Chapter 9

Having obtained the information, I headed towards the northern post town.

Walking on the road, I had no worries about encountering bandits.

The road was regularly patrolled by constables, maintaining order.

Therefore, foolish bandits who tried to cause trouble on the road were rare.

However, occasionally, kobolds would come out and cause mischief on the road.

They are called dog-headed people, and I happened to encounter one of their packs on the road.

It is rare for kobolds, who are often starving in the mountains, to come down to the foothills and attack livestock, but it is even rarer for them to come all the way to the road.

The kobolds were armed with rusty short swords and stone tools, wreaking havoc.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, it seemed that I would have to fight them.

At first, I thought about avoiding an unnecessary battle, but I decided to fight them after coming to a certain conclusion.

That conclusion was—

"I want to test the sharpness of this divine sword."

I knew that this divine sword was the heirloom of the Esterk family.

I had also confirmed that it had a personality like a chatty little girl and referred to itself as "Watashi."

The problem was the sharpness of this divine sword.

She had said that no one had been able to handle her for several hundred years, meaning that she had been away from actual combat for that long.

I was the type who trusted a short sword with a proven track record in actual combat more than a legendary holy sword.

When I honestly told her this, the divine sword pouted.

"Beep beep. You don't trust me, do you?"

"To put it bluntly,"

"Ouch. And you trust that little girl more than me?"

"The Duke of Tylheim, a relative of the Esterk family, apparently prefers experienced women who have given birth to several children over virgins because they have a higher chance of bearing healthy children."

I answered abstractly, but Tylphing was ignited by these words.

"Richt, you're good at riling up swords. Alright, I'll show you my true power."

Saying this, the sword glowed dully.

I thought she would use a divine sword's special move to sweep away the kobolds, but it didn't seem to be that convenient.

"Sorry, I've been asleep for hundreds of years and forgot how to use the special move."

"I thought as much. But the sharpness hasn't diminished, right?"

"That's perfect. After all, I'm known as a divine sword that doesn't require maintenance."

"Thank you."

Saying this, I slashed a charging kobold in one stroke.

Swish!

For a moment, I lost my words because the sharpness was so incredible. The Esterk family has many excellent swords, but this might be the first time I've handled a sword with such sharpness.

It had a sharpness like a razor and the strength of an axe, a unique sharpness.

It took some getting used to, but by the time I slashed the third kobold's stone tool, I started to get the hang of it.

"…I see, if I cut at this angle, I can even slice through stone. Just as the legend says."

Tylphing's legend of "cutting through rock and iron like cloth" seemed to be true. It seemed that even without training, it could cut through iron.

When it came to kobolds, they were no match.

I had been learning swordsmanship since I was a child in the Esterk family.

I had even trained under a (self-proclaimed) world-class swordsman from the Western Kingdom, and even if not, I never missed a morning or evening practice.

Since showing magical talent could lead to assassination by "relatives," I had to immerse myself in sword training.

In a family of mages, I had to be recognized as a useless person who could only wield an iron sword to protect my life. It was a survival skill I learned as a child.

Unable to practice magic in public, I had swung swords like a fool, and the results were now showing.

I defeated the first kobold with one stroke, stabbed the second after a few exchanges, destroyed the third's stone axe and let it escape, and split the fourth's upper body along with its arms.

In no time, I had driven off the four kobolds, and the remaining kobolds lost their will to fight and fled, crawling on all fours like beaten dogs.

Seeing this, Tylphing exclaimed,

"Oh wow! Amazing! My new master is super cool!"

and was moved to tears.

When I protested that it was a bit much to be praised for just driving off the kobolds, she said,

"My first owner, Brams, was strong, but it took him two minutes and forty-two seconds to drive off a pack of ten kobolds. But Richt did it in two minutes and thirty seconds. A new record!"

She had been counting. I thought, what a diligent divine sword, while wiping the kobold blood off the sword and sheathing it.

Tylphing was high-spirited, but there was something I hadn't told her. In the battle just now, I had held back.

In fact, if I had gone all out, I could have finished the fight in less than a minute.

However, if I had said that, she would have become even more excited, so I kept quiet.

I didn't like noisy situations.

Thinking about it, this journey with the sword was a kind of ascetic practice, but seeing its sharpness, I should overlook such flaws.

With this thought, I picked up the luggage I had placed on the ground and resumed my journey.

"It was interesting."

"I'm looking forward to the next part."

"Please keep updating!"

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