The Back Alleys' People (1)

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“Both of you, get out.”

“Yeah. This is Kane.”

“You seem to have come to your senses now.”

Mor and Mote laughed and grinned while Kane, with a blank expression only lifting the corners of his mouth, took their hands and walked out into the hallway together.

“Trait Copy. Healing Water.”

Since full recovery hadn’t finished yet, he switched traits and took a deep breath.

Each inhale and exhale felt like drinking in cold water.

“It feels a bit damp.”

“Yeah. The sparkling water droplets are already flowing into Kane’s mouth.”

“Can’t see it.”

“Mor, can’t you see it?”

“Yeah. None at all.”

With enough mana it would appear like water vapor, but since he hadn’t breathed that deeply yet, Mor’s eyes couldn’t see it.

“It seems you can see it, Mote. It’s the spirit’s aura.”

“Ehehe, one point for me.”

“If they’re still immature or haven’t grown yet, they appear at the lowest tier.”

Both Mor and Mote hadn’t yet realized their abilities, so their skills and traits remained unopened.

“What about Edith’s stats…?”

Still holding the hands of the two girls, he walked to Edith’s room. Since the path from his room to the dining hall passed that way, he released their hands.

“You two should go eat now. Um… and if I don’t come back for an hour, can you bring some soup and bread here?”

“For free?”

“Eating without any compensation is wrong.”

With that said, the two of them looked at him simultaneously and asked.

“Um… next time I’ll buy a hair accessory at the market.”

Kane’s room seemed to have a little money in it… it should be fine to use.

“Two of them, different colors. I like black.”

“Mote wants white!”

It seemed they wanted to match their hair accessories with opposite colors.

“Understood. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yeah. Then I’ll be going.”

“Bye-bye.”

While watching the two of them head to the dining hall, Kane knocked on Edith’s door.

He confirmed there was no response, quietly opened the door, and peeked inside.

Edith was sleeping soundly on the small bed.

“Her health hasn’t fully recovered yet…”

He had blocked one attack with the shield, but since both had hit him directly, longer recovery time was only natural.

“Trait Copy. Shepherd’s Haven.”

A faint yet warm light bloomed from his fingertips and fell upon Edith’s head.

With the light of [Holy Kingdom of Caserta]’s healing arts touching her, Edith’s eyes slowly opened not long after.

***

It was a warm light.

Softer and gentler than the sunlight of spring.

A warmth that felt like gently stroking the hair.

Even though the memory was blurry, the blonde woman remained in his mind.

Reaching out to touch her face, she smiled and lifted him up.

“Edith.”

It was probably the mother.

With a smile mixed with sadness, she touched his face.

“ - - - - - - ...”

***

“Ah.”

Edith woke up with tears streaming down her face.

Seeing that his health was fully recovered, he had already switched traits, but he couldn’t avoid the awkward eye contact.

“Why are you in my room?”

“Ah, since nothing happened I was worried and came in. Can you still move?”

She wiped away the flowing tears and said with a somewhat sharp tone.

Probably embarrassment or a messy dream.

“…It doesn’t hurt much. Did you do some treatment?”

“What… just a simple first aid?”

“When did you learn that?”

There was a brief, tense silence.

Normally Edith would have asked various things, but something seemed to have dampened her mood.

“You… what do you think of today’s duel?”

“Robert was incredibly strong?”

“Not that. What about my actions. I thought I went too wild…”

“What… I don’t think it was bad.”

“Liar.”

He had been caught.

“Um… I thought it would be better if I had been a bit more cautious.”

“You fought better than I expected. You looked really sloppy, but it was unexpected.”

“Robert gave me leeway and everything I prepared worked out well. I guess I was just lucky.”

“I thought I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good at fighting, but the moment the attacks were easily blocked, my head froze up.”

That must have been the gloomy cause.

The post-failure depression often felt by prodigies after failing.

He was used to it since Robert was one of the superhuman knights, but Edith didn’t seem to be.

“How should I comfort her?”

Was there no other choice? Just grow stronger and win?

“Um… rather, I knew I was weak and gave my all, so I think that’s what I did.”

“What do you think you needed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do to win? Even if you didn’t win, there was still a chance.”

She started asking various things, as if interrogating him.

The gloom seemed to be fading and fighting spirit rising.

It was a positive change.

“At the very least, increase the number of our allies five or six times, or have other attack methods. Like poison or bombs.”

“That’s a bit cowardly, isn’t it?”

“The weak have to win without caring about methods. There probably aren’t many who can defeat Robert honorably…”

“That’s true.”

To defeat Robert in a straight fight, only those with national power or top-tier abilities like the Round Table or Paladins would stand a chance.

Unless they were top-tier like the Round Table or Paladins, victory seemed almost impossible.

“If not that…”

“Not that?”

“We pull it in our favor. Informationally or spatially.”

“I don’t quite understand…”

“For example, luring them into a narrow space where they can’t swing their weapons, or a space full of traps already set.”

“…Cutting the wall doesn’t seem very nice?”

Of course he thought the same.

If he infused mana, he could cut through the wall’s properties, but…

“Then you’d be using more mana or power. It’s like gradually drawing them into a war of attrition.”

“Um. Understood. You mean lowering them to a level where they can clash.”

“Right. Like the holes in the back alleys.”

“Exactly. Those places are narrow on both sides, so they can’t swing their weapons widely, and the force won’t be as strong. Of course they can still thrust or slash down…”

“But it can restrict their movements, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so it should be better to some extent.”

“Then how do we block or endure their attacks? We’d still have to take them head-on…”

“If we block with thick iron plates, under the assumption of wall properties, we can definitely block one or two. And since buildings in the alleys allow support and attacks from above, we can chip away at them.”

According to the grammar of [Crescent Moon Castle], placing [Guardian] agents to endure a few attacks in the narrow alleys and [Sniper] and [Support] agents on the buildings to slowly wear them down was a viable strategy.

“Um… you really are this smart.”

“I have a tactical brain.”

“I never thought you were like that before… surprising.”

“What did you think I was like?”

“Ugh, shut up. The weakling got cocky…”

Edith hit his arm in embarrassment.

The force was enough to stop his breath.

“Did I break your bone?”

“Anyway, if the next training is a duel, we should plan a strategy, right?”

“It might not be a duel, but we need to coordinate. Like signals or tactical numbers.”

“…When did you become this smart?”

“I must have messed up my head today. I’m hungry, so let’s do this while eating lunch.”

“Um… yeah. Good.”

With a shrug, an awkward gaze from Edith was shot at him, but this felt better than awkward.

“Why didn’t you come out of the room together…? You were pretending not to, but you two are going out now?”

When he opened the door and came out, a sharp-looking woman in the hallway shot him with a sharp voice.

Ah, she was from here too.

“No, why are you starting a fight, Flowerbud?”

“You! Don’t call me Flowerbud! It’s Marigold!”

She was the basic [Sniper] agent given at the start of the game, [3★ Hood - Marigold].