Volume 4 - CH 4

Not only their combat strength, based on the way they erased their presence and the Pressure, this opponent seemed to be an expert.

Judging from the feedback just now and the combat strength, the opponent seemed to be a rank 4 scout type assassin.

This enemy had no “hesitation”. There was no hesitation in their action because they had firm “conviction” and strong “will” to carry it out.

That kind of enemy would be more dangerous than their combat strength value suggested.

Inside the dark forest, both of us only caught sight of the “enemy” for an instant. I had lost sight of the enemy, while the enemy knew that I was hiding behind this tree.

It was disadvantageous that I was a step behind. With that conclusion I threw the scythe shaped pendulum to stick on the branch above me, then used the string to jump on the tree in one leap.

But, it seemed the opponent also thought the same. Something small flew from the tree somewhere at the same time when I leaped. I could hear the sound of the object cutting through the air.

「──tsu!」

It wasn’t a knife? I didn’t know what it actually was but I judged that it would be bad to block it. I used my momentum of leaping up to jump to another tree. Then the sound of something hitting resounded from the tree I was just at.

Unknown opponent and weapon……even so I had got a general idea of where the opponent was hiding. I threw the all-purpose type pendulum.

I controlled the string with my fingertip’s movement and mana to circle around the tree trunk. There was a faint sound of blade deflecting metal and a silhouette flew out from there.

Although I could “see” with Night Vision, the opponent’s Stealth level was high so I could only see an outline.

But, that was enough in a “battle to the death”. I quickly threw the knife I pulled out from the slit of my skirt to that silhouette, then the wind magic particles around the silhouette whirled like air current and diverted the knife I threw.

But without even any time to feel surprised of that, I felt that something was thrown from the silhouette again. I dodged by using a tree as my shield. I felt how something hard sunk into the trunk’s surface.

This is……”Pebble”? So this is that attack’s true identity.

Throwing pebble was weaker than throwing knife but, in the hand of an expert, a small lump of metal with its end sharpened could easily pierce through human’s skin and dug into the flesh. It was a type of hidden weapon that was difficult to use.

What was troublesome about it was how it could be thrown without any preliminary motion. It was difficult to dodge and gave intense pain if it landed. The bleeding it caused would also be difficult to stop.

And then what diverted my knife must be wind element sorcery Air Curtain. This was a sorcery to deploy wind barrier around the caster to defend against arrow, but being able to use it needed level 2 sorcery at minimum. I better kept in mind that my throwing weapons other than the pendulum would be neutralized by it.

This opponent was more troublesome than expected but, there was still a way to fight them if that was the case.

「──Illusion──」

I jumped from tree to tree while unleashing the level 4 darkness magic, Illusion that I had been forming. With my skill level I still couldn’t make an illusion of living thing that looked natural, but it was a different story inside this “darkness”.

*BUN-*……I created the presences of 『bees flying around angrily』 at the surrounding. The silhouette jumped away at that moment. I kicked on the trunk of nearby tree and leaped toward the silhouette. We crossed at midair where we both exchanged a kick at each other.

*BASHIN!*

The opponent’s kick hit my shoulder. My kick sent them flying from landing on their side.

But, not yet. I could still attack while we both were still floating in the air.

It was an aerial maneuver that I made based on a snap decision and intuition. I swung my leg strongly on empty air and changed my posture midair.

『──!?』

The silhouette was bewildered for a moment seeing my impossible movement. My martial art was from the direct teaching of masterSerjura. Master was feared as the 『War Demon』 and survived the battlefield using her sorcery and this martial art.

I aimed at the silhouette with my black dagger after changing posture. But, the bewildered opponent also immediately readied their knife and we clashed before bouncing from each other.

So the opponent became level 4 from Martial Art and Short Sword Skill huh. I too had reached level 4 in Martial Art but I couldn’t overwhelm the opponent with my level 3 Short Sword Skill. The distance was widened once more between us.

The silhouette fired their pebble in that moment. This time I swung my arms to rotate and dodge. I used that momentum to throw weighted pendulum, added the centrifugal force into its weight and it mowed the surrounding tree branches while breaking through the silhouette’s protection of wind.

『──tsu!』

The opponent let a little breath escaped from their mouth. The silhouette finally fell to the ground.

……Woman? That possibility seemed high based on the body weight and body shape that I felt when we exchanged kick with each other. I immediately switched to a fighting style that favored speed.

I also dropped to the ground. The opponent aimed at that moment and fired a pebble. Without any pause I rolled aside to evade while making my weighted pendulum struck again right from above the silhouette.

「──tsu!」

But the opponent slid to the side with her unstable posture after falling on the ground. She dodged the pendulum and fired magic particles of wind in the shape of “a line”.

Wind Cutter! Gelf’s armor wouldn’t be torn even if I received it head on, but it would make me stunned for an instant. Who knew how the opponent would attack using that opening.

「──Shield──」

I parried the Wind Cutter with Shield that I deployed just for an instant in the timing that matched the wind magic particles that I could see with my “eye”.

「──Shadow──」

“I” split into two inside this dark forest. It should be difficult to tell apart which one was the real me with Night Vision here. Even so the opponent would be able to tell if she look carefully, but the silhouette was unwilling to waste time making decision and attacked both simultaneously with pebbles.

The shadow was hit by pebble and vanished. But I slid forward to dodge the pebble and closed in during that instant and lunged with my black dagger. The opponent showed footwork to slide to the side again and dodged my blade. She also swung down her knife in the same motion.

It was a close quarter combat with the distance so short that our body was rubbing each other. The silhouette and I only aimed at vital spot to kill the other with one attack without even any feint. We both dodged each other’s attack with a paper thin difference.

I also used sliding footwork to dodge the swinging down knife. I lowered my posture like a cat and kicked the ground before knocking her off her feet using my whole body’s momentum. The opponent’s long skirt fluttered as she cartwheeled to the side to evade while opening the distance once more.

「…………」

That movement……it was familiar somehow. The opponent seemed to feel the same. Between us one or two seconds……an odd “pause” was created.

In that moment, my Detection sensed multiple people approaching.

『Over here-!』

Four assailants in black armor……nuisance. I kicked the ground the instant I thought that and spun as though I was rolling at low altitude while throwing my scythe shaped pendulum.

The man in black running at the forefront dodged the blade just barely, but I pulled the string in that instant and the sickle shaped blade tore the man’s carotid artery.

Without pause I grabbed the ground with both hands and bent my whole body before shooting off. I kicked the leg of another man, rolled, and planted my black dagger between his eyebrows until the hilt, killing him.

Two men remaining……when I searched for their presence, the remaining two men in black were pierced by pebbles and they froze from the pain. The silhouette rushed in that moment and grappled them down, breaking their neck in the process.

.

「「…………」」

Even while using Stealth and putting up our guard toward each other inside the dark forest, we withdrew our killing intent at the same time and observed each other. Then I muttered that “name” with conviction.

「……Sera?」

「……So you’re really Aria. I thought that “perhaps……” in the middle there.」

We confirmed each other’s identity and released our Stealth to show ourselves.

「Long time no see……Sera.」

「Long time no see but, I can’t believe that you’ve become this strong in less than three years……」

It was just for a short period but, Sera not only taught me stealth fighting and martial art, but also various things that were useful for living.

「But, why are you here?」

「You didn’t hear from Viro? I joined “Rainbow Sword” in order to participate in that request.」

Sera’s eyes clearly widened even within the darkness when I said that. She then let out an exhausted sigh.

「I heard about your survival from Viro. But, it looks like he invited you to “Rainbow Sword” not to “protect” but to “secure” you. It seems Viro intentionally concealed your growing strength from us.」

Viro didn’t tell them about my information completely. It seemed Sera thought that Viro kept quiet in order to secure me but, most likely that wasn’t all.

There was a distance of several meters between us as though to show that.

「Aria, I heard about how Grave attacked you. That’s why, I can also understand why you’re unable to trust us.」

「I hold no negative thinking for Sera personally. But, the black ops is a different matter. I harbor no hostility to them, and I’ll also accept request like Viro depending on its content but, I won’t return to there.」

I think Viro realized that Sera would invite me to black ops again if she knew about my growth. But he invited me to Rainbow Sword not only to secure myself for his own party, but also to give me a reason to refuse the black ops’ invitation knowing that I still really didn’t trust them.

「……Is that so. Even so……」

Sera let out another short sigh and stared fixedly at me.

「To think that you manage to catch up to me in just three years. I could never even imagine it.」

「I think I still haven’t caught up in close quarter combat though?」

「It’s annoying to know that Viro has snatched you first but, if you’re in the Rainbow Sword then surely you’ll be able to grow even stronger. It’s unfortunate for my son who is trying to catch up to you though……」

「……?」

Sera sighed again when I tilted my head in puzzlement. She pressed her finger on her forehead as though she had a headache.

「You’ve also grown beautiful. You still haven’t cut your hair huh.」

「Because I “promised” Sera and Seo……」

I rarely cut my hair and allowed it to grow long because I had made a promise with the two of them.

It made me realized that I really trusted the two of them……. Come to think of it, how is Seo doing?

When I mentioned the 『promise』, Sera’s gaze on me softened and the violent atmosphere from our attempt to kill each other just now was slightly abating.

But right now shouldn’t be the time for this. Sera also tightened her expression and lightly brushed the dust on her maid uniform. She turned her gaze to somewhere.

「There is no time to have an idle talk in this kind of place. I think the assailants who attacked us just now are all of them, but for Aria to be here means that the other members of “Rainbow Sword” are also here correct?」

「Only Feld……the swordsman and I came here to assist. He prioritized annihilating the enemy on the way here, so I think he’ll finish quickly as long as there’s nobody at Sera’s level among the opponents. ……Who are these people?」

「First, I’m going to confirm the safety of the “royalty”, so please come along with me if you’re a member of “Rainbow Sword. I’ll explain a little while walking.」

「Roger.」

She said 『royalty』, which meant a member of royal family was here just as I thought. But, Sera should mention name if it was Elena who was here.

Was Elena not here? Even so I couldn’t imagine Sera getting assigned as servant to any other royalty than a queen or Elena. I also couldn’t imagine a queen coming to this kind of place.

Then who was the royalty who came here?

「I’ll explain simply.」

We moved glidingly without any sound inside the dark forest while Sera explained the situation to me in simple term.

The current royal family’s capability to act as unifying force of the kingdom was declining due to a certain “reason”.

The surface reason was that the first queen’s origin was from a noble house with low status, so the influential high ranked nobles who belonged to the “noble faction” were feeling anxious about that first queen’s son the crown prince becoming the next king and they were harboring animosity.

In order to stabilize the royal family’s power, apparently the royalties who hadn’t even attended the academy and the fiancées of the crown prince were ordered to enter dungeon to obtain something from there, but that 『exploration of large scale dungeon』 that was kept secret from the nobles in general got sniffed out by the noble faction and they schemed to attack the crown prince using this chance.

The central branch of assassin guild dispatched Tabatha to the merchant guild was a part of the scheme of noble faction that was hostile to the royal family as expected.

「We’ve also heard from Viro how the assassin guild was planning to attack. Taking that into consideration, that person suggested using themselves as a bait in order to keep his highness the crown prince safe.」

It was unknown whether the noble faction planned to assassinate the crown prince so that someone convenient for them could be the next crown prince or to capture him and make him obedient to them, but the royal family that picked up on that plan apparently tried to make use of it to trap the noble faction.

So that was why the number of guards here wasn’t that many……it seemed they had chosen knights with considerable skill to come along but, even that knight who I saved said that the enemy was 『more than expected』.

Even so seeing that this group was travelling incognito, it might be difficult to bring more guards than that…….

「That’s a pretty reckless plan.」

「I reckon the reason the number of enemy surpassed our expectation was because the assassin guild that originally should be trusted with carrying out the plan had washed out their hands of it. The assailants’ number is unexpected, but they are unable to prepare quality, and only managed to prepare quantity with no regard of anything else. That too was most likely caused by you……the “Ash Crowned Princess” interfering.」

「I see……」

From the start the central branch of assassin guild didn’t try anything with me. Even so there was still an attack on me. It might be the arbitrary decision of Tabatha who was a former member of the northern frontier branch.

But because of that it became known that I was being involved and that might be why the central branch washed off their hands from this. Sera too had anticipated that assassins would come attacking and laid in wait with a small number of elite knights, but it seemed that it proved too much for them when the number of assailants was three times more than anticipated.

「And, who is that 『royalty』 you’re referring to?」

「About that, you should meet them directly to ascertain it. Normally it won’t be permitted but, “Rainbow Sword” is just that famous of a party.」

.

After that we came out to a dark road and saw a large carriage being guarded by several knights.

The knights warily raised their weapon when we approached but, as we got closer they realized that one of us was Sera and they sighed in relieve.

「Mrs. Sera, you’re safe-! What about the assailants……」

That knight ran toward Sera and talked to her. He turned a questioning gaze toward me even while doing that. Sera noticed that and explained to him with a reassuring tone.

「This person is a member of “Rainbow Sword” that his majesty and his excellency the prime minister requested to join us this time. The assailants at that side has been taken care of with their help. And, how is “her highness” doing?」

「So she’s from that party-! Pardon me, but you look very young. As for her highness──」

「──Aria?」

A girl’s voice lightly called out at that timing. A blonde haired girl who looked similar in age with my current appearance appeared from the carriage.

「Elena……sama?」

「As I thought it’s Aria……」

Claydale Kingdom’s first princess, Elena Claydale.

Before her body was so weak that she even needed to rest at quiet place, but it seemed that she had recovered greatly in these three years. She had turned eleven like me and now she was growing into the appearance of thirteen or fourteen years old just like me who was growing quicker thanks to mana.

We both stared at each other’s appearance that didn’t look like little girl anymore. Elena smiled brightly while looking a little bit like she was going to cry. Just as she was about to take a step toward me──

「Stop Elena-!」

There was a voice that called at her to stop. Then a man who seemed to be at the middle of his twenties leaped down from the carriage and stood in front of me as though to cover for Elena.

「Uncle-」

「You mustn’t approach an outsider so carelessly, Elena. She seems to be your acquaintance but, judging from her outfit she must be a thuggish adventurer. You there, what’s your purpose for getting this close-!」

That man put himself in front of Elena protectively while pulling out an elegant short sword from his waist and pointed it at me.

「……『Uncle』?」

Was he a noble from somewhere who was Elena’s blood relative? He had wavy blond hair and deep blue eyes. The features of his face were certainly similar with Elena.

When I muttered that and turned my gaze to Elena behind him, she sighed and nodded quietly before announcing his identity.

「Yes, that’s right. This person is father……his majesty’s youngest brother, the royal brother, Prince Amor Claydale.」