Ch.48Ingnel Estate (1)

When I arrived at the village entrance after hearing the urgent story from a temporary office resident and rushing there—

“….It’s begun!!”

-Clang! Clang! Clang! Claaang!

What entered my sight was Corin, who had departed earlier than me since I was delayed fetching Gus, fiercely exchanging blows with what appeared to be the knight the villager had mentioned—the one trying to extort food from the village.

A knight on horseback wielding a bizarre weapon that looked like a longsword with an extremely elongated hilt, making it resemble a spear. A heavily armored knight covered in full plate armor, with his horse also clad in barding.

Using his superior reach and the advantage of being mounted, he seemed to be one-sidedly pressuring Corin, who was poorly equipped after rushing out in haste.

Having dashed out urgently from a meeting, Corin wore clothes that could hardly provide proper defense, let alone armor, and the only weapons in his hands were two “parrying daggers”—personal defense weapons that could hardly be called proper armaments.

In other words, he had to counter a cavalry polearm using what are commonly called main gauches—weapons designed for parrying swords.

Therefore, from a conventional perspective, the current situation would easily appear as Corin being overwhelmingly pushed back, but the reality was entirely different.

-Clang! Clang! Claaang! Clang!

While the wandering knight had the overwhelming advantage of handling a polearm from horseback and was unleashing powerful attacks, Corin was actually blocking that barrage of strikes quite effortlessly with just two short blades.

‘That’s… more frightening than I expected.’

As I took in the scene, I prepared to intervene while smiling bitterly at a memory that suddenly surfaced.

Back when I was still a seedling before awakening my Aura. At that time, I was riding high on success thanks to my “Sword Demon” factor and harbored a certain arrogance, but Corin was the benefactor who shattered that arrogance head-on.

After all, the foundation of my current “slicing” swordsmanship technique was entirely derived from Corin’s bizarre skills.

Most martial arts appropriately blend three foundations: “strength,” “speed,” and “flexibility,” and unless you’re a mutant with a strange mind like me, this is practically absolute.

By these standards, Corin’s fighting style also falls into the same category of “exceptions”—an extremely rare form.

While normal martial arts build their form based on specific images, Corin simply adopts movements suitable for each situation based on his experience.

Therefore, although he may not reach some ultimate state by delving deeply into a specific style, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Corin’s alien martial art also shows certain fragments of mastery.

Anyway, after briefly indulging in memories, I shouted loudly toward Corin to do what I needed to do.

“Corin, player substitution!!”

“—Yes!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Corin broke off his engagement and slipped away to the side. The knight, seemingly confused by Corin’s sudden disappearance from his field of vision, was momentarily disoriented.

“Gus, please!”

“Neeeigh!”

Gus, with several weapons for Corin attached to the saddle, headed toward Corin who had dismounted at my request, while I approached the knight, drawing the zweihander strapped to my back.

The special alloy zweihander, once wielded by an ogre warrior, had been repaired at the newly built smithy and further modified to my taste, making it perfect for wielding.

The knight, who had been trying to chase after Corin who suddenly appeared on horseback, now stared directly at me, perhaps sensing the presence of my sword….

“If you still know honor as a knight, state your name. I, ‘Sir Camille de Alzar,’ shall personally hear it.”

“Huh. What honor does a knight who voluntarily dismounted have to speak of?!!”

He seemed to feel stung by my questioning, as he avoided answering and instead started nitpicking about something else entirely.

Well… to be fair, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong.

For a knight, a warhorse is an inseparable soul partner and also a piece of combat equipment that enhances one’s fighting power.

So he started to nitpick, finding some excuse in my actions, but that changed nothing.

“I asked for your name, wandering knight. Or should I call you a robber knight instead?”

“….You!”

Even after I used that term—the greatest insult for knights, referring to those who abuse the duel system to extort money from travelers—he remained stubbornly silent.

Realizing how terrified he was of the name “Alzar,” I tried to suppress a mocking smile as I spoke again.

This was because his surcoat clearly displayed his family crest and name.

“Well then, Lord Ingnel. You have your family crest and name plainly written on that surcoat, yet you thought I wouldn’t recognize it!”

“….You bastard!”

While bristling at my knowledge of his identity, Ingnel kept glancing at Corin, who had mounted Gus and was systematically subduing his retainers one by one.

In that case… there was only one thing for me to do.

“Come at me, knight. Try to kill me and eliminate the evidence if you dare.”

“….If you wish!”

Pointing my zweihander forward, I was determined to make this knight pay for the crime of destroying this settlement’s agriculture.

※ ※ ※

Lord Ingnel was swallowing hard as he faced the formidable opponent before him.

Despite appearing at least a few years younger than himself, the man’s physical robustness seemed inhuman, and the killing intent he emitted felt like it could literally slice through his flesh.

But what made all this most terrifying was the Holy Imperial greatsword that this “Lord Alzar” held in his hands.

While the style itself appeared no different from the two-handed swords commonly used in the Holy Empire, there was one difference—the sword’s enormous size.

The massive blade looked as if an export-sized iron ingot had been processed directly into a sword, and the man held this weapon, which should be unwieldy by common sense, with unnatural ease.

Having some expertise as someone who used notoriously difficult weapons himself, Ingnel assessed his opponent’s skill from his sword stance and therefore couldn’t move carelessly.

Even with the overwhelming advantage in close combat provided by being mounted, he didn’t feel he had the upper hand at all.

As they cautiously faced each other, the standoff naturally prolonged.

“My lord─!! Let me assist you!”

Just then, Ingnel’s retainer, a medium cavalryman, charged toward the knight with his cavalry lance in hand.

Indeed, a fully armored medium cavalryman’s full-speed lance charge is one of the few means by which a lower-rank can inflict meaningful damage on a mid-rank opponent.

Especially since even a mid-rank knight is ultimately human with physical limitations. The impact of a cavalry lance at high speed can be powerful enough to take a life in severe cases.

However… this doesn’t mean such a tactic works in every situation.

“Zhang! No! Fall back!”

Lord Ingnel shouted at his retainer Zhang, who was recklessly launching an attack on his own, trying to make him stop before the attack—

-—Slash!

By the time Zhang heard the command and intended to stop, it was already far too late.

A purple lightning bolt, descending from above with unbelievable smoothness and fluidity for such a massive piece of metal, struck the ground.

The retainer, vertically bisected along with his horse, collapsed sideways with his momentum intact, exposing his gruesome state to Lord Ingnel.

The vile contents spilling from Zhang’s halved corpse flowed across the ground to Ingnel’s feet, yet not a single drop of blood had splashed onto the perpetrator who had split him in two.

“….Urgh!”

Lord Ingnel blanched at this almost surreal sight, then felt a nauseating sensation rising from within as if his stomach were turning inside out….

As Lord Alzar sauntered toward him with that terrifying form, Ingnel gritted his teeth and prepared to respond—

However, this battle was never actually described.

Lord Ingnel, who had been outmatched by Lord Alzar in every aspect from the beginning, ultimately had his resolve shaken and was defeated all too easily despite his grand entrance.