***Chapter 277 Water Rabbit***

『Storyteller: Usa-chan Style Swordsmanship Assistant Instructor Kalua』

Hmm? Are you asking if you can run on water if you try hard enough?

You can, you can. I've seen it before.

Look, Usa-chan, you know right? The one that sometimes comes wearing apron dress.

It was quite a while ago... during the Disassembly War, or was it the Unification War? Well, it doesn't matter, but a great general of the enemy we were chasing ran away on board a ship.

Like, it's really wide――Right, it's a river so wide that you can almost see the horizon.

Huh? A lie? No, no, there really is a river that big.

I generally don’t lie, okay.

What’s with those eyes, Mia. I’m playing with the kids, so shoo shoo. There's paperwork, right?

Well, anyway, just imagine that.

By the time Usa-chan and I arrived, they had already run far away, and I was wondering what to do, but Usa-chan said it was no problem.

Then, like a rabbit, Usa-chan hopped across the river’s surface, *pyon* *pyon* *pyon*.

It's not a lie, it's the truth. Trust Onee-san.

Who dares to doubt me? Any bad child who disrespects Instructor Kahlua will get their butt spanked.

Anyway, the conclusion is, you can do it if you try hard enough.

Next time Usa-chan visits, ask her. She’ll tell you the same thing.

If you train as hard as Usa-chan, even a human can run on water.

If you understand, start by swinging the sword without complaining.

The road to Usa-chan's style is a hard one.

If you’re whining at this level, you’ll never master the secret technique, Usa-chan Jump.

Yes, Usa-chan Jump is the ultimate technique of Usa-chan Style. The road there is incredibly steep.

Oh, and just between us… don’t tell the other kids, okay?

Usa-chan Jump is so difficult that, actually, none of us can do it. But, surprisingly, Mia is the only one who’s mastered the secret technique of Usa-chan Jump――

『Storyteller: Former Boatman Boz』

――As you probably know, this area was part of a large country called Elsren at the time.

There was a war going on with the current Alberan.

All those grand discussions of the high-ups don't concern us common folk.

We just hoped we wouldn’t get dragged into it and that taxes wouldn’t get any heavier. I used to row boats on the wide Selche River with my sons, chatting like that with the neighbors.

War seemed like a distant tale.

The main bridges are far north or south, in remote areas where outsiders don't visit, so the people who use them are always the same folks. It was peaceful listening to the story of a child being born at Mr. So-and-so's place yesterday.

Our superior was more of a lord than Elsren, and the lord was also a laid-back person, so nothing much happened.

The population was small, and most people cultivate small fields or gather the fruits in the forest.

Conscription would have destroyed the village, so we only had to supply crops.

He was a good lord who considered the people's feelings.

He even came to our remote village himself, asking for a share of our harvest with a heavy heart.

He passed away some time after the war, but his eldest son, who was similar in nature, is now in this territory――ah, I guess it’s called an administrative territory nowadays. I’m not sure, anyway, he’s still governing this region.

We owe much to that person.

Oh, I’m rambling again. It’s a bad habit of the elderly.

Life here was peaceful, but unfortunately, the battlefield has become quite close.

One day, five men on horseback arrived while I was tending to the boat.

They wore splendid armor, noble probably.

When they saw me tending to the boat, they barked at me to start the boat.

That was scary.

It's like I'm going to be killed if I even hesitate, let alone refuse.

I guess you could call it the atmosphere of a military man――their eyes were as sharp as a beast, and I felt like my heart was being grabbed by an eagle.

When I hastily said it couldn’t take horses, they got off their horses and said, "I understand, hurry up!" looking like they were about to pull out the swords.

It was an eight-person boat――well, even with all the armor, the weight wasn't a problem, so I quickly loaded the men onto the boat, untied the boat and started rowing before they could complain any further.

Just after we left the shore, dozens of cavalry came out the forest path.

They were probably being chased.

The pursuers cursed them as cowards, visibly frustrated.

‘Don't worry. No arrows will fly. Bloodshed is forbidden on ferryboats.’

There, a man wearing particularly fine armor smiled and said that to me, who was frightened.

He must have been someone important, a general or something.

The others also visibly relaxed a bit.

‘I will pay you handsomely. Take us as far downriver as possible.’

‘U-understood...’

‘Don't be frightened. I won't kill you just because we're on the other side. Row as you always do. The Alberan’s won’t touch you later. That's the rule.’

‘Y-yes...’

Unlike the others, the general sat calmly, not even glancing back. He seemed very composed.

But I was rowing, facing backward——watching the scene behind him the entire time.

I saw the pursuers trying to throw spears and shoot arrows but being stopped. It was nerve-wracking, and the others were likely just as scared.

Everyone was half-turned, watching behind them, some trembling.

We finally felt safe when the boats were far enough that arrows couldn’t reach us, letting the current carry us away.

That's when I finally calmed down.

I've been on a boat since I could remember.

I knew all the river flows and could sail the boat with my eyes closed.

I was wondering which way I should go down the river as per my request, thinking that I couldn't do anything about what I had carried on board――just then, I heard the voices of men saying ‘it’s Alberinea’.

When I suddenly looked at the shore a long way away, I saw a gigantic Suiko in the distance.

And there were two women riding it――a woman with black hair and a girl with silver hair that shone even from a distance.

‘Close call.’

The general, who had been silent, laughed and said that.

I didn’t understand what was so close, but seeing the men’s relieved expressions, I figured they must have been formidable opponents.

The enormous beast alone was terrifying, and the women riding it without fear were clearly not ordinary.

‘Ah, um...that person...?’

I asked because I was feeling a little calmer and I wanted to know more about the situation.

‘Haha, you don’t know, boatman? …That’s the Alberan princess, the Cursed Child.’

‘Cursed Child...’

‘You know about the recent great war, right? We faced Alberinea then――'

As the general began to explain, there was a metallic clang, followed by a splash.

When I turned my attention, I saw a splash of water.

What I saw through the gap was a black cloak and silver hair――it was Alberinea.

Hopping across the water with incredible speed that would leave even arrows behind.

I guess it was because it was a sight that was beyond my comprehension.

In extreme situations, people can show incredible focus or strength. I guess I was in such a state because time seemed to slow down.

It must have been a fleeting moment, but I remember it all clearly.

The girl skipped across the water like a stone, *jump, jump, jump*.

Then, with a loud splash, she disappeared, and the next moment there was a strangely dull sound.

The general, who had been speaking, had his head hanging down, the boat slightly shaking.

Before me stood a small girl, not even looking at me.

Her cloak and silver hair swayed as she spun like a dancer.

I saw the necks of the men, who were also stunned, twist in a distorted direction with a dull sound.

Have you ever heard the sound of bones breaking?

That was the first time for me, and it was a horrifying sound.

When a bone breaks inside a muscle, it has a very hushed sound.

Before I could even make a sound, the heads of all the men who had been on board were bent in the wrong direction, and in their place, only a girl with silver hair who looked like a child was standing calmly.

She spun around, and she had a troubled smile on her face.

As if nothing had happened.

‘Sorry. Krische also wanted to board the boat…so Krische rushed to catch it.’

She was probably very beautiful.

But I barely remember her face.

Her icy purple eyes, like gemstones, were the only thing that stuck in my mind.

‘The other passengers are gone, so it’s like a cancellation. Can you take the boat back to the original shore with five bodies and Krische? Is this enough for the fare?’

she asked, placing one of her small silver coins in my dazed hand and pointing to the shore where she had appeared from.

When I, trembling, conveyed that it was more than enough, she simply said, ‘Is that so?’ then sat politely next to the general's corpse——right across from me and looked at the scenery, laughing like a child.

‘Ehehe, Krische, this is Krische's first time on a boat. It's quite a comfortable ride.’

‘I-I see...’

‘Y-yes… ever since I was a child…’

We made small talk like that.

Beside and behind her were five men with vacant eyes, open mouths, and twisted necks.

Surrounded by the corpses of the five she killed, Alberinea laughed like a child, excited about her first boat ride.

Probably no one else can understand how I felt as I watched that scene.

It wasn't a long distance, but it was so long that I thought we had been rowing for a whole day, and I can't even remember what we were talking about.

The one woman who appeared with Alberinea was also smiling on the shore.

All the others were looking at Alberinea in shock, their eyes fixed on me with pity.

‘Thank you very much, Mr. Boatman. Ehehe, Krische would be happy if you gave Krische a ride again when a chance comes again.’

Alberinea, who was unconcerned by this situation, said this with a smile, but her politeness was even more frightening.

I understood exactly what that general meant when he said he was a mad Cursed Child.

And I am deeply grateful that I never had the chance to see her again.

『Storyteller: Former cavalryman Magnus』

――Speaking of the Elsren Demolition War, even you young people know about it, right?

It’s no exaggeration to say that it dismantled a nation that once dominated the continent, with countless vassal states—a war that literally broke apart a colossal empire.

That was actually my first battle.

The first skirmish was not so much a grand victory as it was anticlimactic.

Despite the enemy's enormous army of a hundred thousand, I sat on my horse, trembling, waiting for the order to charge, which never came.

We won so quickly, in less than half a koku.

Cavalry is usually used as a reserve and is usually deployed at the critical moment when the game is at a critical juncture, but we, Alberinea, were leading our army.

It would be better to say that it was like an army of adults and children fighting against each other.

There are various ways to deal with the enemy's cavalry archers――like using our mobility to target their supply. Well, our army was divided and there were about 60,000 soldiers in the three armies who participated in that battle, but the number is irrelevant.

We collided head-on, and the Elsren army was like butter dropped into a hot frying pan.

The battle line collapsed and we completely broke through.

They said that Alberinea, who led the Black Flag Special Force, defeated the enemy general without any hesitation.

At that time, I saw Jarea Gashea for the first time, and I was really glad that I was born in the same country as Alberinea.

Imagine a giant made entirely of steel, swinging a massive sword with both hands.

You won’t understand it unless you see that giant up close, anyone who thought they could face it must have been insane.

After all, it's an eight-shaku giant that is looking down at you, you know?

Using a greatsword that looks like it's twice as tall as us.

Swinging their swords at blinding speeds, anyone's eyes would pop out at first sight.

Well, in reality, anyone who sees it head-on will not only get their eyes blown out, but the insides of their heads as well.

,

Giants in fairy tales are usually stupid and slow and have a weak point, but these guys run faster than horses and swing swords at speeds that are unstoppable.

Moreover they could be replaced endlessly even heroes from a fairytale would have given up.

It's a known fact that the head is a weak point, but there are only a handful of people who can aim for a head eight feet tall, even if they are magic possessors.

On top of that, their reaction speed is enough to even intercept an arrow that flies at them.

If it was only one treasured doll, the other person would probably be willing to try desperately to challenge it, but if such perfect dolls were lined up end to end, no sane person would be able to do it.

In the first battle, I felt more sorry for the enemy than I was excited about the victory.

Well, that's fine.

When I saw the victory in that battle, I thought that Alberinea was a genius inventor.

I've heard rumors that she's the greatest swordsman of all time, I don't know what Alberinea is like... but she felt more like some important beautiful young lady.

She's about as tall as my chest. Even though she's a woman, she's petite and petite, with a delicate body that makes you wonder if she can even swing a sword.

Even on the battlefield, she only wears a cloak, and underneath she wears dresses, shirts, and skirts.

She was wearing gauntlets and sturdy boots, but she looked like she was walking around town.

No matter how you look at it, it's far from the atmosphere of a warrior on a battlefield.

I've often seen her sitting on a Suiko, and Suiko is a monster among monsters that can annihilate an army of centuries alone. The Black Flag Special Forces Company she leads is the strongest in the kingdom.

I thought that kind of thing must be a big part of the war effort, and she is the Royal Princess after all. Everyone around her must be praising her.

I just thought that it was various exaggerated rumors and that everyone was only calling her Heavenly Sword-sama, a transcendent swordsman.

Well, even someone as uneducated as me could see that she being a genius was a fact, adding a few rumors didn't make much of a difference.

Whether the rumors were spread to boost morale or just naturally grew on their own——I didn't know, but as long as she kept winning battles, no one would complain.

I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing if idiots took such rumors seriously and it boosted morale, so I didn't really care.

Then we moved east through Elsren, and for some time there was no great battle like the first battle.

The big guys over there probably thought it was foolish to challenge Alberinea head on.

With more frequent skirmishes, we often had to split into smaller units——about 5,000 men to deal with them, my sides were the same.

Our detachment was assigned to pursue the retreating enemy.

That...what day was that?

It was a good idea to drive the enemy into the river, but the enemy commander boarded the ferry with his escort.

And here is the problem, there's an old rule written in the Holy Spirit Covenant that says you can't attack anyone on the ferry, even if they're enemies.

It's a tedious rule, probably a remnant from the days when feudal lords would skirmish with each other.

Apparently, if you accidentally kill the boatman, the local people who depend on him will no longer be able to make a living――that's probably why bloodshed is prohibited on the ferry.

If it's not written, it's outside the law.

Even an army that would do all it could to humiliate a village would stop if the Holy Spirit Covenant said so.

A single boat might seem trivial in a continental war, but Alberan, claiming to liberate the oppressed people of Elsren, took it seriously, and we had no choice but to watch the enemy commander escape.

Also, Marshal Selene Christand was known for her integrity, and Alberinea was known for her ruthlessness.

There was a story that, the next day after a squadron attacked a village, they were rounded up and torn limb from limb for malicious violation of orders.

Fortunately, I didn't see it happen, but apparently the army to which the century squad belonged was shown having their limbs cut off by Jarea Gashea during assembly line work.

This isn't a lie. I know three or four people who have actually seen it.

The battalion commander was also stripped of his rank for failing to control his subordinates――It seems that he was supposed to be executed, but after the other centurions begged for his life to be spared, he gave him a lighter punishment, but even that was probably more than enough punishment.

The reason why we had no choice but to let them go was because such stories were widespread.

It was communicated to all unit commanders to impose similar punishments. Violating the Holy Spirit Covenant was far more serious than breaking military regulations.

There's no one out there who wants to have their limbs torn off, so we, the cavalry, had no choice but to stand in front of that river and watch the enemy general gradually receding into the distance, and we just gritted our teeth... The person who appeared then was Alberinea riding a Suiko.

There was a beautiful woman in black armor sitting behind her――I later learned that it was Kalua Bellus, Alberinea's black cat.

‘...Ah, Alberinea, I'm sorry. We were a little late and they fled to the ferry.’

When the commander said that and bowed his head, the two of them jumped off the giant Suiko and looked at the ship, which was quite far away.

I had seen her many times from a distance, but that was the first and last time I saw her up close.

She was a beautiful girl with mysterious purple eyes and fairy-like silver hair.

Imagine the most beautiful girl you've ever seen, multiplied by a hundred—that was Alberinea. The air seemed to change the moment she appeared, as if we had stepped into a painting.

‘It's pretty far, but Usa-chan could probably hit it with a spear, right? As long as you don't kill the ferryman——’

‘Kalua, no, that's against the Holy Spirit Covenant. We mustn't spill blood on the ferry, no matter what... but, ah... yes. As long as there's no blood.’

Saying this, Alberinea clapped her hands together.

The memories of that time are still fresh in my mind, even decades later.

“Kalua, Krische want to get over there, so swing at Krische as hard as you can, using the flat of the sword.”

Alberinea gestured with her hands as if swinging a sword.

The Black Cat casually drew her great curved sword.

“Ai Sir, around the butt?”

“That sounds about right. Just swing it, and Krische will also match the rhythm.”

When we saw these two saying things like that, we couldn't understand what they were saying and looked at each other.

Watching these two talk, we couldn't understand what they were saying and exchanged puzzled looks.

The Black Cat called out cheerfully, and when she swung the great sword behind Alberinea, we were stunned.

In the next moment, she swung it down on Alberinea without hesitation.

There's a word called ‘sword pressure’, but I thought Alberinea had been shattered into pieces.

The gust of wind made me close my eyes for a moment.

According to those who saw it, Alberinea leaped up in perfect timing with the swing of the great curved sword, which was invisible even to the eyes.

The metallic sound rang out as she kicked off the flat of the blade.

Do you know what "skipping stones" is?

It's a children's game where you throw a flat stone to make it skip across the water.

The sound of water splashing made me look at the river, and there was Alberinea, skipping across the water like a stone.

I thought Alberinea had disappeared, but she was flying into the river with great force and was bouncing on the water.

You think I'm joking, right?

I thought so too. I can't believe what I'm seeing even though I'm seeing it myself.

Alberinea bounced across the water and landed perfectly on top of the boat.

Breaking the enemy commander's neck with her foot as she landed.

Similarly, the four guards on board didn't even have time to stand up.

‘Wow, Usa-chan, your head is really insane...’

I remember the Black Cat muttering in amazement.

To be able to hit a superior officer——especially one as high up as Alberinea with a sword.

She was already crazy, but Alberinea skipping across the water was even crazier.

The ferryman's pale face as he returned is still etched in my memory.

In the distance, I saw Alberinea hand over the fare and explain with his finger that he wanted us to return to this shore.

After that, I wondered what's fun until she came back, a smiling Alberinea and five people with his necks bent in a strange direction.

That must have been fun. I don't even want to replace her even if you pay me to.

‘Krische, this is Krische's first time on a boat, and it's much more comfortable than a horse-drawn carriage. ...If Gururun had been a little lighter, Krische could have sent him to the other side too.’

The boatman was frightened by what she said in such a cute voice.

Alberinea has a child-like air about her――it might sound good to say she never stops smiling, but no one would think that someone who can casually kick someone to death with that smile is pitiful.

I could see that everyone was looking at the boatman with pitiful eyes.

For Alberinea, killing was probably like a child tearing off a bug's wings.

‘What should we do?’

‘It seems like everything is okay here, so let's go back to Selene. ...Umm, Pirik cavalry commander, please dispose of the corpse appropriately.’

‘H-ha...’

‘Thank you very much, Mr. Boatman. Ehehe, Krische would be happy if you gave Krische a ride again when a chance comes again.’

‘T-thank you for your kind words...’

Alberinea, who had calmly kicked the enemy general's gang to death, bowed her head with a smile on her face.

The ferryman's voice cracked as he replied. He certainly didn't want to take her again, but he couldn't say anything else.

Alberinea quickly left, but thinking it over, wasn't killing them a violation of the Sacred Spirit Pact?

I couldn't voice it, but I'm sure others thought the same.

The surprising part was when we took the bodies off the ferry.

――Everyone's neck was broken, and not a single drop of blood leaked out.

That's when I finally understood that Alberinea was more than the rumor suggested.

I looked into it later, but what exactly the Holy Spirit Covenant said is――bloodshed on ferries is prohibited, whether during peacetime or during battle.

That's why Alberinea took the trouble to jump onto a narrow boat with five enemies on board, and without even drawing her sword, broke their neck.

As the wording says, only the bones in their neck were accurately touched and adjusted so that there was no bloodshed.

There was nothing in the Holy Spirit Covenant that said to not take lives.

Just to not shed blood.

No one can complain.

Alberinea had followed the letter of the law, killing five enemies without spilling blood.

See, doesn't it give you chills?