Do You Need Power?
Would I need power? I should have guided them only as far as the estate's entrance, then slipped away. If only I'd known I'd get tangled up in something like this.
"Brother? W-wait!!"
"W-wait.. Uncle, why are you—?"
Whiiiish—
The air tore apart with a savage sound. All from a single slash of the blade.
"..Ha. Even this doesn't reach you?"
"Brother, please just calm down for a—"
"No, I'm sorry, but that's impossible..!"
The man behind those slashes muttered under his breath, blade still gripped tight—and, notably, he hadn't forgotten to keep moving his feet.
Well, at first I'd naturally assumed he'd come to drag that girl Aria away. But watching him for a while now, that didn't seem to be the case. He hadn't spared a single glance in this direction for some time.
'..Honestly, I doubt he even has the luxury to spare.'
And for good reason—that man had been swinging his sword this whole time without so much as grazing the hem of Jenison's clothes.
"Ngh..!"
"Just breathe for a moment..!"
And yet he kept charging in. I hadn't crossed blades with the black-haired boy myself, but even I could see it plainly—the gap in skill between them was one that could never be closed. The proof was that the man was still standing at all.
Maybe it was because they had once been family. If he'd been a mere servant, he would have grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed long ago. Frankly, the fact that he'd lasted this long was almost something to be proud of. If the rumors held any truth, this Jenison fellow was a man who could swallow Knight Commanders whole—so for an anonymous knightling celebrated only among his own generation to endure this long? He had every right to hold his head high.
'..Though are those two actually family? No matter how I look at it, they seem like complete strangers..?'
"Um.. Lady Shino?"
I was still twisting my hair around my fingers, lost in thought, when I felt someone tugging at my arm. I turned—and there stood a woman in a white veil, peering up at me with something like unease in her posture. Like a stray cat. How adorable.
"L-Lady Shino?"
"Ah, yes. Saintess. What can I do for you?"
My family served the imperial throne alone, but that was no reason to speak casually to the Saintess herself as if she were some neighborhood friend. Best to be as polite as possible.
"It's just.. I thought that gentleman and that man were family.. but did I perhaps—"
"Ah, yes, the two of them are indeed family."
"Oh.. r-right, of course."
She was pleased her memory had been right—but only for a moment. Before long she was peering up at me again with a puzzled expression, tilting her head so far that the white veil slipped clear of her face entirely.
"But.. why on earth are they fighting?"
"...."
Well, your guess is as good as mine. However well-versed I might be in gossip, I had never once dug into a ducal house's affairs—not for fear of the backlash alone, but because prying in the first place was never easy. What chance would I have of knowing their family's private circumstances?
Well, there was one person who might know. Our princess over there, gazing at the pair from that far distance with those pitiful, mournful eyes.
Whuum—
With the sound of wind parting, a lock of my hair sheared away, thanks to that sword still showing no sign of stopping.
"..Won't you at least tell me *why* you're doing this..!"
"...."
He had been muttering to himself constantly until moments ago, but his mouth no longer opened. Perhaps it meant he was exhausted. Or perhaps even the strength to open his mouth was being poured into the sword. Personally, I suspected the latter.
"...."
After all, with those eyes still burning like that, there was no way he'd simply stop here.
"...."
"..I didn't want to hurt you."
That was the truth. Right now, I had no desire to attack him. Truly. I had once thought of him as family, after all—and besides, hadn't he hated me because he believed I was the family's disgrace? The very reason for his loathing had effectively vanished. So as things stood, I had no particular wish to treat him as an enemy.
"..I'm sorry, Brother."
But with no way of knowing when the Duke might return, things were different now. The Duke could receive word and return to this estate at any moment—under those circumstances, leisure was nothing short of a luxury.
"...!"
"I'm short on time."
I slipped aside to evade his horizontal slash from right to left with room to spare, then dove straight into his right flank.
"Hnngh..!"
"...."
Of course, he was no pushover like the servants. Whether he'd predicted I'd come from this side or not, a spell he had pre-cast was already erupting before me.
A basic spell, Mana Bullet—a projectile of compressed mana said to freeze even well-trained knights in their tracks in an instant. For something improvised on the spot, it was a fine idea, executed well. Unfortunately, my mana was too precious to waste being inconvenienced by something this trivial.
"...!"
"Kgh.."
The moment the dagger formed in my hand, I hurled it straight at the bullet, and the Mana Bullet—caught just before release—struck the dagger's tip and burst in a small explosion. An explosion just strong enough to knock a full knight off balance.
"Damn it..!"
"This will sting a little."
My mana-wreathed fist drove directly into his right ribs, and at the same moment, I felt it unmistakably—the sensation of human bone cracking apart.
"Gaaah..hk.."
"...."
He staggered back a step the instant my fist connected. For now he held on, sword planted in the ground—but that wouldn't last either. His ribs had shattered and his liver had taken the blow head-on. Unless you were someone like me, someone long inured to pain, it was simply impossible—
"Nnngghhh..!!"
"..Oh?"
It hurts. It's agonizing. I want to collapse right now.
And yet I did not. If anything, I gritted my focus down even tighter.
"Keh.. hahh.."
"...."
His black eyes were fixed on me. Looking down at me. At me, that boy was.
Under ordinary circumstances I'd have kicked off the ground and bolted on the spot—but the throbbing ache in my flank was pleading with me to stay put.
'Huu.. huu..'
"...."
'..Ha. Are you worried about me, is that it?'
Truthfully, that pitying look of his nearly made me snap—but I forced myself to endure, chewing over my thoughts again and again. I had never expected to walk away unscathed in the first place. The way he moved mere moments ago was never the level of an ordinary man. I had braced myself for wounds of some degree, and I had been the one to draw my sword first, so I had no excuse to make.
'..But still—no matter what, this is—!!'
Wasn't this gap far too great? Forget crossing blades with him—I couldn't even land a graze, and he had launched exactly one attack this entire time. Without drawing a single weapon.
What could be more disgraceful in a duel between knights than your opponent refusing to use a sword at all?
'..DAAAMN IIIIT!!!'
I moved my half-collapsing body through sheer clenched teeth. I tore my sword—used as a crutch mere moments ago—out of the ground, and ignored the broken rib that stabbed into my chest with every step of my right foot.
"Nnngghhh..!!"
"..Oh?"
I charged. Literally.
Whuum—
Once more, my sword cleaved the air. The weight of the blade felt startlingly different from before—vivid, tangible, real.
'I refuse to tuck my tail without giving it everything I have!!!'
"Hoh, now this is.. quite.."
"...!"
Every time I raised, swung, and thrust the sword, I felt the broken ribs interfering with my own arm—but I paid it no mind. The only thing that mattered here was putting that man down. Nothing else was needed—!!
"Kehhaahk..!"
"My apologies. You won't die."
My consciousness was fading. Why? How? What did I get hit by? Where did it hit? Magic? The sword? Or his fist again? I couldn't feel any of it. The only thing I knew for certain was that my body was falling backward.
'So I.. can never win?'
I clamped down hard on my lower lip—hard enough to taste the bitter tang of blood. A defeat unlike anything I had ever felt from anyone my age wrapped itself around my whole body. It was as if I had run into a wall that nothing could get me over. No matter how I hammered at it, no matter how desperately I tried to leap past it, a solid wall that seemed like it would never break.
I'd always thought I would never feel this in my entire life. And yet—
'Why.. why did it have to be *him*..?'
That boy I had always ignored, always sneered at, always met with indifference. Why, of all times, was he appearing before me now as this wall?
I squeezed my fist until my nails bit into my palm—but nothing changed. The fact that I had been defeated without so much as lifting a finger remained unchanged.
'..If only I were a little stronger.'
A single thought flashed through my mind. If only I were a little stronger. If only I'd been born with a little more talent. If only I hadn't slacked on my training. If some great power would only pour into me right now—
'I could crush him completely.'
'..Do I need power?'
Yes. I needed it. Overwhelming power. Enough to force that boy to his knees before me. Nothing had ever been more desperately wanted than it was at this moment.
'I understand now.. Heheh.'
In that instant, a demon's laughter curled around the rim of my ear.
And somehow—it didn't sound all that terrible.