Clash ①
The two intruders pulled back their hoods.
Just as Lilu had said, they were elves—long-eared. A male elf carrying a bow, and a female elf with a dagger at her hip. Both had green hair and blue eyes, and they looked so alike I wondered if they were siblings.
"You there—kin of unknown origin. Why have you attacked this place?"
Lilu asked, but the male elf said nothing, nocking an arrow. The female elf's hand went to the dagger at her waist.
"Nothing to say, then? Fine."
Lilu nocked an arrow of her own and locked her gaze on the elves.
"I'll take you on. Come at me."
The instant the words left her mouth, arrows leapt from both bows.
The two shafts collided in midair with a piercing crack—an aerial feat unfolding right before my eyes—but I had no luxury to stand there and admire it. The female elf had drawn her weapons and was charging straight at me.
"Riel, get back."
I drew the sword at my hip. The blade my father had given me when I returned to my hometown of Arianroad.
The female elf gripped a dagger in each hand, reverse-grip, and brought them down in a chopping strike.
Clang!!
Fast—but I managed to catch it. I never thought the training I'd done with my senior Iris during the Martial God Festival would pay off like this. More than anything, even with daggers, her speed was only a little slower than Iris's.
When her first attack was deflected, the female elf's eyes widened a fraction and she took a step back. She adjusted her reverse grip on the daggers and settled into a fighting stance.
Swaying green hair. Striking, large blue eyes. A different type from Lilu, but she was quite the beauty.
...The fact that she was an enemy who'd attacked us was the real problem, though.
Clang!! Clang-clang!!
Without a word, she launched herself at me again. Her speed was definitely slower than Iris's. But with a dagger in each hand, her attacks had doubled, and her movements were quite different. At least, unlike a regular sword, the force behind the blades was on the lighter side. Small mercies.
"Woof!!"
With twice the attacking options, I nearly took a few hits—but Baduk's assists saved me every time. Thanks to that, I hadn't allowed a single strike through.
She, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.
Thud!!
"...Ghk!!"
I knocked aside her dagger with my sword and drove a kick into her abdomen. A clear dirt print from my shoe marked her slender-looking stomach. The impact must have been considerable—her eyes went wide as the breath left her.
"Bullet!!"
The elf's eyes flew wide.
The moment my kick sent her staggering back, Riel—who'd been waiting behind me—cast her magic.
Novice Magic: Bullet. Not much power, but it was fast to cast and could be fired in rapid succession. It also took on different attributes depending on the caster's mana nature, which made it useful for identifying elemental affinity. True to the Ignis bloodline, a flame-aspected round struck the elf and erupted in a small explosion.
"...Kh."
She must have thrown up a defensive spell in a hurry. The elf burst from the explosion, wrapped in a faint light, and reset her stance.
But it was fine. We had the numbers, and she was clearly being pushed back. On top of that, I was getting used to her dagger work. If this kept up, I could subdue her.
That hope was starting to take shape.
"Oh no—more incoming!!"
...If only Lilu hadn't said that.
A hooded figure, presumably another elf, dropped down beside the female elf. Then she threw off her hood. Another green-haired, blue-eyed elf with a strikingly similar face.
"Looks like you're getting pushed back, sis?"
"...Lea."
"Well, they do have the numbers, so I guess it can't be helped. I'll jump in too."
The reinforcing elf—called Lea—drew a weapon from her back. A sword... no, a rapier? She pulled out a blade with a thin, sharp edge and took her place beside the elf I'd been facing.
Two of them.
Even so, having the enemy double up was going to be dangerous. No—I could still fight. But if you asked whether I could fight while protecting Riel, the only honest answer was that I couldn't. Not as I was now.
So I had to make a call.
"Baduk."
"Woof!"
"I'll be fine. Protect Riel."
"...Woof!"
Baduk looked me straight in the eye for a moment, then ran to Riel's side. That dropped the odds of Riel taking a solid hit to nearly nothing. The trade-off: I'd be facing two of them without Baduk.
But this was the best play. I could defend myself against their weapons. Riel was practically a complete amateur when it came to martial arts. If she was going to support me with magic, it was clearly better to send every spirit that could protect her over to her side.
"Come at me, you pointy-eared bastards."
"Whoa, you've got some fire in you."
"......"
I tried a taunt to test the waters, but the older sister just silently reset her stance, and the younger one—Lea—laughed it off. I know I'm not great at trash talk, but I didn't expect them to shrug it off that easily.
"Ah, if this weren't a job, you'd be decent enough company for a cup of tea. What a shame."
"Lea, focus on the work."
"You're so stiff, sis."
Both of them stood facing me, weapons ready. I adjusted my grip on the sword and settled into my stance. Behind me, I heard Riel catch her breath.
...I'd more or less figured out the older sister's dagger work. But the younger one's rapier was a complete unknown.
...I'd have to be ready to take a hit or two.
"...Well then. Time to deal with you, human."
"...Bring it."
The two of them closed the distance almost in unison, as if executing a coordinated assault.
"You lot are from the Rampid Clan."
"......"
Lilu said this as she dodged an arrow from the male elf in front of her, nocked one of her own, and loosed it at him. The male elf didn't reply. He simply slipped the shaft and stepped back.
The Rampid Clan. One of the minority clans among the elves. Their way of life wasn't settling in a forest—it was wandering. And how they made their living was none other than mercenary work. In a sense, they might well be the elf clan most deeply woven into human society.
"Whose contract is this? Not that you'd answer even if I asked."
"...You know your stuff."
The male elf finally opened his mouth.
"I wasn't told there would be kin among the targets. I may have to file a complaint with the client."
"That's unexpected. I've never heard of the Rampid Clan having any love for their own kind."
As she spoke, Lilu dodged the male elf's arrow, and he nocked another. At the same time, Lilu nocked her next shaft as well.
For both of them, it was the last one.
"No. It's simply that you're a troublesome opponent."
Their arrows collided in midair.
Neither of them had any left.
The male elf drew the dagger strapped to his leg. Unlike his sister, a single-dagger style. Lilu, by contrast, drew no weapon at all. She simply tossed the bow she'd been holding far aside.
"...You mean to fight barehanded?"
"I've never used any weapon besides a bow."
At Lilu's words, the male elf's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. It was almost the first time any emotion had shown on his face.
"How foolish of you!"
The male elf charged with his dagger. The moment Lilu entered range, he brought the blade down in a chopping strike. Lilu hastily dodged, and he followed with the next attack, then the next.
"If you use a bow, preparing for when your arrows run out is the most basic of basics—and you neglected even that... I don't know what clan you hail from, but there's a limit to how empty-headed you can be!!"
Shouting that, the male elf drove a torrent of consecutive strikes at Lilu.
Push through like this, then quickly join my sisters and finish the rest. After that, eliminate the remaining targets in the mansion.
That was what the male elf was thinking as he went for another attack.
"An opening."
"Ghak!!"
A fierce pain exploded in his abdomen. He looked down, wondering what it was, and saw the opponent's fist buried in his gut.
"A... a fist...?"
"A backup plan for when the arrows run out? Did you honestly think I wouldn't have one?"
She pulled her fist free, spun, and swept her leg around. The male elf hastily threw up an arm and managed to block Lilu's kick—but the blow packed considerable force. His body was driven back hard.
"Arma..."
"Don't look down on a warrior of our clan, you migratory bird."
"...What in the world is this chaos?"
Having received an urgent report, she had rushed back to her hometown. The home she arrived at was wreathed in smoke here and there, knights bustling about in a frenzy. A major disturbance had broken out, but it seemed to be getting under control somehow.
She grabbed one of the knights focused on containing the situation and asked what had happened.
A sudden outbreak of seizures and rampages among the patients who'd been housed there. And the knight order had stepped in to handle it.
Hearing that, she felt a flicker of unease.
...The situation was clearly being brought under control, and yet she was deeply anxious. She needed to get home. Quickly.
At home, there would be her mother, her older brother, and above all—her most precious little sister. Her little sister Riel would be at home.
Eve Ignis hurriedly set off toward the ducal mansion she hadn't returned to in so long.