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Cloud’s right arm was on the ground at a little distance from him. The blood was gushing out from his body even now, matching with the pulsation of the heart.

The fact that it was pulsating meant that he still had some life remaining in him. But the man standing next to him was preparing to end his life with his sword.

“Y-You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲a̲a̲a̲a̲a̲r̲d̲s̲!”

Seeing that scene made me lose myself in the anger.

I won’t forgive them. That single thought occupied my mind, a wave of bloodlust filling my being. Michelle did her best to hold back her voice, but I went and put her efforts to waste.

Even so, I couldn’t hold back my scream. Because it was clear to me just how hard Cloud fought. Just how hopeless he would have felt when he lost his arm.

Of course, Maria who stood at the pinnacle of healing magic could easily attach it back. However, she belonged to the church, and that church demanded payment in exchange for healing.

Cloud, however, had no such money. Naturally, if I “asked”, she would heal him for free, just like with Michelle.

However, that would only be possible if he survives until then. He was on the verge of death already.

There was no knowing how long it would take for Maria to get here. Unless I pulled him out and stopped his bleeding, he would most likely die by then. Reviving the dead… Was something beyond even Maria.

I shot my piano wire towards the man standing next to Cloud. It was a surprise attack that he was seeing for the first time. Normally, people would have failed to dodge it.

But that man twisted his long arm and shot down the approaching thread.

“Woah!? Quite a dangerous attack you threw there.”

He easily blocked it with a sluggish expression on his face. But this was an opening I could use.

As soon as I saw his posture break, I instantly closed the gap and pulled out my dagger. But even this attack was parried by him with the sword he held on his other hand.

“Huh, what’s up with this brat. She’s awfully familiar with how to fight!”

I was surprised that he managed to stop my attacks, but it would be dangerous for me if I let up now. Thus I decided to follow up with a kick aimed at his crotch. But yet again, he dodged it by jumping back and taking some distance.

“…Nod bad.”
“Damn. Hey girlie, how come you’re so good at this?”

But with this, I managed to pull him away from Cloud. If I took on the five remaining men while Michelle escaped with Cloud, it could work out somehow.

My trusty gauntlets were being repaired, and I didn’t have my katana with me, either, having only just returned from the trip. All I had on hand was a dagger and a piano wire. Talk about being in a pinch.

“Still, I can’t pull back now.”
“Ah, sorry but I can’t let you return alive now that you’ve seen us. Sorry about this, okay?”
“In that case, I’ll just force my way!”

Looking at the long swords held in his equally long hands I could see that his physical strength could not be made light of. He was skilled enough to easily dodge my surprise attack. Even his sluggish attitude was proof of his skill.

“Mateus! Hurry up and deal with that brat! Now that we’ve been found out, the guards should already be on their way here!”
“Now that would be bad. I just finished a difficult work, so I’d rather not have them zero in on me.”

We were in an open space, but it’s full of thick grass. Despite that, this man, Mateus, was closing in on me without making a single noise. His footwork was extraordinary. And his gait that seemed to be slipping in the gaps of consciousness…

“Don’t tell me, you are a Stealth Gift holder!?”

I remembered about the skilled swordsman that belonged to the thieves that kidnapped Matisse. This Mateus was moving just like him back then. Not to mention, he was also using two swords, albeit a bit longer.

Could he be of the same school as him?

“I also hold the Swordsman Gift. Now that you know, would you mind surrendering? You’d become nice goods.”
“Not in a million years.”
“I see, well, too bad, I guess?”

He swung his long arm like a whip and slashed at me. I managed to stop his blow with my dagger, but just that one attack was enough to make my arm numb.

This was partly due to my weak body, but also due to the way he swung the sword, which made the blow heavier. On top of that, I only had one steel thread with me, so I couldn’t even strengthen my body properly.

“S̲h̲i̲t̲, I should keep in mind to carry at least five threads with me from now on…”
“Oh, I didn’t expect you to block it. Raum sure has a lot of fine Adventurers, eh? That boy from earlier was quite good at defending himself too.”

His words made me remember the current situation. Cloud’s bleeding had to be stopped. Fortunately, Michelle was still frozen from shock and outside of the battle. She should be able to take him away.

“Michelle, pull Cloud away and stop his bleeding!”
“Ah… O-Okay!”

Michelle immediately headed for the rescue. At the same time, I also filled my dagger with magic power and transformed it into a one-meter long spear. Mateus opened his eyes wide at that.

“Wow, amazing! That thing can transform, huh? Can you give it to me?”
“As I said already, not in a million years.”
“Too bad. I suppose I’ll have to take it by force then.”

He once again twisted his arms and started barraging me with slashes from every direction. If I was still using the dagger, I would have been sent flying right away.

But fortunately, I was using the spear-mode that had a long handle. It could serve as a good defensive weapon if I held it closer to the edge and used it as a staff. It was quite similar to the ‘naginata’ of the east.

Holding it closer to the edge made me maintain my balance. I warded off the attacks from his two swords by rotating the handle.

This battle style was made for women that lacked physical strength, so it was compatible with the present me.

Of course, the ideal for me would be using my Gift and fighting with threads, but that would leave me too defenseless. Since I only had one thread, I had to consider how to best use it.

Behind me, Michelle had pulled Cloud away and was trying to stop his bleeding with the jacket that she had torn off.

My objective was to keep people from approaching them.

“Mateus, what are you dawdling around for!”

The other man, who seemed to want to get the hell out of here, was annoyed seeing Mateus failing to put me down, and decided to approach us and lend him a hand.

I was having a tough time handling this guy alone, so it would honestly be too much for me now. But Michelle was busy with the rescue so I had no other choice but to deal with it…

“Back off!”
“Agh!”

I sent my thread through the gaps of his sword attacks and slashed at the approaching man’s knees. It seemed that the other men failed to see that attack and reacted in surprise.

They were most likely Mateus’ employers, so they weren’t as skilled as him.

This meant that I could keep them in check. If I managed to maintain this status quo, the guards would arrive to assist me eventually.

The moment I thought that—

“Hm? Well then, I suppose I should take this a bit more seriously.”

Mateus flashed me a fearless smile and lowered his posture even more.