White Binary Stars – Michelle & Pietro
Morning. Our logistics unit was advancing along the road from Bradley to the fortress.
By this point, the wagons traveled in groups of only a few at a time, with just us as escorts. This was because the defensive positions were scattered throughout the area.
The fortress was, in other words, the frontier of the frontier. The roads leading there were barely worthy of being called roads at all—frankly speaking, they were terrible.
If you tried to travel them after rain, you’d definitely be in for a rough time. That’s the kind of roads they were.
Naturally, troubles caused by the road conditions were endless.
“Alright, push!”
“Uwooooh!”
“It moved…! Keep going, push harder!”
We got over the collapsed part of the rut, and the wheels got back on track.
There was a minor accident, but we managed to get through with only about a minute’s delay. If there had been a lot of vehicles following behind us, we would’ve been completely screwed.
“Hah, hah, that was exhausting…!”
“Why are the ruts branching off like this?! What the hell were the guys who came through before doing…!”
The rookies who had been desperately pushing the fully-loaded wagon were cursing up a storm.
I understood their feelings. Despite this being a road to the fortress that many people had presumably traveled before, it hadn’t been repaired at all.
Everyone probably just hurried ahead without trying to fix it. However, when things like this pile up, it becomes a loss for everyone as a whole. Someone has to repair it.
“Mongrel-san, I’ll fix this up here. So please go on ahead.”
“You can fix ruts?”
“I can manage to pack it down with dirt at least… Just to keep it from coming off like before, even I can do that much. I’ll catch up later, so please leave it to me.”
“Hmm.”
This guy was Risd, a fresh Bronze 1 guildsman from Basin—a swordsman.
I’d often seen him slacking off during cargo loading work, pretending to lift wooden crates while actually resting.
This time too, you’re probably planning to dawdle while pretending to fix the ruts, right?
It’s still too early to praise you for having such admirable intentions—I don’t trust you nearly enough yet!
“Then I’ll help you too. Hey, everyone else, keep the wagons moving ahead.”
“Eh! It’s fine, Mongrel-san, just go ahead!”
“You idiot, you’re planning to take a little break here while saying that, aren’t you? You think such a sneaky trick will work on me? Since you said you’d fix it, you’re going to fix it perfectly together with me.”
“Gue-“
“Risd! Do your job properly and catch up quickly!”
“This guy’s always trying to take shortcuts! Don’t slack off! Work!”
“I did my part too!”
And when you work together with someone, you can immediately tell if someone’s slacking off.
Now work hard, Risd. Let’s start our super-speed track maintenance work together!
“Is this it, a stone?”
“Probably. Well, we can’t fix it perfectly, so we’ll just do emergency repairs.”
“Yes sir!”
Ruts are often paved with stone or brick, but around here there are many parts with bare dirt exposed. At best, they maintain the appearance of having only the curved sections reinforced with stone, but since you can easily remove the stones if you want to, they’re extremely fragile. The dirt also changes height quickly when it collapses from rain.
Our repair work involves finding the rut stones that have been scattered around, arranging them in their proper positions, piling up dirt again, and packing it down firmly.
To be honest, since this isn’t my specialty either, I can’t deny the makeshift feeling, but there’s nothing I can do other than pack it down firmly enough that the wheels won’t come off.
Baron Bradley, couldn’t you invest more money in infrastructure? I guess that’s difficult.
“Mongrel-san.”
“Ah? What is it, Risd? Don’t stop working.”
“No, those people… I wonder who they are.”
“Who do you mean…”
I looked in the direction Risd was pointing.
There were two unfamiliar people there—a man and woman.
They looked like a nun and priest, with white fabric that shone brilliantly bright.
They had emerged from the eastern forest and were slowly walking toward us.
“Those are… soldiers from the Sunglaire army, probably.”
“Heh, Sangre… Sunglaire?!”
Risd reached for the short sword at his waist, lost his balance, and fell onto the dirt. Calm down.
…The two approaching us leisurely were grinning broadly.
Well, they’d have the advantage, wouldn’t they? There’s just one scared kid and one other person here.
“Ah, Sun God. Through your guidance, we have been able to reach the sinful ruts of Harpelia. Our arduous two-day infiltration march ends here…!”
One was a nun holding a mace covered in spikes.
She let her long, wavy blonde hair flutter in the wind, dancing lightly as if she were singing in a musical.
“Oh, Sun God! Through your guidance, we have encountered two sinful Harpelians! Surely they must be those who handle logistics! We must certainly punish them and interrogate them about Harpelia’s supply lines…!”
The other was a large priest holding a regular-sized (not long) morning star.
Short, neatly trimmed honey-colored blonde hair, sharp eyes like a bird’s. He approached us with an intimidating presence.
“My name is Michelle, the Holy Maiden of Gentle Rain!”
“My name is Pietro, the Inquisitor of Wax Wings!”
“Together we are Sunglaire’s White Binary Stars, Michelle & Pietro!”
At the end, with a pose like something from Pop Team Epic, the two proudly announced their affiliation.
Yeah, they’re enemies. Unmistakably Sunglaire operatives.
They probably infiltrated to attack Harpelia’s supply lines. I thought they’d pull something like this somewhere, but I never imagined I’d encounter them directly.
“W-w-what do we do, Mongrel-san?! Those guys are from Sunglaire…!”
“Indeed! We are Sunglaire’s White Binary Stars, Michelle & Pietro!”
“Hiie!”
“Hey! This guy’s a rookie! Don’t scare him! …Hey Risd. You go chase after the wagons and join them, tell them to hurry ahead.”
“What about Mongrel-san?! I’ll fight too… if it’s two against two…”
“Don’t.”
I drew the bastard sword from my waist and pointed the blade at the two enemies 20 meters away.
They were still keeping up that ridiculous pose, but…
“Those guys are probably pretty damn strong. In guildsman terms, they’re Silver rank or higher.”
“Ehhh…?!”
“So drop your baggage and get going quickly. If you don’t want to become a burden to me, hurry up and do that.”
“…!”
Risd immediately nodded, dropped his pack, and started running down the wagon road.
Quick judgment. This type tends to live long.
“Oh my, we won’t let you escape.”
The big man Pietro gripped his morning star tightly and rushed toward Risd who had turned his back. Despite his appearance, he moved quite quickly. He can do decent physical enhancement too.
“Well, wait up. You should listen to my self-introduction too.”
“Gunuu…?!”
But I’m fast too. I blocked his path before Pietro could catch up and stopped his morning star with my bastard sword.
…Hoh, I’m putting quite a bit of mana into this myself, but my blade only digs shallowly into the morning star’s iron ball before being stopped. He’s flowing mana into his weapon too. Either he’s using a good weapon, or he’s quite skilled…
“My name is Mongrel. I’m the strongest man in Harpelia. In other words, I’m the opponent you should prioritize killing above all others right now.”
“Nu… uungh!”
“Oops.”
I deflect his front kick with my knee, and we both take distance.
The woman behind him, Michelle, looks like a mage. She appears to be concentrating.
It would definitely be tough to leave a mage alone. Should I take her out first?
“Very well, traitor Mongrel. I shall not pursue the one who just fled. You certainly seem to be a trial I must crush immediately.”
“Buying time for incantation, huh. You’re more versatile than you look.”
But I’m not kind enough to go along with such obvious time-wasting.
I take out a throwing knife from my belt and throw it at the woman.
“Hmph! ‘Iron Wall’!”
But he protected her. This guy’s in the way.
“Michelle! Can you do it?!”
“…Yes, I can! ‘Muddy Current’!”
I was expecting something to come, but it didn’t.
The woman made the tip of her mace glow and poured the water she created… directly into the dirt rut.
“H-hey! Stop it! What are you doing?!”
“You are strong. But the mission takes priority! Destroying Harpelia’s supply route is our mission!”
I panicked and tried to finish off the woman, but this time he blocked my path.
Once again my blade pierced the morning star, and we grappled. But this isn’t good. If I let the magic activate like this, the rut will be destroyed and damage the logistics…!
Ah, and seriously, when Iron Wall is active, he’s heavy! I can’t push through!
“Looking closer, you were a mixed-blood after all! How lamentable, traitor Mongrel! To think you carry tainted blood in your veins!”
“Discrimination right off the bat, huh. Very Sunglaire-like.”
“Gu!”
I kick to create distance, but this is bad. This man is stronger than I thought.
He was making ridiculous introductions, but that was a display of confidence, wasn’t it? In guildsman terms, does he have Gold rank?
With that kind of skill, why the hell would he come on a logistics sabotage mission? Is it a small elite force? Sunglaire is using their heads this time.
But I can’t waste time. If I keep allowing the magic to activate, the rut will be buried in mud beyond repair.
I want to finish off both of them before that happens. …But if I activate my Gift here, it’ll stand out. The follow-up forces will arrive soon too. More importantly, I can’t rule out the possibility that they’re communicating somehow.
I don’t want to reveal my power. Not to either country.
So what do I do?
“Alright, decided! I’ll beat you two down with brute force!”
“!”
A byproduct of my Gift. Or perhaps a unique ability of my existence.
The power to rapidly permeate mana into flesh and matter, strengthening them. I’ll use this to its fullest, seriously enhancing everything from my entire body to the sword tip.
“Pray.”
I instantly closed the distance and swung my bastard sword.
“‘Pressure Strike’…?!”
Sword and iron ball clashed, and a thunderous roar echoed.
My super-enhancement versus his skill. Apparently they were evenly matched, as both weapons stopped with creaking sounds without breaking.
No, seriously strong, aren’t you. I was being serious just now.
“Wh-what…?! You have some kind of Gift, don’t you…?!”
The morning star’s handle appears to be made from the sturdy leg of an insect-type monster. If it had been ordinary wood, I could have snapped it, but this is troublesome.
“Pietro! What are you taking so long for?!”
“This fellow is dangerous! I might be overpowered…!”
“What…?!”
“Don’t interfere! You’d be killed in an instant…!”
Now then. When his Iron Wall runs out, this stalemate will end too.
Then I’ll cut you down along with your weapon.
Don’t worry. While you’re dying, I’ll hold your hand and recite holy verses. I’m pretty good at it. It’s quite well-received.
“Michelle, retreat… retreat! This is bad!”
“! Yes, understood! I’ve completed the mission! There’s no problem!”
“You think I’ll let you escape? I’m going to bury your corpses and fix the rut. Don’t go off on your own.”
His Iron Wall should be wearing off soon. Even if you run, I won’t let you escape. Now pray to your god.
“Ooooh! ‘Wax Wing’!”
“Whoa?!”
Just when I thought it was almost over, massive white wings emerged from Pietro’s back.
Glossy white wings. They looked like they were made of wax as they flapped smoothly… and wind blew my body backward.
“Tch.”
I certainly have strength, but I’m weak against techniques that lift the body like this.
Damn, he’s created distance…
“My Gift ‘Wax Wing’ can only flap toward the direction of the sun… but now is precisely the perfect opportunity for retreat!”
“Toward the morning sunlight shining on our homeland—retreat! Pietro!”
Before I knew it, Pietro was floating in the air, holding Sister Michelle in his arms.
Damn, at this rate they’ll fly away and escape…!
“Farewell!”
“Until we meet again!”
“Hey wait! Stay and play with me a little longer!”
I grabbed a brick from the collapsed rut and threw it toward the sky.
“‘Muddy Current’!”
“Uwah?!”
But it was intercepted by magic.
Massive water generated from the sky caught the brick and came pouring down on me.
I somehow avoided the water, and… while I was doing that, the two moved above the forest and kept getting further away.
This is… I could probably finish them off if I used my Gift, but it’s impossible to do my best as I am now. Besides, other wagons will arrive soon. I don’t want them to see me activate my Gift… and I have to repair the water-soaked rut too.
They escaped, huh.
…Well, they probably got worn down too, and I don’t think they’ll do sabotage work elsewhere. I can assume they’ll retreat as they said. In that case, well, I’ll let them go. There’s no particular reason to be desperate to finish them off.
But I’ll remember your faces and names. Michelle and Pietro, right? I’ll draw some nice portraits and spread word of your existence. I’ll expose your Gifts completely too. I’ll make it so you can never take a stroll through Harpelia’s territory again.
“Hey, what happened?!”
As I gazed at the sun rising from beyond the forest, new wagons and logistics units arrived.
…Well, I have to explain the situation and do repair work. It’s troublesome, but it can’t be helped.
No, I should think it was good that I was the one who encountered them.
If a party full of ordinary Bronze ranks had been attacked, it would have been quite tragic.
Thinking about it that way makes me feel a little better.
…But still, I really should carry proper projectiles more carefully. I’ll definitely reflect on that properly.
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