Episode 29: The Osmanthus Knight
“Alright, I guess it’s my turn next.”
Whoa there?
Katrina stepped forward.
Why?????
“Noooo!!!”
I threw a tantrum.
I threw a tantrum with all my might.
“You promised me a date, didn’t you? It’s been a while, and I was getting excited…!”
But there’s no escaping Katrina!
Seriously, why is she so excited?
Seriously, stop it.
Jacob is just a musclehead, but Katrina is no joke.
The person I least want to fight in the Midford Strider Guild is, without a doubt, her. Next would be Maximilian.
Why?
Because she’s from nobility and ridiculously strong.
In this world, nobles have incredibly high combat abilities.
A warrior bloodline by birth; the origin of nobles in any country is the warrior class. On top of that, they have family secret Magic Skills and good weapons.
I really don’t want to deal with her; please have mercy.
“No need for discussion. Here I come…!”
“That’s dangerous!”
Magic Skill, Adamantine Strength….
As expected, its output is inferior to Jacob’s, but its smoothness is in a different league.
Jacob’s constantly emits magical power from his entire body to achieve mechanical high power, but Katrina’s Adamantine Strength uses a combination of acceleration and deceleration, hardness and softness, possessing a biological smoothness.
If I had to face one, this one is much scarier.
“Hah!”
Whoa, so fast!
Three thrusts of the wooden sword in one breath! Okita Souji would be green with envy!
I Deflected the first with my long staff, deflected the second with the wooden sword in my left hand, and evaded the third with body movement.
The targeted spots were the head, chest, and abdomen – a kill-them-all course! She’s totally trying to kill me; so scary!
“You can overcome this!”
Katrina grinned.
That’s not a woman’s face. It’s too scary.
“I don’t like this! Nobles are too strong!”
I complained while spinning my long staff.
Spinning the long staff using Adamantine Strength is too fast to be seen.
“Here, a mimic!”
I also thrust three times with my wooden sword.
However, I released them from behind the rotating long staff so they wouldn’t collide with it.
“Acrobatics?!”
“Should I pull a playing card from my mouth next?!”
I raised the long staff and swung it down.
It was received by the shield, so I used a flick of the wrist to slam the other end of the long staff from below.
That was Deflected by the wooden sword… oh, an interrupting shield bash. The battlefield shield bash, the scariest one.
I deflected a punch at point-blank range, using the twist of my body to strike with the pommel of the wooden sword. Then, since she came into my space, I put my hand on the back of Katrina’s head and pulled her down, jumped, and knee-
No, I was grabbed by the hand and thrown. Grappling is also strong, isn’t it, for a Knight. It’s frustrating.
I grabbed the long staff that I had calculated and thrown in advance, while taking a landing stance, and readied myself again.
“Not bad!”
“You as well!”
Alright, long staff rotation, sword thrust.
It was received, so I let go of the sword and Deflected with the long staff, then attacked by rotating the sword.
Deflected. I scooped up the pommel of the sword that fell at my feet with the instep of my foot and thrust.
Avoided. I grabbed the sword in mid-air, Deflected the opponent’s sword, and then unleashed a barrage of blows with the long staff: down, down-up, right-up-down.
…You can overcome this too? Seriously? Your adaptability is too high.
As you can see, I’m using a collection of first-encounter-kill-like, amusing, original sword techniques to deceive my true strength… but against a true master like Katrina, who can adapt to anything on the first encounter, I really can’t do anything.
“Haaah!”
“Whoaooaaaa?!!!”
And then, Katrina’s sword technique!
The kind I’m worst at: a sword technique of someone who has legitimately “built up” skill, with few mistakes! My strange sword techniques are hopelessly weak against orthodox swordsmanship that never falters or collapses!
We exchanged blows several times, but I was gradually being pushed back…
And at the end of it, I brought the rotating long staff overhead, followed by a slash with the wooden sword, a rotating slam using the centrifugal force of the long staff, and a simultaneous slam with both the wooden sword and long staff using my entire body…
“Whoa!… Are you receiving this?!”
I thought I’d break the wooden shield by doing it pretty strongly… but it was all received by the wooden shield.
Oh, she’s using Penetration on the shield?
One of the Magic Skills, a high-level technique to strengthen an object by channeling magical power through it.
It seems that the strongest unit in this Garnia Kingdom is a cavalry wearing full plate armor and using Penetration on their armor and weapons. They apparently repel ballista bolts and catapult projectiles filled with boiling oil while mowing down formations of infantry and castle walls as they advance in formation. Seriously too scary.
This Katrina, born into such a Knight family, was also ridiculously sturdy.
“Not bad, Andrews! Honestly, I underestimated you; I apologize for my rudeness!”
“If you really feel bad, spend a night with me…”
“Sorry, did you want to continue? Should we do it until you die? Huh?”
Jeez, how cold.
Is it because she’s a noble, and her reputation is important?
“Aren’t you satisfied now? I’m going home! I’m going home!”
“Then, shall I be next?”
Aaaaah!!!