An Old Country Bumpkin Cuts Her Down in One Stroke

――I'm about to cut down one of my former students.

If I could, I wouldn't want to do this. Even now, if you asked whether I'd steeled myself for it, I'm not sure I could say yes.

Rose was a former student who had attended my dojo for a brief year and a half. She was a devout Sphenist, and she never missed a chance to offer a prayer to her god.

I couldn't count the number of times her enthusiastic preaching had made me grimace. Still, looking back, despite how hectic things had been, I had more than a few fond memories of her always greeting me with a smile.

“...Hehe. Then I'll resist, okay?”

She was clad in full plate. If we simply raced, I was obviously faster. She probably knew that, too.

She held her kite shield so that it covered half her body, and kept the point of her estoc low, near the ground.

She hadn't used a shield while training at my dojo. But even thinking back on our practice sessions, she'd always excelled at defending and counterattacking.

Her technique had surely improved even more since then. With a shield, her defense must have become even more formidable.

Would I be able to break through her defenses...