Mad Dog Unleashed

The sound of the door slamming against the wall was still echoing through the warehouse when I charged inside.

The man closest to the door reacted first. He reached for the sword at his waist, but the moment his hand touched the hilt, my sword struck his scabbard. His steel blade snapped at the mouth of the sheath with a crisp crack. His hand was still in a gripping pose, but all he held was half a hilt and a length of jagged broken blade.

He stared blankly for a moment.

I gave him no chance to recover.

I flipped my sword around and smashed the pommel into his temple. His knees buckled, and he crumpled beside the door, his eyes rolling back.

"One."

The second and third men moved at the same time. One lunged from the left, clutching a dagger, while the other circled around from the right, trying to get behind me.

I laughed. He was using a dagger against a Sword Saint Rank swordswoman. I didn't know whether to be angry or feel sorry for him.

I pushed off the ground with my left foot and turned sideways, letting the dagger thrust pass. His wrist swept past me, and I used the spine of my nameless sword to strike his forearm. His bones broke with a dull crack. The dagger clattered to the ground, and he dropped into a crouch, clutching his arm and letting out a muffled scream.

The one circling around from the right was still running. I stepped back with my right foot and turned, swinging my nameless sword upward into the ground beneath his feet. The tip scraped across the stone floor, throwing off sparks and sending chips of stone flying. He tripped and stumbled forward, right into the path of my sword's spine.

Smack.

The third.

About four seconds had passed since I kicked in the door.

Rujierd once said that when facing multiple enemies, you take down the fastest first, then the closest, and the farthest last. A difference in speed is a swordsman's greatest weapon, but only if you're faster than everyone else.

I was much faster than them. They were too weak.

One of the men left was the biggest of the lot. He was bare-chested, with muscles piled up like little mountains and a longsword hanging at his waist. His stance was different from the small fry before him. His center of gravity was low, his feet were shoulder-width apart, and his right hand rested on his hilt. He wasn't in a hurry to draw.

He looked like the kidnappers' boss.

He stared at me for two seconds.

"Just one little girl?" He turned and shouted over his shoulder, "What are you lot standing around for? Get her together!"

I heard two sets of footsteps behind me. Counting the boss in front, that made three.

I switched my sword to my left hand, freeing my right, and flexed my fingers.

Three of them. The boss looks intermediate, and the other two are probably beginner level or just starting out. On the Demon Continent, Rujierd once had me fight five desert wolves at once. I wasn't as strong then as I am now, and as for these three... they're no match for me.

The boss drew his sword.

He was faster on the draw than the others. His longsword slid cleanly from its sheath, its blade gleaming dully. It was reasonably well maintained. His sword stance was textbook, the tip aimed at my throat and his left arm slightly bent for balance.

I walked toward him.

His expression changed. He probably hadn't seen anyone walk straight toward a sword point before.

"Are you crazy?"

I didn't answer or stop walking.

The sword point thrust straight at my chest. It wasn't slow, but to me, it might as well have been moving in slow motion. I shifted half an inch before the point reached me, and the longsword brushed past my left shoulder without even touching my clothes.

My right hand closed directly around his blade.

His eyes widened.

I twisted my right hand, wrenching the longsword from his grip. Then I brought the nameless sword in my left hand down on his blade.

It broke in two.

Just like the first man's sword.

Before he could react, I kicked him flying into the wall, knocking down a rag hanging there. He slid down to the base of the wall, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and his eyes unfocused.

"Hah. With that kind of strength, you wouldn't even be fit to survive your first day on the Demon Continent."

The two behind me had been halfway through their charge. When they saw their boss go flying, they stopped dead.

I wasn't going to stop.

I turned and stepped right up to the closest one. His hand was still shaking, and he could barely hold his sword steady. I didn't cut him. I struck his wrist with the spine of my sword, and his sword fell to the floor. Then I smashed the pommel into the back of his head.

His eyes rolled back, and he fell.

The last one.

He threw down his sword and turned to run for the warehouse's back door.

I didn't chase him, because I knew he couldn't get away with Rudeus there.

A dull thud came from outside the window. A Rock Bullet struck the ground right in front of the man, sending stone fragments flying and tripping him. He got up and tried to run again, but a second Rock Bullet hit beside his feet. This time he landed flat on the ground, covered his head with both hands, and didn't dare move.

Rudeus's attacks had come from the window.

I glanced back toward it. I couldn't see him, only a short length of mouse-gray robe outside the window frame.

He's been watching outside the whole time, cutting off their escape routes for me.

The ground floor was clear. Of the seven kidnappers, I had knocked three unconscious, struck two down, and kicked one into the wall, where he still hadn't woken up. Rudeus had trapped the last one at the back door.

I walked over to the corner.

Five beastfolk children huddled together. The three younger ones clung to one another, trembling, while the two slightly older ones stared wide-eyed at me. Their beast ears all drooped, their tails were tucked tight, and their clothes were filthy and torn. The youngest was probably only four or five, with tears and snot all over her face as she sobbed silently.

I slid my sword back into the sheath at my waist.

I crouched down.

"It's all right now."

Even to me, my voice sounded a little stiff when I said it. Rujierd had said I wasn't very good at comforting people. He was right. I couldn't say nice things or soothe people gently like Rudeus. All I could do was fight.

The youngest girl looked up at me. She had gray beast ears, a round face, and big, red eyes. She'd cried until she looked like a rabbit. She stared at me for several seconds, then suddenly reached out and grabbed my collar.

My hand froze.

She buried her face in my leather armor, curling up into a ball, her tiny body trembling.

I didn't know what to do.

My hand hovered in midair.

She's crying. I should do something. But what? My head's a little muddled. I've never been good at comforting people, unlike Rudeus.

My hand came down on top of her head, and I gave it a gentle pat.

"It's all right now."

It was awkward, and I knew it. Ghislaine had once said that when I patted people, I hit them as hard as if I were patting a rock. I was already being gentle, really gentle.

The little girl's crying gradually quieted.

She didn't let go of my collar.

...That should do it, right?

Another girl, a little older, came over. She was probably seven or eight, with brown beast ears and freckles. She tugged on the youngest girl's arm.

"Mina, don't keep holding on to her."

The little girl named Mina shook her head and held on even tighter.

The freckled girl looked at me, then at Mina, and said softly, "Thank you for saving us, big sister. My sister... she was scared badly last night. Those people... they hit her."

My fingers tightened.

Then I went back to patting Mina's head, a little more gently than before.

Those bastards actually hit a four- or five-year-old child. Should I kill them?

An image flashed through my mind. My grandfather's face. Sauros Boreas Greyrat, lord of the Fittoa region, my grandfather. There was something he often used to tell me.

"Violence can solve everything. People who can't use violence simply haven't learned how to use it properly yet."

When I was little, I thought he was right. Anyone who upset me, I hit. If I couldn't beat them, I trained until I could. Grandfather never scolded me for hitting people. He only frowned when I hit the wrong person.

Things were different now.

My sword had a purpose: to protect the people I should protect. Rujierd had taught me for three years on the Demon Continent, helping me understand the difference between violence and protection. Violence was for yourself; protection was for others.

But half of what Grandfather said was still right. When dealing with scum who hurt children, violence really was the best answer.

I walked over to the base of the wall and planted my foot on the boss's chest.

He forced his eyes open, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Do you know who's backing us?!"

I pressed down harder, and his ribs gave a dull crack.

"You bastard. You actually hit a child that young."

Rudeus's voice came from outside the warehouse.

"Eris, don't be rash. It'll be hard to explain when the guards get here, and we'll get into trouble."

I looked down at the boss under my foot. He was still alive, but his eyes were unfocused.

"Tch."

I'd held back in the first place. If I'd kicked him with all my strength, his ribs should all have been broken. Now he'd probably only cracked a few.

I led the five children out of the corner. Mina still refused to let go of my collar, so I had to walk half-crouched, letting her hang onto me. The other four followed behind, all timid, like a group of little animals just released from a cage. No, rather than saying they were like that, these beastfolk children really were cute.

As we came out the warehouse doors, Rudeus gave me a subtle look. He'd probably seen what I was thinking.

Rudeus stood beside the low wall at the side. His robe was a little dusty, and the wind had mussed his hair. When he saw all five children come out safely, his shoulders visibly relaxed.

He was probably tense the whole time, even though he didn't say so.

"We rescued them all," I said.

"Yeah, I saw. You're really dependable, Eris."

"Mm... dependable?" My face grew a little hot.

When Rudeus praised me before, it used to make me cringe, and I couldn't help hitting him. But now I feel a little happy. Hee-hee, he praised me.

He came over and crouched down to look at the children. His expression was much softer than it had been in the warehouse, and he even had a slight smile on his face.

"Are you all right? Is anyone hurt?"

The freckled girl shook her head. Then she looked at me, then at Rudeus, and asked quietly, "Are you... good people?"

Rudeus smiled.

"I'm a very good guy, you know."

I snorted.

"Dead End."

He glanced at me. I knew what he was thinking. He was probably wondering whether to correct me, since that party name didn't sound like it belonged to good people at all. But he said nothing. He just stood up and brushed the dirt off his knees.

"Eris, I'll go get the guards. Watch the children here."

"Okay."

He turned and walked toward the city gate. After a few steps, he looked back at me and saw that I was still standing there, the five children gathered around me and Mina still hanging from my collar.

He smiled.

Then he turned and kept walking.

I stood at the warehouse entrance, waiting for the guards. Mina's little hand was still gripping my collar, but her breathing had steadied, and she was no longer trembling. The other four children sat on the stones by my feet. The youngest boy had buried his face in his knees, and his shoulders still jerked occasionally.

Sunlight fell on their gray beast ears and on the fuzz atop Mina's head.

So cute. Can I touch their ears? It should be okay, right?

But I held back.

I waited about ten minutes.

Footsteps came from the distance. It wasn't Rudeus.

I turned my head.

A man was leaning against a wooden post outside the refugee camp. He had a monkey-like face and a cheerful grin. I could tell at a glance that he was a demon, but I didn't recognize his race. He wore a gray traveling cloak and held a blade of grass, looking very relaxed.

"Hey, senior! Long time no see!"

He waved at me.

"What brings you to a place like this?"

I frowned.

Senior? Who's he talking to? Me? He's looking behind me.

I looked back. Rudeus had returned at some point and was standing a dozen or so steps behind me. He was looking at the monkey-faced man with a strange expression.

As if he knew him, but was also trying to remember where they'd met.

Geese! If he's here, that means...