Chapter 57
Chapter 57
I had said it many times, but what I lacked was experience.
After possessing Leios, I had gone through various events and accumulated experience points, but it had still only been half a year.
A Sword Master was a realm that a talented swordsman achieved by devoting their entire life to it.
No matter how much one knew the future or resorted to tricks, it wasn’t something that could be reached easily.
That was why I deliberately invited danger upon myself.
People grew the fastest when they were pushed into extreme situations.
That was why I voluntarily took part in the war against the monsters, and why I fought the demon race who subtly provoked me, all on my own.
The crowning point of it all was the Twin-Head Ogre standing tall before my eyes.
Facing a creature as large as a three-story apartment building, the sense of oppression was immense.
Its entire body was made up of bulging muscles, and if I took even a single blow the wrong way, it looked like I wouldn’t even be able to piece my bones back together.
Krrrk-
I could feel people shouting from up above.
The knights who had gathered at the main gate had climbed onto the castle wall in response to the sudden situation, and all of them were staring down at me with faces full of shock.
“Then.”
I inhaled the now-chilled night air and tightened my grip on the sword.
I had expended a fair amount of strength fighting the demon race, but I couldn’t afford to make weak excuses over something like that.
Blue flames flickered and rose along the blade.
The Twin-Head Ogre looked at it and let out a scoffing laugh, as if it were ridiculous.
At the expression that seemed to say I had dared to stand before it with just that much, I smiled back.
“A monster like you wouldn’t know any better anyway.”
In an instant, a massive fist slammed down into the ground.
Perhaps because it had two heads, unlike an ordinary ogre it also had as many as four arms.
Each limb as thick as a log pounded the ground without rest.
Thick dust billowed up and the earth shook, but by then I had already kicked off and leapt into the air.
Kruk.
The Twin-Head Ogre’s gaze followed me.
As if it had anticipated that I would evade its attack, its follow-up strikes flowed unnaturally smoothly for a mere monster.
Violent fighting spirit swirled around the tips of its fists and exploded through the air as though it would tear my body apart.
But I struck it aside, used the recoil to spin my body, and slipped past its attack.
Then, as I descended back to the ground, I lightly swung my sword.
Slash.
Along with a light tearing sound, a familiar sensation flowed up through the tip of my blade.
The moment my feet touched the ground, something fell from the air with a dull thud.
Kroooooooo-!
The Twin-Head Ogre, having lost one of its heads, began to rampage madly.
Green bodily fluid sprayed out like a fountain from its severed neck.
I stepped back slightly to avoid it, but the creature seemed not to care about me at all as it thundered forward.
“S-s-stop it!”
Ahead of it stood the gates of Britain.
Already pushed to their limits by countless monster attacks, the gates wouldn’t be able to endure an assault from a Twin-Head Ogre that had lost one head and gone berserk.
The knights and soldiers knew this as well, and desperately fought back from atop the walls, but neither magic nor arrows could easily pierce its tough hide.
“Hoo.”
Watching the Twin-Head Ogre charge forward, I pulled the blade in close to my body.
I had thought that severing one neck, following textbook theory, would weaken it, but instead it seemed to have gone berserk, rampaging madly—almost laughable.
Still, I couldn’t just stand by and watch the gate be destroyed.
So I lowered my stance and kicked off the ground.
A blue arc traced across the darkness.
Flowing down along the edge of the blade, it reached the Twin-Head Ogre’s body just before it collided with the gate, and without the slightest pause, cleaved straight through it.
Boom-!
The neatly severed body of the Twin-Head Ogre failed to stop its momentum and crashed directly into the castle wall.
The ground trembled and thick dust rose once more, but the gate itself remained intact.
“It won’t revive like that demon race guy, right?”
Thinking it might get back up and attack again like that Rammas or whatever—who had leapt up even after being hacked to pieces—I poked one half of the split body with the tip of my sword.
Fortunately, there were no signs of it moving again.
“Waaaaa-!”
“The Twin-Head Ogre has fallen!”
“Press the momentum and counterattack!”
Having confirmed the death of the Twin-Head Ogre that had smashed into the wall, the area above erupted into chaos.
The knights who had descended to block the gate returned to their posts, and the soldiers who had been fiercely fighting the monsters let out cheers as they looked at me.
And in the meantime, Elysia was staring at me with a shocked expression.
When I waved at her face I was glad to see, she flailed both arms wildly, shouting for me to look ahead at once.
Turning my head, I saw the monster horde—which hadn’t approached because of the Twin-Head Ogre—now surging toward me all at once.
“Ah.”
At the sight of numbers that must have reached into the thousands, my body stiffened on its own.
No matter how strong I had become, facing that many alone was still impossible.
I glanced behind me, and the path back looked bleak.
I had charged out with great momentum, but the gate was tightly shut with iron plating, and the castle wall was coated with oil to prevent climbing, and covered in monster blood and chunks of flesh.
With that, I looked at Elysia with a pitiful expression.
“…Could you maybe open the gate?”
“I really want to crack your head open and see what on earth you’re thinking when you live your life.”
Fortunately, I was able to climb back up using a rope lowered by a knight, but I couldn’t avoid the scolding Elysia gave me afterward.
The other knights wore similar expressions.
No matter how strong an individual might be, war was a fight between groups.
Even if it was to stop the Twin-Head Ogre, everyone let out hollow laughs at the fact that I had jumped down from the wall.
Still, those were in the minority, and the gazes directed at me held more admiration than anything else.
“Well, what does it matter? In the end, thanks to this young man, we were able to protect the gate safely.”
“I never imagined there would be someone this skilled among the young lady’s friends.”
The knights praised me with sparkling eyes.
When I looked at Elysia with a proud expression, she let out a sigh with a look of disbelief, yet still bowed her head to me.
“…Thanks to you, we were able to protect the gate. I’m grateful for that, but please don’t overdo it next time.”
There was firmness mixed into her gentle voice.
If the Empire’s prince were to be injured in a place like this, it would give the Empire an excuse.
I had brought it upon myself and had no intention of making an issue of it, but those old-fashioned types up above might gleefully seize it as a good opportunity to pressure Britain.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Since it was something I hadn’t considered, I nodded obediently.
Then Elain, who had been commanding the opposite wall, approached us and spoke.
“So, is the war over now? The monsters in front of the wall are only visible to me, right?”
“…….”
At her sharp words, the knights hurried back to their positions, and the soldiers once again gripped their weapons and turned their attention to the battlefield.
Up until just a moment ago, the situation had been fierce, but thanks to bringing down the Twin-Head Ogre, morale on our side had risen, and the monsters that had been blindly charging to climb the wall hesitated.
‘No, is it because the demon race that had been commanding them is gone?’
Not even thirty minutes later, the monster horde that had filled the area before the wall began turning back toward the mountain range.
Those that had died trying to cross the wall still remained where they were, but no monsters were climbing over anymore.
“……”
The soldiers of Britain didn’t bother chasing after the retreating monsters.
The mountain range wasn’t suitable for pursuit, and everyone was exhausted after the sudden battle without proper preparation.
“We’ll maintain a wartime state until dawn. Rangers, move toward the mountain range and investigate the monsters’ movements. Knights and commanders, organize the damage situation and report it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Elysia stood atop the watchtower and issued orders.
With the monsters retreating, the fight was effectively over, but she must have maintained the posture just in case.
Still, the taut tension that had hung over the wall before had eased, and a lighter atmosphere settled in.
The wounded were carried away on stretchers, and soldiers exhausted from the all-night battle leaned against the wall and took turns grabbing brief naps.
All of us waited for dawn with the same feeling in our hearts.
“Let’s head back.”
Once things had settled down to some extent, I gathered my academy friends.
They all looked clearly tired, as if they had fought hard.
As for Maria, she was practically plastered head to toe with chunks of monster flesh.
When a passing knight gave her a thumbs-up, saying she had been incredibly valiant, her face turned bright red.
“Ah, I’m exhausted. I just want to wash up and sleep.”
Alice, standing beside me, stretched and let out a yawn.
She hadn’t gone out to the front lines herself, but she must have spent a lot of mental energy making sure her friends didn’t get hurt from the rear.
“Still, it was a good experience.”
Leysias looked tired, but her eyes were clearer than ever.
In the original work she had been in an awkward, middling position, but maybe here I could expect a bit more from her.
“Yeah, where else would you get to experience a fight like this?”
Werner and Diark nodded at her words as well.
Participating in this battle seemed to have been a pretty good decision.
Every single person here would be important to me later on.
Sooner or later, this continent would be swept up in war, and if we built up experience now, we wouldn’t be floundering later.
“Alright, then. Please leave the rest to us here and go back to get some rest.”
Elysia, who had approached at some point, lightly bowed her head toward us in thanks and told us to rest.
Since the commander herself had said as much, I was about to turn around, thinking I’d sleep until evening today—but just as I did, a hand reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Ah, Ostia. Could you talk with me for a moment?”
“Talk?”
With the monsters already withdrawn, I wondered what it could be about, but judging by the bright smile she gave me, it didn’t seem easy to shake her hand off.
So I nodded to the others to go on ahead, then went down from the wall and faced her alone in a secluded spot.
“…First, let me thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to stop the monster attack without major damage. We never imagined there would be an attack at a time like this.”
“Considering that, I think you did a splendid job stopping them.”
When I said that with a shrug, Elysia looked at me and smiled faintly.
“It’s thanks to you buying us time by defeating the Twin-Head Ogre. We’ll be sure to properly repay this debt later. The Pendragon family’s principle is to repay favors twofold.”
“…So what’s the real reason you called me?”
It didn’t seem like she had summoned me just to offer thanks.
When I probed her intentions, Elysia erased her smile and looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“The destruction of the teleport gate and the monster attack aren’t unrelated, are they?”
“Given the timing and circumstances, it would be stranger to say they weren’t related.”
“…Just before the battle, someone saw you quietly slip away somewhere. In the middle of the fight we couldn’t pay close attention, but later, when I sent people to check, they said there were traces of combat left near the gate.”
“Ugh.”
I had thought I cleaned things up fairly well before joining the battlefield, but it seemed I couldn’t fool a professional’s eye.
“If you know anything, could you tell me? As the proxy of the lord of Britain, I have a duty to find the cause of problems that arise within the territory.”
Tap.
Elysia braced a hand against the wall, blocking my attempt to step back.
Then she leaned her face in close to mine.
I could clearly see her long eyelashes, and her warm breath brushed against me.
Caught like a fly in a spider’s web, I couldn’t move a muscle.