The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 174

174. Heading North (3)

April 22, 2024

A fierce wind, like an aftershock, buffeted Lucas. He focused on keeping his feet firmly planted to avoid being pushed back, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Barely managing to see through the sandstorm, he saw Rosette already charging towards their opponent, sword in hand. Her blade shone with a bright light, as if cloaked in an aura.

“Rosette, it’s dangerous!”

Lucas also drew his sword, assuming a stance, but Rosette warned him again.

“Don’t come any closer!”

[BEEP!]

Lucas understood the underlying meaning in her sharp voice and Pipi’s beeping. They were worried about him, but also treating him like he’d be in the way.

Lucas hesitated, his eagerness faltering as he anxiously watched Rosette.

It was clear that intervening now would only be a hindrance.

Rosette relentlessly unleashed magic and swung her sword at the opponent.

If Lucas intervened carelessly, Rosette would hesitate to avoid hitting him, leaving herself vulnerable.

‘But to just stand here and watch….’

Lucas clenched his teeth. He could feel the palms of his hands, gripping the sword, becoming damp with cold sweat.

Contrary to his worries, Rosette was fighting well.

She moved swiftly, using her small and light frame to her advantage, and skillfully incorporated magic at opportune moments.

However, Lucas was puzzled as to why she wasn’t primarily using magic and instead relying on her sword.

The opponent tried to attack Rosette with wide swings, but each attempt was blocked.

Conversely, Rosette also attacked relentlessly, but her attacks weren’t as effective as she had hoped. It seemed the unknown opponent’s skin was as thick as steel.

But it wasn’t long before the outcome was decided. Rosette swiftly positioned herself, standing with both feet on the fallen opponent’s body. The opponent struggled, but with both arms severed, it couldn’t attack her.

After staring down at the opponent’s face for a moment, Rosette gripped the sword with both hands, blade pointing downwards, and raised her arms high.

And then.

Thwack!

The sharp tip of Rosette’s sword pierced the opponent’s neck. The thrashing movements of the opponent ceased completely. Only then did Rosette relax and step down.

Lucas hurried over to his youngest sister.

“Rosette! Are you okay?”

As he held her shoulders and examined her, Lucas frowned at the scratch on Rosette’s left cheek.

“You’re hurt.”

Rosette wiped the slight trickle of blood from her cheek with the back of her hand and smiled awkwardly.

“I think I got grazed a little while ago.”

“That’s why I tried to catch it!”

[BEEP BEEP!]

Pipi also rubbed its face against Rosette’s cheek as if upset. Rosette kissed Pipi’s beak and replied.

“This level of injury is nothing, so you don’t have to worry.”

“How can I not worry….”

Lucas stopped himself from saying more. Instead, he nudged the fallen monster’s arm with the toe of his shoe.

“What is this thing anyway?”

The green-skinned creature truly deserved to be called a ‘monster.’

“It’s a monster.”

“I know that much. It’s not an animal.”

“I don’t know what kind of monster it is either. Not much is known about monsters. But it is a bit strange.”

“What is?”

“It definitely acted like it had intelligence. I thought monsters were supposed to attack mindlessly. If they seemed like they were at a disadvantage, they would instinctively run away, or just charge recklessly. But….”

Lucas interjected.

“It avoided your attacks, right?”

“…Yes.”

Rosette mumbled gloomily and crouched down next to the monster, examining its weapon. Lucas quickly grabbed the back of her collar.

“Be careful. What if it comes back to life and attacks you?”

“That won’t happen. I made sure it was dead. Even if it’s a monster, it won’t revive….”

“Hey, hey. Why are you saying such gruesome things?”

Lucas was shocked by Rosette’s nonchalant muttering.

‘Made sure it was dead.’ It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t something Rosette should be saying.

Frankly speaking, Lucas had been surprised from the moment Rosette had charged at the unknown monster.

Rosette had grown a lot over the past 12 years, but to Lucas, she still seemed like the 8-year-old girl he had first met.

To think that someone who looked like she couldn’t even kill an ant would fearlessly cast magic and swing a sword at a monster. If it had been Lucas, he would have hesitated slightly before ending its life, no matter how evil the monster was.

‘What exactly did she learn at the academy? We never taught her anything like that.’

Lucas, unaware of Rosette’s past life, unfairly blamed the Ivelin Royal Academy.

While Lucas was internally criticizing the academy, Rosette examined the sword the monster had dropped. The blade was chipped and dull in places. It was clear that it had been poorly maintained and handled roughly.

It was an expected result since the opponent was a monster, but something felt off.

“Lucas, doesn’t this sword look familiar?”

“…….”

Even before hearing Rosette’s question, Lucas had already noticed something and his face had hardened.

Rosette glanced at his face and continued.

“It looks similar to the swords given out by the Imperial Knights.”

Lucas still kept his mouth shut, picking up the sword. The blade surface just above the handle was scratched as if something had been used to scrape it.

“Yeah, definitely….”

Lucas mumbled, turning the sword this way and that.

“It’s familiar. Did the monster steal this sword from a subjugation force?”

“But then there would have been no need to erase the Imperial Knights’ insignia. I don’t think their intelligence would be that developed, and even if it was, leaving the insignia would actually be better for them. Because it’s a trophy.”

“Then….”

“It’s too early to be sure, Lucas.”

Rosette stepped back from the monster and reached for Pipi. Pipi was horrified at the sight of Rosette’s dirty hands.

[BEEP! BEEP!]

Rosette washed her hands with magic before grabbing Pipi and putting it in her pocket.

[PHEW!]

“Let’s go back for now. We should take the sword with us, just in case.”

She put the sword in the bag she had placed on the saddle. The bag was small, about the size of two of Lucas’s palms, but it had space expansion magic on it, so even a long sword could fit inside without any problems.

Lucas put his sword back in its scabbard and mounted his horse first. Rosette, who was shaking off the sticky goo on the sword, suddenly stared blankly at her hands.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she had killed a living creature. She didn’t know if a monster could be called a ‘living creature,’ but it was a fact that she had ended the life of something that was alive and breathing.

The fact that the monster, which had been alive and moving in front of her just a moment ago, had died by her hand was not very pleasant. The sensation that had been transmitted through the sword to her fingertips was still vivid.

Rosette stared blankly at her slightly trembling palms before clenching her fists tightly.

‘It’s okay. The thing I killed wasn’t a person. It was a monster that was tormenting people.’

‘It’s definitely not the same as the past. This is different.’

‘This is something I decided and acted on myself to protect the people I love.’

‘It wasn’t an innocent person either.’

Rosette took a deep breath and barely managed to calm the trembling in her body. As she finished preparing and got back on her horse, Lucas, who had been watching her the whole time, said.

“From now on, if monsters appear, I’ll take care of them. You don’t need to step up.”

“No. It’s okay.”

“You look tired right now. You’ve never participated in actual combat before.”

“Neither have you, Lucas.”

Lucas closed his mouth at Rosette’s retort. As she said, Lucas, who was not yet affiliated with the Knights, had never been deployed in actual combat.

In fact, that was the case for most of the knights who participated in the subjugation [military campaign]. For the past few decades, the Empire had been so strong that no one dared to challenge it, and there had been no wars.

The only thing that had happened was minor skirmishes in the border regions.

“Besides, you’re only three years older than me. You and I are still young.”

“Hey, how big is the difference between three years? Don’t you dare disregard the number of bowls of rice I’ve eaten more than you.”

Rosette didn’t make any rebuttal. However, she still thought that a three-year difference was small.

When she was young, Lucas, who was three years older, seemed very big, but even now, in terms of physique, he was definitely much bigger, but Lucas was clearly still immature.

Rosette watched Lucas’s hand, holding the reins, tremble slightly before moving her horse next to his.

“Anyway, you should stay put and not step up. It would be even harder to treat you if you were poisoned by a monster.”

“That….”

Lucas was about to say something, but before he could, Rosette kicked the horse’s flank and started moving forward. Lucas quickly spurred his horse to match Rosette’s speed.

“Then let me ask you just one thing. Why did you mainly use your sword earlier? You could have used magic. You’re good with a sword, but your magical skills are so much better that they can’t even be compared.”

“…….”

“And using magic is cleaner too….”

‘And you lack a sense of reality.’

Rosette seemed to have heard the unspoken words that Lucas couldn’t bring himself to say.

“Just because.”

Rosette mumbled, looking ahead.

“I just wanted to.”

It was a lie. But Rosette tried her best to hide it from Lucas.

As Lucas said, she could have used only magic to deal with the monster. It would have been much easier that way.

But the reason she didn’t was because of a sudden memory from the past.

The image of Rosette Dallas, manipulated by Marquis Dallas, mercilessly using offensive magic.