The Current Meta: Even Priests Solo (Not Really)
"Are you really going to teach that girl how to handle Holy Power?"
After the incident a short while ago, once I'd sent Leard off to another work site, Nariel put the question to me.
"Why not?"
"A berserker who wields Holy Power? Never heard of such a thing."
"If it doesn't exist, we make it."
"...Hmph. Well. It's no business of mine. I'm sure you'll handle it."
Either way, whether Holy Power or anything else, I could always think the teaching through properly once we got down off the mountain. No rush.
Right. That aside—
"The kids should be getting back soon."
Maybe I should have gone shovel-hauling with them myself. Sitting still under the title of "site commander" was starting to make me restless. Everything around here was already finished, and as the assembly point there wasn't much left to do.
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"They say the Emperor can't have children."
"...You're interested in that kind of thing?"
Looking at her now, she seemed to be living a thoroughly worldly life after all.
"When you're living off this country's hospitality, a little interest in that kind of news seems reasonable enough."
"...Well, fair enough."
It was news about the Emperor who ruled the very empire whose land we were living on. Hard to call that idle gossip.
"I read the papers, you know."
"...You do?"
"Astria comes up to the mountain now and then and leaves newspapers and such for me on a regular basis."
That was unexpected. First impressions had pegged her as the simple, brutish type.
"Why bring it up, though?"
I couldn't see what the Emperor's lack of heirs had to do with me, but I played along out of curiosity.
"You looked bored out of your mind, so I thought I'd throw you a conversation topic. Didn't expect you to look so thoroughly uninterested. Makes me wonder why I bothered."
"Ahem. That was it, huh."
Awkward.
"Anyway, to finish the thought... Right. Bottom line is, the Emperor still has no heir, and the succession is in a state of emergency."
Hmm. That was a problem, all right.
"Couldn't he just pass it to a brother, or someone close enough in the bloodline?"
Even so, the Emperor wasn't exactly an orphan. There had to be other blood relatives left.
"Who knows. My guess is they still don't have anyone they're confident enough in to hand it to."
...That bad?
"...Hmm. But hey. Thinking about it—conversations like this, on this kind of topic. Isn't this a little... off? What is this, lese-majesty or something?"
Not the kind of talk you went around having just anywhere.
"What does it matter? We're in the middle of a mountain. Who's going to overhear? Besides, what we're saying is concern for the country, not insults against the Emperor."
"Whoa, whoa."
I made a rough stopping gesture with my hand, signaling that she didn't need to keep going. Nobody was listening, but still—something about it. Continuing to chatter felt vaguely burdensome, somehow.
"Anyway, so the imperial household is pouring everything into finding talent among the Emperor's bloodline—even the collateral lines of the collateral lines."
"Collateral of collateral... Sounds like they've got their own headaches over there."
...Was the talent pool really that thin? Then again, handing the throne to just anyone with the right blood would be a problem of its own.
"Platinum-blond hair and crystal-clear blue eyes. That's the mark of the imperial bloodline, they say."
"...Platinum blond and blue eyes? Well. Nothing to do with me, then."
"Professooor! We're back! Ugh, I'm so tiiired..."
Erina's voice led the way as the students began returning one by one.
"Erina Crossbell! You! Why! Do you keep! Wagging your tail! At the Professor...! What even is that slightly nasal voice you're putting on right now!"
"If you're so jealous, try it yourself, Linea."
"Wha—! As a noble, how could I possibly do something so vulgar...! More importantly...! The Professor and I are not in that kind of relationship!"
Watching them keep squawking and giggling at each other until Helena and Leard made it back, I found myself thinking it looked rather nice. For reasons I couldn't quite pin down, it felt peaceful. They were a little far off, so I couldn't make out a word of what they were saying, but still.
"Heehee. That was fun."
"...Yeah."
The students had all returned. Nariel said she'd handle the remaining cleanup herself, so it was time to head down.
Shall we go?
"Kids—"
I was just about to call them when—
"Kyle Edelrein."
Nariel Beltar, standing nearby, called my name in a cautious voice, her eyes sweeping the surroundings as if on guard.
"...Yeah."
I'd felt it too.
Where we stood was the site of Nariel's old cabin. For that reason, there were virtually no trees within several meters of this spot. But the moment you stepped past the edge of the clearing, there were signs of people behind the trees. More precisely: forces were surrounding this open ground where Nariel's house would be rebuilt, hemming us in.
I was only just starting to sense them now—but based on the razor-sharp senses Kyle's body possessed, it was fair to say they'd only appeared in the vicinity this very moment. Had they been climbing the mountain after us and only now closed in as the students returned?
The one mercy was that they hadn't touched Erina or the other kids yet. Judging by the bloodlust rolling off them, though, that courtesy was about to end.
Sensing that Nariel and I had noticed them, they stepped out from behind the trees without further pretense.
"What do you want?"
"Heh heh heh. Bold, aren't you. Just an academy instructor, and yet you keep that cool even after noticing us. Or are you so pathetic you simply don't understand what you're looking at?"
"Doesn't seem like you plan on introducing yourselves."
"No reason we should play along with the likes of you. Go, children!"
What—
At the shout of the man who looked to be the leader of the middle-aged bunch, the others scattered and charged straight at us. One of them broke toward the students.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
"Nariel!"
"I can't go either. The only way is—"
"Cut them down as fast as possible."
The silver lining was that only a single one of them had gone after the students. Underestimating them, no doubt. But the kids here were the ones who contested the top ranks of their respective departments. Trash of that caliber wouldn't be enough. So for now, trust the students, clean up the ones on me, then head their way.
Four of them rushed me. The one earlier had gone for Nariel—the most eye-catching of us—along with two others. Three on her total. A dark elf's flamboyant appearance must have made her look like the strongest target. Not that it mattered right now.
Slash.
Slash.
I drew the longsword I'd worn at my hip on the climb up and cut them down one after another, my expression almost casual.
"Ghk—gaaah!"
"Khuhk."
"Gahk!"
One swing, one body. They toppled in sequence. It was the first time I'd ever cut a person—but the need to protect my students took over my head, and that fact was shoved to the back of my mind, out of sight. Kyle's memories were probably doing some of the work too. He must have killed people more times than he could count. Because of that, the fear of cutting someone down felt somewhat diluted.
With all of them down, the only thing left was to head for the students. I turned that way without delay—
"Yes! Got them!"
"Kihihi. I cut down more than you!"
Linea's delighted cry was immediately answered by Leard, competitive fire blazing as he dumped a stream of rivalry-soaked trash talk beside her.
"...What? Excuse me!? This is not a game about who cut down more!"
"Tch. Boring!"
"...But I counted correctly, didn't I? I'm pretty sure I got one more...!"
I was proud of them, honestly. Even if the opponents had looked like nobodies, even if they were small fry—winning against grown adults charging in with live steel, intent on killing, was experience that would be worth something down the line.
I was just thinking things were more or less wrapped up when—
"Kgh, you useless fools! Can't even deal with a handful of brats, never mind the professor! I can't go back empty-handed with nothing to show for it—at this point...!"
"...!? You—!"
The ringleader of the group—the one who'd been monologuing by himself this whole time. Things clearly hadn't gone well against Nariel; his body was covered in sword cuts, not a single patch of him left unmarred. Nariel, by contrast, didn't have so much as a scratch, and of the three she'd been fighting, only one was still alive.
Maybe that was why. He broke contact with her blade and suddenly wheeled around, charging toward the students.
"At this point, I'll at least kill that priest girl—the weakest-looking one—before I go!"
The target was Erina. Looking at it, maybe that had been the obvious play all along. Either way, he'd bellowed it at the top of his lungs, so there wasn't a soul who hadn't heard. Everyone snapped into a combat stance.
"Wh-what is he doing!! Why is he suddenly charging this way...!!"
Linea, determined to do her part, stepped in front of Erina and raised her sword again to intercept him.
"Hmph! A little girl's sword like that—I'll vault right over it and cut her down!"
Damn it. Of all the times to be the farthest from the kids. There was a difference in distance, yes—but if I'd only had a little more time—
No. Even a few seconds of that razor-thin margin would have been enough to catch him and put him down. That subtle gap in distance. For him, the span to Erina was just short enough. For me, it was just a little too far. Even for Nariel, the students were close enough that catching a man who'd already taken off first was unrealistic.
Were we supposed to hope Linea and the others held out until one of us arrived?
I don't think they're the type who couldn't manage even that much.
It was only a split second, after all. Distract him for a few seconds and bringing him down wouldn't be hard. But he was, as advertised, the head of what looked like an assassin crew—and he made a mockery of the formation the kids had set. In one leap he vaulted into the air, broke through their line, and went straight for Erina.
That bastard...!
I considered throwing a sword slash, but the technique from this morning's demonstration—the one that had carved a chunk out of the mountain—took far too long to prepare.
In that case...
What if I skipped most of the motions and the wind-up and just fired it short? I had no guarantee it would even work. This was Kyle's body, but I'd never tried it myself. Still—better that than standing here and losing a student. He was nothing once steel actually reached him, and yet he'd found a way to blindside us like this...
Anyway. Even those stray thoughts were a luxury right now. The calculation was done; time to move.
I visualized the slash in my head, wrapped my arm in the Holy Power I'd finally managed to feel, and swung the blade straight at him—
Fortunately—if you could call it that—what flew out was clearly smaller and weaker than the mountain-carving strike, but more than enough to put one man down. The slash streaked toward him.
And in that same instant, a voice rose from the students' side.
"D-don't come any closer...!"
Instinctive hostility. Defensive reflex. That alone was enough for Erina to throw her hands up like raising a wall—and from both her palms, a golden light flared.
"Kgh—khuhk...!"
It was only a fraction of a second, but I saw it. Almost simultaneous with my attack, by a hair's breadth that light from Erina's hands hit him first and dealt its damage—and then my slash tore him apart.
I looked down at the man sprawled on the ground, dying. The blood he was coughing up wasn't simply red. A cloudy white seemed overlaid on it—a truly strange color.