Chapter 32: First Job Completed

──── Edith’s Perspective ────

One mage was blown away by a strike launched from Leo’s back, while the remaining two, caught off guard by his sudden charge, drew their swords a moment too late.

"Leo! Fall back!"

"Woof!"

"O fiery spirit of the scorched earth, I call—ugh!"

"So you’re just going to keep acting as Zanoba Shirone’s shield, huh!"

The swordsmen we’d left behind hadn’t chased after me, instead turning their attention to Lord Zanoba. When I glanced back, I saw them already in the middle of what looked like a fire-element incantation.

(I see. So they’re all magic swordsmen. That’s troublesome…)

Because I forced my way back into the fray, I left myself open and was struck at from both sides. Behind me, the rear guard had already started chanting.

"Behind you!"

"Woof!"

"Urk!?"

"Water God Style secret technique, ‘Boar Drum’! Ultimate art—‘Flow’!"

At my command, Leo threw himself sideways, breaking his momentum and shifting the timing. I struck upward with Boar Drum, smashing the face of the swordsman who was slashing from below. The descending overhead strike I tried to parry with Flow, but my technique was incomplete—my guard broke, and I tumbled backward.

Leo, already halted, didn’t hesitate and charged the chanting mages. As for me, I used the moment I was knocked down—well, dismounted? dis-dogged?—to bring the edge of my shield down hard on the toes of the swordsman about to finish me off. His stance faltered, and I drove a full-force blow into him, knocking him out cold.

"Three left…!"

"You little runt, you’re in the way!"

"Ghh…!?"

Their blades couldn’t reach. The rear guard’s magic couldn’t land. Even my Tear Bombs were intercepted before I could throw them. Losing patience, the so-called North Saint Storgul ignored Lord Zanoba and lunged at me.

The instant his first strike was blocked by my shield, Storgul changed tactics, relying on his size to kick me upward into the air. Without footing and unable to form a stance, I barely managed to deflect his midair thrust with everything I had, though the blade still pierced my side. As he tried to cleave me in half, I hurled my shield and dagger to buy a moment’s reprieve.

Storgul knocked the shield aside with his free arm and dodged the dagger with Four-Legged Form, preparing to finish me. But just then, from behind where my dagger had flown, Lord Zanoba caught up and seized Storgul by the shoulder.

"Damn it, let… go—huh?"

Storgul had miscalculated. Even Lady Eris herself couldn’t cut through Lord Zanoba’s body—yet he thought he had to watch out for my attacks. He was dead wrong.

Without a shred of hesitation or fear, Lord Zanoba batted aside my thrown dagger with his face and caught Storgul head-on at the shortest distance possible.

And there was another fact. Lord Zanoba couldn’t train his body due to his condition. His skill with weapons was amateurish, his speed was slow, and his stamina far below any trained swordsman’s.

Given that, Storgul assumed that even with his monstrous body, Lord Zanoba could be shaken off if only two or three fingers made contact. It was an understandable mistake.

"Aaaaghhh! S-stop—!"

But the shoulder Lord Zanoba seized couldn’t move at all. His grip crushed it in place, and when he took hold of Storgul’s face, he wrenched his head free with a sickening rip.

In pure skill as a warrior, no matter how the heavens turned, Lord Zanoba could never defeat Storgul. And yet—that mistaken assumption was fatal.

Because even if heaven and earth flipped upside down, Lord Zanoba could overturn everything by sheer force. That is why he is called the Child of Superhuman Strength.

"Are you unharmed, Edith?"

"No… problem. I’ll leave the wound untreated until healing is ready…"

From there, it was one-sided. With sword in hand, Lord Zanoba plowed through, repelling everything. Any mage who tried to chant found Leo’s fangs snapping for their throat.

Deprived of Storgul, the attackers were annihilated within minutes.

…

"Zanoba! What is the meaning of this injury when you had Edith with you? And you too, Edith! Just because you’re talented doesn’t mean you can recklessly throw your life away. Do you want your parents, Rudeus and the others, to be weeping over you?!"

A short while later, Lord Cliff arrived, healed both me and the five surviving attackers, and gave us a lecture so flawless not a word of protest could be raised. Afterward, he escorted me and Leo back to the manor.

Lord Zanoba remained behind to negotiate with the captured assailants.

When we returned to the manor, Lady Roxy—having heard Cliff’s account—lifted me into her arms…

"Edith… until Rudeus comes home, you are forbidden from going out."

"That is what happened. But please be at ease, Father. Neither Lord Zanoba, nor Leo, nor I have died!"

That evening, Lord Zanoba’s report revealed that the assailants were from the Millis Church’s Order of Instruction, targeting me and Mother Roxy. Since we couldn’t risk a direct confrontation with the nation itself, the attackers were handed over to the city guard under the explanation that they’d been deceived by the Human God’s apostle, who had hired Storgul and ordered this assault.

A few days later, the mysterious sudden death of a neighboring count’s son was likely not unrelated.

"No… this is strange. Why would you notice the presence of a North Saint and still choose to attack…?"

"…You did well, Edith. But it was wrong to fight before consulting with Roxy. You must reflect on that!"

"Why… why would you do such a thing? You could have died…!"

When I explained—briefly—that I could use the North God Style’s rope-escape technique, including the story behind the beast chain Mother Roxy had put on me, I received three entirely different reactions.

None of them were particularly good. They couldn’t accept that I’d fought alone, even if I had called for Lord Cliff or adventurers to help, someone might already have been killed before they arrived. I had confidence that what I did on the spot was the best outcome—but that only made their reactions all the more painful.

"Please, Edith… from now on, think of your own safety first. Don’t ever… do something so dangerous again."

"But Mother Sylphy, the enemy could have threatened Lady Lucy or Mother Roxy as well. To put myself first would have been—eh?"

"It’s enough, Edith… I’m sorry. I kept running away… I’m sorry.

I won’t wander anymore. I’ll stay at home properly. I’ll protect everyone. I’ll make sure I can protect you too… so you can rely on me. So please… don’t say something so sad…"

Before I knew it, Mother Sylphy was crying and holding me tightly in her arms.

I… had thought Mother Sylphy hated me. The words I’d prepared in my head scattered into nothing.

To her, I should have been an unpleasant existence. It was Mother Sylphy who had comforted and supported Father when he was wounded by Mother Eris, who married him first, and who bore his first child as his lawful wife. And yet, I—born before Lady Lucy—had stepped into that place as an unwelcome intrusion.

Even my hair color. For someone in Mother Sylphy’s position, as Princess Ariel’s guard, to accept a tainted child like me into the family could only bring about friction, as it had now. In fact, at home, whenever our eyes met, she often looked pained and quickly turned away, gaze lingering on my hair.

"I… I’m sorry, Mother Sylphy. I’m sorry… even though you were worried about me…"

Never did I imagine I would make Mother Sylphy cry. Held in her arms, I could only keep apologizing again and again.

…

Later, before the political strife had fully settled, Father and Mother Eris slipped away and returned to the Asura Kingdom. Mother Sylphy, however, remained behind at the manor.

As a side note, Lord Orsted declared that in their absence he would personally watch over us, keeping an eye from his stronghold. For someone so feared, he seemed surprisingly dependable—and perhaps even dutiful in his own way.