Chapter 18…..
Best of Three (3)
Johan remembered it clearly.
No—how could he ever forget?
That day. The day he lost what he believed was everything.
And the words the monster spat out as it severed and took his leg.
“If you think you can run even faster after losing one leg…
then come back and I’ll accept your third challenge.”
Johan’s voice was calm, but Ralph—who knew the Johan of the past—felt his chest tighten.
Johan Redner.
Now he was called the Unbroken Sword, but in the past, the word that defined him was “Cloud Dragon.”
A being that moved like a dragon dancing through the clouds.
Johan’s movements, after pushing the Redner family’s secret body technique to its absolute limit, fully deserved that title.
Even the Sword Lord himself had admired Johan’s speed.
For someone like him, one leg must have been his entire life.
Seeing Ralph’s face stiffen, Johan casually waved his hand.
“I’m the one who got his leg cut off, so why do you look so serious?”
“…Senior.”
“Don’t look at me like that. I paid with my life and gained new insight on top of it… Losing one leg was a cheap price.”
“……”
“Heh… Only after ending up like this did I realize it. With what I originally had, I could never beat that monster. To hunt a monster, you need a weapon worthy of it.”
It was a heavy conversation between men who hadn’t met in fifteen years.
The damp mood and the junior’s pitying gaze made Johan suddenly scowl.
“Hey, you pig bastard, I’m still kicking! Why are you looking at me like I’m washed up?!”
Hearing Johan’s familiar foul mouth for the first time in ages, Ralph’s stiff face relaxed.
Watching Johan gulp down drink after drink with an annoyed expression, Ralph smiled faintly.
Looks like I’ve gotten old too… worrying about this man when there’s no one else to worry about.
When Ralph had just entered the Cradle as a rookie, Johan had been in his final fifth year.
Back then, the talent Ralph saw in Johan was nothing short of shocking.
Even with one leg gone… this man is still Johan Redner.
Among the countless geniuses produced by the Cradle—
the one unanimously called the strongest.
The only usurper acknowledged by the Sword Lord.
And the owner of the back Ralph had chased his entire life.
Remembering this, Ralph shook off the heaviness and shot back playfully.
“Didn’t I tell you not to call me a pig? This isn’t fat—it’s muscle!”
“Oh right. Muscle pig bastard. Hey, you’re old enough now—are you still doing that brainless training? Your muscles look even bigger.”
“As you age, you’re supposed to maintain your strength.”
“Even so, your body is excessive.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is perfect!”
“Oh ho? Now you’re trying to lecture me?”
“It’s only a five-year difference. We’re all getting old together—does that really matter?”
“Hey! You’re five years younger! And you’ve never beaten me even once—don’t get cocky!”
As Johan swaggered, a vein bulged on Ralph’s forehead.
It had been Ralph’s lifelong goal to stand shoulder to shoulder with Johan, so they had sparred countless times.
Of course, his record was total defeat.
No matter how much he revered Johan, who would feel good about that?
Ralph was about to snap back, but he suddenly paused and shook his head.
“Let’s drop it.”
“…What? Normally you’d be charging at me like an angry boar.”
“What would be the point of beating you now?”
This time, Johan’s face hardened instantly.
He glared fiercely at Ralph.
“What do you mean by that? You saying I’m not worth your time because I’m crippled?”
“Don’t get mad. That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s how it sounded.”
“No. If you’re the Johan Redner I know… even with one leg gone, you’re still fast and strong. That skill you used to toy with me—where would it go?”
“……”
“But the one I truly want to defeat isn’t Unbroken Sword Johan Redner. It’s Cloud Dragon Johan Redner. The great usurper who challenged the Sword Throne. Let me ask you one thing. Could the current you… defeat the you from fifteen years ago who challenged the Sword Lord? Can you honestly say you’re the same as your prime?”
Johan gave no answer.
Heavy silence lingered.
At last, he spoke.
“So in the end, you’re saying you don’t want to fight me because I’m weaker than before?”
“…If you put it like that, I’ve got nothing to say.”
“You damn brat.”
After glaring irritably for a moment, Johan suddenly smirked and shrugged.
“Well, you’re not wrong. I’m not what I was in my prime. But I promise you this.”
Johan’s eyes flashed sharply.
“If the day comes when I challenge the Sword Lord again… before that, I’ll add one more loss to your record and then go.”
“Heh. I’ll look forward to it.”
Ralph grinned in delight at the declaration of war.
As the tense atmosphere eased, Johan grumbled again.
“Anyway—do you have the Shari or not?”
The conversation finally returned to its original topic.
Ralph, who had briefly forgotten, answered cautiously.
“Uh… I don’t.”
“Your voice is shaking.”
“W-who? Me?”
“Tsk. Doesn’t match your size—you stingy bastard. If you don’t want to give it, just say so. Don’t lie and say you don’t have it.”
“If I say I do, you’ll take it even if I refuse!”
“Heh. Our years together weren’t wasted—you know me well. So hand it over while I’m asking nicely.”
“Do you know how hard that thing is to get?! Even with money!”
“I know. That’s why I came to you. Because the hard-to-get item happens to be in your hands—and I can get it for free.”
Ralph’s shoulders trembled at Johan’s shamelessness.
Yet he couldn’t firmly refuse.
Ugh… sly as ever.
He had spent his whole life chasing Johan’s back—owing him a debt he could practically call lifelong.
Johan knew that well, which was why he was being so brazen.
“Well, our Ralph has grown up. Making your senior wait like this. Should I gather the entire 6th class of the Cradle under me again?”
At Johan’s renewed threat, Ralph finally gave up.
Then he made up his mind.
If it’s going to be taken anyway… I should at least get something out of him.
As he pondered what to demand, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
Ralph’s eyes gleamed.
“Fine. I’ll give it to you. But!”
“But?”
“I have a condition too.”
“A condition? A coooondition? Hah… This won’t do. I really should gather everyone under me again.”
“Do whatever you want. If you don’t accept, you’re not getting it!”
“…You brat.”
Seeing Ralph unexpectedly stand firm, Johan took a step back.
“…What’s the condition?”
The Shari was extremely difficult to obtain.
He absolutely needed it for the road ahead.
At Johan’s softened tone, Ralph’s gaze shifted.
At the end of his sight—
was Yuri’s round head, fast asleep like the dead.
“My condition is…”
And Ralph began to state his terms.
A moment later.
After listing everything he wanted, Ralph’s lips curled.
“Well? Do you accept?”
His tone was openly provocative.
Johan’s lips twisted in response.
“Oh? That’s quite an arrogant condition.”
“So? Yes or no?”
Johan’s grin deepened.
As if saying: You dare provoke me?
So his answer was inevitable.
“Fine. Let’s do it!”
And just like that, the two immediately began plotting the details of the bet.
Meanwhile, a few meters away—
“Uuugh…”
As if foreseeing his unfortunate future, Yuri shivered in his deep sleep.
* * *
Yuri collapsed the moment they reached their destination.
After sleeping like the dead for over twenty hours, he finally woke the next morning.
After a brief introduction with Ralph, and while the host stepped out, Johan explained everything.
Yuri blinked and tilted his head.
“…You want me to do what?”
Johan answered as if he had been waiting.
“Spar!”
“…Why me?”
“What were you listening to? Want me to explain again?”
“No, I got the gist. So in exchange for that Shari thing, I have to spar. With that old man Ralph’s grandson?”
“Exactly.”
“So why?”
“…You little brat, are you playing word games with me again?”
“Whoa, calm down and listen. So the Shari temporarily blocks my wide-open spirit vessel, right? With it, I can circulate my mana road alone without you assisting me.”
“That’s right!”
“Then we don’t actually need the Shari.”
“…Huh?”
“Without it, you can just keep assisting me from the side.”
“You little—! Do you know how exhausting that is?! After doing it once my bones start creaking!”
Johan burst out in frustration—
then froze when he saw Yuri’s sly expression.
“What’s with that face?”
“Hmmm… So in the end, you need the Shari because you’ll be worked to death, old man?”
“T-that’s not the only reason. Once you enter the Cradle, I can’t always stay beside you. You’ll have your own schedule. How can I follow you around every time? This is all for your sake.”
At Johan’s unusually kind explanation, Yuri’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Johan averted his gaze.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Something’s weird. If it were your usual temper, you’d already be yelling at me to shut up and get ready to fight… So why are you being so nice and persuasive? Almost like you absolutely need me to participate?”
“……”
“Be honest, old man. There’s something else on the line besides the Shari, right?”
Johan broke into a cold sweat.
Sharp little brat.
Yuri stared as if already certain.
With a prickling face, Johan sighed and raised the white flag.
“…Fine. You’re right. The Shari will be handed over first on the condition that you spar.”
“And you made a bet too, didn’t you? On whether I win or Ralph’s grandson wins?”
“This is why I hate sharp br—”
“Hm?”
“…Ahem. Anyway, yes. Ralph bet his grandson would win. I bet on you.”
“Oh? What’s the prize?”
“If Ralph’s grandson wins…”
Johan trailed off.
Anger appeared on his face.
“If Ralph wins the bet…”
“If he wins?”
“That bastard… that bastard… says he’ll call me hyung-nim!”
“……”
“He said he’d call me hyung-nim!”
“…That’s it?”
“That’s not all! He even said… he’d start speaking casually to me! The nerve!”
“…That’s it?”
“Hey! You say ‘that’s it’ because you don’t understand! In the Cradle, seniority is strictly maintained even after graduation! How dare someone from your class call a senior like me ‘hyung’ and speak informally!”
“…Boomer.”
“What did you say?!”
Johan glared fiercely.
Yuri shook his head.
He’s not joking.
Look at him—his cheek fat was even trembling with rage.
Yuri sighed and asked casually,
“Then what do I get if I win?”
“Huh?”
“My reward.”
“Oh, that? Nothing special. I’m getting a sword made.”
“A sword?”
“Ralph’s actually pretty famous as a blade craftsman. Since you need one anyway, I told him to forge you a blade.”
“…Greedy old man. Yours looks nice already.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
“It’s not mine—it’s yours. You think you’re entering the Cradle without a sword? Planning to fight with tree branches?”
Yuri’s eyes changed instantly.
“Mine? My sword?”
“Yeah.”
“My opponent is thirteen?”
“Yeah.”
“Best of three—win two and it’s over?”
“Right.”
Yuri clenched his fist.
“Don’t worry, old man. I’ll make sure that bear bastard never even dares say the word ‘hyung’ to you again.”
“…Don’t use your Manifestation.”
“Pfft, against some thirteen-year-old? I won’t need it. Bring that bear cub—no, that little bear brat right now! I’ll grind him into dust!”
Yuri’s fist tightened with a crack.
