Bab 0732 Zack Memberikan Segalanya
Penerjemah: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
Dan begitu, pertandingan latihan mereka berdua pun berakhir.
Saat menerima pukulan di tubuhnya, Zack terjatuh, tapi tentu saja dia tidak mengalami cedera serius.
Bagaimanapun juga, itu hanya latihan tanding, dan mereka memakai pedang kayu.
Justru semangatnya yang hancur saat dia terjatuh...
"Luar biasa. Kau menangkap yang terakhir itu dengan gagang pedang?"
"Iya. Dia menggoda saya dengan tebasan diagonal, jadi saya terima, lalu saat serangan dari atas datang, saya... menangkapnya dengan gagang, di antara kedua kepalan tangan, mengangkatnya, lalu menyerang tubuhnya."
"Itu sangat khas dirimu, kedua tangan terbuka seperti itu."
"Gerakan yang keren."
Itu gerakan yang dia lihat di Kejuaraan Kendo Seluruh Jepang saat dia masih di Bumi.
"Tetap saja, saya banyak belajar. Pantas saja dia komandan kompi di Ordo Ksatria Kerajaan. Fakta bahwa dia bisa mempertahankan kombo tanpa henti seperti itu pasti karena dia tidak pernah melewatkan latihan, kan? Olah pedangnya benar, dan gerakan tubuhnya, atau lebih tepatnya langkah kakinya, juga benar. Saya bisa merasakan tidak ada yang setengah-setengah dalam ilmu pedangnya. Ilmu pedang Zack itu aliran Hume yang dipelajari Abel, kan?"
"Benar. Meski tidak terlihat, keluarga Cooler orang itu adalah keluarga pejuang terkenal yang telah melahirkan ksatria selama beberapa generasi. Sejujurnya, saat masih muda, dia tidak terlalu serius menekuni ilmu pedang, tapi empat tahun terakhir ini sepertinya dia berubah dan mengabdikan diri pada jalan pedang."
"Iya, iya. Saya bisa merasakan keseriusannya. Um, saya ingin mendengar alasan dia berubah. Mungkin berguna untuk hidup saya ke depan."
"Ahhh, yah... saya ragu soal itu. Bukankah lebih baik kau tidak menanyakannya?"
Ryo dengan polos mengutarakan harapannya, dan Abel menghentikannya karena dia tahu keseluruhan ceritanya.
Abel merasa sebaiknya dia mengganti topik pembicaraan.
"Saat pertama kali saya dengar kau bilang akan melakukannya seperti di Rune, saya panik karena mengira kau akan menjatuhkannya sepenuhnya."
"Menjatuhkannya tidak akan ada gunanya, kan? Karena ini pertandingan latihan, kau harus melakukan sesuatu yang menjadi pelajaranmu sendiri dan membuatmu belajar apa yang ingin kau serap, kan?"
"Apa yang ingin kau serap?"
"Bagaimana ya... saya masuk ke latihan tanding dengan tema tertentu."
"Dengan tema tertentu? Maksudmu apa?"
"Sulit dijelaskan, tapi... misalnya, dalam latihan hari ini, saya berfokus pada 'bertahan terutama dengan tubuh bagian atas tanpa banyak menggerakkan kaki'."
"Begitu. Saya sudah menduganya sejak awal, karena kuda-kuda dan langkah kakimu berbeda dari biasanya."
"Pantas saja Abel. Kau memperhatikannya sejak awal."
Ryo mengatakannya dengan keterkejutan yang tulus.
Pengamatan Abel berarti karena dia tahu kuda-kuda dan cara bertarung Ryo yang biasa, dia bisa tahu bahwa hari ini berbeda dari biasanya.
"Informasi saya dicuri oleh Abel."
"Saya memperhatikan dengan saksama karena saya ingin tahu ilmu pedang semua orang. Kau tidak pernah tahu kapan itu bisa berguna, kan?"
Abel menjawab dengan tawa menanggapi kata-kata Ryo yang sengaja dibuat menakutkan.
"Pedang Zack tadi... kombonya tajam."
"Yah, Zack bukannya lemah."
"Cara mengatakannya sombong sekali."
"Bukan, maksud saya Zack bukannya lemah, tapi dia terlanjur ditelan tekanan Ryo."
"Tekanan saya? Apa saya benar-benar punya itu? Saya tidak mengeluarkan 'tekanan' atau apa pun."
Mendengar ucapan Abel, Ryo menoleh dengan bingung.
"Itu bukan 'tekanan' dangkal yang biasanya kau pancarkan. Itu sesuatu yang lebih mendasar, sesuatu yang hanya dipahami pendekar pedang, atau ksatria... dengan kata lain, rasa takut."
"Rasa takut?"
"Rasa takut bahwa jika kau menyerang orang ini, dia akan membalasmu... rasa takut yang tidak bisa kau tahan."
"Saya punya itu? Itu agak keren."
Ryo memasang ekspresi bercampur malu dan senang.
"Saya akhirnya mengalahkan Zack di akhir, tapi apakah itu tidak masalah?"
"Dia tidak mengalami cedera serius, kan?"
"Bukan, maksud saya dari segi penampilan, atau kedudukannya, mungkin."
Zack adalah komandan kompi, dan dia memimpin separuh Ordo Ksatria Kerajaan di atas kapal.
Ryo khawatir dia telah meremukkan wibawa itu.
"Tidak masalah. Lihat saja para ksatria itu."
Tapi Abel bilang itu tidak apa-apa.
Bahkan, para ksatria sudah mulai mengayunkan pedang mereka.
Karena ruang dek yang terbatas, bahkan mereka yang tidak bisa mengayunkan pedang pun membicarakan pertandingan latihan tadi dengan bersemangat.
Terlepas dari siapa yang menang pada akhirnya, sepertinya itu telah menyuntikkan motivasi baru ke dalam hati para ksatria.
"Syukurlah."
Melihat itu, Ryo menghela napas lega.
Saat mereka bertarung, dia sempat berpikir mungkin lebih baik mengakhiri tanpa benar-benar menentukan pemenang.
Namun, pedang Zack sangat tajam, dan saat mereka bertarung, Ryo pun ikut terpacu.
Tentu saja, tidak sampai kehilangan ketenangan...
"Dalam format praktis seperti pertandingan latihan, kau menyadari berbagai hal tidak peduli siapa yang kau lawan."
"Iya, itu pasti benar. Ada kalanya kau diserang atau ditangkis dengan cara yang tidak pernah kau duga, atau diperlihatkan gerakan pedang dan gerakan tubuh yang tidak pernah kau bayangkan."
"Benar! Sangat mendidik."
Ryo mengangguk dengan sangat senang.
Ryo tidak menganggap dirinya maniak pertarungan.
Tetap saja, dia tahu bahwa dia tidak membenci beradu pedang... dia menyadari itu.
Bagi Ryo, pertandingan latihan bukanlah pertarungan hidup dan mati yang sesungguhnya, jadi itu bukan sesuatu yang dia benci, melainkan justru dia sukai.
Saat keduanya sedang berbicara seperti itu, kedua komandan kompi itu menghampiri mereka.
"Yang Mulia, Duke Rondo, terima kasih atas bimbingannya."
Mengatakan itu, Zack membungkuk dalam-dalam.
"Oh, tidak sama sekali. Itu pertandingan latihan yang sangat mendidik. Terima kasih juga."
Ryo sempat sedikit khawatir bahwa Zack, yang membungkuk begitu bersemangat, mungkin masih membawa kerusakan dari pertandingan latihan, tapi dia terlihat baik-baik saja, jadi Ryo merasa lega.
Zack lalu berbalik ke arah tuannya dan melanjutkan.
"Yang Mulia Abel, pikiran saya sudah jernih."
"O-oh, begitu?"
"Saya masih jauh dari cukup."
"Hmm?"
"Mulai sekarang, saya akan mengabdikan diri bahkan lebih serius pada jalan pedang. Saya jadi paham bahwa jika tidak, saya tidak akan pernah mendekati."
"...Hmm?"
"Kalau begitu, permisi."
Mengatakan itu, Zack, dalam arti tertentu, dengan udara penuh semangat, berjalan ke sisi berlawanan dek dan mulai mengayunkan pedang.
"Dia bilang pikirannya sudah jernih, tapi bukan soal hal itu?"
"Sepertinya tidak. Saya pikir dia hanya menjernihkan pikiran dari kekecewaan yang dia bawa."
"Begitu ya... Yah, sudahlah."
Scotty dan Abel bertukar bisikan.
Ya, Zack tidak menjernihkan pikiran soal masalah Sera.
Dia hanya menjernihkan pikiran dalam arti bahwa dia perlu berusaha lebih keras.
Bahkan jika bukan mereka berdua, terus terang, sulit untuk memahaminya.
Dan kemudian ada satu orang lagi, Premier Duke, yang secara keliru mengagumi sosok Zack.
"Zack luar biasa, ya? Dia penuh motivasi. Mengatakan bahwa dia akan mengabdikan diri pada jalan pedang... saya rasa tidak banyak ksatria yang bisa menyatakan itu dengan begitu jelas tepat di depan tuan mereka, sang raja."
"Y-yah, itu benar..."
Abel tidak bisa berkata apa-apa lagi.
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Chapter 0732 Zack Gives It His All
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
And so, the two of them’s sparring match came to an end.
When he took a blow to the body, Zack collapsed, but of course he had not suffered any serious injury.
It was a sparring match, after all, and they were using wooden swords.
Rather, it was his spirit that had broken when he collapsed...
“Impressive. Did you catch the last one with the hilt?”
“Yes. He had baited me into the diagonal slash, so I took him up on it, and when the downward strike came, I... caught it with the hilt, between both fists, lifted it, and then went for his torso.”
“That’s very much like you, both fists spread apart like that.”
“It’s a cool move.”
It was a move he had seen at the All Japan Kendo Championship back when he was on Earth.
“Still, I learned a lot. As expected of a company commander in the Royal Knight Order. The fact that he could keep up that kind of relentless combo must be because he never skipped training, right? His sword work was proper, and his body movement, or rather his footwork, was proper too. I could feel that there was no cutting corners anywhere in his swordsmanship. Zack’s swordsmanship is the Hume style that Abel studied, right?”
“That’s right. Even if he doesn’t look it, that fellow’s Cooler family is a famous warrior house that has produced knights for generations. To be honest, when he was younger, he did not really throw himself into swordsmanship all that seriously, but these past four years it seems he has changed his ways and is devoting himself to the path of the sword.”
“Yes, yes. I could feel his seriousness. Um, I would like to hear the reason he changed his ways. It might be useful for my life going forward.”
“Ahhh, well... I wonder about that. Isn’t that something you’d be better off not asking?”
Ryo innocently voicing his hopes, and Abel, stopping him because he knew the full story.
Abel felt that he should change the subject.
“When I first heard you say you were going to do it like in Rune, I panicked because I thought you meant you were going to completely knock him down.”
“Knocking him down would serve no purpose, would it? Since it is a sparring match, you should do something that becomes your own lesson and lets you learn what you want to take in, right?”
“What you want to take in?”
“How should I put it... I go into sparring with a theme in mind.”
“With a theme in mind? What do you mean?”
“It is hard to explain, but... for example, in today’s one, I was focusing on ‘defending mainly with my upper body without moving my feet too much’.”
“I see. I thought so from the start, since your stance and footwork were different from usual.”
“As expected of Abel. You noticed from the very beginning.”
Ryo said it with honest surprise.
Abel’s observation meant that because he knew Ryo’s usual stance and way of fighting, he could tell that today was different from that.
“My information is being stolen by Abel.”
“I watch closely because I want to know everyone’s swordsmanship. You never know when it might be useful, do you?”
Abel answered with a laugh to Ryo’s deliberately ominous words.
“Zack’s sword earlier... his combo was sharp.”
“Well, Zack is not weak by any means.”
“What an arrogant way to put it.”
“No, I mean Zack is not weak, but he was being swallowed by Ryo’s pressure.”
“My pressure? Did I really have that? I was not putting out any ‘pressure’ or anything.”
At Abel’s remark, Ryo tilted his head.
“It was not the kind of superficial ‘pressure’ you usually exude. It was something more fundamental, something only a swordsman, or a knight, would understand... in other words, fear.”
“Fear?”
“The fear that if you strike at this guy, he will get you in return... the kind of fear you cannot help feeling.”
“I had that? That is kind of cool.”
Ryo wore an expression mixed with embarrassment and delight.
“I did end up defeating Zack at the end, but was that all right?”
“He did not take any serious injuries, did he?”
“No, I mean in terms of appearances, or his standing, I guess.”
Zack was a company commander, and he led half of the Royal Knight Order aboard ship.
Ryo was worried that he had crushed that dignity.
“No problem. Just look at the knights.”
But Abel said it was fine.
In fact, the knights had already started swinging their swords.
Because of the limited deck space, even those who could not swing them were talking eagerly about the sparring match from earlier.
Regardless of who had won in the end, it seemed to have breathed new motivation into the knights’ hearts.
“That’s a relief.”
Seeing that, Ryo sighed in relief.
While they were fighting, he had been thinking that it might be better to end without particularly settling the score.
However, Zack’s sword was extremely sharp, and as they fought, Ryo had gotten fired up too.
Of course, not to the point of losing his composure...
“In a practical format like a sparring match, you notice all kinds of things no matter who you fight.”
“Yeah, that’s certainly true. There are times when you get attacked or defended against in ways you never expected, or when you are shown sword movements and body movements you had never imagined.”
“That’s right! It’s so educational.”
Ryo nodded very happily.
Ryo did not think of himself as a battle maniac.
Still, he did know that he did not dislike crossing swords... he was aware of that.
To Ryo, sparring was not a true life-or-death fight, so it was something he did not dislike, and rather liked.
While the two of them were having that conversation, the two company commanders approached them.
“Your Grace, Duke Rondo, thank you for the guidance.”
Saying that, Zack bowed deeply.
“Oh, not at all. It was a very educational sparring match. Thank you as well.”
Ryo had been a little worried that Zack, who had bowed so vigorously, might be dragging the damage from the sparring match along with him, but he looked fine, so Ryo felt relieved.
Zack then turned toward his lord and continued.
“Your Majesty Abel, I have cleared my head.”
“O-oh, is that so?”
“I was not nearly enough.”
“Hmm?”
“From here on, I will devote myself even more seriously to the path of the sword. I have come to understand that if I do not, I will not come anywhere close.”
“...Hmm?”
“Then, if you will excuse me.”
Saying that, Zack, in a sense, with an air of exuberance, walked to the opposite side of the deck and started swinging his sword.
“He said he had cleared his head, but not about that matter?”
“It doesn’t seem so. I think he only cleared his mind of the frustration he had been carrying.”
“Is that so... Well, never mind.”
Scotty and Abel exchanged whispered words.
Yes, Zack had not cleared his head about Sera’s matter.
He had only cleared his head in the sense that he needed to try harder.
Even if it were not the two of them, frankly, it would be hard to understand.
And then there was one more person, the Premier Duke, who was mistakenly admiring Zack’s figure.
“Zack is amazing, isn’t he? He is full of motivation. To say that he will devote himself to the path of the sword... I do not think many knights could state that so clearly right in front of their lord, the king.”
“Y-yeah, that’s true...”
Abel could not say anything else.
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