CH 150

“Si-Sir Henblitz?” I asked.

“Yes,” Henblitz said. “… Do you think I went a little too clumsily?”

I could see the expression on his face that he had done a little too much. He may have thought he was too provocative.

But that was by no means the face of someone who thought a 2v1 would be tough. In other words, he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with dealing with Adel and Edel.

“Yeah, hmmm… I wonder…” I muttered.

If I look at it from one perspective, it looks like Sir Henblitz fueled it, but in a sense, it was my remark that created the sparks for this conflict, so it’s difficult to judge. If you look at the origin more, it was Adel who first blew things up.

That said, it is rather correct in terms of ability.

Even if Adel and Edel challenged Henblitz together, Henblitz would win unless an extreme surprise attack was successful. There is a big difference in ability between them.

Well, that’s just what I know because I know to some extent the strengths of Adel, Edel, and Henblitz. Is it a little difficult to guess that without even fighting?

“Master! Master Beryl, do you think he’s stronger than the two of us!?” Adel asked.

“I don’t think it’s me you should be asking, it’s Henblitz,” I said. “Well… I think Henblitz is stronger than both of you.”

“~~~~!”

We’ve had this exchange before. I feel like I was asked the same question and given the same answer.

But my answer remains the same. No matter how good they are, if you judge them harshly, they are just two swordsman apprentices with little actual combat experience. If there were 20 of them, the story might change, but the Vice-Captain of the Rebelio Knight Order is not that light of an opponent.

When I first dueled with Henblitz, I certainly won. Ultimately, I didn’t get hit, so I guess you could call it a complete victory.

But even so, I never doubted Henblitz’s ability or looked down on him. This isn’t about considering the opponent’s position or anything like that, he’s purely strong in the first place.

Power and speed are delivered from a strong body. He has the toughness, stamina, technique, and instinct to win.

I was able to win only because I had accumulated a little more experience than he had, living up until now, and if I had fought when I was the same age as Sir Henblitz, I would have lost. Even with these good eyes, I doubt if the Past Me could beat him.

By the way, I’ve never seen Sir Henblitz lose to a knight other than Alexia. Even though he shows up at the training grounds almost every day and matches with quite a few people.

Besides, he was not defeated by the assassins when he fought alongside Gatoga and Rose as a royal escort. It’s just that the standard is strange because the person who is right next to him is a special-class masterpiece called Alexia, and he is normal if ridiculously strong.

“If you’re going that far, let’s show you! Edel, let’s do it!” Adel said.

“Su-Sure…” Edel said.

“Don’t mumble like that!” Adel yelled.

“Un-Understood…” Edel said.

Having finally run out of patience, Adel seemed fully fired up to challenge Henblitz together with Edel.

Normally, it would be possible to challenge 1-on-1 without Edel’s help, but that’s why I praised Adel as a smart one.

As a person, she probably has a strong feeling that she can’t stand to lose. However, by getting some information about Henblitz from me, she revised the assessment considerably upwards to her favor.

Being able to obediently incorporate this kind of information into herself is also a splendid strength of hers. As a swordsman, how accurately you can calculate your enemy’s strength is directly linked to life and death.

Well, even that is just her guess. If you can make a truly accurate judgment, you have to take the option of picking a fight with the Vice-Captain of the Rebelio Knights here.

Since Sir Henblitz is also enthusiastic here, let’s have Adel learn about the size of the world as a tuition fee.

“Um, Master. Are you okay with this…?” Kuruni asked.

“I think it’s okay if even Sir Henblitz doesn’t have any problems,” I said.

I can’t quite read which one Kuruni is worried about, but it’s okay. Even he shouldn’t hit them with all his might. He won’t, right? In my case, he was obviously going full force.

“On the other hand, do you think you can win against Sir Henblitz by the 2nd or 3rd year since you started learning the sword? You can assume that there are two of you on the same side,” I said.

“Impossible. It’s probably impossible even if there are five of us,” Kuruni said.

“That’s what I meant,” I said.

Kuruni instantly got it. That’s right. Even when I started learning the sword and was getting used to it, even if I was asked to fight Henblitz then, I don’t feel like I could win.

“Is that okay with you, Landrid?” I asked him.

“If it’s also okay with you, Master,” Landrid said.

“Then there’s no problem,” I said.

With permission from the current Assistant Instructor, there are no issues.

To be honest, I don’t think Adel and Edel can beat Sir Henblitz, but I’m a little interested in how they’ll fight, and how Henblitz will deal with their attacks.

“You can fight after you are satisfied with each other,” I said. “Or if I or Landrid decide it’s too dangerous, we’ll step in and stop. Is that fine by you?”

“No problem,” Henblitz said.

“No problem!” Adel said.

“Uu… understood…” Edel mumbled.

Unlike Adel, Edel was dragged into this against his will, but even so, he’s not a kid who cuts corners or slacks off in sword fights, so it should be fine if it’s this level.

First, if he really didn’t like it, he should definitely not participate in this mock battle due to his personal feelings. In other words, even without saying that they can win, it’s proof that he thinks that together, they stand a decent chance.

Edel cannot be said to have a sunny personality, but that does not mean that he lacks self-confidence. He has his own sense of pride in his swordsmanship. In this case, in the end, that is probably the result of becoming swept up in the tension.

“Okay, let’s set you three up,” I said. “Make sure the other kids stay behind.”

The three of them keep their distance and prepare their wooden swords. The dojo suddenly becomes silent. I don’t like this atmosphere.

We keep the other disciples close to the wall so they don’t get caught. I wouldn’t say it’s as free to move as the knights’ training ground, but it’s not so narrow that you can’t have a 1-on-1 mock battle. Let’s take a close look at how this plays out.

“Well then… let’s begin!”

“Dorieeeeei!!”

As soon as I gave the signal to start, Adel roared with tremendous spirit. Yeah, yeah, it’s a pleasant explosion from inside. This is what it feels like to be an offensive swordsman.

Her action was correct as the first move in the duel. It’s quite effective to freak out your opponent with your fighting spirit. It’s all the more so if it’s a first-time opponent. Even if it’s just for a moment, if the other person flinched or stiffened, it would be worth it. This is the only way to get an advantage on her part.

Well, it’s only limited to opponents who are average-level or opponents who are close to or lower than you in ability.

“ShieaaAHH…!”

Hemblitz roars as loudly to match Adel’s spirit.

As a method of countering, this is also correct. If the opponent is gaining momentum, then you can counterattack with even more momentum. It’s a very simple reasoning, but a swordsman’s fate can be determined by such things, so I can’t make fun of it.

And if the power of spirit is the same, the rest is decided elsewhere. In other words, it is the pure skill of the persons themselves.

“Uu… guuh!” Adel grunted.

Henblitz dared to block Adel’s upper slash from the front without dodging or changing his stance. He’s on a four-way collision course from both sides, but her balance collapses in an instant. This is because Henblitz’s power greatly exceeds that of Adel.

“Nuhn!”

When Henblitz added more force to his arms, Adel fell to her knees as if she could not push back against that strength.

That was just an act to make them understand the difference in strength. Henblitz also has a rather mischievous side… I don’t deny the tactic per se, but he’s doing some pretty nasty stuff.

“… Fuh!”

“Shyah!”

Seeing Adel’s situation and judging that this is going poorly for them, Edel attacks with a sharp thrust. However, Henblitz quickly sensed his presence, knocked away Adel’s sword as she was pinned, and repelled Edel’s thrust.

“Uu… wah?!”

GAN! Then resounded a sound so strong it was hard to believe it was from wooden swords impacting, the force of it made Edel’s arms wobble.

Woah, he hit Edel’s sword’s center-of-balance full-force. Rather, should I praise Edel for not letting go of his wooden sword? If something like that goes straight to you, you’ll definitely be incapacitated in one hit. He’s fine, but I’m a little worried.

“… Edel! Let’s go at the same time!”

“Ye-Yeah……!”

In the meantime, Adel composed herself and gives out commands.

Well, if the two of them headed in one by one, they would just be defeated one by one and repeat till it ends.

If they’re just facing them one by one, they should just hurry up and surrender, and the thought process to go in simultaneously or in wave tactics went by quite fast. You could say they have great eyes for strategy.

“Cheryaaaaaaa!!”

“Hah!”

Adel roared again. What was different from before was that Edel was also advancing at the same time from a slightly different angle.

“ZeaAAH!”

“…!?”

Just like before, Henblitz attacks with a strong battle cry.

He went to close the distance from himself against Adel as she shouted and charged, she was struck as soon as she came into the danger zone, could not deflect Henblitz’s sword with her remaining strength, and blew away from the force of the strike. At the same time, by moving first, Henblitz succeeded in escaping from the attack range of Edel’s first attack.

Then, in the instant that Adel is knocked back and stumbling, Henblitz quickly slashes behind him and intercepts Edel’s sword.

In terms of pure physical strength, Edel is weaker than Adel. There’s no way he can stand against Sir Henblitz’s power. As a result, the two were easily knocked back twice.

“Hmm…”

…… After all, Henblitz is strong.

Of course, he has the fighting ability of a knight, but he also knows the basics of multi-opponent battles. As long as he is the vice-captain, he is in a position to command the knights, and it is natural that he will not be able to command them if he is not familiar with many fighting methods, but he is strong nonetheless.

“Tch! Not yet!” Adel cried.

“That’s the spirit!” Henblitz said. “Come at me!”

Despite being blown away so flashily, Adel attacks again without letting her fighting spirit wither away.

This time, I thought that Adel was going to charge in, and then she moved in till just outside the range of Henblitz’s sword. She must be thinking about various strategies in her own way. It’s important not to stop her decision-making during battle.

And during that time, Edel circled behind and slashed at Henblitz.

Ah, Henblitz blew Edel away with a back kick. I wonder if he has eyes behind his head.

Until Edel returns to the fray, Adel stops swinging wildly and carves out fine sword blows, but all of them are knocked down or dodged. And when the offense and defense switch and Adel and Edel go on the back foot, it’s no good. Right now, they don’t have the skill to control Sir Henblitz’s power.

“… Amazing”

Surprisingly, Henblitz has a lot of strength in swinging the wooden sword, but he didn’t hit their bodies even once. They are all using wooden swords to clash with each other. The only direct hit was the back kick just now.

This was probably due to the consideration of not causing unnecessary injuries. Adel and Edel tried relentlessly to strike and never got in a hit. There was such a difference in skill and experience between them that it would be embarrassing to compare them at this time.

“Aaaah!”

“…!”

It shouldn’t have been that long since it started, but Adel and Edel’s clothes were already dirty and tattered. This is because Henblitz had rolled them over several times in that brief period. Even so, it is a mental strength that should be praised for charging in without giving up, but that will not last long.

Your mental state is really important for human beings, and it’s interesting and scary at the same time that if there is a slight difference in ability, you can bounce back with your will.

At first, Adel must have had the feeling that they would definitely win. However, from there, she switched to wanting to win at all costs, and soon after, she changed to wanting to at least hit back, and finally fell to the point where she could not win.

It’s no good if your feelings progress to the point where you can’t win. Even though there is already a difference in strength and technique, there is no reason to win if you lose the will to fight.

“… That’s enough!” I said.

“…!?”

I watched the progress for a while but decided to suspend it, thinking that this would be the limit.

At my words, Sir Henblitz was solemn, while Edel was dejected. Both of them lowered their swords while Adel kept hers raised and looked resentful.

“Why for?!” I asked. “I can still fight!”

“It’s no good, your concentration is clearly failing. Any more than this could lead to injury,” I said.

“…!”

She can still do it physically. My disciples run to build stamina, so they are not exhausted. However, there is certainly fatigue, and above all, mental exhaustion seemed to be too large. As I said, one mistake in a situation like this could lead to serious injury.

And Adel herself cannot be unaware of this. In fact, she bowed her head without replying to what I was saying.

“Thank you for your hard work, Sir Henblitz,” I said.

“Thank you very much,” Henblitz said. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they were certainly more than I thought. Little wonder they’re your students.”

Not showing any signs of fatigue, he took a deep breath before answering.

Even though he was taking a rather aggressive attitude, he is a man who can do it without forgetting to be considerate even here.

“…… I’m sorry!!”

“Owah.”

Somehow, I wasn’t even thinking about resuming practice, and when I was thinking about what to do, Adel suddenly shouted an apology. But she doesn’t lower her head and bows her waist. What kind of apology does she have?

“You were certainly strong!! I apologize for being rude!! But I will definitely catch up with you and overtake you!!”

“… That’s the spirit. I’m always waiting for a challenge,” Henblitz said.

A stately, rather refreshing declaration. Henblitz responded with a fresh smile as if he understood that feeling.

Is it okay if this case is closed? Well, if the people themselves are convinced, is that okay?

It is still unknown what kind of swordsmanship she will learn from now on and what kind of future she will walk. She might stray from the path of the sword halfway through, and as I said, she might become an adventurer, or maybe even become a knight.

Whatever path they take, I just hope they have a bright future. We, adults, can pave the road for the children to walk on to some extent, but in the end, it’s up to the individual to decide which path they will take from there.

“Landrid, I’m sorry for taking up your time,” I said. “You can proceed as usual.”

“Ah, yes. Understood,” Landrid said.

And the purpose of looking into the dojo today wasn’t to make Adel and Edel fight against Henblitz. This is an accidental battle encounter because of a series of events I don’t understand anymore.

I’ll select the disciples I can take with me to the live saber boa subjugation. Let’s go do what we came here for.