Conflict for the Personal Guard

Climbing the stairs onto the deck, I felt the cool sensation of the night air against my skin. I cast my eyes around my surroundings, but a white haze obscured everything from my view. It was foggy. What could be worse? This archipelago already offered undesirables plenty of places to lurk unseen, and night had already fallen. The arrival of sea fog on top of those conditions made me think that this ship had completely run out of luck.

I, Klaus von Behlmer, checked the area while resisting the urge to tut. Suddenly, I spotted a figure in the crow’s nest, collapsed, body propped up by the railings. I was too far away to see whether he was dead or just unconscious.

I approached him, crouching in case arrows came flying. The collapsed figure stirred slightly. He must’ve still been alive. I breathed a sigh of relief and rested my hand against the mast, but then I heard a loud crash and the ship shook violently. Instinctively, I clung to the mast and waited for the shuddering to pass.

There was another jolt. A sturdy plank landed on the deck, forming a bridge from our ship to another one that had sidled up next to us.

“We’re under attack!!!” I shouted, again and again, while clanging the pot that I’d borrowed from the kitchen on my way to the deck. I waited until I could hear sounds of activity below deck, and then chucked the pot away.

I drew a deep breath. Cold air filled my lungs. All of my senses were in a heightened state, and I felt terrifically alert. I glared into the fog in front of me while listening to the powerful beating of my heart. Beyond the plank bridge, I could see the blurry outlines of another ship and several figures. I heard the thud of footsteps, which lacked any and all decorum.

Here come uninvited guests, I thought. Scoundrels here to disrupt the journey of the one and only person I serve. The thought caused me to grip my sword’s handle even tighter. I ground my teeth together, producing an unpleasant sound.

Taking hold of the sheath of my sword, I drew my blade in one movement. I took one step forward, then another, and another, and then I began to charge.

“Hey! Bring the ship closer!” one man shouted.

“Our first prey for ages. Don’t let none of ’em get away!!!” yelled another.

As I closed in on them, I began to make out faces. The men I saw were just as vulgar as the way they spoke.

“Outta my way! I’m gonna be the first one over!!!” one of them barked with delight as he pushed past the men in front of him and alighted onto the deck. The man blinked when he caught sight of me bounding toward him, and the instant before terror could paint over his vulgar smile, my sword slashed his windpipe.

A spurting fountain of blood dyed the deck red. The man stumbled forward, seeming not to comprehend what had just happened. He clutched at his neck and staggered a few steps backward until his back collided with the ship’s railings. His body then toppled and disappeared over the edge of the ship. A tremendous splash of seawater rose up.

“Wha... Whoa!!!” One of the others stood frozen and stupefied on the plank bridge as he watched his comrade plummet. I kicked him into the sea as well.

The next man drew his sword and put up a fight, but while he was distracted by our clashing blades, I kicked his feet out from under him. After he’d fallen flat on his face, I pinned him, pressing my foot onto his back, and pierced his heart from above. He let out a scream.

My surprise attack appeared to have confused the pirates. The man’s body was still twitching, so I kicked it into the sea. Another pirate charged toward me, roaring a battle cry as he lifted his blade into the air. The shrill sound of clashing swords followed.

“What are you playin’ at?!” the pirate screamed. “You’re gonna die!!!”

“You first,” I replied calmly.

He swung his sword down with all his might over and over, but I met each blow and deflected with my own. With a swipe of my blade, I parried his sword, which disrupted the man’s stance somewhat. I immediately closed in on him, drew the shortsword affixed to my waist, and plunged it into his right eye.

The man released a wretched scream and retreated, moving away from me. I took a step forward, planning to finish him off, but at the same time, a hand grabbed my collar.

My stance broke and my body arched backward. At that exact moment, an arrow whizzed through the air a hair’s breadth above my head. The hand that’d grabbed me dragged me back onto the ship.

I looked around and saw a cloaked man standing behind me. He wore his hood low, so I couldn’t see his face. However, I recognized him by the way that he stood, his stature, and that cloak—he was the one that’d vacated his room for the maid after she’d collapsed.

He released his grip on my collar and pulled his hand away. “You’re charging in too far,” he muttered disdainfully. The voice was male.

“Sorry...and thank you.”

I expressed my honest gratitude, but he replied with an exasperated sigh.

“You’re not suited to being a guard.”

“What?” My head flung up. His comment was inexcusable.

But the very next moment, I felt his hand on the back of my head. “Down,” he ordered curtly.

“What are you trying to say?” I asked.

“What it sounds like. You’re no good at fighting foes and protecting people at the same time.”

“I’m—” I started to bite back, but then the man glanced toward me. His face was hidden from sight beneath his hood, but even so, I felt like his gaze had pierced me.

“Your combat style’s sole purpose is killing, not protecting. A beast that can do nothing but charge in blindly is utterly incapable of protecting anything.”

I lost my tongue.

The man turned his eyes away from me, apparently having said all that he’d wanted to. Still crouching, he thrust his hand into his breast pocket. His hand emerged with three thin knives—not normal knives, but throwing knives—each one held between two fingers.

Using his foot, the man hooked a bucket that was rolling nearby, pulled it toward himself, and then kicked it up. The bucket jumped high into the air, and two sharp arrows came flying toward it. One struck the bucket, and the force sent it rolling away into the distance.

The cloaked man rose, aiming to utilize the few seconds that it would take the pirates to notch more arrows. His hand scythed through the air and threw the thin knives. Two hit an archer, once in his upper arm and once in his throat, and the third buried itself to the handle between the eyes of another pirate.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I stood up, following his command, but my mind was a mess. I’m not suited for fighting to protect people? Even though it’s my wish to be her shield, her sword?

During battle, the slightest distraction could be fatal. I knew that, but I couldn’t drive the thought from my head. Even as I cut down enemies on all sides, my heart was heavy with gloom. I want to protect Lady Rosemary. I want to protect her wishes and what she holds dear. But I don’t know how to. All I can do is slay every enemy around me.

Amid the ruckus, a pained, muffled voice reached my ears. “Oomph.”

I whipped around to see a sailor losing ground against a pirate. At once, I shoved the pirate that I was crossing swords with and cut him open from shoulder to stomach with a diagonal slash. Then, I ran over to the sailor and severed the head of the pirate that had been just about to deal a killing blow.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Y-Yeah,” the sailor replied. He was sitting on the floor, stunned. “Thanks.”

I lent him my hand and pulled him to his feet before clapping him firmly on the shoulder, encouraging him to pull himself together. Immediately, I charged toward my next foe.

I’ll be damned if I let a single person die, I swore to myself as I scanned the mayhem on the deck.

None of you will die.

I won’t let any of you become a scar on my master’s heart!

As for myself, I couldn’t care less about the deaths of total strangers who meant nothing to me. But she—Lady Rosemary—would be upset. She’d blame herself and curse her own powerlessness for failing to save them. That wasn’t a scenario I had to imagine; it was a fact that I’d learned after reflecting on past events. During the sorcerer abduction plot, she’d desperately tried to save the life of one of the perpetrator’s pawns, a maid.

However, back then, I’d ignored Lady Rosemary’s wish, choosing to protect her above all else. And it had been a choice. I could’ve saved the maid if I’d wanted to. But I’d worried that something unpredictable might happen, and I’d vowed to keep Lady Rosemary safe from all dangers, no matter how unlikely. To that end, letting a maid or two die hadn’t mattered to me.

As a result, I’d ended up leaving a grievous scar on Lady Rosemary’s heart, despite knowing how kind she was, and despite that kindness being the reason why I’d wanted to protect her in the first place.

I’m really not suited to being a guard, am I...? I thought.

“Hey!!!”

Something collided with me from the side. Once I understood that I’d been shoved out of the way, I peered in that direction. A man was currently blocking a pirate’s sword with two large knives that he’d crossed over each other. He repelled the incoming blade and then pierced the pirate’s heart in one motion.

With his foe incapacitated, the man turned around, then used the back of his hand to crudely wipe away the blood that had spattered onto his cheek. He shot me a sullen glare.

“Concentrate on what you’re doing,” he roared. “You want your sister to laugh at you?”

I gasped. He was the passenger that’d become friends with Lady Rosemary recently. I think his name was Wolf. “How is my sister?”

“She’s doing a fabulous job below deck,” he answered. “I didn’t know she had it in her.” Wolf and I stood back-to-back and continued our conversation while fending off the pirates around us. “She’s fighting, just like you. You don’t want her to see her big brother slipping up, do you?”

His goading didn’t provoke any feelings of anger or annoyance in me. The only change was that my gaze was drawn toward the stairs leading below deck.

In truth, I hadn’t wanted to let her out of my sight for even a second. But at the same time, I knew that if I didn’t change that part of myself, I’d have no right to stand by her side.