EP.221 The Tale of the Past, The Pied Piper of Hamelin - 7
A fierce battle broke out between a hundred and one. It is not difficult to gauge the victory or defeat. The side with one has the advantage.
Nicholas's longsword, specialized in slashing, has a long reach and covers a wide angle. A weapon specialized for dealing with a weak majority, that kind of qigong. Perhaps fitting for the Chief Instructor teaching students.
However, this forest has many thick trees untouched by human hands. Although he sometimes advances by cutting down trees entirely, his strength is steadily being depleted.
On top of that.
*Whistle!*
"Ri! Lux!"
"Pascal!"
The children moving in perfect order according to my instructions were more difficult opponents than Nicholas had thought.
When I blow the whistle, standardized magic pounds Nicholas all at once. Light and wind. Mysteries that the military state had judged in its own way and were no longer mysteries were shot at Nicholas.
"You little...!"
Nicholas took a step forward and unleashed a Battojutsu strike. The complex vines that had stretched out over a long time and effort were severed in an instant.
Thud, crash. At the same time, the children holding logs to block Nicholas screamed and were blown back all at once.
However, Nicholas's expression was not satisfied. He should have cleaved everything from the logs used as shields to the children lined up in a single strike, but something sticky clung to the blade, dulling its sharpness.
"How is it? The logs we threw earlier, we boiled ivy vines in pine resin, soaked them, and wrapped them around tightly. Pine resin has a property of sticking even more to life force, so you won't be able to easily peel it off even with qigong."
It's a trivial trap. Prepared just in case he cut through the logs whole.
Originally, I intended to cover his whole body in pine resin to weaken him, but it only reached the blade. It's a shame, but it can't be helped.
Just as Nicholas was about to finish off the rest of the fallen, I intervened. The moment the dagger aimed at him, the longsword clogged with pine resin flashed.
Towards me.
"Haha! As expected, you have no intention of dying, right? That's only natural!"
A trajectory is drawn from his thoughts. A strike meant to bisect my waist. I can't block it, but I never intended to get close in the first place. Smiling lightly, I retracted the leg I had stepped forward with as if going in and distanced myself.
The tip of the sword grazed precariously past the front of my waist. Knowing it wouldn't touch, I felt no fear.
A brief confrontation. During that time, the children who had been in crisis quickly fled. The situation returned to the beginning.
"...Not bad, Huey. The more I see, the more regrettable it is. Why make such a foolish choice."
Seeing me dodge the attack without blinking an eye, Nicholas clicked his tongue. His lament contained a fraction of genuine sincerity.
That ability to cut in at the right timing and sever Nicholas's rhythm was, in Nicholas's eyes, a feat only achievable by someone who understood combat.
When in reality, I was just reading his thoughts and continuously aiming for openings.
Well, whatever. It's good if he considers me a threat.
"Ahaha! You know! I learn everything well, but I can't advance beyond that! In other words, I've already peaked in my life!"
"Exactly! If you miss this opportunity, you will stop at that stage forever! You'll end up having to run away even from a Colonel who couldn't become a General, like me!"
They say soldiers who can't pin on stars fall ill. Of course, there are many who work faithfully in their positions, but Nicholas, who felt the limit of his talent faster than anyone, clung to talent even more.
In his eyes, I might have looked like a fool who possessed outstanding talent but threw away the opportunity.
"Accept it even now! If only you consent, everything is resolved! If the two of us keep our mouths shut, we can make this taboo into something that never happened!"
That was actually true. The strongest among the 140 people here is me. If it weren't for me, these children who are barely holding on right now would crumble like a disorganized mob.
In fact, a few seemed worried that I might betray them.
However.
"Nicholas. Since you're going to do it anyway, try taking a challenge! Why is it always you who tests? The one who issues hardships? Why is it always our share to risk our lives and achieve something impossible?"
The longsword has a long reach and wide radius, but because of that, its trajectory is limited. No matter how much he coats it in killing intent, the trees that have protected themselves from savage beasts do not easily yield their rings. If it gets caught on a tree, his longsword is just as liable to be snagged.
Afraid the longsword might aim for me, I dodged to the position he would find most troublesome and shouted loudly.
"Fight against insurmountable trials like they do! That's the real thing; making others do things without risking your own life or overcoming hardships yourself! Isn't that just being a petty tyrant?"
"To be foolish to the very end!"
Nicholas shook me off and ran toward the side full of other students. As planned beforehand, a few quickly fled, but the bodies of two who reacted late were torn apart.
It wasn't even cut by a sharp blade. Their bodies were torn apart by a brute slash. The pine resin smeared on the blade had the rare experience of being born inside a plant and now witnessing the inside of a human body.
A child next to them screamed. They were still too young to simply let go of a friend's death.
The moment Nicholas tried to slash the throat of the screaming child next, I lunged at his back.
"I'll make you a promise, Nicholas! If you truly want to feed them all to me! Shake off my interference, kill everyone else but me, and take their blood! If you overcome the hardships and achieve such a great feat, even I might make a slightly more 'rational' judgment!"
To make me an even greater talent, if he overcomes all those hardships and feeds me blood. If he makes me that way with unwavering will, then from that point on, I would have no room for choice.
But Nicholas swiftly thrust his sword at me as if he had been waiting for it. The blade aiming for my neck contained clear murderous intent.
The implication was one.
"Hahaha! Just as I thought! You yourself don't actually want to overcome hardships!"
I laughed wildly and deflected the blade. It was heavy. My body slid backward.
Nicholas clicked his tongue and answered.
"...I don't negotiate with reactionaries."
"Your excuses are poor. You draw the line before even trying, thinking you can't do it. Is that the extent of your limits?"
I steadied my posture that was about to collapse, swept my hair up over my forehead, and muttered.
"Aah. Now I get it. You only say in words that you'd sacrifice your life for the military state. In the end, you have no will or passion to achieve something yourself. You just sit above and force those below you to meet your expectations."
Fighting with crossed swords, I had heard enough of his mind.
High expectations, quick to give up. He attempts efficient cost management. The ideal educator the military state desires. He has no hesitation in sacrificing anyone.
But in reality, he lacks the courage to risk his life. He doesn't have the confidence to throw himself into hardship.
"Aah, how uninteresting. You have the resolve to spend 161 lives, but not the resolve to risk your own life to carry it out."
"...Do you think I would fall for such provocation?"
"It's not provocation, but an objective assessment. Phew, good thing I fought back. Uninteresting stories need a plot twist, after all."
Twitch, the word 'uninteresting' struck Nicholas's sore spot. His veins bulged as if they would burst.
Enraged, Nicholas raised his longsword above his head and charged at me.
"You should have accepted my will! Even if only to survive!"
"One moment you're a talent to shine the military state, and the next you fall hook, line, and sinker for provocation, well."
I put the whistle back in my mouth and gave an order.
The longsword aims for me. I spin around a tree as a shield. The longsword thrust like a spear smashes the tree bark and juts out from a blind spot, but having read his thoughts in advance, I simply turn my head to avoid it.
I, who reads thoughts, am hard to catch. Nicholas was feeling anxious as I dodged his surefire attacks one after another.
Magic, spears, stones, and snares poured down behind Nicholas's back as he faced me.
The greatest way to give courage to humans is to guarantee their safety. If there are iron bars between them, they gain the courage to approach a beast, and if they have a shield, they gain the courage to step forward.
The children were the same.
Snares, magic, ropes, logs, and spears. Armed with distance, they pressured Nicholas from a range they couldn't reach. In particular, Ciatina, who was once a militant, and Carapald, a former Magical Officer candidate, played a significant role.
"Y-You little...!"
A space inconvenient for swinging a longsword. But he can't carelessly discard his weapon. As long as he cannot completely envelop his entire body in qigong yet, his body will be harmed if stabbed by a blade. Since all the children have learned the basics of qigong at the intermediate military academy, if they swarm him and strike down with their blades, even Nicholas would be in danger.
In a moment of carelessness, Nicholas's foot slipped into a pit full of pine resin. Snares flew over him as he lost his balance. Nicholas thrashed like crazy, but the human hunt grew increasingly tenacious and persistent.
Yes, just like hunting a great-horned deer.
"You bastards!"
In the end, instead of me, whom he couldn't catch, he changed his mind to deal with the annoying hindrances first, and tried to kick off the tree and leap away. The moment I read that thought, I held two daggers in reverse grip and slashed at his ankle. Even though it didn't touch his skin, the blade was stained dark red for a very brief moment.
Blood splattered. His trouser leg was torn, and blood flowed out.
Since we're outmatched, I can't use it for long, but for just a very brief moment, I too can infuse qigong.
"Ugh! Huey, you...!"
Reversing his stance here would be too big a loss. He leaped toward the most annoying existences, the spearmen led by Ciatina, even willing to accept the loss.
They were the healthiest and bravest, and because they could handle a little qigong, they were threatening children. Those who had received some training responded to him.
But before a Colonel, they are mere puppies. A boy who forgot the order to immediately roll on the ground if Nicholas approached tried to block with a hastily made wooden spear shaft. A massive slash fell upon the spear shaft.
"Idiot! It's dangerous!"
Ciatina, who had dodged faster than anyone, was startled and shoved him away.
But she was late. No, rather than being late, it was meaningless and brought an even greater loss.
Along with his body, Ciatina's right arm was also severed.
Her right arm, caught in the longsword's trajectory, broke off and flew into the sky. Beyond the arm separating from the body, the boy's eyes, split from the shoulder, slowly lost their light.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
A scream erupted, unsure if it was due to a friend's death or the pain in her right arm. Grabbing her right arm that had disappeared below the elbow, Ciatina fell to her knees.
Even though he could finish Ciatina off right away, Nicholas instead of swinging his sword, prepared to spring back at any moment. Even after killing one student, he was still only keeping his guard up against me.
In other words, this current situation was bait to lure me out.
I deliberately made a noise and slowly approached. Nicholas's brow twitched.
'...How cold. As expected, he's on a different level from the others. If he approaches that cautiously, I should target the others.'
"Oh, is that so?"
I had already confirmed that Nicholas had no intention of letting me live. Now those students and I are practically a community of shared destiny. Nicholas himself made it so.
Then I'll play along with his expectations. I called Ciatina's name and dashed out, as if the coldness from just now had been a lie.
"You too, in the end.... are young."
I read Nicholas's thoughts. His regret over me had gradually diluted through the fight. From his quite exhausted and tormented mind, all that could be felt was fatigue, annoyance, and indignation toward me.
Thinking that if you had listened to me, you wouldn't have died either. Nicholas drew a trajectory in his head.
A slash drawn in dark light, starting from his sword hilt.
I am caught at the end of the trajectory. It's a surprise attack shot at my back.
But, this. Isn't he taking me too lightly? Swinging it so openly?
"I'm somewhat the top of my class, you know!"
In an instant, I draw up the qigong throughout my entire body. Perhaps due to the influence of Devouring, a murky but rough light swirls around the daggers, more so than usual. Perhaps because it is a power gained from death, it seems to emit a faint dark red light.
But once it has entered my body, it's my power. I unleashed it for now. The daggers in both my hands caught the massive longsword trying to cleave my body.
Clang. A heavy noise.
My arms trembled and the axes of the daggers twisted. It feels like the bones in my entire body are screaming.
Still, it was a good thing I had applied pine resin. Thanks to that, the blade didn't slip, and I avoided being cleaved in two.
I steadied my creaking arms and wore a triumphant smile.
"Even Historia and Lankart are below me. Chief Instructor, you felt a wall against those two, didn't you? So, did you think I'd be easy? I'm also in the upper ranks for both written and practical exams, you know."
"...What meaning does that have?"
Nicholas put all his strength into his waist and swung his arm even more fiercely.
"When you lack the most important thing, strength!"
What I felt was pure strength. He intended to crush my defense with force. It felt like the edge of a windmill was shoving me down. The misaligned daggers let out a harsh scream.
It was too powerful a force to withstand. To break through this situation, I pulled out another method.
"Set, Ri. Fahrenheit."
I scratch the pine resin with my fingernail. Flames surged along the adhesive covered in dry grass. The longsword was engulfed in flames. The large, long torch was threatening, but in reality, it was a more disadvantageous situation for Nicholas than me.
The flames obstructed his vision, and the melted pine resin stuck to the longsword. It would be hard to expect sharpness now.
Taking advantage of that opening, I scraped the burning pine resin with my dagger and flicked it straight. Towards Nicholas's eyes.
"Cheap tricks!"
Like a seasoned soldier, Nicholas didn't make the mistake of closing his eyes. But the constant flying of burning pine resin was somewhat burdensome even for him.
While avoiding it, to not give me distance, Nicholas retrieved his longsword and stepped back.
I shouted loudly.
"I won't let you goooo! Fight, Nicholasssss!"
I continued to occupy a corner of his vision and clung to him. I kept shouting, battering his eardrums. I threw away the dagger in my left hand whose axis had collapsed, taking the opportunity. Instead, I drew up magical power with my left hand and fired magic in succession.
As I squeezed out everything to attack, Nicholas was pushed back by the momentum. One step retreating for a moment became two, and two steps became three by sheer momentum.
However, he didn't retreat any further than that.
"Every single one, nothing but cheap tricks...! That is your limit! Whatever you face in the future, you will quickly hit that limit...! Though you no longer have a future!"
The swinging daggers and the fired magic were utterly trivial. At best, only the dagger thrusts with squeezed-out qigong were dangerous.
Having grasped my attacks with focus, he realized that nothing I used was powerful. It was the moment he readjusted his stance and was about to push forward with pure strength.
However.
"You've stepped back too much, Nicholas."
Stab.
Three spears pierced his back, hamstrings, and waist. Then, the ropes used when making rafts wrapped around his limbs. Forces binding him in an instant.
Through the gaps, a voice that sounded like it would break was heard.
"Die, you...."
A sharp dagger stabbed into Nicholas's shoulder. It was Ciatina. Even with one arm lost, engulfed in frenzy, she held a dagger and charged.
They were all children who had received their fair share of military education. When an opportunity comes, they seize it quickly. They have the talent and skill for it.
"Y-You defeated losers! How dare you!!"
Even as ropes bound his limbs and blades riddled his body, Nicholas desperately held out. Grabbing the rope with one hand and planting his feet on the ground with qigong, he tried to shake off all those bindings at once.
However, he couldn't move an inch.
The number of students exceeded a hundred. But since there was a limit to the number of people who could fight at once, those not participating in the battle were all standing far away, holding onto the ropes. Then, whenever a trap or snare succeeded in binding Nicholas, groups of twenty gathered and pulled with all their might.
Tug-of-war is ultimately a battle of numbers and weight. An honest match where power is added by the weight placed on it. Even if he pulls the earth with Qiankun and twists his body, he cannot overcome this difference.
"Ugh...!"
There was only one way. He had to cut them down one by one with the longsword whose blade was damaged and clogged with resin melted by the fire.
Meanwhile, blades were digging into his body moment by moment, and he had to endure that. It was virtually impossible.
Virtually impossible. As that thought crossed his mind, Nicholas's heart grew urgent.
'Wait. I, am going to die...?'
Finally. It took a long time. Nicholas pictured death in his mind. In the crisis of his life, he recalled his situation as if being chased.
This desperate situation. His heart grew urgent in the crisis he believed would absolutely never come to him before it actually struck.
But it was too late.
"Goodbye, Chief Instructor Nicholas. We put what we learned to good use. Even though you volunteered to become teaching material at the end."
"H-Huey! Wait! If you kill me here!"
Not caring whether he spoke or not, I muttered quietly in front of him.
"You looked up to those superior to you, and despised those who were lacking. The place to fill your vanity is Hamelin. To Nicholas, who was intoxicated by the position of guiding students superior to himself, and loved the seat of Chief Instructor so much. I wonder how the sight of the discarded talents you despised gathering together to achieve a great feat must have been. It might just be the end fitting for you."
"Killing me is mutiny! Not only that. Instead of keeping your mouths shut about the taboo, you actually attacked me...! The military authorities will interrogate you! If you kill me, you are crossing an irrevocable river!"
You should have said that before crossing the river. It's so futile that even the children who stabbed you with spears aren't wavering.
Anyway.
"But, I will grant your wish. Let's do Devouring."
Nicholas, who didn't understand what I meant at first, opened his eyes wide when I thrust the bio-terminal forward.
Aki Avata is a sort of tattoo that follows the body. It can shape something onto the body. It's usually used for clothing packets... but what he had handed me was a packet-type tattoo.
The blood that flowed from the battle so far resonated with that tattoo. The blood starting from various places on the ground climbed up my feet and burrowed inside my bio-terminal.
Really, the military state did a bizarre thing.
"With what you gifted me. I will devour all of your memories, vitality, and experience. Just as you did not wish for."
"N-No! I still have things to do...!"
"Some people have nothing to do but be eaten, so they get eaten. It just happens."
Yes. This is just the result. If he forced the result, he should at least be willing to accept the result that appears.
"No...!"
So that he wouldn't become unsightly, I drove a period into the neck of him who could no longer resist.
As if severing his thought in the final moment... that if he were going to die anyway, he didn't want to be Devoured.
The thought was cut off. The sword mark carved into his neck was a period that put an end to his words, his thoughts, his life, and even his existence. Chief Instructor Nicholas ended his life with this.
What he, who had devoted half his life to education, left behind was.
Over a hundred children filled with hatred.
And my vitality, increased by a speck.
That was all.