Chapter 270: Looking for a Blind Spot

Anyway we had to do something about that archer! He was surely on the roof on the far side where Count von Kirchhoff and his men were clustered.

The men around Count von Kirchhoff looked visibly burly as they guarded him. I started running toward them.

"He’s coming!"

"He’s charging in!"

"Don’t get careless!"

They kindly called out various things, but when I turned at a right angle about two meters short of the men surrounding the Count, an idiot leapt out after me. He was aiming at me, but he became prey for the archer who couldn’t keep up with my speed. Three hits in a row—dosu! dosu! dosu!—the arrows struck his own ally’s body directly. The one who was hit went rolling. Be grateful you didn’t die and endure it.

I felt a little sorry for the archer, but because they needed the spectators to see him, light was shining on him, so from my position I could see exactly where he was. Anyway I dove under the eaves of the building where the archer was.

More busuka-busuka complaints came from above; I ignored them! Absolutely ignored them!

It was supposed to be twenty versus twenty, but what was it now? Because I had left the Duke’s side, it had essentially become the three of us versus twenty. We had taken down several of the Kirchhoff men, so it felt more like three versus fifteen.

Once under the eaves the arrow attacks stopped and I caught my breath. Then Kirchhoff soldiers rushed us. Rudolf charged into them.

Rudolf made no sound. He slipped past a descending sword and drove his fist into the man’s side. I didn’t understand how it worked, but the punched soldier went flying. Why could a single fist deal that kind of damage? Rudolf advanced and dropped enemies one after another.

Lily had discarded her slim sword and picked up an enemy’s sword to use. Even with her slender arms she handled the sword faster than a man. When an enemy raised his sword with the single-minded stupidity of a one-trick pony, she smashed the blade into his belly; he didn’t fly, but the armor dented from the blow and he crumpled. Judging that to be only temporary pain, Lily then stomped her heel down between his legs—onto the source of a man’s vitality that the armor did not cover!!

"Gyaa?!"

Even I, watching, felt that pain through the heel drop. Cruel! Merciless! A demon! I could keep piling on the denunciations. The next soldier coming at Lily seemed to feel the same; he hesitated for an instant... no wonder. Lily leapt in and smashed another sideways blow into his side! He collapsed, let go of his sword, and clutched his groin with both hands. From on top of those hands Lily dropped her heel again! Stomped! The enemy writhed in agony! Pitiful...

I noticed a searchlight stretching up from below onto the roof. It was moving to the right. Oh—the searchlight was moving to follow the archer! The light moved so the spectators could see, but the truth was the archer probably wanted to keep stealth and shoot like a sniper. In a situation like this where he had to be shown to the guests, I could only feel sorry for him.

I moved along the wall to stay in the archer’s blind spot. Rudolf and Lily moved with me. The Kirchhoff side couldn’t keep up with our movement and fell behind.

Or so I thought. Then something flashed for an instant on Count von Kirchhoff’s side and something came flying! Rudolf stepped onto the line between that something and me and took it on his shield. From around the shield, flames spread paaah— like napalm. Rudolf was pushed back by the force and landed on his rear.

What was that—?! If that hit you you’d die, wouldn’t you? Was that allowed?! Weren’t the referees going to say anything?! I looked around but couldn’t tell where the referees even were. The watchers on the wall were fleeing. Was magic allowed? I didn’t think we had been told what was forbidden... I thought we had been told not to kill! But if that thing hit you cleanly you might die, so what was the rule? Anyway it was best to crush something that dangerous first!

"Lord Robbie! Bow and arrows!"

Lily handed them over.

"The arrowheads?"

"They’re blunted!"

As expected of Lily! Preparation was perfect!

The fireball apparently needed an interval; the one who had just fired was looking at me, muttering something with a serious face. There was no time for that! I nocked the bow and loosed one, two, three shots. I didn’t have the power of the Kirchhoff archer, but a hit should still hurt. If even one of the three landed it would be a bargain!

Thankfully the arrows struck his chest, throat, and face in three consecutive hits.

"Amazing! As expected of Lord Robbie!!"

Lily praised me, but I had been aiming for the chest. Still, good results meant no problem. The arrow that hit his face seemed fatal; he flew backward. The hand of the man beside him glowed. The light grew larger. Were the people who could use magic gathered in that area?

Bad! Crush them fast!!

My thought reached Lily and she gave me three more arrows.

Before he could fire I shot! One, two, three. One arrow was sucked into his light, one into his chest, one into his face. The lump of light he had been holding was not launched; it slammed into the man beside him instead. The light swelled against that soldier’s chest and the soldier was blown into the air! Wind pressure? He floated lightly and fell into the pond with a spectacular splash.

"Ooooh—!!" rose from the spectators. Flashy production was necessary, I supposed.

I also thought it would be faster to just hit Count von Kirchhoff now, but looking at him I saw people packed tightly around him, and on top of that a hedge was serving as a shield. In front of that flowed the pond and the stream. Home-field advantage—they were making effective use of what was already there. Eliminating the threat of the arrows came first.

"Take down the archer!"

""Yes!""

Defeating Count von Kirchhoff would come after we had taken down all the other soldiers. I was truly glad our Duke was not the boss.