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First of all, I"ll deliver a slash from above to see check the situation.
Of course, with my meager strength, the power of the sword won"t be that much. However, if I"m able to slip in the L part blade of the sword to his head, there"s no doubt that he would be in trouble.
However, the man easily blocked the attack with his shield.

Because of the recoil, I fell down, it seems like he"s using the stance of Strong Style. It"s a counter type tactic that has a strong emphasis on defense.
That"s probably his way of fighting.
After deflecting his attack, I immediately made a back step.
However, following my back step, he aimed to attack me the moment I land. Of course, I was also prepared to counter that.

And so I received his attack, at the same time countered.
The man was using solid defensive style despite to compensate for his lack in power, and it"s quite a challenge to breakthrough.
　My feint attacks and yarn attacks were also blocked, so it"s not really a match that I could let my guard off.

Adding to that, there is a big disadvantage with the current me.
No matter how much training and experience I"ve had, my current body is that of a child. My body also doesn"t have that much endurance to continue fighting for a long time. If this ends up in a battle of endurance, then I will have no way to win.
If things ended up badly, even Finia might get caught up in this situation if she ever finds me. The goal of the current battle is to end it as fast as possible.

Nevertheless, my current opponent is a defender type. If it"s only about running away then I will definitely be able to, however I can"t run away with the current situation at hand. If I run away now, other children"s lives would be endangered.

「What"s wrong, getting tired already? What happened to that momentum of yours! 」　
「Seriously, this is really quite an unpleasant opponent!」

The man was definitely provoking me. After all if I get provoked then I would play by the opponent"s hand.

In order to overcome the current situation, I need to at least be able to bind his feet with string. That is if I could deceive him.
It seems like he also understood a bit about this ability. Perhaps he was able to understand it after seeing the other two getting disposed of.

「You too, it seems like you were quite careful in even when faced against a child」
「Are you talking about me being equipped? Well, let"s just say that I a.s.suming that you were able to call the guards. Apparently, it seems like you were not able to so I feel relieved.」
「I will definitely call them first from now on!」

It is exactly as the man said, however I ran out of time to do so, that"s why it couldn"t be helped.
After a continuous a.s.sault, I stopped the clash and a breath for a bit. However, the man was not as naïve enough to let this opportunity go. After lowering his stance, the man rebuilds his posture and like skating on the ground moves to chase after me.
　At this moment, I also stopped my movement and went to poke him instead.

「Tsk, you are too persistent!」
「That is what I"m proud of after all」

It"s really annoying to fight this kind of battle, so I show him a bleee~ to annoy him. I don"t really need to do any big attacks, however it would still be more taxing for a defender even if I just send some feints. I don"t see him a warrior who fights directly after all.

「Even though you were quite skilled, why are you doing things like this!」
「Of course it would be for money. Elves are quite high priced after because of their beauty. They have also many uses other than just being sacrificed.」
「You disgusting *******――」
「You are not an elf, but you are quite amazing yourself. Selling you definitely could be sold for quite a hefty price too !」

So that"s why he"s precisely aiming at disabling me, he was probably considering to turn me into merchandise.
Well he probably wasn"t expecting that I would be able to get rid of his two comrades.
　However, my advantage is also become unstable. My knees are starting to shake from fatigue. My stamina is also reaching a really dangerous level at the moment.

Then something happened that even made the situation more confusing.

「Nicole-chan!?」
「Mich.e.l.le-chan? Why are you here!」

Suddenly, Mich.e.l.le-chan appeared in the storehouse. She was carrying a bow and quiver, but she"s not wearing her usual hunting gear. She"s probably carrying her weapon only for self defence.

「After returning home I immediately search for Nicole-chan…… but what is this?」
「Kidnapping! Hurry, let the guards know!」
「U, un!」
「Oops, if you try to run away, then the life of this will also be gone」
「Eehh!?」

Mich.e.l.le-chan stops after hearing the man"s words.
That man will definitely do it, and then my hard work would also be for nothing. Understanding the current situation, it was not a surprise that she was not able to proceed.

However, if she stays here, I would also be troubled. It would be much easier if she escapes and call the guards as soon as possible.

But the man also understands the situation. He immediately approached the carriage and breaks after putting down his sword. Right then one of the timbers fell and broke in half revealing a fainted girl from inside it.

It was definitely and Elven child seeing their distinctive sharp ears. Moreover, her hair was like golden threads, definitely a beautiful girl――well, it was a beautiful little girl.

「It might take some time to get rid of that kid, however stabbing the ones over here would be much easier to do even if they were inside of these wooden caskets」
「Wha――」
「Stop it!」

This is bad, hostages have been completely seized.
If either of us runs away, hostages will definitely be killed. The hostage girls definitely have also seen the man"s face so he will definitely get rid of them. As expected, with the current situation at hand, there"s no choice but to try and defeat this man on our own.

「There"s no choice but beat him. Mich.e.l.le-chan, let"s do this!」
「U, un!」

With my encouragement, Mich.e.l.le-chan also prepares herself and loads her bow. The problem is with her current weapon, she won"t be able to pierce through that man"s defenses. The arrow she released was easily deflected by his shield. The steel shield was probably enchanted by something, that"s why it couldn"t be penetrated that easily. But well, keeping him busy might give me a chance to change the situation so I would like her to keep it up for the time being……

「Crimson一、Ultramarine……」
「As if I"d let you!」
「Guh――!」

While hiding from the shadow of the shield, he managed to stop me from chanting by quickly closing in but I was able to avoid. However the magic power that I was processing also dispersed.
After that the man chased Mich.e.l.le-chan while making sure that he doesn"t move too far away from the hostages. I won"t be able to do anything if he continues to stay in that position.

There were four large timber loaded in the carriage. a.s.suming that all of them were loaded with children, that makes his hostage count to 4.
I do have the option of abandoning them. However, if I abandon those children, my ambition to become a hero will be completely shattered.

Although we were now on a bit of an advantage with Mich.e.l.le-chan adding to the combat force, it doesn"t improve the situation at all. My body was also starting to reach exhaustion. With my current state, I could barely dodge the sword attacks aimed at me. My breath is haggard and my vision is also starting to fade. My limit――it"s definitely close to breaking point.

I could only clench my teeth and maintain the current status of the fight, but I still couldn"t find a way to break this situation. In cases like this, Cortina would probably know what will be the best way to deal with the current situation――

And finally my limit has been reached. When I attempted to evade an attack that I thought I could. My movement shifted differently from what I am supposed to do. I did manage to not get hit in a vital part, but the sword reaches my upper arm and blood splashes around.

「Kuuh!」
「Nicole-chan!?」

The damage was not that deep. But bleeding accelerates fatigue and the pain would definitely hinder my concentration.
If only one the girls wake up, then there will be a chance to change this situation.

「Not, yet…… I"m not giving up yet!」

　In order to inspire myself, I shouted as I slashed back at the man. It was the start of a hopeless struggle.