The Game Difficulty
Is Crazy
In the forest where darkness lay thick, the shadows of two people crossed.
Chaeng— clang!
With the sharp sound of metal colliding with metal, sparks flew intermittently.
It had already been more than ten minutes since the unexpected fight with the suspicious man began. The balance that had been tight was slowly collapsing.
Clang—
“I searched forever and barely found one, so what are you going to do about this?!”
Raising his voice, Glen pressed the attack as he gained the upper hand.
The suspicious man moved his sword to block Glen’s attacks.
But he did not look relaxed.
“If you’re going to pick a fight with me, at least be good at it!”
Kaaang—!
A large, powerful slash.
The suspicious man blocked it but slid far backward.
‘I say it like that, but.’
In truth, Glen’s head was not overheated.
Rather, he was calm.
He simply did not want to show an openly suspicious expression.
‘This is strange.’
For an assassin, the man’s build was far too large. And the sword he used looked like a weapon he was not accustomed to, judging by his clumsy handling.
It was hard to believe that someone with this level of skill truly thought he could kill Glen.
Still, he could not let his guard down.
‘In this world, who would choose an assassination target they can’t defeat?’
Also, even though the man looked awkward with the sword, his swordsmanship itself was too well-organized to believe he was just an ordinary assassin.
It felt like fighting a properly trained knight.
“If you want to assassinate me, that level of skill won’t be enough. Try harder.”
At the same time, the suspicious man charged in.
Glen sharpened all his senses.
“…!”
A straightforward movement and a thrust.
Glen lightly twisted his body.
The suspicious man’s sword barely grazed past his side.
“Heh.”
A laugh leaked out from behind the mask.
Sensing danger, Glen twisted his body once more.
Ts—
A black object flew in from somewhere and brushed past Glen’s cheek.
With a stinging pain, a drop of blood flowed down his cheek.
“Of course.”
Looking at the arrow stuck in the ground, Glen smiled grimly.
From the beginning, the man had been trying to lure him into carelessness. Even the clumsy skill might have been an act.
Either way, it was now clear.
“There’s more than one person after me…”
Glen slowly raised his head.
Looking at the suspicious man, who showed signs of panic, he sneered.
“And they’re knights of our family.”
“…Kuh.”
The suspicious man let out a low groan.
Judging by the reaction, he must have planned to finish Glen with that arrow.
“…When did you notice?”
The suspicious man spoke.
“Oh? You finally feel like talking?”
“Shut up and answer.”
A rough, growling mid-low voice.
It was quite familiar.
In any case, knowing that this was a sign of agitation, Glen grew even more relaxed.
“Because you were sloppy for all the effort you put in?”
Glen pointed at the man’s sword.
“You dressed up pretty well pretending to be a bandit, but if you wanted to be more convincing, you shouldn’t have used our family’s swordsmanship.”
The man’s eyes wavered.
As if trying to hide his mistake, he adjusted his grip on the sword.
“The arrow too. Looks like you tried to make it seem like bandits killed me, but you were sloppy there as well.”
Glen pulled the arrow out of the ground. The fletching had been painted to hide its original color, but it was brand new.
“Bandits can’t make arrows, so they pull them out and reuse them. But this?”
Glen raised the corner of his mouth while shaking the arrow.
“This is a first-use arrow. You brought it from the armory, didn’t you?”
Glen grabbed the arrow—
And snapped it in half.
“If you handle things like this, even if you succeed in killing me, you’ll all get caught. Tris noona is sharp, you know.”
The suspicious man fell silent.
“By the way, even though I do weird things because of God’s commands, I don’t think I’ve made enemies who want me dead.”
Step, step—
People hiding behind trees slowly revealed themselves.
“The fact that you came means my brother sent you. I guess he really hates me?”
There were three of them. All were pretending to be bandits like the first man, but the swords and bow they carried were clearly from the family.
“Looks like you don’t even plan to hide it anymore. Why don’t you take off the mask too? I already know who you are just from your voice.”
The man removed his mask.
“Yeah. Among the knights in the mansion, there’s only one big idiot like you.”
“….”
“Sir Robert Zendrix.”
Robert Zendrix.
In the past, he was Edgar’s close aide, the one who had lost to Glen in a duel.
“If you had just pretended not to know, we would have crippled you moderately and withdrawn. But now, we can’t let you live.”
Shing—
The men who joined handed Robert his sword.
When he took hold of the heavy greatsword he usually used, Robert finally raised the corner of his mouth.
“Bullshit. You were planning to kill me from the start.”
“You’ve gotten foul-mouthed since I last saw you. Seems the rumors that your fanatic behavior was an act weren’t completely false.”
“Enough. Why don’t you stop pretending too? You told your master to shut up, and now you’re acting polite?”
Robert made an incredulous expression, then let out a dry laugh.
“…Hah, hahaha. You damn brat really don’t know how to read the mood. You don’t even realize you’re cornered.”
“Well, who knows? I might kill all four of you here.”
“Let’s see how long you keep flapping that mouth.”
Grinding his teeth, Robert and the three subordinates slowly approached Glen.
Glen slowly took his stance.
‘Four opponents. One 4-star knight. And three who might be knights or might just be guards.’
It was an overwhelmingly disadvantageous fight.
He could handle Robert alone, but he had no idea about the strength of the other three.
‘There is a way to dodge their attacks and run to the campsite, but…’
That was just as dangerous.
He had come too far looking for Girmo Grass, and to make matters worse, the direction they were standing in was also the direction of the campsite.
‘Then there’s only one way.’
Glen adjusted his grip on the sword.
At the same time, the archer nocked an arrow, and Robert lowered his stance.
And the moment the arrow was released—
Thud—
Glen started running in the opposite direction from the campsite. At the same time, an arrow flew toward his back.
Piiing—
Crack—!
The arrow was split in half by Glen’s sword and fell to the ground.
“Get him!”
Robert shouted, and the sword-wielding men chased after Glen.
The archer lowered his head.
“Twice already… I’m sorry!”
“Enough.”
Ignoring him, Robert wore his usual vile smile.
“Stupid bastard. Even if you run, that’s away from the campsite.”
The night was long. Since the executioner had left the campsite first and come here, all they had to do was kill him before sunrise.
“By the way, is what that brat said true? If we go back like this, Lady Tris will notice—”
“Shut up. Just focus on catching that brat!”
Glen ran on, cutting through between trees and pushing through bushes.
His view changed rapidly.
The faster it changed, the rougher his breathing became.
“Ah, damn it…!”
Glen stopped running and stood still to catch his breath.
He was far more out of breath than expected.
Thinking about it, it was only natural.
Just today, he had marched, done basic training, fought a group of Gnolls, and on top of that, exchanged blows with a 4-star holy knight for over ten minutes.
‘If I weren’t tired, I’d have to question my species.’
In any case, he had succeeded in putting some distance between himself and Robert’s group.
Now was the time to counterattack.
‘Take them out one by one as fast as possible before Robert arrives.’
