Ch.217The Road to Peledias (2)

Whoosh! Whoosh!

I was vigorously swinging my sword in the training room (shortened from “physical training room”).

The heavy, elongated greatsword I wielded wasn’t the zweihander I used to carry, but rather one modeled after those of the ancient empire. Technically, it would be more accurate to call it a “great blade” rather than a greatsword.

However, since it was a double-edged sword (with both edges sharpened), it could still be considered a two-edged blade if one wanted to be precise. I continued my rigorous training, filling the inscription carved by the Sun’s Lightning with droplets of sweat.

These days, I rarely had the opportunity to wield a sword as a swordsman. More often, I found myself on the battlefield as a commander rather than a warrior, which had left my skills considerably dulled.

So much so that I’d be embarrassed to call myself Gold rank.

“Haaah…”

As I watched my sweat evaporate into steam, I was acutely reminded of how grueling the vanguard position truly was.

In truth, Raisha would also be considered part of the vanguard, but spear-wielders like her fought from the 1.5 line, making them more nimble than those of us who fought with swords or blunt weapons at the very front. The two simply couldn’t be compared one-to-one.

I’d sparred with Raisha several times, but even when I was shorter, the skill gap was such that I’d win 101 times out of 100 matches. Now that I stood at 220cm with a massive frame that could swing a giant purifier like a mop, sparring with her would only hurt her feelings.

I couldn’t spar with the ranged dealers like the elves and dwarves either. I’d tried a few matches with Simon, but I won every time.

Even when he scorched me with fire, electrocuted me with lightning, and unleashed shockwaves, I gritted my teeth and closed the distance until Simon’s spells were exhausted first.

According to Simon, even for an Aura user, there’s no answer when your nerves and muscles burn faster than they can regenerate. By that logic, I must possess far superior maintenance abilities compared to the average Aura user.

Of course, considering how I’d previously taken lightning strikes to the face without major damage to my body despite my nerves being fried, my naturally robust constitution likely played a significant role as well.

“At this rate, I’ll rust down to Bronze rank.”

I scoffed at the notion of being Gold rank as I sheathed my sword at my waist.

Originally, I carried it on my back, but one of my soldiers who was passionate about swords shouted, “A nodachi can be drawn from the waist too!” and proceeded to correct my posture.

It was quite bewildering for a knighted warrior like myself to suddenly learn proper drawing and sheathing techniques from an illiterate common soldier. However, since I was a Knight of the Sun, I couldn’t really object to following the customs of the old empire, as it seemed appropriate.

With my casual coat and the massive sword at my left hip, I resembled the samurai knight class of the ancient empire.

When I asked the Sun about my style, they said it was fashionable about 230,000 years ago… Should I get new armor? I’m not even twenty years old, and my fashion is 230,000 years outdated—that doesn’t seem right.

*

January 1, 1202.

The new year had finally dawned.

Our party held a modest celebration in the captain’s quarters, and half of the hastily prepared alcohol was gone within two hours.

With four people who had sworn vengeance against alcohol, our supplies simply couldn’t keep up with consumption.

Hmm… I don’t know what happened in their past lives, but I hope they reached some kind of amicable agreement.

“Just one more month and I’ll be 18.”

“Does that make you an adult?”

“Is it 18 or 19 years old?”

“Doesn’t it vary by country?”

“Hmm…”

Now that it was brought up, I was confused too. Was adulthood defined as 18 or 19 years old?

Since I was legally a citizen of Parcival, I would follow Parcival’s laws…

“What about in Faerus Vale?”

“19 years old.”

“Then let’s go with 19 as the adult age. You’re already married anyway, so what does it matter if you’re recognized as an adult?”

“I guess you’re right.”

Just yesterday we were making the bed springs work overtime, so what did age matter anyway?

The Rescue Knight Order didn’t particularly care about age for knighthood, so they’d been casting “Who cares?” on the various nations’ adult age requirements for thousands of years.

Sometimes tradition can be helpful.

“Well, your birthday is still far off. We’ll reach Peredias before then, right?”

“When was your birthday again?”

“February 3rd.”

“Ah… that’s cutting it close. It’s like having breakfast on the airship and lunch at the hotel.”

“Can’t you make comparisons without involving food?”

“What are you talking about! I can do it perfectly well!”

“Without alcohol too.”

“…”

“Don’t glare at me like that. What are you going to do?”

I snorted and snatched the bottle she was holding, blowing across its mouth like a trumpet.

Oh, look how smoothly it goes down. This damned woman is pouring all her money into alcohol.

“But why do you all love alcohol so much? Elves who love drinking are rare, aren’t they?”

As I asked this while exuding the strong scent of alcohol, Lucia crossed her arms and answered as if she’d been waiting for the question.

“Hehehe… It was when we were still young…”

“You’re still young now.”

“Shut up! Ahem… Anyway, we were about 30 years old? That’s when we first encountered alcohol. I don’t remember what we drank, but it was our first experience of blacking out.”

“And then?”

“So we kept drinking to find out our limits, and eventually developed a taste for it.”

I put my hand to my forehead.

Most people would have either their liver or their mind give out, or both, but these elves were unfortunately healthy in all the wrong ways. As a result, all the world’s alcohol had found its rightful owners.

I handed the bottle back to them and silently cut into my cooling meat, putting it in my mouth.

At least meat fills your stomach, while alcohol is just liquid that doesn’t even satisfy hunger. How good must it taste for them to be so addicted!

While I enjoy apple brandy or stout beer as a preference, they consume alcohol as if they’re trying to meet all their metabolic energy needs with it. It’s enough to make anyone worry, party or not.

“If your liver gets ruined, just replace it!”

“Let’s drink! Bomb shots!”

But these elves were inhaling the bomb shots mixed by the dwarves as if slurping noodles, making me seriously consider changing the term “food expenses” to “liquor expenses.”

And then…

BOOM!

CRACK!

“W-what’s happening?!”

CRASH! CLANG!

Suddenly, with a thunderous noise, the ship began to shake, and expensive bottles of alcohol rolled onto the floor, spilling their red and clear contents.

“No! My alcohol!!!”

“Is that really important right now, you alcoholic?! Control room! What’s happening?!”

[My lord! We’re under attack from the ground! Anti-aircraft batteries are firing at us!]

“Anti-aircraft guns…!?”

Why would there suddenly be anti-aircraft guns in the middle of nowhere?

“Anti-aircraft batteries” meant multiple guns, and the forces that would attack my unaffiliated Sky Warden…

Damn it. There were more than I thought.

Starting with my unusual constitution, to being the only apostle of the now-extinct Sun faith—there were religious reasons too.

From “Let’s kidnap him and use him as a ruin slave!” to “Let’s kill him and make a name for ourselves in the name of the Four Great Gods!”—there were far too many reasons.

“Argh! What are our gunners doing?! Return fire! I said return fire!”

[Yes, sir!]

Frustrating fools!

We’d gotten too relaxed because of the new year. I should have anticipated an attack like this…!

BOOM! KABOOM!

Shortly after, the 60 203mm naval guns mounted on 20 turrets began spewing fire.

The guns fired relentlessly downward, as if intending to incinerate the entire land. After an hour of bombardment, the anti-aircraft batteries that had been attacking us had vanished without a trace.

“What’s going on? They couldn’t have missed seeing the Sky Warden’s turrets and armor… Was it a decoy?”

If they were going to die this easily, there would have been no reason to bombard us in the first place.

There were some injuries, but no fatalities, and their bombardment had only left scratches on our armor.

As I was trying to figure out the reason for this seemingly suicidal attack…

[Lord Victor!!!]

A piercing scream came through the voice tube, confirming my suspicion that the ground attack had been a decoy.

“What is it?!”

[Multiple aircraft approaching from the rear! Boarding attack!]

“Gather the soldiers! Send defensive forces to each section! What’s the enemy’s scale?!”

[About 60 craft in total! Judging by their size, approximately 30 people each!]

60 × 30 was 1,800 people.

They wouldn’t have thought to assault a battleship of this size with regular soldiers, so they were likely all Aura users.

“Inform the soldiers! The enemies are likely Aura users! I won’t question damage to the ship, so use all available firepower to stop them!”

[Understood!]

WEEEEEEEE!

With those words, the emergency siren sounded, and armed soldiers began running outside the captain’s quarters, fortifying defensive positions.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

[Close defense systems are currently active. Intercepting enemy aircraft!]

Through the window, I could see tracer rounds and transport ships performing aerobatic maneuvers to avoid them.

Soon after, the ship began to shake violently, and screams erupted from the control room.

[Hull breach! Hull breach! The enemies have infiltrated!]