Volume 4, Chapter 30 – Mitsurugi Kan’ei

“Saitou, you are still trying to protect that wretched woman from the Mieshiro family, I see. Truly, how foolish.”

“What did you say!”

“Kukuku. I wondered what would happen when the Kirinagi was stolen, but it turns out she was nothing more than a foolish woman of the Mieshiro line after all. By now, she’s likely perished miserably, offered up to the Eight-Headed Dragon God. Fuhahahaha!”

“You bastard!”

“Souji-san, please calm down. He’s just provoking you.”

Souji-san attempted to lash out in a rage, but I stepped in to restrain him. While those cruel words made my blood boil, falling for such a cheap provocation would be playing right into the enemy’s hands.

“A-Ah, my apologies, Fiene-chan. It’s alright. I will protect you, Fiene-chan, without fail.”

“Yes.”

“Kuku. Do you truly believe you can defeat me, I, who have had my legs healed by Suikyou-sama?”

As he spoke, Kan’ei drew his blade and lunged forward with terrifying speed.

“Gah!”

Souji-san reacted instinctively, but he couldn’t dodge completely, and the blade caught him on the right shoulder.

“Kukuku. No matter the Shin’ei Style, none are my match save for that old geezer Tessai and that wretched woman.”

Kan’ei spoke in a condescending tone. I quietly approached Souji-san and treated the wound with Healing Magic.

“Why on earth would you do something so foolish?”

While healing Souji-san, I shifted the conversation to buy us time.

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Normally, this question might seem vague or even nonsensical, but I had a specific intention.

I suspected this old man, Kan’ei, had some kind of complex; I figured if I poked at it just right, he might start talking on his own.

I was hoping he’d simply misunderstand it as me mocking him, but it seems I succeeded in hitting his anger switch with pinpoint accuracy.

Upon hearing my question, Kan’ei’s face turned beet red in an instant, and he began screaming at me.

“Why, you ask?! Foolish?! You’re nothing but a branch family! A branch family should be content to serve as sustenance for the main house! And yet, despite Suikyou-sama granting the Mitsurugi name and recognizing them as the Sword, and promising that only the branch families would be required as sacrifices!”

However, perhaps because he was so enraged, his words were a chaotic mess, and I couldn’t quite follow what he was saying.

“And then what?! Dying without leaving a single child! They should have just snatched up some women and forced them to conceive! Failing their responsibility! All because the branch family was foolish! And then they even stole the Kirinagi!”

Uh, so, if I’ve got this right… the main house of the Mieshiro line pushed the duty of being sacrifices onto the branch families to secure the status of the National Sword, but because the head of the branch family died without children, the family line is about to die out, and that’s why he’s angry?

Wait. Does that mean he’s angry because the burden is eventually going to fall back on them?

And he thinks it’s a problem that they didn’t kidnap women and force them to have children?

Ah, I’m starting to get really angry.

What does this guy think women—no, what does he think people are!

“Lu-chan, Souji-san, I cannot forgive this man.”

“I feel the same! Let’s get him!”

“B-But with my skills, against him…”

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Lu-chan was full of motivation, but Souji-san seemed hesitant, likely due to being wounded earlier.

“It’s okay. Souji-san, I will stop his movements. Please attack when I give the signal.”

Having finished the treatment, I declared this while looking Souji-san in the eye.

“Kukuku, what could a little girl like you possibly do! I’ll carve you into pieces!”

Clearly underestimating us, Kan’ei closed the distance in a flash and brought his sword down in an overhead strike.

“Defense Wall.”

I manifested a Defense Wall in front of me, stopping Kan’ei’s blow.

Compared to a strike from the Dark Dragon King, this was a light attack that felt like nothing.

“What?! Using such suspicious techniques is cowardly!”

“Huh?”

You’re the one saying that? You’ve got someone over there who’s literally turned into a demon!

“You terrorist!”

“Lu-chan!”

“Yes!”

Lu-chan fired an arrow; Kan’ei retreated, deflecting it with his sword.

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“Mashiro-chan, too!”

“Yes! Mashiro! It’s your turn!”

Lu-chan summoned Mashiro-chan, and Mashiro-chan began firing blades of wind.

“Guoooooh!”

Kan’ei tried desperately to dodge, but I wouldn’t allow it.

“Right here, Defense Wall.”

I placed a Defense Wall exactly where Kan’ei was moving to obstruct his footwork.

When Kan’ei slammed into the wall, he lost his balance, and Mashiro-chan’s wind blades struck.

“Gah!”

A wind blade hit Kan’ei’s left leg, slicing his calf wide open and spraying fresh blood.

“Souji-san!”

“Y-Yes! Leave it to me!”

Souji-san charged forward to deliver the finishing blow.

“Lu-chan, cover him!”

“On it!”

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Lu-chan provided covering fire with her arrows. Of course, I didn’t forget to cast a Barrier to prevent Friendly Fire.

Incidentally, Lu-chan had been attending a local archery dojo through Tessai-san’s introduction, but I heard that Lu-chan’s Friendly Fire habit never did improve.

Therefore, this Barrier was indispensable—not just for me, but for Souji-san’s safety as well.

Fortunately, Lu-chan’s Friendly Fire didn’t trigger this time, and her precisely aimed arrows slammed into Kan’ei’s forehead and left chest.

In the moment Kan’ei, wounded in the left leg, deflected the arrows, Souji-san closed the gap and landed a strike on his wide-open torso.

“Ga… ha…”

Taking the full force of Souji-san’s torso slash, Kan’ei coughed up blood and collapsed.

“Faaaather!!!”

Whether he had seen the scene from the corner of his eye or not, Yoshiteru, who had been locked in a clash of blades with Chris-san, let out a grief-stricken scream.

Chris-san did not miss that opening. She knocked Yoshiteru’s sword upward and calmly delivered a strike to his torso.

Author Note

For the record, Kan’ei-san isn’t weak.

Despite the gap in his training, he’s the type of person who falls into the category of considerably strong.

However, being outnumbered three-to-one, combined with the protection of the Defense Wall and Barrier, was simply a terrible matchup for him.

Fiene-chan is steadily growing as a commander.