The Adventures Of The Black Cat Nyango – I’ve Received A Rare Attribute, So I Aim To Be A Carefree Adventurer - CH 19

T/N: 立ち合い or Tachi-ai is the initial charge at the beginning of Sumo.

It looks like we will be able to get through this winter without any problems.

Although Atsuka village is not located in a heavy snowfall area, it is often covered with snow in winter.

We don’t farm during the winter, and food for the winter must be prepared before autumn.

The most important thing is to secure grains for staple food, but this year we received plenty of flour and potatoes during the Kobold attack, so we do not have to worry about this.

For side dishes, we have smoked fish and Forest Mouse that I caught before autumn.

We will have to eat moderately during the winter since I won’t be able to catch anything either, but we won’t be as poor as a family of five sharing a small piece of salted meat.

Besides, migratory birds fly in during the winter.

So far, I have only been able to watch them feeling dissatisfied and useless, but with the help of void magic, I will be able to catch some.

If we don’t have to worry about winter food, all I have to do is focus on my training on staff arts and magic.

Catkins have their own fur, and the cold winter is better suited for my antics than summer.

After about two months of swinging, Mr. Zeol finally gave me permission to move on to the next phase of my training.

“All right, if you can swing the staff that well, that’s good enough. Now that your back is strong enough, let’s move on to the next step.” (Zeol)

“What’s the next step?” (Nyango)

“You’re going to have to fight me. If you can strike me a blow, you’ve passed.” (Zeol)

Mr. Zeol picked up a wooden staff for himself, and then he threw one at me as well.

“I don’t care if it’s in the arm, leg, torso, head, or anywhere else. Land a blow and entertain me well. But no magic is allowed.” (Zeol)

“Whaaat… I can’t use magic against Mr. Zeol?” (Nyango)

“I am well aware that your magic is tricky, and you may be able to land a blow if you use it, but that is no training in staff arts. You should fight purely with your own strength, skill, and ingenuity.” (Zeol)

In fact, in preparing for the confrontation with Mr. Zeol, which would happen sooner or later, I had prepared a variety of sneaky tactics, such as three-dimensional maneuver using [Step], defending using [Shield], and creating invisible obstacles along his path… How regrettable.

While standing face-to-face, Mr. Zeol just looks like he is standing normally, holding a staff carelessly with his right hand.

“Here I go!” (Nyango)

I stepped forward with all my might and thrust out my staff, but it was easily parried.

It only looked like I was parried casually, but I felt a shock so strong that my hand went numb, and I almost let go of my staff.

I tightened my grip on the staff, which I swung high, and swung it down at Mr. Zeol’s shoulder.

This time, instead of parrying the staff, Mr. Zeol parried it in a way that deflected its trajectory and added force so that my staff would accelerate.

I couldn’t kill the momentum, and right after I hit the ground hard, Mr. Zeol’s staff was thrust against my throat.

“Again.” (Zeol)

“Yes!” (Nyango)

I took some distance from him, and this time, I swung my staff aiming at his feet, but he stopped me like it was nothing.

I let my staff that was caught slide aiming at Mr. Zeol’s hand, but he easily avoided me and the staff that came bouncing up was stopped just under my chin.

“Use your wrists more flexibly and be conscious of connecting your attacks smoothly with each other. Again.” (Zeol)

“Yes!” (Nyango)

Next, I turned to his left side, where he didn’t have the staff, and tried to strike. Mr. Zeol moved his head and shifted his gaze, but without moving the staff to the other hand or twisting his body, he parried my staff and brought down a powerful thrust to my stomach.

“Gahfuu…” (Nyango)

“I didn’t teach you that kind of weak footwork. When you swing the staff down, keep your feet firmly planted and transfer the force. Again.” (Zeol)

“Ugh…yes!” (Nyango)

After this, even though I continued to swing, strike down, and thrust back and forth, not a single strike reached Mr. Zeol’s body.

On the contrary, Mr. Zeol did not move a single step from his original position.

It was as if I was a fly flying around a giant tiger that chased me away with just its tail.

This would not have changed the result even if I had used void magic.

“Okay, that’s all for today.” (Zeol)

“Haa, haa… Thank you very much.” (Nyango)

“You weren’t that bad.” (Zeol)

“Eh… I mean, forget a single blow, I didn’t even graze you.” (Nyango)

“That’s natural. I’m not going to be beaten by a brat who’s only been holding a staff for a couple of months.”

“Haa…” (Nyango)

“But at first you could only throw one to two attacks, but just now I blocked you six times.” (Zeol)

“Well… yes.” (Nyango)

“You’re making good progress. From now on, use the iron staff and do some more swing practice to simulate actual attacks.” (Zeol)

“Does that mean you’re going to add more to my practice swings… right?” (Nyango)

“Yes. You know, you have winter free, right? (Zeol)

“Haa… right…” (Nyango)

Unlike the time when I had my swinging checked, I felt quite tired because I was doing a full-on attack.

Miguel and the others, who had been showing up every three days, hadn’t recently shown themselves, so I left my guard down.

As I was trudging along the road at dusk toward home, someone jumped out of the bushes on the left side of the road.

Immediately after I heard a rustling sound of bushes shaking, I felt a dull pain in my back.

“How is it, Nyango?! Now you can finally see.” (Miguel)

The impact of the blow knocked me down, and I fell forward. I crawled to my feet and turned around to see Miguel with a look of triumph on his face, raising a stick in the air.

Yeah, I finally see that you are an absolute scumbag.

They hid in the bushes in the blind spot of my blind left eye, and then jump out just as I pass by and strike me from behind, shamelessly doing such a cowardly thing.

Miguel’s lackeys surrounded me on the road with sticks in their hands.

“Hey, you guys… Do it!” (Miguel)

When Miguel chuckled and grinned, six people surrounding me all swung down their sticks all at once.

“[Shield].” (Nyango)

The six sticks that were swung down bounced off the air shield with a clang.

I was enthusiastic about my staff swinging, but I wasn’t neglecting my magic training.

I used [Step] in the forest to build footholds, used [Armor], and practiced swinging while protecting my back with [Shield].

The range, thickness, and strength have been further improved.

“What’s going on?” (Lackey)

“I hit something.” (Lackey)

“Dammit, how cowardly!” (Lackey)

Miguel’s lackeys swung their sticks around wildly, but three large [Shield], which had been deployed in such a way that they were stacked on top of each other so that there were no gaps between them, did not seem to budge at all.

“You guys, you only thought of hitting but you didn’t think of getting hit… Is that what you thought?” (Nyango)

As I spoke to them while sitting on the road, the lackeys stopped moving and turned to look at Miguel.

“W-What are you doing? You’re dealing with Nyango alone, so beat the hell out of him!” (Miguel)

“Damn! It hurts…” (Dalles)

Miguel’s lackey, Dalles, tried to hit me but had his face hit against a [Shield] and sat up.

Kimball tried to kick me, but a [Shield] blocked his kick and he fell on his buttocks, and the rest of them stopped moving, just looking at each other and at Miguel’s face.

When I slowly stood up to show I can fight, Miguel’s lackeys retreated in a hurry.

Some even ran away but they hit the ground hard, tasting the iron staff I held.

“Now, Miguel, are you ready for this? Don’t tell me you’re too scared to fight one-on-one?” (Nyango)

After removing [Shield] and taking a step forward, Dalles and Kimball, who had been on their butts, scrambled to their feet and backed off to the edge of my path.

“Oh, there’s no way I would be scared of you.” (Miguel)

For someone who says he’s not scared, Miguel can’t hide the trembling in his voice.

Before the Nest Leaving Ceremony, I was the one who was scared of the difference in size, but now I do not feel like I would be losing even if I do not use magic.

I have gained void magic, I have fought with Kobolds, and I have trained my body by learning staff arts from Mr. Zeol.

It was not just because of any one of these things, but because of the effort, I put into training myself after Nest Leaving Ceremony.

“Well, I can’t help it, so I’ll do it. However, since it’s a staff match, there’s no magic. You can’t use magic!” (Miguel)

Miguel shouted as he readied his staff. I just returned a grin, no words, and quickened my pace.

“This guy… Gufuu!” (Miguel)

I stepped sharply towards Miguel, who had raised his stick high above his head, and struck him hard on his body.

“Who’s next?” (Nyango)

I looked down at Miguel, who was sprawled out on his stomach, writhing. So, I called out to his lackeys, but they all looked away and didn’t reply.