Master’s Smile

Ritter swung her sword and blew away the surrounding dust cloud.

A small cut had formed on her cheek.

She was unable to completely block Theldorff’s wind slash at first sight.

“Hou? Most people who got hit by this technique for the first time would be down with a single blow.”

“…I see.”

Theldorff’s praise did not reach Ritter’s ears.

Her attention was currently on the sword he was holding.

The Magic Sword of Wind, Fulbred.

That was the name of the sword that he wielded.

As the name implied, it was an outstanding magic sword that could manipulate the wind, and it was given to him as a proof of being the knight commander of Evans Kingdom.

Although inferior to the holy sword held by Yuuto, a former hero who had returned to another world, it was a magic sword that had made its name known even in neighboring nations.

“Fuhah! Finally getting serious, aren’t you, Theldorff? I’m sorry, Neena. I guess I will win this duel.”

“T-The match has not been decided yet…!!”

“Don’t be unreasonable. A magic sword gives its wielder great power just by holding it. On the other hand, her sword is not a magic sword, is it?

“……!!”

As Lintz said, the sword Ritter had was not a magic sword, even though it was forged by a master craftsman.

It was certainly strong and sharp, but compared to a magic sword, the difference in its performance was like heaven and earth

Thus, even Neena, who had complete faith in Ritter, could not immediately argue with him.

“I won’t give you any time to attack.”

“……!!”

Theldorff swung his Fulbred.

Then, a sharp wind blade flew out once again, closing in to cut Ritter in two.

Yet, Ritter avoided it nimbly while thinking of what countermeasures she could take.

When facing a person who uses a magic sword, most people resort to a battle of attrition.

In exchange for giving the wielder a powerful sword, the sword requires a tremendous amount of mana and vitality.

While a holy sword only gives blessings and divine protection to the user, a magic sword demands an appropriate price in exchange for its power.

Of course, a magic sword has the advantage that it can be handled basically by anyone, unlike the holy sword, which cannot be used unless it recognizes the wielder.

Hence, as long as one keeps their distance and buys time, their opponent will run out of magical power and self-destruct.

That is why attrition battle was the most popular and reasonable strategy, however….

“(Common practice, can’t be applied to that sword.)”

Ritter had realized with just their short fight.

The reason for this was Fulbred’s power.

Fulbred is a magic sword that manipulates the wind.

It collects wind in all the wielder’s surroundings and uses it to attack.

Hence, the sword consumes less mana and vitality as there is no need to create something from scratch.

Although a great amount of mana would still be taken away, a leader of the royal knights could handle the cost easily.

“(Can’t do attrition,… what to do?)”

“Absorbed in your thoughts? Seems like you have plenty of time to spare.”

“Khh…!!”

Once again, a powerful slash came flying at Ritter.

She managed to block it with her sword, but she was now quite separated from him.

And then something even worse happened.

“The sword….”

Ritter glanced at her sword that caught the slash.

It had a crack, albeit a small one.

The power of Fulbred, a sword that was also forged by a master craftsman, to crack a sword with two strikes was dreadful.

“…You won’t be able to fight with that sword anymore, will you? Surrender. Prince Lintz has not given me an order to take your life.”

“…….”

“Do you owe Princess Neena that much?”

“None.”

Ritter answered his question with no hesitation.

It would have been a great shock to Neena if she had heard it.

Theldorff seemed to think that Ritter’s reason to fight was her loyalty to Neena, which was a huge misinterpretation.

“I will never forgive anyone who tried to touch my master.”

Ritter’s principle of action was thus very clear and concise.

Therefore, even if her sword was cracked, she had no reason to stop fighting.

“……!!”

Ritter’s next move was so fast that even Theldorff, who had plenty of combat experience across many battlefields, could not even grasp it.

Her thrust was aimed precisely at his heart, a fatal blow that would have killed many without any reaction.

Yet, It could not reach Theldorff, who was equipped with Fulbred.

“ーーー”

A vain crackling sound echoed.

And something glittering fell to the ground.

“H-Her sword…!?!”

Neena’s incredulous voice resounded and Lintz’s smile widened as he thought it was amusing.

Ritter’s stab was so perfect that there was no way to prevent it.

But Theldorff, who could move many times faster than usual by using Fulbred, was easily able to block the attack.

“…Too bad.”

Then, a gale blew up from the ground where Ritter was standing.

Still stunned seeing her sword shattered into pieces, Ritter was unable to avoid it and her light body was lifted into the air.

“It’s over.”

Theldorff muttered somewhat ruefully, though still expressionless, and waved his sword.

A wind blade blew and struck Ritter.

She could not avoid it as she was thrown into the air, and since her sword was broken, she could not even block it.

It was truly a situation in which there was nothing more that could be done.

“RITTER!!”

Neena’s scream echoed, but there was nothing she could do.

A deadly wind blade struck Ritter while Lintz was smiling broadly, confident of his victory.

But that didn’t happen.

“Wha-…!?!”

His smile changed and his face turned blue as he was frozen still.

The reason for this was Ritter had calmly landed on the ground without being cut to pieces by the slash.

What happened to the so-called one-hit Fulbred?

There should have been no way to avoid or block that attack.

Did Theldorff go easy on her?

Lintz glared at him while thinking so, but even Theldorff himself widened his eyes in disbelief.

Even he, who normally had a poker face and did not show much emotion, was extremely surprised.

No, he was not astonished that his wind blade had been blocked, but rather he was astonished at the way Ritter had defended against it.

“W-What’s with that arm…?”

The cause of the leader of kingdom knights choked on his words.

It was from Ritter’s grotesque left arm.