Now the exciting part comes~
CSWH Chapter 43: Battle Resolve The group attacking elder brother suddenly appeared.
For the time being, I hid myself and peeked at the situation.
……just who in the world are they?
For bandits, the things that they had equipped were far too practical.
Rather than saying that they were aiming for n.o.bles, the concern that they were aiming to attack the Anderson Marquis House itself came to mind.
The Army and the Guard Corps coordinated amongst themselves as they fought but……looking at that cooperation from afar, it appeared shoddy.
However that couldn"t be held……because the organizations that they belonged to were different.
It"s just that because of that, each individual was unable to make use of their own potential.
Since I knew of their abilities from training with them normally, that fact might be standing out even more so to me.
The enemy utilized their strength in numbers and gradually drew near to elder brother.
Seeing that, I manipulated the reins and increased the speed of my horse.
At the same time, the anger simmering inside of me burst into flames.
How dare they target elder brother……it screamed.
"……Mel!?"
Shurei-san who was in the middle of battle was the first one to notice my presence.
"Guard Corps! Protect Parx-sama!"
As he said that, he butchered one of the enemies.
"……-!? I owe you one!"
Immediately, Shurei-san and the Guard Corps following him tightened their defence of brother.
And then, they began battling against the enemies that had been aiming at elder brother from behind.
……I made it.
I let out a short sigh of relief.
And then, I confirmed the enemies in front of my eyes.
It seemed that the enemies in front of me were bewildered at my existence, as I had suddenly barged into the scene.
However, they soon made faint smiles.
"This isn"t a place for a brat like you to come! Get lost!"
With a single stroke, I took the head of one of the enemies that approached me while shouting.
The blood inside me felt like it was boiling, as it burned.
However, in contrast to that, my mind was clear as if it was being bathed in cold water.
It was as if my mind and body, and everything that I was composed of was reconstructing itself in order to concentrate on only the battle.
"……being done in by a brat means that he was less than a brat."
Indifferently, I murmured that as if looking down on them.
Having easily taken down an enemy face-to-face without utilizing a surprise attack, time seemed to come to a stop as the area fell silent.
"How light…….your blades that don"t have any resolve nor conviction, are far too light."
My words continued in the midst of that.
"Hah, resolve? Conviction? Just what will something like that do!?"
Following that, several people challenged me at once.
However, contrary to that situation, my heart had a calm feeling, like a honed blade.
"Oh, soldiers that have been forged by General Gazelle, engrave this into these men! That true strength is accompanied by conviction! Show them a true battle!"
I turned to the Army behind me and shouted.
Suddenly, I heard a war cry from behind me.
"Follow me!"
Saying that, I faced the enemy and advanced forward.
They followed after me and urged their horses into a run.
As I confirmed that in the corner of my eye, I plunged into the enemy group.
And then, as I pa.s.sed by them, I slaughtered each and every one of them, one after the other.
My target was the person that seemed like a commander deep within the ma.s.s of enemies.
If you ask me how I knew who their commander was……all I could say was that it was intuition.
As I advanced deeper and deeper in, my allies intercepted the enemies aiming at me.
And then my progression steadily continued.
"……you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, don"t think that you can return alive after targeting the Anderson House!"
When I slashed at all of the approaching enemies, I shouted as if I were hitting them with my anger.
It felt as if the air itself trembled.
As the enemy faltered from that, I sent my horse into a gallop.
And then, I ma.s.sacred the commander.
……at that moment, I could sense unrest ripple through the enemy side.
"Leave not one behind!"
As I shouted that, I slaughtered the nearby enemies.
One by one, "Definitely kill" the enemies that stood in my way……as I ordered, everyone followed me and butchered the enemy.
As expected, the enemy party was reduced to a disorderly mess in a single breath.
Cleaning them up after this probably won"t be too hard.
Together with the sound of raw flesh being torn apart, the familiar scent of iron tickled my nose.
The soldiers of the Army defeated the enemy with me, one by one, and surrounded them while gradually making the encirclement smaller and smaller.
And then, the remaining number of enemies was reduced to the point where you could count them on one hand.
"……hi-"
A number of them trembled while looking up at me.
They had long ago been pulled off their horses, and as they looked up at me, their legs gave out.
I gave an out-of-place laugh at the same scene as that day being played out again.
"It truly was a brittle resolve."
"Resolve, resolve, you say……just what the h.e.l.l is it!?"
The enemy put up a front and screamed at me in return.
"The resolve to kill, and the resolve to be killed."
And I disinterestedly answered that.
At those words, not only the enemy, but my allies also appeared surprised.
"……the resolve to be killed?"
"It"s not like I have the desire to die."
When a member of the Army made a questioning statement, I gave a wry smile and explained further.
"When you go out into battle, there are no absolutes. No matter how much you train your body, no matter what kind of techniques you refine……when you"re defeated, you"ll die when it"s time to die."
Those were the words that my father had always told me ever since I was small.
The vague base of my understanding of death since I was young was that.
"Because on the battlefield, a "strong" person does not exist. All there is how you will take down your enemy……and those who followed through with that, as well as those who did not. That is all there is."
In order to meet eyes with one of the members of the enemy, I crouched down.
"You didn"t have that resolve. That is why the moment you guys fell to a disadvantage, you collapsed so easily. If you truly held that resolve……to begin with, you would have feared that possibility and would not have taken such simple actions, properly thinking them through instead."
"……Mel. Why do you have such a resolve?"
Kuroitsu-san"s questioning voice came from above.
That serious voice, together with the atmosphere of the surroundings, resounded dreadfully.
"From the beginning. From the moment I took up the sword, I had that resolve."
Though there was the things father told me as well.
At that time, it was because I couldn"t see anything past fulfilling my revenge.
Be that as it may, if I was able to fulfill my revenge, I wouldn"t have minded being taken down together with my target. Taking that into account, perhaps rather than the resolve to be killed, it was closer to a desire for death.
"……but, yup. Right now, it"s just because I have the conviction to go past that fear. That"s why I have continued to hold this resolve."
I didn"t want anyone else to experience the same feelings that I did……for that sake, I did not mind putting my life at stake.
And at the same time, for the sake of the people who think of me as important, I had to survive no matter what……that was precisely why I was afraid of death.
I was afraid of death, which is why I had the resolve to die. Such a conflicting thought was the resolve to die that I spoke of.
"……I see."
"Our conversation go prolonged but, someone! Tie up these guys! The Army will take them into custody! Those from the Guard Corps will continue to protect Parx-sama, and deliver him safely to the Anderson Marquis House!"
Since only a bit of time had pa.s.sed since the end of the battle, I still hadn"t managed to switch over my feelings, and unintentionally gave out orders with rather rough wording.
However, those from the Army had brisk movements as they moved according to my orders.
……rather, it might be a bit late to say this, but I"m surprised the guys from the Army obeyed my orders while fighting.
Outwardly, I was just a guard/body double that had nothing to do with the Marquis House, and to begin with, even if I was the daughter of a Marquis House, there was no reason for them to obey my orders when I wasn"t a member of the Army.
"……well, I guess it"s fine?"
"……did you say something? Mel."
"No, nothing. Well then, I"ll leave those guys to you!"
And then, in the end I stepped foot for the first time in a while into the territory together with elder brother.