Chapter 538: Good Job Holding It In
Northern leaned above the window, watching as the lady moved.
Her movements were gentle...
Well, in his opinion, they felt too gentle.
'She's thinking too much...'
As much as it was very important for a warrior to articulate their thoughts during combat, especially when they are executing delicate combat styles, Northern, from experience, also felt that some things should be left to instincts and muscle memory rather than thought patterns and calculation.
Of course, his own existence was a cheat. Every reflex, every sharp, quick, and unconventional moment he had gained in this moment was a result of the link of his body to his clone.
At the early stages of his swordsmanship journey, he was no different from a squire barely able to swing a broom correctly.
But because of the enforced muscle memory that he received after his clones returned to him, his abilities leaped bounds after bounds until there was not much his clones could contribute to him.
At least not enough to hurt him.
Hence, Northern found himself relying more on the instincts of his body gathered from experience rather than thinking too deeply.
"Being in a real battle won't give you that much time to think."
The girl suddenly flinched as the wind blew slightly stronger than before.
Northern's landing was soft, like a leaf gently, swayingly, touching the paved ground.
She aimed her sword at Northern with a wary gaze darkening in her eyes.
"Who are you?"
Northern shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm in a good mood, so I decided to help. I'm a great swordsman; I'm sure I can be of help to you and also learn from you."
The girl's composure shifted slightly; she raised her chin, looking down at Northern with a demeaning light glowing in her eyes.
"That's not what I asked you. Who the hell are you?"
"Such vulgar words..." For some reason, Northern did not feel angered in the slightest way.
After so long, because of how good the room felt and the thought that he would be having a great night, he felt so relaxed emotionally.
"...don't you need a training partner?"
But he was still choosing to say what he wanted to say, absolutely ignoring the girl's question like her voice was not reaching him.
And that was what seemed to make the girl more intensely angry.
She took two steps forward, launching her sword towards Northern's neck and yelling her question again.
"I said, who the hell are you?"
Her blonde hair blazed furiously as her entire face folded into a crucible of anger.
The delighted look on Northern's face at that point slowly began to dissipate.
It was like reality dawned on him that he had gone ahead and stuck his nose in someone's business without the need to.
'What was I thinking? Did I get too excited there...'
He clicked his tongue in a poor letdown and turned away from the girl, trotting forward.
Still, the lady was not going to have it. Her figure suddenly blurred, her sword glinting as she overtook Northern and lunged it towards his neck.
This time it was closer than it had been before, resting just above his shoulder, the blade itself barely a dot away from his skin.
Northern looked indifferent, unsurprised, unimpressed. The look on his face bothered the lady, such that a drop of sweat rolled down her face.
She frowned, wondering, 'What's with him?'
Northern exhaled and slowly pushed the sword away from his neck, saying as he did, "I am sorry for startling you; I didn't mean any harm. I was intrigued by your practice, so I thought it might be a great opportunity to teach you and also learn from you."
Northern was being serious. After all, there was nothing he knew of swordsmanship by the books.
Whatever he had gained from experience, he wasn't even sure if it went by the fundamental rules and making of the art of close combat, most especially swordsmanship.
So, in his own opinion, the girl even had more to teach him than he had to teach her.
However...
'What the fuck was that condescending gaze? You should be lucky I'm willing to let this pass.'
That look the girl gave him, like he was some cockroach, did not go unnoticed.
"You are still not answering the question. Who are you?"
'Please, please, please, please, I don't want to kill her. Northern, you must not kill her. Northern, you must not kill her. Lael, you must not kill her. Rian, Artemis! Don't you dare lay your hand on that girl!'
"You are still silent." She was as persistent as a mosquito, glaring at Northern with a fierce look in her eyes.
Northern felt his grip on his patience slipping away as the girl persistently stared at him with that rude and condescending expression.
He smiled, closing his eyes, the veins on his forehead seeming to pop out.
"I am a guest. I really have done something wrong. You must be someone important to the governor, and touching you would mean being rude to the governor, who is helping us right now. So, I shouldn't touch you, right? Right?"
On the second 'right', Northern's eyes flew wide open, his eyeballs dilated, glinting with a cold and dangerous light.
The girl hurried back several steps in a breath, her expression instantly crumbling to one of extreme fear and terror.
Her bountiful chest rose and fell like a breathing mountain, and goosebumps crawled on her skin like a thousand tiny snakes were walking on her at the same time.
Before she could say anything, however, the man before her was gone.
The curtain of the window just happened to flutter outside and danced for a moment as if a strong gust of wind passed through.
The lady, still paralyzed by the fear she felt and unable to make sense of it, stared down with
puzzled, widened eyes, panting.
'What? What? What was that?'
Northern, meanwhile, slumped on his bed, burying his face into the sinking mattress.
"That was a close one. I did well holding it in."