The blue-branded mercenary is a rare creature in Chester.

As a testament to the "better than the ordinary" combat prowess at the level of a magistrate, the sapphire badge on Henry and Mira's chests is a sight to behold in places where mercenaries are scarce - plus helping to escort the old blacksmith Rudolph to the mines, and encountering a dragon lizard and being safe and sound is not something that happens every day for blacksmiths, so it is inevitable that they will show off to their neighbors and friends.

So, on the third day of arriving in Chester Town, about a dozen people, including masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and hunters, approached the door and asked to hire two men to go further south.

The total number of people in the team was not large, but there were two horse-drawn carriages and three two-wheeled wooden carts.

As a mercenary, it is natural to undertake a commission. This time the direction was to go all the way down the town, travel some distance south and then turn back to the west, to the higher ground and cut down the trees that grew there for the carpenters.

The area around it was also a rich mineral, and even if the pits were actually excavated, they were owned by nobles or big merchants, and Rudolph sent two apprentice blacksmiths to follow him with the idea of trying his luck to see if he could find some scattered high-quality iron ore.

Masons have similar considerations, although there are many things like clay that can be dug up nearby, but high-quality red clay is still relatively rare.

The action was done for safety reasons, and the four hunters with longbows with a very similar format to Avenella's side were clearly in the same mind. The number of a dozen people alone can discourage most beasts, plus the sentry guard and the like. It's much better to have someone to take care of each other when you're out and about.

The distance to the destination is about half a day's journey, and the group set off after breakfast at six or seven o'clock in the morning. It was almost noon when the ground began to dry and harden. You're at your destination.

Although the carriage still leaves deep marks as it rolls over, neither the moisture nor the smell of salt in the air is much less than on the Chester side.

The sight of the tall dark cyan trees and the not-over-heavy moisture were refreshing, and Henry and Mira, who were riding horses in front, deliberately pulled the reins to make the horses walk at a slower pace, and the hunters next to them all ran down from the carriage, carrying longbows and arrows on their backs and carrying a small bundle of ropes to tie their prey, and ran towards their destinations.

With clear sunlight shining through the branches of the trees on the ground and the water of the nearby pond, a few medium-sized crocodiles lounging on the shore are still early, and the most important thing for a cold-blooded animal like a crocodile is to get enough sun to warm up in the morning. Only then can they start their activities.

The Chester inhabitants were clearly aware of this habit, and John, a thin middle-aged carpenter, walked within five metres of the crocodile with a bucket and carried a bucket of water in the pond so that he could cook later.

Jackson, the mason, ran to the edge of the forest with a small shovel and began to look for good red clay, and the two apprentice blacksmiths followed him, and the guards each found their own work, but Henry and Mira became idle.

It was obviously not Mira's style to waste time with her hands crossed, so she tied her horse to a nearby tree, and when she found an open space, she began to practice the starting hand of the few swordsmanship that Henry had taught her.

The upper section of the upper section is lifted above the head and the lower split, or "roof style".

The tip of the sword is held high at the side of the sword, pointing directly at the opposite door, in the "bull pose".

Standing with a sword in both hands on his chest, pointing diagonally upwards and pointing the tip of the sword at the opponent's chest, the "plough position" is "plowshared".

Finally, there is the "Fool's Pose" with the tip of the sword hanging low on the ground.

Mastering these starting styles is Henry's most basic requirement for her. After it took some time for the girl to become familiar with the operation of the long sword, he systematically taught her these things. But what Mira didn't know was that the swordsmanship of the system she had learned was actually quite rare for ordinary mercenaries.

One thing to mention: Systematic swordsmanship is actually not a ubiquitous mass commodity in the world of Rigal.

This can be seen in the symbolism of the sword itself.

Since the time of the Laman Empire, the main weapon of the soldiers on the battlefield has never been the sword. Even in modern times, this is still the case, where knights rode on horseback with spears. And the infantrymen were spears or battle axes. In the culture of the Spinky pirates, the sword was a status symbol that only the lord could have, and with the popularization of smelting skills for thousands of years, the sword became more of a popular choice. But if you really want to elaborate, the kind of long and short swords used by mercenaries and the sword skills that go with them. There is still a considerable gap between it and real swordsmanship.

This is a matter of course.

In the case of Avenella, where our story begins, the kingdom has only been built for more than a hundred years, but the nobles who make up the kingdom's upper echelons are far older than it.

Further along, they were the nobles of the kingdom of West Valier, which had a much longer history, and if you go back to the origin of everything, it is likely that they were some local nobles hundreds of years ago.

"The noble lineage outlasted the kingdom"

Hundreds of years, passed down from generation to generation. The skills that excellent swordsmen have studied and summarized for these nobles, and the wisdom accumulated by these countless talented people over the generations cannot be compared to what a mercenary himself summed up in battle.

It is true that some gifted people are able to learn without a teacher, but if there is a Master who can guide them along the way, they will have fewer bumps and bumps and will be on the right path sooner.

Henry taught Mira technique that only nobles who had attended a swordsmanship academy could understand, calm and meticulous. The girl doesn't know the roots, but she is just learning a lot of details and skills, those mercenaries who have no way and no money. It costs you your life to learn.

"Keep your center of gravity down and don't feel like this pose looks silly. It's better at powering. ”

"You forgot to put your thumb on the handguard again. ”

Like a pair of eyes growing in the back of her head, Henry could judge Mira's mistakes in movement just by the movement, and as he tirelessly corrected her, the girl deepened her understanding of the skills she had mastered again and again.

"Let's rest for a while, I don't know if anything will happen, and it's not a good idea to just use up all your energy. The sage handed over a clean linen cloth, and wielded his sword in a sweltering leather armor in the temperature of more than twenty degrees, half an hour was enough to make people flush and panting.

The sword was unsheathed, and Mira wiped her forehead. Then he stopped because of the rough feeling that his palm could feel through the sackcloth, and after draping the sackcloth over his shoulders, he raised his hands and stared without saying a word.

Over the course of a few months, she went from the initial muscle aches and blisters in her palms to the point where she almost fell on her stomach, and gradually began to adapt to this rhythm.

There are many unsightly cocoons on the palms of the small, slender and white and delicate hands, which are different from the cocoons that have been exercised by wielding a sword as a helper in the past to clean and wash dishes, although the appearance is no different, for some reason it makes Mira feel a small sense of accomplishment.

"I'll do it a little longer!" she said as she looked back at Henry, her sparkling eyes smiling.

Henry replied with the same expression. But before the smile at the corner of his mouth fully unfolded, the sage turned his head.

"Oops, what's going on?"

Ugly sound, accompanied by the sound of metal colliding. Ringing behind them.

This is accompanied by the neighing of horses and the clear and orderly sound of horses' hooves.

"Click-" The carpenter stopped cutting and looked with horror at the three heavily armed knights who were approaching from the edge of the forest on the right.

"Ferroger, how do I seem to see a few untouchables coming to our forest without consent. And we're cutting down our trees. The young nobleman, sitting on the back of a white warhorse, said this in a playful tone, rolled over and fell off his horse.

"Yes. Young master, this is against the king's law. The knightly squire, also in armor and full armor, said in a similar tone. Henry turned and walked over to that side, and the carpenter explained in a panic, "Sir, this is not like that, I am a carpenter from Chester, and I am your people." ”

John eagerly tried to clarify all this, but Henry, who was behind him, had already judged in less than a minute that the other party would not listen to people well.

There's an old saying that you can never wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep - and in the same way, the carpenter can't be cleared up if he didn't see a thief cutting down a tree come and do justice.

"Shut up, you thief, don't quibble. The young nobleman with a playful smile on his face walked up and tried to kick John, but his plate armor slowed him down, so the carpenter dodged it in a hurry.

"You ......" The kick seemed to make the other party feel disgraced, and he roared loudly: "I command you in the name of the son of Count Rosita, do not escape!" "Qiang-" The young nobleman drew his sword at his waist and turned back to order his two squires: "Go and catch that pariah." ”

"Are you sure you want to do this, young master, this is a man in the realm, if the Earl is to blame—" "It's fine. The young nobleman replied in a nonchalant tone: "Kill it and throw it in the pond, and the crocodile will take care of everything." ”

The indifferent words of "......" who do not treat people as human beings made Mira frown slightly, although her impression of the nobility plummeted after Henry's meeting, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed and disdainful when she encountered this kind of guy who relied on her aristocratic status to do evil.

"Reminds you of someone?" the two of them walked quickly towards the other side, Henry asked softly, and Mira knew he was referring to the boy who had been in the caravan, Gobenny.

"Money and power are not good things. The girl said thoughtfully.

"Hahaha-" The young nobleman's arrogant laughter, who claimed to be the son of Count Rosita, echoed through the forest, and Henry stopped John: "Run back and find the others." ”

The sage's calm words showed the way to the panicked carpenter. The young nobleman who had already drawn his sword across from him looked up at the tall mercenary. His expression visibly changed when he saw the blue badge on his chest, but then he seemed to remember that he was now wearing full-body plate armor. He smiled, took a few steps back and put on his visor.

"Huh. Stupid mercenary, it doesn't matter if you are the opponent. The voice came from the inside of the helmet with a hint of an urn, and Mira standing behind Henry looked a little worried—she knew the strength of the Sage, and he was the most powerful person she knew of in terms of swordsmanship alone, but the plate armor was born to withstand all kinds of attacks.

Don't say it's a chop, ordinary cold weapons can't even cause any substantial damage with piercing, and the best weapon against plate armor is a blunt weapon like an axe or a war hammer. "Otherwise, it's a special piercing weapon like an armor-piercing cone, or a bladed weapon like a longsword or a broadsword that doesn't work well for it - are you thinking about something like that? Henry said what was in her mind verbatim, with a smile attached.

"Yes...... Yes. That's what the teacher gave me in the book. Mira swallowed, looking a little hesitant, while Henry shrugged, "Then I'll teach you something that isn't in the book." ”

He drew his broadsword from behind, and the young nobleman on the opposite side seized the gap and stabbed Henry in the bare throat, but the untechnical blow was easily avoided by the sage with a slight sideways turn.

"It's a false stab demonstration, the action is too big, the intent is too obvious. Henry, who seemed to be quite well-off, did not forget to teach Mira in this situation, and as he said, the blow that the young nobleman leaned forward and stabbed was not recovered in time. Henry grabbed his gap and kicked him directly on the breastplate.

"Bang-bang!" Because of the influence of the armor, the young nobleman who was unable to move fell to the ground and rolled around for a few laps and could not get up for half a day, and the two attendants hurriedly came to help him, and he shouted "oops, oops" for a while, and then gritted his teeth and stretched out his finger in the hand armor to point at Henry and scolded: "Kill him for me!"

The sound of a duck that was so sharp that it seemed to have been choked made the two of them feel a certain degree of immediacy again. The two squires who had received orders from their masters—perhaps they were the real knights, based on their status as the sons of the noble youth's earls—were covered with their visors and drew their weapons, and their movements were more agile and agile than those of the youth, and even a swordsman like Mira who was just starting out could see that there was a certain degree of cooperation.

Excellent armor and good literacy, while this side is holding an inappropriate weapon in comparison. The girl looked left and right worriedly, but Henry still walked leisurely. He turned his head and just said to Mira, "Look at it carefully." ”

"Bang-" The sage swung his sword. The two experienced knights did not back down. The armor on their bodies was more than enough to hold off Henry's attacks - but that's not what the sage meant by swinging his sword.

The simple and graceful Kramer spun around in mid-air, Henry's left hand grasped the counterweight ball and pointed the blade towards him, and his right hand released it and grabbed the top of the blade, and then took a step back, widening some distance, and then grabbed it with his left hand.

"Woo!" Mira exclaimed, covering her little mouth, she knew quite well how sharp Henry's great sword was, and grabbing the blade directly with her bare hands was tantamount to self-defeating - but the truth was not what she expected.

"I didn't ...... Bleeding?" The girl keenly noticed this, and Henry, who was holding the blade of the sword with his hand in front of her, raised his big sword high at this time and smashed it down brutally.

"Bang!" The heavy steel gauntlet and the weight ball slammed directly on the top of the knight's helmet on the left, sparks flew everywhere, and there was an immediate dent in the helmet, but it was not over, and Henry immediately turned it sideways with the rotation of his body, and smashed it the knight's visor on the right side.

"Poof-" The impact was so powerful that the knight's entire assault posture was interrupted, and he didn't even have time to launch a counterattack, and the sage turned around on the spot, reversed his weapon, and smashed the heavy weight ball into the side of the opponent's helmet at a straight angle.

"Peng-dong!" red blood splattered from the deformed helmet visor, and Henry kicked the opponent's breastplate again, and then turned around and raised his great sword and smashed it on the head of the knight on the left who had risen again.

"Bang!!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the trees, and the knight, who had not yet fully risen, fell back on his stomach facing the dirt.

- Dumbfounded.

"Click-" The two unconscious knights lay to the ground, and Henry let go of his greatsword, then picked up their longsword and threw it aside.

"Teacher, your hand—" Mira, who had reacted from her stupor, immediately ran to open the sage's large hand, but the imaginary blood did not happen, except for a few reddened marks, Henry's palm was intact.

"This is, how did this be done...... "I couldn't understand why Mira, who was holding the blade unscathed, looked so anxious and curious that Henry touched her little head, and then spoke.

"Half-sword pose. ”

The sage carried Kramer in one hand and walked towards the young nobleman who was sitting on the ground stunned - he had lifted his visor to watch a bloody show, but now his wretched expression was exposed.

"The sword is a weapon that performs poorly against plate armor, and the blade used to kill cannot cut through the opponent's body, and it requires too much skill to accurately stab the exposed parts of the armor. ”

The combat technique thus developed was known as the half-sword style, in which the blade of the sword was reversed in the hand, and the handguard and weight ball were used as blunt weapons, making the entire sword a makeshift warhammer. ”

"And how can you hold the blade of the sword without hurting yourself? The two stood in front of the young nobleman, ignored him, and continued to talk.

"It's simple, just hold it tight enough. Henry gripped the blade of the broadsword again, and lifted it whole, and at such a distance Mira could clearly see that the sage's fingers were a little white with the force.

"Don't let the blade slide, it won't hurt. ”

"You just need to learn this slowly, and now, let's solve the current problem first. ”

The sound of dense footsteps behind him sounded, and John, the carpenter, who had found the rest of the men, hurried back, and after a moment of stagnation by the two knights who were swaying on the ground, they clearly heard the hysterical words of the young nobleman's ugly bull duck.

"I—I'm the Earl's son, do you think you'll be in trouble if I die!?"

He said this, and Henry smiled "peacefully", approached and spoke.

"Do you mean that the Earl's son fell into a pool of water and drowned because he could not take off his armor? ”

"As you say, crocodiles will fix everything. ”

"Whew-"

......

Time passed, and Henry certainly didn't really kill the young nobleman in the end, and the two fainting knights, when they woke up, silently pulled their master to turn around and get on his horse and leave. As a knight, he was put down by a lightly armed mercenary without the ability to resist in a fully armed state, although the damage to honor was also one thing, but more of it was the fear of Henry.

The unsuccessful earl's son may not have been able to judge the horror of this mercenary, but the two of them were terrified when they woke up.

Despite the splitting headaches, they all just fainted. The other party who has reached this level of control of his strength is fully capable of killing himself, and if he doesn't do this, he is obviously giving each other a step.

The stupid earl's son was still clamoring to come back to find fault, but the two knights made up their minds to apply to the earl for a change of master when they went back.

The matter was solved without too many waves, and the work still had to be done. No one bothered anymore, and the craftsmen began to go about their business again.

Time.

Passed calmly. (To be continued.) )