Published: January 15, 2026
A line of silver light flashed toward my face as if being irresistibly drawn in. It felt like slow motion as a beautiful double-edged straight sword creating that beam of light came rushing into my entire field of vision.
I thought it was a straight sword, but it was closer to a thrusting sword. It was a bit long, with a sharp blade tip that looked like it could pierce well.
At the moment the sword’s tip came so close it almost touched my face, sparks flew with a high-pitched sound right before my eyes.
The painfully sharp clang of metal clashing against metal filled my ears. And a flash so bright I instinctively closed my eyes. Reflexively, I rolled on the ground to avoid the next attack.
“Tch!”
I heard a tongue click, and the next moment, that piercing sound echoed again.
“Lord Van, please escape!”
Hearing that desperate shout, I realized the situation was bad and tried rolling sideways on the ground. The mysterious enemy was probably a little to my right, thrusting the sword with their right hand. So, I tried rolling to the left to put some distance between us.
I didn’t have much time to think, so I moved intuitively. Sure enough, just then, I heard something slam into the ground near my right ear, sending a vibration through me.
“Did you dodge it!”
This was a different person from before. Some dirt got into my mouth, but that didn’t matter. It was bitter and gritty, but I pushed myself up from the ground with both hands without complaint.
The moment I raised my face, I saw two men standing right in front of me. Kamushin was facing two other men on the right. All of them held swords and without hesitation thrust their blades toward me.
“Eek!?”
I kicked off the ground sideways like a quick shuffle and jumped further left, but I couldn’t help but make a weird noise. Embarrassing.
“You’re quick!”
“Aim for his legs!”
“I’ll circle around!”
Those four men must have been well-trained. Almost simultaneously, they spoke these words and shifted their formation like a single creature attempting to encircle me. All were dressed in pitch-black clothes with no visible armor. Maybe they wore chainmail or some cut-resistant armor under their clothes, but even so, it was light armor.
Because of this, two of them moved diagonally backward at an astonishing speed. If I got surrounded with two in front and two behind, I’d be done for.
However, one of them immediately broke from formation and turned his back to us. I wondered what was happening when a piercing sound rang out repeatedly behind that man.
“You won’t get through!”
It was Kamushin. Still barely shoulder height compared to the enemy, Kamushin was desperately swinging his sword to block their advance. His blade should be incredibly sharp, but what kind of swords did those men have? Could it be that their swords were made from materials superior even to Mithril?
For a moment, the three men hesitated, glancing around as if deciding whether to take Kamushin down first. Then I heard a low female voice come from behind them.
“That child is enough alone. You all focus on the baron as planned.”
“Understood!”
It seemed the men were being commanded by someone else.
“…I guess I can’t just run away, huh?”
I smiled wryly and drew my own weapons hanging from my waist: two single-edged Orichalcum swords.
“Tonight, my beloved swords might or might not be thirsty for blood… ahh!?”
I tried to strike a pose holding a sword in each hand to buy some time, but an impolite enemy saw that as an opening and thrust his sword forward. Desperately swinging both swords backward, I parried his blade with the flat of my own sword. It was lucky to defend, but if I could have struck with the blade’s edge, I might have sliced through his sword.
Before I could think any further, the men pressed in one after another, swords raised.
“Damn! The season of popularity has finally come!”
Feeling like crying, I swung my swords wildly and retreated. Their swords stabbed at me from three directions like rain, but I barely managed to dodge.