Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as the weakest Sword God

That night we went over our combat training once again, we also went over our techniques and skills and discussed how we should react to various combat situations.

I would be the first line of combat, Sylphiette was fast and versatile, she would support me in the rear along with Rudeus.

Luke and Ariel's two attendants would focus solely on Ariel's personal safety, their team was solid, but honestly, we didn't want to integrate them into our battle plans, they would only get in the way at the front with me, anyway, we wanted someone close to Ariel at all times, in case of any surprise attacks.

The attendant Cleane would act as the princess's body double, with the help of a magic implement that could change her hair color and facial features.

In a sense, Ariel started with two extra lives, our goal was to get through this without losing any of them, I didn't know Cleane or Ellemoi very well, but I would still feel pretty bad if we failed to protect them.

Tomorrow, we would proceed assuming we were heading straight into a trap.

"We've saved a lot of time by teleporting you, won't the assassins be dispatched much later?" Luke objected

"Minister Darius is a very thorough man, he probably took action the moment he heard about my father's deteriorating health" Ariel replied

...

The next morning, we set off early in the formation we had agreed upon

I took the lead on horseback, followed by Sylphiette and Rudeus who were on the same horse.

As we cautiously advanced along the only path through the forest, we approached a sharp bend with poor visibility. There was a mark carved into a small tree just before the bend that was a dollar sign.

It was a sign that Orsted and I had calculated in advance, meaning that there was an ambush waiting for us just ahead. It seemed that I wouldn't have to resort to faking an attack on my own group.

Just as we advanced, a dozen armored soldiers were waiting for us around the bend, blocking the path completely.

Hehehe, it's time!

I abruptly stopped my ride and paused.

"Who are you guys?" I asked

The armored soldiers didn't respond to my words, their full-face helmets completely hiding their expressions, one of them had a large colored plume on his helmet, probably their captain

The soldiers remained silent, but they didn't move, it was clear that they had no intention of letting us pass and just when I was about to get off my horse...

"Get off Rudy" Sylphiette said in a low voice

She quickly spurred her horse and stood in front of me

"I am Fittz, the guardian magician! Do you know that Ariel Anemoi Asura travels in this carriage?!, second princess of Asura! Who are you and who do you serve!?" She shouted with her eyes fixed on the feathered soldier.

The feathered soldier didn't say a word in response, instead he pulled out a sword, the rest of the soldiers quickly following suit, filling the air with the sound of metal

At that very moment, many more armored soldiers came out of the forest on both sides of the road, most of them carried swords, but I saw some with staffs as well

"They're attacking us!" Sylphiette screamed

I took a quick glance back, Luke had already gotten off his horse and taken up his position at the rear, watching our backs, Ellemoi was frozen in the carriage driver's seat, gripping the reins with a tense expression on her face, I could see Cleane inside the carriage itself disguised as Ariel.

In other words, everyone was in position, I turned my attention back to the soldiers in front of me and jumped off my horse while stretching and unsheathing my sword, I was relaxed of course.

"I haven't killed people in years!" I shouted out loud, I crouched slightly and lunged at the soldiers at lightning speed.

The first head I cut off was that of the plumed soldier and I cut my way through the heavily armored soldiers, their bodies were cut like butter under my sword, they were frozen in time, they hadn't even processed that they had died.

The enemy had drawn their weapons first but I still struck first, that's how fast I was.

"I'll take care of the magic!" Sylphiette called out, countering a spell that was flying in her direction.

So there were mages at a distance huh? It didn't take me a second to get to them, I was able to cut down more than thirty of them with a single attack, but more kept coming out of the forest, so their real strength was surely greater, I was thinning out the enemy ranks faster than they could replenish them.

I accurately struck down the platoon of fighters without giving them a chance to surround me, it was just too easy, some even started running when they saw my skills so I gave myself the chance to look back.

"Luke! Is there any enemy approaching us from behind?" I called out, throwing another glance at the carriage.

"None!" was his response from the rear.

ok, I think it's time for that guy to show up then...

"should we fall back?!" Luke shouted

"no, I can get through them" I replied

I turned my attention back to the front line, and was left halfway, the enemy ranks had suddenly parted, and someone was striding through them.

here he is...

the newcomer was less imposing than I had expected, in fact he was less than a meter tall, perhaps he was a halfling.

a halfling in full armor, polished and shiny armor, his short and squat body shining so much that he reminded me of a disco ball

"I am the North King Wi Taa, one of the three swords of the North God! They call me light and darkness" he said

"I take you! kid! I challenge you to a duel! he said

I raised an eyebrow at this but nodded, Aubert should be close by now.

With those words, the walking disco ball pulled out his sword, the thing was custom made to fit his proportions, so it was only about thirty centimeters long, however, just like his armor, its blade shone brightly.

"Rudeus, watch behind you, Aubert is nearby!" I shouted

The guy was surprised but nodded looking behind him.

"Alright! I...." Wi taa tried to move but with a sword of light I sliced ​​his neck, his body fell in two parts next to the soldiers in shock.

Without saying anything I rushed at the remaining soldiers finishing them off in less than a second.

When there were none left I looked back and there was Aubert, it seemed like he was facing Rudeus and was having a couple of difficulties, so I approached them as quickly as I could.

I got in between them, stopping an attack from Aubert easily, the guy looked shocked and jumped back as he looked at me.

"Wow...Quagmire Rudeus, Silent Fittz and the Sword God...I brought Wi taa with me just as a precaution, really...but now that you're here I guess it's a lost cause no?..." he muttered as he got into a combat stance

"It's nothing personal Aubertt, but our interests are different, I'll make sure they remember you" I said

"Hah...thanks then" he muttered and the next moment he lunged at me.

With a simple dodge his waist was exposed and I cut him in half with a stab.

Aubert's upper half fell about two meters away from me as he writhed.

"Haa...perfectly executed..." were his last words and blood gushed out of his mouth dying instantly.

The remaining soldiers, seeing this scene, tried to flee in despair, but Sylphiette finished them off.

I breathed a sigh of relief, now there was only Reida left in Asura, she wouldn't be a problem.

The enemy squad was practically annihilated and we had come out totally unscathed, in addition I had finished off Wi Taa and Aubert which earned me several praises from my companions.

Before moving on, we decided to get rid of the bodies of our assassins, the entire group set to work to strip them of their armor, throw everything that looked like a personal possession into a pile and then burn the bodies.

In the midst of this process, I noticed that Luke seemed distressed, in fact, his face became noticeably paler with each passing minute, he was fixated on the soldiers' armor, in particular. "Luke, this shield isn't...uhm" Ariel muttered

"I can't believe it..." Luke muttered

it was all too clear what this meant, Philemon Notos Greyrat, the lord of the Milbotts region, had betrayed Ariel.

...

About an hour after the attack, we camped in a fairly deep spot in the forest, Rudeus surrounded our bonfire with a stone wall to prevent the light from giving us away, and we settled in for a full-blown strategy meeting

"this can't be, it doesn't make any sense..." Luke kept muttering to himself, ever since we saw those soldiers' shield, this guy has been in his own world.

I was honestly starting to get fed up with it.

In contrast to his shocked reaction, Ariel and her other allies seemed to have taken the news in stride, I got the feeling that they had seen this as a possibility all along.

"Princess, I think I know where we can take a shortcut, although with Gino everything was easy we should still avoid any kind of ambushes if possible" Rudeus suddenly said

"Oh? Are you saying that there is some way that we can cross the border without going through the border checkpoint?" Ariel asked

"Yes" he replied

"What do you have in mind?" she asked

"I am familiar with a group of bandits based nearby that makes a living mainly by smuggling goods and trading slaves across the border, with their help, we could reach Asura without going through the checkpoint" Rudeus explained.

Ariel put a hand to her chin and considered this.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you argue earlier that we should avoid resorting to any shady dealings?" Ariel asked.

"Yes, and I still think so, but I think I misjudged the gravity of our situation, I don't think we can afford to be too picky with our methods at the moment" he explained.

"I see" Ariel nodded and looked around the bonfire, her gaze landing on me.

"What do you think Gino?" she asked

"Sounds reasonable to me, although I can fight my way through any ambush I think it would be safer to travel without running into another one" I said

"And what about you, Luke?" Ariel asked.

The guy slowly raised his head, almost like a zombie, and fixed his eyes on Rudeus, there was hostility in them

"What are you playing at Rudeus?... Your behavior in that battle was... strange, it seemed like you knew that Aubertt was going to launch that sneak attack" Luke muttered with a trembling voice, there was clear suspicion on his face.

"Gino anticipated his attack" he replied

"You almost seemed like you knew his fighting style..." Luke muttered

"Well, I have my eye of foresight, remember?" Rudeus said

"And why do you know all this Luke? You were supposed to watch our backs, Aubert was in your blind spot right?..." I muttered with hostility as I looked at him

The guy looked at me but quickly looked away as he grumbled.

"Hmmm!, if you say so" he muttered.

"Control yourself man, I know you're upset about your father trying to kill us and all that, but I'm not the enemy here" he said in a harsh tone.

The guy tried to respond but was smart enough not to raise his voice at me

"Come on Luke, you're the one who asked me to help Princess Ariel, remember?" Rudeus added

"I did yes... but none of this makes sense, why did my father betray us? It wasn't supposed to be like this..." he muttered.

[Hmmm, wait a minute, what if Hitogami can't see Luke right now?] I asked Rudeus in English.

The guy didn't answer but shrugged without an answer.

I also thought of the possibility that Hitogami had abandoned him when he decided that Luke was no longer useful.

Sylphiette didn't say anything, but her eyes cautiously shifted between Luke me and Rudeus.

"Your Highness," Luke said looking up with a stern expression on his face, "I oppose this plan. Rudeus' behavior makes me fear that he's hiding something," he said.

Wow... I didn't think he could actually be that stupid...

"We don't have any proof that these bandits are trustworthy. I agree that it wouldn't be wise to go through the checkpoint, but I think our best option is to turn around for now and ask Lord Peragius for help," he continued.

"Ellemoi, Cleane, what do you two think?" Ariel asked.

"Sir Luke has my support," Ellemoi said.

"And mine," Cleane said.

"I see..." Ariel muttered.

After a while, Ariel looked up, her gaze moving between mine, Luke's, and Rudeus' several times, then landing on Luke's.

"We're going to follow Rudeus' plan," she announced.

"What?! But why?!" Luke shouted angrily.

"I don't think Lord Peragius would be inclined to recognize as the legitimate queen of Asura a woman who fled to safety at the first sign of trouble, we must turn to him unless absolutely necessary" she explained

As she spoke those words, Ariel sent a quick and meaningful glance at Rudeus.

"Tch...but with this plan, you're risking your own life! Are we really going to turn to the bandits for help?! For all we know, Rudeus is planning to sell you to them as-"

"Luke!" Ariel shouted abruptly cutting him off mid-sentence, he was already receiving some hostile looks from me and Sylphiette.

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden? You can't really believe that Rudeus would do something like that, right?" Ariel continued

"but... my father..." Luke muttered

"Lord Philemon may have betrayed us, yes, but we always knew it was a possibility, you yourself warned me that he might once do so under certain circumstances" she said

"w-well, yes, maybe I did, but I know I heard that he..."

Luke stopped abruptly, bringing his hand to his mouth.

Rudeus blinked in surprise and I just sighed, we got you idiot...

Ariel also seemed somewhat surprised, her eyes widened and I saw her lips trembling slightly

"Luke, I don't even want to consider this, but my brother has..."

Ariel interrupted herself, afraid to finish her sentence.

In the end she found a different, less risky approach

"Luke Notos Greyrat, tell me who are you?" Ariel asked

Luke looked up in surprise to meet her gaze, his eyes briefly moving to the worried faces of Sylphiette, Ellemoi and Clene, then back to Ariel.

without breaking their gaze, he knelt in front of her and spoke:

"I am your knight"

"That's right, and I am your princess" Ariel replied and Luke lowered his head.

both of them looked more relieved than before as did Sylphiette and her attendants.

"Well then, let's get going right away, Rudeus, could you guide us?" Ariel asked.

"Alright" he replied and the next morning we set out to seek the bandits' help.

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Please give me power stones please I beg you!!!