White Night
I was awake, but I still leaned against Daeun and checked how I was feeling.
The condition was... yeah, not bad.
Maybe the short nap had actually done something, because my mood had settled back into its usual state.
“....”
Confirming that nothing was wrong, I looked ahead.
A one-armed swordsman stood in our path.
I had already noticed someone was there.
That was why I’d woken up in the first place.
Hmm.
The face wasn’t one I remembered.
Still, judging by the fact that he was practically radiating killing intent as if he wanted to fight me, he seemed to know who I was.
Maybe we’d met on a battlefield.
Maybe he’d lost that empty left arm back then, too.
A one-armed swordsman, huh.
In this world, it wasn’t hard to find people with some part of their body missing or impaired—an arm, a leg, whatever.
That was because Silia was a world very far removed from peace, with wars against neighboring nations, fierce battles against demons and monsters, and the invasions of Dimensional Beasts.
People had to pick up weapons and fight just to survive, and to protect themselves.
The scars on their bodies were proof of the brutal struggles they had overcome.
So I didn’t really care that the man blocking our way had only one arm.
What surprised me was that, even after losing an arm, he’d still stood up with a sword in his hand.
Ordinary people might keep fighting through a minor injury, but if they lost a limb, most of them would never even think of picking up a weapon again.
An arm was important enough for everyday life; in a battle where your life was on the line, it was even more so.
With only one arm, you couldn’t grip a sword with both hands.
Even if you used a one-handed sword, you’d still be missing the other arm that helped keep your balance while you swung, so instability was inevitable.
For that reason, swordsmen who returned to the battlefield after losing an arm were extremely rare, but...
“That’s impressive.”
He was standing before me now.
After losing one arm, he must have bled and sweated his way back to this place in front of me.
The scars covering his body told the story of the hardship he had endured until now.
“Y-you’re awake?”
“I’ve been awake for a while.”
“Sorry. We were too loud, weren’t we?”
“Mm...”
I shook my head.
“I was awake before that.”
“I-is that so... Wait. Then why were you pretending to sleep the whole time?”
“I wasn’t pretending to sleep.”
I’d just had my eyes closed. I wasn’t trying to trick anyone.
Daeun let out a soft, airy laugh and stroked my head.
“If you’re sleepy, you can sleep more.”
“No.”
That was enough sleep for me.
“If we have a guest, we should welcome him.”
That was what a homeowner ought to do, right?
Of course, if we were being picky, this wasn’t a house and that man wasn’t really a guest, but he had still come looking for me.
Just as I was gathering my legs neatly beneath me and about to hop down from the horse, a slender yet healthy-looking arm gently wrapped around my waist.
“Kana. Would you leave this one to me?”
“...Huh?”
“I’ve started wanting to prove something, too.”
“Prove something?”
I had no idea what she was talking about, but she had spoken to the man, so she must at least know he hadn’t come here with good intentions. And yet she was saying something like that?
I blinked at her nonsense, and Daeun jumped down from the horse.
“Oof.”
She seemed to have gotten pretty used to dismounting by now.
Landing neatly on the ground, she drew her sword.
“That man said he wanted to prove how strong he was. And I’ve been wondering how much stronger I’ve gotten since Kana taught me swordsmanship, so isn’t this the perfect chance?”
“...Who are you?”
“Huh?!”
Daeun was Daeun, not Spear-Tot.
In other words, there was no way she’d make such a bloodthirsty declaration.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, and Daeun made a point of looking wounded.
“Th-that’s mean...”
“That’s not mean at all.”
I obviously didn’t believe her.
The girl who had been trembling at the idea of fighting mercenaries just a few days ago wasn’t about to change overnight.
If human nature could change that easily, then the nobles I’d beaten up wouldn’t still be strolling around with their chins stuck in the air.
So whatever Daeun was thinking, it definitely wasn’t that.
Knowing that, I tried to read her heart.
“...Tsk.”
“...??”
To put it simply, I had no clue.
I could tell roughly what kind of life someone had lived by watching how they swung a sword, but I didn’t have the knack for reading minds in situations like this.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course! I’ll take this chance to prove to Kana how strong I’ve become! So you don’t need to say we should extend practice time!”
“....”
I didn’t care about the first half, but the second half sounded deeply sincere.
I stared at her, utterly speechless, until her confident expression wavered and she quietly looked away.
“...You’re the bad one for making me train like that every day.”
She could look away, but apparently she couldn’t back down.
Glancing at me in secret, she started lecturing me in that oddly reproachful tone of hers, then jerked her head aside again when our eyes met.
I had plenty I wanted to say, but...
“No chance.”
Just from the way she held her sword, I could tell she wasn’t at the level needed to face that man.
Even taking into account that he was missing an arm, he was still stronger than Daeun.
Training against a strong opponent helped, sure, but...
I seriously doubted he would go easy on her. Just how much benefit would she really get out of this?
“Why?! You told me to fight those mercenaries before!”
“They were nobodies. And I told you to pick them yourself, too.”
Those idiots had been all bark and no bite, the kind of trash who ran around doing embarrassing nonsense.
That was why I’d told Daeun to fight them.
“...Were they that strong?”
“Yeah. That strong. Spear-Tot would’ve lost too.”
After I explained it in a way that was easy to understand, Daeun’s mouth closed.
Apparently, the measure of strength she used in her head was me and Spear-Tot.
“Still, if you really want to fight, then pass this along to him.”
“...I’m kind of getting the feeling I don’t need to fight all of a sudden...”
“You said you wanted to prove something. Tell him, ‘I’ll spare your life when I fight you, so don’t kill me either.’”
“Can’t I not say that?”
“Hurry up.”
“Eeeh...”
Who would’ve thought there’d come a day when I, of all people, would say something like this after spending my life in kill-or-be-killed fights?
The feeling was strange, and I fell silent for a moment. In that brief pause, Daeun, wearing the face of a wronged child, spoke to the man.
At first he listened with a puzzled expression, but then he nodded readily.
“He accepted?”
“Yep. But he said he doesn’t need to go easy on him. He said it’s what he owes for being spared back then, or something like that.”
“Hmm.”
That was a very confident thing to say.
From the start, the man had carried himself with a detached calm, as if he had come prepared to die.
“Celine.”
“Yes?”
“Over here.”
“Yes?”
“...Come here.”
“Ah, you would like me to come here?”
“Yes.”
I pulled Celine, who still hadn’t quite grasped the situation, back a step from the battlefield.
It probably wouldn’t happen, but just in case he broke his promise, I got myself ready to spring out at any moment and then beckoned to Daeun.
“Go get ’im...”
“If you’re going to cheer me on, can’t you at least make it a little more enthusiastic? Like a kiss on the cheek...”
“I can make him more motivated, even if I’m not sure about yours.”
“I’ll definitely come back victorious!”
Daeun scampered off and took her place in front of the man.
Well. At least she’d gotten properly motivated.
* * *
“Haa...”
The tension coursing through her made her heart hammer like mad.
Daeun clutched at the trembling in her chest and tightened her grip on her sword.
“What’s your relationship with the demon?”
“She’s my little sister. ...We’re not blood-related, though.”
She answered the man’s question, sensing that he was curious about her relationship with Kana.
Then it was her turn to ask something.
“Why do you call Kana a demon? From the way you act, it doesn’t look like you’re treating a demon.”
If he really thought Kana was a demon, shouldn’t he be lunging at her without a shred of mercy?
The answer to Daeun’s question was simple.
“It’s a habit.”
“...Ah, yes.”
Well, then.
With that sort of answer, she couldn’t even think of arguing.
An awkward silence settled between Daeun and the man.
...This is so awkward!
Daeun’s eyes rolled around wildly as she screamed inside.
“...Well. I’ll let you have the first move.”
“...Thank you.”
The man scratched his head, looking just as awkward as she felt, and broke the silence first.
Daeun accepted his courtesy gratefully.
His level... I can’t see it.
Since that happened pretty often, she didn’t think much of it.
Keeping her nerves taut, Daeun charged at him.
The first attack...
A downward slash...!
Daeun opened the fight with the move she had practiced most.
It was a fairly fast strike, but the man blocked it without issue using only one arm.
Clang!
Daeun’s sword, colliding with his, emitted a sharp cry and bounced away.
I expected that much!
She yielded to the recoil from the clash of blades and took a couple of steps back.
Then, regaining her stance in a flash, she surged forward like a streak of light.
From Kana’s eyes, who was watching from a distance, it didn’t look like a streak of light at all, but to Daeun, that was exactly how it felt.
Chaeang!
The attack was blocked again.
This time, even Daeun flinched a little.
Thrusts had always been the hardest attacks for her to deal with when she sparred with Kana.
They were difficult to read precisely at the point of impact, and even if she did read them, they were so fast that it was hard to block them in time.
So Daeun usually chose to throw her body aside and dodge thrusts instead, but the man blocked hers with complete indifference.
“Tch...!”
Then she’d have to go faster!
She gritted her teeth.
Her sword flew at him without pause.
At first glance, his strikes seemed stronger, but the difference in their strength was surprisingly small.
That meant Daeun could still respond to the man’s occasional attacks, but—
As the exchange continued, her feet slowly started sliding backward.
Thud!
“Huh?!”
A kick followed the sword strike.
Daeun, unable to notice the leg because she was busy blocking the blade, got hit and was shoved backward in a skid.
An unfamiliar, less crisp sound rang out, and she grimaced as pain surged through her.
...Fast. And strong.
She swallowed the breath she had been holding and rubbed her stinging abdomen.
She could go after the one remaining arm, or the leg, or even the heart or throat—places directly tied to life itself—but the man parried and countered as casually as if he knew every move she would make.
It was almost as though he could see through her completely.
Even when Daeun mixed in a feint, pretended to aim for the neck, and instead went for the arm, his sword clung to hers like a shadow.
The distance of a swordsman was the length of his sword.
She had done everything she could within that range, but all of it had been shut down.
With each failed attack, Daeun grew more frantic.
Gripping the sword with both hands instead of one would increase the force behind her strike.
If a man with strength similar to hers took this hit, his stance would break.
Having finished the calculation by instinct, she adjusted her grip and brought the sword down at him with all her strength.
It was the strongest attack she had thrown so far.
“Haaat!”
Clang!
“...!”
The man, who had always parried her strikes head-on, angled his sword and caught hers off-center.
Daeun widened her eyes as the blade slid down the length of her sword, but by then her body was already tumbling toward the ground along with the blow.
A merciless sword edge flashed toward the body she had left wide open.
Swish—
Crash!
“Kh, ngh...!”
She managed to twist her body at the last second, avoiding a fatal wound, but she couldn’t escape completely.
After rolling across the ground several times and getting back up, Daeun’s shoulder spurted bright red blood in ugly pulses.
Ah... it hurts...
If her pain had already been reduced by the system and it still hurt this much, then how agonizing would it have been without it?
As if she had grown a second heart, Daeun’s shoulder throbbed and radiated heat.
She bit her lip, and her face had already begun to darken with the unmistakable color of defeat.
---