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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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That girl exuded a rare fortitude from the moment she entered.
Fierce eyes and a plain white sword.
She could tell who she was at a glance.
“Gawayn’s daughter…”
“Ah, did you know my father?”
“I’m the one who made Gawayn’s sword.”
“Do you mean Judgment Day?!”
“No, not that one. The sword he used and broke in his youth.”
“…”
Trie’s mouth closed.
Although she wasn’t the one who made the legendary famous sword, it was clear she wasn’t an ordinary blacksmith to have made a sword her father used.
“It’s an urgent matter. Please sharpen the blade of this sword.”
“Isn’t this a training sword?”
“Yes. Due to lack of swords…”
“Hmm.”
The blacksmith took the sword and examined it.
It was thick and heavy enough that even if the blade was sharpened, the center of balance could be maintained.
“Alright. It seems possible. But it might take some time.”
“If there’s a battle going on, I would appreciate it if you could deliver it directly. I’ll tell you the name…”
“Aren’t you going to use it yourself?”
“Yes. To a college student named Schlus Hainkel…”
“I refuse.”
“Pardon?”
The old woman turned away.
Of course, she could sharpen the blade or even make a new sword for Gawayn’s daughter, let alone anything else.
But to make a sword for a mere magician.
Magicians were creatures who only knew how to hold swords for show.
The swords she forged and sharpened all had a soul in them.
She couldn’t bear to see them being stuffed as ornaments or decorations and gathering dust.
“I neither forge nor sharpen swords for magicians.”
“Schlus is indeed a magician, but… he has a talent for swords that is by no means inferior to me!”
“What?”
The old woman glared.
Everyone knew the fact that Gawayn’s daughter had already surpassed the level of a high-ranking knight at the age of 10.
If she hadn’t put down the sword, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she were the Empire’s best swordsman by now.
The owner of a talent comparable to Gawayn’s daughter…?
It was nonsense.
“Please believe me. Whether he holds a sword or not will definitely determine the outcome of the battle.”
“Hmph. To that extent?”
“Yes. I beg you.”
“…”
She couldn’t not believe the words of Gawayn’s daughter.
After she left, the old blacksmith, though reluctant, immediately began the work.
Even before the work was finished, the sky darkened and the battle finally began.
Sweating profusely, she finished sharpening the sword and placed it on her fingertip.
The sword lay parallel and still, like the surface of a calm lake.
“Perfect.”
The perfect center of balance and clean cutting power.
In an instant, the training sword had transformed into a real combat sword.
She heard the battle situation was urgent.
The blacksmith hurriedly wrapped the sword in cloth and ran.
“I’ve never seen such a bunch of misfits…”
The blacksmith, who had arrived at the castle wall, was dumbfounded.
Magical beasts were climbing the castle wall in droves, and the students were running away in terror.
These were Imperial Academy students…?
Hopefully, Schlus Hainkel wasn’t among those running away.
As she clicked her tongue and looked around, a boy caught her eye.
He wasn’t even using magic to fight, yet he was still standing alone and holding his position.
For some reason, she had a strong feeling that ragged guy was Schlus Hainkel.
“Are you Schlus Hainkel?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Then take this.”
“This is…?”
After handing over the sword, she stepped back.
Indeed.
The moment he held the sword, the guy’s fortitude, which had looked merely stupid, changed.
Sensing the murderous intent behind him, he turned around and took a stance.
Fenrir.
A wolf magical beast with thick hide and large jaws that even high-ranking knights never dared to take lightly.
Would he try to fight using magic as well, since he was a magician?
Somehow getting interested, the blacksmith crossed her arms and watched him.
“Ho…?”
He and the Fenrir rushed towards each other at the same time.
His movements weren’t particularly fast, nor did he mix in magic.
It seemed he didn’t even activate his internal circuit, which was the basis for swordsmen.
Nevertheless, the sword that moved like flowing water blocked the Fenrir’s claws without hesitation and pierced into its chest.
The decisive blow was a single slash.
“Kaaaaargh!!!”
He rolled on the ground, passing the Fenrir, and soon the beast spewed blood from under its jaw.
He had already penetrated the hide and aimed to cut the carotid artery.
The Fenrir went berserk, splattering blood everywhere, then rushed at him again…
Thud!
Just before reaching him, it collapsed on the ground with its eyes rolled back.
He, who never looked back at the Fenrir, was already running towards other magical beasts.
“He’s certainly not ordinary…!”
She had guessed that the words of Gawayn’s daughter weren’t nonsense, but to think it would be to this extent.
The blacksmith laughed heartily and looked at another place where the battle was in full swing.
Kwang! Boom…!
The professor of the Imperial Academy, was it…?
And next to him was Gawayn’s daughter.
Somehow, the two of them were fighting on a completely different level, no, two levels.
The corpses of the magical beasts alone were already piled up like mountains everywhere.
“Hmm. Cancel that. The truly extraordinary ones were over there.”
The blacksmith awkwardly scratched her head and turned around.
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“This is quite something.”
Even I, who knew nothing about swords, could tell.
This was a great sword.
It was simply a sharpened blade of a training sword, but it was light, sufficiently elastic, and sharp, making it easy to wield.
Even alone, with this sword, I could sufficiently block the magical beasts climbing up this side of the castle wall.
‘Still no sign of Vafe…’
To be honest, I thought Vafe would suddenly pop out when I was in danger.
I thought that was why it was absorbed into my body.
But Vafe still didn’t respond, and instead, I got a nice sword.
I’m sulking, you bastard.
Just never come out at all.
This magnificent longsword is taking your place anyway.
Whoosh…!
Lightning shot up from behind, piercing the head of an orc climbing the castle wall.
Holy shit…
I almost got hit.
Looking back, students were shooting magic from the 3rd line of defense, the castle.
Somehow, they seemed to fight better now that they were fighting from the rear.
“As expected of magicians.”
In the middle of a battlefield where life and death were at stake, they were paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move, but only when safety was secured did they display their skills.
I understood Sergei’s decision to pull the students back just before the 2nd line of defense collapsed.
It was a decision made by grasping the nature of magicians.
“This seems manageable.”
Before long, there was quite some leeway on top of the castle wall.
Looking down at the bottom of the castle wall, magical beasts were still pouring out of the forest, but it didn’t seem to be even half of the initial number.
At this rate, it seemed we could sufficiently block them.
Reinforcements would arrive the day after tomorrow, so we just needed to endure until today.
‘Is Ainz not back yet?’
The battle was slowly coming to an end, but Ainz and Team 1 still hadn’t returned.
This was making me uneasy.
I was worried that he might have caused all sorts of trouble trying to stand out alone, causing the team to collapse and become food for the magical beasts.
Was it too greedy to hope for Ainz’s awakening after all?
No, but considering the attitude he showed during this practice, it didn’t seem entirely impossible…
“What? Aren’t those students from Team 1?!”
Sergei shouted in a loud voice.
In the distance.
At the entrance of the forest a little further away, students were running towards us.
The assistant seemed to have lost consciousness and was carried on the back of a student.
But I didn’t see Ainz…
Maybe he was a little behind.
“Prepare to open the main gate! Trie, I’ll leave the covering fire to you.”
“Huh? Yes?”
“The range won’t reach that far unless it’s someone on the castle wall! Please!”
“Ah…”
Sergei cheerfully patted Trie’s back.
By the way, whenever I got hit like that, I couldn’t help but stagger forward, but Trie stood upright.
As expected of a general’s daughter, I guess…
“Ugh…”
Even such a great person found magic difficult.
Stretching out her arm and deploying the technique, it was clear from her cold sweat that Trie was quite nervous.
I quickly approached Trie and placed my hand on her shoulder.
“Trie.”
“Eek?!”
“Don’t be surprised.”
“Teacher?”
“Focus. It would be bad if the magical beasts surround Team 1.”
“Mm…”
It would be a big problem if the magical beasts blocked Team 1’s path.
Trie’s role now was to prevent that from happening.
I was in a position where I had to save my abilities, so it really had to be Trie.
Sergei must have used up all his mana.
“Don’t be too nervous. Take them out one by one.”
“But, Teacher…”
“Speak.”
“My accuracy is really bad… I might hit my friends instead of the magical beasts.”
“…”
Trie looked at me with a terrified face.
Since it was the honest Trie saying it, it wouldn’t be a lie to avoid it.
Damn it.
Then there was no other way.
“Trie. Just fill the technique with mana.”
“Huh? I injected it. But why?”
“I’ll shoot.”
“What?”
I immediately connected to the core of the technique and took control.
Trie’s technique had terrible security…
She needed to pay more attention to encryption.
It would take too much time for Trie to deploy and me to take over every time we shot magic.
So I edited the technique.
From single shot to shotgun.
With this, one shot would be enough without having to shoot multiple times.
“Huh? Then it will scatter all over the place? The probability of hitting my friends will only increase, Teacher!”
“Just watch quietly.”
Bam!
Technique fired.
The red light shone in the darkness and instantly spread into twenty branches, flying forward.
I manipulated all twenty light beams one by one to change their trajectories.
The red light beams drew their respective curves below the castle wall, pouring down on the magical beasts.
“Kyaaargh!”
“Kroar!”
The light beams simultaneously struck twenty magical beasts, and loud screams echoed.
As they fell, a path to the main gate opened up.
In the meantime, Team 1 reached the main gate, and the gate opened with a very small gap and immediately closed.
Success.
I patted Trie’s shoulder as she was dumbfounded and ran to meet Team 1.
Trie and Sergei had to stay on the castle wall and keep fighting.
“The assistant is critically injured! Does anyone have a recovery potion? Anyone?”
“…”
The students were holding the collapsed assistant and sobbing.
Judging by the blood flowing from his side and his pale face, it seemed he wouldn’t last long.
“I’m sorry, but the recovery potions are all used up, so I’ll at least take him to the doctor.”
“If there’s no recovery potion, the assistant will die!”
I closed my eyes tightly and pondered for a moment.
I could immediately obtain a recovery potion by paying just 2 shop coins.
Even a low-grade recovery potion would quickly heal such a not-so-large external wound.
Although it would take time for a full recovery, it could definitely save his life.
‘Hmm…’
But I was currently collecting coins.
To obtain the 50-coin elixir.
If a situation arose where I was short of exactly 2 coins when I needed the elixir, there would be nothing more frustrating.
Then I had to weigh the importance.
I had to consider whether saving Sergei’s assistant was truly necessary.
This pretty… no, handsome man.
Seeing as I couldn’t even remember his name, let alone anything about Sergei’s assistant, it meant he was barely mentioned or didn’t have much importance in the original work.
But that didn’t mean the assistant’s abilities were weak.
Although not much was described in the original work, considering that the assistant saved Ainz and Team 1 who were in a crisis, brought them to an advantageous terrain, and commanded the battle, it was clear he was a considerably capable person.
It was a sufficient justification to save him.
[Purchased 1 Low-Grade Recovery Potion.]
A small glass bottle was placed in my hand behind my back.
Only then did I quickly approach Team 1.
“Here’s a low-grade recovery potion. Use this.”
“You still hadn’t used the recovery potion…?”
“…”
The red-haired girl looked up at me with her mouth open.
After being dumbfounded for a moment, she immediately poured the recovery potion on the assistant’s side.
The affected area neatly reattached, revealing a well-built abdomen.
Now if he just rested comfortably, he would wake up soon.
I knew it well from recovering from a similar state.
“Where’s Ainz?”
“Ainz is…”
I crouched down and asked about Ainz’s whereabouts.
Then they avoided my gaze or lowered their heads, hesitating to answer.
As the red-haired girl kept moving her lips, I approached her closely and pressed.
“Hurry!”
“Ainz stayed behind alone… to buy time for us to escape.”
“Hmph.”
Ainz did such a crazy thing?
What was the assistant doing not stopping him…
Ah.
He lost consciousness.
“Damn it…”
Ainz finally deviated from my expectations.
From a selfish personality where everything revolved around himself to a hero who could even sacrifice for his friends…
He had achieved awakening, transcending the limits of the original work.
But if he couldn’t return alive after that, it was meaningless.
Seeing as he hadn’t returned yet, he must have been surrounded by magical beasts again on the way.
He was definitely dead.
His awakening was insufficient.
If it was only that level of awakening, it was meaningless.
It meant he wasn’t even worth pulling in as my comrade.
So this time, I should just leave him be, thinking of it as an extra dying.
Ainz wasn’t an important character in the original work anyway.
“Damn it…”
“Schlus?”
When I came to my senses, I was already walking towards the main gate.
Ainz.
A stupid and arrogant guy who only relied on his family and connections.
An unlucky guy who was born with several talents that didn’t match such a subject.
Still, he was a guy with a kind nature who acknowledged what should be acknowledged.
“Please open the main gate.”
How could I, as a writer no different from a father, leave him alone when that ragged guy broke free from the shackles of the original work?
I felt like I needed to have a conversation with him to see how he had changed to feel relieved.
I tightly gripped the sword in my right hand and stepped out of the slowly opening main gate.
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Finally going to do something
“How could I, as a writer no different from a father.”
BRUH this donkey doesn’t change, right?