Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage
Chapter 72 - 72: Sudden Visitor

A day later.

Yesterday, I found and helped a badly wounded legendary monster called the Tailed Fox. Grasping her blood, I got Tailed Fox's Racial Skills: Minimization, Spirit Sense and Spiritual Scathe.

Minimization is a skill that only reduces the size of the user and could revert it back to the original. Unlike the Size Change, the effect of Minimization is permanent and doesn't consume any more mana after casting.

Spiritual Scathe allows the user to inflict a bit of spiritual damage while activated. Soul-damaging attacks are really effective against physically or even magically resistant opponents.

Spirit Sense, on the other hand, is the ability to perceive incorporeal spiritual beings that human senses cannot understand. Floating lights are now flashing in my vision like fireflies under the cloudless night sky. Apparently they're called Pixies, the weakest species of the Spirit race.

Earlier that day, Sister sent us a letter stating she cannot go home and challenge the dungeon instead this summer. She can Level up in the dungeon as much as she wants since it's a conquered one.

She also mentioned in the letter that visitors were anticipated during the summer vacation. I don't know who they are, but a single splendid carriage is now marching on its way to our estate.

The ebony magic carriage steadily traced the brick pavement and then parked in front of our mansion's gate. The coachman handed a letter of appointment to one of the two male gatekeepers.

Confirming the letter's contents, the gatekeeper gives his affirmation. The door made a clicking noise, revealing a well-dressed, elegant young man stepping his black shoes on the pavement.

"Greetings. I am Raphael Raevender, the heir of the Raevender Viscounty. May I know what is your purpose in visiting our humble abode?"

As a noble, I formally introduced myself to the young nobleman who just entered our yard. I am the only one welcoming our visitor since both Mom and Mother are busy right now.

I immediately recognized that he came from a noble house by the way he dressed and the crest embedded in the carriage.

"So you're Raphael…" The young man chewed the cud for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Pardon my late introduction. My name is Seth Ledfinn, the first son and heir of the Ledfinn Earldom of the Dixon Empire."

The young nobleman, Seth Ledfinn, put a hand on his chest as he formally introduced himself. He seems to be slightly older than me, probably a batchmate of a big sister of mine.

Seth is a tall, slender man with turquoise hair, light-blue eyes, and a solemn, handsome face. His voice and demeanor are ostensibly cool, calm, and collected.

A sword hung from his waist, along with his stylish garments, indicating the type of weapon he specialized in.

"As for my intentions of visiting your household…" he continued, "… I am here to challenge you in a duel."

"A duel? What does it have to do with me?" I couldn't help but blurt out my confusion.

Normally, duels are honorary arranged combat between two individuals in order to settle accounts. When an issue with options needs to reach a certain conclusion, like the race between two men for a woman's heart, a duel can decide.

(Medieval problem requires medieval solution.)

But why have a duel with me? I don't even know or have seen this guy personally. Unless it has something to do with that.

"I have started attending the academy this year…"

(So does my sister.)

"At first, I thought life in the academy would be filled with boredom. Ever since I was young, I have been trying to sharpen my sword to the point where no one my age in our territory can match my skills. That's why I had confidence in my swordsmanship when I stepped foot at the academy.

But it was instantly shattered to pieces when I took a glimpse of a certain person's perfect swordsmanship… and that person was your sister, Louise Raevender."

(I think we all know where this is going…)

"I was immediately fascinated by her charms and got interested in her."

(I knew it!)

"That's why I took an approach to her, which led me to have a duel with you."

"What does this duel have to do with me?"

"When I asked her about her preferences for a man, she flatly told me, 'He must have to be stronger than my little brother and have defeated him in a duel.' That's why…" Seth said, unsheathing his sword. "I challenge you to a duel."

So that's the reason why… and why you have to selfishly pass your problems to me?! You are just making excuses to escape from your aristocratic responsibilities!

(And why don't you reject him on the spot?!)

But Sister is really standing out at the academy. She had gathered a lot of attention and even captivated some, like this nobleman in front of me. I am captivated by her as well.

She is gorgeous and has a beautiful body; her chest is remarkably bouncing with every swing of her sword. She is absurdly strong and high-leveled compared to the average academy student.

Deep inside, I honestly don't want other men to look at her body. Why does she have to stay in the capital? She could just hunt monsters in the forest with me.

"Is the duel really that necessary?"

"It is. If I cannot achieve victory against you, I cannot find myself worthy of challenging your sister into a duel."

I see. Sister probably told him to defeat her in order to accept his feelings. Before that, Seth has to step over my dead body first. Which led him to the current situation.

"Fine. I will accept this duel."

"Thank you very much." Seth bowed down his head. "Let's have a fair fight."

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Gathering the duelists, the two of us stood in the front yard of our manor. The summer afternoon is certainly hot and blazing, but a single drop of sweat hasn't flowed down our temples.

We have finished changing our clothing and are now clad in our battle gear. With a naked blade in our dominant hand, we faced each other across the gap of ten meters.

"Are you ready?" I asked Seth.

"I am ready."

In order to duel my sister, Seth has to prove himself first by winning a sword fight against me. Seth didn't know what Sister's real sexuality is, which I knew.

She intended to pass the baton to me for some reason. That reason is to let me be the invincible wall before the beautiful garden.

"Let's fight fair and square."

With those words as the mark, we launch ourselves towards one another. We draw our own blades and collide them together. To break the stalemate, we repelled each other and took a long step back.

"Power Up! Accelerate!"

Seth charged with great velocity, approaching me. He swings his sword parallel to the ground, casting a sword art technique.

"Horizontal Slash!"

The flying blade was aiming for my left shoulder. I raised my mithrill sword and unwaveringly blocked his sword.

The sword bounced off of my blade due to the impact of the clash. Seth rotates his wrist before turning his body oppositely and changing the direction of his sword. He used the momentum to rotate his body clockwise and execute another sword technique.

"Circular Swipe!"

Now the sword is aiming at my right side. His mithrill sword drew an arc from its fluid motion. But before it touched my clothes, I had already given my reply.

"Parry."

I intentionally landed his attack on the forte of my sword and effortlessly deflected his sword downwardly along with the casual invocation.

His sword followed the path of gravity and embedded deeply in the dirt. He hastily pulled out his blade and fixed his feet backward.

Seth charged and pointed his blade at me. I deflected it upward to address it.

He put himself back together again and began to attack me all over my body simultaneously. But all were either blocked or parried by my blade.

My Thought Acceleration raised my brain's computational speed dozens of times above normal speed, where I could see all his movements as clearly as the day.

There were no extraneous movements in his swordplay, showing the results of his time and effort spent sharpening his blade. Every time I deflected a blade, he just shrugged it off and aimed at my weak spots all over again.

I caught a glimpse of the change in pace of his attacks; his sword has been gradually decreasing its power and speed with each blow. Sweats started to cascade from his temples down to his face.

Seth had rained down a lot of blows on me at this point, but none of them had landed a strike. His breathing began to rag, so he started to catch it up.

He held the hilt both hands then took a stance. Knowing what it meant, I instantly imitated his posture and did the same technique as him.

(There is no way I would lose and give my beloved sister to anybody else!)

"Power Swing!"

"Power Swing."

We recited the technique in unison. Like a war cry, Seth consumed all of his remaining strength and swung his sword horizontally with all his might. As for me, I swing my sword like I am throwing a flat stone to repeatedly skip on the water's surface.

Clank!

Our blades clashed with a shockwave that billowed the grasses of the yard. Although we use the same sword technique, the outcome is different.

"Ahh!"

His full blow was overwhelmed by my casual swing. Despite limiting myself to his Level, my swing was more powerful with the combination of strength and speed, granting superior momentum.

His sword was blown away along with him. The intense shock and vibration writhed through his hands, causing him to let go of his sword.

I pointed my blade under his chin to conclude the duel.