[My shoulders are stiff.]
Echidna rotated her shoulders when she left his office. Even she, who paid no respect to things such as authority or blood rights, was overwhelmed by the Earl’s peculiar presence.
He had been an acquaintance from before he inherited his title, and every time they met, she felt his aura had gotten stronger than in the past. Around him, even she needed to be careful to resist the power only he who was going to hold the world’s hegemony possessed.
As a result, she had taken to keeping an attitude as blunt as she could, which made her tired.
“Sheesh, humans sure change suddenly, right?”
Laughing with self-mockery, the elf gave a deep sigh. With that transaction, the work he had asked her for was completed for the time being.
“Hn?”
Sensing someone approaching unexpectedly, Keltan twitched against her waist.
[It is no mere presence.]
A feeling like static electricity coursed through her skin, making the hair all over her body stand on end. Not that many people gave her that strong feeling.
The person was approaching straight at her. Echidna instinctively hid behind the pillar.
[What am I hiding for…?]
She made a wry smile at her own actions.
A female warrior with fiery red hair passed by the pillar. She carried a huge sword on her back.
For anyone to be allowed to carry a sword in the Earl residence, it’d have to be either a senior officer from the Royal Guards, or one of the many Generals protecting the Earldom.
“Claudette… Seems like you got pretty strong… to think you’d make me hide…”
Echidna grinned, licking her red lips.
[Humans are an interesting bunch. A strong fella can pop up in the blink of an eye.]
After waiting for Claudette to enter the office, Echidna slowly came out of the pillar’s shadow.
She’s the Veteran Mercenary that worked for Earl Vance, there was no need for her to go hiding. However, her instincts told her to do so anyway.
“Hn?”
She hears another set of footsteps approaching, making her ears twitch.
“These footsteps… I see, that child came back, didn’t she?”
Whispering in a gentle tone, rare for her, she stood in the middle of the corridor, as if getting in an opponent's way.
***
On the way to Earl Vance’s office, there were a few places that could be called checkpoints. Armed guards were stationed in each of them, leaving no gaps for anyone suspicious to enter.
However, seeing the decorations on top of Irma’s head, they let her through without a question; Elina had given her the headdress on purpose, for her to avoid those annoying checks.
Thanks to that, the maid never had to stop, and arrived at the corridor leading to the office.
“Mh…”
Her feet stopped. A female warrior was blocking the corridor, waiting for her.
She had brown skin, silver bangs, a ponytail that gathered the dark hair at the top of her head, and wore leather armor that pushed out her abundant breasts as if to emphasize them. And particularly, an eye-catching snake around her waist.
Wide as the Continent might be, only one woman would be dressed like this. It was the Veteran Mercenary Echidna.
A person Irma wouldn’t ever forget, just stood there.
“It’s been a while since Sheldan, huh.”
Still in her way, the elf began to talk.
“What do you intend to do?”
The maid asked quietly.
“Just here to greet you.”
“Then, clear the way. You’re interfering with my mission.”
She used the strongest gaze she could muster, and spoke with a resolute attitude.
[I have to achieve my duty as an assassin. This is not like Sheldan, I have no time to chat.]
“If you say you're a cleaning lady, or currently a subordinate of the li'l lady Elina, I won’t stop you.”
In a beat, Echidna’s eyes got tinged with a fierce color.
“If you’re the “Assassin of Fang” though, I’ll stop you with my full strength.”
[I can’t possibly pick a fight somewhere like this.]
That wasn’t a place suitable for fighting. The corridor towards the Vance office was a straight path, and though there were pillars at both sides for one to hide, the fact remained that it was completely exposed to the outside.
However, the gaze of Echidna defied all common sense.
[She intends to fight here.]
Maybe intimidated by her glare, Irma rolled up her skirt from the back right away, her hands ending on the daggers hanging from her thighs.
[I never heard about Earl Vance hiring Echidna for protection. Why’s she facing me here?]
The maid exhaled calmly, and glared intensely at her former master.
“Oh my? So you were going to kill the Earl in earnest?”
She nodded silently, and took out the daggers with a quick motion. She couldn’t very well keep her skirt rolled up forever, exposing her buttocks.
“I think I said: clear the way.”
“Or you’ll make me?”
Irma pointed the dagger she held at Echidna to intimidate her. The elf should have picked up on what that stance meant; it was none other than her who had taught the maid many tricks.
“Please leave… teacher.”
“You still call me teacher?”
Even with a blade pointed against her, Echidna’s attitude was exactly the same as usual.
[She’s completely looking down on me. I wonder if she thinks she can react before I release my certain kill attack with the daggers.]
“I only have one teacher.”
She answered, trying to suppress her feelings as much as she could.
“Then, all the more reason. Put down your weapon.”
“I can’t do that. You should also know about the Assassins of Fang’s rules.”
Echidna’s eyebrows twitched.
“So that’s why you have to go the whole way?”
[I can’t afford to argue with her here.]
Irma never answered, holding her dagger while being mindful of her surroundings.
“Then, go and make me. I don’t dislike pushy people… you know.”
The moment she said so, the elf had already jumped in front of Irma at breakneck speed. That instantaneous speed made her seem like she teleported. However, Irma wouldn’t be outdone when it came to speed. She had time to calmly deal with Echidna without overlooking any motion, no matter how small.
She coolly saw through her attack, and aligned her dagger with the sword.
*Ching*, went a high-pitched metallic sound.
[I can’t let the fight go on forever. If a third party showed up, I’d need to silence them.]
“Good reaction.”
After parrying the dagger’s blow, a smile appeared on Echidna’s face. Her usual composure only made Irma a bit more annoyed. For a long time, she had wanted to make her realize she wasn’t her old pupil anymore.
“But hey, did you forget I use two blades too?”
The second dagger cut the strap that held Irma’s skirt.
“I should say the same to you.”
Using the dagger she hadn't parried with, Irma had also cut the strap of the dagger holder Echidna wound around her thigh. As her skirt gently fell to the floor, the holder with a dagger in it also fell.
“If you can’t beat an attack, prevent the opponent from using their weapon, is what you taught me.”
The maid kicked off the skirt in her way, and stuck her sword at Echidna.
[I don’t need to worry about her throwing daggers anymore.]
After sealing the other's worrying techniques, Irma took a suitable distance and feigned a thrust, while actually dealing a sideways side swing. It was the kind of feint technique Irma specialized in.
[This is not a technique that works against power-type opponents, but since technical types like Echidna excel at reading an opponent’s actions, she should be susceptible to feints.]
*Clang!*
A high-pitched sound of metal clashing against each other.
“Naïve. How very naïve, Irma.”
With a composed smile, the elf’s dagger caught her side swing. At the same time, the snake sword drew a graceful curve towards her flank.
“Kuh!”
Irma pointed her dagger right away not at her flank, but in front of her.
[“I’m the better one.” She’s going to do a feint, the same thing I did, to make me realize it.]
A shock ran through the dagger in front of her; it seemed she had seen through her properly.
“Fufufun, I’m so happy. You read me ju~st fine.”
She laughed fearlessly.
[Can’t be, do you mean you had even predicted I would feint?]
“Under the same conditions, those with a lot of experience come out on top. I should have taught you that.”
Her dagger cut the wind –*whoosh*–, and grazed Irma’s ear. Unconsciously, the maid's eyes went from the snake sword to the dagger.
“First, say goodbye to that one.”
At the same time she stated so, the dagger that would have caught the snake sword left Irma’s hand, flying in the air.
[Dammit!]
With her teacher as an opponent, she couldn’t afford to pick up a dropped weapon. Facing two swords, she had been forced into a woefully disadvantageous situation.
Irma clicked her tongue, and focused her consciousness in her left dagger.
[What do I do? She’s reading me. She's planning beyond 2 or 3 steps ahead. Then, there’s only one road I can take.]
She thrust her remaining dagger at Echidna. Of course, this was only a feint. At the beginning the trajectory would be like a thrust’s, but after the opponent reacted to it, it would greatly change and deal a fatal blow from an unexpected direction.
“Teacher! Get ready!”
She shouted to attract her attention. However, the mercenary didn’t move as she thought.
When she changed the trajectory, she lost sight of Echidna in the blink of an eye.
“Eh?”
She widened her field of view right away, looking for her.
“Naïve, indeed.”
Her voice came to whisper in her ear.
[Did she sneak around behind me?]
Without looking back, Irma turned around, unleashing a high kick.
*Swoosh*, her toe only hit empty air.
“When fighting, don’t take your eyes off the opponent. That’s the basics.”
As she heard that, her body twirled and fell to the floor.
“Kuh!”
An acute pain ran through the left shoulder that was flung against the floor.
[I couldn’t see her…! What speed, is this the true ability of the warrior who boasts of an undefeated record?]
By the time Irma noticed she was being led by the nose, she had already fallen in Echidna’s grasp.
“Did you think you could beat me, though?”
Before she could get up, the mercenary sat astride her chest, in a mounting position.
[This way, I won't get any chance to counterattack anytime soon. I lost, this is not someone I can defeat with my bare hands.]
“This is it, now, throw away your weapon.”
She could only comply, so she let go of her dagger. It fell to the floor making a dry sound: *clunk*.
After confirming it, Echidna got off her.
“I’ll hold on to your weapons.”
The elf picked up the dagger she had dropped. As the maid cast a side glance at her, she took a small tablet from her waist pouch; there was only one road assassins who had failed their missions could take.
“You idiot!”
Faster than she could bring the tablet to her mouth, the mercenary threw a dagger whose handle hit Irma’s hand, sending the tablet flying.
“W-Why are you interfering?”
“Isn’t it obvious I’d interfere, you idiotic child?”
Echidna grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close, her eyes burning with anger.
“I don’t remember teaching you something as stupid as having to die if you fail your mission.”
“But, among the Assassins of Fang…”
It was a rule that assassins who failed their missions should commit suicide to protect their clients’ secrets.
“It’s a rule? Not one I made.”
She frowned, and said with a spat.
“If you died like that, all I’ve taught you would go to waste. I wouldn't stand for that. If something like that ever happens, I’ll kill whoever gave you that request.”
Her tone was rough, Irma noticed she was seriously angry this time.
“Also, you didn’t survive my training to kill yourself somewhere like this. I know you have a goal of your own!”
Her eyes seemed to be piercing into Irma’s soul.
[How far does my teacher even know?]
She swallowed saliva.
In order to fulfill her final goal, she had to gain the Queen’s trust by carrying out her missions as the Assassin of Fang. It was the only means to get to stand by the Queen directly.
All of a sudden, the elf looked away, and relaxed her arms, squeezing her.
“Now, it’s time for a question, Irma.”
She held a dagger, and scowled at the maid. Depending on her answer, that dagger might get dyed in blood.
“What is your job now?”
“My job…”
Irma felt her mouth going dry. Her duty was being the Assassin of Fang. In order to become so, she had abandoned many things…
[However, my teacher Echidna would be expecting a different answer. Should I say that, or not?]
Hesitating, she closed her eyes.
“I…”
She could suddenly feel the added weight from the ornament on her head.
[I see, that's how it is?]
Irma understood, and made a faint smile.
“I’m the personal attendant of the Captain of the Royal Guard, Elina. She entrusted me with a letter to deliver to Earl Vance.”
She spoke in a quiet voice, typical of a maid. Her answer took away the ruggedness from her teacher’s face.
“Then, you don’t need weapons, right? Leave them.”
She no longer harbored any ill will against Irma. The maid picked up the skirt whose strap the other had cut, handed the throwing knife hidden inside it, arranged her outfit and went inside the Vance office.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment