"HERE!"
As the sword was coming down, I turned to see the sword had been slid towards me, I grabbed it and held it horizontally, as soon as his sword came down I tilted my blade to match the direction of his slash, angling it so that it struck the ground next to me. In that second his blade struck the ground, I followed through with a horizontal strike and hit his neck. It was too shallow, he staggered backwards gripping his neck, I quickly flipped onto my chest and pushed with my arms towards him. I spun to the right while falling again and struck his leg, My blade clashed with bone but my mastery wasn't high enough to cut through. I yanked out the blade with difficulty and as soon he was about to fall again I used the ground as leverage and placed my sword directly under him, The blade finally pierced through fully, only to allow him one last breath before his death.
I pushed him off of my sword and pulled it out. Using it as a makeshift cane, I managed to stand up. I went over and picked up my sheath, looking around I could not see the little girl. This was an otome game so its most likely she's who I think it is. This is count Avion's territory, so by game standards...
"You are safe now, Lady Avion"
She popped her head out, red hair and red eyes to match her fiery temperament.
"I-Is it safe? I MEAN, OF COURSE, Well done on beating the criminals here, I was busy scouting the area to make sure it was safe. I was not hiding at all, you hear!?"
Great, A tsundere, It's my fault, I should have expected this.
"Of course and I dare not forget the help you granted me when you passed me my sword"
If she hadn't helped me then, I may have died, So I was grateful.
"Right! It's good you understand, I shall permit you to tell me your name"
"Victor Kin, I have arrived from the territory of Viscount Kin that is placed to the east of the central empire"
"I See"
"YOUNG MISS!"
The clattering of horse hooves could be heard from the distance quickly closing in.
They finally closed in, I could feel hands wrap grab my arms.
"Detain him...Young lady are you okay?"
"I am fine, these thugs weren't that scary"
"As expected of the young lady, you're as brave as your mother in battle"
"Of course, that young boy over there helped me, so unhand him"
"This boy?"
"Victor...My name is Victor"
"Right...Victor. Are you sure young miss?"
"Since when did you start to doubt my words, Lancer?"
"Never, Young miss, unhand the boy!"
The men behind let go of me.
"You have my thanks, boy...Victor"
"Right right, no worries...-"
At that moment I suddenly felt light-headed, the adrenalin seemed to have worn out and my body finally gave in to the fatigue. Everything went dark.
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I woke up, bandaged again. I was starting to get used to this routine. I looked around, this time there was no Sebastian, in his place was my mother's sword. I slowly got out of bed.
"Ah I see you are up"
A maid with dark blue hair and blue eyes, wearing glasses came into the room.
"If you are feeling better, please wear your clothes, the Lord requests your presence"
I was currently in my underwear, so I quickly changed into the fresh set of clothes placed next to me.
It was matching the black suit Sebastian had been wearing. So they really sold me off to some other family on the pretence of becoming used to the world?
It annoyed me to no end, angered me but I didn't have any way to change my fate as of right now.
I walked out of the room after wearing the clothes and equipping my sword, I was greeted by the maid who was waiting in the hallway.
"Right this way"
I was led into the main hall, where who I presume was Lord Avion, was sat on what seemed akin to a throne. He was an old man with a muscular stature wearing a deep red robe with white clothing underneath.
"You have my gratitude for saving my daughter"
"I'm grateful for your words"
"However! I have been told that you had caused the carriage to crash, placing the life of Fion in danger...Why should you still be left alive for it?"
His words angered me to some extent. There is a reason behind it, however, it still caused anger to rise within my body.
"As I was competent enough to not let her be taken away, unlike your knights"
"Ha! Insolence! I would have had your head removed had it not been for my daughter wishing for an attendant, I heard you only recently awakened, untalented yet arrogant, let me warn you of this, should anything happen to her during this you will have to cope surviving without a head"
"Understood"
"Lead him to his room"
I followed behind the maid once again.
The home of the Avion family was quite large but that's what you would expect from a count.
"You have to come to the yard to train at least 1 hour a day in the morning, it's mandatory for you to in peak condition to maintain the young miss's safety,"
She pointed towards an open yard that was similar to the one at my home but much larger.
"What exactly are my duties?"
"Your parents haven't told you?"
"I was told that I would be an attendant to the young lady"
"Well that isn't incorrect but it would be more accurate to say, bodyguard, she has a female attendant to pay attention to her needs, what she needs most, however, is someone to protect her life while she goes out on one of her 'adventures'"
"Oh? Then why not hire someone older and stronger than her?"
"It may not seem like it but the Lord dotes on his daughter quite a lot, she is quite lonely without her only friend who is only able to visit her at certain times or vice versa, Young miss isn't always able to visit her, the lord wanted someone her age to keep her company, safe and The Lady had a friend, Your mother-..."
"Step!...Step Mother"
It felt like Victor made me say that but I knew that was impossible since he no longer existed, had the memories started influencing me?
"...Your Stepmother suggested your name in taking the job...Also, you have gained the Young Miss's approval, your actions against those bandits had impressed her, 'nothing like his age' or she says"
Hmm, I sometimes forget that I am meant to be 9 years old, should I act my age? No, that would hurt me mentally pretending to be a child.
"We are here, your carriage had arrived before you so your luggage is inside"
"I see, thank you"
I opened the room, It was a decently sized room with a bathroom. It seems my assumption that I'd be living in the storage or something was wrong.
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[Lord Avion- Point Of View]
Show me the file Marcus
"Here, my lord"
The file was handed to me quickly by Marcus.
On top of it read the name
[Victor Kin]
"Second Step of Sword Mastery? With his age, I suppose that it's slightly above average, in some places I guess you could call him a prodigy but only 100 points in mana? Disappointing. Marcus and what of Lancer's Statement?"
"He says that when he arrived, there were sword injuries on two of the bodies, so the boy had a hand in killing two, step 4 Swordmasters, the carriage was also destroyed as per the young misses statement"
"Do you really believe basic strengthening, even if a stronger version, would be able to cause such a heavy and large carriage to crash?"
"It is absurd, Lord, and nearly impossible with 100 units of mana, maybe the Young miss didn't witness the even correctly, she is only 9 after all"
"She is only 9...So is he, yet he took the lives of 2 people...Interesting."
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[Victor-Point of View]
I was awoken by a constant blaring in my head, the time was only 5:30 in the morning, the day/night cycle was the same.
I opened my eyes to be met with something that was the same as the notifications in-game.
[Congratulations On Completing A Side-Quest]
[Save The Count's Daughter-Fion]