Zenovia stumbled, her eyes wide with shock, but she grit her teeth and smiled.
Because right behind her—Irina was charging with Hauteclaire! Her angel wings flared as she channeled a purifying holy aura into her blade. One touch from that sword could strip a warrior of their will to fight. Even Ewald Cristaldi had barely withstood its power.
Even for Maurice, a hit from Hauteclaire would be game over.
If it hit.
"Too obvious," Maurice muttered.
He thrust his sword forward. The tip of his blade met the very tip of Hauteclaire with surgical precision. With a twist of his wrist, he sent Irina's sword spinning out of her hands. It spiraled through the air before thudding into the ground meters away.
"No way?!" Irina gasped.
"Irina, your presence is leaking everywhere. Hiding behind Zenovia doesn't do you any good if I can feel your intent from a mile away. And as for you two—"
While he was talking to Irina, Kiba and Zenovia launched a synchronized assault. A storm of high-speed, high-power strikes rained down on Maurice from every conceivable angle.
And he parried every single one. With just two swords and zero flashy magic.
"Speed is a good tool for redirection," Maurice said calmly amidst the flurry of steel. "But you don't need to move all over the place to throw an opponent off."
In a flash, Maurice's body seemed to blur. Zenovia swung with everything she had—only for her blade to cut through empty air.
"What...?!"
"Over here." Maurice was standing calmly to her right.
To an observer, it looked like he'd just taken a simple step to the side. A basic, fundamental movement. And yet, Zenovia had completely lost track of him.
"Misdirection is about minimal footwork. It's about shifting the opponent's recognition. Though, I guess it would be easier if I could use actual illusions," Maurice joked.
Irina, having recovered her sword, swung down in a heavy vertical strike. Simultaneously, Kiba moved in to pin Maurice down.
"Kiba, hope you know how to break a fall," Maurice said.
"Wha—?!"
Maurice jammed one sword into the ground and stepped inside Kiba's reach. He grabbed Kiba's wrist, neutralizing his momentum, and swept his legs in one fluid motion. Kiba did a full rotation in the air before slamming into the dirt.
"Gah...!" Kiba groaned, the air knocked out of him. He scrambled back up immediately, creating distance, but the confusion on his face was palpable.
Maurice can't use magic. Aside from basic stuff like teleportation circles or long-distance comms, he's a zero. His mana capacity is low, and his aptitude is non-existent. Because of that, he had to master everything else: swordsmanship and martial arts.
"A swordsman shouldn't just train with a sword," Maurice lectured. "You need to be able to move according to the situation. If you can't fight without a weapon in your hand, you're a liability. You three need to work on your hand-to-hand. And also..."
Maurice's eyes locked onto Irina as he drew his sword from the ground.
Irina immediately brought her blade up to block an overhead strike. She could see it coming—a heavy blow from above.
Except... Maurice's blade was already resting against her ribs. He had stopped the edge just millimeters from her skin.
"How...?" Irina stammered. "I saw you swinging from above!"
Maurice smirked. "What you saw was an illusion created by my killing intent. The 'real' me was already mid-swing for a horizontal cut. If I hadn't stopped, you'd be in two pieces right now."
Control of killing intent (Sakki). Maurice could manipulate his presence to deceive the opponent's senses. He could make you "see" a strike that wasn't there, forcing a fatal misstep. It was a terrifyingly subtle technique.
Maurice sheathed his swords and looked at the group.
"Listen. Like old man Strada said, you lot rely way too much on the power of your Sacred Gears and your legendary swords. I'm not saying don't use them—they're your partners. Like these two are mine."
He patted the hilts of his plain, well-worn swords. They weren't Holy Swords like Durandal, nor Demon Swords like Gram. They were just high-quality steel passed down from his father. And yet, with them, he had just dismantled the wielders of legendary armaments.
"A weapon is a partner. You can rely on a partner, but if you rely on them too much, you're just putting the burden on them. You'll never reach the next level that way. You need to elevate yourself so you can actually draw out your partner's true potential. Do that, and you'll get a hell of a lot stronger."
Elevate yourself to draw out your partner...
Coming from him, the words carried immense weight. I'd seen the combat data for Strada and Cristaldi; even with mere replicas, they had performed miracles because their own base power was so high.
The members of the ORC and the Student Council nodded, deep in thought.
Maurice grinned at our expressions. "Well, I'll teach you what I can. Eventually, you'll be able to do this."
He drew one of his swords. The blade was suddenly enveloped in a dense, pressurized aura of sword-qi... and turned pitch black.
He gave the sword a light, casual flick.
CRRRAAAAACK.
The ground of the training field split perfectly in two.
The fissure raced from Maurice's feet all the way to the edge of the horizon, the cut as clean as if made by a laser. It went deep into the bedrock.
Maurice turned back with a refreshing, breezy smile. "You'll be able to do that much, at least."
""""NO WE WON'T!!!""""
The session ended.
The training field was currently a graveyard of "corpses"—the frontline members of the Gremory and Sitri peerages. Everyone who had participated was drenched in sweat, gasping for air, and barely able to stand.
Maurice, meanwhile, looked like he'd just finished a light stroll.
"Hahaha! Man, young people are so full of energy! It's great!" he beamed.
You're the one with all the energy! I thought. The "young people" are literally dying!
Kiba's legs were shaking so hard he looked like a newborn fawn.
"Ah... Tosca... I think this is the end for me..."
"Kiba?! Pull yourself together!" I shouted. "You're gonna leave Tosca-san behind?!"
"I can see... my old comrades... on the other side of the river... haha..."
"KIBAAAAA!"
He's broken! Don't cross that river, Kiba! Stay on this side!
Maurice had taken on every single melee fighter from both peerages (minus Alice and me) at once. Not a single person had even grazed him. They had been toyed with by his footwork, thrown by his hands, and terrified by his sheathed strikes.
Saji, looking like a discarded ragdoll, groaned. "Seriously... why are we always fighting these monstrous old men...?"
Even Saji in his Dragon King armor had been dismantled. His lines were cut, his cursed flames were snuffed out by pure sword pressure, and his armor had been sliced like paper.
The "Wizard Squad" who had been watching from the sidelines were speechless.
"It's just... absurd," Rias whispered.
"So this is the master of a swordsman from another world," Sona added, adjusting her glasses as she looked at her exhausted peerage. She turned to me. "Issei-kun, can I ask you something?"
"What's up?"
"Do you... have plans to make Maurice-san your servant? I'm curious about his status."
Everyone—the ones standing and the ones "dead" on the floor—turned to look at me.
It was a fair question. Maurice was top of my list for potential peerage members. But he had his duties to his Knights back in Ast Arde, so I wasn't sure he'd accept.
Well, no harm in asking.
"Old man, do you want to become my servant? Having you with us would be... well, 'reassuring' doesn't even cover it."
"Hmm? Oh, sure. Sounds good."
...He agreed. Just like that.
I was expecting a long, dramatic internal conflict. I'd prepared a whole speech for if he turned me down. This was... unexpectedly easy.
"Wait, for real?"
"What? Don't you want me?"
"I do! But what about the Knights? Is it okay for you to just leave?"
"Ah, that. It's fine. I was planning on stepping down as Captain soon anyway. If I stay in the seat forever, the kids below me won't ever get the experience they need to grow, right?"
He was actually planning on retiring?
"Besides, I've been feeling my age lately," Maurice added.
"In what universe?!" I yelled. You're a walking cheat code! If this is "failing health," then the rest of us are already in the grave!
"So, that's the deal," Maurice said.
"Who's taking over as Captain?"
"Adelheid. She's got the skill, the brains, and the leadership. She's top-tier. She'll do fine."
Adelheid Sylvas... I remember her. A master of the spear and the sword, and a brilliant fire mage. Aside from Maurice, she was easily the strongest in the Knights. She was also sharp as a tack—perfect for the political side of the job.
"There's still some paperwork to do," Maurice said. "I can't join you officially this second. I'll need to head back to the other world to wrap things up first."
"Then I'll go with you," I said, nodding.
I turned back to the rest of the group, who were still frozen in shock.
"So... uh, yeah. He said yes."
Silence.
Then—
"""""EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH?!"""""
Maurice joins the Peerage! Now, which piece will he be...?
-------------------------------
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