An Old Man from the Countryside Becomes a Swords Saint: I Was Just a Rural Sword Teacher, But My Successful Students Won’t Leave Me Alone! - Chapter 64

64 - The Old Man From The Countryside Burns Bridges

“… Who are you? I don’t believe you came to pray,” a man in the center of the group barks, after that brief moment of turmoil.

He looks about as old as Ibroix. In short, he looks older than me. His hair is mostly white and reminds me of Nidas, the Master of the Adventurer’s Guild.

However, the sharpness I felt from his voice told me he was not at all similar to Nidas.

“Like you said,” I replied, “I didn’t come here to pray.”

“… Then what are you here for?” he asked. “I don’t have time to deal with lost children.”

Now then, what’s wrong?

The other party is clearly wary of me. The heavily-armored knights around me also looked like they were about to draw their swords.

Paradoxically, this would just reinforce Lucy and Ibroix’s suspicions if they were this wary of a passing old man, but why would they bother to talk to someone whose purpose they don’t know?

“You’re Bishop Lebios Salleon, are you not?” I asked.

“… I am,” he said.

Apparently, the old man I’m talking to is definitely Bishop Lebios.

Lebios’s large gut shakes with his words. I don’t really want to think that this is who the bishop is supposed to be. I don’t want to judge a person just by his appearances.

Hmm, but how do I go about this?

For now, it seems unlikely they’ll immediately run away or attack. Even if that was their intention, they should be confused about how to deal with an old man like suddenly appearing.

He is still the Bishop of Suphine, no matter how suspicious he is. It would be better not to cause unnecessary conflict.

But, well, is that alright? I can’t prolong this too much. There’s no point in playing it fast and loose, either, so I’ll just get straight to the point.

“The Knights would like to invite you to make a witness statement,” I said.

“… This has nothing to do with you,” Lebios replied.

The air changes a little.

Specifically, the heavily-armored knights stood diagonally before Lebios, their fingers stretching to the swords on their hips.

A small amount of murderous intent begins to leak from them.

Haah. It’s inevitable this is going to lead to a fight.

I don’t want to swing my sword around so much, but I can’t help it. I don’t want to deal with knights in full-plate. It’s difficult for a sword to cut through them. 1

“… Please come with me, Bishop Lebios,” I said, preparing to reach for my sword as well.

“… Spur,” Lebios said quietly, looking away and at the knight standing beside him.

The man called Spur nodded silently and drew his sword from his scabbard. As they saw that movement, the other knights also drew their blades.

Damn it, I was wondering if this would happen.

I’m hesitant, but I’m going to have to do it. I also have to draw my sword from its red scabbard. Apparently, the opportunity to have a civilized conversation has passed. It was a very short talk, as it turns out.

“This is also the will of the divine,” Lebios said. “There is nothing wrong with increasing the people blessed by miracles. Attack.”

“–!”

At that, the knights strike.

Three… no, four people? Four of them move immediately. The rest are spreading out and surrounding Lebios’s person to protect him. Even though an opponent in full-plate is already hard to injure with a sword, it’s surprising that they’ll engage with several right off the bat. I’m wondering if I can go home alive.

Well, you can’t help but complain when you’ve got a sword coming straight for you. I just have to do what I have to do.

“Shi!”

I get some distance and parry the longsword coming for me. If you’re surrounded at close range, you’re dead.

However, it turns out the knights’ weapons weren’t longswords.

… Is that an Estoc? It’s a rare weapon you hardly ever see. Was this standard equipment in the Suphine Faith and their Knights?

If that’s true, although we’d already suspected it, the influence of Lebios’s faction seems to extend to the Knights of the Faith. I wonder if Ibroix will be alright, I feel this isn’t just about arresting the bishop anymore.

“…!?”

I managed to put some distance between us. The charging knights suddenly stopped as one. To be more precise, the one who struck at me first slowed down and stopped, looking around.

“… Tch.”

He clicked his tongue as he tossed his estoc. He pulled out the dagger from his waist, possibly a secondary weapon, and prepared for combat again.

Huh, what’s wrong? Why’d he suddenly throw his main weapon?

The jarring sound of metal clattering on stone echoes in the silence of the Northern District.

As I glance at the thrown estoc, the spot where I hit the blade had dented and bent visibly, and the edge had been severely chipped.

“… Haha, that’s surprising.”

Quiet, you. I turn my attention from the words to my hand.

This thing’s a hell of a weapon. I crushed my opponent’s blade just by parrying it once. I wonder how strong this thing is.

Valder has forged a terrific sword. I don’t know if I can handle it well so far.

“That sword is dangerous, be careful… attack…!”

Although it had some impact, I wonder if they’re experienced enough to just pull back for the moment.

The leader of the group, Spur, gave a small roar and the knights charged again.

“I’m not going to let you make a fool of me, you!”

“Guah!” I cried.

One person.

I parry the estoc from the side and cut up at an angle on the back-swing. I could feel in my hands the full-plate tearing apart and slicing through the flesh underneath.

I had an inkling about this earlier, but this sword was so sharp it could easily tear through half-baked armor.

If this happens, it doesn’t matter how much armor my opponents is wearing. Instead, I had to take care to make shallow cuts so I don’t kill my opponents, so I’m either grateful or unlucky.

“–Fuh!”

“Guh!”

Two people.

He swung and dropped a downward slash, I struck back in the opposite direction. I twisted my wrist and cut backward. A single line runs through the full plate and onto his body, fresh blood spills.

That was a good outcome, but he shouldn’t be dead.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to swing my sword between the boundary of life and death. I hope I haven’t dulled in this area.

“Take this…!”

“Shi!”

Three people.

The knight whose estoc I’d ruined earlier rushes at me with a dagger in his opposite hand.

I dodge a half-step back from the tip of the blade and swing. Before he could chase after me, my parry knocked the knight’s dagger out of his hand and knocked it to the side.

“…! Be careful! He’s strong!” one of the knights shouts.

No, I’m not strong. It’s clearly thanks to this special product that this is happening. Anyway, I’d be grateful if this causes them to hesitate.

“… I’ll allow the use of miracles,” Spurs says quietly and calmly. “Don’t let your guards down.”

A miracle? So far as I can tell, it seems to be a general term for spells that heal injuries, but I wonder what sort of miracle they’ll be using here.

I hope it doesn’t mean they’ll start shooting fireballs like Lucy. If so, I wouldn’t call that a miracle.

“I beseech your blessing, Great One, grant me strength.”

He recites it like a prayer.

A pale, warm light spills out of the knight’s body after the chant and then it converges.

“…”

What? How effective was this magic? I can’t know just by looking. At the very least, it doesn’t seem to be an offensive spell.

“Haah…!”

“… Oop!”

When the pale light subsides, the knight charges in again. I deflected his estoc to the side and dodged.

“I get it now…!”

He’s faster than before. And stronger, too.

Maybe it’s some kind of physical strengthening or something similar. Swordsmanship is a matter of physical fitness no matter how advanced you get, so if the power and speed of the user increase, their threat level will rise along with them.

“Surround him at once!” Spur cried. “Don’t give him a chance to fight back!”

As soon as he gave the order, several knights attacked all at once like before.

One, two… oh, it’s too much of a hassle to count. Or rather, it doesn’t matter if I do.

“Hah!”

“Fuck!”

I block a downward swing of an estoc.

I wish I could destroy it like before, but I need some space to do that. Now that I’m surrounded, if I try, I may be attacked from the side or behind.

“Eat this…!”

“Guh?! Bastard…!”

I push the estoc sideways and turned around behind me.

It did reach and cut into the plate armor, but it’s too shallow a cut to reach the flesh. While I did that, about two people went behind me.

Well, this is bad. I’m surrounded.

Unlike the thieves, each individual’s skill is not low. There’s also their coordination. Furthermore, with this armor, I can’t reach their bodies with halfhearted attacks. I have to commit to my sword strikes.

However, if I get distracted by one, I’ll be attacked from behind. As expected, I don’t have eyes on the back of my head, so this situation is very bad for 1 vs many.

This is not good. What do I do?

“Hah!”

“… Nguu!?”

And while I was thinking that, I somehow managed to duck and dodge around the estocs coming at my front, back, left, and right.

Then “something” visible to the naked eye interrupted the gang-up between me and the knights.