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Ronia Mountain Passage—the mountainous road our protagonist had just traversed. Many travelers went through it back and fro, as it was the main connecting route between the west and east region of the southern Holy Empire. Most travelers would either walk by foot or travel on board of carriages and stagecoaches, with a few riding horses, mostly couriers and the like.
But then, that day, any traveler who went through the passage might have had a wondrous encounter with them—two men, running so fast that they even beat the speed of horses at full gallop. They certainly would beat the speed of mere carriages.
They were a pair of middle-aged men, bald and dark-skinned, wearing what looked to be monk’s robes dyed in black. One of them had a scar near his eye, which was the only distinguishing factor between them.
The men rushed through the passage, not stopping for any breaks in the slightest. They jumped over cliffs and ravines like they were nothing,
GROAAARRRR
A wyvern, the very same species that attacked the beastgirl from before, sensed their presence. They had trespassed into its territory, and so it decided to attack them.
With its high speed, it chased after them, keeping up with their speed. With its wings, it launched whirlwinds towards them, while simultaneously barraging them with fireballs it shot out from its mouth. The two however dodged out of all its projectiles with ease.
Knowing that it couldn’t harm them from afar, it decided to close the distance between them.
Or so it thought, before it was sent crashing down from the skies, spinning furiously in a spiral downwards to the ground below. A powerful force had hit it, and it made it lose control of its flight entirely.
With a simple ranged punch, one of the men had defeated it in a single move. He didn’t even need to touch the creature.
His twin brother stopped, telling him to get a move on.
After all, they had a very important prey to chase and put down.
——————
Hugo
The road through the swamps was… miserable, to say the least.
The dirt road we took was serviceable enough, and it took us through the damp and hot place as fast as it reasonably could. The trees around us seemed to come straight out of a tropical rainforest, and accompanying it, so were the tropical monsters. Like Rabid Monkeys, C-rank monsters who gleefully laid ambushes to us over and over again from the treetops. Or the Bloatflies, another C-rank monster with a disgusting smell whose bloated bellies would explode into a swarm of Predator Flies if we were to kill them. The Predator Flies themselves were considered C-rank as well, even though they were extremely weak individually. Only that they would swarm you like bees, biting off little chunks of your meat while dodging every sword swing you launched on them. Well, not Fiora’s though. With extreme precision, she cut them down in an instant.
Then there were the Mud Hippos who would fire off streams of mud from their mouth in an effort to bury us with it. They were actually B-rank monsters, and they attacked from a distance. Fiora said that one of the weaknesses of her style was the inability of striking faraway opponents, so she told me to just blast them away with my spell. “It’s too early for you to learn how to close the distance towards faraway opponents, boy,” she said. I didn’t see her doing it though. Instead, she simply blocked the mud from reaching her by simply holding her sword up and somehow slicing it into two separate streams using her sword.
That’s gotta be her aura at work, isn’t it?
Suffice to say that it wasn’t an easy trip, especially since Fiora ordered me not to use my magic to fight them unless I absolutely had to. So I had to kill them with just my sword.
Thankfully, Fiora herself was there fighting with me. And, just like I expected, they were no match against her in the slightest. Anytime they got to a certain radius near her, she would cut them down without fail, even though that radius was certainly larger than what the length of her sword should be able to reach.
As for me, well, just fighting a single monkey proved to be too much for me at first. He would dodge out of my slashes and thrusts every time, with me barely dodging his blows using my Wind Step. Fiora said I could use that spell and that spell only, and so I did. But sometimes, when I was facing multiple of them, I would be overwhelmed, and that’s where Nicole would come in, erecting a barrier to protect me from their blows. Helen was also there, holding her own with her daggers and throwing knives. Her main job was to protect the horses and to ensure that the monsters wouldn’t hurt them.
The monkeys and flies didn’t really give any worthwhile enough parts for us to gather and sell later (at least, not compared to the time we would waste). The rarer hippos on the other hand—their heart fetched quite nicely in the shops. I persuaded Fiora to let me collect them.
“Fine. But the money you got from selling them all goes to Helen, alright? She’s the one managing our group’s funds,” she replied. So yeah, I was pretty much only doing it out of the kindness of my heart.
For our first night, we camped on a clearing with solid land beneath it. Nicole cast a warding spell to shoo off any monsters that might decide to attack us in the night (giving me a painful nostalgic memory of Mother doing the same when we had our mountain trip). Even so, we still took turns taking watch. Helen offered to do Fiora’s turn as well, but the princess refused, saying that she needed her to be well-rested. Wow, I didn’t expect that, knowing how selfish she usually is.
As for the one who gathered firewood, it was all Helen. We didn’t hunt however since there really were no edible monsters around. So we only ate the dried mead and hard bread that the maid had prepared before we took on the trip here. They weren’t delicious in the slightest, but they were filling.
After we finished eating, Fiora came up to me and gave her evaluation of my fighting prowess throughout the day.
“Hugo, you really are a coward, aren’t you?” she said as she stood in front of me. I was sitting near the campfire then.
“Huh? Where did that come from?” I replied, raising my eyebrows.
“Your fighting. It’s all about running away.”
“Running away? What are you talking about? I stood my grounds against those monsters you know, even though I was clearly outmatched by them,” I protested.
“You dodge their blows like a mage would. But you’re a swordsman now. You don’t dodge like that. As a Galahad-style swordsman, you only dodge using the bare necessary movement, and then counter right away once the enemy let themselves open.”
“Easy for you to say,” I retorted. “I’ve been fighting like a mage would all these years.”
“Then stop whining and kick that habit off you, or else you’ll never improve on your swordsmanship. You might as well just give up now, boy.”
With those words, she left me to my own thoughts, entering her tent.
You know what? Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should change my mindset in combat. If I got injured, I have Nicole to heal me up after all.
—————–
The second day, I decided to do just that, moving around less and standing my ground more. The result? Several painful scratches on my two hands and a chunk of my hair gone when one of the monkeys yanked it off. One of them would have gouged my eyes out if not for Fiora cutting it in half.
“Boy, never break your stance, no matter what happens!” was her only words to me when that happened. What, not even an “are you okay?” or something like that? Tch, how cold.
But she was right. After being forced to fight in this manner, I realized that you could dodge and parry much easier if you don’t move unnecessarily. You simply need to move your head or your body to the side a bit, and then strike back without pause.
As a result, once the tenth day of travelling through the swamp was over, I could already handle the monkeys on my own, at least somewhat. I could dodge most of their blows, but it took me really long to wait until I could find an opponent for a counter-attack. Fiora though, any monkeys that came near her would be cut into pieces in an instant.
Heh, now I know how it feels to be those two when I rescued them from the wyvern. Or those three when I took care of the boar.
A flash of pain came into my chest as I remembered them and their deaths.
However, I already accepted it—that death was a commonplace occurrence in this world. On our trip through the swamp, we already saw a couple of corpses. Adventurers, most likely. Or travelers foolish enough to take this dangerous route.
I was not a religious person in the slightest, but when Nicole implored me to pray with her for their souls to enter Paradise, as well as the souls of Father and Mother, I followed. This is a fantasy world, so gods might actually exist after all.
And then came the last day of our swampy voyage. If all went well, we should arrive at Sigil right when the sun is about to go down.
————-
For the last day, just like the other days, I still had my training on top of the carriage with Fiora if there were no monsters attacking us. Now, our exercises had moved on to her attacking me with basic blows with her sword, commanding me to dodge while keeping up my stance. She also told me to counterattack whenever I could, but every time I did, she would rapidly counter said counterattack and give me a stinging slap on my arms with her wooden sword. Oh yeah, when she taught me, she used said sword instead of her real one, while she told me that I could use my real sword. Clearly, she was saying that even if I were to accidentally attack her with a real blade, she could protect herself just fine even with a dull piece of wood.
“Where did you get that wooden sword anyways?” I asked.
“Helen bought it in Aurand,” she replied. “I could smack you with it, unlike if I use my real sword.”
“Ah, I see.” You know, I’m starting to feel that she’s really a genuine sadist who enjoys hitting people, and me being her pupil allows her to use me as her personal punching bag.
I looked upwards, towards the sun. If I had to guess, it was already around three in the afternoon. I should consider looking around for a pocket watch sometime, though I really don’t want to return to my old life where I have to keep looking at the clock at all times. There’s a certain beauty to just living life as it is, without any thoughts on the passing—
CRASH
A force, so powerful that it nearly sent me off flying from the roof of the carriage, was blocked by Fiora’s sword—the real one. She stood there, groaning, as what looked like a giant fist made out of energy pushed towards her.
And then, I felt it—another powerful energy getting closer right behind me.
My reflex, honed by all the training we had been doing for nearly two weeks, responded by grabbing her while using Wind Step to evacuate the roof of the carriage. Just in time before the two fists collided.
In a split second, Nicole escaped the carriage and erected a Barrier around us. Helen, on the other hand, threw a series of knives towards the two directions where the fists came from. The horses themselves went into a panic and tried to run away, only for them to crash into the forcefield Nicole had erected.
“Your Highness!” The maid ran immediately towards us, before kneeling down in front of her. “Are you alright?”
Her worried expression however turned into an angry one, the moment she saw where my hands were grabbing her princess.
Yep, I grabbed her right on her breasts.
Before I could even enjoy the surprising fullness and softness that lied underneath her modest dress, she yanked herself free from me. “There are two of them. Monks, most likely. Helen, did you see anyone from the two directions the fists came from?”
“Apologies, Your Highness.” She bowed her head. “But I was caught off-guard by their surprise attack. They must have hidden themselves using the trees around us.”
I gave a look around at our surroundings. True enough, we were currently in the part of the swamp with lots of thick trees and greenery in general. Perfect for someone to hide in.
“Hold on.” I spoke up. “I can help.”
All around us is mud. Which means this would be the perfect environment for her.
“Earth Sprite! Come on out!”
The fairy responded promptly, appearing from the nearby muddy ground, to the surprise of everyone present.
“There should be two people around us. Search for them, and point us towards where they are.” I commanded her.
“Nnn.” As usual, she replied in a quiet manner. She disappeared under the muddy ground promptly, no doubt to conduct her search.
“Hoo? So you can use summoning magic as well.” Fiora smirked. Nicole on the other hand had a worried expression on her face. Oh, right, the Church forbids summoning magic in its entirety.
After just a few seconds, the sprite returned. “Don’t sense any human standing in the mud nearby.” was her report.
“They could still be hiding on top of the trees,” I argued. “We have to flush them out. Hold on. I think I can utilize my magic for that.”
I moved away from the crowd, taking out my wand while still being inside the barrier Nicole had erected.
“Air Sunder!”
Using my magic, I created a cyclone that would shake and tear the leaves out of the trees, leaving no camouflage for them to hide. I could use my Boom Cannon for that purpose, but I’d rather not spend my mana firing off multiple of them just to bring down some trees. And besides, I would rather surprise them with it. If they didn’t know how fast I could fire it, they could fall the same way Vera did.
To my surprise however, after clearing out our nearby surroundings, nothing. There weren’t anybody around.
“Tch, they’ve run away.” I announced to the group. “They probably would strike again once we let our guard down.
“Not bad.” Fiora continued her smirk. “You’re quite the capable bodyguard after all.”
“What should we do now?” Nicole spoke up, biting her lip. “Should we just try to get to the city?”
“We should,” Fiora replied, turning to face her with a grim look on her face. Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve ever seen her this nervous. “If night falls, they would have an advantage. We shall make for the Grand Priest’s temple and seek abode there. They should not try anything as long as we were on temple grounds. Not with the Grand Priest here. The information you told me is correct, right?”
“Yes.” Nicole nodded. “Lady Lunarya is a well-known combatant. She would be more than a match for them.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll rush there as fast as we can. Nicole, could you keep up your barrier all the way?”
She looked away. “I… I do not know…” She looked back. “But I’ll try.”
And so we hurriedly departed, with Helen whipping the horses so they would gallop as fast as they could towards Sigil. I gave a hug to my sprite before banishing her. All three of us now sat on the carriage roof, with Nicole concentrating to keep her barrier up while Fiora and I looked around us for any suspicious movements that might signal another attack.
To our pleasant surprise, nothing happened. We were able to reach the city safe and sound. Nicole took down her barrier, panting as she finally succumbed to her fatigue at last.
Naturally, our arrival drew the attention of the guards posted on the gate, which numbered more than the usual number posted on the towns I had gone through before. Perhaps it’s because they were on the side of the city wall that faced the swamps, just in case if any monsters dared enough to try to attack the city. They took notice of the barrier Nicole erected, and the fact that there were three people standing on top of the carriage, looking terribly on edge.
“H-hey, what’s the matter?” One of them walked forward towards Helen. “Were you guys attacked or something?
“We were,” the maid replied calmly. “That’s why we have to hurry to the Grand Priest’s place. Church business.”
“R-right. T-then let me guide you there.” The soldier gulped. “L-let me speak to the captain first.”
It seemed Helen’s grave expression was enough to convince him that she was speaking the truth. Or maybe he was just the gullible sort, easily charmed by the maid’s beauty.
The youthful-looking soldier ran towards his superior, which was the mustachioed middle-aged man behind him. After a short talk, he went back and said, “A-alright. I’ve gotten permission. Let’s go.”
After the guards moved over to the sides, Helen whipped the horses and made them gallop once more.
“Don’t let your guard down.” Fiora whispered. “Just because we’re inside the city doesn’t mean we’re safe. Remember, the only one that can protect us is the Grand Priest. Not these guards that I could easily cut down myself if I wanted to.”
“Don’t you think they would care for collateral damage? If we fought, a whole block of the city could be destroyed,” I replied. I was pretty sure that my Boom Cannon could make a hole through several houses in one fell swoop, knowing the power it possessed.
“Hmph. That depends,” Fiora answered. “I do not know what the attitude of our attackers are. Maybe they’re the kind of assassins that only wish to kill their targets. Or maybe they would perfectly be willing to burn an entire city to the ground if it means their targets would die with it.”
With those foreboding words, courtesy of our dear imperial princess, we entered the gate.
