NOVEL NEXT chapter 12
12 – Vulcanus – 1
Helen lost her composure at the provocation and struck me head-on with the biggest blow.
“Huh?”
Before Helen’s fist reached my body, she narrowly struck it down with her sword, turning it into a power struggle.
If she were her, she would have immediately followed up the attack with her left hand.
But now Helen was excited.
In such a situation, when I hit back with a sword driven to the limit, her eyes were stained with bewilderment.
A very brief break.
‘Aiming only for strong blows means that it’s easier for the opponent to read it!’
I let go of the sword in my hand to widen the gap and dig in.
“… Uh?”
The sword that left my hand was completely shattered at that moment.
I regretted that fact, but I wasn’t taken aback as it was already expected.
I immediately rotated her body, released her attack, and burrowed into her bosom.
“What, Son?”
Looking at her expression, which is still flustered, I laughed in my heart.
‘Most aspiring knights use weapons, and are used to such opponents. So don’t panic if you dig in naked. Your strength comes from there. But to put it the other way around.’
Helen is also immature when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.
That was the weakness that the crown prince spoke of while subduing Helen in the original story.
I concentrated all of her mana into my right hand and struck her in the stomach with maximum power.
“Gagging!”
Like me on one day, Helen rolled over 10m behind her and fell.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
After the extreme concentration to bring this situation to an end, the strength of the whole body was drained.
“Ughhhhh!”
While Helen complained of her pain, she was struggling to get up somehow.
But then, slowly, she raised her right hand and declared.
“… Lost.”
With her surrender, cheers and cheers erupted from the audience.
I felt them with my whole body and looked at the center of the audience.
There was Rayna clapping her hands with Duke Rickard and Rupert.
It was an expressionless and cold atmosphere.
But I could feel that she was genuinely happy now.
And the next game.
The showdown between the masked man and the eldest son of Baron Berg.
The match, as before, ended with a blow from the masked man.
That’s how the finals were confirmed.
★
There is only one week left until the finals.
In the meantime, what should I do?
“I need to get a sword.”
“A sword?”
“Yes.”
During the confrontation with Helen, the sword was completely broken.
I collected all the fragments and took them to Heros’ forge, but it was judged that they could not be repaired.
“If it’s a sword, we can save it from our family.”
“That wouldn’t be too bad, but….”
It was Raina who gave me a solution.
This time, she casually sent all her attendants outside and sat down on the bed.
“No way.”
The sword obtained from the Roselia duke must surely be a high-quality sword.
But I already had the sword I wanted.
One week left.
Maybe it’s just barely possible.
“Reina. Can you prepare a wagon for me?”
“Wagon?”
“Yes. I wish I could leave as soon as possible. Until tomorrow at the latest.”
“Of course you can do that, but where are you going?”
Reina tilted her head and expressed her doubts.
“There is only one place to go to get a sword.”
The city of ever-burning flame.
A place where numerous blacksmiths of the empire gather to strike hammers.
“I’m going to Vulcanus.”
“It’s roughly eight hours from Heros to Vulcanus, so we’ll have to make a camp.”
At her request, Reina immediately prepared a wagon used by the ducal family.
It was a wagon with everything simplified to move as quickly as possible.
“Camping? If you want to go as fast as possible, wouldn’t it be better not to stop even in the evening?”
“It’s not that I’m so busy that I don’t have time to rest at all. I hate being in a hurry and getting into an accident.”
“Surely so.”
Reina nodded her head in agreement.
Originally, she had planned to go to Vulcanus alone, but Reina, wearing a dress for going out, naturally followed her.
There was no attendant there except for Anna, and even she was driving her carriage outside now.
“Are you done with your official duties?”
“Of course not. I even got permission from her father. In the first place, I was thinking of walking around together at least once before the start of the finals.”
That means there are only two of us in the carriage right now.
“Why are you going directly to Vulcan? You should be able to get enough famous swords from Heros.”
“Well, you’ll find out when you go.”
But there was no particularly strange atmosphere between us.
At first, she had several thoughts when she saw Reina saying that she would follow her, but she withdrew her thoughts after less than 10 minutes.
It’s not the first time the two of us have been spending time together.
On the contrary, it was a familiar situation.
“Did you make it to the finals as promised? How do you feel?”
“I was expecting it, so it doesn’t feel particularly special.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
At first, she was obviously content with just qualifying for the finals, but once she figured out a new way to use body enhancement, she figured she’d be ready for the finals.
She was close to Helen, but I won anyway.
“Then, revenge in the preliminaries is also possible?”
“Of course I should. I’m going to Vulcanos for that right now.”
Actually, even if the story went the way she wanted, she wasn’t sure that she could defeat others with that mask.
I’m not aware of her weaknesses as an original character like Helen.
From nob le mt l dot com
Probably if my skill is 5, his is at least 20.
The odds of winning objectively are less than 5%.
This was a journey to raise that probability to at least 15%.
It was like a kind of cheat key that I could use because I knew the future, but I had no remorse.
I’m not going to do something that will change the future.
“Ike. If you plan to camp, I think you better prepare soon.”
Anna, who was playing the role of a coachman, quietly opened her window and said.
Looking at the pocket watch I had brought, it was already 5:30 PM.
If you want to set up a tent and cook, you’d better start preparing now.
“Okay. Then let’s stop around here.”
We parked our wagon on a side road and took a position near a huge rock in the meadow.
And while preparing for camping, I found out that there was only one single tent for comfortable sleeping.
Well, originally I was planning to come alone.
“Anna and I will sleep in front of a campfire. Prince Ike uses the tent.”
Raina pushed forward the theory that I should use the tent since they were involved in the journey I originally intended to go alone.
But that somehow upset me.
We debated for a long time, and eventually we settled on sleeping in front of a campfire together.
Scent of sweet apple pie and savory mushroom soup.
There was a bonfire that was burning with fish.
Of course, the quality of the ingredients was different from my usual meal, but this one left a lasting impression.
“It’s amazing.”
Raina whispered as she gazed at the campfire.
“I never imagined I would sit down on the floor and eat dinner like this.”
There was no dissatisfaction on Reina’s face when she said that.
She was smiling lightly, as if she was having fun because she could get to know something new.
She seemed to see this kind of smile often when she was with Reina these days.
“She wished Anna ate too.”
“Sure.”
Anna moved to the back of the rock by herself.
She, her attendant, was the reason that she couldn’t be sick.
We tried to dissuade her saying it was okay, but we couldn’t break Anna’s stubbornness.
“I think it will be soon.”
When the fish was lightly touched with chopsticks, the white skin was revealed with a crunchy sound.
“It’s done. Let’s eat.”
“Yes.”
I first picked up the fish, risked the heat, and slowly put it in my mouth.
The scent of the fire permeated properly, adding to the flavor.
Feeling the flavor, I followed up with the mushroom soup.
The savory taste is so….
“Who are you!”
“Quup!”
I heard Anna’s voice from behind the rock.
Fortunately, I didn’t show any rudeness in front of Reina by vomiting her insides.
Mushroom soup and fish have crossed the road of no return.
And Reina looked undisturbed at all.
I felt like I could feel the difference in class.
The one who greeted us as we moved her feet to the source of the sound was Anna, who subdued someone by squeezing her to the ground.
“Stay still.”
“Damn it, let it go!”
The opponent underneath was resisting with all her might, but Anna’s body did not move.
“Quietly reveal her identity.”
“I told you! Did you just come to get help because you could see the light?”
“To believe that suspicious word?”
“So what am I supposed to say, damn it!”
Even though he was completely overpowered and unable to move, the opponent showed no sign of changing his words.
“It’s suspicious, but it doesn’t feel like a lie.”
“Me too.”
Reina, who had become an ice princess before she knew it, also affirmed my words.
“Anna. I don’t think there will be any problems, so why don’t we let it go?”
“Yes! Do you speak well?”
“No. A guy who behaves suspiciously like this.”
“Anna. Please let it go.”
“… Yes.”
At the end of Reina’s order, Anna slowly released the suppression.
Then he. No, she jumped up and took a deep breath.
She looked ten centimeters taller than Anna, who was quite tall.
Her hair and eyes are bright red like a burning flame.
It must be a rather chilly spring evening, but he is wearing a thin top and loose cotton pants.
I was able to infer her occupation by combining the small muscles that can be seen at first glance.
“Damn it. I came here to ask for help normally, and I never thought I would see such a nasty thing.”
“You ran in without saying anything and reached out for my meal.”
“Sorry about that. I’ve been starving for almost a week now. Her eyes are back.”
“… Meals will be prepared by me. The lady and Ike-sama should go back and have a meal.”
“Really? Thank you! Please ask for it!”
She said that with a broad smile, without any hesitation or reservation.
4 Apple pies. 3 Bowls of mushroom soup. 7 Fish.
“I should stop by the market before I go back to Heros.”
“Sure.”
It was the amount of dinner Ma Linen, who had been overpowered by her Anna, ate alone.
“I didn’t know that the wanted coachman was a swindler. I am hungry, and my legs hurt from walking.”
“That sounds really sad.”
We all, including Anna, sat around the bonfire, introduced each other, and talked.
At first, Marinen was taken aback when she learned of our identity, but she quickly adapted to her natural personality.
Anna got angry when she heard that he was tired of using honorific titles, so he talked comfortably.
“Going to Vulcan? I have the same destination, can I get a ride too?”
“As expected, Mary too….”
“Right. It’s a blacksmith. Her name is not widely known.”
Marinen’s job was, as expected, a blacksmith.
“Marie. She has a question, is it okay?”
Maybe I can find out a little bit of the information I want.
“I get paid like this and even get a carriage ride, of course it’s okay! I’ll answer everything I know!”
But don’t expect too much.
After all, this is a MacGuffin that was not revealed until the end in the original work.
“A rumor about a blacksmith who was said to have made a holy sword, which had been rumored about three years ago….”
“Huh? Is that me?”
Marinen replied as if nothing had happened.
“Eh?”
When I heard that, I bit her tongue.