Crack- Crack-
The crackling fire was the only sound filling the air. Most of the people at the training grounds had already left, but Julie and her colleagues remained.
“…”
Gwen watched Julie; her head held down. Raphael and Syrio did not move as they looked at each other.
“…Wasn’t that a trick of magic? No, what kind of knight kicks their opponent in the first place… oh, he’s not a knight.”
Gwen broke the silence, then looked to Raphael and Syrio for help.
“Magic… I don’t know. I mean, I watched how Deculein wielded his sword. That guy looked like he had a lot of weaknesses, but that wasn’t the case at all. If it were me, I’d probably be hit at least once. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen such skill.”
“Hey, man. What is that?”
Gwen’s eyes drilled holes into Syrio.
“I’m just saying he was like the wind. Of course, he’s not faster than me. Ahaha.”
Deculein’s swordsmanship was as elegant as a waltz and as graceful as an aristocrat. He broke Julie’s sword as if he were dancing.
“That’s right.”
Raphael cut in.
“Also, Deculein’s physique is strong even at a glance. Even for you, Julie, it’s a physical difference that would be difficult to overcome without mana.”
It was difficult, even for a knight, to overcome a distance of 20 cm without mana.
“…I’m fine.”
Yet Julie said the words in a voice that didn’t sound fine at all.
“I admit it. I lost the fight. The Professor accurately and thoroughly analyzed my movements.”
Julie closed her eyes for a moment, recalling their fight. His every movement, down to the trembling of his sword and fingertips, were all-natural. Her blade was predictable, and her movements were easily thrown off balance.
“…Haah.”
Gwen sighed as Julie rustled in her pocket and pulled something out. It was the document covering all of Deculein’s points.
“She’s obsessed with standard rules. At first glance, she seems to mix variations, but even that is regular if you look closely. For example, after a simple sideways slash, her only option is the upper left or the upper right.”
Julie recited one of the paragraphs. Gwen, Syrio, and Raphael trembled.
“Also, she can’t give up on that Freyden style, especially that of Zeit’s. So she just rushes, charges…”
“Ah~, that’s really true. Knowing that in advance, Deculein put his shoulder out to block you. I knew his response was too quick. Did that hurt? Haha.”
Syrio clapped and laughed. Julie bit her lower lip without a word, and Gwen glared at him.
“Be quiet you.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry.”
At that moment, Julie jumped up, turned away, and stalked off. Gwen patted Syrio on the back and called after her.
“Julie, where are you going?”
“…I have something to say to Professor Deculein. Don’t follow me. Nothing will happen.”
* * *
Rustle, rustle.
Behind the mansion, I was wielding my sword across the snow-covered ground. I had nothing like a special move or unique sword style; I merely moved the blade along the most efficient path.
Swish…
Following along the tip of the sword, nineteen pieces of wood steel flowed like petals behind the blade. It wasn’t a bad way to utilize them. Combining Iron Man and Sturdy Body would be useful for sword dances, sparring, and actual combat.
…Actually, it was still curious. How did Julie endure these shoulders and legs, stronger than most metals, without any magic or armor?
“Not bad.”
Anyway, this sword and body training was fine. Rather, it was good enough for practical use. The problem was, again, the absolute value of mana and these personality flaws. It was hard to incarnate the power of a sword with a wizard’s talent, and even if that could be supplemented by completing Metal Enhancement soon, it was difficult to bear even the thought of sweating.
Metal Enhancement was also stagnant at 99% proficiency. Was that called a bottleneck stage or something…?
At this point, I stopped swinging as I felt someone approaching.
“…Deya?”
I looked over to where Julie stood in the dark, her head lowered.
“Yes.”
“Why did you come?”
I threw the broadsword into the snow. Julie hesitated before answering.
“This is because we need the opinions of our opponents for a healthier recovery.”
I nodded.
“You’re right, but is there anything to recover? All your moves were in my head, and your movements were predictable.”
“…”
“Just with the shaking of your blade, I could tell what was next. It is a habit that must be broken. There is a problem with your entire style right now.”
Julie clenched her fists but did not object.
“…How are you so sure, Professor? That I was wrong.”
“As you said, I am not a knight. But pure learning has no absolute or vocational limits, and I gladly acknowledge my ignorance, learn by acknowledging it, and understand it as learning.”
Julie thought about my words. And then she let out a small breath, letting go. She wasn’t the type of person who would remain stubborn about this.
“Then-“
“I’ll send you all of your habits that need to be broken and my analysis, all together. There are many knights other than you that need analysis, but they won’t admit that I know better than them.”
“…Yes.”
Julie answered in a low voice.
“But before that.”
I glanced Julie up and down. I already knew her height: 173 cm. However, the knights were special cases, in which I couldn’t estimate their weight by appearance.
“Do you weigh about 65 kilograms?”
“…”
For a moment, Julie’s mouth tightly shut. Surprised by the question, she glared at me. I waited for her to answer.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The silence grew long, and I frowned.
“Answer me.”
Then, Julie’s lips moved.
“Six… seven… six…”
“Just say it. The exact number.”
“…”
Stuttering, she mumbled the answer.
“It’s a lot more than I expected. Well, that’s a knight for you, after all. Go now.”
“…”
Julie looked at me, let her eyes fall to the ground, glared at me again, then looked down again… after repeating this a few times, she turned and walked away. I entered the mansion considering factors such as her height and weight, the proportions of her arms and legs, and her strength as determined by the sparring.
However.
“You’re here.”
“Oh, the Professor is here.”
“You came, sir.”
“…”
Greetings from Ihelm, Epherene, and Louina respectively met me. The three of them were sitting at the living room table, eating and having a drink.
“The red moon is up. It seems like this will be the last time we drink and chat.”
Ihelm tipped a bottle at me. Epherene, a glass of wine in hand, grinned.
“Ah~, drinking this makes me a bit dizzy.”
“You can’t even speak properly.”
“I’m fine.”
Epherene forced her eyes to open wide.
“Where did the merchants end up?”
“They were put in the dorms. Everyone seemed to be quite nervous.”
Louina answered.
“…Right.”
“What’s wrong?”
I looked out the window, thinking about the guys I met today. Forty mercenaries and merchants, in total.
“Tsk.”
A laugh of disdain suddenly left me.
“…That’s stupid.”
I didn’t even get angry with this. Rather, this wretched brain was too ridiculous. Were they looking down on me, or was this deliberate provocation?
“What? What’s going on?”
Ihelm posed the question, but I turned to Louina instead.
“Louina.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Why, after all, did only these guys arrive at Reccordak? If they wanted to cut off the supply fully, they could manage it. Was it a miracle? Or were they lucky enough to depart first? Were these mercenaries skilled?
That couldn’t be the reason. Therefore, it was correct that the question should be changed to, ‘why did the Demon Blood send only these guys to Reccordak,’ rather than, ‘how did these guys get to Reccordak?’
“…Monitor the dorms they are staying in. Quietly, so you won’t be noticed.”
The next question was ‘who’ out of forty? Was he the boss, a mercenary, several of them, or if not even that…
Maybe all forty were Demon Blood or from the Altar.
“…Yes.”
Recognizing that it was unusual, Louina put down the wine she was drinking. Ihelm noticed the changing mood, but Epherene, whose cheeks had grown twice in size from food, was savoring the wine alone.
“Hmm… it tastes like grape juice…”
* * *
“…!”
Meanwhile, Yeriel woke in an unknown place.
“…”
Drops of sweat beaded down her forehead. Her body was bound, her mana wouldn’t move, and a red-eyed woman was looking down at her.
“…Ugh!”
She tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn’t open. It had been taped over.
“Ugh—! Ubbvvv—!”
The woman watching Yeriel wrote in her notebook.
─Don’t worry. We won’t hurt you.
“…”
Yeriel moved her tongue without saying a word. She intended to lick the tape off. But the woman reached over and pop—! She ripped off the tape.
“Mmm!”
It felt like her lips were torn. Yeriel glared at the woman with tears in her eyes.
“Hey! Who are you?! Do you know who I am?!”
The woman replied in writing.
-You are Yeriel. I am Elesol.
“You do this knowing that? You’re really in trouble, you know?!”
-We’ve been in trouble for a long time. But we won’t kill you.
“…What?”
Yeriel felt something strange in her response. She killed her temper and spoke in a low voice.
“If you kill me, it will be a bigger problem. Forget it, I think you can understand me, so I’ll just speak. Let me go. If you let me go, I’ll forget about this. The estate needs me right now. If you let me go now, I won’t blame you. I promise.”
─Don’t worry. A puppet is replacing you. There will be no chaos in Yukline.
“…What? Then why did you kidnap me? No, enough with the bullshit and just let me go.”
Yeriel frowned. She couldn’t understand that attitude. If that was the case, why was she kidnapped?
—You have something you don’t know.
“Gosh… okay. Tell me. What is that? Let’s hear it. If I hear it, will you release me?”
—I can’t tell you that yet. But we need you.
“Why.”
-Negotiation.
“Negotiation?”
—I will use you as a negotiating card with Deculein.
Yeriel bit her lip. She could tell who this bitch was now for sure.
“…You’re a Demon Blood. But what will you do? Don’t you know? Deculein hates me.”
In preparation for a time like this, she deliberately pretended not to be close to him. All to lower her value as a hostage as much as possible.
—Of course, I know Deculein doesn’t like you. However…
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Elesol let out a sigh as she tapped her ballpoint pen against the notebook.
“Phew…”
“…This damn bitch, hey—!”
Yeriel yelled. Elesol startled and backed away. She couldn’t hear her, but the air pressure messed up her hair.
“Come to think of it, that’s ridiculous. Seriously, these bastards don’t even know gratitude. Our camp didn’t even have a gas chamber installed, you know? We didn’t agree to it! Go harass Betan instead!”
“…”
Elesol shook her head with a bitter expression on her face.
-I know. That’s why I’m thinking, so keep resting until we arrive where Deculein is.
“What… oh, wait. Arrive?”
It was then that Yeriel focused her attention on the space around her.
Rumble… Rumble…
There was a very small shake. It meant that she was in a wagon, train, or at least, some means of transport.
* * *
On the next day, as the morning sun rose above the training ground, Julie received a report from Epherene during her training.
“It’s something the professor wanted me to give you.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Yeah… haaaaam…”
Epherene, sleepy today as always, nodded. Julie thought she was cute as she accepted the report.
“…Hmm?”
There were only two pages, so she thought there wouldn’t be much to fix, but it was magic paper. Each piece of paper contained 100 pages, so the total length was 200 pages.
“…”
Julie read slowly.
[The knight Deya has long arms and legs compared to her height and is heavy because of her strong muscles, but she still has very good agility. It is appropriate to evaluate that her strength is above average. Still, her body’s elasticity, including agility and flexibility, is at a very exceptional level compared to other knights, so it is right to take full advantage of its strengths. Thus…]
“No, I’m not that heavy-“
“Ah~, who is this? Knight Deya, isn’t it?”
As she was reading, a sarcastic voice caught her attention. It was the Imperial Knight Delric and his group.
“She’s the knight who lost a fight to a wizard… hahahaha. How could I trust my back to her?”
“Hahahahaha-“
The laughter of the Imperial Palace knights resounded over the training grounds, but Julie endured it. It was true she was defeated.
“Well, from what I heard, it sounds like you let your guard down quite a bit, but… this will damage the honor of the knights. Oh, have you already lost it? Hahaha.”
Julie stared down at Delric.
“Sir Delric. Would you like to spar with me later?”
“Hmm? Suddenly? Even with the Red Moon?”
“It doesn’t have to be now. After all, we’re going to win here. However, we only need to do it once before going back. It’s the same, isn’t it?”
Two wins and two losses, that was the record between Delric and Julie. Delric was a strong knight with a bigmouth and was nominated as the next vice-leader of the Knights Order.
“Hahaha. Gosh. I told you I went easy on you at those two losses… well, fine. After we win, let’s fight. I’ll teach you my tricks. At least you won’t lose to a wizard.”
“Yes. Let’s win.”
“Good. Great.”
Julie lowered her head. Delric, about to pass by, suddenly noticed the paper in Julie’s hand.
“What is that?”
“…Professor Deculein gave it to-“
“Huh? What, the document that the Professor is using to teach knights? Did you get one?”
Delric smiled as he thought it ridiculous. Julie answered honestly.
“Yes.”
“Wow, oh my. How far will your knight’s honor fall? …Tsk. No, more importantly, what’s the relationship between the two of you? Didn’t you call off the engagement?”
The moment when Delric clicked his tongue-
──!
Stones began to fall from the sky.
Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!
Even with the group of rocks thrown out of nowhere, the knights glanced into the sky without panicking. Delric clenched his teeth.
“…It’s an air raid! Flying monster! Everyone, get ready for battle!”
“Yes! In the name of Zifrein!”
Following the shouting knights, Julie drew her sword.
Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah–!
Monsters covered the sky, carrying ground troops up and over the wall. They were trolls and gargoyles, the spearhead of the monster’s assault to announce full-fledged war.
