It was finally a day off.
Yuin was walking with his son Wilfred through the streets of Terra Kaine.
Yuin Bryce was a knight in the service of Marquis Edfeldt. He was a first-generation knight who had no lands and was only given the rank of knight. In layman’s terms, he was a professional soldier.
Yuin’s specialty was not weapons, but magic. He mastered at best level 3 fire elemental magic and bio-magic (which includes non-holy magic-type healing spells and general enhancement buffs). Well, in other words, he was an ordinary mage.
He had no ambition to take credit in battle and become a feudal lord, nor did he have the ambition to hone his skills and become a great magician. His life was to work diligently to earn a salary, cook a little elaborate food once in a while, drink a little alcohol, and look forward to the growth of his only son.
So when he heard that Wesala, where his son lived, had been destroyed by an army of undead, he felt like he had no reason to live.
Unlike Yuin, Wilfred, who turned 11 that year, seemed to be more interested in swordsmanship than in magic. He was sent to live with his grandfather (his wife’s father, Yuin’s father-in-law) to attend a famous swordsmanship school in Wesala, but when Wesala was destroyed by the “Rose Princess of Hellrage,” he fled to Terra Kaine, where Yuin was living.
When he saw Wilfred in one piece, he rejoiced with all his might.
Many people had been killed, and his father-in-law, who had fled with Wilfred, had fallen ill and died as a result of the forced march. Still, he couldn’t help but feel glad that his son alone was safe.
However, there was one thing that was bothering Yuin.
Wilfred did not talk about swords.
Wilfred, who used to be a swordsman who would spare no time to sleep and devote himself to swordsmanship, was staring at the sky and thinking about something.
After such an incident, he was concerned about his son’s change.
Yuin, who had been keeping an eye on him, finally made up his mind on this particular day.
“Will… do you need another sword for training?”
Wilfred, walking with the food he had bought, shook his shoulders.
Wilfred had escaped from Wesala by himself. Of course, he did not have his favorite sword.
But so far, he has not begged Yuin to buy him a new sword.
“That’s … umm … not now.”
“Hmmm,… will you buy another one one of these days?”
“Maybe…”
Wilfred said as he looked down at his feet.
“…I thought I was pretty good at swordsmanship… I could even beat adults in the dojo. But when I … Wesala was attacked, I couldn’t fight at all. I thought I could beat one or two of them, but when I saw them, I didn’t think I could beat them… I threw away my sword and ran away… Even in the midst of all that, there were people who were fighting. They were all unbelievably strong, and I thought I would never be able to match them. Both friend and foe were so amazing that I wondered if this was what fighting was all about… I thought that no matter how many times I tried to use my sword, I would never be able to enter such a scary world,… and I wondered if there was any point to all this…”
Oh, that explained a lot.
No matter how seriously one took it, there was a difference between training and the battlefield. Only a crazy person can be calm on the first battlefield. Those who see a real battlefield for the first time, whether they were farmers, knights, adventurers, or mercenaries, would receive a shock that is indescribable.
Wilfred had experienced it at his age.
Moreover, Wilfred’s mastery of the sword made him realize his own weakness. Yuin didn’t know what he had seen in Wesala, but it would be a double shock to see monsters far superior in strength to his own, and first-rate adventurers who fought them.
Knowing that the world was ruthless, he would lose confidence.
This was something that Yuin remembered as well.
During his training days, he was forced to spend time in the mountains with his master. The hungry straggler ogre that attacked him, and his master who defeated it all by himself. The young Yuin had no choice but to tremble and watch…
In the end, Yuin was not able to become as good a magician as his master. But he was still able to work and live as a knight, and he returned from several battles alive.
“You were right to run away. You are no match for an undead monster anyway. It’s important to run away from an opponent you can’t beat.”
“Eh!? Can I run away!?”
Wilfred was startled enough to almost drop his luggage.
“Yes, because if the fighters run away or something, then none of us can protect those who can’t fight or anything like that!”
“No, it’s a waste of time to die fighting a battle you can’t win. You run away to win the next battle.”
Well, in reality, soldiers were often forced to die in vain for the sake of someone else’s honor or to be used as pawns to buy time, but that was beside the point.
“If you can’t beat someone you can’t beat, you can work together to beat them, or you can call on your stronger comrades to beat them… That’s what a smart way to fight is. To do that, you have to be alive first. You don’t have to beat all your enemies. You don’t have to be stupidly strong to go into battle. Even a half-strong guy has a job to do. If it weren’t for that…, I wouldn’t be a knight.”
Yuin’s chest was heaving, and he pointed at himself with his thumb.
“I always tell you, right? Dad once defeated a Worm. With the help of 20 of his fellow Knights, though!”
Wilfred chuckled.
Worms were minor dragons that looked like giant earthworms.
Its only means of attack consisted of physical attacks and biting, but its power and toughness were a threat because of its huge size. An ordinary adventuring party would not be able to compete with it.
Worms were once seen in the territory, wondering where they had wandered in from. Unfortunately, there were no adventurers who could be entrusted with the job, so Yuin and his team of knights were dispatched on an emergency mission to defeat it.
Worms dived as if plowing the ground and then attacked from underground. It was a chaotic battle, but Yuin thought that the «Fire ball» he threw into the mouth of the Worm was the best blow he ever struck in his life.
“So there is no need to be afraid. Well, if you’re really scared, you can stop using the sword. If you have comrades who can help you when the time comes, you’ll be fine. No matter where you have to fight, you will have friends. You can definitely do it! So don’t worry, you’ll be fine!”
“Hey, drop it!”
Wilfred staggered as Yuin patted him on the back.
The two of them laughed because it was so funny.
“Dad, I want you to buy me a practice sword after all.”
“You want to practice with a sword again?”
“Yes. But I will do my best not to stop at “half strength”. I will become so strong that I don’t have to run away from any opponent! Then I’ll be a great samurai!”
“Not a … knight?”
“If I fail, someone will save me, right?”
“Yes, yes!”
It was as if he was watering a fading flower.
Wilfred, who had been looking so anxious for a long time, looked more energetic than he had in a long time.
“I’m going to start again today! I have to make up for not swinging a sword for a while!”
“I need to find a teacher in this city. If I ask around, well, I’m sure someone knows someone…”
“Stupid b*stard! I’ll never come back to this place!”
A voice like a cracked bell interrupted their conversation.
“Damn it! What’s the matter with that old b*stard? He got all red in the face just for rubbing a girl’s a*s. Oh, man, I should’ve broken his arm, too.”
“I got his front teeth, so that should be enough. Dahahahahahaha!”
Three men jump out from a bar in front of them.
They looked like bandits, but they were not rogues. They were wearing chest armor and sleeves with the sun’s emblem painted on them in large designs. The swords hanging from their waists looked splendid, too.
–Noacurio soldiers?
The Noacurio reinforcement force that had come to Wesala had now allocated nearly half of its forces to Terra Kaine. They had established a position just outside the city walls and had been stationed there since the day they arrived.
However, they did not stay in their positions forever. The soldiers came to the city one after another to buy small things or to relieve themselves.
It was a great business opportunity for the traders, but it also seemed to be causing trouble. Noblemen of prestigious families aside, there were soldiers who boasted of their prowess and bloodlust in every branch of the military. It was obvious what would happen if they came in force.
–But thanks to them, the city is protected,… and so is Will’s life…
The Knights of Marquis Edfeldt alone were unable to stand up to the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”. But now the Noacurio army was in the city.
Apart from Wesala, where Noacurio’s army was temporarily based, Terra Kaine was probably the safest place in the country.
Yuin avoided the side of the road and lightly bailed as they passed by Noacurio’s soldiers.
Or, more precisely, when they tried to brush past each other.
“Hey, that kid right there just stared at me.”
Noacurio Soldier A stopped and turned his eyes, red with alcohol, toward Yuin.
Yuin felt like an icy hand had grabbed his heart.
“Huh? Huh…”
“I told you you were staring at me!”
“Woah!”
A grabbed Wilfred.
The wrapper Wilfred was holding fell off and a potato rolled on the cobblestone.
Yuin hurriedly tried to intervene.
“Wait! I’m sorry if my son offended you. He’s just always had a bad eyesight. He didn’t mean to look at you in a bad way…”
“Don’t make excuses!”
“Guh!?”
A clenched fist suddenly flew toward Yuin’s face.
Before he could feel any pain, his vision flickered to black and white, and the smell of iron spread through his nose.
The world was spinning round and round. But it felt like he was being grabbed by the chest. A breath that reeked of alcohol hung on Yuin’s face.
“Gu, oh…”
“Oh! Who do you think is protecting this country? We walked all the way to this countryside in the snow! You guys! Respect! You don’t respect us enough!!’
“Guha! Gah!”
Fists like rocks were swung in succession.
Bells were ringing in his head.
“Oi oi, stay over there. You’re going to die? Hahahaha!”
“That’s good, let’s make a bet how many hits until you’ll die. Dahahahahahaha!”
B and C, who were with A, did not stop him, but watched him while laughing.
As if encouraged by their yelling, A hit Yuin with more and more force.
“Huh!?”
But. His hands suddenly stopped.
By Wilfred’s punch that stuck in A’s crotch.
“Yeee… yeeeeeeeeee!!”
“Get off my dad!”
“Shut up!”
“Auugh!!”
Immediately, A kicked Wilfred.
A gleeful kick slammed into Wilfred’s stomach, and Wilfred rolled on the cobblestones, vomiting back his lunch.
“G-get…t…off…”
“Will!”
Wilfred broke down and held his stomach.
A drew out his sword, holding his groin with a pale face.
“Y-you little b*stard!”
The sword gleamed in the sunlight.
Even the few swords that Noacurio supplied to ordinary soldiers were of good quality in their army. The swords were standardized with the necessary and sufficient quality, although they could not be called workmanship.
He couldn’t think straight. Which meant.
It was sufficient to kill Wilfred.
“Who do you think keeps you breathing? Dogs shouldn’t bite their masters! Dogs should just wag their tails like dogs! Rememberrrr!!”
Barking like an animal, Soldier A leapt at Wilfred.
Time seemed to pause, stretched out as if it had stopped. Wilfred, collapsed and motionless. A sword raised. Two soldiers watching with grins on their faces.
Yuin interlaced his fingers and made a symbol.
“≪Fire Ball≫!!”
The red flame hit soldier A directly on the head.
The use of magic without a wand greatly reduced its power, but it was enough to kill a single unsuspecting person.
What was left after the flames exploded and flew away was a charred and smoking face.
His body lost its strength and he fell to his knees, plunging.
Soldiers B and C looked at each other, not knowing what had just happened.
“This… this guy’s a magician!”
“Oh-h no, run away!”
Leaving the fallen soldier A behind, B and C ran away at full speed (or so they thought, but in reality it was more appropriate to call it staggered speed).
What was left behind was a soldier who had become a mute corpse. Wilfred collapsed. Scattered groceries. A beaten and battered Yuin.
“Oh, Dad…”
“Are you okay, Will?”
Still lightheaded, Yuin crawled over to Wilfred.
–Damn, damn, damn! How did this happen…!!
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