Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Business Card
The fight between Irena and Nora was raging on fiercely.
“You little brat!”
With a savage cry like a storm, Irena’s blade came slashing. At this point, she was using every means at her disposal to fight Nora.
“Uaaaaaah….”
Nora Galatea had also reached a point where she could no longer keep hiding her true strength.
The girl twisted her waist in an unnatural direction and managed to dodge the storm that was about to sweep her up.
“Good job dodging on your own. I really have no idea how to fight like this without killing someone.”
Nora’s movements began to change in earnest. Going all out meant she was fighting to kill. A real fight was a declaration to kill one another.
If you weren’t willing to kill, you couldn’t be sincere. That’s why training was different from real combat.
“…”
At the same time, Kairus realized that Irena and Nora’s movements had changed. He tensed his body slightly and reached for his waist.
The two were now exchanging attacks with the clear intention of killing each other.
‘If someone has to step in, it’ll be me.’
Their skills were evenly matched to the extreme. Without a third party intervening, the fight would only end with one of them dying.
And the one who would die was 100% Irena. The way she had improved in such a short amount of time was impressive, but she still fell short compared to Nora.
‘Well, she is a Lunaseeker.’
Kairus, as a direct descendant of the Featherwing, might stand a chance, but Irena had been at a disadvantage from the start.
“Ugh…!”
Seeing Nora’s yataghan rise high into the air, Irena instinctively raised her sword.
“That’s enough!”
At that moment, Kairus blurred and appeared between them, grabbing Nora’s hand.
The tip of Nora’s yataghan was just about to thrust up into Irena’s chin.
If Kairus hadn’t grabbed Nora’s hand, Irena would’ve died instantly.
“Damn it. How was I supposed to see that coming?”
Irena groaned with a frustrated look. Nora raised the yataghan high again.
Anyone seeing that posture would instinctively lift their weapon overhead to block. It was only natural.
An arm raised like that could only come down in the same arc.
“But going for the underside of the chin…”
Yet Nora had violated that logic, rotating her arm a full 360 degrees to target Irena’s chin.
Irena was downcast from her defeat. On the other hand, Nora seemed pleased with her victory.
“Unni, when you fight a Lunaseeker, there are a lot of things you need to watch out for.”
Nora said with a cheeky grin, crouching down on the floor.
It was the stance commonly known as the crouching start.
“People always guess what comes next based on posture. When someone gets into this stance, it’s impossible not to expect what’s coming.”
From the crouching start stance, the natural next movement was a full-on charge.
But instead of rushing forward, Nora retreated.
“Stab posture to slash the enemy. If it looks like I’m turning left, I’m actually charging in.”
Kairus, who had been listening, added his own comment.
“The most famous one is retreating while appearing to walk forward.”
It was so well-known that there was even a term dedicated to that exact movement.
“Moonwalk.”
No one knew who came up with the name, but even the name "Lunaseeker" originally meant "those who chase the moon." With enough effort, ordinary people might be able to mimic it, but never like a real Lunaseeker.
When you thought about the connection, it was a fitting name.
“You can keep fighting, right?”
In response to Kairus’s question, Nora examined her yataghan before answering.
“No problem. I think Irena can still keep fighting too.”
Kairus nodded at Nora’s words and checked on Irena’s condition before speaking.
“But the person in question doesn’t seem in the mood to keep sparring.”
“Yeah. You two go ahead and spar. I’ll sit this one out for a bit.”
Irena agreed without hesitation to Kairus’s comment. The sparring session with Nora had been a big help for her.
To put it figuratively, Irena was like someone who had eaten until full. There was no need to force down more food, and no desire to, either.
What she needed now was to digest what she had already taken in—just like food and internalize the experience she’d gained through the duel.
“So now, it’s your turn.”
Kairus casually swung his sword, and as if it were nothing, Nora took a step back to dodge the attack.
“What was that just now? An attack?”
“Attack? Nah. Just a kind of polite greeting.”
As he spoke, Kairus shifted slightly to the side.
A few faintly glowing threads swept through the spot where he had been standing and were then drawn into the sleeve of Nora’s outfit.
“You’re really weird, you know that? You know way too much.”
“I told you. I’m a dropout who couldn’t make it through the Lunaseeker agent training program.”
Instead of replying, Nora appeared right in front of him and swung her yataghan, launching into an attack.
“I know what kind of people those dropouts are. The ones who couldn’t handle it and ran away—I heard they were never that impressive.”
“Maybe I’m just a special case?”
As she bent her waist, Kairus retreated while guarding his chest with Flicker.
Nora’s left leg stretched behind her and aimed for his chest.
“So how do you explain using Swift Blade?”
“After I ran away, I happened to meet someone and got the chance to learn it.”
“Ha. That’s funny.”
Dismissing his excuse as ridiculous, Nora continued her assault.
Nora's attacks gradually grew fiercer, and Kairus responded in kind, countering her moves one by one.
Nora Galatea’s body moved in a variety of ways, aiming to catch Kairus off guard.
“…”
While fending off her unpredictable movements, Kairus simultaneously gathered the air around them and swung it toward Nora.
“That fanning move!”
As the gale crashed down on her from above, Nora threw her yataghan into the air and planted her hands firmly on the ground.
Then, her legs began to spin like a windmill. Nora’s body rotated at high speed, disrupting the flow of the descending gale.
“You’ve got some amazing tricks.”
Kairus muttered, slightly impressed, as Nora’s legs clamped onto the thrown yataghan like pincers and brought it down toward the crown of his head.
“That kind of trick doesn’t work on me.”
Instead of defending the top of his head, Kairus leaned his body back.
Though it looked like the yataghan was coming down for a vertical strike, it was actually aimed to slash at Kairus’s neck.
“Arghhh! So annoying!”
Failing to land a clean hit was an embarrassing outcome for a Lunaseeker.
‘It’s true she hates killing.’
That much was clear from their sparring. Nora was moving as if trying to kill Kairus.
But she wasn’t giving it her all. Subconsciously, she was holding back, and even Nora Galatea herself probably didn’t realize she wasn’t fighting at full strength.
If she really charged in with killing intent…
‘It’d be a draw.’
Not the kind of draw where both survive but one where both end up dead.
A Lunaseeker fighting with everything they had wouldn’t accept a result where both they and their opponent lived.
They’d rather aim for mutual destruction.
“That’s not the mindset she’s fighting with right now.”
“What are you mumbling about?”
Kairus didn’t respond to Nora’s question.
Nora wasn’t prepared to die, nor did she truly want to kill her opponent.
That was why she couldn’t show the most powerful form a Lunaseeker could achieve.
If this girl wanted to grow stronger, she had two paths to choose from.
First: abandon her desire to live, and resolve to kill her enemy even if it meant dying herself.
Nora Galatea only adopted that mindset when she was handling targets designated by the Republic.
In other words, unless the order came from the Republic, Nora Galatea would never fight with that intent.
“Alright, how about this, kid.”
Kairus swiftly moved in, kicking the back of Nora’s knee while striking her chin upward with his palm.
Of course, an attack like that wasn’t enough to neutralize someone like Nora.
“What are you doing? Swing your sword.”
“How to subdue someone without killing them.”
At Kairus’s words, Nora flinched slightly.
“Don’t you want to get used to it?”
When facing someone she had no choice but to kill, she fought with her full power as a Lunaseeker.
But in any other situation, she instinctively avoided killing.
“When a Lunaseeker goes all out, someone dies.”
“But you know where the vital points are. If you avoid those, they won’t die.”
Kairus responded to Nora’s remark.
“There are still plenty of times they die, even when you fight like that.”
“…I know.”
Nora had experienced exactly the kind of situation Kairus was describing.
She had intended to spare someone, not kill them, only for them to end up dead anyway.
One common example: she’d severed or broken an arm, only for the target to later die.
“I’ve done that kind of thing more than a few times.”
Her expression was downcast.
“Everyone wants to live. If I can avoid it, I don’t want to take that away.”
Nora herself had a strong desire to live. Just as she yearned for life, so did everyone else.
“Why?”
“It’s just… a kind of baseless belief.”
If she spared someone she could’ve killed—if she kept making that choice—then maybe, when she herself was on the verge of death, one of those spared lives would open a path for her to survive. That was the belief.
“I think I might be able to help you with that.”
“You’re not even a Lunaseeker. What could you possibly teach me?”
She sounded like she was grumbling, but there was a subtle note of expectation in her voice. And Kairus already had an answer ready.
“Teach you? Nah. What you need is a talking punching bag.”
“What the heck? A talking punching bag? You’re talking nonsense.”
Kairus agreed it was a weird phrase, but in truth, Nora did need exactly that—a talking punching bag.
“When you spar with me, you don’t have to hold back, right?”
“Do I? You talk big, but I’m not really sure about your skills.”
From Nora’s perspective, Kairus’s smug attitude was kind of annoying.
“If it hadn’t been for that sudden lightning move, I would’ve won.”
Kairus let out an amused “Oh-ho.”
“Confidence in your skills is a good thing. So how about a bet?”
Nora tightened her grip slightly on her yataghan and responded.
“Alright. What are we betting?”
Kairus paused, pretending to think for a moment, then gave a sly grin.
“Let’s see… How about your business card? If I win, give me one.”
The moment he said that, Nora burst into laughter.
“Seriously, oppa. What would you even do with something like my business card?”
“Nora Galatea. You don’t actually think I—”
Just as Kairus started to speak again, her yataghan came swinging at him, crashing violently against his Flicker.
It was a furious strike, one that said they might as well die together right now.
Though her lips were still smiling, Nora’s eyes were cold as ice as she stared Kairus down.
“Let me finish what I was saying. Now, where was I… Ah, right.”
The chilling sound of blades grinding against each other echoed sharply through the air.
“You think I’d ask you for something like that without even understanding what it means?”
“So you know. Why do you know? How do you know? I don’t get it.”
Nora’s voice, once so cheerful, had now sunk into complete stillness.