“Hey, Waine. If that technique is supposed to help you beat someone stronger, does that mean I could use it to beat you?” After he taught me that shady-sounding secret technique, I still didn’t feel convinced, so I asked him.
The result? A loud, booming laugh. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, right! Not a chance.”
I frowned. If this technique could take Waine down, then maybe, just maybe, it really was strong. But judging by his reaction, my first impression had been right. It wasn’t all that great.
“But hey, good question, kiddo. That was sharp. I’ll give you full marks for that one.”
“A good question?” That threw me off. I hadn’t expected praise after getting laughed at. What was good about that?
Waine smirked and twirled the twig in his hand. “That technique won’t work on me ’cause I already know it. If you know a dirty trick like that exists, you’d have to be a real dumbass to fall for it, right?”
“I mean, yeah. That makes sense.”
“Exactly. Knowing about it means you can be on guard against it.” He gave the twig a little flick, like a teacher gesturing during a lesson. “I’ll tell you this, kiddo. It’s not just about when an enemy drops their weapon. No matter how good your position is, no matter how big an advantage you think you have, never let your guard down.”
This so-called secret technique was about putting yourself at a disadvantage to lure the enemy into making a mistake. But really, it meant something even simpler. No matter how good or bad things seemed to be, nothing was final until the fight was over. This technique embodied that truth.
“The tide of battle can turn at any time. Until you’ve finished off every last enemy, until you’ve made sure they’re dead, never assume the fight is over.” Waine’s expression was a little more serious than usual. Something about him felt different again. “Listen up, kiddo. Most things die when you kill ’em. But the flip side of that is, if you don’t kill ’em, they won’t die.”
He paused, then grinned. “That’s the real reason this dumbass move gets to be called a secret technique.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The spear in my hand was short, having been broken halfway down its shaft. I stepped forward with a sharp thrust—the spearhead passed just beside Liluetta’s pale, terrified, and stunned face and struck at something behind her.
✦ ✦ ✦
“If you don’t kill them, they don’t die,” I murmured.
I should’ve seen this coming, because I hadn’t killed it yet. If it wasn’t dead, then of course it could still move. That made sense.
It was the second goblin. I’d only smacked it with the shaft of my spear and sent it crashing to the ground earlier. It had been about to lunge at Liluetta before my spear pierced its throat.
Ahh, having a sharp weapon really is nice. Takes a lot less effort than beating something to death.
I stepped past Liluetta to get closer to the goblin. I didn’t have much strength left, so I gripped the spear shaft with both hands and used the weight of my body to drive it in deeper. The point tore through flesh and scraped bone before it punched clean through the other side. This goblin was probably already injured and weak from my earlier attack. It wasn’t even holding a weapon this time and didn’t put up much of a fight before it just coughed blood and died.
I let out a breath. Finally, some relief. All three goblins were accounted for, and I didn’t see any other enemies around. I couldn’t say for sure that no other goblins were hiding somewhere, but for now, I had finished off every last one of the attackers. Liluetta and Yune were both alive, and neither of them seemed seriously hurt.
The battle was over.
“H-How? How did you know it was going to get back up?” Liluetta looked like she was going to collapse at any second.
I pulled the broken spear from the goblin and turned toward her. “If it’s still alive, it’s going to get back up.” That was the only answer I could give, because it was the most obvious thing in the world.
If you kill them, they die. If you don’t, they won’t. What Waine had taught me was just a bunch of basic truths, the kind even an idiot could understand. But because he had only taught me the really obvious stuff, I didn’t know what to do at times like this.
“Why... Why did you come after us?” Liluetta asked.
“I thought I’d bring you back,” I answered honestly.
If I had caught up to Liluetta and Yune before they were attacked by the goblins, I would’ve dragged them off the mountain by force if I had to. But I’d spent too much time standing frozen back there. By the time I had caught up, they were already at the mana pool and under attack.
“What?!” Liluetta’s face crumpled as she raised her voice. “If you’re that strong, then you should’ve just come with us from the start, you coward!”
Guess she didn’t like my answer. Ah, seriously. What a selfish thing to say.
She was the one who had ignored my decision and disbanded the party to go on ahead. She was the one who had underestimated the goblins and called them weak monsters. Why did she ever become an adventurer? She wasn’t suited for it at all.
A sharp smack echoed in the clearing. My palm stung, and Liluetta’s face was turned to the side. One of her cheeks was slightly pink, and her expression was frozen in shock.
During the fight with the goblins, I’d forgotten the fact that I’d come all this way fueled by anger toward these two girls.
After a few heartbeats of silence, a thin, faint “ah” slipped out from Liluetta’s lips. Large tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Ah... Ugh, ah... Ahhhh!”
Like a dam bursting, tears streamed down her face. Her choked sobs turned into wailing cries, and she fell to her knees.
I’d known she had been putting on a brave front, and what I’d done would be enough to shatter it. But I hadn’t thought about what to do once it happened.
“Don’t yell. What if there are still enemies nearby?” That was all I could say to a girl sobbing her heart out, even though I was the one who had made her cry.
I averted my eyes. This felt incredibly awkward. My head throbbed, and I was too dazed and dizzy to string my thoughts together. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. More importantly, we needed to get away. If there was something I needed to say to Liluetta, I could do it once we were somewhere safe.
Or so I thought.
“Huh?”
The world tilted. I tried to brace myself, but my knees buckled.
“K-Kiri-o!” Yune’s voice sounded distant, somehow.
Everything went black.