Volume 3 Chapter 16

Volume 3 Chapter 16: Battle Aesthetics

Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: ”Ryunakama”

I took the metal box for the fruit and parted with Moka and along with Sidonius while moving along one of the branches of the God Tree went to harvest the fruit.

「Axel-dono. How is the sword that I gave you?」

「Yeah, it’s good.」

Right now we are treading on a very thick branch.

Though it has enough width for two people to walk side by side since one could feel its large size with the soles of the feet, the level of stability still differed from the ground.

Using a sword or spear at such a place would put one at risk of not making an attack on time due to a posture. Or creating a needless wobble.

Having that in mind I asked Sidonius beforehand 『I’d like to use a short sword if you have one』, and so he gave me one.

…It’s nice to have proper equipment ready.

Thinking so I look at the short sword in my hand.

The blade is barely one-third the length of what I usually use, but it is more suitable for an environment like this.

「It’s a good weapon.」

I can tell that it’s first-class craftsmanship by how it feels in my hand. When I gave such an evaluation, Sidonius replied with a pleased smile.

「Yes. Knights’ equipment is of superior quality. Especially this one, it’s a masterpiece by a blacksmith that I greatly value, so it’s of the finest quality.」

「Eh, are you sure? Letting me borrow something like this.」

「I don’t mind. If that is required then it should be put to use. Surely that is how it should be with equipment. ……However, looking at how you act with this sword, you seem to know how to fight with short swords as well.」

Sidonius said looking at my hands.

「Well, just a bit. I mainly used them as a throwing weapon as a dragon knight, so I can’t do anything like 《Short Sword Fencing》.」

「Is that so? ……Well, if you will have a need to throw it this time then don’t hesitate to do so, I also cleared the area of people.」

「Haha, well, we’ll see when such a time comes.」

And in a few minutes while we had such a conversation we reached the branch from which the fruit were hanging.

Silver fruit on the branch were emitting a faint sweet smell.

「I should pick those, right?」

「Yes. The challenge is to get back with them in the box.」

「I see. ……So monsters aren’t going to attack before we pluck them. 」

Penetration beetles live by sucking tree sap, because of that they had a certain sense of territoriality. As such it wasn’t rare for them to assault people that walked into their perceived territory, but now they showed no such behavior at all.

「That’s so. They attack only when someone tries to walk away with those fruits.」

「That’s rather limited behavior, or even strange.」

The God Tree is quite special.

Making a nest in this tree probably changed their behavior.

Though Moka and others were saying that this is still under investigation.

「Well, if that’s the case, then we can harvest the fruit without worry.」

I took the metal box off my back and put it near my feet.

Carefully wrapping my fingers around fragrant fruits I then plucked them off the tree.

A thin twig on which fruit was hanging easily snapped, leaving only a silver fruit in my hand.

No defects. Perfect quality.

Checking for that, I then put them inside the box, burrowing them into the specially prepared cushion.

「Picking is easy.」

「Right? We had no problems with this until they appeared……」

With those words Sidonius approached me and drew a sword, then took a stance, guarding me against attacks from behind.

Looking around, bugs were already making their way here with a loud buzz.

「……This is where the crucial part starts.」

Getting to one knee I carefully lock the iron box and put it back over my shoulder.

And get up holding the short sword with an underhand grip.

With that, the attention of the bugs obviously shifted.

I could feel something close to hostility directed at me, or to be more precise at the metal box on my back. Furthermoreー

「Above, below, and also in the direction where we came from, they are all over the place.」

They had a whole colony in this area. So it wasn’t strange no matter where they’d come from.

A small consolation was that since the tree is withered we had good visibility with only a few leaves in the way.

「Proceed as we planned, I will guard your back at a bit of a distance. Leave attacks from behind to me. Axel-dono can focus on what lies in front.」

「Roger. Then, let’s go.」

With those words as a signal, we get on our way back.

We ran, though a bit slowly, to make sure not to damage the luggage.

Since we took our time getting here, I learned the surroundings well enough to get back fast enough even at a slow pace that wouldn’t give any shock to the fruit. Howeverー

「……This is the worst, we have to deal with dozens of them.」

「Yes, they are coming……!」

A sound like a metal clank resounded behind my back. Thenー

「Ughー」

Followed by a grunt due to enduring an impact.

It took me only a glance to understand what happened.

Sidonius repelled a penetration beetle with his sword.

I also confirmed a beetle of about 30 centimeters in size being blown away from us.

「Are you alright?」

「Yes… Because they have such power it will be over if they hit the box…」

That charge had enough power to rock the sword that the muscular Sidonius held in both hands.

And they are also small, so they are hard to hit.

Being able to intercept one speaks volumes about Sidonius’ ability.

And as I kept walking, thinking, that they indeed might be worthy of warinessー

「Another one coming!」

「Seems so.」

Bugs were approaching from behind, above, and left.

Three sides, almost simultaneously.

Suppose I leave my back to Sidonius, I still have to deal with two sides at once.

「Well, let’s try this.」

The fruit on my back are the first thing that should be taken into consideration.

If they crack from the impact of the attack it’s all over even if I manage to strike down my opponents.

So when I first heard about those monsters I already decided on my course of action.

First I pointed the short sword at the beetles approaching from above and. Thenー

「…Since I have an important load this time, I won’t bother with making sure to kill them.」

The moment my sword made contact with a horn of a bug that was coming from above I turned my wrist a bit to the side.

Then, forcing the bug in another direction I took a turn to the left.

「That’s where you go.」

「……!?」

Not impeding its momentum in the slightest I directed it towards the bug that was coming from the left.

Maybe it was surprised by the sudden change of course, but the beetle tried to stop, howeverー

「――！」

He collided with the one that was approaching from the left and both of them fell down.

……It worked nicely.

While thinking so I repeat the same movements.

Yes. They come from different sides, but all of them aim basically for the same spot, my back.

As long as I keep that in mind, reading their trajectory is simple.

As long as I apply the correct amount of strength during the parry there is no problem.

…This short sword is also sturdy enough.

And it also has enough sharpness to allow me to cut beetles, that at times come at the right angle, by merely putting up the blade.

It’s a good weapon.

Since I can’t afford to shake the luggage I have to fend them off by using only my arms, but with this sword it’s plenty.

……In other words, defense, offense, no matter what I do, it’s fine as long as I don’t give too much shock to my luggage.

As a test that I’ve done with half-ruined fruits showed, this much impact isn’t a problem. I just have to make sure not to go overboard.

「Now, let’s proceed just like this.」

Thus, lopping off beetles, I advance forward.

●

「And you call this…… A bit?」

Seeing what was happening behind…… For now, it would be more correct to say, right beside him. Sidonius first thought was that it’s absurd.

「……He kills impact with his wrists only……」

There was barely any sound of the sword clashing with something.

In other words, he reduced the impact to almost nothing.

On top of that, he doesn’t allow them even to graze the box.

Even though the footing was by no means good and his movements also weren’t that fast.

The movements are calm and fluid, not giving even a slight jolt to the box, but he strikes down incoming attackers while easily evading them.

It was like watching kata from martial arts, but his movements were even more pristine.

Without stopping.

「Even though they are coming from what should be dead angles, below and above. ……You can spot even something this small……?」

「More or less, they are moving after all. But not all of them.」

And it also seemed like he had enough composure to even hold a conversation, since he just replied normally.

「Since they are small, making visual confirmation for every single one of them is too much trouble. Basically, I just pay attention to the airflow around me, and when I sense movements I move my hand that way. Since the sword you gave me is quite durable this is surprisingly easy.」

「I se-see… This, is easy……? You say?」

What took place before my eyes right now, was clearly a transcendent battle technique And yet he is calling this easy.

He might’ve been a dragon knight previously, but now he is a carrier, and yet this is what he’s saying.

…Just what is this person……

And the moment Sidonius’ thoughts reached that point, a black silhouette came into his sight.

「Axel-dono! Front, they are coming bundled together…!」

Upon examination, that black silhouette turned out to be a group of penetration beetles rushing in one huge lump.

They probably realized that they are getting parried over and over.

Combining weight and volume they prepared to crash into the box at Axel’s back.

……You can’t block that with a short sword……!!!

With my own sword, it might be possible to guard against that, but the impact that will follow is another issue.

This is bad.

As Sidonius thought about the way out, a cold sweat covered him. Butー

「Ah, that isn’t a problem.」

Axel kept walking forward nonchalantly.

「Eh…What are you?!」

And while Sidonius stood dumbfounded, the mass of penetration beetles charged at Axel.

In response to that attackー

「If something that big comes at me in a straight line—」

Axel let go of the short sword and stuck one hand into the transportation bag on his waist.

ーWhoosh!

Stretching the bag he then swiped it in front of him in a smooth movement.

Thus, the charging beetles disappeared without a trace.

「Yup. Big haul, big haul.」

「Yo-you caught them into the transportation bag……?!」

To do that to those fast-moving beetles he would need to properly calculate the range and then move faster than them.

Axel nodded in response to my surprised question.

「Since they just clustered in one spot they made it easy for me to just catch them all. Those guys are troublesome only due to their speed and small size. If one of those characteristic goes away, then it gets very easy.」

He said as much, but then donned a wry smile.

「Though I will have to think about where to release them. I will need to squash each one of them later.」

With those words, Sidonius returned to his senses.

「E-ehm…… Right. You can leave that duty to us. If it’s a straightforward battle then our order can handle it.」

「Really? Then I will rely on you for extermination.」

Axel said nonchalantly.

How relaxed and open he is after making such a display.

Seeing that, Sidonius felt something akin to shivers coming from the very depths of his being.

「How can I put it, it seems that starting to incorporate your movements into the style of my school, Grand Arble, was the correct decision…」

「Eh? You were doing something like that?」

「During the war I saw you in action a number of times. ……Though I’m quite excited since I got to observe your movements so close.」

Yes. The air battles that I admired so much during the war. Observing all the actions that were taken there, I mimicked some of them as an efficient way of action and adopted them into the style of my school.

As a result, the style that was passed down for long generations became more practical, for which I even received approval from grandfather.

「So, it might be a bit late, but I’m very grateful to you for showing me something this incredible.」

To my words, Axel scratched his cheek and awkwardly laughed.

「Well, uh. I already said it a number of times, but I’m glad if I could help. ……So, well, for now, we arrived.」

「Ah, ……Really.」

It seems that during the conversation we returned to the plaza.

And then, after checking that the surroundings had no enemies, Axel opened the metal box and confirmed the contents.

Then, inside the box.

「Ooh, this is……!」

「Yes, it’s a success.」

A few completely undamaged fruits were inside of the box.

All of the harvested fruit were in perfect condition.

「Splendid…… Axel-dono!」

「Haha, well. Now we only have to deliver those to the people that need them.」

Thus, Sidonius, along with Axel, and the perfect fruit, which even he was unable to get, now made his way towards the magic science guild.