sat down on the spot.

Even with intense exercise, he rarely got this exhausted or experienced cramps.

But fighting Priscilla, one of the Empire’s top ten strongest, had provided an immense workout.

‘Wow. This must have really pushed me to my limits.’

Feeling like he had done an unexpected workout, he couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy.

Of course, he immediately scolded himself, ‘Why am I enjoying this?’

Anyway, he had learned two things for sure.

The Empire’s top ten strongest were indeed formidable, and Princess Yurika hadn’t fought him with her full strength.

‘How strong could Princess Yurika be? Now I’m really curious.’

Priscilla’s swordsmanship was versatile, graceful, and elegant.

It was completely different from the rough and crude style of Yurika, whom he had sparred with recently.

Yet, their exchanges had been brief. It hadn’t been an all-out fight like this one.

He wondered what kind of battle it would be if Yurika showed her true strength.

Thinking about it made Kyle’s heart race uncontrollably.

“Huuu…”

Priscilla, too, sat down, breathing heavily.

She sat across from Kyle, who had a very pleased expression on his face, and murmured to herself.

‘…Grandfather. Now, I finally understand you.’

If her grandfather had fought a battle like this in the past,

he would have exclaimed, “What an exhilarating duel this is!” for sure. It was certain.

The instinct that no swordsman could hide, the unyielding fighting spirit, it was all stimulated.

In the face of that, victory or defeat were merely secondary.

When would she ever experience such a heart-pounding fight again? When would she ever have such an enjoyable duel again?

– Swoosh. –

Priscilla stood up from her seat and slowly took a step forward.

Kyle noticed her approaching and stood up as well.

“Brother Kyle.”

Priscilla, who had come right up to him, bowed deeply.

As a knight commander, as one of the Empire’s top ten strongest, and as a swordsman, she set aside all her pride.

It was the highest form of courtesy and gratitude Priscilla could show.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I think I understand now.”

Why the person she admired so much felt relieved even in defeat.

Why, despite growing old and falling ill, he insisted on fighting them again.

Why he said he couldn’t die without doing so and got up to wield his sword once more.

Priscilla finally understood her grandfather.

“Hearing you say that makes me feel really good too.”

Kyle smiled and extended his hand first this time.

Priscilla clasped it with both of her hands.

“It was a good spar. Thank you.”

“I had a very enjoyable time as well.”

Thanks to you, my body is thoroughly overloaded. Oh, my muscles are really aching.

“Oh, and if you have time later…”

Priscilla asked Kyle for something.

And after thinking for a moment, Kyle nodded as if he would consider it.

====

***

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“You’re amazing!! Truly amazing, Brother Kyle!!”

As they approached the carriage after tidying up, the Saintess jumped up and down, unable to contain herself.

Normally, Cardinal Paul would have gently restrained the Saintess.

But this time, even the Cardinal seemed too shocked to say anything.

‘To think he could spar equally with Commander Priscilla! And he’s only just become an adult!!’

He knew Jonathan was strong, but he never imagined it would be to this extent.

It had been nearly 30 years since the Empire’s conquest campaigns had ceased.

That long period had slowly, very slowly, blurred the fear of Jonathan.

At some point, there were even those who began to think that the old legends were exaggerated.

They believed it was just the royal family embellishing things, questioning if it could really have been that way.

They thought that if all of the Empire’s top ten strongest gathered, they could easily handle them.

Many people in the Empire seemed to think that way.

‘Absolutely not! That’s nonsense! The Empire’s top ten strongest? You’d need to form an entire legion of warriors at their level to even have a chance! It wasn’t exaggeration or embellishment. If anything, it was understated!’

One of the reasons Cardinal Paul had agreed to Priscilla’s request was due to a slight suspicion about Jonathan.

Why did such powerful individuals remain secluded in that remote village?

If they had given the Empire a hard time, they could have easily conquered the entire region.

There must be a reason why they accepted only a barony title and did nothing else!

Cardinal Paul had subconsciously thought this way.

But at this very moment, that thought was shattered.

It was utterly destroyed, ground to dust beyond recognition.

“It was a very impressive sparring match, Brother Kyle.”

“Thank you, Your Eminence. I also feel very good.”

And he said he felt good. Just looking at his face, one could see a smile stretching from ear to ear.

Unlike Priscilla, who fought with a sword, Kyle was unarmed.

So, he must have felt even greater fear and pressure.

How could a person be so carefree? How could he look so happy!!

“Aren’t you tired, Brother Kyle? I can use holy power to…”

“No, no, no!! Absolutely not!!”

“Huh? Why, why not?”

“I need to feel this overload. If you heal me with holy power, it will all go away.”

“Uh…? I don’t understand what you’re saying…!”

Not only the Saintess but also the Cardinal looked puzzled.

Kyle brushed it off, saying it was just something like that.

There was a 90% chance they wouldn’t understand even if he explained it.

“Anyway, I’m really fine. So, you don’t need to worry. Rather…”

Rather, he wanted to wrap things up while he was feeling this good.

The reason he had come all the way to the church. To investigate the physical condition of the priests!

“Your Eminence.”

“Yes, please go ahead, Brother Kyle.”

“Having exercised my body, I now want to nourish my mind. Once we return, I’d like to meet with the priests immediately.”

“Oh… wouldn’t you be tired? You just had that intense sparring match…”

“Once I wash up and change clothes, I’ll be fine. No need to worry too much.”

Kyle was eager to check on the condition of the priests, and a bit of physical exertion was no big deal to him.

At Kyle’s words, Cardinal Paul sighed briefly and agreed.

‘Seriously… he’s not human. To be so unscathed after sparring with Commander Priscilla! Even if it were an exaggeration, it would still be impressive, but this clearly isn’t an exaggeration!’

He now understood why the Emperor had personally persuaded those at the northernmost edge.

Why he had granted noble titles to those considered barbarians.

It wasn’t an act of mercy from the victor or the generosity of the strong.

It was a desperate wish to prevent further losses.

“Your Eminence! I’ll go back with Brother Kyle!”

“Oh… yes. Go ahead.”

The Saintess seemed eager to talk more with Kyle.

The sparring match they had just witnessed, the incredibly impressive displays.

For someone like the Saintess, who had no talent for physical activities, it was an exciting topic.

“Let’s go, Brother Kyle! I’ll tell you all about how you fought earlier! How you blocked with your fists! Everything!”

“Uh… do you really need to tell me? I was the one fighting.”

“No! It’s different! You were focused on the fight, so you wouldn’t have noticed! You were so amazing! Just like the heroes in the scriptures!!”

Heroes are always incredibly strong, aren’t they? Or maybe the heroes were from Jonathan too.

Muttering to himself, Kyle followed the Saintess and got into the carriage.

“…”

Watching them, Cardinal Paul suddenly had a thought.

He had heard that the heir to the Jonathan barony had already been decided.

So, what would happen to the second son, Kyle? Would he stay with the family, or leave?

‘The Jonathan barony has never fully integrated into the Empire over the past 30 years. Although the eldest son, Leo Jonathan, attended the academy, it was more symbolic than an actual exchange.’

The eldest daughter, Lea Jonathan, had caused trouble and returned to the family after just a year.

He thought there would be no more Jonathan members coming to the Empire, but then Kyle came.

What did this mean? What did it signify?

After much contemplation, Cardinal Paul formed a hypothesis.

What if, by any chance, Kyle Jonathan was considering a place to stay outside of Jonathan?

And what if, by any chance, that place was the church?

‘Wouldn’t that give the church a chance to become independent without having to worry about the royal family’s influence?’

At that moment, a grand plan began to form in Cardinal Paul’s mind.