Lawrence Reinhardt’s father was an alchemist.
His job was to make mithril alloys for mining pickaxes, which he distributed to pickaxe workshops.
Lawrence was proud of his father.
His father’s work was not the most glamorous of jobs, but it was the kind of work that supported the country.
It was when Lawrence was seven years old that his father’s path began to look bleak.
Young Lawrence didn’t really understand what happened, but he did remember that scary-looking debt collectors began visiting the house every day, and that his father was unhappy and drank more alcohol than usual.
One day, Lawrence tried to help his father who was being beaten by a debt collector, and without thinking, he intervened and was beaten up by three adults.
He was not seriously injured, but the incident made Lawrence vow to become stronger.
Thinking about it calmly, it was obvious that using martial arts to get rid of debt collectors would cause even more trouble, but that was just a child’s way of thinking.
To protect his family…
The reason why the mischievous boy picked up the sword was as simple as that.
Lawrence knocked on the door of a dojo run by a retired royal knight, and in exchange for helping out at the dojo, he was taught to use a sword for free.
There, Lawrence quickly became a prominent figure.
Eventually, as Lawrence grew older, he came to learn that the government had changed.
His father, who was unable to cope with the changes in the national system and the standards for the alloys used in mining equipment, found himself in a difficult situation.
As a result of the pressure exerted by Federation merchants to sell their goods to Ciel-Terra, a treaty was concluded to bring Ciel-Terra’s domestic system into line with the Federation’s. The treaty included hundreds of items. One of the hundreds of items included in the treaty was that.
The Federation, which possessed the Golem Corps, was a leader in the technology of magical alloys using alchemy, and received generous research support from the national government. The craftsmen of Ciel-Terra could not cope with the new standards based on the Federation. The workshops, which were his father’s clients, were forced to rely on imports from the Federation.
His father, who was an alchemist but without much knowledge or skill and living off of a single alloy, lost his job and was studying to meet the new standards while working as an unfamiliar cargo carrier, and finally, his body broke down.
His father’s life burned out like a lamp’s flame gradually becoming smaller and smaller, and then he died.
Was it his father’s fault for not being able to survive the changes of the times?
He could be blamed for his lack of skill or business acumen, or any number of other things.
But for Lawrence, it was enough to hate the Federation.
The sword that had once been used to protect his family had one day become a sword used to slay Federation soldiers.
With the recommendation of the master of the dojo, Lawrence was accepted into the Order of the Knights of the Royal Court by the time he was 15 years old, just as he was about to reach adulthood. In order to help his mother, who was supporting the family financially with her own hands, Laurence jumped at the offer of this position.
But what awaited him there?
Lawrence’s first job as a knight.
Reinforcement for the Federation’s war effort.
A country near Ciel-Terra, about the same size as Ciel-Terra, had gotten into a skirmish with the Federation, and it was a battle to bring it under control by inflicting damage on it.
Lawrence had fought in many battles and achieved many feats of valor in his first war. However, Lawrence did not know what he was fighting for from the beginning to the end.
After that, Lawrence continued to serve his country as a knight with many doubts and frustrations.
Even though he could not fight against the Federation, he believed that his fight would be for the good of the country and protect the interests of the country … as well as protect the people of the country.
And.
Lawrence was.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Haaaaah!”
A slash across the pavement, activating “Tendan”.
A cut was made in the cobblestone pavement, and the store behind René was slashed and diagonally slid down.
René dodged the blow and closed the distance straight away.
And just before the next side cutting blow came…
“What!?”
René disappeared.
To be precise, she used «Short Teleport» to get behind Lawrence.
The red blade wielded by René dug into Lawrence’s armor.
With a trajectory that cut a circle around his chest.
“Uh, oooh!?”
Lawrence twisted himself.
Turning his body without defying the slash, he avoided a deep blow instead of a shallow slash halfway across his chest.
At the same time, he hit Terra Ayur.
“Ha!”
René received the full force of the blow. Terra Ayur, who had received ≪Consecration≫, shaved the red blade, sending red sparks flying. The ≪Blood of Resentment≫ seemed to have already lost most of its strength as magic, and had become mere stain that did nothing to weaken the holy energy.
However, Lawrence’s blow was light. No, René had become more powerful. The soul-eating had given her strength, and the liches mixed in with the besiegers were sending out strengthening buffs to René.
Lawrence had also given up his charms to receive the buffs, but now René’s strength was superior to his.
As soon as Lawrence saw that he could not win by sheer force, he quickly changed course.
He relaxed for a moment, breaking René’s stance and cutting back with his sword, as if he were shrugging her off.
René judged that it was impossible to avoid or catch the sword, so she avoided it by shifting her body.
Tried to.
“I won’t let you!”
Lawrence sensed it.
“Tendan” was already approaching the place where René was at that time when she moved around diagonally behind Laurence.
“Tsk…!”
A flash like a mowing down of the legs.
René rolled to her side as she hugged her head to her chest.
Her left side was sliced open shallowly, causing a burning pain.
–What just happened!? What was that!? You read the destination in my gaze!? But this is only the second time I’ve shown you … short warps! Can you really handle that!?
As René backed away from Lawrence, who was standing tall, the latter launched a series of thrusts from a prone posture.
The distance was impossible to reach. But the strike flew in.
A half step to the side with a slip. A thrust flew past where René’s head used to be.
Bend over. A thrust passed through the place where René’s solar plexus used to be.
≪Short Teleport≫ and flew two steps directly to the side. A thrust passed through the place where Rene’s heart used to be.
“≪Shield≫!”
“No!”
Gagin, sparks flew in front of René.
The barrier of light in front of René prevented the “Tendan” thrust.
The translucent wall cracked.
“I guess a sword won’t do it after all.”
René muttered as if confirming something.
In Dullahan’s form, René had the innate instinctive swordsmanship skills of a Dullahan, but those skills were not as good as Lawrence’s.
The “Turtle Formation” was as solid as ever.
As an alternative to breaking it directly with magic, she tried using the «Grand Crack» magic spell to cause a crack in the earth and swallow it, but it was quickly canceled out by the «Earth Cancel» magic spell. It was a little tough to fight an endurance battle until the knights’ magic ran out while fighting Lawrence.
… If things were normal, that is.
“You finally understand the difference in our strength. But now that you’ve stepped out in front of me…”
“I would have won head-to-head if I could have. …I’m going my own style from here.”
Ignoring Lawrence, who was about to say something, René snapped her fingers.
The army of undead, who had been watching the battle from somewhat of a distance, stirred.
The knights were wary of them, thinking that they were going to attack all at once.
Unfortunately, it was not that simple.
“Stop! Stop!”
“Help!”
Ear-piercing screams came from among the undead.
Skeletons appeared from the rear through the army. In their hands, they were holding crying little girls. There were a total of a little more than 10 of them. They were all about the same age as René, all neatly dressed and well educated.
While the knights were standing still, a skeleton came out and stood the girl he had been holding in the front row of the army and held her up, thrusting his sword at her like he was embracing her.
At the sight of her, a voice rose from the “turtle formation”.
“Sasha!?”
“Gillian!!”
At that voice, the surrounding knights and Lawrence seemed to understand what was happening.
They knew who they were.
René spoke to the frightened girls in a friendly voice.
“Good children! Welcome to Rene-chan’s fun, fun, fun killing show! I’ve been beaten with a whip, had my fingers crushed, been burned with a burning iron, had needles stuck in my mouth, had my head stuck in water, and many other things done to me, and then I was killed with a guillotine… but don’t worry about it at all… just go have fun while you die! Have fun!”
Whenever René described the calamity that had befallen her, the girls shivered with frozen fear on their faces.
How could René not hold a grudge after such a thing was done to her?
… Well, where would René’s resentment go in this situation?
The girls must have heard the rumors circulating in the royal city. What had the knights done?
They could no longer be strangers.
They had been dragged up to the stage of a revenge drama.
“Let’s start with the friend closest to you and say your name and your father’s name in order. If you can’t say them correctly, you know …, right?”
“Ah, ah, ah…”
The girl who had been confronted with the red blade by René was trembling and incontinent.
“Oh, ah ah ah, … Gillian … Gillian … Oh, my dad is … Aston Grevi …”
“Gillian!”
“Oh, Father, Uwaaaaaan!!”
The knight who almost ran out of the “turtle formation” was pulled back by the surrounding knights.
The girls were pulled by the skeletons. They are all daughters of the First Order.
Although family registers did not exist in this country, the Order still kept track of the residences of those who belonged to the Order in the capital for various communications purposes. The list was obtained under the name of Duke Gerald.
Tearful self-introductions followed.
René could sense anger, frustration, and despair from the knights.
–Five of them were particularly responsive. The rest also responded with ‘father’s name’. Yes, it’s more shocking to be the child of someone you know than a child who doesn’t know who you are.
It was not always possible to secure the children of “Turtle Formation” participants conveniently. For this reason, René had the idea of having them mention their father’s name.
Every time a colleague’s name was mentioned, it would cause psychological damage.
“… Oh my?”
René stopped as she was about to put her sword to the next child.
Among the girls brought in, there was a familiar face.
A girl who looked scared but looked up at her with a sharp look on her face.
She had long, glossy, citrus-colored hair and gray-and-red odd eyes. She wore a relatively tidy (but, by commoner standards, sufficiently overdecorated) dress for outings.
Catherine Margaretha Keely.
This was the person that René was escorting as part of her adventuring duties while she was taking the place of Iris.
–Why are you here…? Oh, I remember that the families of the lords are being gathered in the royal capital. I guess someone was out visiting someone he knew and got caught along with them.
If necessary, René would kill Catherine too.
But she was not the target of her vengeance. There was no need to kill her, she was just in the way.
“She’s no use to us because she’s not the daughter of a royal knight. Just throw her out.”
René ordered roughly, but Catherine’s eyes widened when she heard those words.
“… How did you know?
“Eh…?”
René didn’t think Catherine had the guts to say such a thing under the circumstances.
No, that didn’t matter.
Certainly, come to think of it, it seemed unnatural for her to know Catherine’s identity.
How to answer Catherine’s question so as to complete the René-chan theater without destroying the scenario…, René pondered for a moment.
“When in trouble, a habit of rubbing shoes together…”
Catherine muttered in a trembling voice.
René suddenly realizes. This was a habit of René’s. Catherine had told her to fix it…
–This is a … no-no!
“Take her away!”
“Iris! You’re not Iris! Hey! What’s going on!?”
Catherine was dragged away by the skeleton as she screamed and disappeared into the crowd of corpses.
René shook her head (or rather, moved her hand holding her head like that) to regain her composure.
That was just a minor broadcast accident. It should be erased from memory as soon as possible. This time, she would never see Catherine again.
“Okay, then, my next friend. You are the last one. What’s your name?”
“My name is Carla Placken… and my dad is … Higgly… Harm.”
“Yes, well done!”
When the last one finished introducing herself, René turned to the knights.
“Now what are you going to do? If you’re all going to die, you can return the girls in one piece, okay?”
“Outrageous …!!!!”
Lawrence howled in anger.
“Outrageous? Then what about me, who had my mother killed? If you don’t kill me without question, then why don’t you think of me as gentler than you are?”
The “turtle formation” did not appear to be greatly disturbed from the looks of it. However, the knights were in an unsettled state of mind.
Perhaps sensing the turmoil in the rear guard, Lawrence, keeping his eyes on René, shouted at them vigorously.
“Calm down! If the hostages die, she loses her shield. There is no easy way to get at it! All you have to think about is taking her down!”
“I could just kill them one by one at random.”
“And besides! If any of us sacrifices ourselves to give into her demands, His Majesty will be the next target! The end of this country!”
“… Can’t deny that.”
Did René’s words really reach them? In any case, Lawrence would charge.
Although she knew she was no match for him with her sword, René took him head-on.
There were three rapid blows, a smash, a sweep, and a thrust, and if there was even the slightest distance between them, a “Tendan” would be delivered!
In addition, «Holy Arrow» also flew from the “Turtle Formation”, but it was a bit weak, perhaps not fully concentrated. While offsetting it with «Pain Whip», René stepped up to Lawrence.
≪Short Teleportation≫ to transfer 3 meters up, pretending to fly behind him!
“Nun!”
The moment Lawrence swung up, pretending to slash from above.
René lightly threw up her head, which she was holding in her left hand.
“What!?”
René watched the fight between herself and Lawrence from above, like a bird’s eye view. This way, there would be no blind spots and no one would be able to read her line of sight.
The head in the air appeared to be nothing more than a nice Mato at first glance, but in fact, even if it was destroyed, ‘only the main camera would be hit’.
The body moved. It could see its surroundings with its magical perception. And if Laurence got his hands on the top, he could kill her in that moment!
Rene transferred and slashed diagonally behind Lawrence with only her body.
But at that moment, Lawrence switched the Terra Ayur to the opposite hand, and released a “Tendan” thrust behind his back so that it would go under his own armpit!
“Ah……!?”
The pain was like a physical explosion.
An invisible thrust had pierced deeply through Renè’s body.
The unholy magic power that was moving the body was counteracted by the holy energy of ≪Consecration≫.
“If you threw your head up …”
Lawrence sneered triumphantly.
“Wouldn’t it be natural to think that you’d translocate to its fall point and catch it?”
René’s torso collapsed as she lost her power, and the head she threw up fell on top of it, bouncing and rolling.
A beat later, a cheer rose from the “turtle formation”.
“Ohhhhhhhh!?”
“He did it! He did it!”
“As expected of the Commander-dono!”
The situation was so dire that the nation was on the verge of extinction, no joke.
It was in such a situation that Lawrence, the hero of the battle, seized the victory.
The knights were still in a state of disbelief, but they were elated by this dramatic victory.
However, Lawrence did not let his guard down. He looked around quizzically.
He seemed to be suspicious that the undead were not shaken in the slightest, even though he had supposedly defeated René, who was supposed to be the main problem.
“…Did I miss the final blow?”
Looking down at the fallen René, Lawrence muttered.
René glared at Lawrence with only her head, which was lying on the cobblestones.
“If you think that’s the end of it, you’ve got a big brain.”
“You’re going to kill the hostages? Try it. My sword will cut pieces from you faster than that skeleton’s sword can move.”
“Hostages. A hostage…”
René laughed low.
“You’re thinking of something ludicrous. That is something much nicer…”
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