by Hyougetsu
“As the last in a line of schemers, I feel as though it’s only fitting to attempt one last scheme before I face my end.”
“You think you can outwit me?”
“That’s right.”
Now things are getting interesting. Prince Ivan offered the wooden knight to me.
“Please deliver this to Ryuunie. You can examine it with magic all you want, but I’ll just tell you this now, you won’t find anything. Only my son understands what this is and what it means. If you manage to deliver this safely to him, its contents will be of great use to you.”
My curiosity was piqued. I took the knight and smiled mischievously at the prince.
“Alright, I’ll take it. Is this your way of ensuring I don’t change my mind?”
“Not at all, Lord Veight.”
Prince Ivan shook his head, his smile surprisingly sincere.
“I am simply entrusting all of my burdens to you. Nothing more, nothing less.”
The heck’s that supposed to mean? Before I could ask, Prince Ivan said, “Now then, I suppose it’s time I went to apologize to my wife and father. Will you be the one to take my head? You’ll earn a lot of merit for it.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not interested in merit. I will not disgrace you.”
Nodding, Prince Ivan reached for the doorknob. His back turned to me, he said, “I’m glad I met you. Farewell.”
With that, he opened the door and disappeared into the room within. A few seconds later, the smell of blood permeated through the air. I turned toward the wooden door and bowed. Then I looked down at the wooden knight in my hands. It seemed my responsibilities had multiplied once again. Ah well. That’s life.
* * * *
—The Sword Saint and the Werewolf—
As I matched my pace with Master Ryuunie’s, I glanced backwards. The trees were quiet and laden with snow. Noticing the shift in my expression, Master Ryuunie turned worriedly toward me.
“Uncle, what’s wrong?”
Dodging the question would only worry the young master more. And so, I told him the truth.
“There’s five men chasing after us.”
“Are they pursuers sent by Eleora?”
Though Master Ryuunie tried to put on a brave face, his lips trembled. His fear was understandable. At the tender age of 12, he’d lost his entire family, and his only remaining vassal was this old swordsman. And now he was being pursued. Though it wouldn’t have been surprising if the despair and terror had caused him to freeze up, he continued trudging resolutely onward. Thank the heavens His Highness Prince Woroy taught Master Ryuunie the basics of marching.
As gently as possible, I said to the young prince, “I don’t know who they work for. But judging by how cautious they are, they’re likely hunters and not soldiers. Chances are, they’re assassins.”
“O-Okay.”
I unclasped my cloak and prepared to fight.
“Cover your face with your hood and assume the snow fox stance that I taught you. Whatever you do, don’t look up until I give the word.”
“O-Okay.”
Master Ryuunie lay down face-first in the snow and curled up into a ball. Thanks to his white cape, he was hard to spot in the snow. And since he was hiding under the shadow of a nearby tree, it was unlikely that any stray arrows or errant sword swings would reach him. Drawing my sword, I retreated to the safety of the same tree Master Ryuunie was hiding next to.
Before long, our pursuers came into view. As I’d surmised, they numbered only five. All of them were equipped for traveling in snow. Their boots were studded to prevent them from slipping as well. These assailants were experienced. Still, I was confident I could thin their numbers. I unbuckled my sheath from my sword belt and took a sling out of my pocket, which I fastened to the sheath. It was a simple sling, made of string and leather, but it became exponentially more powerful when attached to a long object like a sheath. I loaded a few sharpened rocks into the sling and flicked my sheath forward.
“Gah!?”
The head of one of the assassins’ split open, and flecks of blood spotted the snow as he fell to the ground. If my skills hadn’t deteriorated, those rocks should have driven right into his brain. There were only four opponents left now. All of them were equipped with crossbows, but I didn’t intend to give them time to load them. Realizing that they’d just be run down if they attempted to use their ranged weapons, the assassins charged at me.
“Hmph!”
I cut down the first of them, then tackled his corpse to use his back as a shield. The wall of flesh blocked the second attacker’s swing, and I cut him down as well. However, the remaining two assailants were quite skilled.
“Haaah!”
“Hiyaaah!”
They struck simultaneously, one aiming for my neck while the other went for my lower back. There was no way for me to block both strokes at once. But there was no need for me to block. I leapt backwards to avoid both slashes, then pivoted and slashed at one of the remaining assassins. But I hadn’t closed the distance between us as well as I thought, and he nimbly dodged out of the way. Once again, the two assailants struck at me from opposite sides at the same time. The longer this fight dragged on, the less chance I had of winning, old and slow as I was. I pulled a throwing knife out of my coat pocket and flung it at one of the attackers.
“Whoa!?”
The assassin bent backwards and deflected the knife with his sword. But the knife served its purpose of momentarily occupying his attention. While he was stalled, I turned to the other opponent and stabbed them through the throat.
“Damn you!”
Cursing, the final remaining opponent charged at me. I deftly parried his swing and lopped his wrist off. The enchanted sword I’d received from Lord Doneiks, Man-Eater, was capable of slicing through armor like a hot knife through butter.
“Ga—”
Before he could even finish his scream, I swung upwards and cut his head off. Though my muscles had atrophied with age, the special properties of my enchanted sword made it easy to cut through things. After confirming that all of my opponents were indeed dead, I finally let myself relax.
“Master Ryuunie, it’s safe now.”
The young prince timidly looked up, then gasped when he saw the corpses lying in the snow.
“Are they all dead?”
“They are. I killed them.”
Master Ryuunie examined the corpses for a few seconds, then sucked in a deep breath and turned to me.
“Thank you, Uncle. Y-You saved me.”
He truly was a strong prince. I didn’t think he’d have the mental fortitude to thank me after seeing corpses for the first time.
“What’s important is that you’re safe, Master Ryuunie. Come, we must hurry.”
My hometown, the tiny northern village of Petka, wasn’t far from our current location. But as I examined my surroundings, I realized we weren’t out of danger yet.
“Master Ryuunie, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to be patient a while longer. It seems more pursuers are headed this way.”
The five that had come after us initially had been mere scouts. Disposable pawns used to gauge our reaction. And while they’d been keeping me busy, we’d been completely surrounded by 20 new opponents. Things didn’t look good.
With how much stamina I had left, I’d be able to fight at most three or four more opponents. Even when I’d been in my prime, I wouldn’t have been able to take on 20 at once. But it didn’t matter how low my chances of victory were. My duty was to cut them all down. I drew my sword, and the young prince once again lay down in the snow. He learned quickly.
I needed to protect Master Ryuunie, for both Lord Doneiks’ and Prince Ivan’s sakes. I was the only thing standing in the way of the complete extinction of the Doneiks line. It was an honor to be the final line of defense for the future of the Doneiks family. Anyone who believed otherwise was not a true knight.
I steadied my breathing. We were standin
g at the summit of a small hill. Our opponents would have to scale that hill, which would both exhaust them, and make it difficult for them to all keep the same pace. Thanks to the dense undergrowth, it was impossible for them to fire arrows at us either. As expected, the enemy’s ranks quickly dissolved as the assassins ascended at different speeds.
“Raaaaah!”
With a fierce battle cry, I cut horizontally at the first assailant to reach us. Since the first to reach us was the fastest of the lot, it was imperative that I cut him down or we’d be unable to escape. From there I cut, thrust, and bashed my way through all the enemies that made it up the slope.
Naturally, I sustained injuries in the fighting as well. Occasionally enemies would get past my guard and slice at my torso, only to be rebuffed by the chainmail I was wearing under my hood. Trusting in the enchanted armor to protect me, I focused wholly on offense. But as time passed, exhaustion began to set in, and my breathing grew labored. My swings grew duller.
Our opponents were used to fighting in terrain like this, and they continued maintaining the encirclement even as they closed in on us. As dangerous as it was to remain, I had no choice but to stay and fight in order to protect Master Ryuunie.
“Ngh!”
One of my opponents thrust with all his might, and I guarded a moment too late. My chainmail was unable to blunt the blow, and the attacker’s sword pierced my left shoulder.
“Hrmph!”
I sliced open the man’s head, but it took more force than before to do so. The magic within my blade was wearing off. As I pulled the dead man’s sword out of my shoulder, a fountain of blood spurted out. If I didn’t stop the bleeding soon, I’d lose too much strength to continue fighting.
Though my spirit still burned fiercely, my body was old and wounded. There were still around a dozen opponents remaining. This battle was just getting started. Don’t fail me now, you accursed old body. Though I had no regrets about dying in battle, there was someone I needed to protect.
While I was desperately trying to formulate a strategy to escape this situation, a huge shockwave rippled through the air. It was sound. A veritable hammer of sound. The shockwave sent the remaining enemies flying. Was that a wolf’s howl? The blast of sound felt more like an explosion of fighting spirit than anything. I had heard stories of how true masters of the martial arts were able to defeat enemies with their fighting spirit alone. Of course, piecing together what had happened wasn’t important right now. This was my only chance at victory.
“HRAAAAAAAAH!”
I fought with wild abandon, thrusting my sword into the neck of a dazed enemy. I then swiveled and split the head of another foe with a downward stroke. I needed to kill as many enemies as possible while they were still disoriented. But as I looked up from my second kill, I realized all of the enemies had been eliminated. They’d been killed in unbelievably gruesome ways as well. Some had their hearts ripped out of their chests, while others had their heads smashed to a pulp, or their limbs ripped off. Not even a grizzly bear could do this much damage to a human body this fast.
Could this mysterious ally have truly killed over ten men in the time it had taken me to kill two? It took me only a moment to discover who had perpetrated this slaughter.
Impossible. That’s a werewolf, isn’t it? I thought they were extinct in the north? Am I hallucinating? The black-furred werewolf was covered in dark blood. He slowly turned to me, the snow around him dyed a deep crimson. If only I had the werewolf slayer... No, even then I wouldn’t be able to win. No matter how hard they trained, no human would be able to defeat this werewolf. It would be like trying to defeat an avalanche with just a sword. That was how great the difference in strength was between us.
The werewolf sauntered over to me. Though the way he walked seemed haphazard, he left no openings for me to strike. It was as if a moving fortress was bearing down upon me. I raised my sword in one hand, prepared to go down fighting. However, the werewolf was too fast for me. He closed the distance between us before I could even react, then reached one clawed hand out toward me. Though his movements weren’t so fast that I couldn’t follow them, I was still unable to react.
The werewolf touched my left shoulder, and a second later the bleeding and pain stopped. Wait, is he using magic to heal me? This werewolf knows how to use magic!? None of the old tales I’d heard had mentioned a werewolf capable of using magic. Once he was done, the werewolf stepped back, showing no signs of hostility.
“Did you...save me?”
The question felt foolish the moment the words left my lips, but the werewolf nodded. It then turned around and pointed to a village at the base of the mountain. It was not the village I had intended to go to, but looking at it, I spotted something flying above the small cottages. Meraldia’s flag. I hadn’t heard about Meraldia’s army coming here, but that was undoubtedly their flag.
“What’s the Meraldian army doing here!?”
The werewolf didn’t answer. He simply pointed at the flag. Is he saying he belongs to the Meraldian army? Don’t tell me that demon regiment I’d heard rumors about really exists!?
“Wait, are you...”
I turned back to the werewolf, but he was already gone. He’d somehow managed to vanish without making a sound. The whole scene had been so unbelievable I was half-convinced it had been a dream. But no, this was reality.
As I was still absorbing the shock, Master Ryuunie called out to me.
“H-Hey, Uncle... Can I look up yet?”
I returned to my senses and looked around. All of the assassins were dead.
“Yes. It’s safe, Master Ryuunie.”
The young prince instantly raised his head. After examining his surroundings, he looked up at me in shock.
“What happened!? Did you do this, Uncle?”
“No, this wasn’t my handiwork. It seems we’ve been saved by a werewolf.”
“A werewolf!? You mean like the ones they talk about in fairy tales!?”
“I can hardly believe it myself, but I saw him with my own two eyes.”
Of course, no one would believe me if I told them. In fact, I could hardly believe it myself. But now wasn’t the time to contemplate what had happened.
“Master Ryuunie, let’s head to the village at the foot of that mountain. It appears the Meraldian army is over there.”
“Isn’t the Meraldian army our enemy?”
“I no longer know. However...”
If that werewolf wanted to kill us, he could have. There was no need for him to set a trap. Furthermore, if Prince Ashley’s army had reached my hometown, I wouldn’t be able to protect Ryuunie from them. On the other hand, Meraldia’s army was led by that famous Astral Fencer. He seemed like someone who could be reasoned with. What if the werewolf who saved us was actually... No, that can’t be. Either way, Lord Veight didn’t follow Rolmund’s laws. He was a kind man, and right now he was the only person I could hope to entrust Master Ryuunie to.
“Meraldia’s army is led by Lord Veight. I’m sure someone as kind as him will take your side, Master Ryuunie.”
“Y-You’re right.”
I had no proof that Lord Veight would rescue us, but right now I had no choice but to rely on him. The young prince smiled in an attempt to hide his unease.
“I like Lord Veight. I’m sure he won’t hurt us. So let’s go to him, Uncle.”
Smiling, I bowed my head to the brave prince.
“As you wish, my lord.”
* * * *
I quickly fixed up my appearance, then went out to greet Prince Ryuunie—who’d come to surrender—with a nonchalant expression.
“Your Highness, Ser Barnack. You made the right choice to come to the Meraldian army’s camp. Feel free to rest and recover.”
The two of them were sitting inside the village’s town hall, which I’d converted into a temporary headquarters for our army. I offered both of them steaming mugs of tea. Though he still looked a little nervous, Prince Ryuunie smiled with relief at th
e warm reception. When I saw that smile, I felt like all the effort it had taken to keep him alive had been worth it. And man, had it taken a lot to save his life. After discovering that a separate unit had been dispatched specifically to pursue Prince Ryuunie, I’d needed to find out who’d sent that unit. Since the technology of this world had barely advanced past the medieval era, I had no way of knowing what my allies were up to. After some investigating I’d discovered it wasn’t Eleora’s army that had sent that unit, meaning I was free to kill them all. Once I’d learned that, I chased after Prince Ryuunie. When I’d seen Ser Barnack struggling, I realized the only way I could save him in time was by transforming. And so I had.
Bringing my thoughts back to the present, I turned to the old knight and said, “Right now, Princess Eleora’s army is only deployed in the fields around Kinjarl Castle. However, it’s obvious that the group who attacked you were no ordinary bandits. Do you have any idea who they might have been, Ser Barnack?”
“They were trained assassins, that much I know. As for who sent them, your guess is as good as mine.”
Ser Barnack kept his reply brief, but he seemed to be telling the truth. He added, “The Doneiks family has many enemies. Any number of noble families could have been behind the assassination attempt. Guessing which one would be difficult.”
“I see.”
Ser Barnack was neither a politician nor a general. He was just a swordmaster. All he knew about politics was the bare minimum he needed to do his job. I decided to let him and Prince Ryuunie rest for a bit before discussing anything else with them. While I was confident this town would remain safe so long as my werewolves were here to defend it, I still wanted to return to Eleora’s main force as soon as possible. However, there were a few things I needed to take care of before I could.
“Parker, my sworn brother.” Sighing, I bowed my head to Parker. “I’m sorry for asking this of you, but I need your help.”
I knew for a fact that relying on him this much would just give him an inflated ego. But to my surprise, Parker didn’t gloat at all.
