61 [1-61] Lets win. (1/2)

Lawrence Reinhardt's father was an alchemist.

His job was to make mithril alloys for mining pickaxes, which he sold to pickaxe workshops.

Lawrence was proud of his father.

He was proud of his father, and although his father's work was not the kind of work that would be seen by the public, he thought it was work that would support this country.

It was when Lawrence was seven years old that a dark cloud began to loom over his father's future.

As a young boy, Lawrence didn't really understand what was happening, but he did remember that his father was grumpy and drank more than usual, as debt collectors with horrible faces began to visit the house every day.

On one occasion, Lawrence intervened unthinkingly to save his father from being beaten by a debt collector, and was beaten up by three adults.

Although he was not seriously injured, the incident made Lawrence vow to become stronger.

If you think about it calmly, it is obvious that using martial arts to get rid of debt collectors will cause more trouble than it's worth, but that's just the way children think.

To protect his family: ......

The reason why the naughty boy took up the sword was as simple as that.

When Lawrence knocked on the door of a dojo run by a retired royal knight, he was offered free sword lessons in exchange for helping with the dojo's work.

There, Lawrence quickly rose to prominence.

Eventually, as Lawrence grew up, he came to know.

He learned that his father was unable to keep up with the changes in the national system and the standards for the alloys used in mining equipment.

As a result of pressure from Federation merchants to sell goods to Ciel-Teira, a treaty was established to align the domestic system of Ciel-Teira with that of the Federation. One of the hundreds of items included in that treaty was the....

The Federation, home to the Golem Corps, is a leader in the technology of magical alloys using alchemy, and has received generous research support from the government. The craftsmen of Ciel-Teira could not cope with the new standards based on the Federation. The workshops that had been my father's clients were forced to rely on imported products from the Federation.

My father, who was an alchemist but had no great knowledge or skill, and who made his living with a single alloy, lost his job, and while working as an unaccustomed pack-master, he studied to meet the new standards, and finally broke down.

My father's life burned out like the flame of a lamp getting smaller and smaller, and then he died.

Was it my father's fault for not being able to survive the changing times?

You can blame him for not having enough technology, or not having enough business acumen, or whatever you want.

But for Lawrence, it was enough to make him hate the Federation.

The sword that had been used to protect his family had one day become a sword used to slay Federation soldiers.

With the recommendation of the dojo master, Lawrence was recruited into the Royal Guard by the time he was 15 years old. In order to help his mother, who was the sole breadwinner in the family, Lawrence jumped at the chance to serve.

But what awaited him there was...

Lawrence's first job as a knight.

Reinforcements for the Federation's war effort.

A country near Ciel-Teira, about the same size as Ciel-Teira, was having a skirmish with the Federation, and it was a battle to bring it under control.

It was Lawrence's first battle, and he earned a lot of valor. But Lawrence did not know what he was fighting for from beginning to end.

Even after that, Lawrence served his country as a knight with many questions and frustrations.

Even though he couldn't fight against the Federation, he believed that his fight was for the good of the country and to protect the interests of the country ...... and many others.

And.

Lawrence...

* * *

”Aaaaah!

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

After passing through that blow, Rene closed the distance straight away.

And just before the next side-cutting blow ...... came.

”What?

Rene disappeared.

To be precise, she went into a ”short warp” behind Lawrence.

The red blade that Rene wielded plunged into Lawrence's armor.

In a trajectory that sliced his chest in a circle.

”Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Lawrence twisted around.

He spun his body around to avoid the deep blow instead of being sliced halfway across his chest in a shallow cut.

At the same time, he struck Tayla Ayulu.

Ha!

Renai catches the blow with all her might. ≪The red blade of Teir Ayul, which had been hit by the Consecration, sharpened, sending out red sparks. ≪The ”Bad Blood” seemed to have already lost most of its power as magic, and it had become a mere stain that did not weaken the holy air.

But Lawrence's blow was light. No, Rene's power was getting stronger. This was due to the fact that he had gained strength from eating souls, and Rich, who was part of the siege team, had buffed Rene.

Lawrence had also given up his talisman to receive the buffs, but now Rene was simply stronger.

As soon as Lawrence sees that he can't win by force, he immediately changes his policy.

He relaxes for a moment, as if to give her a shoulder kick, and then cuts back with his sword, breaking Rene's stance.

You can't avoid it and you can't catch it, and you can't avoid it by shifting.

He tried to do so.

”I won't let you!

Lawrence read it.

In the event you're not sure what you're looking for, there are a few things you can do.

I'm not sure what to say.

I'm not sure what to do.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to do it.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to do it.

--What was that?　What was that?　I'm not sure what you mean by that.

But this is only the second time you've shown me ...... short warp!　Can you handle that?

I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I'm sure you've.

There's no way he can reach her. But the thrusts fly.

He slips a half step to the side. A thrust goes through where Rene's head used to be.

Bend down. The thrust flies past the spot where Rene's tail used to be.

≪Fly two steps sideways at ”short warp”. The thrust flies through the place where Rene's heart was.

”Shield!

”No!

Sparks flew in front of Rene with a gust of wind.

The light barrier in front of Rene prevented the thrust.

I'm not sure what to do.

It's not going to be as good as a sword, after all.

Rene muttered, as if confirming something.

In the form of Dullahan, Rene has instinctive swordsmanship skills that are innate to Dullahan, but his skills are no match for Lawrence.

The Turtle Formation is as hard as ever.

In addition to breaking it directly with magic, you can also try to use the ”Ground Crack” spell to create a crack in the earth and swallow it, but this was quickly countered by the ”Earth Cancel” spell. It's a little tougher to fight Lawrence and have an endurance battle until the knights' magic power runs out.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

You finally understand the difference in ability. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

I would have preferred to win head-to-head.

...... It's my way from here.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that.

The undead army, which had been watching the battle from a distance, stirred.

He could feel the caution of the knights, as if they thought he was going to attack them all at once.

I hate to say it, but it's not that sweet.

”Stop!　Stop!

Help me!

There was an ear-splitting scream from the undead.

Skeletons emerged from the rear through the army. In their hands, they hold a crying girl. A little over ten in all. They are all about the same age as Rene, and to varying degrees, they are all beautifully dressed and well-bred.

While the knights were standing around, the skeleton came out and stood the girl he had been carrying in the front row of the army, and thrust his sword at her as if to embrace her.

When he saw her, a voice rose from the Turtle Formation.

”Sasha!

Gillian!

At the sound of these voices, the surrounding knights and Lawrence seemed to understand what was going on.

They knew who these women were.

To the frightened girls, Rene spoke in an impersonal cat-like voice.

”Good girls!　Welcome to Rene's fun, fun, fun carnage showtime!

I've been whipped, had my fingers crushed, burned with a iron, had needles stuck in my mouth, had my head stuck in water, and many other things done to me by everyone's dads, and then I was guillotined to death. Have fun!

Whenever Rene mentioned the disaster that had befallen him, the girls trembled with a frozen look of fear.

I'm sure that Rene is not unhappy with you for doing this to him.