Chapter 280 Reasons (8)
Aside from a broken nose and a slightly damaged jaw, Svan looked fine. He woke up with some pain, but he was fine. He could remember everything that happened and could only sigh in front of his men. He had heard of Billy as well, thanks to the last two wars, but he only heard that he was a fearsome mage that could beat down dozens of enemies at the same time. However, as a warrior, he was so-so. He felt like a fool for believing in those. Someone smart wouldn't use all of their might during the entire war. They would save their strength and just use the right amount of energy all the time to defeat the enemy in front of them.
"It was an absolute defeat…" Svan said. "He seems to be eighteen years old, but while he was lacking in strength and experience, he made it with speed and ingenuity. Well, I am young too, so I won't lose next time."
His men felt better after hearing that. After experiencing their first defeats, they felt quite terrible since they thought of themselves as invincible. Still, Svan didn't feel that way. He also knew that he couldn't improve, even more now that he had someone to defeat.
In any case, Svan left the house he was using and then saw Billy and Gilles practicing some punches in the air. He had heard that Gilles wasn't accepting more disciples, but it seemed he made an exception after meeting Billy.
"Like this?" Billy asked and then punched the air.
"No… You need to use your breathing to control your energy when using that punch," Gilles said after a long sigh. "It seems that you aren't the genius that many say you are."
"Don't make fun of my hard work just by using those stupid terms," Billy said. "Oh… You are awake. Sorry for the nose."
"It is fine, I just came to say that I will keep my word and my men and I won't cause problems," Svan said. "However, I can't say if I will be able to keep my promise if I hear that you are killing my compatriots."
"Well, if I captured you, I should be able to capture the others," Billy said. "Still, if they cause too many problems, then I will have to reconsider. What can you do for me to try my best not to kill your friends?"
Svan realized that he was asking a lot from Billy. It was only natural that he would demand something in return with that in mind. Since he was a prisoner, there wasn't much Svan could offer.
"How about I let you the opportunity to marry my daughter?" Svan asked.
"... Sorry, but I already have two wives, I can't return home bringing another one," Billy replied while imagining a female version of Svan. "My wives will skin me alive."
Billy heard later that day that if they think that the fiances of their daughters are unfit, they can challenge them to a duel to force them to show their valor. The barbarians also had the habit of giving their daughters to those who beat them as well… That was quite the suspicious tradition, but apparently, their daughters also want strong men because they think that the strong men also have strong children. Maybe Leo was one of their lost descendants…
In any case, the fathers also want to see their daughters with strong men, hence, Svan felt a bit offended, but then he realized that it was natural since Billy wasn't of his people. Also, apparently, it was normal for strong men and women to have multiple partners… Regardless, thanks to that, Svan had a hard time finding something proper to offer. After seeing Gilles teaching Billy, he had an idea… It was a rather troublesome one since it would make Billy harder to defeat the next time.
"I can teach you how to control your rage and make you stronger," Svan said.
That wasn't so bad. Billy would take all the chances that he could get to get stronger, but he was having a hard time learning Gille's skills, so he didn't know if he would be able to learn them.
"All right, that will be enough," Billy said.
Billy spent the rest of the day practicing Gilles breathing technique, and while he had a long way to go, he could feel little by little himself being able to control his stamina. That was the basics of his techniques, after all. Still, he had to stop at night because it was time to work.
Before leaving, Svan warned them that Jeannette truly had sent groups of barbarians to all the villages in the areas, and they reinforced the towns with the whips that she had produced. Soon they will have at least one thousand tamed beasts each, and those couldn't be defeated stealthily because of their wild instincts. Still, Billy had other five villages to visit before aiming for the towns.
As expected, each one of those had a strong barbarian that had been brainwashed and the other fifty of their men. Although Billy had to defeat all of them, he still managed to transport the inhabitants of three villages. Although he didn't show too much, Svan was relieved that his friends were alive and relatively well. Billy had to break a few of their bones, after all.
"You are really amazing, Billy," Pierre said after he saw Billy talking with Svan for a while.
"What is with you so suddenly?" Billy frowned. "I dislike when people suddenly praise me, even more so when they are men."
"I mean… You are already talking with Svan like you are an equal and he doesn't mind at all," Pierre said. "They were rather cold to me when I talked with them now and before."
"I believe I trash talked with him a lot from the beginning, so if anything, I looked like someone who was acting more important than him," Billy said. "Regardless, they probably can feel that you are afraid of them. If you think of them as unknown creatures, naturally, they will dislike you. They are just people that have different traditions than us."
