How the Regressor Loves the Reincarnated

26. The way to break the bull’s horn

1.

It’s the fifth night since I left the Duchy of Isvant.

Adele, who was on watch, raised her head slightly. It’s because her superhuman senses sent her a warning.

The moment a gentle breeze blew and the flames of the bonfire shook, Adele’s figure disappeared on the spot.

“…Sir Ludmeyer?”

The youngest of the knights, John, who was sitting across from her, looked around with a bewildered expression on his face.

“…Is that it?”

Jon, unable to find even a trace of it, made a simple conclusion in his head. It’s a sword master, and there’s nothing you can do about physiological phenomena.

‘Apart from Sir Ludmeyer’s skills, she is definitely a noblewoman, so it’s understandable that she disappeared without saying anything.’

John knew his subject well.

A decent knight who joined the Knights of Isvant at the age of only 22 and will not be ignored anywhere.

However, Adele Ludmeyer was of a different class.

He is a genius among geniuses who has reached the level of a master who will not be able to step on it with a high probability until the moment he retires, at the age of twenty-one. He possesses absolute brute force to the point of playing with the captain.

If the nighttime partner who disappeared without a word had been someone other than her, John would have woken up all the knights in the camp immediately. But if he was her and not someone else.

‘I have to worry about the people I need to worry about.’

Thought so, John concentrated on grooming his beloved sword again as if nothing had happened.

On the other hand, a spot about 1km away from the campsite the knights had built. There, Kundala, a Wolf Rider belonging to the Red Tusk tribe scouting party, was observing the dynamics of the campsite Adele and others had built through a telescope.

Should I check the status of the vigil and start preparing for the enemy attack by retreating as it is? Or, after killing or releasing all of their horses in the dark, will they lead the warriors of the tribe to strike first against the enemy?

If he had been able to use magic, he would have set fire to that tent. Kundala’s eyes, grumbling inwardly, caught the sudden change in the enemy’s encampment.

A sudden breeze blows the embers of the bonfire.

“The woman who was on watch has disappeared…!”

Kundala, who turned his head toward his scouting teammates, stopped talking and froze.

Toduk-

Kundala’s downward gaze met the eyes of the weak but lively comrades. It didn’t take long for the little vitality to disappear as if it were discolored. And his gaze was directed forward.

A little while ago, fountains of blood splattered from the bodies of the two orcs who had their heads attached to them, but not a single drop splattered on the human woman standing proudly in front of him.

She was a Kundala with a slightly different aesthetic sense from humans, but even in his eyes, she was seen as a woman with decadent beauty that was noble and cruel at the same time.

Adele, a human woman whose appearance was evaluated by the orcs without her knowledge, habitually brushed the sword in her hand, but her blood was not even on that day in the first place. Even though it was clear from the circumstances that he had decapitated the two orcs with that sword a little while ago.

“Are you lucky? I didn’t expect to be able to find traces of Tauros so quickly.”

Push-

A step too late, the bodies of the two orcs who lost their heads collapsed, staining the surrounding soil with blood. But Kundala could not afford to care about the corpses of his comrades.

It is because Adele, who is smiling as if she is satisfied with the current situation, has completely frozen her body in the terrifyingly gooey way of living.

Kundala felt an irresistible difference in class.

Even her dire wolves, obeying only her scouting wolf riders, curled up her tail and bowed her head to her with her stance low.

As Adele took a step towards herself, Kundala also took a step back. It was an instinctive move.

But Kundala couldn’t take another two steps and tripped on something and fell backwards. It was a small stone beak that, if it had been the usual kundala, would have kicked it out without tripping over it.

Whether Kundala falls or not, Adele, who doesn’t even care about such trivial things, continues her steps.

Just before the distance between Adele and Kundala was completely narrowed, Kundala closed her eyes and accepted her own death.

No, I tried to accept it. It’s just that Adele had no intention of killing him yet.

Adele bent her head, slumped in front of her, ignoring the trembling orc. She picked up a telescope off the floor and dusted her off.

Adele looked through the telescope, which was clearly made by human hands, and nodded her head in satisfaction. Then she dropped it back to the floor.

Kwajik-!

It was lightly trampled and crushed.

The moment Kundala, startled by the sound of the telescope breaking, opened her eyes again, she met Adele’s blue eyes, which showed no emotion. And she realized She knew that her own life, to her, was as worthless as the life of a mere worm.

“I won’t say I’m sorry. I hate orcs.”

After lightly annihilating the three Orc patrols, Adele came to her feet and lightly stroked the head of one of the three Dire Wolves lying face down, then gestured as if to go away.

Adele saw that this place was quite far from Isvant, so she judged that there was no possibility of harming humans even if she let them go. If she had been a little closer to the Istvant estate, she would have taken that life without mercy.

Although she may have acted like an obedient puppy standing in front of her, since she is a wild monster at the root, she will survive on her own.

She had dealt with her dangers beforehand, and when Adele returned to her bonfire, John had finished trimming her sword.

After glancing at Adele’s return, John awkwardly clears his throat and avoids her eyes.

“I came after taking care of the Orc patrol that was spying on us.”

“…Yes?”

After hearing her words, John realized that he had a huge misunderstanding.

The reason he put the cloth back on the sword he had already polished was not to hide his shame at having misstepped.

…Maybe.

2.

As soon as the morning dawned, after clearing the camp, we started moving again in the direction of the deputy knight commander, Rufus.

“You have done a great job, Sir Ludmeyer. It can be said that the fact that the right to start is not taken away by them like before is equivalent to gaining half the chance to win.”

Rufus’s face turned bright red when he checked the corpses of the trio of Orc scouts that I had taken care of during my vigil.

When you approach the village of Orcs, they will naturally check it out and prepare for battle. However, compared to the case where the orcs who received the report from the scouting party prepared for our attack in advance, it is natural that their preparations would be insufficient.

So, in Rufus’ situation where he had to worry about the possible loss of his allied knights, it was obvious that there could be no better news than this.

At the point where I am, that kind of worry can be relieved to some extent. As the knights are also skilled enough to belong to the Duke’s family, I don’t think the possibility of casualties is very high.

We ran without rest until the sun rose in the middle of the sky, and we arrived at a land that was scorched all around.

“This is a trace of the magic your lord used to buy us time to retreat.”

After hearing Rufus’ explanation, I was inwardly amazed.

I see. Is this the magical power of the well-known war mage, Prince Albert Isvant? Traces of magical power still remain over a fairly wide range. It means that the range in which magic was manifested for the first time was that wide.

However, after seeing that, my thoughts weren’t that the Duke of Isvant’s magical skills were amazing.

Of course, the Duke of Isvant’s magical skills were amazing, but at least I look forward to the future of his son, Luke, growing up.

As time goes by, Luke will grow into a wizard equal to his father, no, he will be more than that. Right now, the ring on my right hand was clearly proving Luke’s future.

A ring with one of a pair of mana stones made by condensing Luke’s own magic… But the other one is Luke wearing…?

What is this? It’s a coupling.

When Luke gave me this ring, claiming it was a guarantee of his own safety, I had a heartache, so I hadn’t really thought about it. Of course, I know that it is not something that has been given such a meaning, but after knowing it, my heart flutters for nothing.

Anyway. This pair of Mana Stones, made to resonate with each other, turns from green to red when magic is applied from Luke’s side, and a special magic wave is emitted from the Mana Stones on my side.

They say that if I confirm that and pour my mana into the mana stone of the ring, the two mana stones will resonate. The explanation that followed was largely overlooked since I was unfamiliar with magic, but if I had to summarize it anyway.

When Luke is in danger, he injects mana into my ring. Then Luke summons me by casting ultra-long-distance space movement magic through the medium of the resonating mana stone.

Being able to realize this kind of magic in itself is tantamount to proof of Luke’s potential.

That said, it wasn’t a situation where you could trust only this ring and be optimistic. What if I’m engaged with Taurus when Luke sends the signal?

If we don’t go to Luke, his life is in danger, but if we do, the knights will die at the hands of Taurus.

In reality, when such a situation came, which side to save was decided from the beginning. Without him, this world would feel terribly empty.

So, to prevent such a problem from happening in the first place, I have to deal with Tauros as quickly as possible. That was my number one goal in the current situation.

I hate to say this, but Luke’s plan was really stupid, and there was no countermeasure. I might be a worse fool than him for choosing to follow such a plan without stopping it to the end.

“I found an orc colony ahead!”

Rufus shouted, and the knights lined up.

The Orc Village discovered us a long time ago and was preparing for battle.

A wooden fence made of two layers of thick wood, sharpened to a sharp angle, and erected diagonally. And the figure of an orc standing on top of a watchtower, giving orders, caught his eye.

Unlike ordinary orc villages, it was clear that Tauros had come to the right place just by looking at the wooden fence built in a threatening shape and strong enough to be difficult to break down even with a horseback charge.

“Wait a minute. If you break through that barricade with your warhorse at the fore, there will be problems on your way back.”

As I said that, I gathered the eyes of the knights and declared.

“Then I will remove the barrier.”

“…I understand.”

After exchanging glances with the knights for a moment, Rufus nods his head.

Is it because of doubts about my abilities? Is it the discomfort that comes from feeling that I doubt their ability? I don’t know if it’s something other than that.

Anyway, it didn’t matter.

I rode my horse and headed in the direction of the Orc village. The orc on top of the watchtower shouted something, but it didn’t seem like he saw me as a threat. If anyone saw me, they’d think I was a suicidal person, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise.

From a distance not too far from the fence, I kicked off the warhorse I was riding and threw myself. He drew his sword in the air, concentrated mana, and compressed it.

I landed right in front of the wooden fence and rammed the tip of my sword into the ground.

The compressed mana exploded, and the ground beneath the barrier completely collapsed.

The moment the wooden fence, which lost its support base, fell backwards, Rufus’ voice echoed across the battlefield.

“All, charge!”

The road has been opened to break the bull’s horns.