“It won’t run away with those wounds,” Lucy said. “I suppose we can finish it now.”
“Yeah...” I agreed. “Mind if I ask a favor, Lucy?”
“Oh? What is it?”
Things were pretty much settled. Id Invicius had no way of handling this incessant barrage of attacks. That was why we had the time to talk like this. Against normal opponents, Id Invicius would probably have managed one way or another due to its sheer physicality. However, it wasn’t facing normal opponents—it was fighting swordsmen and a wizard who could be considered top class at a national level.
That said, the reason we’d managed to corner Id Invicius was almost entirely because of Lucy. If not for her, all of our martial might would have been utterly useless.
“Can you undo the magic on my weapon and Surena’s?” I asked.
“What...?”
Unfortunately, we creatures known as swordsmen weren’t docile enough to simply accept such a conclusion.
“Undo it? Why?” Lucy asked.
“To keep it brief, I guess you can call it a swordsman’s stubbornness,” I answered. “I understand if you don’t get it. We don’t get wizards either.”
Her reaction was perfectly reasonable. We had a way of winning for sure, but here I was, trying to throw some of that away. I understood how irrational that seemed. However, not everything could be decided rationally when walking the path of a swordsman. If our personalities had allowed for it, we probably would’ve chosen other professions.
“Haaaah... Even if you’re fine with that, then what about Lysandra?” Lucy asked.
“She probably feels the same. Surena! Come here!”
“Right away!”
I really did understand Lucy’s hesitation. I was being selfish, and my behavior was irrational. Surena didn’t ask a single question—she just ran over to us. I hadn’t mentioned anything about undoing the magic to her. But, setting aside whether Lucy would undo the spell on the spot, I was almost certain Surena would agree with my suggestion. She was a top-class swordswoman, after all.
“Master, is there a problem?” she asked.
“No, I was just thinking of having the magic undone from our weapons.”
“Ah!”
Even though we had the advantage, we didn’t have time for a nice long chat. However, even without Surena and me in the fray, Allucia, Joshua, and Misty were there. They weren’t going to let Id Invicius get away. Both of its forelegs were injured, after all, so we had some room to breathe.
“True. It doesn’t feel right to end things this way,” Surena agreed immediately.
“See?” I turned to Lucy.
“Haaaaaaaaah... I truly don’t understand you swordsmen...”
Surena really did see things the same way as I did. I was glad our thoughts aligned. You really could call this a swordsman’s vice. Calling it our nature would sound too nice. The skills we’d developed through constant training didn’t work against this foe at all. How could we let such a thing stand? It was like picking a fight against the world, and you could frankly call it arrogant. I understood how ridiculous this seemed.
It was possible that swordsmen might become unnecessary in the future. That could come from an end to all conflict, or perhaps with the end of close-quarters combat due to the development of magic or other technologies. I didn’t know what the future had in store.
However, this was the present, not the future. And right now, swords were the main force on the battlefield. They were also the symbol of war. I couldn’t possibly allow some inexplicable magic trick to shut that out so completely.
This was no more than unnecessary pride. If told to throw such trash to the dogs, I could say nothing in my defense. And normally, that would have been the right thing to do. But we weren’t normal. We were tremendous eccentrics who’d chosen to walk the path of swordsmen. We were deviants who challenged the irrationality of the world using no more than a metal stick. It was precisely because of who we were that, even with our lives on the line, we prioritized this inexplicable pride.
Such action wasn’t going to influence the world in any significant way. It was the ultimate example of stubborn futility for the sake of self-satisfaction. Above all else, the skills Surena and I had tempered to overcome traumas that still lingered within us didn’t work against this opponent. We couldn’t possibly allow that to stand. But these emotions had only come to the fore after we’d gotten the advantage in this battle. This request truly was an act of self-gratification. We swordsmen are utterly beyond hope.
“I can technically redo the spell if needed, but we might not have the time,” Lucy eventually conceded.
“I don’t mind,” I told her. “Now that you’ve come this far, you’ll manage one way or another even if we can’t do anything, right?”
“Haaaaah... Yeah, yeah.”
Surena and I were in agreement. There was no way we were letting this thing get away after chasing it so far and cornering it. Even if Surena and I were knocked out of the fight, Lucy could surely finish it on her own.
“Hup...” Lucy held up a hand in resignation and canceled the spell. “There, have at it. I’ll gather your bones.”
“Thanks, I guess? Don’t know if it makes sense to say this, but...thanks.”
I couldn’t tell just by holding my weapon, but the magic was probably already gone. All that was left was to try it out.
“Whew, I’m itching to test my skills,” Surena said. “This is the way it should be.”
“What a coincidence,” I replied. “I was just thinking the same thing!” I kicked off the ground.