This Bastard is Too Competent

Chapter 20: Hidden Talent

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"Yes? You want me to teach you swordsmanship?"

Ian nodded to Nathan.

“Galon said you would teach me well?”

Nathan was confused by Ian's words. 

"No, why would you ask me?"

Ian recalled Galon's words instead of answering. 

When asked to teach swordsmanship, Galon said this: ‘I believe Nathan's swordsmanship will fit the prince better.’ 

[My swordsmanship is practically best for direct assaults. On the other hand, Nathan’s swordsmanship looks fancy at first glance, but it is a unique technique that uses the opponent's power to get the upper hand.]

In fact, Galon said he watched all of Ian's fights.

[Your reflexes are very good. You have an eye for instant judgment and noticing the weakness of your enemy.]

[Is…that so?]

[Yes. It's a rare talent even in the kingdom. It's so precious even among the Kaistein royals who are good at swordsmanship, so it will be okay to try to live with it.]

That's why he recommended Nathan.

[It will be easier if you think of him as a swordsman similar to you, Prince.]

Perhaps it would be more helpful to learn from the same type of swordsman.

[Don't worry. He may look like that, but Nathan is also a genius in this field.]

Ian also agreed with him.

‘It was definitely a useful move when I saw him fighting the bandits.’

It was fast and powerful, yet completely ravaged the enemy.

Anyway, if the great Galon would recommend him instead, it wouldn't be a bad choice.

However, Nathan seemed to be flustered.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Galon recommended it."

"No, that's not it!" 

Nathan thumped his chest with frustration. 

"Why do you want to learn swordsmanship yourself? We're going to protect you anyway!”

“!”

Oh. So that was the reason? 

Ian replied nonchalantly.

“If you rely too much on being respected, you will end up losing your self-confidence and only looking at others’ backs. I want to have at least the strength to defend my own body and what I believe in.”

“!”

Nathan flinched for a moment. 

Although Ian clearly just said it lightly, his golden eyes flashed fiercely for a second.

Ian was truly sincere.

‘If you can’t protect yourself, you will inevitably have restrictions on your actions.’

He couldn’t go here and there because it's dangerous, or he would have to spend time in places he didn’t wish to be.

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At the very least, he would not give up doing this again as much as he had to give up his beliefs for the sake of his life.

Especially when that's important.

It wasn't only that.

‘The content of the competition after the legitimation ceremony also includes a swordsmanship match.’

If the enemy pointed a sword at you, you had to put your sword in the enemy's head.

Such was a saying in the warlike Kaistein kingdom.

For that reason, swordsmanship was one of the essential virtues for the royal family of this kingdom.

‘In the past, I was in last place.’

Back then, each heir had an expertise in swordsmanship, so he was unilaterally thrashed by his brothers.

Since then, Ian had learned harder in the royal castle, but in the end, the royal knights gave up and shook their heads.

Moreover, it was common to laugh at him when the talk about successors was brought up in a sword match.

But Galon, who was called one of the Three Great Knights of the Continent, told him that he was talented.

‘I don't know if he was just being polite or not.’

It was really unexpected.

But if he really had that talent.

"I want to learn from you, Nathan."

Nathan could see the sincerity in Ian's eyes. So he nodded his head.

"Alright. But I'll teach you strictly. You have to be determined."

"Of course. I look forward to your kind cooperation, Nathan."

But there was a problem before that.

"You're too familiar with royal swordsmanship.”

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes. You can never learn any other swordsmanship in this state.”

It was not without reason.

“Royal swordsmanship is for ceremonial purposes, or in other words, for show. On the other hand, my swordsmanship is a real technique specialized for killing. Currently, the prince’s moves are too inefficient.”

“…!”

“I don’t know where you learned the royal swordsmanship, but it’s surprising that you managed to beat a village soldier with it.”

“!”

In fact, Galon admired it as well when he first saw it. 

It's amazing how Ian had learned so far.

Nathan was sincerely praising Ian, but Ian seemed to have a different thought.

‘I persisted when they told me that I had no talent in swordsmanship, and I only practiced the royal swordsmanship until the end, but I never thought it would be the very thing to set me back.’

It was because of the words of the royal knights who taught him at that time.

– The prince has no talent for swordsmanship.

In particular, the commander of the royal knights who would still be in the palace. As the person in charge, even he, who was called the best knight in the kingdom, said the same thing when he saw Ian’s skills in the past.

And so, he practiced all night for the sake of getting some acknowledgement. 

Eventually, Ian reached the final stage, but that was it. 

‘Far from mastering the technique, he said all I had learned was the basics of royal swordsmanship and only then moved on to the actual swordsmanship?’

But Nathan told him not to worry.

"Don't worry too much, Prince. You have a talent for it."

“!”

"But of course, my training will be painful enough to die."

Five hours later, Ian found himself totally exhausted while listening to Nathan's laughter.

The reason was simple. 

"Nathan, this is a bit…" 

"It's alright! If you keep rolling, you'll forget everything including that ceremonial swordsmanship. The real swordsmanship is coming next! Hahaha!"

Ian ran, tumbled, crawled, and literally rolled through the training ground all day long.

And perhaps unhappy with the scene, Galon scowled at Nathan.

“Do it in moderation, Nathan. He is still young.”

“Hey, what’s the problem? I have told the servant to prepare a full-set of nutritious meals. And don't you know that this is what the prince needs the most right now?"

Well, he got a point. 

Ian was too weak and skinny now. Galon honestly wouldn't have realized it if he hadn't seen him in the bath.

Yet, for such a body, he fought quite well against the soldiers.

‘But if it continues like this, he will be pushed back by other successors.’

Of course, it was said this was an operation for the succession war, but in reality, the schedule was so harsh that it even made official knights wear out and collapse. 

‘Actually, I made him go through this on purpose so that he would give up on swordsmanship and entrust me as his escort.’

However, Galon was surprised that Ian endured much better than he thought.

And whether Nathan knew what he was thinking about or not, Nathan grumbled under Galon's glare.

“Then why did you entrust him to me? You can teach him this much, right?”

Galon looked around and whispered to Nathan’s ear.

"The prince shows signs of having the <Third Eye>.”

“!!”

Nathan was utterly shocked. 

"What?The Third Eye? Are you serious?”

"Of course I'm not so sure. It could be simply a talent similar to yours.”

<Third Eye>. It was one of the rarest talents among numerous swordsmanship talents.

Even Nathan couldn't get it and only got <Oath> with similar abilities.

Nathan asked in surprise.

“But the prince said he had no talent for swordsmanship, or according to the person who taught him.”

"… I don't know who he is, but the prince must have been deceived."

Galon, one of the Three Great Knights of the Continent, found this unbelievable.

‘Have I ever seen a member of the royal family having that talent?’

Nathan was astonished seeing the glint in Galon's eyes.

“No, let’s say what you say is true, then why the hell did they only teach ceremonial swordsmanship? Why use such a useless…"

"It's not useless swordsmanship."

"What?"

Galon narrowed his eyebrows.

"Not many know, but the creator of this ceremonial swordsmanship is actually the First King. It is said that the First King's swordsmanship was later established as the basics of royal swordsmanship. In any case, there were times when every knight learned the swordsmanship created by the First King."

It's just that everyone had failed.

‘Even I couldn’t get past the basic level.’

So, now it was only left for some decent ceremonial purposes.

That was why when Galon first saw Ian, he couldn't take his eyes off as Ian attacked the soldiers with ceremonial swordsmanship.

It's not perfect because Ian’s body hadn’t fully developed, but it was definitely a step beyond the basics. 

Meanwhile, Ian's expression got worse.

It wasn't simply because it was hard.

‘Damn it. At this rate, I won’t be able to keep up with the time.’

After a month, until the legitimation ceremony, he should be able to hold the sword to some extent.

He could not build up his physical strength overnight, but it had to be rushed.

‘Other teachers are coming to the castle soon.’

Art, history, manners, and also a little bit of kingdom studies.

Ian had to prepare so much for the legitimation ceremony. Hence, he had to dedicate some time to it.

Then, of course, there would be less time to learn swordsmanship. With this terrible physical strength, he could not master the sword to the level he wanted in time.

‘Well, in the past, I was only able to practice swordsmanship properly after three years.’

So Ian was bullied during the legitimation ceremony and lost in the first competition.

Then there was only one way.

‘I have to get the power that Karan got from here first.’

[Adventurer King Karan] 

Rumors about him were abundant, but one of the famous phrases was this.

[The immortal god who never gets tired no matter how much he fights.]

[A man with the mental power of steel who never collapses even if he wants to.]

Obviously, it must be a phrase representing a certain ability. 

Ian didn’t know yet what kind of ability it was, but if it's confirmed that Karan got the power from this annex… 

‘I will be able to gain the strength to learn swordsmanship before the legitimation ceremony.’

Ian asked the servants about Karan just in case.

"Where is the third young master?"

"Well, he said he'd come to see the prince."

"He was coming to see me?"

Ian was perplexed.

There should be no reason for the third son of the Duke, whom he had never chanced upon in the past, to come to see him.

But Ian soon realized that he was mistaken after hearing what Nathan said.

"Why should I follow him all around while I can just remain here?”

"What?"

"The commander said that the third young master will be in charge of the prince. And I am the escort knight of the third young master. Well, he's a young master who likes wandering around anyway, and he's so hard to find, so here I am. I'll be here by tomorrow at the latest because of the Duke's order, so maybe I'll see him if I'm here."

However, Ian was anxious to hear that Karan was coming.

‘Damn it. I must hurry to get the power before he comes.’

If the hidden place that kept the power was discovered, Karan was never the one to hand it over to him.

The problem was not just Karan.

"I've got a message that His Highness the Second Prince is coming. He will be arriving soon."

There was also a message saying that the madman was coming.

Well, it's rather good to see him before the certification ceremony. This was an unexpected situation. 

Therefore, Ian ran straight to the room after training, ignoring the cries of his aching body. 

So that no one could come first.

‘I need more strength.’

Ian hurriedly lifted the bedclothes.

And.

Click.

It opened to the secret door that had been hidden until now.