Chapter 9: Inglis, 5 years old (5)

「Oi oi, stop spouting your jokes. I don’t have the time to play with kids. I’m thinking of fighting against Master Ryuk next, you see.」

Rahal said with an irritated look.

「Mmmm… Then, I’ll reveal what you did behind everyone’s back, is that fine with you?」

Inglis pretended to contemplate the issue with an innocent angel look on her face. 1

She tried not to pinpoint his sorcery skill since she didn’t want to be questioned as to how she knew these things. She figured that as long as she didn’t explicitly address the problem, she could always evade the questions later.

「D-, don’t kid with me! Are you saying I’m cheating…!?」 「I wonder… Why don’t you ask yourself, is it a cheat, or is it not? So, what are you gonna do now? Will you humour me?」 2

「 …Aah, fine! Don’t weep if I beat your ᴀꜱꜱ! Okay!?」 「Same goes for you.」

Once that was settled, Inglis strode towards Rahal.

「H-, hey, Inglis…! You’re being absurd!」

Ryuk, her concerned father, tried to stop her. While her mother could only watch anxiously.

「Worry not, Father. I am still your daughter, after all. I must protect the honour of the chivalry.」

Truth be told, the main reason she wanted to do this was merely due to her simple desire to fight. The second reason was to stop Rafinha’s tears and lastly, she wanted to discipline Rahal for using underhanded tricks. If kids like him learned to enjoy easy victories through deceitful methods since young, they wouldn’t mature into honourable warriors in the future. Thus, Inglis was certain that Rahal would benefit from this mental reformation before it worsened.

「I really want to believe in that spirit of yours.」 「If you don’t let me, I’ll snitch you to mother for buying another expensive vase.」 「Got that, Inglis. Have a nice one!」

At least her father was easy to negotiate with so that Inglis was able to face Rahal in a proper match.

「Begin!」

Rahal stood still at first, trying to measure up his opponent. While Inglis knew that he was trying to use his sorcery on her, she wasn’t particularly worried. After all, an amateur’s poorly executed sorcery would not be able to affect the Divine Knight herself — the strong Ether circulating within her body naturally dispersed any sorcery.

However, in saying that, it wouldn’t be fair if she utilized her Ether either. For one, the battle would be dull; For two, the victory would be all but guaranteed for her; And last but not least, a single Ether Strike would possibly decimate any remains of her opponent since small-scale control of Ether had proved to be rather trying for her.

Inglis decided that fighting with just sword techniques would be the best way 3 to go about this. Since it was presumed that the sorcery would affect her, she chose to shut her eyes for the entirety of this battle. Fighting with eyes shut compared to Raphael’s technique of using shadows as his references, it could be said that fighting without sight would be a completely different level of difficulty.

However, Inglis had been wanting to test the extent of her current ability for a while now. She had often done this particular training called 『Mind Eye』 to fight in a blind state. In her previous life, she had been practicing it since she was young but she was severely lacking in her training after she was crowned the king of Sylvair. This would serve as a good opportunity to use Mind Eye in a fight once again.

As to make fun of the little girl who had her eyes shut, Rahal tried to go around her to take her backside.

「……」

With her other senses, Inglis was able to pick up her opponent’s movements and her stance kept shifting to face him with sharp precision.

「Tch!」

Rahal tried to move around several more times but with her Mind Eye, she was able to follow his movement without any trouble. The teenager was appalled by how the little girl could do this, he wasn’t even confident that he could do the same. However, he immediately shook the feeling off — this would all be over as soon as he could get his hands on the puny little girl. 4

「Soryaah!」

Rahal quickly circled around her then struck before Inglis had the time to turn around. However, with her fast reflexes, she turned just in time to deflect his sword with hers and slipped past his attack with a parry.

「!?」

With her smaller, less trained body, it would be disadvantageous for her to meet his strikes head-on since he would definitely be stronger than her in terms of body strength. Thus, parrying his attack was the better option — with just the addition of a small force, she would be able to redirect his sword.

With his attacks being parried repeatedly, Rahal’s complexion paled significantly. Something’s off. My attacks that should’ve hit her are slipping away like sand through her fingers. The teenage boy thought in panic. Rahal had not even met this kind of resistance before when he was facing the knights and Raphael. She was just one puny little girl and she even had her eyes closed. And you’re telling me this is possible for her…!?

「Wh-, what the ꜰᴜᴄᴋ are you…!?」

Uncertainty resurfaced in Rahal’s mind.

However, Ryuk and Raphael were in an even bigger shock than he was. Compared to Rahal whose sword skill was third-rate without relying upon his sorcery, these two had a better understanding of the techniques Inglis displayed. The techniques and stunts she was pulling off like a child’s play were techniques they couldn’t even hope to reproduce.

Just how many years of practice—— Nay, perhaps they would never be able to reach the same height as her even if they were to spend the rest of their lives training. If they were the ones fighting against Inglis in an honest match, they might have a chance of defeating her. In the worst-case scenario, they would have to sacrifice an arm or a leg just to get a hit in. However, when it came to imitating that technique of hers alone, they would be left hopeless.

「Ha ha ha…! A prodigy has been born in my family…!」 「Amazing! Inglis, you’re amazing…!」

Both Ryuk and Raphael murmured in awe.

「UWAAAaaaah!!!」

Rahal yelled out a warcry in his increasing frustration. His next attack was ungraceful, carrying no shreds of composure that he had originally held, leaving him with an unbalanced stance. After Inglis had parried that reckless blow, Rahal stumbled on his own feet, causing himself to fall face-first onto the ground with his arse sticking out in the air. Inglis wouldn’t miss this solid chance for an attack.

Thump!

The wooden sword she swung hit Rahal’s shoulder.

「I-, I give up——!」

Rahal finally acknowledged his defeat on his own.

「……Thank you very much」

Responding with a smile, Inglis then bowed her head. It was a good fight for her. 5 Now, she could at least say that her current ability was passable. However, it was still lacking and there was definitely still rooms for improvement. After all, wasn’t that the very reason behind her reincarnation?

It went without saying that, after her little display, Inglis was greeted with jostling by Rafinha and her other family members.

1. Yeh, I changed the sentence a little to make her sound cuter… is that bad as the editor? Hmm…
2. I love cheekiness! So cute!!!
3. Inglis, you really mean the best way or the fun way?
4. *scoffs* Right! Sure~!
5. What she really meant was that she finally had some playtime xD

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