After that, Rubia and I spent time chatting about trivial things until nightfall.
Like the secret of my spiritual perception.
Or why Rubia came to dislike people.
Stories of the monsters I caught.
And the experiences Rubia had while living as a shaman for five years.
Moreover, when she first guided me to the blacksmith, claiming it was a quiet place, she apologized, saying she thought I was purposely teasing her and got angry.
I didn’t think much of it…
As we talked a lot, the bottom of the jelly bag came into view.
“Did you and Miss Aileen have dinner, Kiddo?”
Heinzel and Luchi came to find us.
“Ki, Kiddo…?!”
Th-this bald guy!
I glared at Heinzel as I stuffed angry jelly into my mouth.
“Puhuh… No, we haven’t eaten yet. Haven’t you two eaten either?”
“We were just about to eat, so it’s good if you haven’t. Want to join us?”
Luchi pointed toward a shop in the back.
“Slate steak? Sounds great. What do you think, Noah?”
“Hmm…!! Um!”
I nodded vigorously while mumbling with jelly in my mouth.
“Hehe… Yeah. Let’s eat together.”
Rubia gently released my hand and stood up.
“Um… Umm…!”
Why, why are you letting go…?
What if a wizard appears…!
“Here, give me the bags.”
While I was flustered, Rubia turned around and grabbed the bags from my arms.
Then she whispered in my ear.
“With one hand, hold my hand, and with the other, hold the great sword. There might be a wizard around.”
Rubia!
You’re not just a shaman; you’re a saint!
“Um, um!”
My mouth was stuffed with jelly, causing me to express my agreement with my whole body as I took Rubia’s hand.
Then Rubia’s fingers spread open.
“No, no.”
As usual, her fingers intertwined with mine in a sticky manner.
“If you hold it like this, you won’t drop it.”
Maybe I couldn’t grip the hilt yet.
Or maybe it was because of Rubia’s thrilling whisper.
Rubia’s fingers, now intertwined with mine, felt like the sweetness lingering at the corners of my mouth.
It felt like the soft texture of jelly filling my mouth.
“Right? Noah?”
I couldn’t do anything except swallow that ecstasy.
“Yes, yes…”
“Let’s hurry. You must be hungry.”
“Yes… Let’s, let’s go…”
*
“Kwhehehehe! So that’s why I caught that manticore at that time—”
The quiet restaurant was filled with Heinzel’s booming voice.
Typical weird uncles: when drinking, they talk about how they were amazing back in the day.
“Kuhuh! Are you saying you caught that manticore all by yourself?”
“Uh-huh? I almost caught it all by myself!”
“Come on! Who’s the one who severed its Achilles heel?”
“That was you, Luchi, but I was the one distracting it the whole time!”
“Stop boasting about strength and start being useful!”
“W-what?!”
Veins bulged on Heinzel’s forehead.
Wow… even from my spiritual perception, those veins look pretty pronounced; I can only imagine how much they’re sticking out in reality…
“Ha… Everyone, let’s calm down… First, let’s finish our meal.”
Rubia sighed heavily as she cut into her steak.
So, what was I doing?
“Hey, Kiddo. Who do you think did better?”
“Noah. No matter how I see it, that bald guy isn’t it, right?”
I was giving a fair judgment on these childish uncle fights.
“B-but… the finishing blow was by Uncle Heinzel, right? Especially since a manticore has solid bones, so breaking it is… it seems Uncle Heinzel won this one…”
Admitting that he smashed the manticore’s head is something else.
Even trying would have been a quite impressive feat for a one-handed sword!
“Kwhehehehe! Luchi! You lost this time! Drink up!”
“Ugh, let’s not do that.”
Luchi poured the drink filled to the brim in a cup the size of my torso down his throat.
They must’ve already had six cups each.
“Come on, Noah. Ah—”
“Ahhhh— Um.”
Mumbling—
Mmm. It’s delicious.
Thanks to the noisy fight among the uncles, all the leftover meat was devoured by Rubia and me.
“By the way, if the lady wants to learn to wield a sword, she’ll need a new one.”
Luchi wiped his mouth and spoke roughly.
“Ah, right. What would be a suitable size?”
Rubia wiped the sauce off her mouth and put down her knife and fork.
“Hmm. Want to try holding my sword once?”
Rubia nodded and took Luchi’s sword.
And then…
“Uh, uhhh…!”
She immediately dropped the sword.
“Um—!”
I barely caught it. Phew.
“Thank you, Noah… But it’s heavier than I thought…?”
“Kwhehehe… That’s right. My sword is heavier than it looks. From the looks of it… the lady hasn’t trained her strength at all.”
“Yes… I’ve never trained in that area…”
I patted Rubia’s back meaning it was okay.
“Then a wooden sword would be better.”
Luchi nodded and began muttering about size, weight, appearance, and various details.
“Hey, Kiddo. Which do you think looks cooler, the sword or the halberd?”
Heinzel approached me quietly and asked me to choose between the two.
I answered without a second thought.
“B-both are lame. The great sword is the coolest…”
“Hmm?”
Luchi, who was mumbling, stopped and looked at me.
“Really?”
Heinzel, who had been stooped over, straightened up and looked down at me.
“Yes… the great sword is the best… I’m the strongest.”
A moment of silence.
Luchi broke that silence.
“Then how about we determine the superiority of the weapons through a duel?”
“Hmmm, a good idea.”
“Y-yes, let’s do that…”
“Yes…?”
Silence fell again.
Then, I broke the silence.
“Well, um… But… don’t use any unique abilities, uncles.”
“So you know about unique abilities… It’s definitely necessary.”
“Hmmm, a good idea.”
“Noah…?”
As I saw Rubia’s bewilderment, I patted my chest confidently.
“Aileen. Watch closely. Let’s see how strong I am…”
“Kwahahaha! I’ve felt it since last time, but this Kiddo has some serious guts!”
“I hope it’s not just bravado.”
“No… What in the world is going on here…?”
Heinzel and Luchi packed up their things and stood up.
I also stood up while tightly holding Rubia’s hand.
Then the three of us said simultaneously.
“L-let’s go.”
“Let’s go!”
“We shall proceed.”
“Dueling after just eating…?”
Gasp…!
“Speaking properly… such beautiful words…”
“Ha… Noah, don’t say such things. Let’s hurry outside.”
“Yes, yes…”
*
After leaving the restaurant, we headed to a wide open space.
In one corner of the village, outside the fence set up to block the monsters.
We took our position there.
“Now, one person must advance as the victor of the preliminary round. Since it just needs to determine who ranks first.”
“Hmmm, good idea.”
“What shall we decide it by?”
“What is there to decide? Just Noah, you’ll be the one for the preliminary round.”
“Hmmm, that sounds perfect.”
Me?
Why?
I tilted my head.
“Kiddo, aren’t you the weakest? So it makes sense for you to go up.”
“Certainly, we have more practical experience, so this is a handicap.”
Hah.
They’re totally disregarding me, huh…?
“W-well, don’t regret it…”
I chewed my words as I took a step back.
“Noah… do you really think you can win?”
“Yes. I will definitely win. No, I must win.”
For the honor of the great sword…!
“Ha… Okay. Just don’t get hurt. I’m behind you… I can heal you a bit if you get hurt, but still, don’t get hurt, okay?”
Rubia held my hand tightly.
I matched her grip firmly.
“The rules will be simple. We’ll fight within 100 meters, and we stop before any critical injuries. Even a bald guy should be able to distinguish that much, right?”
“Hmmm, good idea. But you only have one eye; can you see that?”
“True, the baldness might make it hard to see.”
Crunch-
Heinzel gripped the haft of the halberd as if he would crush it.
The mood changed.
Slash-
Instead of Luchi’s voice, the sword answered.
“I will count down.”
3.
*
Luchi’s sword was level with the ground.
2.
*
Heinzel’s halberd stood vertically.
1.
*
The two bodies vanished.
A sound that could hardly be believed echoed through the empty open space, as if people were not colliding.
I concentrated my perception on one place, sketching the information about the battle in my mind.
Heinzel’s halberd was wild.
Luchi’s sword was flexible.
The wildness overpowered the flexibility.
And the flexibility restrained the wildness.
The sword flew through.
From right to left.
The halberd rose.
From below to above.
The first strike was Heinzel’s.
The halberd stretching from below deflected the sword.
However, the movement of the sword didn’t halt.
It connected.
The sword rebounded upward and flowed out diagonally.
Its trajectory catching the moonlight.
Clang-
The shaft of the halberd extinguished the moonlight.
The continuing halberd’s deadly blow.
A horizontal slash swung from left to right.
The sword tossed aside was helpless against it.
But it didn’t get discouraged.
It returned, rotating the body to recover the sword.
Before I knew it, the sword was held in reverse.
The sword was tucked into the waist.
The halberd struck against the sword’s surface.
The sword flowed through.
Luchi’s movement was fluid.
Without bouncing off, it flowed.
After the horizontal cut, Heinzel had a gap.
Luchi didn’t miss that timing.
Striking upward from below, in reverse grip.
Heinzel gritted his teeth and contracted his muscles.
The force disregarding inertia pulled the halberd.
Snap-
Along with the sound of muscle tearing in Heinzel’s right arm, the sword that had been rising from below plunged back into the ground.
Then the shaft of the halberd swung and hit Luchi’s abdomen.
Luchi’s body leaned back.
At the same time, he extended his arm to the ground to regain his balance.
Heinzel relentlessly pursued him.
With tattered muscles, he contracted again.
Blood gushed from his arm.
Heinzel didn’t stop.
The halberd swung diagonally.
Luchi wielded the sword.
Thus began the relentless fight.
The wildness captured the flexibility.
The flexibility resisted the wildness.
Heinzel threatened Luchi’s life.
Luchi siphoned Heinzel’s stamina.
Clangclangclang-
At the end of the chaotic battle, the sword and halberd met.
Heinzel extended his right arm.
Luchi turned his body and deflected the strike.
Luchi’s body spun around.
Heinzel’s body came to a halt.
The sword descended from above.
Catching the moonlight.
The halberd came up from below.
Spreading blood everywhere.
Steel against steel.
Wildness against flexibility.
The beast and the hunter clashed.
The beast’s claws shred the hunter’s body.
The hunter’s trap enveloped the beast’s neck.
“I lost.”
They met.
Heinzel declared his loss.
Blood streamed down Heinzel’s neck.
Luchi’s blood…
“Cough… Even if I won, cough… Ptoo. I didn’t really win…”
Soaring toward the sky.
The hunt was over.
Ah… maybe fighting was unwise.
