More or less the previous version’s Chapter 20, with some small adjustments.
CSWH Chapter 24: My ResolveLike always, I swing my sword.
After tracing through a series of forms, I imagined Donaldy's movements within my head. And then, as if I were fighting him, I moved my body.
……it won't reach him, huh.
Around the time when I felt chagrin at losing and began to wipe my sweat, people from the same unit as my father began to appear here and there, similarly starting their own training.
"……you're working hard right in the morning."
Before I realized it, father was standing nearby.
"Gazelle-sama! Good morning."
Since we were outside, I greeted father in an appropriate manner for my guard status.
"Umu, morning……..how about it? Would you have a match with me?"
"By all means. Please take care of me."
And so, I began to fight with my father using a sparring sword.
Clang, the sound of swords clashing reverberated.
I cannot win in a battle of brute force, so I quickly fell back.
"Your swordsmanship has changed."
Father suddenly muttered during our spar.
"It has become more practical. The reasoning behind it is good. However……I can feel hesitation."
"……hesitation, is it?"
"Indeed. Even though you resolutely aim at the opponent's vitals when swinging your sword, just before you touch the opponent, that resolution weakens. That half-heartedness is creating an opening."
……my sword is…weakening?
It is true that lately my movements don't overlap with my mental image, so I have been feeling a sense of discomfort.
So that was the cause of it.
"In reality you have had an encounter in which lives were taken……so it cannot be helped even if you have become afraid of wielding the sword. That is why I have permitted it up until now."
Father's sword repelled my own.
"……however, if you intend on being like that from now on……abandon the sword."
A cold gaze.
As if he were looking down at me, his sharp gaze stabbed into me.
Father's relentless words which were just as sharp pierced my chest.
His expression was so serious it was scary.
"If you think about it, the sword is a tool for murder. To take it into hand, one needs to have the resolve to kill your opponent and the resolve to be killed yourself. When you received the sword from me, did you not say that you had that intention already?"
"……yes."
"However, if that resolve has been crushed, then throw away the sword. And never again enter the premises of this training arena."
The air had frozen over.
And then in the next instant, father faced me and swung his sword.
I dodged that swing.
He was different from the usual father.
His spirit was oppressing to a painful degree.
"What's wrong! Was your resolve that weak!?"
Without even being able to pick up the sword that had been hit away, I simply continued to dodge father's sword.
That angry bellow stung my skin.
It's scary.
……scary?
Was my resolve that weak?
Was the thing that I cultivated, the thing that I spent so much time on, something that would collapse this easily?
……no.
No, no, that's wrong!
I swore that I wouldn't lose to irrationality.
I swore that I would take revenge on everything that had stolen mother away from me.
Even if I had to throw everything away.
Even if there was nothing to gain from it.
From the start, I didn't hold such weak feelings that would allow me to simply laugh and say, "I tried hard, this is my limit", stopping where I was while giving up.
I would persist in my selfishness.
Even if I had to use my surroundings for that sake.
I would complete my objective.
……that being the case, there's no way I could let myself be defeated by father in a place like this.
Once I decided that in my heart, my hand naturally extended towards the sword.
And then, I swung it.
My body reacted exactly like how I imagined in my head.
Father's movements……no, even the time being carved into the world felt like it was going slower.
Speedily, I dove close into father's bosom.
And then, I deflected away father's sword with a clang.
Father was late in reacting to my movements, and his sword offered little resistance as it flew upwards.
Aiming for that gap, I placed my sword against father's neck.
"…………I have indeed witnessed your resolve."
Hearing that one line, I drew back.
"I must also thank you……thanks to Gazelle-sama, I have remembered an important thing."
After saying my thanks with a smile, I returned to the mansion to wash off the sweat.