Ch.226226. Peter and the Demon Sword (1)

Three years after the Manticore attack.

Whoosh—thud!

Peter, now 17 years old and noticeably more mature in appearance, was living as a squire in the home of his swordsmanship master, the retired knight Beartelo.

While attending to Beartelo, who lived alone without servants, Peter was also training in the skills required of a knight.

Whoosh—thud! Whoosh—thud! Whoooosh—THUD!!!

In the training yard behind Beartelo’s house, Peter was swinging his wooden sword at a practice dummy, reviewing the longsword techniques his master had taught him.

It was a classical swordsmanship that utilized the entire blade—cutting, thrusting, pushing, and pulling—combined with methods for dealing with battlefields where magical powers were actively used, making it both fantastical yet sometimes practical.

As Peter was practicing his swordsmanship in Beartelo’s backyard, a somehow familiar chattering voice reached his ears.

A girl with a bright, refreshing, beautiful voice that sounded like mountain birds chirping.

“Peeeeterrrrr~~~♡!!!”

Jumping over the gate in the yard’s fence and calling the boy’s name, the girl who ran into his arms was Laila, a priestess of Debona and his girlfriend.

In three years, she had not only become a formal priestess but had risen to the unique position of a priestess permitted to engage in outside activities, showing her exceptional talent. However…

“Hello, Laila. I was training… is the sweat smell okay?”

“I don’t mind because it’s you… I love you♡.”

Seeing her cling to Peter and express her affection like this, she didn’t seem much different from any other girl her age.

As the two embraced like typical teenagers, Peter’s master Beartelo entered through the open gate and said:

“That’s enough, both of you. It’s fine that you love each other, but don’t do it in front of me—it’s unpleasant to watch.”

At Beartelo’s gruff remark, the two returned from their rainbow-colored mental landscape and, after gazing at each other somewhat regretfully, finally put some distance between them.

“…Tch.”

Looking at the two with apparent dissatisfaction, Beartelo tossed something like a pouch to Peter and spoke.

“Peter! Get ready to go out. It’s practical training time.”

“Then Laila too…?”

“Yes, I called her just in case you need fixing up.”

Recalling Laila wearing chain mail underneath her somewhat loose priestess robe, Peter nodded in understanding and was about to head inside to gather his equipment when he decided to open the pouch.

Inside were coco seeds, raw materials for fatigue recovery potions.

Though not as effective as a potion, these seeds could help relieve fatigue. Peter expressed his gratitude to Beartelo for the thoughtful gift.

“Thank you, Master!”

“…Ahem! This kid, really.”

Perhaps feeling embarrassed, Beartelo cleared his throat unnecessarily and deliberately turned his head away.

※ ※ ※

Shortly after.

Once Peter had gathered his equipment, they headed to a nearby ruin for practical training—in other words, field practice.

This ruin, which looked like an ancient temple half-collapsed, was actually just an empty shell that had been thoroughly picked clean long ago despite its grand appearance.

Too unremarkable to be a tourist attraction yet inconveniently distant, and somewhat dangerous due to its location in the middle of a forest, it had been abandoned. However…

For one reason, this ruin had gained attention as a training spot for some knights.

“Hah!”

Claaang!!!

That reason was precisely the guardian golems that Peter was currently fighting.

Throughout the ruins were several golems, presumably created to guard the site. These were medium-sized stone golems in humanoid form, carrying weapons.

However, they seemed to have deteriorated over time—their bodies were quite soft for stone, and their overall abilities had declined, displaying combat power between levels 7 and 8.

Additionally, although these golems regenerated when destroyed due to the ruin’s facilities, they merely regenerated without any magical value, disappointing mages who had come with expectations.

In this ruin, which seemed almost deliberately designed for training low-level warriors, Peter was fighting a golem armed with a longsword, wielding his own longsword as usual.

“———!!”

Claaang!!!

Or more precisely, he was refining his swordsmanship by exchanging blows with it.

The golem Peter was currently facing was roughly at the lower end of level 7, with significantly decreased physical capabilities but reasonably preserved sword skills.

Thanks to this, he could easily finish it by wrapping his sword with magical power if he wanted to, but there was no better opponent for honing his sword skills through practice.

“Hoo—haah——!”

—Crack.

When Beartelo, judging it was time to finish, gave the signal, Peter immediately confirmed it and swung his sword, cutting the golem in half.

Thud!

Thanks to the abundant magical power he had infused, the golem’s upper body was completely severed along with the sword. As Peter was sheathing his longsword after cutting down the golem…

“Peeeeterrrr♡!!”

Laila, who had been anxiously watching him from behind, clung to him and asked with eyes full of concern and a hint of personal interest:

“A-are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m fine.”

Seeing the couple exuding such an obvious atmosphere after being separated for just a few minutes, Beartelo was about to sigh inwardly and mutter about the world going to ruin when…

“———?!! Both of you, get away!!”

Suddenly sensing something ominous approaching, he shouted urgently—

—GROOOOOOOOAR!!!

From the forest surrounding the ruins, a massive beast resembling a bear suddenly burst forth.

This beast, which appeared with a roar infused with the distinctive magical energy of mid-level magical beasts, was several meters larger than an ordinary bear and covered with something resembling armadillo plates.

“…It’s an Armored Bear! Fall back!”

A tough brute among mid-level magical beasts, with a name that perfectly described its appearance—the Armored Bear.

The moment they saw this terrifying magical beast, the two came to their senses and retreated to avoid getting in the way. Simultaneously, Beartelo drew the magic sword from his waist and charged at the Armored Bear as it swung its claws.

CRACKLE———!!!!

Clang! Clang! Claaang!!

The battle was unfolding with tremendous intensity.

As Beartelo’s magic sword emitted red lightning, dozens of exchanges occurred in an instant. Peter and Laila could barely hold their ground against the pressure waves generated by the battle.

“P-Peter…”

“Hold tight, Laila. We could die if we get caught up in this.”

As the two hid behind a pillar quietly observing the battle, they felt somewhat relieved seeing Beartelo gradually increasing the distance to keep them from getting involved, when…

‘—Huh?’

What suddenly caught Peter’s eye as he faced Laila was the sight of another Armored Bear slowly approaching them, holding its breath.

It definitely looked smaller than the previous Armored Bear, but…

Even so, Peter could tell that this Armored Bear was also an adult and a mid-level specimen.

In other words, fighting it meant certain death.

And the moment Peter’s eyes met the Armored Bear’s…

Peter immediately threw Laila to the side without even thinking—

“Eek! W-what—”

—GROOOOOAR!!!

At that moment, the Armored Bear hurled its massive body toward Peter. Under normal circumstances, Peter’s life would have ended right there.

Either crushed by the Armored Bear or torn apart by its claws.

But as luck would have it, the floor of the ruins had weakened considerably, and when a beast weighing at least several tons threw itself with all its might onto that floor…

RUMBLE———!!

Starting from where the Armored Bear had planted its feet, cracks instantly spread across the entire nearby floor, which then collapsed with an ominous sound, plummeting into the underground section of the ruins.

“AAAAAAHHH!!”

GROOOAR?!!

Naturally, Peter and the Armored Bear, who had been on the collapsing floor, fell deep into the depths together. The unexpectedly deep drop caused significant damage to both of them in various ways.

The Armored Bear, though not severely injured from the fall itself, was completely buried under debris.

Peter, who had fallen on top of the debris and thus suffered less damage, had his longsword in its scabbard destroyed as it absorbed the impact.

As Peter regained consciousness from the shock of the fall before the Armored Bear…

He almost panicked at the sight of his shattered sword and the Armored Bear still dazed from the impact—

—————.

By chance, pure chance, Peter’s eyes fell upon a sword that appeared to have been in the underground section of the ruins all along—bound tightly as if sealed by something, yet still emanating an ominous aura.