Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
It’s the battle chapter against Barkhorn.
Thank you for the typo reports as always
Chapter 062 – Fufufu, Son. Immaturity can Also Mean Room for Growth
Rean made the first move.
As he launched a flying slash with Crimson Slash, he rushed towards Barkhorn.
Against Rean’s two-stage attack, with Rean himself approaching, Barkhorn chose to approach him personally.
With golden fighting spiritual energy overflowing from his entire body, Barkhorn swiveled his cross spear, deflecting Crimson Slash, and thrusted out the tip to intercept Rean.
Without slowing down, Rean twisted his body to dodge, before using Helix to counter his attack.
Barkhorn lowered his head to avoid the slash, then turned his spear around and struck Rean over with the rear end of the spear.
As it approached from behind, Rean strengthened the sheath at his waist with the power of ogre and struck it, sending it on the path of attack.
The impact of the spear hitting the sheath weakened the force of the attack for just a moment, but that was enough for Rean, as he shifted his body and bought himself some time so that Barkhorn’s attack would break the ground next to him instead of him.
As if anticipating the unstable collapse of his footing, Barkhorn drew his cross spear. By the time the twin blades with different tips tore through the air, Rean had already left that spot.
Staring at Barkhorn with his ogre eyes, Rean grimaced at how quickly the old priest wielded his cross spear.
Rean felt that the old priest’s skills were even greater than those of Wallace, whom Rean considered to be the strongest spearman he knew.
Even though it was a long-handled weapon called a spear, the speed of the pull was extraordinary. It threw away the idea of any disadvantages within reach due to distance.
No matter how close one tried to get within sword or fist range and engage in melee, Barkhorn would widen the gap in an instant and regain his own range.
With such skill, Rean felt like giving praise to the training the old priest had put in.
And the same was true for Barkhorn.
For a boy not even twenty years old, Rean’s swordsmanship and agility was beyond what could be summed as excellent.
Seeing the boy endured his series of spear attacks yet none of them landed on him, let alone injure him, made his blood boil despite his age.
But he calmed down in an instant.
Considering his own mission, he must quickly subdue the boy and clear up the misunderstanding.
So Barkhorn unleashed that.
“The golden seal that glitters in my abyss……”
“?!”
A golden crest appeared behind Barkhorn, and it’s glow lit up his cross spear.
In that moment, Rean moved as if seized by a sense of crisis.
“Arcane Gale!”
The Eight Leaves’ fastest sword craft attacked Barkhorn.
Rean’s intuition that he must never allow the old priest to activate what he did was correct, but Rean noticed that he was forced to take action by that threat.
Despite the scale of the unleashed power, the golden spear took the shortest possible path and pierced Rean’s chest.
No Beats.
It was a milestone in martial arts to have eliminated all unnecessary movements and need for prior movement.
From the beginning, that crest and its power were just for show while his real aim was the final stab.
The tip of the spear was pulled out. Rean collapsed powerlessly—— and the power of ogre that filled him dispersed.
“Muu!”
“——Infernal Gale.”
Using the clone, which had elevated in accuracy, to rival the real thing, through his power of ogre, as a decoy, Rean delivered his real attack at Barkhorn’s attack.
I got him, it wasn’t wrong for Rean to think that way—— until the black blade was blocked by the rear end of the spear that had separated from the haft.
Templar sword——No, a spear with an installed mechanism?!
Without turning around, the separated rear end of the spear instantly extended its trajectory, bending like a whip as it tried to entangle Rean. The blade exuded an intimidating presence like a monster with a gigantic tail.
Rean chose to release his tachi in an instant, allowing him to avoid being restrained, but that meant losing his weapon.
After the gimmick of the Templar spear returned to him, Barkhorn caught the tachi with his left hand and smiled in delight.
“To think you managed to deal with both of them despite seeing it for the first time. Moreover, you are far from being corrupted by the demonic energy, and have even mastered it to the point where you could incorporate it into your clones. From the looks of it, it seems that is due to the help of the pendant you have. But it won’t last long.”
As if to prove Barkhorn’s words, Rean’s red eyes returned to their original color.
At the same time, his tachi, which was imbued with the power of ogre, changed from black back to its original silver color.
Although Spirit Unification would allow Rean to maintain his power of ogre for a longer period of time, that wasn’t enough against Barkhorn, who managed to withstand Rean’s attack in his Demon Unchained state.
If he still had his tachi, he might be able to persist, but against a master-class martial artist…… coupled with the power of an unknown crest, it was impossible for him to take on the old priest.
Even so, Rean didn’t give up.
He didn’t want to surrender so easily to a member of an organization that hadn’t even held the knights accountable for their arbitrary actions and instead placed the blame on Rosine, who had nothing to do with the situation.
However, those feelings would never give Rean the answer he wanted.
[“Fufufu, son. Doesn’t his spearmanship look familiar?”]
At that moment, Osbon, who had been silent up until then, spoke up.
Barkhorn’s body twitched slightly, but Rean, whose attention was focused on Osbon’s words, didn’t notice.
Spearmanship?
[“That’s right. He doesn’t seem to want to harm you. One exchange is fine, just try to imitate the movement of the other spear user you know about.”]
There’s no leisure for that……!
“Either way, you don’t have any chances of winning unless you take your tachi back, right?”
Clicking his tongue at Osbon’s reasonable words, Rean confronted Barkhorn barehanded.
The old priest held his cross spear, or rather, a Templar spear, in one hand with interest. The tachi was still in his left hand, so it looked like he was going to deal with Rean with his other hand.
Although he seemed to be underestimating Rean, there was enough difference in their abilities for that.
“Unarmed – Solitary Shadow Slash!”
Rean created three clones, and while maintaining a certain distance from Barkhorn, he unleashed Solitary Shadow Slash with a chop from his hand, imbuing power of ogre on them.
It was normally unleashed as a flying slash from his tachi, but imbuing his chop with power of ogre actually imparted cutting power.
In response to the Solitary Shadow Slashes coming from all sides, Barkorn leapt into the air and blocked the cross slashes.
Barkhorn leapt high into the air, changed positions at a high angle, and fell towards the ground.
Though there didn’t seem to be any assistance from the mysterious crest, the wind generated by his orbal magic turned into a tornado and entangled the spear, creating a spear movement that Rean was very familiar with.
“Isn’t that Gaius’s……?!”
“Calamity Hawk!”
As Barkhorn swooped down, Rean chose to intercept it.
Although Rean hadn’t yet reached the peak of Eight Leaves One Blade which was “Clear Mirror, Still Water,” he intended to snatch the tachi with a cross counter that applied to the fifth form, Morning Moon.
In order to deal with the spear’s gimmick, his clones were also positioned close to Barkhorn’s landing point.
A moment later, the two men met each other’s gaze—— and a gunshot that sounded from outside of their fight interrupted Barkhorn’s descent.
“Rean-kun!”
It was Claire’s voice that interrupted them.
Along with her voice, rapid-fire bullets were fired one after another, the first one deflected by the Templar spear which had changed the target, but the second shot landed on the tachi, and the third and subsequent shot continued to strike erratically.
She took advantage of the precision of the shot and saw that the tachi had left Barkhon, before switching to her gun.
What she fired wasn’t a bullet, but a wire.
The weapon could be called a wire anchor gun, and as if it was a payback on having the tachi snatched by Barkhon’s Templar spear, the tachi was passed into Claire’s hands.
Claire’s intrusion caused Barkhorn’s attack to fail.
That meant that Rean had shifted his focus from counterattack to attack.
“Armor Breaker Punch!”
The attack using a weaponless form was launched at Barkhorn’s cheek—— but in a moment, Barkhorn caught Rean’s fist, and using the momentum of the thrust, he threw Rean off balance, launching him into the air.
But that was all he could do.
The clones charged in and forced the old priest to use his Templar spear to deal with them.
However, by the time Rean regained his balance in the air, all of his clones had been pierced by the spear.
The movement that took down the clones in an instant was even faster than before. As expected, he had been holding back.
But the tachi returned to Rean’s hand. He could continue fighting.
“Thanks for your help, Claire-sa——”
“Rean-kun, I did ask you to ask him, but I didn’t ask you to fight him.”
Rean was happy that Claire had taken his tachi back, but when she calmly pointed that out, his hand, which had been reaching out for his tachi, paused.
Claire placed the tachi behind her as if to hide it, and looked at Rean with half-lidded eyes.
“I don’t know if you knew him personally, but is he the culprit behind the theft at Thors Military Academy?”
“N-No. I think he is someone connected to ——”
“Really? Are you sure it’s not you who just assumes that way?”
“B-But he is a Gralsritter……”
Claire’s unexpected questions caused Rean’s fighting spirit, which had been burning until just a moment ago, to fade.
Barkhorn looked at the two with interest but didn’t pursue them.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Claire got Rean to spill the information.
Apparently, what was stolen was some sort of artifact that even the Gralsritter would be summoned to find.
Some of the Gralsritter had gone ahead and visited Trista, but all of them had disappeared.
With the culprit still missing, to avoid pursuit from the Empire and weakening their power, the Holy City decided to frame Rean’s friend as a temporary culprit, which allowed Claire to belatedly learn of the reason for Rean’s anger towards Barkhorn.
In addition, it appeared that Rean’s friend was attacked by the real culprit and was now being held captive in an out-of-touch location.
Claire covered Rean’s mouth, as he looked like he wanted to say something, and asked Barkhorn for his opinion.
“…………Is what he said true?”
“I hate to admit my associates’ shame, but it’s true. Even if it’s a false one, as long as we present a suspect, there won’t be any unnecessary interference from the Empire for a few days. We’d like to recover the stolen object in the meantime, but well, I am aware that’s quite an unreasonable request to ask.”
“So the Holy City does not deny the scandal itself?”
“Anything beyond this would be classified as political action, but it’s more of a preventative measure. The Empire will likely investigate her as a suspect, but as long as they are unable to secure her, this will serve to buy time until the Empire could interfere. The time limit would be three days, and if we failed to find the real culprit, Rosine would no longer be able to walk in public. She was named as a fake suspect because her Gralsritter weapon, Templar sword, was left behind on the scene. If only that wasn’t there……”
Because the Templar sword was there…… So if I think about the reason why she had it and started training with it……then I…… Like hell that’s the case!
Rean’s hand moved to shake off the words and anxiety that arose within him, but Claire stopped him before he could.
Deciding that she wouldn’t be able to hold him back with physical strength alone, Claire put herself between Rean and Barkhorn and blocked Rean’s hand.
“Claire-san, why……”
“This person is not the culprit. Although I don’t find the method agreeable, it is the real culprits who will benefit if you keep fighting him…… Rean-kun knows that much if you think about it calmly, right?”
“But……!”
“So, why don’t we exchange information with each other?”
“I have no objections, but is he okay with it?”
[“Fufufu, Son. Are you going to go against what you have told Miss Musse?”]
Going against what I said ……
[“The one where you said you won’t use a method that will make Miss Rosine cry. Can you really be sure that she won’t be sad to see you fighting against an associate that had nothing to do with the incident?”]
Claire and Osbon’s words kept going around Rean’s head.
In the end, Rean released the Spirit Unification state and returned his power of ogre.
As he held Eryn’s pendant, he imagined Rosine’s sad figure.
She must be feeling anxious already, so I can’t afford to add the pain to that feeling…… such was what his reason told him, but the emotions that made up Rean’s core didn’t agree with that.
After much deliberation, the answer that Rean came up with was—— punching himself in the face with Armor Breaker Punch.
“R-Rean-kun?!”
“……It hurts.”
“Of course it does!”
Claire quickly took out a handkerchief and used Tear Drop to stop the blood flowing from Rean’s nose.
Although Rean was dizzy in a different sense, his head cooled down after he forcefully made the blood flow out.
It was a rather rough measure for first aid, but while it was painful, it did have an effective effect.
“I’m sorry.”
Rean walked up to Barkhorn and bowed his head.
Considering what he had done, Rean had prepared not only to kneel down but even get stabbed without complaining, but Barkhorn replied with a wry smile.
“Raise your head. It’s an adult’s duty to listen to the worries of the young people. It is indeed a mischievous behavior, but neither you nor I are seriously hurt, so let’s leave it at that. Besides, your anger is justified.”
“Justified anger……”
Upon hearing that, Claire clutched the handkerchief damp with Rean’s blood.
The sticky smell of iron tickled her nostrils and something suddenly came to Claire’s mind.
The smell of burning metal. Pain ran through every joint of her body. Her family, who should have been smiling, was now in the broken orbal car, never to speak again——
As her face began to contort, it was none other than Rean who brought her back.
“Claire-san, are you okay? You look pale…… I mean, I’m sorry. My blood got stained there, after all. I’ll wash it and return it to you, so I’ll borrow it until then.”
After saying that, he forcefully took the handkerchief from her and used it to wipe the blood off his fingers.
“Thank you very much for earlier. Thanks to Claire-san, I was able to think calmly.”
“N-No, I didn’t do much……”
She didn’t look Rean in the eyes and turned away, before looking down.
Rean tilted his head, but as if to clear her mind, Claire forcefully took Rean’s handkerchief.
“T-Then I’ll wash yours and give it back to you later. We can return it to each other next time.”
“But I was the one who was solely in the wrong……”
“It’s okay, really……”
“O-Okay. Then I’ll leave it in your care.”
Rean couldn’t help but nod in response to the strange pressure.
Barkhorn took a breath as he watched their exchange and Rean once again introduced himself to the old priest before him.
“Then let me reintroduce myself…… I am Rean Schwarzer of Class VII of Thors Military Academy. I apologize for my unsightly appearance earlier, Barkhorn-san.”
“Fufu, I guess there is meaning in introducing myself, after all. As I have said before, you don’t have to mind it. I don’t want to see Rosine in such a difficult situation either.”
“……I am Claire Rieveldt, Captain of the Railway Military Police. As we mentioned earlier, we are also searching for the real culprit.”
“It’s just a guess, but I think the amount of information I have is not that different from yours…… Or rather, I was just following your example. Rean, the stimulation you provided to the spiritual veins allowed us to find the singularity as well.”
“That fluctuation’s difference in size was caused by you invading it……”
Claire nodded to convince herself.
It was unclear what method they used, but based on Claire’s words, Barkhorn also seemed to have concluded that the real culprit may be located within this singularity.
“It is not certain, but there is a terrorist calling himself Gideon, who is a real suspect. He seems to be plotting something in the Nord Highlands as well.”
“I’ve heard about that too. Nord Highlands is a place that I have a connection to, after all.”
“So that means…… Is Gaius your disciple? Your spearmanship looks familiar.”
“So you have noticed. I taught him spearmanship while I was running a mock Sunday school in Nord. I was also the one who recommended him to Thors Military Academy, through Lieutenant General Zechs.”
“Is that so…… I apologize again, I didn’t know you were Gaius’s master.”
“No, I see that Gaius also received a good blessing of the wind.”
Rean chuckled at Nord style phrasing.
The atmosphere lightened slightly, but Rean quickly regained his composure.
“Well then, if we have the same goal, would you like to work together? Someone of Barkhorn-san’s skill is definitely reliable.”
“Is that okay? I’m the very Gralsritter you despised.”
“Well, I’m not completely convinced…… but I’ll think about it after I help my friend Rosine.”
“…………I see, it seems you have the capacity to not get swallowed up by that anger of the magnitude of that power.”
Barkhon showed his adult side by rejoicing at the growth of young people.
Seeing this, Claire spoke up.
“If the outcome had not been according to your wishes, would you eliminate Rean-kun?”
“I won’t go as far as to eliminate him, but I did intend to knock him unconscious. I didn’t think you would leave Rean behind to search the singularity yourself either.”
“…………If I had spotted the target, I might have pulled back.”
Claire said this, but mocked herself that she would have chosen to escape, knowing that invading the singularity would be impossible unless Rean awakened.
If she took priority of the mission, it might be best to leave him to rest somewhere and move on, but Claire, who wasn’t as cold-hearted as her title of Icy Maiden suggested, would not leave Rean alone in a place where cryptids roamed.
“But what kind of place is this? The singularity I encountered in North Ambria was like a recreation of the past, though……”
“Well, we’ll find out once we explore further. But a singularity that recreated the past of a land, huh? …… It couldn’t be, right?”
“Barkhorn-san?”
“I just have a guess…… but we better be prepared. If my guess is correct, we might have to fight a legend.”
“Legend, is it?”
“It’s the ‘Dark Dragon’ Zoro-Agruga that once turned the Imperial Capital into a city of the dead. If the singularity is recreating a memory of the past, I just thought that it’s possible something like that might appear.”
Rean held his breath.
But Claire calmly responded to that fact.
“Vainqueur Street is just like how it is in the present. It must have dated back to the time of Emperor Dreichels, who built the foundation of the present era…… or at least that’s how it must have been. If that’s the case, Zoro-Agruga must have been destroyed already.”
“I hope so.”
“Either way, there may be other strong enemies, including cryptids, so don’t let your guard down.”
“Indeed.”
The mass of power I felt in the basement of the Valflame Palace…… Is that its true identity?
Rean began to wonder if the power he sensed during the investigation was actually that of the Dark Dragon.
But it was all just a speculation.
As someone who had actually caused trouble for Barkhorn with his speculations, Rean decided that he first needed to see the things with his own eyes first, before making any decision.
“Well then Rean-kun, take this.”
“T-Thank you very much, Claire-san.”
I should have done this before exchanging handkerchiefs, reflected Rean as he took his tachi from Claire.
The tachi that had deflected bullets from a orbal gun had no visible chips.
When Rean wondered about that, Claire told him that the first shot was the usual bullet, while from the second bullet onwards, she had chosen bullets with less power than it looked to take back the tachi.
After thanking her once again, he sheathed his tachi back into its sheath.
His nosebleed had completely stopped, and he had used up his Demon Unchained, gaining the cooperation of the more reliable Barkhorn. Considering that, it was a more than satisfactory achievement.
“That’s right, Rean. Regarding Rosine……”
“I heard that she is being held in a place that couldn’t be reached—— On the other hand, there is no doubt that she is safe.”
At his words, Barkhorn widened his eyes slightly.
The old priest felt Rean got a fast one over him.
“But I think she is still feeling anxious, so I’m going to find the real culprit, beat them up, cut them down, tie them up, and present them in front of Rosine then make them apologize.”
“Rean-kun, the culprit won’t be safe that way. They could die if you’re not careful.”
“I’ll make sure to hold back.”
“That sounds monotone!”
Claire confronted Rean, who refused to make eye contact. Seeing this, Barkhorn gave a wry smile.
“Let’s leave the flirting at that.”
“W-We’re not flirting about……”
“That’s right, then let’s go.”
Without noticing that Claire looked somewhat dissatisfied, Rean led the way and headed to the Alternate Valflame Palace.
Author Note:
I thought I could continue the story a little more, but I think it’s a good place to stop, so here it is.
This is what happens when I write what I like.
But I wonder why I find strong old men like the Fuhrer of FullMetal Alchemist and the Old Man Viza from World Trigger so appealing…
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