“Johann…? Who are these people?”
“Greetings, Saint. I am Kalintz Ryan.”
“Ryan… Are you the former head of the House of Duke Ryan?!”
Her surprised expression is beautiful. After staring at the wrinkle-filled old man all day, seeing Karina again felt like purifying my eyes.
“It seems the current Saint is a bit frail! Haha! If you’d trained regularly, something like this—”
“Shut it.”
Are we doing a skit now? Watching the old men bicker, I turned my attention back to the lovely Karina. Our gazes met naturally.
Her eyes showed curiosity and embarrassment.
“Karina, I’m sorry to say… it seems I must leave your side once more.”
“Eh? Why is that…?”
“I plan to subjugate Harpas.”
A realm nobody had succeeded in. At my declaration, Karina’s pupils trembled. Her hand resting on the armrest started shaking.
“Y-You don’t have to do that, do you?”
“No. I need to.”
“…Is that so.”
Is she not going to stop me? Maybe she realizes that even if she tried, I’d go anyway. I placed my hand on her knuckles and quietly conveyed my determination.
“I will return with a gift.”
A gift that would surprise everyone.
————————–
“Ah, it reminds me of my youth.”
“Hey kid! At times like that, you should do a lip smack and say, ‘Huh?!’ A man has to have guts! Hahahahahaha!”
“Tsk. At that age, that’s how you typically date!”
“Weren’t you a perpetual solo?”
“What? What are you saying! When I was young, women were lined up for me, you know!”
As I watched Principal Merlin poking fun at Kalintz, I scratched my head.
What a mess.
“…”
[Contractor, you’ve really caught a good one~]
Rue, just shut it. I can barely handle these old men’s nonsense as it is. I secretly sighed, watching the two elderly gentlemen bicker relentlessly.
Three days since we headed west.
The road was peaceful as I gathered three old-timers who once ruled the world.
To be precise, I made it “peaceful.”
The trio of powerful old-timers, with their status, reputation, and strength, ignored any troubles that came their way and marched on.
Bandits? They’d behave like docile sheep after lining up for a slap from the authority. I watched from behind, utterly entertained.
Monsters? It seemed even they knew they’d perish if they came near us; the moment our eyes met, they booked it. Those sneaky ones are quick on the uptake.
Important folks? Our trio consisted of a former duke, a headmaster, and an authority that ate from the same pot. Unless royalty popped out, they’d need to bow before us in terms of status.
Indeed, power and might are the best.
No need to bother thinking too hard.
“Hey Johann, how far is it to the next village?”
“We’ll need at least half a day more.”
“Hey! You slacker! Can’t you just use magic to zip us there?!”
“You brute! Do you have any idea how hard it is to transport four people with magic?!”
“Before, you managed just fine with five!”
“That was when I was young! Don’t you remember I was bedridden for a month after that?!”
Here we go again. Is it impossible to have a single quiet day?
Should I just accept that this will end in verbal sparring? Given their status as world-class experts, a casual fight would surely cause chaos. I pulled out some jerky from my pocket and chewed it.
Ah, being a coachman is a blessing. At least I can make an excuse to not participate in that conversation even just a little.
“Mind if I have one?”
“…You’re not stopping me?”
“What stamina do you think old men have? They’ll tire out and collapse on their own.”
Nodding at his words as he grabbed the jerky with his prosthetic hand showering it with a mystical light. Pretty soon, I could picture Principal Merlin snapping into ‘I don’t care anymore, do as you please’ mode.
“…It’s nice to be out after such a long time.”
“Have you not gone out at all since retiring?”
“Who would call upon an old man like me? I’ve lived for the joy of watching my cute grandkids perform.”
…So you didn’t go out because it was a bother?
Given his name, it wouldn’t be strange for him to get invitations left and right. Of course, being over seventy might make him hesitant to attend…
“By the way, do you have any desire to learn swordplay?”
“I’m not a bladesman, you see.”
“Hm… You seem to have plenty of talent.”
After watching me build a camp using a shovel, he urges me almost every day. I’m too busy to learn swordsmanship.
“That’s disappointing. But how about learning a few moves?”
“…I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
I’ll probably learn a move or two from the next village.
Somehow, it feels like I’ve opened the gates to hell. I made a conscious effort to turn my gaze from reality and look at the monotonously repeating scenery ahead.
——————-
“Swords are simple yet exceedingly difficult weapons. To master them as you would your own body requires a long time of practice. You wield that shovel as if it’s part of you.”
His youthful gaze collides with mine.
Once the Empire’s royal knight commander, basking in the Emperor’s favor, the strongest knight carefully drew the sword from his waist.
The old man, who had lived all his life with a sword, revealed his beloved blade under the setting sun in a beautiful arc.
The sword, made of mithril, emanated a blue light harmoniously with the prosthetic arm. It was a beautiful sight, but seeing that sword aimed at me sent chills down my spine.
If he were an enemy, my head would have been rolling by now.
“To you, the shovel is your sword. What do you think about when wielding it?”
What’s on my mind, you ask?
I closed my eyes for a moment, pondering his question.
What had I been thinking? Memories from the last ten years surfaced naturally.
The first time I grasped a shovel was when I stumbled upon a rusty one in a shipwreck. Memories of a time when even an old, rusty tool was precious. I had scraped off rust and desperately dug to hide.
After growing up a bit, I could quickly burrow into the ground to hide.
Reflecting back, I’ve spent the last ten years digging constantly. Understanding that, I began to grasp the meaning behind the old man’s question.
“It’s my will to survive.”
“What do you wish to achieve by surviving?”
Achieve, huh.
What do I want to achieve?
“I want to protect my people.”
“That’s a tough road ahead.”
“I know.”
I’ve faced all kinds of unfairness in life already. I intimately know the difficulty of it all.
“Now, grip that shovel.”
I straightened my hand, which was holding the shovel over my shoulder. It felt just like it always did. However, the emotion resonating in my heart was different this time.
My palm is damp.
“Have you ever learned how to wield a weapon?”
“Never.”
“Widen your stance a bit. Avoid tensing your muscles.”
I adjusted my stance as he instructed. Upon seeing my stance corrected, he smiled contentedly.
“Let’s go.”
Even before his voice vanished, the ground trembled.
Right? Left?
No need to think too much.
With a flap, I collided the shovel’s spine against the incoming sword.
“Oh.”
I redirected the shock back through the shovel. Kalintz drew an arc toward my waist with that very same stance.
“Impressive.”
“Dueling should feel like real combat. It was a phrase I’d often repeated while teaching fledgling knights.”
My hand is numb. It was an awkward angle of attack, which meant I couldn’t hold my posture well.
But there’s no time to rest.
The assault isn’t over yet, either.
Now, it’s a thrust aiming at… my abdomen?
I held the shovel diagonally and deflected the blow once again. With a spark, the blade grazed my side.
If I had surrounded myself with aura, I’d have taken a lethal hit.
Ignoring the pain, I let go of the handle and jabbed toward his chin.
The distance between us was less than a meter. The old man tilted his head left to evade.
I anticipated that.
However, unlike other weapons, the handle of a shovel is shaped differently.
I immediately pulled the handle back and aimed for the back of the old man’s neck. This time, even Kalintz seemed unable to react, stepping back as he chuckled.
“Ha, you got me there.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed heartily. I felt goosebumps from the gleam in his excited eyes. Was this the feeling a rabbit gets when stared down by a lion?
“You’re getting old too! Allowing a young one to land a hit on you like that!”
“Haha…”
Ah, those veins on your temples are bulging. If it weren’t a duel, I’d have already stabbed that aura blade into Kalintz’s head.
“Kid! Let’s duke it out too!”
“Hey, I’m in the middle of a duel here.”
“It’s not like you planned to enjoy it all on your own! Let me have some fun too!”
With that reckless statement, Geren rose from his seat. Kalintz sighed as he sheathed his sword.
“It was a delightful duel after a long time.”
“Kid! It’s my turn next!”
Honestly, I’m not sure if this will be helpful, but if I decline, that grumpy old man will be a bothersome nuisance.
I rubbed my side where the pain had faded, adjusting my grip on the shovel once more.
It was merely a scene from the common journey toward the western front.
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