Overlimit Skill Holder

Although the stance was different, the thrust from the short sword was the real Knights Order’s technique.

I was startled for a brief moment, which caused my evasion to be slightly delayed, resulting in my arm being slashed.

Gah… The wound burns. The amount of bleeding was not too much, thus I could easily close the wound with 【Healing Magic】.

Now I’m angry!

The other attacker rushed at me. I nimbly dodged him, but the first guy regained his posture and shot another thrust.

I succeeded in avoiding it, but my posture was unbalanced. The attacker, whose eyes are the only part not covered – you can tell just by looking at his eyes – was obviously grinning.

A follow-up attack is coming. An unavoidable attack for someone in an unbalanced posture, but–

「Just kidding!」

From my unbalanced state, my fist connected to the attacker’s temple. The temple is also another weak point. The attacker’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, as he collapsed.

「Wha…!?」

The third guy panicked. Clearly didn’t expect a counterattack at that moment.

Actually, this was also a skill and it’s called 【Brawling Technique】. The effect of the skill is that no matter how bad your posture is, the power of the attack will not drop.

In short, you can reproduce 【Brawling Technique】 by strengthening the trunk of your body and increasing the flexibility of your torso. I learned it from one of the thugs who was brawling in a tavern when I went there to collect Zerry-san who was drunk.

「!!」

Perhaps the attacker decided that it wouldn’t be easy to deal with me, as he tried to run with his back towards me – but his leg caught on something and he fell down. The frontal fall was almost beautiful even. His short sword fell from his hand, and he slid across the floor.

The halfling escort-san seems to have been the one who did that. Seeing the ivy entwined around the attacker’s foot, she must have pulled out the flower decoration on the table and threw it towards him to activate 【Flower Magic】.

Arthur ran to the attacker and tied him up.

I erased the mana for 【Earth Magic】 Stone Bullet that I was thinking of flicking towards the back of the attacker’s head.

(I see… I have to use whatever is in the venue too.)

I assessed the situation at the other tables. One was already subdued, and two others had escaped.

「………」

The knights of each House rushed inside the venue, carrying magic lamps. The venue suddenly got brighter, but I couldn’t get rid of the feeling of discomfort in my heart.

(Why did they run away? If it were an assassination mission, shouldn’t they be prepared for death? And… their movement was that of a one trained by the Knights Order. So, betrayal? If the attackers were indeed part of the Knights Order, it would explain how they sneaked into the venue, but…)

I looked at the table where the young lady was. The 【Fire Magic】 that I activated was just about disappearing, but there were already many knights gathered there – including Maxim-san – protecting the ladies.

Prince Kluvshrat had a relieved face, and the Border Earl was holding Lady Mira close.

As for the Holy King–

(…He’s watching me, isn’t he?)

Just staring straight at me.

「You are amazing!」

「Eh?」

I heard a voice calling from the side. It was the halfling escort.

「I thought you were a magical genius, but it seems like you excel at close combat too. However, from now on, you should let other escorts take care of the fighting. Just using magic will be enough support.」

「Ah–」

She thought my magic was amazing, but close combat not so much because I got hit just now, huh…

「This is a salve. It is my special-make. Applying it should heal you immediately.」

「Oh, thank you very much…」

She gave me a salve in a small wooden box.

「Excuse me, are you–」

Her accent is very similar to Mimino-san. Do they come from the same place!?

But before I could ask, she had already returned to Lord Ethan. Right. I’m an escort too, so I have to get back.

But let’s ask her if I get a chance later. I wonder what Mimino-san and Silver Balance are doing right now…

I thought of trying to get in touch with them after things calmed down, but it’s not easy to reach out after crossing the country. And with them being adventurers, I don’t even know where they were.

「Sorry to leave you for so long, my lady.」

「No, you did well!」

The young lady stretched out her hand, but I avoided it by straightening my back. Why? Why did she think of stroking my head at this time? And she kept trying to stroke my head still.

「Everyone! That was quite something!」The Holy King raised a loud voice all of a sudden.

The attackers were being untied by the Holy King’s Knights who arrived late.

(Eh? Is this really…)

I had a bad feeling. And my bad feeling is usually accurate in times like these.

「Actually, the current attack was a sideshow!」The Holy King declared, happily.

The hall fell silent. The boys and girls sat, mouth wide-open.

The attackers got back up and stripped off their black attire. There appeared young men, whose faces were innocent-looking, unlikely to do anything wrong.

Ah, man. Just as I suspected…

「I wanted to let you all take the first step as a full-fledged noble to know the severity of the noble society! There will be times when you will be attacked! At that time, can you truly rely on your escorts? Sometimes, escorts won’t have weapons but the attacker will. Did you try to use it to your advantage ? Either way, a person’s true nature manifests itself in these extreme situations. If you feel sorry for yourself today, do your best to feel proud tomorrow!!」

The Holy King said, and laughed, but it wasn’t funny for the side that was attacked under the act of “sideshow.” There were many children of nobles who were looking absentminded, and many escorts seemed tired.

Rather than entertainment, this is more like a baptism. A much more severe society is waiting for them from this point onwards.

When I thought about the future of the young lady, I was trapped in a complicated feeling of worry and sympathy.

「Oh, it was just a sideshow. If so, Reiji gets a perfect score!」

「No, there was also a point where I noticed that it was a sideshow, but it is rather embarrassing that I put on a flashy fight.」

The attackers left with the Holy King’s Knights, but there were still many people who were nervously looking at them. This sideshow must have been a bit too much for them.

A magical floodlight tool was placed near the wall of the venue. When turned on, the intense light reflected off of the ceiling, and brightened the venue.

「A point where you noticed?」

When the young lady asked, in puzzlement–

「Hey, escort of House Sillys. What did you notice?」

I received a direct question from the Holy King.

What should an escort say at such times? Everyone at the table was looking at me.