Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest-Chapter 37: She definitely has a screw loose(1)

It was just a training sword—a wooden blade dulled at the edge and tip. But even so, it was heavy and solid enough that, with the right swing, it could leave a deep bruise or knock the wind out of someone.

And if it struck cleanly against an unguarded abdomen?

"Gwah!"

This was the result. As he rolled across the ground, Aedric vomited all over himself. A stunned Adrienne let out a scream and rushed toward him, while Lyla covered her mouth in sheer disbelief.

"I win," Renard said flatly, lowering his sword.

Had it been a real weapon, Aedric might've been fatally wounded by that blow. It was only a training match, but with Aedric struck in a vital spot and sent sprawling across the floor, Renard's victory was unquestionable.

"Lyla, go get someone to carry him out of here."

"Y-yes...!"

Even as tears streamed from his eyes and snot dripped from his nose, Aedric couldn't stop retching. Adrienne had approached out of concern, but the moment she saw her brother's pitiful, vomit-covered state, she froze. She couldn't bring herself to touch him. Instead, she turned her glare to Renard.

"You coward!" Adrienne snapped.

"Who's a coward?"

"You! You attacked him before the duel even began!"

"Oh..? You think I was supposed to wait for him to deliver a speech? The moment the handkerchief was thrown, the duel was on," Renard replied calmly.

"That's... true, but still! It was a cowardly move!"

"Do you think life is just a garden of pretty flowers? Once the duel starts, it's every man for himself. And your brother stood there posing after tossing the handkerchief."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Adrienne was momentarily stunned into silence. She didn't know what to say—and was also distracted, wondering if he'd just compared her to a garden of flowers.

"Did you just... call me pretty?" she asked.

"Has the heat gotten to your head?" Renard muttered.

"In any case, you didn't fight honorably," Adrienne insisted.

"Hah. You really are siblings. You twist things to suit yourselves in exactly the same way," Renard scoffed.

"I am nothing like my brother."

"Really? Your brains seem to match. So tell me, what exactly do you think an honorable duel looks like? Toss the handkerchief, count to three, and then begin?"

"Um..."

Adrienne bit her lower lip, glancing at Aedric, who was now curled up on the floor, sobbing. She felt sorry for him—but sorry didn't change the fact that he was still disgusting in his current state, so she kept her distance.

"...You could've gone a bit easier," she muttered.

"That was me going easy," Renard replied.

"Have you really not trained your essence?" Adrienne suddenly asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Renard, who was collecting the sandbags scattered on the floor, looked back at her with irritation.

"Why are you still here?"

"Answer me—have you really not trained your essence?"

"I already told you. I haven't!"

"Liar. How can you move like that carrying all that weight if you haven't trained your essence? And that strike—even if my brother let his guard down, it was too fast."

Renard paused mid-lift.

"You actually saw it?"

"Just barely."

"Well, I guess your eyes aren't just for decoration."

"You've got a nasty mouth on you."

"Nothing new."

Everyone in the demon army had said something similar at some point.

As Renard stacked the sandbags in one corner, Adrienne watched him quietly. His muscles were hidden beneath his clothes, but from his movements, it was clear he was using nothing but raw physical strength.

This puzzled her. She and Aedric had been training since they could walk.

But I heard he didn't train much in the Taira castle, Adrienne thought.

Meanwhile, Renard mused to himself, That kid's pretty strong for thirteen.

He had felt solid resistance during the strike—Aedric's body was trained beyond the average noble boy. The way he'd flown backward suggested he had instinctively braced for the impact, even if he hadn't realized it.

And it wasn't as if Aedric had just stood still—he'd tried to retreat mid-strike. For someone with no real combat experience, that kind of reaction was impressive.

'Good instincts for a kid. But for a Grim's heir, still pathetic', Renard judged.

He had met the heirs of other major families in his previous life and had even clashed with some of them. Although those encounters happened later, when they were adults, Renard could still guess how strong they had been in their youth.

Compared to them, Aedric—despite being trained by one of the most powerful forces within the Grim household—was sorely lacking.

'Well, the Grims were never known for combat,' Renard reminded himself.

The true strength of the Grim lineage lay in Beast Taming.

And that only became possible after the blood crest awakened.

In that sense, fighting a Grim before their awakening was like fighting an unarmed knight.

Considering that, Aedric might turn out to be decent one day. Adrienne too—though they hadn't crossed blades, she had sharp eyes.

"You... you dare... to me...!" Aedric managed to gasp.

Panting, he looked up at Renard. His vision was still spinning, and his gut throbbed like he'd been stabbed. His mouth tasted of blood and bile.

"Coward...!" he wheezed.

"Is this a script? You twins keep saying the same things," Renard said, smirking. "Ask your sister what I said when she called me that."

"Y-you bastard...!"

"Or just replay it in your head. You might've been busy vomiting and rolling, but your ears still worked, didn't they?"

Aedric couldn't argue. He had heard it. Even through the pain, those words stuck in his memory.

Still, he refused to accept this. Not in front of his sister. Not in front of the servants. To be reduced to this disgraceful state—

"Now then, start cleaning this mess," Renard said, glancing at the puddle of vomit with a mocking smile. "You puked all over the place. If you clean up here, I'll go clean the horses. Fair, right?"

"You...!"

"Also, since you lost the duel, shouldn't you say something respectful like, 'I have lost'? Or are you going to abandon all that honor talk from earlier?"

"Ugh...!"

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