第六話 女騎士イザベラ
「......ラコリナは喧嘩っ早い奴が多いな。だが、手合わせしたいというのなら、相手をしよう」
俺は鞘から剣を抜いた。
「エ、エルマさん、あまりハウルロッド侯爵家相手に食い下がらない方がいいんじゃないですか......?」
〉は惜しい。当主が噛んでるわけじゃないし、相手も正当性がないのはわかっているからこうした手を取っている」
あくまで向こうは、身の程知らずの冒険者を諫めてやっている、という態度を保っている。
相手の言い分に則って剣を交わすのは失礼には当たらない。
この世界では、貴族が余興に流れ者の冒険者と自身の部下を戦わせるのは稀にあることだ。
それに......冒険者の都ラコリナを築き上げたやり手の大貴族にして、黒い噂の絶えないハウルロッド侯爵家。
その第一子であるスノウは、例の〈哀哭するトラペゾヘドロン〉騒動に関わっている可能性がある。
彼女の右腕であるイザベラの実力を確かめておけるというのは、ありがたくもあった。
「ぜひご指導いただこう。ハウルロッド侯爵家の騎士と剣を交わせられるのは、またとない機会だ」
「ほう、剣を抜くか。フン、荒くれ者の冒険者が畏まるなよ」
イザベラは俺へ剣を向け、嗜虐的な笑みを浮かべる。
地面を蹴り、一直線に向かってきた。
適当に俺をあしらうつもりのようだ。
俺はまず、防御に徹することにした。
ひと振り目、二振り目と、続くイザベラの刃を防ぐ。
三振り目を受け止め、競り合いになる。
俺より多少レベルが上......くらいだな。
「......貴様、流れ者だな。このレベルであれば、B級以上はある。ラコリナの者なら、私が把握していないはずがない」
至近距離からイザベラが俺の顔を睨む。
どうやらC級以下の冒険者だと高を括っていたようだ。
「打ち合いはここまでで充分か?」
「舐めてくれるなよ......!」
イザベラが、剣の鍔越しに勢いよく押してきた。
俺は重心を落として受け止め、体勢を崩さないように保つ。
「〈砦崩し〉!」
波打つように小さく跳ねた剣先が、俺の手許を狙って振るわれる。
スキルではなく、純粋な剣術だ。
敢えて刃で防がせることで叩き落とし、相手の隙を作る技だ。
レベルの優位性がないと踏んで、剣の技量での勝負に出てきたらしい。
基本に忠実ながらに強力な技だが、狙いがわかっていれば対処は難しくない。
俺は半歩退きながら、体勢を崩されぬよう、しっかりと受け止める。
同時に、防いですぐに剣先を上げて構え直した。
「〈兜落とし〉!」
イザベラは続けて、頭部狙いの一撃を放ってくる。
俺は続けて下がることで一瞬の時間を稼ぎつつ、これも刃で防御してみせた。
相手の刃を打ち落としてから、素早く頭を狙うのは定石の一つだ。
「なっ......!」
一応これでもエドヴァン伯爵家の元次期当主である。
エドヴァン伯爵家はハウルロッド侯爵家のような政治力はないが、代々当主の剣の技量だけで家を守ってきたのだ。
イザベラは俺の剣を懸命に捌く。
彼女は体勢を崩しながらも、速さの差を活かして強引に距離を取った。
スノウの瞼が、ピクリと動いた。
現状、明らかにイザベラの方が分が悪いと判断したのだろう。
「そんな馬鹿な! たかだか一冒険者が、今の型を完全に返せるなど! だが、お嬢様の顔に泥を塗るわけには......」
イザベラはスノウの顔色を尻目で確認した後、俺を睨んだ。
「〈剣撃波〉!」
イザベラの振るう刃より、マナの刃が放たれる。
俺はこの距離で攻撃が飛んでくるとは思っていなかったので、回避が間に合わず、盾で防いだ。
衝撃が殺し切れず、ダメージが入る。
「なっ......! スキルまで使うのか?」
MPを消耗するのはお互い得策ではない。
HPも削れるし、身体も疲弊する。
ただ軽い剣の打ち合いで、実力を確かめたいというだけの話だったはずだ。
大盾で視界が潰れた一瞬の内に、イザベラは一気に距離を詰めてきていた。
「〈聖光の刃〉!」
イザベラの刃に聖なる光が宿る。
聖属性のマナで刃を覆い、大きな打点を狙うスキルだ。
発動が速いので、予備動作の隙を狙うのはリスクが高い。
だが、威力が重いので、下手に防ぐのも危険だ。
とにかく距離を稼ぐ。
MPを無駄にしたくないイザベラは、深追いしながら刃を振るってきた。
イザベラ自身、こんな小競り合いでMPを使うべきではないとわかっているため、焦りがあったのだろう。
刃で刃を弾き、軌道を逸らす。
イザベラの剣は勢いよく地面を叩く形になった。
「うっ......!」
イザベラが顔を顰める。
〈聖光の刃〉は、発動後の隙の大きいスキルだ。
「〈シールドバッシュ〉!」
「ぐぅっ......!」
イザベラの身体を遠くへと弾き飛ばす。
だが、相手も騎士系統のクラス......。
防御力特化のクラスであるため、あまり遠くへは跳ばせなかった。
〈聖光の刃〉を有していたので、スキルツリーが余程偏っていない限り、恐らくは聖騎士だろう。
「......確かに見縊っていた。だが、スキル選択を誤ったらしいな。ここからは本気で行くぞ......!」
イザベラが俺を睨みつける。
様子を見ていたスノウが、小さく息を吐いた。
「イザベラ、この辺りにしましょう」
「ス、スノウお嬢様!」
「ステータス勝負で競り合い、剣術で後れを取り、スキルでの戦闘でも上を行かれたのです。これ以上、引き止める理由もないでしょう」
〉内で冒険者相手に後れを取ったことを吹聴されれば、我々の面子が......!」
「わからないのですか? 彼はスキル選択を誤ったのではなく、〈
イザベラが剣を下げた。
どうやらスノウは、思ったより話の通じる相手のようだ。
「あ、あの子......ようやく喋った......」
ルーチェが小声でそう呟く。
これまでスノウは、イザベラの名を呼ぶとき以外はまともに言葉を発していなかった。
Volume 3 - Ch 6
"....La Colina really has a bunch of people ready to pick a fight at a moment's notice. However, if you really want a bout, then I will comply."
I pulled my sword from its sheath.
"E-Elma-san, isn't it a bad move to refuse to back down from people of the Howlod Family like this....?"
"The Skill Book is too important. The Lord has no part in this, so they are aware that they can't justify what they are asking. That's why they chose this method."
They are keeping to the fiction that they are only scolding us because they think we are overreaching.
It's not impolite to take them up on their offer.
In this world, sometimes nobles have their subordinates fight wandering adventurers as entertainment.
Furthermore.....we are talking about the Howlod Family here, a very capable organization responsible for building up La Colina into the City of Adventurers, and with no shortage of dark rumors about them.
There is a chance that Snow, the first child of the family, had something to do with that Mourning Trapezohedron incident as well.
It's also a welcome chance to assess the capabilities of Izabella, her right hand woman.
"By all means, I welcome your guidance. The chance to exchange pointers with a knight of the Howlod Family does not come often."
"Hoh, so you draw your sword. Hn, so formal for a brutish adventurer."
Izabella pointed her sword at me and her lips turned up into a sadistic smile.
She kicked the ground and headed straight for me.
It seems she is planning on simply dealing with me.
I decided to focus on defense first.
I blocked the first and second swings of Izabella's blade.
Her third swing ended up with us locking swords.
She should be a tad bit higher than me in terms of levels.....I think.
".....you must be a wandering adventurer. You should be at least B rank with a level like yours. If you were from La Colina, then there is no way I wouldn't have known about you."
Izabella kept glaring at me from a point-blank range.
It seems she underestimated me and thought I was at most a C rank adventurer.
"Was the exchange of blows so far sufficient to you?"
"Don't look down on me.....!"
Izabella used the guard on her sword to push me back.
I lowered my center of gravity to withstand her push, trying to avoid losing my balance.
"[Fortress Breaker]!"
The tip of her sword came at me like a tidal wave, aiming to hit my hand on my sword's grip.
It was not a Skill, but pure skill with the sword.
It's a technique where she deliberately made me block with the blade of my sword, pushing it away and creating a gap in my defense.
She must've judged that I did not have an advantage in terms of levels, so she decided to handle me with only her sword skills.
It's a strong technique that's faithful to the basics, but if I know its aim, then it's not hard to defend against.
I stepped back half a step to block the hit, while making sure to avoid losing my balance.
Right after I blocked it, I raised my sword again and retook my stance.
"[Helmet Strike]!"
Next, Izabella went for my head.
I also managed to block that one while stepping back once more.
It's standard practice to try to go for the head once you manage to brush away your opponent's sword.
"Wha-.....!"
I am a former Heir of the Edvan Family after all.
The Edvan Family doesn't have the political power like the Howlod Family does, the Lord of every generation protecting the populace with only their skills with the sword.
Izabella only just managed to defend against my sword.
Even though she was out of balance, she made use of her superior speed to put some distance between us.
Snow's eyes twitched.
She must've judged that it was Izabella that came out of that confrontation on the back foot just now.
"That's impossible! A simple adventurer shouldn't have been able to turn that kata back on me! However, I must not embarrass ojousama any more than this...."
After Izabella checked Snow's current expression, she turned to glare at me.
"[Sword Wave]!"
A blade of mana flew from the slash Izabella performed.
I did not think that she would be able to attack me from that distance, so I couldn't make it in time to dodge, making it necessary to block it with my shield.
I was unable to entirely block the impact, so some damage got through.
"What...! She's even using Skills?"
Using MP here is a bad idea for both of us.
Our HP goes down and we also get tired.
This should've remained at the level of confirming each other's skills by lightly exchanging some blows.
The moment my sight was obstructed by my large shield, Izabella charged closer to me.
"[Holy Sword of Light]!"
Izabella's blade was imbued with holy light.
It's a Skill that covers the blade in Holy attribute mana and aims for a decisive blow.
Its activation speed is fast, so it's risky to try and attack while it's happening.
However, it's also powerful, so simply blocking it would also be dangerous.
I just needed to be far away.
Izabella didn't want to waste her MP, so she charged after me and swung her sword.
Even she should be aware that this was not a fight where she should've wasted any MP on, so she became too impatient.
I hit her blade with my own, diverting its trajectory.
It ended up causing Izabella's sword to impact the floor with great momentum.
"Ugh......!"
Izabella's expression turned into a scowl.
The [Holy Sword of Light] is a Skill that has some weaknesses after it's activated.
"[Shield Bash]!"
"Guhh.....!"
Izabella's body flew into the distance.
However, my opponent was a knight type Class.....
Since it's also a Defense focused Class, I couldn't propel her too far.
Since she had the [Holy Radiant Sword], as long as her Skill point distribution wasn't exceptionally skewed, she must be a Holy Knight.
"....I indeed underestimated you. However, you chose the wrong Skill there. I will take things seriously now......!"
Izabella kept glaring at me.
Snow, who was observing the scene until now, let out a small sigh.
"Izabella, let's leave it at that."
"S-Snow-ojousama!"
"In terms of Status you were evenly matched, in terms of sword skills you were behind, and he surpassed you in a fight with Skills too. There should be no reason to try and restrain them anymore."
"H-however, if they start spreading around the fact that I lost to an adventurer inside a Dungeon, then our reputation would.....!"
"Do you still not understand? He did not make a mistake in choosing his last Skill, he just wanted to avoid inflicting unnecessary damage within a Dungeon. The agreement was that the fight should've ended before any damage could be dealt. If you don't step back now, it will only worsen our situation even more."
Izabella lowered her sword.
It seems Snow was a more insightful person than I thought.
"Ah, she....finally spoke...."
Luce whispered quietly.
Until now, Snow never spoke properly, except to call Izabella's name.
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
Action Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alchemy Arrogant Characters Artifacts Blacksmith Calm Protagonist Clever Protagonist Determined Protagonist Dungeons Fallen Nobility Fantasy World Game Elements Guilds Hot-blooded Protagonist Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Male Protagonist Mystery Solving Naive Protagonist Nobles Poor to Rich Previous Life Talent Reincarnated in a Game World Romantic Subplot Skill Books Strategic Battles Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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