Chapter 23

RATH 23

TL: Eevee

3. And so the story begins. (7)

Kang!

-Hwahaha! It’s a really rare feewing!feeling

A heavy impact that echoed through my hand the moment I blocked. For a second I thought that I’d picked the wrong opponent, but it was the same for the opponent.

“Hwwaat?”

-Hak, I didn’t even hit her and such a good scream! That’s exactwy my type! Ownerowner! Hit her again!

Neither I or its creators know how, but somehow the bat series had an ‘impossible to block’ attribute imbued into it.

Swords, spears, shields, no matter what weapon or armour you’re holding, when you’re hit by the bat series then even if you block the pain still goes up your weapon into you.

Although I wouldn’t know because I don’t know what it feels like. Ah, for the record it might seem like something obvious, but the penetration damage of the metal bat is higher than the regular bat.

“Wha, what the hell is this?”

The woman whose sword I blocked had a stupefied expression on her face.

She probably doesn’t understand what happened to her.

Sorry but since I don’t understand either I can’t explain it to you.

Hoho, but if you look at her appearance alone anyone would think she’s a beauty.

Although most men can’t keep themselves in control in front of a pretty woman, I’m different.

Because I’ve seen a lot of beauties in my time. And by and large every single one of them were crazy bitches.

Even with just cases close to me you have the princess and the high elf, and among my disciples you have Sia, No.17 and No.1000.

If the net’s widened a bit further, you have the noble girls fighting over Rein as well.

And therefore beauty = high likelihood of a crazy bitch as the majority.

This is definite fact!

Don’t believe me? Then look!

There’s no way that a girl swinging her sword around that well smack in the middle of an evil organization would ever be normal!

“Hwaaah? Wh, what is this? Why am I hurting when I’m the one attacking?”

I block each and every heavy strike with the metal bat. The more attacks I block the lighter the attacks come.

The first strike almost made me drop the metal bat, but now it’s about the level where it’s not too hard to defend against.

And in particular the important part of the body for swordsmen, the legs are also definitely shaking as they’re near-failing to keep her body upright. Normally I would switch to attacking from here and end it, but at the sword ki that’s getting brighter and brighter on her sword I kept my defensive stance.

-Hak. Owner. I hurt too. It hurts but it feels good. Is, is this how it felt for the others I beat up? It’s a new feewing. Owner, what do I do? At this rate I’m gonna be a maso!

-Please just, shut up.

But, I don’t think I can hold out with this defensive stance forever.

Damn it. If in the worst sadist also becomes a masochist then the mental pollution has a very high likelihood of having a very critical negative influence on my mentality.

A tiny blessing here would be that it’s voice setting is a little girl’s, if it was panting with the voice of a mature noonim(2) then it would have been dangerous as hell. In many ways.

-Hwaah! Hit, and be hit! Give and receive pain! This is the realm of gods! A perfect union where I can’t tell whether I the hitting side was the M, or I the one getting hit was the M! The pleasure is only getting better!

-Please shut up!

-Hauuu! More, abuse me more!

Ah damn it. Were the settings misset or something. The sounds that would 100% summon Podori(1) for sure if they weren’t only audible in my head echoed in my brain.

This emergency situation where the ultimate S was becoming the ultimate M was slowly tightening the noose around my neck!

But thankfully, whether due to the accumulation of shock or otherwise, the enemy’s concentration is dropping by the second. Now’s about the time she’d start up a big skill.

“Uuuu…. Please, die!”

“No.17 push the desk behind you, Rein you hit the wall beside you!”

“Yes!”

The sword ki became a sword aura. The enemy is a swordsmaster that even a peasant would instantly be promoted to at least baron for! Thinking that I would die if I relaxed even for a bit, I commanded my disciples that were staring dumbly at me and Rein who was between them.

“Too late!”

“You are the one that’s too late.”

“What?”

A strong attack is headed my way but this is my home ground!

Even the local mongrel keeps half his bowl in his own kennel, in my own office I will claim no less than double!

With a ping the floor the Sword Star was standing on shot up. Bed is a science, and the life of a bed is springs! The specially crafted springs that the dwarven craftsmen crafted for me are the world’s greatest!

As the floor sprang unexpectedly upwards the enemy’s sword aura missed my by far. But, as expected of a swordsmaster!

Even in that situation she regained her balance and engaged with a follow up.

Fhit!

“What kind of room is thiiiiiiiiiss?!”

“It’s dwarven-made.”

But the enemy’s sword was held down by the daggers flying at her from the sides, and arrows flying at her from the front and behind.

As expected of Made in Black Anvil!

The greatest service with guaranteed customer satisfaction.

But the enemy was skilled as well.

She immediately retracted her strike in mid-air, and the caliber of her defensive work was nothing short of magnificent. And therefore since I can get fucked over, the moment I slammed the metal bat into her side a distinctly different scream from the others I’ve heard so far entered my ears.

“Fuweeeeet?”

-Owner, owner! Now’s the chance!

-I know too.

“Fu, hwaaaah! Wha, what are you doing?! Stop, stop!”

“Tha, that’s!”

I smacked her wrist that was about to hold up a sword and knocked away her sword, otherwise known as a swordsman’s life far far away.

And as I gripped the metal bat’s grip with my right hand and the head with my left, Rein started, appalled and began shivering in fear.

-Twin Baton Style!

The metal bat that turned hazy for a moment, amazingly separated into two identical batons that were slightly thinner than normal.

-My name is Aru!

-My name is Cardia!

-And combined, we’re the goddess Arcadiaaaaaaaaa!

-Shut up!

But the noisiness too was double!

Of course there wasn’t the worse-case development where its consciousness actually split into two, but if I keep separating it, it can also bullshit twice as much so I can’t split it that often.

“Now, then.”

“No, no!”

“You need a beating.”

“Hwaaaah, no, no! Save, save me! Please! No, it hurts… waaaaaaaa!”

-Heheehee these’re good cries!

-Haang! Where d’ya think you’re running Girl~(3) you can’t run away from this unni!

Starting from the first hit, her resistance seemed to vanish and how she was flailing around pathetically crawling around on the floor to not get hit.

Not that she could get away anyway.

“Why did you come to the organization? And why are you here?”

“Fuwaaang… no, no… stop…”

“If you don’t talk I’ll keep hitting you.”

“Hiiik! Old, old man Nermia said he’d give me a magic sword so he told me to come pick up his granddaughter! I, I talked so don’t hit meeeeee!”

I turned my head as I diligently tenderised her with the metal bat, when my line of sight and No.17’s met she flinched before shuffling two steps back.

If it’s Nermia then it’s that place. The place I went to in the past that was the most famous family in the Empire for magic.

As you’d expect from a prestigious magic family, their magic defenses were very very solid, but I just ignored them all and very very easily emptied them out and left, and she’s their granddaughter?

“No.17, explain.”

“Ye, yes! I am the Nermia house’s daughter sent to retrieve the family’s seal that was stolen from us, Ria el Nermia!”

Perhaps it’s because she’s a smart girl, she understood very well what I wanted from her.

But she’s revealing it a bit too quickly…

“Rein, explain.”

“Yes, the empire’s army is currently invading our headquarters and the organization is at the brink of total destruction. So we were planning to run away, but the Sword Star appeared all of a sudden, but you arrived and subdued her.”

As expected of my ex-disciple. He understands me very well. But, Sword Star? What kind of bullshit is this.

“Sword Star, this?”

“Hwaaaah! You, you said you’d stop hitting me!”

As I pointed at the woman who was crying with every strike and frantically trying to guard her head with both hands with the metal bat, Rein nodded.

Meaning that this woman is the Sword Star? Then that means No.17’s very simply confessed while the Sword Star was getting the crap beaten out of her.

But she’s the real Sword Star. In that case.

“Wha, why!”

“Because you’re the Sword Star.”

I need to hit her.

It’s the Sword Star. (劍星) Meaning the one who shines the brightest of the swordsmen of the age, so Sword Star.

Normally in novels they use the character for saint after sword, but in this place they use the character for star instead.

As the one that receives the most attention of the five swordsmen that represent the strongest in the continent, these five always fight over rank 1, 2 among swordsmen.

Well since Sword Heaven was the one who understood the sword the best, the Sword Elder (劍尊) who represents head of the strongest military organization, and the Magic Sword(魔劍) is too far removed from from normal swordsmanship so the only other one that could contest the title is the Sword King (劍帝)

Even so, the name of the title implies that the holder is has the brightest skill among all swordsmen in the continent, and since the sword-happy folk that always live and die by their pride keep picking fights with the current Sword Star for this title, and the current holder’s retained this title fifteen long years and…

-Haakhaak… how’s unni’s hands?

-You’re cute when you cry!

This is a good chance. There’s an opportunity to shut these noisy brats up!

-This girl, forties.

-E, uweeh?

-Tha, that can’t be true! Our cutie’s in her forties! You, you’re lying owner?

-It’s the truth.

-Hwaaaaah! My, return my purity!

-This, this can’t be!

Ignoring the despairing metal bat I keep beating up the Sword Star. I heard cries of [I, I don’t want old aunties!], [Ow, owner, I like the tears of cute little girls, I don’t want the tears of forty-year old spinsters!], but since if I let her go there’s no telling whether she’d cleave me and the building into two so I can’t just let go a danger like that.

From the rumours I also heard that she had the most overwhelming amount of mana among all Sword Stars to date.

I’ve heard rumours of that too. The legend that during the great war, she sliced an entire castle wall with a ten-metre long sword aura and immediately got an unconditional surrender.

“Huht. Why, stop hittimg me… it hurths!”

“Do you have any more information?”

But I need to get information first. Should I get it and kill her straight afterwards?

But since this kid is a 1st class living weapon of the imperial family, if I kill her then the imperial family will come chasing after me. But since the princess is chasing me anyway does it matter then?

“I, I know him, too!”

As soon as the Sword Star’s shaking eyes made contact with No.1 she barely lifted her shaking hand and pointed at No.1.

“I am Raina rel Swin, the direct line of the Raina ducal line. Unlike No.17, I was forced here by my brothers with bullshit logic saying it was for the emperor, but in reality since they just didn’t want to finish me off with their own hands they sent me to Howling as a death sentence. In other words, unlike No.17 I have absolutely no objective whatsoever!”

“Oi, oi!”

“Why are you dragging me into this!”

“Such a pity. There’s no more information worth hearing from you.”

“No, noooooo!”

-I don’t wanna toooooo!

-Saaaaaaaaaameee!

No.17 rushed over to No.1 who very quickly explained himself and started shaking him by his lapels but I ignored them, and to do my job I started drumming the Sword Star, but both the Sword Star and the metal bat are screaming. But moreover. The hell? All my damn disciples are the empire’s spies. What kind of bullshit is this. Then perhaps.

“No.1000. explain.”

“Yes?”

Looking at No.1000 tilt her head I realised that No.1000 really was nothing special.

If this girl was a spy of the empire then that would have meant that the empire was at the verge of ruin.

A spy that seemed like she’d spill all if you fed her.

There’s no way that kind of thing would exist?

“Hwaa… no, please… Stop…”

It seems the Sword Star’s body is hitting her limits. I call that state where you can only shiver while repeating the same thing over and over again the blank slate state.

That phenomenon can be observed when the metal bat’s blessing have reached their limits in the body and the blessings no longer affect them so only the pain is registered, and so their mind goes blank. Hm, this should be fine.

“Then…”

“Hiiik!”

As I turned my head No.1 and No.17’s heads turned sheet white.

Normally I would dispose of traitors, but the organization’s already abandoned me, no? I can’t afford to make more enemies for nothing.

From here I need to press a favourable image, and use these kids as bait.

“No.1, you have no objective, and No.17 your goal is the Nermia family’s seal. Correct?”

“I, I don’t need it! Tha, that seal we can just recarve it!”

“Ye, yes!”

Looking at the convulsing mess of the Sword Star in the corner the only thing left in these two kids’ eyes is fear. Very good. They should listen to me well then. But having said that, the Nermia family’s seal.

-Owner, didn’t ya melt it down to make me?

-No, I looted the Nermia family after you were made.

So I probably haven’t melted it down. Since most of the time the seals of high-ranking houses are made with precious metals I normally switched them out during missions and melted them down for other projects, but I haven’t made anything special after looting the Nermia family.

I probably, still have it? Not like it matters if I don’t. She said they could carve out another one after all. Not like it’s my fault either.

“The organization has already abandoned us.”

More accurately just me, but master and disciple always share the same fate.

“And thus we are escaping the organization. Rein, you take these kids and escape early.”

“What do we do with that?”

‘That’ which he pointed with his finger, I thought a bit while looking at the Sword Star that had started drooling, but it can’t be helped.

“Take her for now.”

“Isn’t she dangerous?”

“If she seems suspicious then clobber her with that.”

“Yes, sir.”

This kid, how long has it been since I gave him the bat and he’s already showing such a strong faith in it.

But since it’s the Sword Star it might get dicey with just the wooden bat but I didn’t say anything. Although it might be tough to tank a sword aura, it’ll last against sword ki at least.

“I, will go looking for this kid’s seal.”

“In, instructor!”

For a moment No.17 makes a face as if she was deeply moved. Sorry, I stole that. So don’t make that kind of face. You’re hurting my conscience.

-Master with a conscience? Sounds like the World Tree would fall before that!

-In that case it’s already fallen though.

-Haang, it got dirtied! That’s right! My little sister was made with the world tree! My little sister got dirtied!

As I said while pointing towards the bat, the metal bat started and began shouting. Although if you’re really going to do the math, the bat’s date of birth is before the metal bat, but this kid always argues that she’s the elder sister.

“Now, get moving.”

“Yes, sir.”

I told Rein the escape route and went to find the seal. Ah, before that.

“I need to destroy the organization.”

Fair’s fair after all. Since you lot betrayed me first it’s not my fault?