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The orc tries to block my attack, but before making contact with the shield, I stop my sword and, turning on myself, pretend to attack his back.

He turns to block, but, again, a few centimeters before my blade hits his shield, I change my position and try to attack from another direction while throwing another smoke bomb to confuse him.

We continue like this for a few minutes, and the flames surrounding the blue-green blade of my orichalcum sword seem to turn blue at times due to the speed of my movements.

My idea is to test his reflexes while trying to confuse him with a large number of feints at full speed so as not to give him time to counterattack.

I take advantage of the fact that the smoke doesn't allow him to see well and that it doesn't really affect me, considering that my opponent is hardly moving from his place.

However, despite the smoke obstructing his vision and the speed of my movements, the orc makes no mistake at any time and always manages to position himself correctly to block in case I finally choose to attack.

In the end, frustrated and tired, I walked away to catch my breath.

Again, Garnuk does not attack me and stares at me, patiently waiting for me to decide to test his seemingly perfect defense in a different way.

'I don't know what to do... There's no way to get over his shield.... NO! Concentrate! There are many people who depend on the outcome of this battle.... People... I was... I was thinking wrong... My weapon is not important, and neither is my opponent's... or, in this case, his shield. Our equipment is just a means to achieve our intentions, but it's the intentions that really matter. I just have to focus on the movements of the person in front of me and act accordingly.'

I focus with all my might on things like how he leans his body, how he flexes his muscles, and where his gaze is directed.... Things I normally only observed superficially.

Seconds pass as I try not to look at his shield or axe but at the individual behind them, and I wait for the orc in front of me to make some movement that leaves some opening to attack.

"This isn't fun anymore, kid. If you can't think of anything else, I'll put you out of your misery," says the orc.

At the same time, I see the notification that my skill 'Sword Specialization' goes up to level 9, the maximum level.

'But I don't have time to think about that. The only thing I have to focus on is my opponent and finding a way to defeat him as soon as possible.'

Suddenly, his next move becomes clear in my mind. Garnuk, due to impatience with my lack of initiative, is going to jump up and attack with a slash from above.

And, as I predicted, the orc leaps toward me. As soon as his feet leave the ground, I automatically catapult forward with my body crouched and launch a lunge at his abdomen, an attack that eventually sneaks through his shield defenses.

The armor largely obstructs my weapon, but at least six inches of it digs into the orc's stomach, which spits out some blood.

I could have stayed in that position and let the giant orc impale himself with his own weight, but, in my state of mental clarity, I saw, or the precise word would be 'felt', that Garluk was planning to retaliate against me with an attack of his ax.

So, before the orc's body falls on me and prevents me from moving away, with the same automatic speed with which I attacked him a few fractions of a second ago, I withdraw my sword from his body and move to the side.

The orc's body falls face first to the ground with a resounding thud, and I position myself on top of him with my sword pointed at his neck.

'During these last moments, I did not think of anything, but my body reacted as if by instinct... without failure or delay... This... This is what Gideon was referring to.'

"Surrender," I say in a euphoric voice, still looking intently at his body, searching for some movement that would show any intention to counterattack.

"All right, little human, you win. Cough..." says Garnuk, coughing up some blood mixed with saliva "The speed of those last moves was impressive. You're a better fighter than me; I'll give you that. The city is yours."

And, after receiving confirmation from Gell, who looks at me wide-eyed as if he can't believe what he just saw, I withdrew the blade of my sword and moved away from the fallen body of the former city boss.

***

The day after I defeated the leader of the city, the tedious process of signing an endless amount of papers certifying me as the new lord of the city began. After which I will have to sign another mountain of documents granting political powers to Gell, Charity, Angnir, Tomas Protego, and Lilian to act on my behalf within the city.

Which ultimately translates to, when I finish with this mountain of pending documents to sign, they will take care of everything, and I will be able to do whatever I want without having to worry about the political, sanitary, economic, and I don't know how many other things in the city. Things that I really don't care about and wouldn't know how to manage.

The issue is that as I sign the damned papers, Gell or Lilian keep bringing me more to add to the pile. Which gives me the impression that I'm never going to be able to finish this task.

I didn't level up any of my classes as a result of the battle with Garnuk, but the level up in my [Sword Specialization] skill to max level is already more than enough reward. Besides getting the orc city to surrender without having to fight, of course.

That same day, the combined troops of the resistance and our army were let in after raising the alarm that the leader of the city had been defeated and that an armistice should be made until further notice, and they looked for places to stay inside the city. This will help the alliance of our army and the resistance more easily maintain control of the city.

In the end, there were very few fatal casualties on both sides, thanks to the fact that it did not really come to a real battle between the two forces. And, fortunately, no one I knew was killed.

On the other hand, Lilian healed Garnuk the second day after my battle with him. He was unable to move properly until the young Estella treated him because the orc medicine and potions didn't fully heal his wound the day after my battle with him.

I guess that's a good reason for the orc chief to be indebted to Lilian and be much more supportive of the new management of the city.

The truth is, when I joined the expedition to help Deirdre and Lilian in the fight against the orcs, I didn't think I would end up like this. Being immobilized by bureaucratic issues rather than by some combat injury.

Anyway, it can't be said that I'm having a very bad time either. I get three meals a day, which are incredibly delicious, by the way. I have a spacious, marble-paneled room with a super-comfortable bed and a luxurious desk. The room connects to a large bathroom with a giant bathtub and lots of substances to add to the bath water that make it fill with multicolored bubbles. Also, in case I want something from outside my golden cage, I have two therian maids who attend to everything I ask at the slightest call. The only problem with all this is that… They keep me prisoner by signing things nonstop.

During this time, Deirdre and Joaquin came to visit me a few times to keep me company. But, since there really isn't much to do here, they never stayed for very long. After which, Deirdre would go back to her parents' house, where she is now staying, taking Azur with her because the little dragon doesn't like being cooped up here, and Joaquin would go back to the buildings designated for the army.

I am currently alone in the stupidly luxurious room assigned to me in Garnuk's house, finishing signing one of the last rows of papers left to sign today. It's just a little before dark, and I'm terribly tired from the monotonous activity I've been doing almost uninterruptedly since I woke up.

'Haa... I've been cooped up within these four walls for three days now. If they bring me any more paperwork, I'm going to start burning everything with my magic.'

While I'm thinking about that idea with a smile, suddenly Lilian enters with Yuumi, her companion, at her feet, following her closely. The girl stays in front of my desk, observing my work, and as she doesn't say anything, I decide to speak....

"I was thinking about whether I shouldn't pretend insanity and start burning all these papers you and Gell keep bringing me. After all, I can't be the leader of the city if I'm crazy, can I?" I say, looking at her amused.

"That's an interesting idea. But don't you think it's stupid to say it to me? I mean, no one's going to believe you now that I know. Besides, that would just make the last three days of paperwork and all the years of resistance planning worthless. Is that really what you want?" says Lilian, smiling back at me.

"Hmt, it was a joke.... I have to entertain myself with something, being locked up here," I say, signing a document on something I don't know related to the city docks.

"It's not that bad..." says Lilian, approaching the desk to sit on one of the edges and read some of the documents I already signed. "If only you knew the amount of things I have to manage at home normally, you wouldn't complain so much."

"Yeah, but that was your choice. I didn't sign up for any of this when I agreed to come fight in this expedition," I say, taking a handful of papers and waving them in front of her.

"You are almost done. That stack is the last one. Once you're done, you'll be free again to do whatever it is you want to do. You have all the time in the world," she says, smiling, but suddenly her smile fades. "Listen, Xel, I have something important to tell you....