Editor 111

Tristain Order of Knights (4)

‘Is it here!!!’

Cleio, without thinking, activated [Perception] first. As if it had been waiting, ‘Promise’ flashed.

[“Young Python
?Classification: Monster
?Level: 5″]

Without caring that the milk tea bottle rolled away, Cleio sprang to his feet.

The children also drew their swords without hesitation and formed up in the formation they had carefully discussed every night.

Chel and the twins spread out from Isiel and Arthur, then covered Cleio.

Cleio quickly pulled out a piece of mana crystal bronze from his subspace wallet and gripped it, holding his wand in the other hand. Now that the monster Python was close, this was the chance.

Swoooosh.

Whether it was caused by the monster or just the mountain weather’s fickleness, a tremendous gust whipped the children’s hair and Cleio’s coat.

Chel, right beside Cleio, grabbed and steadied him as he staggered. Chel’s strong arm, supporting Cleio, was hot from the excitement of battle.

Meanwhile, a pitch-black reptile, mouth agape, came rushing at the children, scales flaring.

Sharp teeth gleamed in the monster’s open mouth, and the claws on its fore and hind legs looked threatening enough to tear Cleio’s neck with ease.

Even in this crisis, Cleio felt a strange sense of calm.

[Perception] always made the flow of time feel slow, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Chel’s body heat holding his elbow, and the fighting spirit of the twins gripping their rapiers and short swords in right and left hands, were with Cleio.

‘…I’m something else. Relying on the kids.’

It was a feeling that was both unfamiliar and ticklish.

In his previous life, he might have been someone others relied on, but he never relied on anyone himself. Life was something you took responsibility for alone. Your own troubles, your family’s woes.

But in this world, he was just a second son whom no one expected anything of, a sickly child with no responsibilities. Everything he did was beyond duty, extracurricular activity.

Even if he failed to achieve the goal known only to him and the author, it wouldn’t mean a miserable life would continue. Even the narrative’s ending, where everything ended if things went wrong, didn’t feel so bad. Thinking that way, his heart felt lighter.

Maybe because he was calm, he was less confused when casting magic.

Swaaaah!

The ether vessel he’d steadily circulated and expanded so far poured out all its mana at once.

A gold light, blinding enough to make one close their eyes, manifested Cleio’s four-fold spell formula in the bleak winter forest. It was a light that would be imprinted inside your eyelids even if you closed your eyes.

A new spell created from the combination of four formulas: [Attribute Amplification][Tracking][Throw][Acceleration].

The mana crystal bronze fragment was thrown.

Cleio’s voice, roughened by the cold, recited an incantation the children were hearing for the first time.

[“Behold the god of the unerring bow,
God of life, poetry, and light,
The Sun incarnate upon human limbs,
A shaft shining with divine vengeance is loosed!”]

1)

Ssshhhhhk—

The arrow, cloaked in abundant ether, veered just like the Python’s sudden turn, digging between its flapping scales.

Pshht!

Kieeeeeeeek!

With a smell like rotting grass and flowers, a few drops of blood splattered.

With an arrow stuck in its back, the Python twisted its body and lost altitude, and Arthur, having fully [Enhanced] his body, sprang up with all his might. He pushed off so powerfully the ground caved in.

It was Arthur’s first real action since finals. Apparently he hadn’t neglected his training even during vacation, as ether trailed after him like a path.

Wham!

Arthur barely managed to grab the Python’s tail.

Kueeeek!

The Python wasn’t as big as expected, about twice the size of an adult man. With its tail grabbed, the monster lost balance and started zigzagging down, Arthur hanging on.

Arthur was shaken so violently anyone watching would feel sick, but he never let go.

He even managed to stab his sword while hanging on. The blade and scales clashed, sparking.

After a couple of missed attempts, he finally managed to tear open one of the monster’s belly scales.

Kiiiieek!

The Python, scales upturned, thrashed madly trying to throw Arthur off. Arthur clung on desperately.

Isiel, who had been crouched and watching Arthur’s moves, stood and leapt nimbly.

Ether wrapped around Melamid’s sword, a sharp aura forming. Isiel’s swordplay had also improved since finals.

As Arthur and the monster came close,

Thud!

Isiel’s sword plunged deep between the belly scales Arthur had upended.

Kweeeeek! Kwek!

With a scream that shook the earth, the Python spread its wings wide. Arthur, unable to hold on, tumbled to the ground, and Isiel, clinging to her sword’s grip, had her shoulder grazed by the monster’s claw.

Even so, Isiel gripped her sword with both hands, tearing the monster’s belly open little by little.

Splat!

At last, half the monster’s lower belly burst open, blood gushing out. The monster’s purple blood soaked Isiel’s upper body.

Isiel fell, still gripping Melamid’s sword tightly. She landed inside the circle’s range. Cleio quickly cast [Deceleration] to prevent her from getting hurt.

Arthur, recovering quickly, leapt again, plunging Begg’s sword into the Python’s opened belly.

Clinging to the monster like a leaf in a storm, Arthur pressed in, pushing the blade toward the heart with his body weight.

The monster, having its guts ripped out, made an ear-splitting noise as its wings beat wildly.

Clang!

As the Python tried to slash Arthur with its sharp hind claws, Lifi’s thrown short sword caught between the monster’s left hind claws.

“Even if it can’t cut, that will stop its toes from bending!”

Leticia, too, using her hunting-honed skills, threw her short sword to immobilize the remaining hind leg.

The monster kicked its short legs, trying to dislodge the short swords wedged between its claws. The twins’ mana crystal swords were about to snap.

But they bought a few seconds.

Chel, gauging the distance, stepped on the temporary stairs and vaulted up to the top of the moat.

“Lifi, Leticia! Protect Cleio!”

The Python was flying below the moat. As it managed to gain altitude and approach, Chel jumped down.

Leticia shouted,

“Be careful!”

Sliding down, Chel landed on the monster’s back and, with all her strength, grabbed the black snake’s neck.

To prevent the monster from biting with its flexible body, she gripped the end and hilt of her sheathed sword with both hands and wedged it horizontally between the monster’s open jaws.

Crunch!

Chel’s sword shook as if it would break any moment. The sheath was already dented from the teeth. The short swords pinning the toes shattered.

Taking that chance, Chel drew her sword and, aiming for the spot Cleio’s arrow had hit, forced about a third of the blade into the Python’s back.

Kraaaak!

The monster, now freed, raked Arthur’s back with its claws. Without [Enhancement] by ether, his spine would have been ripped open.

But Arthur didn’t stop pushing his sword toward the Python’s heart. The monster’s blood rained down all over the moat. Its screams were now almost death throes.

Kiiiiiik

Sharp scales stood up on the Python’s wings, slashing Chel’s arms and back countless times.

At last, as the monster flipped over with its belly to the sky, Arthur clamped his strong legs around its belly and pushed his blade up to its right-side heart.

Unable to cut the scales, the sword’s path was wobbly and slow. Arthur, too, was wounded and started to bleed from both arms.

He had [Enhanced], but focusing ether on his sword had clearly weakened his defense.

Worried Arthur might be badly hurt, Cleio prepared to cast another attack spell.

[Perception] detected the light footsteps of knights running this way.

‘It’s important to show Arthur’s great skills, but what’s the point if he gets killed!’

The Python, rampaging madly, darted in and out of Cleio’s circle range.

Just as Arthur’s wounds threatened to worsen and Cleio was about to intervene, the monster finally began to fall!

Kieeeeeek!

With the monster between them, Chel and Arthur crashed to the ground, as if embracing each other.

Cleio withdrew his attack spell and cast [Deceleration] at maximum speed.

Between the two, wrapped in light, the monster disintegrated into black ash.

Thud.

Thump.

Only Arthur and Chel lay sprawled on the bottom of the moat.

Cleio used [Leap] to dash to them, then immediately cast [Hemostasis][Healing].

He chanted the incantation so fast in his haste it sounded almost like rap.

Swoooosh—

Their wounds were deeper than expected, and the ether drained so much Cleio’s knees buckled. Quick-witted Isiel grabbed Cleio and kept him from collapsing on the ground.

The spell scattered his vision for a good while before finally healing all the children’s wounds and fading.

Gasping as if about to cough up a lung, Chel and Arthur rolled around in sweat and blood, but grinned broadly.

“Having a mage on our team is just crazy good! I’m totally fine now!”

“I feel like I could go dig the rest of the moat right now!”

Arthur and Chel, lying down, bragged about being the healthier one, both looking equally battered.

“Don’t get cocky. Even if I’ve healed you with magic, you need to stabilize your ether and take it easy for a day. Don’t go running wild!”

“Ah! Yes, Mage.”

“And Isiel! You too, come here.”

“My wound isn’t deep.”

“No backtalk.”

Estimating his remaining ether, Cleio grabbed Isiel, who was about to slip away, and cast the spell.

The wound from the monster’s claw was narrow but deep. Ether lingered long on her shoulder.

‘Not deep, my foot. What is on those monster claws that drains the kids’ stamina so much?’

Only after Isiel’s treatment was done did the Tristain knights and soldiers arrive at the moat, a step too late.

“Are you all right!?”

“The kids took down a monster by themselves!”

“We really need to station more personnel at the castle!”

The knights staying in the quarters were all more or less injured, so even the seasoned northern knights couldn’t reach the moat in an instant.

They had run as fast as possible, but injured knights, clad in mana crystal iron armor, had their limits.

Still, once on site, their response was swift and organized.

“Secure the front, make sure there are no more monsters.”

“Did you bring a medic!”

“Here!”

Unintentionally, everyone in the castle had ended up watching the children’s fight with the monster from afar, and all wore grave expressions.

A knight with a scar running from under his chin to his neck set down the apprentice mage he’d carried under his arm. The apprentice mage staggered over to Arthur and Chel, who hadn’t gotten up yet.

The apprentice mage looked nauseated, exhausted even from being carried by the knight. On top of that, the unique stench of monster blood seemed to make him want to vomit.

Fighting the urge to retch, the apprentice mage fumbled with Arthur and Chel’s clothes, then suddenly stopped.

The knight urged the apprentice mage.

“The wounds?”

“…Just a moment.”

The mage, barely upright, asked Isiel for permission in a trembling voice.

Since no one would believe they were fine anyway, Isiel, thinking it was a step they had to go through, bent down for the short apprentice mage.

Still, the mage couldn’t stop trembling with nerves.

Pulling aside Isiel’s hair, soaked and drying stiff with monster blood, and checking her shoulder thoroughly, the mage was left looking stunned.

“Um…”

“Answer quickly. Depending on the type of wound, we may need to carry them lying down.”

“There are no wounds. All three are completely fine.”

“What?!”

1) “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” G. B. Byron, adapted.