Fled Without Realizing I Had Prevented the Apocalypse

Stella Araxis.
Blue hair reminiscent of the vast sea, and eyes like sapphires set in her face.
Add to that, skin as if molded from white jade.
It seems she was quite a famous beauty in social circles.
Until she suddenly declared she would become a female knight and picked up a sword instead of a fan.
I heard she had been training for quite a long time.
I don’t know exactly how long she’s been training, but the fact that at her age she almost single-handedly subjugated a demon contractor clearly shows she has talent.
And usually, those with talent tend to have a screw loose somewhere.
But even so…
“A one-on-one fight?”
“Yes.”
The young lady nodded with a bright smile.
I let out a deep sigh and said,
“I’m asking just in case, but do you know what ‘one-on-one fight’ means?”
“Isn’t it fighting one-on-one between two people? I know it’s evolved to mean something like ‘let’s have a go at each other without rank in a specific place.'”
“Where did you… Haah…”
This isn’t vocabulary that should come out of a Count’s daughter’s mouth.
It’s wording you’d expect to hear from some street mercenary.
How on earth did the Count educate his child?
No, judging by the fact that there was never any such talk in the rumors, it seems she’s been hiding her true nature without being discovered by anyone so far…
I looked at the young lady while holding my throbbing head.
“So, what you want to put on the scales of the geas is having a go at me?”
“Yes, to be more precise, it would be correct to say I want to experience real combat.”
“If you want to experience real combat, why with me?”
At my question, the Araxis young lady made an expression as if she couldn’t understand my intentions at all.
“Is there anything more glorious than learning real combat from the Empire’s First Star and the one who completed the 17th generation of the Imperial Special Forces?”
“……”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the Araxis young lady.
This young lady knows more than I expected.
Of course, she doesn’t seem to know the really important secrets, but even that is one of the things known to be confidential.
“So, you want to receive personal instruction from me?”
“I suppose that’s what it amounts to.”
“Who calls that a one-on-one… Ah, never mind.”
I started to speak but gave up and turned my head.
In my experience, the possibility of a crazy person accepting normal common sense when taught is almost zero.

I’d rather teach a cow to stand on two legs.
“Well, that would certainly balance the scales.”
“Right?”
“Yeah.”
As I nodded, the Araxis young lady continued excitedly.
“Then let’s set an appointment as soon as possible. When would be good for you?”
“Let’s do it now.”
“Now?”
“Yeah, is it difficult? If it’s hard, we can call it off.”
The subjugation of the Grade 9 Contaminant. The situation where demon contractors hidden in the Count’s mansion were killed off.
Even if we try to prevent rumors from spreading, they will inevitably spread.
Given the distance, the likelihood of her coming to find me directly is slim, but it’s better to be cautious.
And…
I glanced at the Araxis young lady.
For some reason, when I look at the young lady in front of me, she reminds me of her.
Although her hair color and appearance are clearly different, her movements that I glimpsed and her attitude when dealing with people without wearing a mask…
She resembles Scarlet Frausia, the craziest woman I’ve ever seen.
Of course, there’s no way two such crazy women could exist in the world, but…

“Let’s do that.”
Watching the Araxis young lady, who had just told her parents she would rest well but was now ready to receive personal instruction without any regard for public opinion, I felt a slight chill run down my spine.

“Phew…”
In the forest where moonlight gently shone down, in the center of a clearing, Stella took a deep breath while holding the wooden sword she was familiar with.
Originally, they had planned to go to the training ground, but due to Kyle’s concern that going to the training ground at this late hour might be discovered by her father and mother, they moved to this location.
The feeling of grass under her feet with each step and the cool night breeze brushing against her cheeks.
“Come when you’re ready.”

Kyle’s voice signaling the start of the instruction to Stella, who had focused her mind.
However, despite thinking she was ready, Stella couldn’t advance.
‘I can’t see… any openings.’
Kyle Amillan.
The Empire’s First Star. The instructor who taught the 17th generation that showed exceptional talent even among the Imperial Special Forces. And now, a wanted man with a bounty of several hundred million, chased by the entire Empire.
Facing such a person, she didn’t think it would be easy.
No, rather, Stella had thought that even if she lost, she would learn as much as possible.
Moreover, she had learned quite a bit about swordsmanship and sparring.
Although her proficiency might not be perfect, she had confidence in her eye for observing opponents.
Eyes that could find the opponent’s openings and know when to strike.
Even her sword instructor had praised her eyes, so Stella had planned to make the most use of her eyes in this sparring, but…
‘I need to see something to go in…!’
She couldn’t see anything.
The openings she had seen in apprentice knights, formal knights, and even demon contractors were nowhere to be found in the man before her.
Kyle Amillan is known to handle swords.
But the fact that there are no openings visible even though he’s standing bare-handed without drawing his sword…
“If you don’t come, I’ll go.”

Stella was confused.
What cleared her confusion was Kyle.
More precisely, it was closer to forcibly waking her from her confusion.
Tap-!
Kyle’s figure approaching in just the blink of an eye.
At the same time, Stella reflexively swung her wooden sword at the incoming knife hand.
Tak!
The blade swung reflexively deflects Kyle’s knife hand.
However, Kyle, undeterred by his knife hand being deflected, dug in even more towards her.
“Ugh.”
While swords are also for close range, fists have the advantage at extremely close range.
The sword in her hand is too unwieldy to swing at such close quarters.

Kyle’s fist lightly touches Stella’s abdomen as she grimaces.
At the same time, a voice rings out.
“One.”
With those words, Kyle distances himself.
Confirming that Kyle had put distance between them, Stella let out the breath she had been holding.
Before starting the instructional sparring, Kyle had set two conditions for her.
He would not use any magic power at all, and if Stella allowed him to attack her ten times, the instructional sparring would end right there.
‘If you can’t even do that, it means you don’t have the ability to grasp opportunities in the first place.’
It’s okay to lack talent.
However, there’s nothing to give to those who want something that doesn’t match their talent.
With those words, Kyle started the sparring.
“You’re thinking too much. It seems you rely on your eyes for sparring, but it’s foolish to narrow down your given options to just one.”

Recalling the instruction Kyle had given, Stella took her stance again.
Then she charged forward, kicking off the ground.
The blunt blade in her hand flies towards Kyle’s head.
Kyle deflected her attack lightly, as if he had read it long ago.
‘I knew he would deflect it.’
But Stella didn’t end her attack.
She naturally incorporated the rebound from Kyle’s deflection into her sword.
A strike that came back after spinning a full circle.
It was a sword stroke that she thought wasn’t bad at all, but.
Whoosh-!
Pak.
She couldn’t help but be amazed when she saw Kyle ducking his head to avoid the sword swung after a full spin, and then immediately throwing a straight punch.
“Your response was good, but your basic speed is slow. If you were a mage-fighter handling magic power, you could have dodged and landed an attack.”
But you’re not using magic power.
Is that the speed of someone not using mana at all?
Stella’s eyes widened, but Kyle, unfazed, held up his second finger.
“Two.”
The moment that finger was raised, Stella gripped her sword tightly.
Somehow, she felt like her spirit was being chipped away each time those fingers were raised.
So she continued her sword attack immediately before Kyle could distance himself, but.
“Three.”
“Four.”
“Five.”
The only thing increasing was the number of raised fingers.
When the fingers had been raised to nine, Stella stopped her indiscriminate attacks and stood in place.
“Haa, haa…”
As she caught her breath, which had become labored from continuously maintaining the offensive, Kyle’s voice reached her.
“Now there’s one left.”

Kyle continued speaking as he watched Stella, who couldn’t even answer because she was catching her breath.
“This is advice I’m giving you because it’s the last one, but you’re wielding a sword that doesn’t match your achievements. Should I say your sword is too honest compared to what you’ve accomplished?”
“……”
“Rather, try entrusting everything to your instincts. Thrust your sword in the direction you think is right, without relying on existing forms.”
Well, I’ve only seen one person who could do that so far.
Watching Kyle mutter this, Stella closed her eyes.
The advice Kyle had given her so far flowed through her mind like water.
‘Don’t rely on vision. Don’t narrow down your options to one. Your basic speed is slow. Mix irregularity into the orthodox. Entrust everything to your instincts.’
Some of these were advice her master had given her, and the rest were pieces of advice she was hearing for the first time.
Stella organized her thoughts and immediately took her stance.
As Kyle had said, she had cleared all thoughts.

“This is crazy…”
I reflexively blurted out a curse.
At my feet, Stella had collapsed unconscious, holding a half-cut wooden sword.
The wooden sword that was cut at the end was because I used magic power to cut the sword with my knife hand.
I had agreed not to use magic power in this instructional sparring, but in this case, it was unavoidable.
If I hadn’t cut the sword and made her lose consciousness, she probably would have continued swinging her sword without any thought.
Such swordsmanship usually comes from instinct. It’s only possible if you have what’s called talent.
However, a sword that maintains reason within such instinct doesn’t come from mere talent.
At least at that age, it can only be inherited from someone.
And I knew well who wielded such a seemingly frenzied sword.
The Empire’s Second Star.
The Imperial Sword Master.
The stalker who constantly chases after me.
And now.
“Come out.”
The one staring intently at Stella and me from beyond that thicket.
“Huhu.”

Red eyes respond to my call.
At the same time, snow-white hair fluttered in the cool breeze.
“Since the day we parted, I’ve been eagerly waiting to meet you again.”
Scarlet Frausia.
She’s staring intently at me.
“My death.”