Volume 1 Chapter 3 ACT.2 Purge Knight Rai Conwell - Part II
"Sorry to interrupt, but could we have a quick practice match?"
The woman, a Holy Knight, looked taken aback.
That was understandable.
The people training here were all her peers, and she knew every face.
So when Rai, the Purge Knight who normally operated under a different command structure and was hiding behind a mask, stepped forward and showed his true face to speak, it was only natural for her to wonder, Who is this guy?
"I apologize. I'm a knight from the Holy Church of a neighboring country that visited recently. I came here to practice on my day off."
At Rai's polite bow, the female knight relaxed her guard a bit.
"Oh, I see. That's fine by me."
Hearing her response, Rai picked up the training shield and wooden sword he had brought along.
Seeing this, she quietly stepped back to create some space.
To set the stage for their practice match, the two faced each other.
"My name is Rize Howell. And you are?"
"My name is──well, if I win, I'll tell you."
Rize arched an eyebrow at Rai's defiant remark.
"You're pretty confident, aren't you? You might regret underestimating me just because I'm a girl."
Rize shot a daring smile at him, and Rai simply returned a cool, silent grin.
"──!"
Feeling a flash of irritation at Rai's demeanor, Rize readied her spear and took a step forward to launch her attack──but then she halted.
Rai had no openings in his stance.
Standing firmly on the ground with his shield held out in front, he exuded an aura that suggested any reckless thrust would only end with a swift counterattack.
He held his shield in a way that cleverly concealed the sword in his other hand, making it impossible for her to predict his next move.
"If you're not coming at me, then I'll make the first move."
In that moment, overwhelmed by Rize's hesitation, Rai launched a powerful tackle against her shield.
Rize was pushed several steps back from the astonishing force that seemed impossible to come from Rai's slender limbs.
But that was just the beginning of Rai's offensive.
After striking with a tackle using his shield, Rai quickly followed up with a series of sharp jabs, hitting the shield to disrupt Rize's stance.
Knowing this was not good, Rize seized the fleeting moment of his attack and thrust her spear forward.
Rai, who had lured Rize into that attack, angled his shield to deflect her spear──not just deflecting, but pushing it outward.
As a result, Rize's spear extended fully, its tip now pointed away from him.
Unlike a sword, a spear couldn't just return along its path to strike; she would need to pull back first, recalibrate her aim, and then thrust again.
For Rai, challenging her at such close range with shield and sword presented a perfect opening during that interval.
Rize grasped this in an instant, and her focus instinctively shifted toward the tip of her spear.
In that moment, Rai jabbed his sword into the gap of Rize's shield, quickly redirecting it outward to shatter her defense.
This left Rize's torso wide open.
With both her shield and spear directing away from her, she couldn't easily regroup; her defense was completely compromised.
Trying to evade, Rize attempted to step back──
"You're too slow to decide."
Before she could even complete that step, Rai closed the distance and pressed his sword against her exposed belly.
"That makes one point."
Stunned by the flawless offense and defense of the knight she had just met today, Rize could only gaze in disbelief.
* * *
"You say there's a Holy Knight hoping to transfer to the Purge Knights?"
Curtis nodded quietly at Rai's words.
The Purge Knights, considered one of the elite branches of Holy Knights, had few hopefuls, and the gates to entry were narrow.
This was solely due to the demanding nature of their missions, which required exceptional skill, all while boasting a significantly high casualty rate.
Beyond scouts, there were hardly any who sought to become Purge Knights.
"It's a girl named Rize Howell. According to her superior, she stands a head above her peers in ability. However, I don't want to recruit someone just for the sake of it."
"That's a fair point. I wouldn't want to raise the casualty rate unnecessarily, either."
At Rai's reply, Curtis nodded and began,
"Then, I'd like you to assess her abilities. And if she meets your standards, perhaps you could offer some training?"
* * *
How many hours had passed?
The time had already reached dusk, and the training ground was bathed in a crimson glow.
"──Well, I think that's enough for now"
Rai was about to sheathe his sword──but.
"W-Wait! I'm not done yet!!"
Rize, however, remained stubbornly insistent.
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