I'm Looking for the Male Lead for the Ending - Chapter 43
Chapter 22.2
Perideline, who had stopped in her tracks, pulled out Betiborn, the sword she had received as a birthday present from her brother Estieren last year.
The blade, shining blue, glinted dangerously in the sunlight streaming through the dry branches. At the end of the sword’s hilt, a blue sapphire resembling her eyes was adorned. Though he gave her sword as a gift, Estieren’s words that she should never use it had long since been erased from her mind.
With a smirk painted on her lips, she looked back at Emma, who was staring at her anxiously.
“Don’t worry, Emma. If anything happens, I’ll defeat them all with Betiborn.”
She had only been properly learning swordsmanship for barely three years, and she had owned Betiborn for just one year. Despite being from a lineage that had produced numerous sword masters, Perideline indeed had talent in swordsmanship, though the problem lay in her overconfidence.
Emma’s expression turned stern at her master’s words.
“Don’t say such absurd things, Young Lady! If something happens, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it, so you must run away no matter what. Do you understand? Put that sword away quickly!”
“What are you talking about? How can Emma…”
At that moment, the sound of a dry tree branch breaking underfoot reached Perideline’s ears.
“Who’s there?!
Instinctively, she turned towards the direction of the noise and firmly gripped her sword. The forest was eerily dark and quiet. Perideline’s hand, gripping the sword’s hilt, tensed up.
Emma’s voice quivered with fear.
“Y-Young Lady…”
“It would be better if you came out if you have good intentions!”
As Perideline strained her stomach and shouted in a lower voice, figures began to emerge one by one from the darkness, accompanied by the sound of crunching, dry branches being stepped on. Each one of them wore a mask.
‘…Were they aiming for us from the beginning?’
As the thought of how long they had been following her crossed her mind, Perideline felt a lump form in her throat.
She quickly counted the figures that had appeared. There were five of them. The fact that she had only just noticed their presence indicated that they were quite skilled. Her mind grew grim as she pondered whether she could protect Emma from them.
“I never expected to encounter such an esteemed guest in a place like this.”
The masked assailants cackled as they closed in around them.
As cold sweat continued to trickle from her tense hands, she felt as though she might lose her grip on her sword at any moment.
At that moment, Emma, who was standing behind her, spoke in a small but firm voice.
“I-I’ll try to stop them. Young Lady, please run away.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. How are you going to stop those men?”
“I could at least trip them up and delay them. If the Young Lady gets hurt, I’m as good as dead anyway.”
“Don’t do something reckless.”
“Young Lady!”
“I think there are two more in front of us. We’re surrounded, Emma.”
It wasn’t a matter of accidentally stepping on a branch and being discovered, but they were revealing themselves now because they were ready. Perideline realized the difference in skill between herself and the attackers.
‘There are seven of them in total…’
One by one, the attackers drew their weapons from their pockets.
Perideline bit her lips as she saw the weapons. Only now did she recall what her brother had said when he gave Betiborn to her.
〈 If you want, I will give you a gift, but make sure you don’t have to use it. 〉
〈 I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, Brother. 〉
〈 It means it’s better to win without fighting than to win by fighting. Even if you win in a fight, sometimes what you lose can be greater than what you gain. 〉
At that time, she had wondered what that meant. If she won, she would gain experience and skill, so how could losing be greater than she gained?
“Young Lady…”
Perideline tightened her grip on the sword that kept slipping. If she were to lose Emma, who had taken her mother’s place when she died, then, as her brother had said, it would indeed be a greater loss.
Of course, in the current situation, she couldn’t even guarantee her own life.
“If you surrender quietly, you might be able to leave here safely.”
“Well, I don’t think we’ll be spared even if we surrender.”
The weapons they had drawn weren’t ones used in Arbonis. They were slightly longer than daggers, with curved blades resembling a crescent moon. If her memory serves her correctly, they were weapons used by the Elkar, the barbarian bordering Arbonis.
“It seems like the solution you can come up with after being subjugated by my brother was me? This is why barbarians are inevitable.”
“Let’s see if you can keep blabbering even after your stomach is pierced!”
The man standing closest to her became angry and rushed towards her at her sarcastic remarks.
Perideline deftly redirected the sword as it streaked toward her heart like a stream of water before the man’s eyes widened in bewilderment as her sword mercilessly pierced his throat. The sensation of bones being crushed, felt for the first time in her life, remained vividly in her hands.
As the man fell, blood pouring out, the remaining ones’ eyes turned fierce.
“Come. Kaisian will never surrender.”
At her words, the sound of clashes between blades once again echoed through the forest.
Please consider sending some love either through the translator’s Ko-fi or by leaving a rating/review for this series on novel updates~!