The Twin Spear Knight (1)

“…So it comes to this after all.”

The 13th Saint of the Holy Nation—Corfe Lilac—muttered with a long sigh.

“I expected this to some extent.”

Saying so, Corfe slightly turned her head toward her back.

“Earl Cal, Earl Cruze.”

“”Yes.””

The two large men answering simultaneously as if they had practiced beforehand.

They were high-ranking Holy Knights from the Holy Nation.

Originally, the entry of private soldiers into Polaris Academy was not permitted, but the Holy Nation disguised them as mere servants to pass through surveillance.

In reality, they rarely formally wore their arms, and even in this meeting with Evangeline, they only used decorative halberds that were fragile and of low strength.

Even those were weapons far inferior in quality compared to the arms they usually used.

However, what Corfe Lilac needed was not a weapon rack, but Holy Knights who could bravely fight even if given wooden sticks.

“Though the result was somewhat disappointing, it’s still too early to give up.”

“”We have no excuse!””

Letting the loud voices of the Holy Knights answering flow past her ears, Corfe said quietly.

“Earl Cal. Order an investigation of the Death Swamp to the homeland.”

“If the Incarnation wishes!”

The Holy Knight on the left answered immediately with a shout. Corfe nodded and said quietly.

“And, Earl Cruze.”

“Yes!”

“Send a signal to that person.”

“…With all due respect, Saint. By ‘that person,’ you mean.”

“You’re being obtuse, Earl Cruze. I mean the ‘Hound’.”

“…I apologize! I will immediately carry out your command!”

-Thud!

The Holy Knight on the right also immediately began action, striking his chest with his pot-lid-like fist.

“Shouldn’t we use all means available?”

With a bloody smile, Corfe Lilac recalled.

The days of eating the flesh of rats in alleys where not a single ray of sunlight reached.

[I command the glorious representative of God.]

She still clearly remembers. The divine light of God who pulled her up from hell.

[Destroy the Demon King.]

If God rightfully commands His incarnation to destroy the enemy who seeks to harm His creations, she must follow that word.

[Destroy the traitor of the Holy Nation, the traitor of humanity.]

Even if, by any means necessary.

The Saint’s blood-red eyes gleamed softly between her slightly opened eyelids.

Bell Lore.

Born in the Holy Nation, top graduate of the Knight Department at Polaris Academy.

Participated in the Human-Demon War as a soldier on the Holy Nation’s side, and currently also an instructor in the Knight Department of Polaris Academy.

Folding and crumpling the synchronization imprint paper* on which other minor details were written in blue magical letters, Delphina inwardly muttered.

‘Strange.’

Delphina thought, recalling Bell Lore’s personal information received from her home country.

‘A knight with outstanding skills who not only graduated top of his class from the Knight Department of Polaris Academy but also serves as an instructor at Polaris Academy, participated in the Human-Demon War as a mere general soldier, not a knight?’

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t add up.

Delphina clicked her tongue.

‘Surely he couldn’t have actually gone to war as a soldier… what exactly did he do during the war?’

It’s much fishier than expected. With such a sloppily punched hole in the record, wouldn’t even someone without any background knowledge find it suspicious?

It was even suspicious enough to make her wonder if this man’s background itself was a trap.

…Of course, Delphina hadn’t anticipated that the Holy Nation would be an outrageous country beyond common sense that would demote a talent like Lore to a general soldier just because he hadn’t studied theology.

‘That’s not all.’

Just before receiving information about Cornelio’s sighting from the home country, Instructor Lore contacted none other than Princess Evangeline.

When asked what they had discussed, the Princess was reluctant to give an exact answer but said she ‘asked where Cornelio was now’.

To that question, Instructor Lore answered that he didn’t know.

However, immediately after that, information about Cornelio’s sighting, specifically that he had appeared in a satellite city around Polaris, was transmitted from the home country.

When it’s this obvious, it might even be a trap.

Delphina tightly gripped the hammer in her hand.

Her main weapon, which she hadn’t used during the duel with Instructor Lore.

She had told the Princess that she wasn’t sure if she could beat him even using her main weapon.

And in reality, that was likely to be true.

The compatibility between her hammer and Lore’s dagger technique was about as bad as it could get.

‘But.’

Given that he had shown several suspicious circumstances, at the very least, she had to interrogate him.

In the worst case, she might have to engage in a life-or-death battle with him.

After all, the most threatening existence to the Princess in her immediate vicinity was none other than him.

That’s why she was heading to his residence today, her day off, putting aside the directives from the home country.

“…I’ve arrived.”

Delphina, with the hammer on her back, arrived in front of a small separate building.

It was a small wooden mansion that looked just right for one person to live in.

Judging by the size of the house, the number of rooms might be about 2-3, including the bathroom.

Delphina took a small breath and called out in a moderately adjusted voice.

“Is anyone there!”

Not too loud, not too quiet.

Just loud enough to be clearly heard inside, rather than knocking on the door.

-Step, step.

Footsteps were heard from inside the door. Along with the sound of something being hastily cleared away, and hurried footsteps that seemed to be more than one person.

‘….’

In Delphina’s heart, the spark of suspicion grew larger and larger.

-Click.

With the sound of a heavy lock, the door opened, and Lore appeared.

“…Miss Delphina?”

“Hello.”

“What brings you here?”

Lore asked with an expression clearly showing bewilderment. Delphina answered in a monotone voice.

“I apologize for disturbing you on your rare day off, but I have something I’d like to ask, so I’ve come unavoidably. Could you spare a moment?”

“…Ah, well, you see.”

Lore was noticeably flustered. Delphina narrowed her eyes and examined the inside of the house beyond the door.

‘…Tch, a P-type structure.’

Beyond the door, only a narrow corridor was visible. The living room, or large room, where Lore had been doing ‘something’ seemed to extend far to the right of the corridor and was not visible.

Delphina took a step forward and said quietly.

“Is there someone inside?”

“…Um, Miss Delphina. It’s a bit difficult right now…”

“Could you tell me what you were doing?”

Delphina carefully moved her hand to the hammer on her back.

Gradually, suspicion was turning into certainty.

“…Miss Delphina. Let’s calm down first.”

“This is a matter of urgency. Please answer.”

Another step. Delphina carefully stepped forward, ready to pull the hammer from her back.

Lore’s hand moved toward his back.

‘…Damn.’

Simultaneously, Delphina clicked her tongue, drew her hammer, and charged.

-Kwaaaang!!!!

The aura blade extending widely from the tip of the dagger blocked Delphina’s hammer.

“I don’t know what misunderstanding there is, but first, calm down…”

“Don’t try to weasel out.”

-Bakang!!

Delphina’s hammer, which had twisted and broken Lore’s defense along with the aura blade, was now swung from top to bottom.

“I already know that you are connected to Cornelio!”

“…Who? Cornelio?”

“Playing dumb till the end!”

-Jeoeoeoeongg!!

The specially made hammer with a pointed tip collided with the aura blade with a force that seemed like it would tear it apart.

“I’ll make you spill everything, even if I have to force it out of you!”

“It seems, you’re quite serious…!”

-Pang!!

As the aura blade extending from Lore’s dagger intensified its force, Delphina’s hammer was thrown back in the opposite direction.

“Kuk…!”

“Indeed, your aura usage is still unskilled.”

Lore briefly assessed while managing the aura of his dagger.

“However, that hammer’s weight… it’s a remarkable talent to properly wield weapon techniques without being overwhelmed by a weapon of that weight.”

“…Tch.”

“I don’t want to harm a student with a promising future. Please calm down and slowly explain what’s going on…”

-Kwang!!

Delphina swung her hammer instead of answering.

But this time, the direction she aimed was not at Lore himself but at the dirt floor between them.

As she strongly struck the ground, thick dust rose in all directions.

“…!”

Lore quickly extended his aura to scatter the dust around.

‘Oh no…!’

The same situation as during the duel with the Princess Knight.

Lore frowned and looked around.

-Whoosh!!

Simultaneously, the dust cleared somewhat with the sound of a hammer cutting through the air.

Lore reflexively turned his head in that direction.

Delphina’s hammer was dispersing the dust by creating wind.

‘She’s scattering the smoke screen she just spread with her own hands?’

Lore, feeling something strange, used the aura of his dagger to take a defensive stance.

And at the same time, Delphina’s hammer changed its trajectory in mid-air.

She had forcibly applied strength to change the direction the hammer was traveling in mid-air.

“?!”

A blunt weapon utilizes mass.

A powerful and intuitive weapon where the destructive power increases as the mass of the weapon increases.

But it’s also difficult to handle, and its movements inevitably become monotonous and intuitive—

—or so Lore had thought until just now.

‘But, to execute such an irregular attack method with such a large hammer…!’

Rather, dispersing the dust was meant to make her attack direction stand out to deceive the opponent.

‘…She’s serious.’

Lore thought.

‘Miss Delphina is seriously trying to engage in a life-or-death battle with me.’

He had no way of knowing what the cause was, why she was going to such lengths.

‘…If I misjudge my strength, I might be the one getting hurt.’

Just as Lore, having reaffirmed his resolve, was about to sharpen the aura of his dagger.

“Both of you, stop it!!”

-Halt.

Right in front of Lore, the hammer stopped.

“…Miss Alice?!”

Delphina shouted with wide eyes, and simultaneously, Lore turned around in surprise.

Delphina asked in a bewildered voice.

“Why are you coming out from there…?”

“I’ll explain everything, so for now, both of you put away your weapons.”

At Alice’s threat, Delphina pulled back her hammer with a dazed expression.

Toward Lore, who was standing in a daze, Alice barked.

“You too, Instructor!”

“Oh, yes…”

Toward the two who had stepped back hesitantly, Alice exhaled with a sigh and said.

“…Let’s go inside for now.”