Running Away From The Hero! (Remake)

RATH 111
TL: Eevee

12. it’s not over til it’s over (9)

#12 Their story: A certain female knight’s story.

“Are the preparations complete?”
“Yes, Lady Iris!”

People that could arguably called the strongest from the most powerful empire in the continent were currently surrounding a small cave.

Officially, the reason why they were surrounding this cave was in the name of training.

But in reality, tens of thousands of people were all staring at this cave just to capture a single individual.

But that was not something to be perplexed about.

Just one year ago, the individual in question had fooled everyone here and evaded capture.

And the person who had made the crucial error to allow him to get away was none other than myself.

Because of that, I was currently sealing off all possible exits and gaps without a single gap in our guard.

“How much longer will it take to activate it?”
“Around ten to fifteen more minutes.”
“Very good. Recall the flying battlemages and send them to the rear lines, and have the magicians prepare their search and recon spells.”
“Yes, sir!”

I managed to obtain Rein through Her Highness’s help, but because of me, Her Highness missed the person she had wanted for a very long time.

And yet Her Highness still forgave me.

Although of course… there was a punishment so frightening I would rather she have just killed me instead.

But thanks to that punishment I grew even stronger.

I achieved the realm of swordsmaster, the realm all swordsmen aspired to become!

Thanks to that I was moved from Her Highness’s Third Knight Order to a different one but I had no regrets.

Because the captain of that order was none other than Sir Reia, who I’d admired since I was little.

‘Although it would be great if she changed the name of the order……’

The sole flaw that was our knight order’s name made me blush slightly, but today would be the last I would hear of that.

Everything would become perfect after today.

The name of the knight order would change, and I would no longer have to face Her Highness’s grumbles every time I met her.

And I would also be able to reunite with Rein, who I hadn’t had the chance to meet for a long time because of my duties to look for that person.

“Then start it up.”

At my words, the magicians near me got up and moved to their designated locations.

With this, even that man Ast would be helpless.

He had the incredible achievement of evading Her Highness’s hands two times, but that was before we had this.

If it was this which the imperial palace created with assistance from the elves and the dwarves, even the Sword Star wouldn’t be able to escape it.

“I’ll leave in command of this place.”
“Are you going?”

I nodded to my junior who had become the new vice-captain of the Third Knight Order as my replacement.

The other knights in my team had already moved outside according to the plan.

When Sir Reia and the other knights infiltrated into Yugrasia, officially I remained here to lead the others but my role was to move in order to capture him.

That was.

“Something I have to do as part of the Capture Ast Knight Order.”

Exactly as the name of our Order described, in order to capture Ast.

I completed all my preparations and moved into the cave.

***

I stared blankly at the red, blue, green and white glows of sword auras.

Ten swordsmasters.

If I was told that an entire country’s worth of swordsmasters had come to capture me, I would believe it.

“Your Highness… did you say… made… and not brought?”

The scene in front of me was so ridiculous I simply couldn’t get the words out of my mouth.

How many swordsmasters were there in the empire?

As far as I knew there were just over 50, but here I can see ten faces I hadn’t seen before?

“Yep, I made it. This is my present for you. How is it, does it make you happy?”

If one were to hear that line alone that could sound like a girl shyly giving Valentines’ chocolates to the man she likes.

But if you were fully aware of the context behind it, it becomes the greatest bullshit of the era.

What the hell. Are swordsmasters some manufacturing line good or something? You can just make ten of them just because you want them?

-Owner? Owner made a swordsmaster out of a student at school, dintya? In just half a year at that? Compared to that, would it really be weird if the hard-working uncles and unnis became a swordsmaster?

No, I only made one because of the incredible motivator named the metal bat and the special method handed down by the Sword Princess of all people!

They didn’t have any of that!

“It was all thanks to this bat. I gathered up all the knights that seemed like they could become swordsmasters, gave Reia this bat and had her beat them with it until they became a swordsmaster, and out came people who became swordsmasters.”

-Owner. That side also has an incredible motivator and the Sword Princess’s special guidance too?
-…Touché.

The wooden bat created tame puppies out of my monstrous disciples even when I wielded it.

And a swordsmaster, one of the strongest female knights in the continent in the form of the Sword Princess to boot was the one personally drumming them with the bat.

You really might get a swordsmaster out of that after all.

Who knew that the wooden bat I gave Rein would get that much work done…

“I, I’m disappointed in you, Your Highness. I didn’t think you were the type of person to take other people’s things from them.”

I had to buy time.

Everything about the previous plan revolved around defeating a single swordsmaster.

But now the number of swordsmasters I had to face was eleven.

What is this?

Unless I have one of those fabled Legendary Swordsmasters by my side I’m looking like I don’t have any hope?

“I didn’t teach Your Highness this way back when I was your personal butler!”
“Well, although I have a lot I want to say in response to that, don’t worry so much. I borrowed it by paying the owner an appropriate rental fee. Forcefully.”

You just stole it then!

“Your Highness, even so…”
“Ha. Why is the tongue of the legendary Ast so long? If you’re wimping out then just be mine.”

I tried to change the subject, but she returned the line I used once in the past against me.

Damn it. And when I said that to the envoy of the enemy nations she was laughing her ass off.

So she’s using it against me in the end.

“You look like you’re trying to buy time, do you think I’m an idiot? Did you really think I’d just let you run away from me, Ast? I’ll take all the time I need to listen to your story back in the imperial palace. So don’t resist and let yourself get caught, Ast.”

At the imperial princess’s words, the knights began to approach closer and closer.

There was no place to retreat to.

They weren’t the type of people to just me climb back up to the upper floors, and even if I did, hundreds of knights were waiting for me.

Then that meant the logical conclusion was the metal bat.

“Oi, you lot. You said you were trained getting beaten up by the bat? What do you think this object in my hand is?”
“Don’t listen and get him!”

Despite the princess’s shout, the knights’ eyes were all drawn to the metal bat.

-Haakhaak, ev, everyone’s looking at me! Embawwas embawwass!

“Ugh……”

One knight whimpered as their eyes traced the thick head, trailing down the curvature of the body to the point where it tapered at the base for the user’s easy grip.

“This thing’s name is the metal bat.”

-Wiing! I hava name and it’s the goddess Arcadia! Call me Miss Aru! ‘Metal bat’ is just cheesy!

The metal bat complained vigorously against its name, but your name was always the metal bat from the moment you were born.

And introducing you as the metal bat makes it a lot easier for them to understand, too!

“This is a higher rank weapon of the wooden bat that gave you so much pain.”
“L, lies!”

Shaking eyes fixed themselves on the metal bat once again.

I ignored the pervert who was happy about that once again, and I grinned evilly as I lifted the metal bat and shouted.

“You might want to believe it as a lie. But you all know, don’t you?”
“I, I do not!”
“Really? But your body will. The pain of the bat!”

Ten swordsmasters took a step back.

As Rood and Sia had both done.

Even if you became a swordsmaster, you could never forget the pain of the bat.

I needed to awaken the fear that the bat held in their deep, no not very deep consciousness.

“Now, what’re you all waiting for? Come at me, come at me! The first one that gets close to me will get the taste of the metal bat that makes the wooden bat like a child’s prank!”

My shout caused the swordsmasters to retreat another step backwards.

Alright, then time use this momentum to…

“Huwaaaahh!”

But that momentum was cut short by a female knight who collapsed with a scream like a moan.

“I told you not to listen, didn’t I? Are you ignoring my commands?”
“N, no, Your Highness.”
“No indeed. Considering you even stepped backwards despite being my knights.”

Shame rose on the faces of the knights at the princess’s words.

Ten swordsmasters had all retreated two entire steps against a single person without any mana.

Even if they weren’t swordsmasters, any knight could kill themselves over the shame it brought.

“If anyone else retreats any more from now on, I’ll very kindly hit you with the bat myself.

And they had plenty of motivation, too.

-Those kids are pitiful too.

The metal bat in front of them, the wooden bat behind them.

Not even a river at their backs would be as pressuring as this.

“Hooh, does that mean you aren’t afraid of the metal bat?”

To be honest I was more scared of them, but I didn’t show that on the surface.

If I was caught, the very least that could happen was my engagement to the imperial princess.

Even if it was by the will of Her Highness herself, the nobles would not exactly care to see a commoner with an unknown background lording it over them.

Becoming a high-ranking imperial noble in this empire was already as hard as plucking the night sky’s stars, so how much would their stomachs ache if they were to hear of this.

The image of their stomachs hurting so much they send assassins after me daily, slipping poison in my food, or oops my hand slipped as they throw sword ki at me is all too clear to my eyes.

-But I don’t think that’s scarier than the nine swordsmasters trying to catch owner in front of ya eyes?

-Is that so?

When faced with sword aura, the symbol of destruction that could cut all, the ideal of all swordsmen in front of my face, I felt myself weaken inside a bit.

“We are Her Highness’s sword.”
“For Her Highness, we can even accept death.”

They were words befitting noble knights.

But I didn’t miss the gap in their words.

“So why aren’t you coming, then?”
“……”
“You know, don’t you? When you die it’s the end, but this doesn’t?”

When I waved the metal bat in my hand, nine pairs of nervous eyes shook with it.

“Haaaaaaahhh!”
“Go.”

As the knights watched the princess’s uncaring eyes as she swung the wooden bat at the fallen female knight, they approached me with sheet-white faces.

“Sir Ast, we respect you a lot.”
“Me, too. When the other commanders moved to secure achievements, your actions that you chose for the sake of your allies are truly what all knights look up to.”
“You are truly a man suitable for Her Highness!”(1)

These folk that call themselves knights, and swordsmasters to boot, started to loosen their mouths, perhaps out of fear.

“Are you the captain?”

When I asked the male knight who had stood forwards as their representative from the beginning, he shook his head and said.

“No, I am not. I am the vice-captain, the captain of this Order is Sir Reia.”

Sir Reia whose sole duty is to guard the imperial princess is the captain of this unit.

That’s a lot of work they put in just to capture little ol’ me.

“Alright, vice-captain. You lot are all pitiable, too. The metal bat in front of you, the wooden bat behind. Yes, your life’s tough. But let me ask you something.”
“What……”
“Now, think about it. You woke up from your sleep. You woke up in your nice comfy bed and you rolled over a bit.”

As the vice-captain tilted his head, I told him a story scarier than any ghost story.

“But lying beside you in the bed you just woke up in is Her Imperial Highness asking ‘did you wake up?’ with a bright, happy smile on her face.”
“……”

As I saw the vice-captain, no, the entire knight order freeze in place, I smirked at them mockingly.

“Would you sign yourselves up for that?”

All the knights shut their mouths

Indeed. As long as you had the hearts of humans you couldn’t bullshit that way any further.

“That’s that……”
“But we still have to follow our orders.”

The knights who realised just what a horrifying thing they just said hardened their resolves and lifted their swords.

You’re still saying you need to offer me up?

Seriously? I said in such an easy way for you to all understand, can you lot really call yourselves human!

“I’m sorry, Sir Ast!”
“We won’t forget your sacrifice!”

The vice-captain and the female knight beside him charged at me with sword aura radiating brilliantly on their swords.

And.

“Kuaaahaaang!”
“Hm?”
“What are you doing?”

The vice-captain who was the first to charge in disabled his sword aura, took a direct hit from the metal bat, and collapsed with a scream.

“What?”
“Why, why is my magic power…”

And the knights behind him also found the sword aura on their blades fading away, too.

“Ast, what have you done!”

Even the imperial princess turned to me with a shocked expression.

Me? I haven’t done anything?

“Your Highness!”

It was then. The person to answer all our questions appeared.

“Iris?”
“Your Highness! All units except for the knight order have all arrived and surrounded the area. And I’ve also perfectly activated the magic suppression device around this area! Now you… have nowhere to run to!”

As the female knight shouted proudly with her sword unsheathed, I smiled in unrestrained delight as I bowed my head to her.

“Thank you very much.”
“Who told you to do that!”
“Your Highness?!”

The female knight who received both my thanks and the imperial princess’s anger made a shocked expression.

“Iris. Hurry up and turn off the magic suppression device!”
“Huwaahhhh!”

At the same time the imperial princess’s piercing shout reached the female knight’s ears, a sound that you couldn’t tell if it was a moan or a scream came from the mouth of the female knight that had run in with the vice-captain.

“Your Highness? It’s just one person! Even if they have no magic there’s no way that swordsmaster-level swordsmen would……”
“Kaaaaaaaahhh!”
“Hwahhhh!”

When the female knight made a shocked face at the speed the two knights were taken down, the imperial princess ran towards me as she shouted.

“Our opponent has defeated the Sword Heaven with nothing but pure swordsmanship alone. All of you. Fight as if your lives are on the line!”

But by the time the imperial princess’s words had come out.

“Kuuuughhh!”
“Five more.”

Half of the swordsmasters had already been defeated.