Master’s Smile

《Fanaticism for Justice》

“Oops….”

Sorglos went plunging through the trees due to the previous shield push as well as her own jump to counter it.

She positioned herself nimbly in mid-air and landed beautifully on the ground.

“Well now, this is surprisingly quite a distance… Though, I didn’t need to be this far away….”

She looked around while muttering so.

Fortunately, she won’t have much trouble fighting here as there were no dense trees around her either.

For Sorglos, she’s not fond of fighting as much as Reese is, so she’d be happy to let this matter go….

“Well, I don’t think it would be that easy.”

She could hear the sound of heavy metal, slowly creeping in.

The large shield user, Rust, must had been chasing her.

Sorglos is by no means a belligerent person. However, she is willing to accept a fight when it is thrown at her.

“Oh? Master!”

She suddenly felt a presence and turned around to see her master standing there with a smile on his face.

She wanted him to stay further where there will be less danger, but when he said he was worried and came to check on her, she couldn’t help but being all smiles.

“If Master is watching too, then I have to do my utmost effort!”

She clenched her fist with enthusiasm and wished to show off her good points even if she’s not a combat type by nature.

As she did so, Rust finally appeared.

His eyes widened at the sight of Master who wasn’t supposed to be here, but he quickly shook his head.

“Aren’t you supposed to be back there…. Well, no matter. It’s easier to get rid of you guys like this.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, Rust-dono seems to be very confident, I see? Even if we look like this, we’re still a dark guild, you know?”

“Hmph, and what of it?”

Rust sneered at Sorglos’ words.

Just because she’s from a dark guild, does she think she can escape him…, the justice?

Such thing was not possible.

Justice won’t be defeated by evil.

“Now then, I can spare you by giving you a quick death if you behave well, how about it?”

“Mmmhmm, I’ll have to reject that proposal if Master is here.”

A deal that was never going to be accepted from the start.

Rust knew that there is no way Sorglos would accept his deal.

In truth, He didn’t really want to propose the idea of surrendering either.

Even though Sorglos and Master are evil, it would not look good for justice if they did not seek a verbal solution first.

“Then, it can’t be helped!”

“You are impatient, aren’t you….”

As soon as Rust heard Sorglos’ reply, he readied his shield and charged furiously towards her.

Sorglos let out a small sigh from looking at his attitude, but agreed with the idea of getting it over with as soon as possibile.

She put her kunais between her fingers and threw it at the charging Rust.

“Hah! It won’t work!”

“Mu….”

Far from expectation, Rust hid behind his massive shield and got away with it.

In truth, Sorglos’ kunai throwing skill could even pierce soft steel effortlessly.

However, it still could not penetrate the shield that Rust was holding.

Rather, there wasn’t even a single scratch on it.

“Oooooohhh!!”

“Whoa….”

Rust immediately reached Sorglos and tried to shove his shield against her.

In an instant, the reliable defensive tool that should have been protecting his body, has transformed into a vicious blunt instrument which can down a target in a single blow.

Yet, Sorglos managed to dodge his attack, not wanting to be hit by it.

“Tch! What a quick fellow….”

“Haha, as one would expect, it will be troublesome if I get hit by that attack.”

Although he looked depressed, Rust still maintained his calm as he was most likely thinking that he’s superior.

Sorglos scratched her head and told so.

Of course, even if she got hit by that shield, she will not die.

It just means that her secret would come to light.

Sorglos is not very good at being attacked.

If she didn’t avoid it, her secret will be exposed.

“Now it’s my turn, yes?”

Sorglos then drew her dagger and ran towards Rust so fast that she went invisible.

Rust, once again, reacted to her attack which an ordinary adventurer would not have been able to and would led to his neck slit open.

He used his large shield to catch the shimmering dagger.

“Nuuu-!?”

However, in contrast to the first time he had blown Sorglos away, her attack was even more powerful.

He was thinking of sending her away once more, but he realized that he couldn’t do so.

Instead, he pulled out a thin sword from his large shield and tried to slash at Sorglos.

In order to avoid being dodged, he loosened his power on the shield a little and made his body pitched forward.

“Hoo!”

Yet, Sorglos pulled out another kunai and caught his sword.

Thus, the two fell into a stalemate.

They stared at each other from close range while putting enough strength into each other’s weapons.

“…with this so much power, how could you let yourself be in a dark guild and give evil a helping hand!?”

“Mu?”

The one who started a conversation, was Rust.

Sorglos, who had thought that she was being prejudiced, let out a strange voice.

“The number of people who mourns will never decrease if atrocious bastards from dark guilds… like “Inicken”, are still running around! Even the knights, who were supposed to protect the people, are too scared to fight the dark guilds!”

“Oooh….”

Rust’s face twisted in regret, and his voice was filled with anger.

As for Sorglos, who was suddenly told what was on his mind, could only reply in a vague, slightly withdrawn manner.

“That’s why, I have decided to fight against evil… the dark guilds! By joining the righteous guild named “Shield of Pride (Prishield)”!

“I see~”

There was a fiery ember in Rust’s eyes.

Certainly, he must be a splendid man who has trained his abilities to crush evil.

Many people must have agreed with that thought as well.

But, it was completely futile for Sorglos.

As she had no longer listened to half of his story.

“…This is your final chance. Surrender quietly. If you’re this powerful, you’ll likely be pardoned and able to work for justice. In addition, you can join us in fighting the vile dark guilds as well.”

“I refuse.”

　As if to overlap Rust’s words, Sorglos immediately replied with a refusal.

It was truly out of question.

“The only person whom I consider ally is the one and only Master in this world. To begin with, this power was given to me by Master long ago.”

Sorglos’ eyes became cloudy and grew cold.

It is not comparable to a fanatic like Anat, but even so, Sorglos’ obsession with her master is still quite a thing.

This has been the case ever since she first met Master at the prairie.

“I see…, too bad!”

“Oops….”

Rust put all his strength into his shield and sword to defeat Sorglos.

“That won’t do”, thinking so, she gently danced in the air once again and landed some distance away from him.

“It is regrettable… truly, regrettable.”

“…seems like your appearance has changed.”

Sorglos tilted her head at Rust, who kept mumbling to himself.

“It is indeed, truly regretableeee!!!”

“Kh!?”

Rust lifted his head and showed a ghastly smile on his face.

Sorglos peered into his eyes and was surprised by the abnormal look of his.

They were blended with his delusional belief in justice.

It was very similar to what the followers of Angelism would show towards their teachings, or what the members of “Yelquchira” would show towards their master.

“Wha-…!?”

Unexpectedly, Rust did not head towards Sorglos.

Instead, he made a mad dash in a certain direction.

Towards the Master, who had been watching their fierce battle with a gentle smile plastered on his face.

“You’re too tough for me, so I’ll deal with you later! For now, I’ll get rid of this man you hold so dear first!”

Rust grinned and swung his sword.

It was eerie for him to see Master kept smiling without a hint of frown on his face, but that feeling quickly faded as he felt the elation to overthrow evil.

Sorglos would not be able to keep up with his sudden action, as she had landed quite a distance away from the previous attack.

“To think a man who speaks of justice would be using such cheap tactiiiiic…!!!”

But that’s only if he’s dealing with ordinary people.

In a flash, Sorglos stepped in between her master and Rust.

However, such action was already expected by Rust.

“I knew you would do that!”

From the start, Rust’s goal was not Master, whose abilities were not clear to him.

It was the dangerous Sorglos, who had the power to rival him.

Sorglos tried to catch the sword that was coming at her, but she was too focused on being a shield for his master which made her movements slightly delayed.

　As a result, Sorglos’ arm flew through the air.