Chapter 102: The Talent of Knowing When to Give Up (5)
If one were to pick the weakest among Luke, Anis, and Taragon, it would inevitably be Taragon. It was a matter of talent and effort. Compared to Anis and Luke, he was neither as talented nor as hardworking. It was only natural that he lagged behind them.
Yet, he was the first among them to successfully wound Gyro. One would expect Taragon, who craved praise, to be pleased. But there was no smile on his face. In fact, he looked rather despondent.
“Why the long face, Taragon? It wasn’t a fatal wound, but still, you were the first to land a hit.”
Anis patted him on the shoulder, but Taragon shook his head.
“Anis, what I did was practically cheating. It’s nothing to be proud of.”
“Cheating? All I saw was you imbuing both aura and intent and boldly closing in on Gyro to stab him with an arrow.”
“No. My double imbuement is far inferior to yours or Sir Luke’s. How could someone like me possibly land a blow on Gyro? It was all... because I spent a week analyzing him.”
“And how is that cheating?”
“Because that has nothing to do with archery or martial skills. In the Sword of the South Tournament, you don’t get the luxury of observing your opponent at leisure. And it took me a full week just to discern Gyro’s attack patterns. The only reason I managed to pierce an arrow into his shoulder was that I exploited a gap in his habits. It’s not something that would work in a real match... or in real combat. It’s cheating.”
“...Hmm.”
Anis stroked his chin. Taragon had a point. Luke, who had been listening in silence, also found himself unsure of what to say.