Episode 16 Moonlight Piercing the Dragon Scales II
The circular arena in the training ground of the Order of the Sun was huge.
It was approximately 500 meters in diameter.
The circle was surrounded by a tall wooden fence with door-like entrances on the east, west, north, south, and west sides.
The ground of the arena was covered with sand about as deep as a beach, making it difficult for a person to be seriously injured even if he or she fell while getting caught in the sand.
On the sandy floor, one can see several raised squares.
Counted them ― four in total: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.
Is something buried underneath?
「――I heard that this place was originally designed with the coliseum in mind. The gates on all four sides and the stone floor leading to the basement are remnants of that design. There is a stone lid buried under that heap of sand. See the chains on the wooden fence? The buried stone lid can be opened by pulling the chain on the cogwheel. It's the kind of thing you see all the time, where a beast of prey comes out from underneath.」
Oswalt explained as he squinted into the bright sun beating down on the arena.
「...... Are they raising fierce beasts in the basement?」
「Hahahaha. Of course not! It's just a trick. The duel will not be interrupted. It's a one-on-one battle between you and Renault」
Kian looked at the huge black-bearded knight coming out of the gate on the other side of the amphitheater.
He is wearing silver armor with the emblem of the Order of the Sun on it.
However, it is not ceremonial cloth armor like Oswalt is wearing now, but heavy equipment for fighting. He is about to emerge from the shade of the arena, kicking up the sand beneath his feet, clad in expensive and sturdy-looking full-body armor.
Renault glares at Kian.
He is not wearing a helmet.
This is not a battlefield, so there is no need to be on the lookout for unexpected flying weapons.
In single combat, it is better to prioritize visibility.
It was a rational decision.
「Are you nervous?」
「No, I am not. It was my own decision, after all」
「Renault is a violent man, but he's not a completely thoughtless fool at all. If you're assuming that you're dealing with the kind of bear or Shield Cain that you're always dealing with, you're making a big mistake. Renault's sword has the artistry and the intelligence to learn your moves. Decency aside, he is an excellent warrior.」
「―――」
「Wooooooooo!」
A few hundred meters away, Renault looked back at the crowd around him and raised his arms.
The knights are as muscular as he is.
They responded to Renault's shout by slamming the pikes of their spears into the ground.
「It's a duel! Its blood!」
A huge knight's mustache quivered.
Several boys, who appeared to be apprentice knights, carried huge red shields.
The red shield was circular in shape, with dents in three places along its circumference.
I see, he would strike at the enemy with a sword or spear attached to that dent.
If the shield is held out in front of him, my slashes will not pass through, and he will immediately counterattack with a sword or spear attached to the dent on the outside of the shield――
As if to confirm that his prediction was correct, Renault slammed the hammer on his back into the sand of the arena and received a short spear from another boy.
「Mnh!」
The gleam in his blue eyes.
He held the round shield up to Kian.
Then he thrusts the spearhead out of the dent.
(As expected. It's a troublesome posture that combines offense and defense. Probably the "Church Knight's Spear Art" of the Western Church. It is a basic battle formation using a shield and a spear. If he comes close to me with that, it would be difficult to deal with my sword, which is evasive and offensive.)
Kian thought he was just a simpleton from the way he started the fight, but he must have expected Kian to use Azrair's dancing sword art from his appearance. That is why he is coming with a shield and a short spear, a style that emphasizes counterattack. A warrior monk would use a lot of chi to break down the defense, but Kian's weapon of choice was a wooden sword. If he were to strike normally, he would bounce back and be beaten.
As Oswalt said, he is not just a fool.
「That red thing is the Dragon Scale Shield. It is made from the shells and scales of the flying dragons he hunts.」
「That sounds hard.」
「That's like the impression of a five-year-old. What's the matter, are you still nervous? If you're nervous, let me lend you my sword.」
「I'm good.」
Kian said and pulled out a wooden sword from his back.
(The enemy is armed with a large shield that covers half of his huge body, a sharp short spear, and a straight sword at his waist.)
In contrast, Kian, as usual, has two wooden swords, including a spare, and two clubs at his waist.
(As long as the shield is protecting him, my slash cannot pass through. The solution that comes to mind quickly is to use an applied technique of "Impulse" - "Break" to destroy the opponent's armor, or "Penetrating" to directly transmit the impact inside, ignoring the opponent's armor.)
Checking the condition of the sand on the scaffold, Kian moves forward.
Renault also stepped forward with his shield at the ready.
「Yo, take off that coat. I don't want to make a hole in that coat.」
「Aren't you planning to come slashing at me the moment I release my stance?」
「Kukukukuku......」
The giant man lets out a low chuckle through his white teeth.
He rounded his huge body and retracted the spear that was protruding from the hollow of his round shield.
「Before we start, we should just decide the condition for a win or lose.」
「I'm going to skewer him and that's the end of it.」
「You want to do it until one of you is dead? In that case, you might have no problem, but Kian is at a disadvantage. A mere adventurer killing a lord nobleman would be a hell of a case. But, since this is a formal duel, you can't complain even if he kills you, though」
「I'm not going to be killed! He's the one who's going to die!」
「Renault-san said earlier, 'If you can make me kneel, you can have the sword'. For my part, I'd like to make you kneel and win.」
「Kian says this, but what about you, Renault?」
「Ha!」
Renaud's blue eyes glazed over from beside his shield.
「I don't care. If you can make me kneel, I'll accept your victory. But I'm going to kill you.」
「Very well.」
「It seems that both sides have agreed. Then, when I retreat to the perimeter of the arena, we'll begin the duel.」
「Wooooooooooo!」
Renault bares his teeth.
Then, the surrounding knight - Renault's men - responded by clashing their shields with their spears.
The muscular men screamed in unison, echoing through the amphitheater-like earthquakes.
The reverberations seem to pierce the blue sky.
If the sky were made of glass, it would surely have cracked and collapsed by now.
Wooooooooo―――
Like a pre-war drumbeat, it uplifts the warrior's spirits.
The dry sandy ground was rolled up by the heat-laden wind.
Kian's vision blurred, and the nearly three-meter-tall man in front of him seemed like a castle wall.
He is huge.
His head is far away.
Kian kept his center of gravity low and thrust his right hand with the wooden sword forward.
「――Begin!」
「It's a battle!」「Victory for Lord Renault!」 「Oooohhh!」
The eyes of the giant man in front of him opened wide.
A creaking sound of muscles echoed, and he kicked the ground.
Softly.
The giant man's body floats as if there is no gravity.
He held his shield down.
The arm holding the spear was pulled to the limit.
「Wooooooh!」
Renault attacked above Kian's head.
× × ×
Golden sand danced in the air.
As if stirred by the hot wind blowing in the arena, the body of the giant knight leaps several meters into the air.
A mass of muscles encased in steel falls like a cannonball.
「............!」
Kian avoids it.
Before he could even think about it, he used "Blink".
The coat of twilight haze like mist, and Kian's body swung backward.
The giant landed half an instant too late.
The sand rose like an explosion, bouncing off the sunlight and shining.
「......, ......, ......!」
Kian landed backward.
At the same time, he kneaded his chi.
Using the "Blink," he plunged into the center of the sand explosion, drawing a circular trajectory while continuously blurring his body.
「Iyahh......!」
「Uraaahhhhhh!」
Against Kian, who flipped his black coat to the sky and leaped at him, a huge man's body emerged from the golden sand.
The red-scaled shield bounces back the slashing blow of the wooden sword.
Kian tried to destroy the equipment by using "Break" with his chi just before contact, but the Dragon Scale Shield was unexpectedly strong and instantly absorbed Kian's chi.
「――――!?」
Kian's eyes widen.
Renault's mouth lifts up open with a grin.
「Arraaaaaaah!」
Renault, who received Kian's slash with his shield on his shoulder, sharply raised his short spear from under his shield.
The tip of the spear stretched straight out.
The high sound of metal scraping.
The blade, shining silver-white, aimed at Kian's stomach.
「Huff......!」
Kian puts strength into his arm.
He put his weight on the shield against which the wooden sword is struck.
Anomalous use of the "Blink".
The tip of the spear pierces through the black mist.
Renault opens his eyes wide.
「「............!」
The giant man retracted his arm more agilely than it looked, placed the hilt of his spear just above the shield he carried on his back - around his neck, and turned around.
There, Kian, who had escaped with a "Blink," was standing with his wrists turned back and his wooden sword readied.
Renault thrust out the spear on his neck against Kian, who was quickly closing the gap between them.
He leaps.
Spread his legs.
Roll up the sand.
Fluttering the hem of his coat.
Kian jumped as if he was dancing in the sky.
The spear gouged out the sand near his feet where he had just been.
Normally, this is where he would have swung his wooden sword down from above and that would have been the end of it, but his enemy had a Dragon-Scale Shield that he carried on his back as well as the spear.
(But)
「――――!」
Kian, leaping over the giant man's head, had his wooden sword covered with chi.
An applied technique of "Impulse".
The "Penetration".
A technique that ignores the enemy's hard armor and inflicts damage directly to the inside.
「......!?」
Still that, too.
(Not working!?)
The moment the shield was struck, there was a response.
But the giant man didn't even stagger and turned his predator-like eyes on us through the gap in his shield.
「Urahhh!」
The giant man used the rotation of his body to leap up from the spear that had been gouging the sand.
He carried the spear as well as the shield.
So, at the same time as Kian's wooden sword was played by the shield, the spear's tip was coming at him, ripping through his stomach.
「............!」
Kian couldn't dodge.
He pulled his club from his waist as quickly as he could.
A tremendous impact struck his arm.
A sharp pain in his side.
He was cut.
But it was shallow.
Kian let go of the club, which was shattered by the blow, and landed to the left rear of the giant man, temporarily breaking away from the gap.
「............」
Upon landing, Kian silently kneaded his chi and healed his side.
The wound healed instantly with white steam.
The coat of twilight also sucked Kian's blood and immediately regenerated the torn fabric.
「Hahaa.」
Holding the Dragon Scale Shield in his left arm.
The giant man carries a spear on his right shoulder.
The giant black-bearded knight was smiling.
But it was not a leisurely smile.
It is the look of a human being who is seriously hunting.
He is licking his lips at the finest warrior (bait) he has had in a long time.
「............」
The knight is a huge man who is slowly closing the distance between the two.
Kian moves his feet to the side as if to go around the side.
Both of them are looking for an opportunity to get behind the other's back.
A tuft of Renault's frizzy black hair hangs down at his temple.
His blue eyes sparkle.
(The shield blocks the "Break". The "Penetration" is...)
Kian's eyes narrowed.
The giant man showed no signs of damage to his muscles or internal organs.
(At the same moment I was launching my chi, the other side also enveloped his body with magic power to cancel it out. This is the basic way to deal with "Penetration". This giant man knows Azrair's Dancing Swordsmanship.)
「Ku――hh!」
Renault's eyes opened wide.
His huge body floats in the sky.
He leaped overhead at once with a leap of one, two, and three steps for a distance of ten meters.
He pointed his shield at Kian.
Behind his shield, the arm gripping the spear was squeezed tight.
He aimed precisely at Kian's shoulder and thrust down.
「......, ......!」
"Blink".
If Kian reacts too late, he will be crushed.
The sand explodes in front of him as he watches, and he breaks away at high speed.
However.
「Uraaahhhhh!」
Perhaps because the giant man has realized Kian's position, this time he immediately breaks through the wall of sand and leaps out.
A large beast trying to catch a quick little animal named Kian.
A fortress-like shield loomed over him, and sharp spear thrusts were unleashed from the edges of the shield.
「......!」
It is received.
With a wooden sword.
The spear thrust is swept outward.
The spear leaves the edge of the shield.
The spear and the shield.
Renault's body was seen in the small gap between them.
(Here it is!)
「......! ......!」
Kian twisted his wrist in a wringing motion.
The blade of the wooden sword, which had been used to clear the spear outward, was turned back inward.
He took a step toward the giant man who lunged at him and slashed up as if to twist the wooden sword into the gap between the spear and the shield.
「Nuh-......!」
The giant man's blue eyes widened.
A moment later, hot sand danced.
The giant man jumped.
Renault instantly stopped rushing forward and leaped about twenty meters backward at once to keep his distance from Kian.
「――――」
「............」
Once again, the two separated and glared at each other.
There was commotion all around.
「Impossible. Sir Renault has retreated.」
「You mean to tell me that he's managed to fend off Sir Renault's attack? That's impossible」
「I didn't see that Azrairian move at all. Who the hell is he?」
「Wobbling and wobbling and he's making strange movements. This is why the warrior monks of that countries are so difficult to deal with.」
Amidst the shouts of the onlookers, Renault peeled his teeth and laughed low.
With a clatter, he combined his shield and spear, his blue eyes peering out from the side of his shield.
His frizzy hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.
「Kuk, don't think you can avoid it next time.」
「――――」
(It's not enough to just foolishly type 'penetrate'. He will handle it perfectly. Still ......, if he's going to hit me with magic power to offset my "Penetration", just make sure he doesn't know where I'm going to strike my chi.)
Kian held his wooden sword up next to his ear.
He believes in his own swordsmanship.
It is battle instincts he had developed over the years.
Kian stared at the giant knight in front of him, forgetting to even blink.
(I know the "Church Knight's Spear Art" of the Western Church. I have even met its user before. I've seen this man's spear, and it's very different in power and speed, but what he's doing is the basic form.)
In other words, he receives attacks with his shield and counterattacks with his spear.
He crushes his opponent with your shield or hit him with the edge of your shield to subdue him.
「―――」
「...... hehe ......」
(As I recall, one of the kata's techniques was to softly catch a slash with the shield and bounce it back outward)
Then, when the opponent's body is unprotected, he thrusts a spear through the heart.
(I mean, this guy has done that move many times before. If I make one more attack that's easy to repel with his shield, the chance will come.)
Kian's eyes narrowed quickly.
Kian can picture in his mind's eye his future movements and the man's movements.
Kian charged straight at the giant man with his "Blink," and Renault intercepted him with a shield.
The slash here is another vertical slash.
It's an attack that asks the giant man to block it with the shield attached to his left arm.
This is where, Kian sees through his shield holder――
If Kian can slip under the giant man's feet through the shield catch, he can strike a slashing blow to his open torso. If he bends down under his feet, the counterattacking spear will only pass over his head and not hit him.
(Feint through that great shield of dragon scales. But don't be noticed until the very last minute.)
If the giant man notices Kian's intentions, he will just stop receiving the shield and jump back again.
If that happens, it is finally a long-term battle.
If the giant man sees all of Kian's basic techniques, he will learn and respond better. If that happens, it is highly likely that Kian, who is poorly armed, will be at a disadvantage.
(It's decided. In the next attack)
Kian's lips pursed into a tight line, and he gathered his chi into his hind legs.
Then, like an arrow, he leaps out.
「――――!」
It was a miraculous blow――
The genius of the ancients.
Or perhaps the God Azrair.
The final blow that came to his mind at the end of his stick swinging.
Kian thought that it might be a blow close to the seven secrets of Azrair Dancing Swordsmanship, called the "Secret Sword," even though he had never seen the "Secret Sword".
「―――!」
The eyes of the giant knight peeking out from his large shield widened.
Kian had suddenly appeared above Renault's head, drawing a streak of black mist afterimage in the blue sky.
「Iyaaahhhhhh!」
「......! Uraaahhhhhh!」
The giant man who super-reacted against Kian, who slashed at him from above his head, raised his shield.
The shield was pushed up as if carried on his left shoulder.
「――――!」
Kian instantly twisted and dodge.
He intended to avoid it from the moment he jumped.
「―――!?」
The giant man's mustache quivered.
He was thrusting his spear over his head in a counterattack.
The tip of the spear grazed Kian's cheek, sending a spray of blood flying as he evaded his shield wide.
But it is shallow.
This one doesn't stop――
「――――」
Kian's black eyes shifted down like lines.
He bends down.
Under the giant man's feet.
To the limit.
The wooden sword makes a sharp sound, even though it is not made of steel.
「Haaah!」
Kian's wooden sword, which he quickly slashed up from the groin, broke the giant man's crotch――the bell(鈴).
The wooden sword struck the man in the vital spot, and this time the man's giant body shook.
「Nnuuuuuhhhh! AAAAAhhhhhh!」
A spear.
The handle of the spear he was holding up is swung down.
Kian grabbed it with his left hand and caught it.
「Huff ......!」
Kian levitated his body with the hand holding the spear as support.
He flexes his torso like a spring and pulls his knees to his chest in mid-air.
Then he slammed a powerful kick with both feet into the center of the giant man's hard chest armor.
「............!」
Leaving behind the sound of the chest plate being dented, the giant man's silvery-white heavy armor distorted.
The man's huge body floated up.
The large shield and the short spear fell out of Renault's hands, and he himself was blown to the side in a sideways leap
It was a blow with a large amount of magic power given to Kian by Arueno and the other girls.
An ordinary knight would have been kicked through his chest.
Renault's body, which had been lifted off the ground, flew more than ten meters backward and hit the wooden fence embedded in the ground, sending up thick golden dust.
The surrounding knight made a commotion once again.
How many of them could understand this momentary attack and defense?
Kian landed dexterously on the ground, swung his wooden sword once as if swinging it in blood, and stood up.
(I put too much force into it. I think he might be dead.)
『......! No, it's not over yet, Kian!』
(What ......?)
『Be careful! I knew there was something wrong with him, but he was not human!』
「―――!?」
Before Glasses could finish, a wooden log flew out of the dust like a throwing spear.
Kian was astonished to see a log sticking out of the ground with a ground-shaking sound, although he avoided it just in time by using his "Blink".
(Is this the wooden fence that surrounds the arena!?)
But the wooden fence was a very thick log made by cutting down one of the biggest trees in the area.
Not even an ordinary human, let alone a powerful beastman, would be able to throw it back like a throwing spear.
「What in the world is going on?」
A huge shadow emerges from the dust in front of Kian, whose eyes widen.
Bam!
A giant man's arm slams against the sandy earth.
Hands large for a human.
It swelled up rapidly, making a tremendous noise.
Reddish-brown scales grow on the skin's surface, and the tips of his toes become black, long, and sharply pointed.
「GYAUUUUUU!」
Renault's roar echoed from the sand.
White, copious drool splattered, and a nearly one-meter-long red tongue whipped out.
Yellow reptilian eyes lit up in the sand, and a pointed snout, reminiscent of a lizard's, emerged from the sandy blur.
A huge red-flying dragon――
Wing membranes integrated with its arms.
Venomous thorns on its back.
A long, strong tail.
A scream goes up from among the members of the Order.
「............!」
As Kian's eyes widened, the red-flying dragon opened its bright red jaw.
VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE――――!!!!!!!
The air trembles.
The heat in the arena suddenly rose.
『A monk with an impudent imitation! I will trample you down!』
The dragon howled in Renault's voice.
The dragon's mighty forelegs extended toward Kian.
「Kuhh ......!」
I don't know what happened.
In the first place, I don't know what that thing is.
Still――
Kian had activated his "Blink" faster than he could think.
But perhaps the dragon had read it, and his red spiked tail swung to the side as if to block Kian's retreat.
『Kian!』
(It's all right!)
Kian twisted his body and jumped.
But a thorn from the tail grazed his shoulder, causing blood to spray.
A tremendous pain hit his right arm.
The thorns might have been poisoned.
「Tsk!」
(This is no longer an opponent that can be dealt with by fighting with a wooden sword.)
I need to be serious.
A big move to really kill my opponent――!
Kian called to the sky as he took a defensive stance with his wooden sword.
「Come!」
The crows that had been waiting for him soared into the sky.
It was the same as when he had buried "Spoon Wing" in the eastern forest.
It was the magic of a familiar.
The crows gradually increased in number and became a dense black cloud.
Several black bird feathers fell down like snow.
The red-flying dragon, which was looking up at the sky, turned its yellow eyes to the sky and bared its fangs.
『You ......, who are you?』
「That's my line!」
『You sinister fellow ......! Be a beast and you will know, there is an unpleasant smell coming from you! The smell of death and decay. I'll burn you to death here!』
The dragon's nose sucked in the air.
『Not good, it's a fire breath!』
(If I get hit by it, I'll burn to death in this armor. Then I'll just use my sword to slice the breath.)
『Are you insane!?』
「Haaaahhhhh!」
The magic power in Kian's body flares up.
It is the black and stagnant magic power
The red-flying dragon opened its big mouth to Kian, who took a low posture and took a ready stance.
A bright red scorching heat swirled in the back of the dragon's throat like bottomless darkness.
Kian's eyes widened.
(Oh, Azrair! Lend me your strength!)
『Die!』
「――That's enough!」
「............!」
『――――!』
Goh ―― and the fireball was caught by a figure who broke in front of Kian.
It was Oswalt.
He was holding a golden great sword in his right hand, which he carried on his shoulder like a shield.
As soon as the fire breath hit the sword blade of the golden great sword, it was rapidly faded and absorbed.
When the fireball was eventually absorbed by the sword, Oswalt turned his wrist and spun the golden sword. Then he thrust the tip into the sandy earth.
『Move! Oswalt! If you get in my way, I'll trample you down too!』
「Have you forgotten the promise you made, Renault? You lose this match.」
「What ......? ......!』
The dragon's fighting spirit rapidly waned.
His body also rapidly shrank along with it.
From the figure of a monster over ten meters long, he became a giant man over two meters tall.
He stood beyond Oswalt, showing off his muscular nakedness without care.
「............」
Renault, back to being a giant man with a black beard, silently looked down at his own right knee.
His own sweat-soaked knee was sticky and caked with the golden sand of the arena.
It was evident that he had kneeled on the ground, even if only for a moment.
「Tsk, that was when I was hit by a bell-cracking blow. As you can see, my balls are totally fine, but still ...... the moment before was very painful. If it wasn't for my balls, I wouldn't have kneeled.」
Renault spat that out with a regretful look on his face.
Oswalt shrugged his shoulders.
「No matter how you look at it, seems like you're lost, though?」
「Shit ......, I'm not going to deny it. I never break my own rules. ――Hey! You! Kian!」
「............」
Kian won't let his guard down.
He keeps his wooden sword at the ready.
The giant man seemed to have already lost his fighting spirit, but what was shown to him earlier was shown to him. It could happen that the moment he was distracted, his torso may have been torn apart.
Renault clicked his tongue again.
「I lose. And you win.」
「Does this mean the duel is over?」
「That's right. It's over. I've lost my chance to get my hands on that precious vampire coat. If I go on any longer, I'll be pitted against Oswalt and his owl boys. If I kill them all, there will be a terrible civil war in Ezerland.」
Renault grabbed the cloth-wrapped sword his men had brought and held it out toward Kian.
「Take it. You're a nasty son of a bitch, but you fought bravely against me, and by the rules, you beat me. Here's your reward.」
「Thank you very much」
Kian accepted the sword with both hands as if holding it as an offering.
The sword, sealed in a white cloth, still emitted a low whispering sound from the blade.
「Damn ......, today is a bad day.」
The giant naked man turns his back and walks away from Kian and the others.
His retinue hurriedly approaches with cloaks and a change of clothes.
Takes them carelessly, Renault twists his head and glares at Kian.
His eyes were not the blue eyes of the human race, but the yellow eyes of a reptile.
「Kian. Kian. ....... Okay, I've memorized your face and name. I will never forget you until I kill you. See you later. Next time, let's fight each other until one of us is dead.」
「............」
Kian was feeling the weight of the magic sword in his hand, and regretting why he had picked a fight with such a thing.
However ― the desire to plunder that seemed to well up from within his chest had already subsided.
Kian looked down at the sword blade, the white cloth peeling away to expose it.
A distorted sword, full of holes.
(I had impulsively gambled and taken it away from him, but ...... I'm not sure if it's really worth the risk.)
「You did it, Kian.」
「Yes. ......」
「What's up? You beat that "Knight of the Dragon Scale", you know. You should be more proud of yourself. There are not many knights in the western world who can fight him and win」
「――――」
「What? Are you surprised at your own impulsive desire for that sword?」
「――――!?」
「Hmph, I knew it.」
Oswalt shook his sun earrings and smiled like a snake.
「You have been extraordinary up until now. You had all that power, but you didn't know your own power, and therefore kept your desires deep in your heart. Now you have finally become like other people. What's wrong with wanting what you want? It's just that you had the courage, wisdom, and power to acquire that magic sword. It's nothing difficult.」
「Still ......, what I did, as it turns out, is that I took the magic sword from Renault-sama out of self-interest....... As a follower of Azrair, this is not acceptable」
「Renault also tried to take your coat, though. If you had not resisted, he would have stripped you naked. Besides, any adventurer would have gambled. The Azrair religion is too strict.」
「――――」
「Kian.」
As Kian looked down at his trophy, a magic sword, and pondered, Oswalt's right hand was held out before his eyes. On top of it was a red apple.
「............」
「Kian, you should open your eyes more. Both to those around you and to yourself.」
「You.」
「Hmm?」
「What are you? What are you trying to teach me by telling me all these things?」
Kian looks back at the blonde-haired young man.
He squinted his golden eyes.
「Nothing. It's just that I feel like I'm looking at my old self and offering my help without compensation.」
「Nothing is more expensive than free, as they say among adventurers」
「Hahahaha! You're a skeptic. I'm on your side. That's just good enough, isn't it?――Still, let's see. If you want a plausible explanation, I'll give it to you.」
Oswalt puts the apple on top of the magic sword, and his eyes wrinkle a little.
「I want a friend. To walk through life with you and dream with you――A friend of equal rank. Kian. Will you be my friend?」
「Errrr ......」
Kian stares back into the eyes of the golden young man whose true intentions he cannot see.
But he only laughed, somewhat sadly, and did not continue with any further words.
Kian gently slides his fingertips over the apple placed on top of the magic sword.
It was sweet and dangerous, the fruit of the tree of wisdom.
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