The Medieval-Modern Man with a Gamer Mindset

17. Tank

It’s extremely difficult to hear footsteps in a forest filled with piercing screams and the gurgling of blood. It was even harder to determine the direction from which they were coming.

That’s why I intentionally distanced myself from the campfire. If you have a bright light nearby, it’s hard to deal with those who have already adapted to the darkness. When facing someone hiding in the darkness, you must also enter the shadows.

That’s the only way your eyes, which have adapted to the darkness, can see the enemy. Just like right now.

I gripped the sword I had taken from the attacker with both hands and adjusted my posture. Then, I took a step forward while blocking the reddish light of the campfire reflected on the blade with the back of my hand.

At the same time, I didn’t spare any advice for John, who was about to shoot a crossbow for the first time in his life.

“Just pretend to aim. Don’t shoot until I call out your name.”

“Y-Your Highness.”

“They’re coming.”

I felt like cheering on John, who was as nervous as a cat on hot bricks. However, the enemies who had attacked with clear hostile intent would not miss this opportunity. All the servants who had come with us were dead, and most of the escort troops were tied up.

In this situation, it would be easy to achieve their goal by sending just one or two spare soldiers. As expected, a thick outline began to emerge under the pitch-black night sky, where even the moon was hidden by clouds.

The opponent was a man wearing a hooded cloak over a gambeson. At first glance, he looked so poorly armed that you might think a militia or a group of bandits had come. That made sense, since a gambeson is essentially thick padding.

However, considering that he was a twelve-year-old boy who hadn’t fully grown yet, it was by no means easy. Moreover, it was clear that he had received relatively intensive training, despite his equipment.

The firm, centered steps he took. The way he gripped the sword hilt as if he was wrapping his fingers around it. The unwavering, rigid tip of the sword. And the steady breathing he maintained even in this tense situation.

I could sense Yubas’s sincerity in that figure. He was no pushover. It seemed he had been driven into a corner. I pointed the tip of my sword straight at the opponent and gave John my final piece of advice.

“John, you’re taller than me. That means you can shoot over my shoulder at the enemy.”

“Gasp. Huff.”

“I’ll hold him back, so just shoot.”

Just then, I heard the sound of a powerful running leap. I took a step back while keeping my eyes on the opponent and pulled back my sword hand. So that I could thrust it out in one breath.

I wouldn’t be able to block it with just the raw physical strength of a child. If I tried to fight head-on, I would run out of stamina first. Right now, I needed a refined technique that would supplement my lack of strength.

And when the opponent swung his sword with all his might, I also swung my sword around in a half-circle and thrust it out with all my strength. My sword tip was the first to hit the blade that was slashing diagonally. If I had stopped there, my sword would have been deflected.

But my sword tip kept moving forward. The recoil generated by turning my sword around provided enough force to deflect the opponent’s sword strike. The opponent’s blade temporarily lost power and slide down my blade.

Seeing this, I instantly shifted my weight to the pommel and kicked the opponent’s sword up.

This entire process took only a few seconds. Without adding any further explanation, let’s just say what happened as it happened-.

With a single counterattack, the opponent faltered with a jarring clang. Of course, my strength was still lacking, so I failed to disarm him completely. But it was enough to unsettle my opponent.

The look of astonishment from the assailant, who had been slashing away without a word, was proof of this.

“Wh-what the—!”

A bewildered tone cut through his pained groan and reached my ears. Indeed, he must have let his guard down after seeing a mere child brandishing a sword. I could fully understand and sympathize with his sense of incongruity.

But that’s one thing, and this is another.

I shifted my stance to regain my balance, retrieving my sword and planting the tip into the ground.

“John.”

A resounding crack echoed as I did something. John was a much better shot than I had anticipated. The bolt had shattered the opponent’s teeth and continued straight through his neck.

Only then did the opponent finally relinquish his sword completely. He fliled his arms about like he was swimming, touched the fletching of the arrow protruding from his mouth, and then stared at me intently. It was as if he was trying to say something.

But I was the only one who could speak for the dying assailant. Strictly speaking, John could too… but it wasn’t the right atmosphere for talking. I offered a heartfelt consolation to the assailant.

“Consider yourself unlucky. Don’t feel wrong. You must have thought the same of me when you came to kill me, right?”

“…”

“Otherwise, even if you died, you wouldn’t deserve to be comforted, being a worthless wretch. It’s truly fortunate. You won’t feel wronged either way.”

The assailant spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged foam after hearing my warm consolation and collapsed. He had apparently let go of his worldly attachments and achieved enlightenment just before dying. It was then that I heard John’s voice from behind me.

“Is he, is he dead?”

“He was a dead man walking anyway. Don’t worry.”

“Huh? But just now.”

“He was a dead man the moment he came to kill me. Go on. Load your crossbow, or pick up a pre-loaded one if you have one.”

It wasn’t an idle suggestion. As soon as one failed, another showed up. The new guy was dressed identically. However, his sense of camaraderie seemed to be unwavering, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the body of his fallen comrade.

He seemed like he’d be easy to deal with if I provoked him a little… I spoke to him in a soft voice. Judging from the sound of swords clashing that continued in the forest beyond the campfire, Topha’s knights and soldiers must still be alive.

Seeing them appear one or two at a time, I could roughly guess the situation we were in.

“I wondered why you mobilized the army. It must have been urgent, but from the moment you forced the marriage proposal, you must have infiltrated people disguised as mercenaries. You used the military tension to your advantage, gathering mercenaries looking for work. may have had your sights set on this place from the beginning. You must have planted your forces in advance, ready to move when the time was right.”

“…”

“However, the shots that initially signaled the start of the attack were inaccurate, and there was quite a gap before the next shots. You were focused more on causing chaos and rounding us up than on killing. Moreover, this is the territory of Powys . If you moved with too many troops, you would have been caught and the attack itself would have failed.”

At this point, my opponent could no longer bear to look at his comrade’s body. From shock to admiration, and from admiration to murderous intent. It took a mere three seconds for his gaze to change drastically. Still, I felt a twinge of regret and decided to provoke him a little more.

“Your numbers aren’t that great. At most, less than twenty, maybe around fifteen. Are the rest left in reserve to cover your tracks or tie up Topha’s forces? But that’s not the important thing.”

I raised my sword and forced a haughty smile. It was just enough to get under his skin.

“My body can also guess who the liaison is who’s relaying Yubas’s orders to you. What do you think?”

This guy had a pretty good reaction. He responded instantly when I rubbed him raw like a washboard. He bared his teeth as he drew his sword with a certain amount of composure.

“…The third son of Powys. You’ve just given yourself another reason to die.”

“hahahahaha!”

This kid is kind of funny.

“Why? If I only had one reason to die, would I die less?”

Our pleasant conversation ended there. My opponent charged forward with heavy steps and swung his sword with all his might. This wasn’t something I could easily parry. I had to deflect it as much as possible.

I gripped the handle of the sword with my right hand and the blade with my left. And the moment his blade touched the surface of my sword, I twisted my body with all my might, deflecting the blowing and shouting.

“John, just aim!”

“Yes, sir!”

John’s strength lies in the fact that he’s a coward who can’t even run away on his own. John was a passive man who wouldn’t do anything unless he was told to. But if he was told to do something, he would do it without thinking.

That was why I had brought John to this place. Despite his shortcomings of being short and weak, he could hold his own to some extent with his ranged weapon. The sharp tip of the bolt that was aimed at him, wobbling back and forth, distracted my opponent.

Every time his sword swung, every time the tip of the blade was aimed and shot, I was able to deflect it thanks to John, the pseudo-ranger. My opponent and I clashed swords relentlessly, our fierce conflict like a well-rehearsed dance .

As one hand desperately fended off the enemy’s attacks, the other unleashed a flurry of strikes.

“Povis, it seems you have mastered strategy but not honor!”

There was no time to retort to such nonsense. I pushed back, my sword constantly clashing against theirs, sweat dripping down my face. My sword was starting to feel heavy. I couldn’t hide the fact that my strength was waning.

The trembling of my sword tip was clear evidence. My opponent was not one to miss this fact. This cunning attacker’s eyes gleamed with newfound confidence.

“For the cause! Your blood, for all this land!”

As their blade descended, my strength finally gave out.

Clang… With a deafening sound, my hand let go of the sword. I looked down at my trembling arms and hands, and laughed at myself.

I had defended well enough, well enough.

I collapsed onto my knees. My opponent raised their sword with all their might, intending to kill me before any interruptions could occur. I couldn’t tell if they were going to stab or swing.

One thing was clear.

“John.”

The fact that the bastard had turned their head to find their target. Even in this chaotic scene, John didn’t miss my voice. A trigger was pulled, and a bolt, wrapped in smoke, shot forth.

And this attacker’s martial arts skills were not so exceptional that they could deflect arrows or bolts with their sword.

“Ack!”

The bolt pierced the opponent’s right eye. They couldn’t even scream properly in pain, and their posture wavered. Only then was I able to pick up my sword, which had fallen to the ground.

I thrust the sword, its tip aimed directly at the bastard’s neck. The gruesome sensation of tough muscle tearing under steel, of bone scraping… I pushed the bastard down with all my might, thrusting deeper.

Until the tip of the sword pierced through their neck and touched the ground. Only then was I able to pull myself up and straighten my clothes. Of course, I didn’t forget to give a short speech to John, who was staring at me with a bewildered look.

“Good job, John. Thanks to you, we’re both alive.”

“…”

“John?”

“…Didn’t you collapse from exhaustion just now?”

It seemed he had been desperate, thinking I was going to die. I couldn’t hide the laughter that escaped me, and replied in a bright voice. Even though our John was an idiot, he was a really good person.

“Feigning a crisis is the easiest way to cloud your opponent’s judgment.”

“…”

“It seems they’ve finished up over there as well.”

At some point, the sound of clashing swords had stopped. The survivors were Lord Topa and his soldiers. Of the eight soldiers, only two remained, but the important thing was that they were alive.

Lord Topa wiped my bloodstained sword on his surcoat and bowed his head.

“These are the reinforcements you spoke of, Your Grace.”

“Reinforcements?”

As Lord Topa and the soldiers parted to the sides, the reinforcements appeared. They were three monks, with menacing hairstyles that were shaved except for a small patch on the crown of their heads, wearing black robes. They had no accessories, and each carried a single sword at their waist.

However, judging from the faint smell of blood emanating from beneath their sword hilts, they must have played a significant role. The one with a gentle face and outstanding appearance among the three monks stepped forward and spoke.

“It has been done as you instructed, Lord Narva.”

***

The monk with the gentle face introduced himself as Surtel.

He then prowled around the campsite like a hunting dog, and stopped in front of the horses that were tied to stakes. Surtel the monk stared silently at the horses, who were calmly eating grass and hay, with a grave expression.

“This is the power of the Yisei.”

“Yes?”

“Someone has used the power of the Yisei to calm the horses. No, to render them insensible would be a more accurate description.”

I blinked, wondering what the Yisei was, and another monk approached and whispered.

“The Yisei refers to the era of the old gods who ruled this land before the humans, and their followers.”

“Ah…”

I’ve definitely heard this story before.

I figured it was just some fairy tale or myth.