The Saint and the Swordmaster
The prince? This is Jeanie Crowell. You’d probably know her better as Saint Crowell. As you’ve no doubt heard, she’s the hero who saved His Majesty the Emperor and your own family. Our true benefactor. We could never be enemies.”
“A hero, huh……”
“That’s right.”
“Is the reason Your Highness is desperately trying to stop this fight because that woman is a saint?”
“Is it wrong to worry about the relationships between people I care about? She is not an enemy. She deserves respect. Duke, if you truly consider yourself a man of the Empire, I hope you will treat her with the proper reverence.”
While Ash spoke with grave sincerity, I took the opportunity to discreetly flip Robenin the middle finger.
Even so, Robenin’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
This guy might go a little berserk whenever I’m involved, but I’m also a cold city girl with a talent for staying indifferent. I wasn’t about to lose.
I held back my emotions as much as possible and kept flipping him off.
What, you think I can’t act unbothered?
I poured all my resentment into that finger, squeezing it tight, then quickly lowered it before Ash could turn back to me.
Like I hadn’t done anything at all.
Because I’m a saint, obviously.
“I trust you both understand. We are not monsters fighting over territory. We are rational people. Grown adults with intellect do not start brawling just because their eyes meet. Correct?”
“……”
“……”
Under Ash’s mediation, a delicate silence fell.
Since Robenin’s face was completely blank, there was no way to tell what he was thinking.
The only thing that was clear was that if Ash hadn’t been here, we would have already been tearing each other apart.
For a long while, Robenin and I simply glared at each other without a word.
If Ash feels like he’s contributing to world peace right now, is that just my imagination?
Thanks to Ash’s desperate efforts, the atmosphere slowly began to ease.
After reluctantly staring each other down until even that grew boring, the mood finally became somewhat suitable for conversation.
The first to withdraw his killing intent and open his mouth was Robenin.
I was foolish enough to feel momentarily surprised.
“So that woman…… is really the one who survived the dragon’s grasp. The living legend they call her.”
“Indeed. That is precisely Jeanie Crowell.”
“Then the rumors were all false exaggerations. Now I understand why Your Highness tried so hard to stop me.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“I assumed that since she is called a saint, she must possess considerable power. But no matter how I look, I can’t sense any strength from her at all. She’s no different from a pebble rolling on the ground. I could sever that slender neck from her body whenever I wished.”
The moment I realized the only reason he had withdrawn his killing intent was because he completely looked down on me, the red alert that had barely subsided began flashing again.
It was the instant all of Ash’s hard work went to waste.
“That’s because a Spirit Master……”
“Die! You trash with the personality of a broken sewer pipe!”
As expected, holding back my emotions just didn’t suit me. Pretending to be cool and intellectual had its limits.
I’d lasted a whole ten seconds. That was plenty.
I exploded with rage and swung the golden whip that had appeared in my right hand with all my strength.
I’d make him pay for daring to provoke me!
“Jeanie! You mustn’t!”
Contrary to plan, before I could even swing it properly, Ash grabbed me by the waist and pulled me away from Robenin.
I really hate people with good reflexes!
“Aaaagh!”
“I told you not to! And where did that whip even come from?!”
“Why not?! That bastard started it first!”
What I was gripping in my right hand and swinging around in irritation was Rai—who had been a staff, then a bracelet, and was now a whip.
It had grown several times longer than when it was a staff, easily surpassing a person’s height, but I could handle it with my eyes closed.
The fact that I had never used a whip before wasn’t an issue at all.
Since it was literally a whip with its own will, it moved on its own even if I swung it roughly. It was an excellent mid-range weapon in that regard.
The only downside was that I probably looked like a pervert when I swung it, but that was just the truth anyway.
“Please calm down, Jeanie!”
“Let go! Why are you taking that piece of garbage’s side?! He completely ignored and trampled on your efforts! There’s no need to trust a guy like that!”
“P-please! I’m glad you’re thinking of me, but……”
“Don’t be glad!”
“Still, put the whip down! Just think of him as a pitiful person who lacks social skills!”
“What?! I lack social skills too, you know!”
Whether Robenin truly lacked social skills or not, even when Ash openly said such things, the man didn’t even blink. His face remained dry and emotionless.
On top of that, after provoking me, he stared at me throwing a tantrum as if it had nothing to do with him, which only made me angrier.
Whenever I lashed out with the whip, he would just glance at it and casually dodge.
The most infuriating part was that my whip—which had the sneaky ability to extend—couldn’t even reach him.
Frustrating! Rai! Why can’t you hit him?!
I’m a spirit, you know! A spirit! Do you think I was born to become a whip? This isn’t even my specialty…….
Shut up and do something about it! Let’s stick to the plan!
……You always make me do things like this! You only give me tasks I can’t do and then scold me for failing! Master, you’re a demon!
I unleashed all the techniques I had been saving up, but nothing worked.
That was because I soon found myself completely immobilized. Just like he had done to Robenin, Ash gripped my whip—Rai in transformed form—with a bleeding hand, paying no mind to the blood, and stared at me with stern eyes.
“……You’re in the way!”
“Yes! I am a bit of a nuisance! It’s all my fault! So please return this expensive-looking whip to its proper place! A golden whip with a snake head…… what a rare and terrible taste……!”
“Tsk.”
As Ash yanked the whip back and wrapped it around his own arm, blood continued to drip steadily from his hand.
It was Robenin’s sword that had drawn blood, so why did I have to flinch?
“Where on earth did you get this? Put it back in the carriage right now!”
I was quickly losing control of the whip. I was barely clinging to the handle, and I couldn’t win against Ash in raw strength.
If I cried out “I hate you, Ash!” with teary eyes, would he let go in shock? Between a tear attack and an emergency kiss, which had a higher chance of letting me escape?
While I was busy thinking of ways to get out of this with the whip still in my grasp, I suddenly froze in terror.
“Your Highness, are you sure you aren’t being deceived?”
“……!”
“What kind of saint swings a whip around?”
At some point, Robenin had appeared right beside me and was looking down at me with icy eyes.
I hadn’t sensed him at all, yet he was standing only a handspan away.
It was far too close.
If he had wanted to, my head could have already been rolling on the ground by now.
The realization sent chills down my spine, freezing me in place while simultaneously igniting my fury.
“You provoked her first! Apologize immediately!”
“I merely spoke the truth. If this woman cannot even escape from Your Highness’s grasp, then I wouldn’t even need to draw my sword.”
I could see the interest in Robenin’s eyes as he looked at me gradually fading away.
“Why are you being so rude!”
“Is it rude to feel pity for a weak creature?”
“You speak out of ignorance. Spirit Masters are different from us. They do not base their power in the same way. Before they call upon their spirits, it is impossible to predict or discern how great their power truly is. We cannot dare to measure their level.”
Ash, who absolutely did not want to see me fight Robenin, still couldn’t stand by and let me be dismissed as weak.
This is exactly why I can’t help but find Ash adorable. He wouldn’t get this worked up even if someone insulted him directly.
“I thought that since she is called a saint, she would possess holy power…… but she is a Spirit Master?”
“……You only half-listened again.”
“Then I have even less reason to pay her any attention. I have fought a Spirit Master once before.”
“That was m……”
“It was mediocre and crude.”
Even Ash must have his limits in trying to hold me back. No matter how warm and gentle I might be toward him.
When exactly were you warm?
“Jeanie, Jeanie? Calm down…… take deep breaths……”
I could feel Ash’s desperate hands clutching at me as he fidgeted anxiously, but I had already made up my mind. Even if it meant my insides would shatter into dust along with the nearby carriages, I was going to summon Endairon.
“That’s right! You die so I can live! I must have been born just to kill you, you bastard!”
I was fully focused on that thought until Robenin spoke in a tone completely devoid of any empathetic shame.
“You hate me.”
“……Fuck! Is there even anyone who likes you?! Stop living like that! You damned bastard! How can you forget people so easily?!”
“Forget…… every time……”
“The Spirit Master you fought ten years ago was me! You brain-dead idiot!”
“J-Jeanie. The duke graduated at the top of his class……”
“We met in Dmitry half a year ago! I even received a proposal from your little brother! And above all…… you are Undine’s mortal enemy!”
There was so much accumulated resentment that I was running out of breath just spitting it all out.
Even as I panted, I couldn’t stop the curses from pouring out. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.
The fact that, in the mind of my ultimate natural enemy, I was on the same level as a random pebble on the ground!
If I couldn’t win against him in battle, I would forever remain nothing more than that in his eyes.
“It seems I must have killed one of your friends.”
“Exactly!”
Undine is still alive…….
Well, it’s not that important.
The moment I heard Rai’s voice, one crucial fact flashed through my mind.
There was something I absolutely had to do before summoning Endairon.
I had to take away his weapon. Only then would I have the advantage in battle.
They say the result matters more than the process. Whether it’s dirty or not, winning is justice!
I opened my eyes wide and smiled. For once, the heavens seemed to be on my side. At that exact moment, his sword was being held in Ash’s hand—along with Rai, who had become a whip.
I instinctively knew it. A moment this perfect would never come again in my lifetime.
“Hehehehe……”
“As I thought, you really are being deceived.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s no way a woman who smiles so wickedly could possibly be a saint, don’t you agree?”
“Hmm…… Duke…… you’re being far too serious. I think that attitude of yours is exactly what keeps upsetting her……”
Compared to now, I could probably say that the old me actually liked Robenin. Thinking that my favorability toward him couldn’t possibly drop any further had been a massive delusion on my part.
Rai!
Nom nom!
When I burned with the will for Rai to absorb the sword, the whip moved on its own, slithering forward to coil around Robenin’s blade.
And then, without the slightest flash of light or warning, it erased the sword’s existence from the world in an instant.
Cleanly, simply, and with absolute confidence!