Chapter 197: The Tin Knight and The Crossroads of Swords and Magic (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 197: The Tin Knight and The Crossroads of Swords and Magic (7)
"Succeed in becoming the strongest of the Lennart, and the title of the Empire's strongest is yours for the taking, as easy as picking a stone off the ground."
"Ranking within the top 100 of the family is more difficult than becoming the strongest in an entire domain."
These were common jests passed down within the Lennart family.
In a way, they could be seen as arrogant.
They were a boast, after all, that even the 100th-ranked warrior in the Lennart family could claim the title of the strongest in any other territory without issue.
But while tinged with some exaggeration, this was no baseless nonsense.
An innately superior physical constitution. Outstanding mana manipulation. Tireless stamina and a body resistant to sickness and poison.
Possessing even one of these traits would mark someone as a promising warrior, yet it was the hallmark of the Lion Duke’s bloodline to be born with them in droves, even if they had their own specializations.
The Empire was vast, and it wasn't as if there were no geniuses on par with the Lion Duke’s bloodline. However, no other group could boast such an absurdly high average skill level, where even a gatekeeper was at least on par with a knight from another domain.
In a sense, however, this was also a shackle.
Even if you scored a 99 on a test, if everyone else scored a perfect 100, you were still last. That was the law of relative evaluation.
In an environment of such extreme, elevated standards, where a genius was considered merely talented and the talented were seen as common, it was impossible to stand out further without something truly special.
Currently, in the Lennart family, only three were considered that ‘special.’
The Lion of Nemea Castle, who had rampaged across the battlefields during the era of most intense conflict between the Empire and the Magic State, before the Iron Blood Emperor’s ascension.
The Lennart Duke’s bodyguard knight, who, during the Iron Blood Emperor’s reign, had single-handedly repelled every challenge from the military and the Imperial Knights who opposed Lennart’s long-standing dominance.
And the last one. A prodigy who was shattering every record for being the youngest and was hailed as someone who might vie for the title of the family’s strongest within a decade—
“Ahahahaha!”
—a ruffian as famous for her hellish personality as for her talent.
Clang! Klang!
Each time the swords clashed, brilliant sparks bloomed like flowers.
The trajectory of the slashes tore through the air so swiftly and beautifully that the very atmosphere seemed to pause in a daze, realizing it had been cut only moments later as a delayed gust of wind pressure spread out.
A heated, fierce, and clamorous dance of swords.
In the midst of it, Adelaide was inwardly stunned.
Her own actions—nearly striking a person’s neck out of reflex, even if she was emotionally unstable and startled.
The identity of the girl who joyfully met her blade. The concern that she shouldn't be engaging in such a conspicuous battle in the middle of the city.
All such ‘idle’ thoughts had vanished mere seconds after the fight began.
Now, only one emotion filled Adelaide’s heart.
‘…She’s strong! Unbelievably so!’
Nothing but astonishment at the strength the girl before her displayed.
Fwoosh!
The girl dodged the two-handed sword Adelaide swung by leaning far back.
It was an unstable posture, her head nearly touching the ground, looking as if she would fall at any moment.
But as if her feet were glued to the ground, the girl righted herself and used the momentum to aim for Adelaide’s neck.
A swift evasion saved her neck, but a thin red line was drawn across her cheek.
Adelaide didn’t just take it; she pivoted on her right foot and kicked at the girl with her left. But instead of resisting the impact, the girl spun her body and thrust her sword from mid-air.
Adelaide dodged the blade itself, but the sword energy that extended from its tip pierced through her hair.
Bizarre and unconventional swordsmanship. Overwhelming flexibility and reflexes. Mana control as free as her own limbs.
In terms of raw physical attributes like speed and power, Adelaide had the upper hand, but even that gap wasn't very large.
The girl was deflecting the slashes of Adelaide’s two-handed sword with her one-handed blade without much difficulty.
Adelaide could send a knight in heavy armor skipping like a stone on water just by swinging her sword like a club, without even properly setting the edge.
To block such an attack with one hand was impossible, no matter how skilled one was, without superior foundational physical abilities.
Considering Adelaide was further enhanced by ‘The Belt of Amaryllis,’ it meant that without the belt, the girl’s base abilities were overwhelmingly superior.
It wasn't quite on the level of the Tin Knight or the White Knight supported by Gale, but considering the girl’s apparent age was similar to Adelaide’s, her strength was truly absurd.
‘Just how much has she trained?!’
“Just how much have you been slacking off?”
The sentiments were similar, but their meanings were polar opposites.
Creeak, creak.
Close enough for their faces to touch, pushing their swords against each other, the girl spoke in a friendly tone.
“I can tell just by looking. You're the same type as me. Not like the old man at Nemea Castle who reached his peak through sheer, dogged effort despite his lack of talent, nor specialized only in killing people like that slick bastard next to the Duke. You’re the type that was just born with everything from the start.”
“What are you… saying…!”
Adelaide tried to push her sword forward, but contrary to her will, the blade wouldn't budge.
It wasn't just being blocked by force; it felt as if the more power Adelaide applied, the more its direction was deflected elsewhere.
“If our talents are on the same level, all that’s left is the difference in our training. It looks like you’ve worked pretty hard in a short time, but you started too late. What a shame. If you’d been properly taught since you were a child, you’d be much better than you are now.”
The blade of the girl’s words cut deep into Adelaide’s already troubled heart.
Before she began her journey with the Tin Knight and Dorothea.
The days when her domain was falling apart and there was nothing she could do, when the actions she thought were for the best led to the worst possible outcomes, when she was captured by mere bandits and helplessly manipulated.
Because she had a strong father, because she had a reliable older brother, she had simply indulged in being the ‘cute youngest lady’ instead of striving on her own.
If only she hadn't.
If only she had started training much earlier. Maybe something would have been different. Maybe she could have helped.
A lingering regret that was now far too late to act upon.
“What do you…”
Ssk.
The hair she had dyed brown began to slowly revert to its original gold, starting from the roots.
Her wavering eyes filled with intense emotion, turning a deep violet.
“What in the world do you know…?!”
Fwoosh!
The golden mana surrounding Adelaide's body began to take the form of flames.
And from within it, a violet, lightning-like mana slowly bloomed.
Crack!
Unable to withstand the sudden increase in pressure, the ground beneath Adelaide’s feet crumbled.
The sword energy flowing from her two-handed sword visibly intensified.
The various wounds on her body began to heal at a rapid pace.
Mana, physical ability, and perhaps even more.
Every element that constituted Adelaide began to amplify and strengthen all at once.
KABOOM!
Unable to withstand Adelaide’s abruptly doubled power, the girl was sent flying backward.
The remnants of the sword energy and the shockwave she couldn't fully deflect must have torn through her body, as her upper body, which had been unscathed until now, was instantly stained with blood.
But a smile never left the ruffian girl’s lips.
“What do I know? At least I know all about your father’s death! The poor knight who fought his best for the family, only to have his death covered up by the family head himself!”
“What are you talking about, ugh?!”
Adelaide’s retort was cut short.
She had to block the girl’s sword, which had rushed forward in a flash and was now coming down hard on her head.
KWAAAAANG!
A shockwave similar to, or even greater than, the one from when Adelaide had sent the girl flying erupted.
From the girl’s body, just like Adelaide’s, violet lightning-like mana sparked.
Her overall abilities had also exploded.
Clang! Clang! Thwack! Crash!
Each time the two lions snarled and clawed at each other, the surrounding terrain was sliced and crushed along with them.
The fight seemed evenly matched on the surface, but both Adelaide and the ruffian knew that wasn't the case.
In contrast to the violet lightning enveloping the ruffian, which maintained a perfectly stable and constant output, the lightning around Adelaide would sometimes rage with twice the intensity of the ruffian's, only to vanish without a trace the next moment.
Most importantly, the fact that Adelaide herself couldn't arbitrarily control the output was decisive.
Though Adelaide had been thoroughly taught the knack of mana control by the Tin Knight, this violet mana was impossible to handle with the techniques she had learned so far.
The lightning would die down when she needed to unleash a powerful attack, or the output would suddenly spike when she needed to push off the ground to leap, causing her posture to collapse. A power she couldn't properly control was more of a hindrance than a help.
Pang!
In the end, Adelaide’s two-handed sword couldn't hold out and was sent flying into the air. Just as the girl was about to swing her sword at Adelaide’s defenseless chest, it happened.
Dadadak!
A bone mouse shot out from a gap in Adelaide's clothing and threw its entire body at the ruffian girl's face.
Immediately after, the bone mouse’s body exploded.
BOOM!
The point-blank explosion sent Adelaide’s body flying back, and she rolled across the ground.
The ruffian girl was in an even worse state. She had blocked the direct damage from the explosion, but it seemed she hadn't been able to deal with the curse that was scattered along with it and had taken the full brunt of it.
The girl’s face contorted, and her complexion turned noticeably worse.
Even so, the golden and violet mana enveloping her body growled as if to devour the curse, and it looked like she would recover in a moment. But that brief opening was enough for those who hadn't been able to find a chance to intervene due to the ferocious battle.
“Lady Adelaide, are you alright? Please step back.”
“Lady Hilda, that’s enough. There are too many eyes on us.”
Around Adelaide, Norman and the other members of the Trudvangar branch gathered.
And around the ruffian, Hilda von Lennart, about twenty knights who looked quite skilled at a glance, swarmed in, creating a standoff.
Seeing Sophia helping Adelaide up and Norman standing guard in front of them, one of Hilda’s knights scowled and spoke.
“Are you siding with that collateral branch now? That person is a dangerous individual who swung her sword without warning after our lady merely spoke to her!”
Despite the knight’s threatening demeanor, Norman responded calmly, unfazed.
“Well now. That's a little different from what I heard from our staff. I’m sure you’re aware of what it means to give up your space to another warrior. To claim that suddenly taking a position behind someone is ‘merely speaking to them’ seems to be a bit of a misrepresentation. Besides, wasn’t it Lady Hilda who dragged this into a fight when it could have ended with a verbal warning?”
“Hey, Instructor Norman!”
“Ah, enough, enough. Cut the pointless bickering.”
Hilda stopped the knight who was about to step forward in anger and pushed herself up.
Her complexion was back to normal, as if she had already dispelled the entire curse.
“Even if I was caught off guard, failing to finish it is still a failure, so I’ll count this as your win. All things considered, it was pretty fun.”
Adelaide was dumbfounded by her incredibly casual words.
Despite the friendly smile, she felt nothing but discomfort, not a hint of warmth.
An extremely self-centered and utterly selfish way of thinking and acting. The term ‘ruffian’ was not an exaggeration.
Frankly, she wasn't the type of person Adelaide wanted to talk to, but she still had something to ask Hilda.
“W-Wait! What did you mean by that earlier? That the head of the Lennart family covered up my father’s death?!”
“It’s just as I said. There were voices within the family demanding revenge, but it was Duke Lennart who buried it. Well, why don’t you just ask him yourself?”
As if that was all she had to say, Hilda and her knights departed one-sidedly.
Adelaide stared blankly at their retreating figures, then her legs seemed to give out, and she collapsed to the ground.
For her, it had truly been a day full of calamities.