Chapter 8
"Since we have the chance, humor me for a little while, Brother."
"No."
"…Huh?"
Kyle's smile froze.
"I came here to take a request. I don't have time to play around with you."
"I just want to cross swords with you again after all this time."
"That's what you call playing around."
I turned back to Felicia.
"Let's take a look at that road escort request from earlier."
"Oh, um, okay."
"Brother."
Kyle followed behind us.
"You used to try so hard to beat me."
"That was then."
"Are you afraid of losing again?"
I stopped walking.
"I'm not falling for that kind of provocation."
"…………"
"If you have no business here, go back."
The knight behind Kyle spoke up, too.
"Lord Kyle, it's about time you returned to the Marquess."
"I know."
Kyle answered, but he didn't take his eyes off me.
"But there's no doubt you're hiding something, Brother."
"It's none of your business."
"…………"
We stared at each other for a while.
Eventually, Kyle walked toward the back of the guild.
"He went off, but…"
"Let's leave him alone."
"Is that all right?"
"Father will call him back soon enough."
But Kyle came right back.
He was holding a wooden sword in each hand.
"Brother."
"I don't need one."
One of them came flying toward me.
"Hey!"
I caught it reflexively.
Kyle grinned.
"See? You caught it just fine."
"Don't throw it at me."
"Just for a little while."
"I said I'm not doing it!"
"Then I'll make the first move."
"Kyle!"
He raised his wooden sword.
"I said wait—"
He kicked off the ground.
Fast.
The wooden sword came at my shoulder.
"Hngh!"
I raised my sword, too.
Clang!
Our wooden swords collided.
"…Huh?"
Kyle's eyes widened.
I pushed the sword I'd blocked to the side.
Kyle took a step back.
"Brother…?"
"Don't swing at me out of nowhere!"
"Did you just stop my sword?"
"You can see that for yourself!"
"…………"
Kyle adjusted his grip on his wooden sword.
"One more time."
"I said I'm not doing it!"
He stepped in again.
Faster than before.
A strike from the right.
I blocked it.
He came at me from the left right away.
I leaned back.
The tip of his sword passed right in front of me.
Another strike.
This time, I moved in first.
"Huh?!"
I swung my wooden sword.
Clang!
Kyle blocked it.
I kept pressing forward.
"Guh…!"
Kyle's foot slid half a step back.
"…What did you do, Brother?"
"I have nothing to tell you."
"You're completely different from last time."
Kyle's smile vanished.
He held his wooden sword in front of him.
His demeanor changed.
"Are you still going to keep this up?"
"Just for a little while."
"I never said I would."
Instead of answering, Kyle stepped in.
His sword came at me.
I blocked it.
I knocked it aside.
I stepped in right after him.
A horizontal slash.
Kyle shifted his body out of the way.
I pursued him.
I swung from above.
Clang!
He deflected it.
The next moment, the tip of his wooden sword was coming for my stomach.
"Hngh!"
I dodged to the side.
I tried to put some distance between us.
But Kyle was already there, too.
Clang!
"Guh!"
Our wooden swords met.
We separated.
I stepped in again.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Even though I'd moved first, Kyle's sword was already there.
When I moved right, he was there on the right.
When I moved left, he was there on the left.
No matter where I went, he blocked my path.
Even so, my body kept up.
I stepped in hard.
"Hngh!"
Kyle backed away.
I chased after him.
"So fast…!"
One more step.
I swung my wooden sword.
Kyle raised his sword, too.
But he was just a little too slow.
Smack!
"…!"
The tip of my wooden sword grazed Kyle's shoulder.
We both stopped moving.
Kyle slowly looked at his shoulder.
"…You hit me."
"I only grazed you."
"You hit me?"
"That's enough, isn't it?"
"…………"
Kyle looked up.
"Last time, you couldn't block a single one of my strikes."
"That's right."
"So why…?"
"I don't know."
Kyle gripped his wooden sword tightly.
Here he comes.
"Hngh!"
His strikes were sharper than before.
I blocked his descending wooden sword.
Clang!
The impact ran through my arm.
A second strike.
I dodged it.
A third strike.
I knocked it aside with my sword.
"Brother!"
"What?!"
"What did you do?!"
"Give it a rest!"
I swung my sword.
Kyle blocked it.
I kept pressing forward.
Kyle deflected my sword to the side and aimed for my shoulder.
I crouched.
I stepped in.
I swung horizontally at his torso.
Kyle leaped back.
"Guh…!"
The distance between us widened.
We both stepped forward at once.
Clang!
Our swords collided.
Kyle knocked mine aside from below.
I swung my sword back at him.
His shoulder.
He dodged it.
Kyle's sword came at my chest.
I shifted half a step.
This time, I thrust at him.
Kyle tilted his head and dodged.
"…………"
The smile had completely disappeared from Kyle's face.
I readied my wooden sword again.
We kicked off the ground at the same time.
"Kyle!"
A low voice rang through the training ground.
"Hngh!"
Kyle stopped.
I lowered my wooden sword, too.
Father stood at the entrance.
Several knights stood behind him.
"Father…"
"Kyle. This is no time to be playing around."
"But—"
"We're leaving."
At Father's words, Kyle fell silent.
"…Understood, Father."
Father turned his gaze toward me.
"…Allen."
"Yes."
He looked at the wooden sword in my hand.
Then he looked at Kyle.
"Have you become an adventurer?"
"Yes."
"…I see."
He said nothing more.
"Kyle."
"Yes."
"If our arrival in the capital is delayed, it will affect Her Highness Princess Serica's departure."
Serica Sahar, the First Princess.
She was soon to marry the First Prince of the Kingdom of Alslain.
"Are you and Father guarding Princess Serica?"
"Yes."
Kyle answered instead of Father.
"We'll meet Her Highness and her party in the capital. From there, Father and the others will escort them to the Kingdom of Alslain."
"Are you going, too?"
"I'm going with them. Since I have the Sword Saint Skill, I've been assigned to the escort, too."
Kyle was only fifteen; he wouldn't be leading the escort.
It seemed he was going with Father and the others.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Father."
Kyle returned his wooden sword to its place.
Just before leaving the training ground, he looked back at me.
"Brother."
"What?"
"Next time, let's see it through to the end."
"I have no intention of doing that again."
"…………"
Kyle didn't reply.
He simply followed after Father and the others.
◇
When we left the guild, the Valdis family party was heading for the eastern road.
"Allen-san."
"Yes?"
"Are you all right?"
"About what?"
"After seeing your younger brother and your father."
"I'm all right."
"I see."
"Yes."
Felicia nodded, looking a little relieved.
"Still… that was amazing."
"You mean just now?"
"Kyle-san has the Sword Saint Skill, right?"
"That's right."
"You fought him evenly."
"We were interrupted before we could finish."
"But you hit Kyle-san's shoulder."
"I only grazed it."
"Even so, that was amazing."
Felicia spoke with a hint of excitement.
"I need to train my swordsmanship more, too."
"After that fight, you're already thinking about training?"
"I'm still behind when it comes to swordsmanship."
"…You really don't plan on taking a break, do you?"
"I can rest at night."
"That's not what I meant."
Felicia gave a wry smile.
We returned to the guild and took another look at the board.
"…Felicia-san."
"Yes?"
"Belgrant, the place you mentioned yesterday, is to the west, right?"
"That's right."
"How far is it from here?"
"About five days on foot. It'd be faster by carriage, though."
"Five days, huh."
"Why do you ask?"
"Would you like to go there?"
"Huh?"
Felicia's eyes widened.
"To Belgrant?"
"Yes."
"That's sudden."
"There aren't that many E-rank requests here. Belgrant would have a wider variety of requests, wouldn't it?"
"That's true."
"Then I'd like to go."
"We'll be leaving Valdis territory, you know?"
"Yes."
Felicia looked at my face.
"Are you sure?"
"It's fine."
"…………"
"What about you, Felicia-san?"
"I'll go, too."
She answered right away.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm interested in the guild in Belgrant, too. Besides, I'd feel safer traveling with someone than going alone."
"That would be a big help."
"Then we need to get ready to leave."
"Right."
Father and Kyle headed east.
Belgrant, where we were headed, was in the opposite direction.
West.
Total P Acquired = 1,120P