Episode 2 of the Overly Competent Villain

West(1)

“·······.”

Elysia opened her eyes and quietly stood up.

The mattress I was lying on just now is softer than any other bed I have been lying on in the past 10 years.

A top-of-the-line mattress was placed on top of the queen-size frame, and it was made of silk from the East, which is said to be hard to find because there are no duvets that are changed every day.

Elysia went into the private bathroom attached to her room.

The pouring water pours out just as much hot water as Elysia wants. It is an unfamiliar experience for Elysia, who has always used the shared bathroom of a multi-family house like an ice rink.

“ha······.”

It was Elysia who always dried her hair in the cold wind of the morning. She went out into the hallway after the rare experience of drying her hair with a hot air generating magic tool provided for ‘personal use’.

Just then, a skinny young man passed by in the hallway, and he greeted me as if he were friendly.

“Hello, driver. Good morning.”

“Mr. Roy.”

“Meal is yet to be served. Because old man Bastien is checking the engine.”

“Can I help you?”

“hehehe, it should be fine. Older Bastien-nim is a man who can do anything. What’s more like that? Morning coffee with me—”

“Oh, that’s fine.”

Elysia had been realizing for the past few days that a mercenary, a knight-level skilled mercenary, had a fairly light personality.

Likewise, when he lightly expressed his intention to refuse, Elysia left the drooping Roy behind and left the hallway full of cabins.

The door opens, revealing a vast expanse. The iron deck is stretched out, and the ship roams the sky.

noncollinearity.

Elysia was currently boarding a flying ship.

To be precise, in the non-collaborative ship owned by Jacques Pietro.

‘It’s a privately owned airship… I’ve heard that chaebols ride it.’

The airship is a means of transportation that contains the essence of the Empire’s magical science and technology, which is less than 30 years old.

Of course, the price is incomparable to that of a sailboat that sails the sea.

A magical protective device to protect sailors who would be exposed naked even at an altitude of several kilometers from the ground, and a mana engine that had to move a huge ship ranging in size from tens to thousands of tons.

Elysia is well aware that if the quality of the details of the interior is raised, the price will rise without an answer.

I’ve heard that a non-collaborative ship at the level of Tongtongbae starts with millions of Guliks.

‘How much money do you have?’

If this is a non-collinearity, wouldn’t it be enough to do 10 million Gulik? No, I want to believe that it will not be the tens of millions of Gulik units that are mentioned in the budget execution of military non-official ships.

Whatever it was, Pietro’s wealth was at a level that made his mind go crazy just by imagining it.

* * * *

Leave yourself in the air, breathe in.

Let the internal energy flow smoothly, gesture lightly like a butterfly, bend your legs, bend your knees and cross them, and close your eyes.

When breathing, posture, and movement are harmonized, the body and mind become stronger.

The way of heaven is within this.

[What are you doing?]

‘I’m exploring the truth of the universe.’

[Doing yoga poses?]

Tsk tsk, this is why sorcerers are.

If you sit still and take a deep breath, everything is yoga or pilates.

Real men don’t do that.

‘I learned about the 24-movement Taiheo Simbeop from a kung fu master from the East. Breathing and movement are harmonized, and qi sinks into the danjeon, which relaxes the entire body.’

So I calm my mind and take myself as a small universe and persevere. This is to explore the way of heaven.

I wonder if an under-athletic wizard would know this profound way.

Anyway, it was when I was repeating the simbeop taught by Master Lee from the East.

“… what are you doing?”

Elysia is talking to me as I am energized in the cool breeze.

“Don’t disturb me, I’m looking for a way out of the deep microcosm.”

“… in a yoga pose?”

“Heh heh, even if it’s not yoga. No matter how narrow-minded this place may be, even if it’s the land of Koh-jaengs. I’ll teach you the teachings of Master Lee, the master of kung-fu that encompasses the mysteries of the East.”

“Healthy gymnastics, that.”

“hmm?”

Elysia approached me, took off her coat, dropped it, lifted her left foot high, and stretched out her arms.

“Is this the next posture?”

“… that’s right.”

How do you know Mr. Li’s 8th posture?

And you’re better than me…

Elysia bent over the leg she had lifted next, stretched it out behind her back, and surprisingly placed the tip of her toe on the back of her head. It was great flexibility.

“I once arrested a swindler who was selling counterfeit simbeop. He said that he changed Dongbang’s health gymnastics into something plausible and sold it. I also remember that his name was Taeheosimbeop.”

[Pu-sup…! The great villain of the world… fraud…! Kkeukkeuk!]

Osman bursts into laughter. He seems very happy that I have been scammed.

‘Because it’s not a scam. Kung Fu Master Mr. Lee is real.’

[Oh, is that so? So did you get the enlightenment of Samra?]

Regardless of whether Osman made fun of me or not, I continued to meditate on the great empty mind method.

“Do you want to continue?”

“They say it’s good for your health? And you don’t know if it’s a scam or not.”

“······You’d rather practice proper swordsmanship.”

I think it must have been frustrating for me to continue meditating for free, Elysia hinted.

“From the battle with Kachitori, you seem to be at the level of a sword user.

“That’s right, I don’t have any talent… ah~”

Come to think of it, the current me had considerable physical ability and considerable magical power.

According to Osman’s evaluation, if I manage the inner magic that fills my body well, I can see considerable potential.

[As the Sword Saint’s protection reached level 2, the physical level also went up considerably. Now, even among sword users, it’s at the level of snoring.]

After the work in the south was finished and the conversation with Elysia was over, the protection of the Sword Saint rose to level 2.

In ＜Blessing of the Stars＞, the blessing of the Sword Saint is to acquire some of her physical abilities.

It’s a long way from becoming a real knight without magical power enhancement, but even with this physical ability, it’s enough to say that you can use your strength anywhere.

‘It was actually worth fighting against Kachitori.’

[If it wasn’t for magic, he would have died dozens of times.]

Anyway, as I corrected and improved the star catastrophe under Relic’s guidance, new possibilities opened up for me.

‘Is it possible? Sword Master.’

[I won’t say it’s impossible, but you should aim for the archmage, not the sword master, man.]

I don’t want to use magic, so I don’t use it. Even the most basic enchantments were barely used. Even if it’s because of my special constitution, it’s hard to imagine me becoming a great wizard like Osman in his prime.

I don’t know if it’s magic that has nothing to do with my abilities as a wizard, like soul magic.

“By the way, when it comes to swordsmanship, do you mean Wittenberg’s swordsmanship?”

“Yes, the combat technique you use is military martial arts, right? I saw it used in the battle with Kachitori.”

“He was an honor student at the military academy.”

Of course, the military academy teaches imperial martial arts for physical training as well as tactical command and unit management.

Shooting, daggers… It’s on the level of culture, but surprisingly, he also taught proper swordsmanship.

“However, that is a swordsmanship that is assumed to be based on ordinary people. It is different from superhuman battles, armor techniques for anti-golems, and anti-horse battles that assume magic warfare.”

On the modern battlefield, knights are all-around tactical weapon handling.

Specialists in the Great Dictionaries, Great Battles, Great Magic Wars, and Great Demon Battles.

During his military academy days, he had the opportunity to witness the battles of the Imperial Knights, so he was well aware that the martial arts they used were different from those of ordinary martial arts.

“Well, I won’t have much to fight, so I think a level of culture is enough.”

“What are you talking about? A healthy mind and a healthy soul reside in a healthy body before meditation. Now, let’s practice. How long will you live under protection?”

Elysia’s motivation was considerable. Why do my eyes seem to be shining, is it an illusion?

I soon found out the source of Elysia’s motivation.

“no.”

“It sucks. You can’t just stab it.”

“I’ll have to put a trick on it. Again.”

Elysia pointed out every move I showed. Even though it’s a confident knife fight that I learned while going through real battle with the military academy.

If that’s all it is, I’d like to ask if this would be enough…

“Look at it. Like this. If you reduce the extraneous movements and hit and run quickly——”

[It’s artistic.]

Osman, who watched with a chuckle as I was pointed out, couldn’t hide his admiration for Elysia’s neat and perfect dagger technique.

“I don’t know what to say, but I have my own way of fighting, too.

“Well, I guess.”

“But your movements are… amazing. I now know there is a way to use a dagger like that. Excellent.”

“That’s right? Well, it’s natural for me.”

“No, it’s really fast and there’s no superfluous. It must be the dagger technique that comes down to Wittenberg. The Count taught me well.”

At the honest praise, Elysia scratched her reddish cheeks. He looks expressionless, but he’s the type to show his emotions quite frankly.

“Then let’s have a quick meal. Bastien told me to look forward to dinner tonight. Take a shower before dinner—”

“Pietro.”

I flinch, and my whole body stiffens. Elysia’s clear, clear eyes were smiling.

“Do a thousand more dagger moves and rest. Practice, only practice can improve your skills.”

“·······.”

I’ll be honest. The swordsmanship instruction that started with the morning meditation continued until the evening.

It was because she got caught up in Elysia, who was excited because she said she didn’t have time to practice swordsmanship because of her usual job.

Elysia, this was my daily life, so even so, I am not. That means my muscles are screaming right now.

[Do you want power?]

‘·······.’

[Do you want power?]

‘Stop it.’

[If you want strength, study magic, mortal. If you indulge in three magic books a day and conceive a magic formula, even incompetence is possible, Archmage!]

Sword and Sorcery.

I’m sure that people with the world’s strongest talent are training me, so I should like it…

“If it’s difficult, shall we finish it with mock sparring? If you just touch my collar, I’ll count you a victory. Of course, you’ll have to keep going until you touch my collar.”

[In front of magic, swordsmanship is nothing more than children’s pranks. The true loser’s skill is magic!]

“······Huh.”

I’m too old to learn anything new.

* * * *

“How much do you know about the West?”

“Mue?”

late evening time. Elysia, who had swallowed the thick meat, raised her eyebrows.

“Where we’re going from now on. You should also have prior knowledge.”

After work in the South is over, the place we are heading to on the airship is none other than the West.

If you simply say the West, the scope is so vast, but in general, the West is called this way.

“Lawless zone. I know it’s a place where security is messy and criminals run rampant.”

“The West is vast, and some lands are fertile, but there is a fatal flaw. Most of the roads from the center to the West are wastelands full of monsters.”

No matter how airships have been developed, unlike ships, airships are difficult to operate in large quantities.

So, with the fertile eastern and central lands, the empire did not pay much attention to pioneering and developing the western part.

“In the end, the West is a land that the grassroots pioneered and built on their own by fighting monsters. As you know, such a place has strong independence and people are strong.”

“······It sounds like there are many criminals.”

“That’s it. Due to the nature of having to cross the wasteland, it’s difficult for the Empire’s central government to see it. There’s a reason most escaped criminals go west.”

A land of pioneers and criminals abandoned from the center. The West was such a land.

“·······.”

Elysia stared at me with a firm expression. She was an investigator in Task Force Jacques Pietro.

Of course I know the business I’ve done in the West and its impact.

“I heard it’s your base land. Most of the organizations there follow you.”

“Follow me… It’s a little different.”

ten years old A small criminal who started out as a pickpocket in a back alley has survived in that rugged land.

At 15, I became the ruler of the back alleys, and at 17, I became the boss who controlled the entire city.

And after I, who had accumulated enough base and money, burst into work in the central Imperial Knights and returned, I became a legend and began to gain notoriety.

Of course, it was also in the west that he developed his strength while avoiding the eyes of the Empire.

and thirty. A 20-year-old criminal has become a big criminal who travels across all continents, but my status in the West is unique.

“I am the King of the West.”

It was a fact without the slightest exaggeration.