An Old Country Bumpkin Fends Off an Attack

“Hah!”

“—!”

Deadly blades came raining down on us. Five of them, to be exact.

I put all my strength into batting aside the flat of the dagger, swung down with the attacker’s momentum.

An ordinary fighter would have dropped their weapon and been done for. But the black-clad figure descending on us didn’t fight the sideways force. They spun once in midair and landed a little way off.

These guys are strong!

I could tell their skill from that split-second exchange. They weren’t trying to carry out an assassination on a whim. I didn’t know who they were or where they came from, but they were highly skilled.

“Hah!”

Each of the guards dealt with one of the five blades that came down in turn.

Allucia and Henblitz knocked the daggers away with their long swords, just as I had. Gatoga deflected his, while Rose blocked hers firmly with her pure-white kite shield...