Name: Lili Aureya
Class: Human
Level: 56
Job: Adventurer
Possessed Skills: Swordsmanship C+; The Mind’s Eye; Three Stage Slash; Innate Talent; Oath of the Knight; Counter; Echo Steps [Divine Protection] Sword God; God of Flames
Attribute: Fire
Abnormal Status: Due to the Scar of Defeat - you have been afflicted with Altesia’s Curse. Innate Ability and The Mind’s Eye are sealed. Fighting spirit reduced by 40%.
“Please!”
With her head hung, Lili prostrated herself before Reshia.
“Ms. Lili!?”
For someone such as Lili who is working as an adventurer, which is both dangerous and unsuitable for a woman, her pride is naturally extremely high.
It was precisely because Reshia knew that that she couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed when she saw Lili’s conduct.
“For what exactly? In any case, please tell me the details first.”
Lili finally raised her head up, and spoke.
“In the past, I aspired to become a knight. Because of that I’ve read many tales regarding knights. I just happened to remember one of those tales.”
Lili looked desperate as she grasped the dirt of the ground. Reshia quietly listened to her.
“The Tale of the Iron Arm Knight, Ritzergelt.”
He lost his right arm in battle, so he used a metal arm in place of his missing limb, and wandered the country. He garnered plenty of achievements throughout his travels, and in the end, he became a meritorious knight-commander.
“The Ivory Tower knows how to make prosthetics, right? Please teach me that!”
The Ivory Tower is a treasure trove of knowledge.
And it seems there are actually quite a number of high-class nobles and renowned warriors who were able to continue fighting with the
use of prosthetics. Reshia can’t say for sure whether this is true though as she’s only heard of it, and had never really seen one.
And of course, neither has Lili. Her experience as an adventurer is shallow and before she could find the spare time to gather knowledge of this world, she was taken captive.
But it seems that she’s heard of rumors of those sort of people.
Moreover, even the possibility that such a thing is possible because of the knowledge of the Ivory Tower.
The knowledge of the Ivory Tower is truly worthy of a thousand gold.
That was common sense even amongst the adventurers.
“What are you going to do after learning it?”
“I will make them, and give them to Gi Ga.”
“Is that the right thing for an adventurer to do? Or is that…… your
decision as the person, Lili?”
Adventurers are those who stand against the monsters. Wielding their great strength, they mow down hordes of monsters throughout the world. They are the vanguards meant for that purpose.
As Reshia questioned Lili, the aura she gave off was not one that belonged to the image of the young girl, Reshia, but that of the saint.
“I don’t know,” said Lili. “But I have sworn to my sword, and challenged Lord Gi Ga to a duel. The duel must be fair.”
Lili tightly held the grip of her sword, and she said.
“Seeing Lord Gi Ga swing his spear without his leg or arm made me think I would lose. I can’t go back to being an adventurer while remaining defeated.”
That is a wall.
Unless I wipe away this defeat, I won’t be able to move forward.
“I beg of you, Lady Reshia… I don’t want to lose!”
There is a great difference between losing mentally and losing in skill.
Lili had to challenge them. Gi Ga… and her own self.
“…I understand,” nodded Reshia. “But there’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
“Please win,” sweetly smiled Reshia.
“Yes!” strongly nodded Lili.
◇◆◇
He tumbled onto the ground, and he looked up the night sky.
He thought back on Lili who dropped by during the afternoon. She challenged him to a duel, but perhaps she was cheering him on.
After all, although it was a bit strange, he couldn’t feel the slightest tinge of ill will from her. Moreover, the gaze she sent back to him seemed to be just about to burst out into tears at any time.
Normally, when humans mean ill, scorn could be seen in their eyes, but…
It was already nighttime. But although there was no time left until the promised day, Gi Ga’s body was cruelly heavy. With only one leg, he couldn’t handle his spear no matter how hard he tried.
He wondered why.
It’s the same spear I’ve always been using, so why am I having such a hard time after having only lost one leg. Before I became a rare class,
and got the attention of the king… before the village was attacked by the orc leader… I was always fighting with a spear.
It was an absurd feeling. As if something that had always been beside him had suddenly become so distant.
“Are you that unhappy just because I lost an arm and a leg?”
Those words were asked to the spear that was pierced into the ground, but no answer was returned.
Of course.
Spears can’t talk. It can only bow to his will, and show his strength as he wishes.
That’s how it’s supposed to be.
“I am unhappy.”
Gi Ga jumped up at the unexpected response.
“What!?”
“I am greatly unsatisfied.”
He couldn’t help but stare at the spear that was pierced into the ground. Who knew it would actually talk to him?
“Did the spear talk…?”
“What are you saying?”
Thinking it strange, he looked up. There, he saw Lili.
When he saw her, his face visibly grimaced. But she intentionally ignored that.
“There should still be another day until our duel,” said Gi Ga.
“Right,” nodded Lili as she struck out a wooden rod.
“What is this?”
“Your new leg.”
Gi Ga inclined his head as if asking, what are you talking about? Something like this couldn’t be a leg. A leg is a bit more like…
As he was thinking that, Lili knelt by his feet, and installed the wooden rod to where Gi Za’s missing leg should have been. She reinforced it with a leather belt, adjusted the size to match the length of Gi Ga’s other leg, and then wrapped the leather belt around it.
“This’ll hurt a bit.”
The strong gaze Lili shot as she looked up showed that it would really hurt, so Gi Ga gritted his teeth.
“Gigu!?”
With the sensation of something digging into his flesh coupled with the pain, it certainly felt like he had a new leg.
“Try standing,” suggested Lili.
As Lili helped Gi Ga, he tried to stand himself up, and for the first time in a while, he was able to stand on his two legs.
As Gi Ga took a few steps, dazed, a voice of wonder leaked out of him.
“Ohh…”
I can walk.
It feels like it’s digging into my flesh a bit, but this artificial leg can definitely support my body.
“…Why? Why would you give this to me? Won’t this be disadvantageous for you in our duel?”
After the third step, Gi Ga stopped, and after much trouble, he turned around to face Lili.
“A duel should be fair,” said Lili.
Her straight gaze proved that there were no other reasons than that.
“…I thank you,” said Gi Ga.
“It’s too early for those words yet. Let me hear them after the duel.”
“I see.”
As Gi Ga deeply bowed, Lili turned her back on him, and briskly walked.
As Gi Ga watched her back disappear in to the distance, he looked up the night sky.
“King, I can still fight!”
I want to meet the king soon.
◆◇◇
Facing each other were the spirit of one woman and one beast. The surrounding area was quiet.
It was now the promised day.
Gi Ga and Lili faced off at the plaza of the village. The sound of the long sword being drawn from its sheath resounded as Lili drew her weapon. Opposite her, Gi Ga stood firmly on his two legs over the ground. He let the tip of his spear fall as he held his weapon in a lowered stance.
Gi Ga’s body sunk.
The goblin who possessed an indomitable soul, called out.
“Come!” yelled Gi Ga.
The knight sworn to victory replied.
“Bring it!” she said back.
And so, within the village where the king was not, the curtains over a duel was drawn.
◇◇◆
He took a step with his artificial leg.
The tip of his spear rose up like the head of a snake. Then in an instant, his spear extended as if to bite at the throat of the foe before him.
The blade of the spear may have been removed, but Gi Ga’s attack was still strong enough to kill if received directly, but Lili slipped through that attack.
Her sword slipped through from below the already low spear. At the same time, she activated her >, and she sped up.
Within the School of Zweil that Lili uses, the first thing one must learn as proof of one’s coming of age is this skill.
This skill is the ‘two legs’ within the principle, ‘One eye, two legs’, upon which her sword school was founded. The great speed brought about by her > is a special skill unseen in other styles.
Lili’s accelerated sword aimed for Gi Ga’s body. The tip of the spear was flicked, and the sword came swinging from another angle.
Fitting for the senses of a beast out in the wild, Gi Ga immediately took back the spear he had struck out as he sensed danger coming. Then he jumped back, dodging the trajectory of the swinging sword, and he struck out the handle of his spear over the trajectory to protect his body.
Lili’s long sword crashed into his spear, sending a shock running through his body. But Lili’s slender arms did not have enough strength behind them to break the tip of his spear.
Gi Ga took some distance, and paid careful attention where Lili would move.
In a match between spear and sword, the deciding factor will be the distance.
Gi Ga still had some of that.
“This artificial leg is quite good,” he said.
Like second nature, Lili wielded her long sword over her shoulder as she fixed her stance.
“A handicap of having just one arm just isn’t enough,” fiercely laughed Gi Ga.
Lili smiled back in response.
“Let’s go!” she yelled.
“Come!” challenged Gi Ga.
The one who attacked was Lili. She sped up with the use of her >, and she swung down the sword over her shoulders with all her strength.
Gi Ga struck out his spear to meet Lili’s sword, but the speed of her sword was faster than he expected, causing him to click his tongue.
So you weren’t serious a while ago!
But it was too late.
The moment Gi Ga tried to bring back his spear, Lili tried to add another blow, proving her sword faster than Gi Ga’s spear. This time Gi Ga jumped back completely unlike before. The descending blade then split into three, and rained over Gi Ga.
The three slashes hollowed the ground, causing clouds of dust to gather up, shrouding the two warriors. But when the veil of dust cleared up, only Lili could be seen.
“…What is the meaning of this?” asked Gi Ga.
“It’s nothing. It’s just that your king isn’t the only one who can use skills. Humans also have their own.”
As she swept the cloud of dust at her feet with a sweep of her sword, she once again wielded it over her shoulder.
“Now, come and fully taste the might of the Zweil Sword Style!”
Comments