The Banished Villainous Noble Son Who Was Used as a Stepping Stone in the Original Work Awakens to Combat and Destroys the Laws of the World - Episode 27: Quiet Preparation

Episode 27: Quiet Preparation

By the window where the morning light streamed in, I exhaled deeply as I woke up.

Starting today, I have three days. A preparation period for the Academy’s request.

After the guild meeting, I officially accepted the request.

It’s a mission of a different nature than combat. That means I’ll be required to use my abilities in a different way than before.

(First, I need to compose myself.)

Skills in this world aren’t just numbers. It’s about how you combine them, how you make use of them. What’s being tested is the very design of how you fight.

Precisely because of that—I wanted to prepare as thoroughly as I could during these three days.

In the morning, I trained on my own at the training grounds beside the plaza. While retracing the memories of the mock battles up to yesterday, I repeatedly checked my sword swings and footwork.

On the hard ground that absorbed the sound of my footsteps, I kept repeating my stances and movements.

This wasn’t just simple practice swings. To strengthen my “reading ability,” I was trying something new today.

I deliberately covered one side of my vision. Narrowing only my right eye, I trained by intentionally observing my surroundings “incomplete.”

(How far can I predict with limited information?)

This was a kind of “restriction play” used by some top-rankers in the many games I used to play in my past life.

But at the same time, it was also a trial to sharpen one’s sense for reading movement and intuition.

(Breathing timing, rhythm of footsteps. Presence, shifts in balance…)

I would pick those up without relying on sight. Combat sense that can’t be measured by numbers was now a skill I needed to prioritize.

Around me, some other adventurers glanced in my direction.

No one talked to me. But those glances were proof that I was being “acknowledged.”

Training to move unnoticed. The feeling of growing while being noticed by others.

I believed that both were necessary for who I am right now.

The feel of the wooden sword after swinging it again and again. A faint warmth remained in my gripping hand.

Just a little—but surely—I felt I had advanced further than yesterday.

(My reaction speed is still lacking. But it’s starting to become a foundation for “reading.”)

The sensations I gained from the mock battles. Eye movements, signs of shifting body weight, disruptions in breathing—I “read” those and seized what’s ahead.

That style of fighting was finally taking shape.

“Haaah!”

I swung the sword. The sound of the wind brushed past my ear.

There was a solid feedback. But at the same time, I knew this alone wasn’t enough.

What’s needed for reading is not just “calmness.” A mind with an unshakable core, under any circumstance—that’s what completes true “reading.”

There’s a possibility that this upcoming request holds the key to that. If so, then there’s only one thing to do.

(Make the move, and seize it.)

Around midday, I stopped by the potion shop to restock. I also did a basic equipment check and reorganized my tool pouch.

(This amount should be fine.)

I didn’t have much silver left. But I hadn’t made any unreasonable purchases. What I was more concerned about was—

(A person who can accept Silent Soak Stone. I hope they exist somewhere…)

Silent Soak Stone → Crystal of Murky Will → “Indomitable” skill.

If that progression truly exists in this world, then combat here is deeper than I imagined.

It’s not just about stats—even the use of materials directly ties into combat strength.

“…It really is deep.”

I unintentionally muttered that under my breath.

This world offers layer upon layer of potential to those who fight. Realms that can’t be reached just by skimming the surface are still sleeping within it.

That’s how I felt.

(If I were to discover those…)

Just thinking that made a faint heat rise in my chest.

Game mechanics I couldn’t fully grasp. Hidden deep structures behind the system.

Now, I might be able to “excavate” them with my own hands.

(…To fight is to adventure, to discover, and to construct.)

The moment I felt that way, it seemed like my reason for being in this world took on a new shape.

Silent Soak Stone, Crystal of Murky Will. I need to find the “person who can convert their value.”

At the time, that data had only existed as unimplemented content… but if this mission proceeds, I might catch a lead.

(Everything is connected. There’s no need to rush.)

◆

The sun set. And night came. A quiet atmosphere filled the inn’s dining room. The landlady spoke to me with a smile from across the counter.

“So it’s in three days, huh? Don’t overdo the preparations and collapse, okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”

When I replied, she gently narrowed her eyes with a soft expression.

“You can come back here anytime, you know? Your room will always be waiting here for you.”

A warm feeling slowly spread through my chest. Former noble, the exiled “villainous young master”—those titles didn’t matter here.

(…This place is starting to feel like “home,” huh.)

Somehow, that thought made me feel genuinely happy. And in order to “return to this place,” I have to keep moving forward.

(Let’s go. I’ll see how deep the combat in this world truly is.)

To prove it—with my own body.

Original Author’s Comment:

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I’ll keep giving it my all from here on, too!!

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