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Chapter 9: A Heroic Tale 

No sooner than Rio had arrived to help had he taken down one of the minotaurs. “Allow me to assist,” he said to Liselotte. The dead minotaur dissolved into ash, leaving behind the greatsword and spirit stone as it vanished without a trace. Rio jumped down from the sword handle he was using as a foothold and gently landed beside Liselotte. 

“Eh? Ah...” Liselotte looked up at Rio after he landed before her, speechless. She knew she should be saying something, but she couldn’t seem to find her words. Chloe also gulped from where she was clinging to Liselotte as she looked up at Rio’s face. 

“Lady Liselotte!” Cosette and Natalie came running. They had done away with the revenants chasing them as fast as possible to join their master. 

“You’re...” Natalie said to Rio’s back as she supported Liselotte to her feet, when — 

“MROOOOH!” One of the two minotaurs on the road before them roared to interrupt their conversation and started running. It used its momentum to leap high into the air, closing in directly to where Rio and the others stood. 

“Wha—!” As their speed was unfitting for a body of that size, Liselotte and the attendants reacted late. But the minotaur was aiming for Rio. 

“MROGH!” Its overwhelming mass accelerated its fall speed, swinging its stone sword downwards at Rio as it was about to land. 

“Guh...?!” Liselotte and the other girls refrained from screaming, but the incoming impact made them reflexively turn their heads and cover their eyes. Then, after a moment, they opened them again fearfully. 

“Grufugh,” The minotaur sneered with a triumphant smile. And yet — 

“No... way... H-He’s still standing?” The girls, doubting their own eyes, all thought that the scene before them was impossible. In their field of vision, holding his sword up to block the stone sword and still standing on his two legs, was Rio. 

“MROOOGH?! M-MROOOHHH!” The minotaur’s gaze landed on Rio staring back up at it and widened its eyes. Immediately after it did, the madness drained from its eyes and was replaced with a brief look of fear, before it returned to madly striking its greatsword against Rio’s numerous times. An impact strong enough to upturn bedrock surged forth, making Liselotte and the others shriek. 

“Kyah?!” 

Rio silently continued to block the minotaur’s sword in order to protect the girls. After a while, the minotaur’s barrage of attacks stopped. 

“Grufu...gh?!” The minotaur panted, looking down at the place where Rio had been. When it discovered Rio was still going strong with the same pace, the minotaur took a hurried step backwards. 

“If you’re willing to back away on your own, then all the better,” Rio said, starting his pursuit of the retreating minotaur. He kicked off the ground with force, closing in on the minotaur in an instant. 

“MROOGH! MROOOGH!” The minotaur was desperate. It suddenly swung its sword downwards, its looming greatsword aimed for Rio’s body with precision. Rio moved to block the attack with his sword, but their difference in weight meant he was deflected into the ground. Rio, however, had expected that much to happen. Once he landed, he put more strength into his feet and leaped at the minotaur. 

The minotaur roughly swung its sword once more. This time its arm moved horizontally, aiming to send Rio flying sideways into the forest with its precision. Rio braced his sword, and at the moment of impact — “MROOOGH?!” The unexpected resistance left the minotaur in confusion. 

Rio twisted his sword and body at a speed that matched the slash to avoid it cleanly. Then, he gracefully jumped on top of the blade that the minotaur was still swinging. 

“No way!” The fearsome display of combat skills made Liselotte and the other girls gaze in amazement. In the very next moment, Rio completely cut through the wrists of the minotaur holding the sword. The greatsword fell with a dramatic noise, piercing the earth. 

Rio continued up the minotaur’s right arm by speeding up and going for a neck slash, but — “Watch out!” Liselotte and the girls all yelled at once. Three black and gray revenants suddenly jumped out of the forests to the left and right, rushing to attack Rio. They came at him in a pincer attack, leaping high into the air. 

Thankfully, Rio had already taken measures to counter the ambush from both sides at that point, pausing his business with the minotaur to deal with the revenants first. 

These guys are fairly tough. To end them in one blow, I’d have to aim above the neck or for the heart... 

Rio immediately determined his target and, without even a glance, swung his sword sideways at the closest approaching revenant on the right. Moments later, the black revenant that had been charging from the right had its head cleanly separated into the air. All that remained were the two gray revenants. 

Rio led the two furiously attacking revenants on until the last moment, then suddenly pulled back and evaded the attack from both sides. 

“Gruh?!” 

The two revenants had built up too much momentum and collided with great force; Rio then sliced off the two revenants’ heads. 

Only seconds had passed since the ambush, but it was enough time for the minotaur with the dismembered right hand to stand back up. 

“MROOH!” The minotaur picked its sword off the ground with its left hand, shaking Rio off its right arm and retreating. Rio landed on the ground and chased after the minotaur he failed to finish off earlier. He kicked off the ground and approached the minotaur from close to the ground. 

“MROOOOOOOOH!” The minotaur swung haphazardly with all its strength at the ground where Rio was. However, Rio firmly placed his feet against the ground and deflected the minotaur’s sword. 

The weapons on both sides clashed together with tremendous speed. Each time the swords struck each other, a roaring sound echoed throughout; the sight of their battle was unimaginable even for this world. 

It was almost like the fight of a hero from the legendary tales of the Divine War era. 

“N-No way, he’s on par with a monster of that size...?!” Cosette shrieked, her voice in a near-scream out of shock. 

“...No, that boy is winning by a mile. He’s pushing it back,” Natalie added in a trembling voice. 

The scales of their give-and-take were clearly in Rio’s favor as he dominated over the minotaur and forced it back outside of the party’s formation. 

Once it was outside, Liselotte’s expression flipped like a switch as she called out to the attendants near her. “T-This is our chance to reorganize ourselves! Chloe, bring the wounded within the formation! Natalie, Cosette, gather the uninjured knights and harden our defenses to the left and right sides! They’ve stopped attacking from the sides for now, but don’t let your guard down! You remaining girls, finish off the rest! Don’t worry about me!” 

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” they all replied in unison, hurrying to their tasks. 

“Princess Flora, great hero, Lady Roanna! Are you hurt anywhere?!” Liselotte ran over to Flora and the others with worry. The three of them were frozen stiff as they watched Rio’s fight with the minotaur. 

“...Yes, I’m completely fine...” Flora confirmed in a daze, watching Rio’s form with a somewhat faraway look in her eyes. Her lips seemed to move to mouth the words “Just like back then,” but no one else had noticed. 

“W-What... is that...?” Roanna muttered, utterly shellshocked. 

“...” As for Hiroaki, he was rendered completely speechless. 

“The three of you seem to be fine, I see. All that’s left is Duke Huguenot’s safety...” Liselotte sighed in relief. When she looked over at the rear carriage, she spotted Duke Huguenot, who had left his carriage at some point, standing stock still. 

“...” Like Hiroaki, he was at a loss for words, captivated by the battle between Rio and the minotaur. However, that battle was mere moments from ending. The beheaded minotaur fell to its knees and collapsed powerlessly. 


“Now the only minotaurs left are the one far down the road that way, and the one on the opposite direction that Aria just finished off! Looks like we’ll be in the clear,” Liselotte said, certain of their victory. 

Out of the minotaurs that had appeared, two were on the road they were heading towards, one leaped into the middle of their formation, and the final one appeared behind them. Of these, Rio and Aria had already taken out three of them, leaving the final minotaur standing still on the road, in their way. 

Aria was currently taking on the remaining revenants, slowly but surely defeating them one by one. It was only a matter of time until all of the enemies had been eliminated. But just then, the remaining minotaur raised its sword and let out a powerful roar. 

“MRGROOOOOOGH!” 

It glared at Rio standing on the road fixatedly. Tension rippled through the atmosphere. 

“?!” Liselotte instinctively cowered. Beside her, Flora let out a quiet squeak and trembled with a flinch. 

“It’ll be okay,” Liselotte said, hugging Flora’s body to herself gently. 

“O-Okay. Thank you...” Flora said in relief, her strength draining. 

However, led by several gray revenants, countless goblins and orcs poured out of the forests to their sides, all swarming to rush at Rio. “Graaagh!” 

T-There are still more?! Liselotte thought, dumbfounded, but Rio took a large step backwards to counter the monsters’ ambush. 

“MROOGH!” The minotaur started running forward at a speed that didn’t match its giant size. Even from afar, its intensity shook the earth. 

“...!” Liselotte’s body stiffened a little. Her protective hold around Flora strengthened. Flora squeezed Liselotte’s body in return as she watched as Rio fought off the incoming monsters. 

“Gufuh.” The minotaur smiled pleasantly as it leapt high into the air. It jumped high enough to clear the monsters’ and Rio’s heads. 

“It’s aiming for us?!” Liselotte gulped, realizing the aim of the minotaur. It was clearly aiming for their location. The other minotaur from earlier had also tried to grab her, she recalled. 

“Gufufuh... Fuh?!” The minotaur had a triumphant smile on its face as it looked down at Rio below it. But when it noticed that Rio was looking back with a cold gaze, it flinched. In the next moment, it lost sight of Rio. 

“Huh?” Liselotte and Flora said. Rio, who had been fighting monsters several meters away, was suddenly standing right beside them. The monsters were confused by Rio’s sudden disappearance, looking around for him. 

“Don’t worry. It’ll be taken down on the next hit,” Rio said shortly, focusing essence into the dwarven sword in his hands before making a running leap at the minotaur. The valuable sword in his hand glowed with a bright light. 

“...An enchanted sword,” Liselotte murmured in a daze. The sword in Rio’s hands blasted a tremendous torrent of wind out of its blade, which gathered into a violent whirlwind. 

“MROH?!” When the minotaur noticed Rio’s approaching figure, it swung its sword in a panic. Rio held his sword up and at the ready. 

“MROOOOOOOOOH!” The minotaur roared to give itself energy. The next blow would decide everything, which was something it probably realized. It mustered all the strength it could into its stone sword. 

In the meantime, anyone who was still conscious had their eyes fixed to the battle. Their bodies shuddered and their hearts soared with elation as they watched the climax of the encounter. 

When the two swords collided — boom — a roaring sound echoed. At the same time, a windstorm swept through. The minotaur’s stone sword crumbled into dust as Rio’s wind blast made a direct hit. Its enormous body was blown by the blast of wind, sending it hurtling towards the ground at an incredible speed. It mowed down all the monsters swarming on the road. 

“Guah?” 

The last thing the monsters saw was a giant black shadow closing in on them before they were crushed to death. Following the impressive impact and tremendous roar was a moment of silence. One beat later, Rio landed on the ground softly. 

“Yeeahh!” 

Cheers rose up. While some people were envious and others were observing calmly, in this moment, the majority of people present were filled with an excitement that was almost child-like. 

The end of a battle of legend. 

It was, quite simply, the moment a new heroic tale was born. 

 ? ? 

While the excitement still lingered on the scene, Aria provided her master with a report. “Lady Liselotte, the monsters are retreating into the forest. We should still keep our guards up, but for now the danger is deemed to have passed.” 

Right behind her stood Natalie, Cosette, and several attendants. However, they all looked rather ashamed. 

“We would like to sincerely apologize for our ineptitude at protecting my lady during this emergency. After the situation has been dealt with, we will accept whatever punishment is inflicted upon us.” They all bowed their heads at the same time. 

“Oh no, what are you saying? You did your best during the worst situation possible. If anything, I’d like to give you a special reward, but right now we have to focus on healing the injured as quickly as possible. Now, disperse! Oh, except for Aria. I want to talk to that boy, so come with me.” Liselotte sighed tiredly and clapped her hands together, making the attendant women scatter. Then, she called Aria over and looked at Rio standing idly on the road. 

“Understood.” Aria nodded respectfully. 

“U-Umm! I will come along too!” Flora, who was leaning against Liselotte’s side, offered in a fluster as well. Liselotte hesitated for a moment. 

“...Then, behind Aria,” Liselotte instructed. She wanted to speak to Rio right away. 

Duke Huguenot approached. “I shall accompany you, too.” 

Thus, the four of them made their way to Rio. Rio seemed to be carefully watching the surrounding forest, but when he noticed them approaching, he sheathed his sword and gave a well-mannered bow. 

What a polite person he seems to be. A beautiful one too... but what are those features...? No, he seems to be raised well... Perhaps he’s a noble? But he doesn’t look familiar, and someone this strong should be famous... Liselotte gathered the thoughts of her first impression of him as she drew near enough to converse. 

“Thank you very much for your assistance in our time of need. My name is Liselotte Cretia, the governor for the city of Amande nearby.” She grasped the hem of her skirt and curtseyed gracefully as she spoke, introducing herself. 

“...I’m Haruto. It was nothing.” Rio swallowed faintly when he spotted Flora’s face and hair beside her, but replied with his own short introduction and a bow. 

“Sir Haruto, then...” Liselotte stiffened faintly when she heard Rio’s name, but she immediately readjusted her smile and introduced Flora and Duke Huguenot. “There are many things I would like to ask you, if possible, but allow me to first introduce these two. This here Her Highness, the Second Princess of Beltrum, Princess Flora. And the present head of the Huguenot family, Duke Gustav Huguenot.” 

Usually, during introductions like this, the one with higher rank would step forth and make their greeting first, but Flora remained in a dazed silence. “...” 

She wasn’t certain, but her eyes gazed straight at Rio’s appearance and recalled the traces of someone else she once knew. 



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