“Can you take responsibility?”

A warning voice came out from the mouth of Saint Clare’s escort knight, Willia.

It seems like his pride has been hurt quite a bit, but he is filled with life that doesn’t sound like a joke.

“What do you mean?”

“Although you may think I am weak because I am young, it has been more than three years since I was appointed as an escort knight and assisted Saint Clare by her side.

While you are comfortably accumulating knowledge at the academy, I have grown up with my own blood on my sword from a younger age than you.”

“… … .”

“The words you said were stronger than me, are you able to take responsibility?”

The saintess’ escort knight, Willia, had grounded confidence.

During her many years of experience, Saint Clare and her practical experience of destroying dozens of organizations and killing hundreds of criminals certainly couldn’t be ignored.

Certainly, to her, my academy life might seem like a flower in a greenhouse.

“Do I need to talk so long?”

Anyway, even if I explained the past year at the academy, it wouldn’t have resonated with her.

I must make her understand in the surest way.

“If you are dissatisfied with my remarks, why don’t you compete directly?”

The moment the blade flew was right after that.

As soon as I finished my last words, a small spark rose from the blades of the two swords that collided.

Looking at the tip of the blade blocked by the broadsword, I saw Miss Willia’s face with a distorted expression beyond it.

It was a conversation that I brought up to rent a training ground and meet, but I never thought it would be accepted as meaning to clash blades here.

At first impression, I thought he looked quite cold, but he was more faithful to his emotions than I thought.

“Willia! What are you doing!”

Fortunately, I guess I wasn’t the only one who thought so, but Saint Clare also hurriedly criticized Willia’s sudden action.

“… … .”

As if she didn’t like Saint Claire’s words a little, William was still fixating her furious eyes on me.

Her longsword, which touched mine, still contained her power.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Conrad. Willia wasn’t originally that kind of kid… .”

“It’s okay, saintess.”

After creating a small explosive magic on the blade, he blew away Willia’s body and opened the distance at once.

She was blown away by the recoil of the explosion magic, and hit the table behind her and fell backward along with the furniture.

“How can I do all the battles only from my vantage point?”

“… Yeah?”

“Sometimes you have to fight even in such a narrow place.”

It was a stage that wasn’t too bad in terms of actual experience.

Anyway, Professor Heims’ secret lab is narrower than this, and there are many dangerous items on display that you shouldn’t touch.

Also in that you can’t use large-scale magic or techniques with too much firepower, and you shouldn’t break and ruin anything.

Saint Claire’s room had many similarities with the place where she had to fight two days later.

As a bonus, an escort knight named Willia, who has never seen a proper skill.

It was also a good opportunity to test her skills.

… It must have been a situation that the owner of the room, Saint Clare, was not very pleased with.

“Did you say Willia?”

“… … .”

“You must not mistake the fact that you have fought with the help of Saint Clare’s power every time, as your true skill.”

The blade in her hand cut through the air once again.

I also pressed the broadsword in my hand to her blade to respond.

It was a bit dwarfed compared to the sword Willia held, but unfortunately, the length of the sword I could handle was the limit.

It was also the length I was most familiar with.

‘Kang!’

With a sound, the two blades collided in the air again.

A little spark rose with the sound of metal clashing.

Unlike the first blow, it was the first attack with full strength, so it was a sufficient sum to grasp each other’s strength.

“… … !”

Willia, who had a swordfight with me once, felt something strange and immediately distanced herself.

“Wasn’t it a wizard?”

“If you use this or that body strengthening magic, you can wield it with a moderate amount of swordsmanship.”

“… … .”

Of course, she was included in that fair amount of inspections.

Before the return, there were absolutely no enemies who were stronger than Willia among the guys he encountered purely with swords without magic.

Willia’s eyes darkened.

Being appointed as an escort knight for the saintess meant that the individual’s military power would not be subdued at all.

Besides, there was also a past where Saint Claire and Saint Clare grew up in the same church as a sister and a younger sister from a very young age.

You can’t lose, and you don’t want to lose.

It’s not going to be like your heart.

I grabbed the hard grip of the broadsword and hit it hard against the full-length mirror attached to the wall.

The mirror shattered on impact and scattered glass shards all over the room with a loud sound.

“Kyaaa?!”

Seeing Saint Clare instinctively using a holy protective shield against herself, she probably doesn’t have to worry about that one.

“Kuk!”

Saint Clare wasn’t the only one who was taken aback by the flying glass fragments.

The movement of the escort knight, who was trying to avoid the fragments bouncing at him, slowed down.

This meant that there was enough gap for me to close the distance with her.

He thrust his upper body right into her arms and closed the distance to a very close range.

Even at very close intervals where broadswords have an advantage over longswords.

At a distance close enough that nose to nose collided, Willia and I exchanged swordsmanship several times a second.

As a result, only the sound of swords clashing against each other resounded in the small room for a while.

Compared to the longsword, the broadsword was a disadvantageous weapon in every way.

The range is short, the power is insufficient, and the shock received is not alleviated, and it is transmitted through the wrist in ancient times.

The only advantage such a weapon had over a longsword.

It was short and light, so it could be wielded much faster.

“… ! … ?! … !!!”

A significant change in expression appeared on her face as soon as she shared a sword match several times.

I had to block my short broadsword with my longsword, so it would take a lot more strength to move at the same speed.

The response, delayed by half a beat, gradually built up to create longer gaps in her movements.

It was at this point that there was enough free time to land a meaningful blow.

“Aagh!”

With the sound of cutting the wind in vain, the sword of the desperate escort knight cut through the air.

As a result, Willia’s body was naturally exposed defenselessly, and she collapsed.

‘puck!’

The handle of the broadsword that had broken the mirror hit the back of Willia’s head.

It was a blow that was enough to knock her out of balance.

No matter how much he trained his body to wield a sword, he wouldn’t have been able to grow his occipital muscles.

“Kheuheouk!”

With a scream, Willia’s body fell forward.

I didn’t miss the moment I lost my balance and snatched the weapon from her hand.

It would have been difficult if I hadn’t admitted defeat and started running again.

iron puck. With a scream, Willia’s upper body collapsed on the floor.

It was the moment when victory or defeat was decided.

“Didn’t I say I was stronger than you?”

“… … .”

There was no answer coming back.

Could it be that she couldn’t speak out of shame, or that she couldn’t open her mouth because her face was buried on the floor?

Now, none of that really mattered.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

It was up to the losers, not me, to clean up the victorious battle.

Bringing a broom and dustpan, Willia silently swept up the scattered glass fragments.

“I will pay for the broken mirror later. I’m sorry I broke it without telling you in advance.”

“… No, it’s fine.”

Saint Clare, who had just watched the battle between me and Willia from start to finish, seemed to have changed in a slightly docile attitude, unlike before.

It must be because the common sense she knew before has changed.

Until now, most of the villains that Saint Clare had dealt with were ragtags who couldn’t do their part due to the power of fate she possessed.

There was a high possibility that Saint Claire’s ability to deal with such people was also overestimated in Saint Clare’s head.

Even at a young age, if he had been selected as an escort knight for the saintess, his basic skills would not have been too bad.

Perhaps, at this point, he was the person the saintess thought was the strongest among the people she knew.

Seeing Willia, who had thought so, defeated me without even using her hands, it was enough to know what thoughts were running through her head.

With almost no magic, I overpowered Willia like this with only my sword.

If a fight takes place against an enemy stronger than me and under conditions that are more favorable to the enemy than now.

Willia be able to defeat the opponent even then?

How much power of fate would he have to use to make her win if he couldn’t do it alone.

Looking at it from a cool, objective point of view, it was natural for me to think that I couldn’t rely on just one escort knight.

I looked at the loser sweeping the floor without saying a word and looked at the face reflected in the armament I had taken from her.

“I’ll give it back to you when you leave the black church.”

“All right.”

“Actually, I don’t want to give it back.”

“… … .”

“It’s a joke. If you want to protect the saintess, you must have a weapon like this.”

Taking the blade out of the scabbard and examining the blade, the entire blade was well polished and was a good thing.

Is the material Orichalcon-stainless alloy?

It was probably made in the dwarf workshop in the Black Valley, as it was erected so sharply that the face could be seen through.

Compared to my ordinary stainless steel broadsword, it must have been a much better and more expensive weapon.

Because it was mixed with Orichalcon, it had more weight and gave a stronger impact when swinging.

It would have been impossible to move faster than my sword, which was made of pure stainless steel and was short in length.

It would be much more useful in battles between knights to slash through armor.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to give it to Stella after plundering it.

However, this time I gave up.

Because I didn’t want to take the weapon from Willia and pretend to be with the Orthodox Church.

“… … .”

Sometimes I felt sorry for her when she looked at the sword in my hand.

After dozens of short swordfights just now, the evaluation of the person named Willia was almost over.

There may be instances when he gets a little emotional, but basically, he is a person who is loyal to Saint Clare.

He was also a strong person in his own way if he was not vigilant.

It was understandable that Saint Clare trusted her in her own way.

“Have you changed your mind a bit?”

Looking at the room that was roughly cleaned up, he straightened up the table that had fallen in the aftermath of the battle.

Saint Clare showed a hesitant expression on her face, then nodded quietly.

“Surely, if you have Mr. Conrad, I can count on you in many ways.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Rather, I think I should ask for it from my side. Regarding the execution of the operation this Friday.”

It was a sudden skill exercise, but it was not a bad result to gain Saint Clare’s trust.

The most important thing about confidentiality was also a meaningless clause to me, who already knew everything.

“Next Friday, 11pm. Please don’t tell anyone else, and only Mr. Conrad will accompany you.”

“Of course, Saint Clare.”

“The meeting place is… . It is the entrance to the secret passage of the alchemy department. Mr. Conrad also investigated independently, so I think you know the location.”

“I understand, Saint Clare.”

“I’ll see you again in two days.”

After lightly bowing to Saint Clare who remained in the room, he returned the temporarily confiscated sword of Willia to her.

“In the operation in two days, be careful not to be taken away by the enemy.”

“… Thanks for the advice.”

Leaving the two of them in Saint Claire’s room, she immediately stepped outside without looking back.