We had ventured deep into the Roden Great Forest.
As we sprinted, weaving between the trees, a bizarre mana suddenly swelled, pricking at our skin. An instant later, a horde of ghouls burst into view.
"Leticia, you and I will carve open the front line. We'll buy Char time to construct her spell."
"...Understood."
Though she looked momentarily displeased, Leticia quickly grasped the situation. She knew this was a scenario far better suited for magic.
"O sacred golden sword of mine—Aureus Regalia—Activate!"
Enveloped in dazzling light, the Aureus deployed.
At the same time, I readied my sword in my right hand and my staff in my left.
"Let's go."
"Right!"
Kicking off the ground, the two of us plunged into the horde together. Leticia's Aureus mowed down the ghouls charging at the vanguard in a single sweep.
As expected of Leticia.
Slipping through the opening created by that blow, I drove further in. I severed the head of one with the sword in my right hand and slashed through the legs of another on the backswing. When an arm lunged from my blind spot, I aimed the staff in my left hand.
"—Fireball."
The blast blew straight through the ghoul's head, exploding and engulfing several others behind it. Yet no matter how many we cut down, the horde kept surging forward.
"Three on the right!"
"I see them!"
Leticia swung her Aureus, cleaving all three in two with a single breath. When I pinned another slipping past her flank with ice, her blade instantly took its head.
No words were needed. I locked down their movements with magic, and Leticia finished them with steel.
Covering each other's blind spots as we pushed back the wave of ghouls, a massive surge of mana gathered behind us.
"Both of you, I am ready."
At the sound of Char's dignified voice, the temperature in the forest plummeted. Immediately after Leticia and I broke away from the front line—
"—Engulf, Glaciel."
A deluge of ice erupted from the earth, crashing over the horde like a tsunami. Countless ghouls froze solid before they could even raise a death rattle, leaving behind a world of pure silver.
"Incredible..."
"As expected of Char."
Sheathing my sword and lowering my staff, we regrouped with her.
"See? It really is better when the staff and the sword work together."
Turning back to the two of them, I gestured toward the frozen horde.
"The sword carves through the front line, buying time for the mage to complete a large-scale spell. If it had just been swords, we would have exhausted ourselves before finishing off this many. If it had just been staves, they might have closed the distance before the spell could even be formed."
Rather than choosing one over the other, each compensates for what the other lacks. That way, we can unleash maximum power with minimal exhaustion.
"It doesn't matter which is superior, the staff or the sword. It was precisely because we fought side by side that we achieved this. The battle just now is proof of that."
"...For this particular instance, I cannot deny it."
"Yes. If the vanguard is as exceptional as Leon-san, I believe it is not a bad way to fight."
Both of them conceded that much, but...
"I am an exceptional vanguard too, you know!"
"I am an exceptional mage as well. Please do not get ahead of yourself."
"Excuse me?"
"What is it?"
Watching the two of them glare at each other again, I let out a soft sigh. Even so, neither of them had rejected my words.
A long history of conflict, and their pride as high nobility. Human emotions were not simple enough to be settled purely by reason. I didn't expect a single battle together to change everything. Even so, today they had learned what it meant for the staff and sword to stand together.
If we kept building on these small steps, the way they looked at each other would surely change in time.
"Even so..."
"Indeed..."
Leticia and Char both fixed me with intense stares.
"What's wrong?"
"To truly use a sword and magic at the same time... just how versatile are you?"
"I already knew your magical talent was splendid. But to display such swordsmanship on top of that..."
"You were just thinking he's more suited for the sword, weren't you?"
"N-No, I was not! Even you must have thought it a waste to limit him strictly to the blade after witnessing such tremendous magic!"
"Urgh... That's..."
Both fell silent, looking at me with conflicted expressions.
"I hate to admit it, but making Leon dedicate himself to just one might actually be impossible..."
"Yes. Forcing him to choose one would mean casting aside an extraordinary talent in the other. To Leon-san, the sword and magic are likely not separate disciplines. They influence and elevate each other."
For the first time, their opinions aligned, and a smile broke across my face.
"Oh! You finally understand!"
"However, if you must choose a primary focus, it should be the sword."
"No, naturally it should be magic."
"What did you say?"
"Excuse me?"
...It seemed the road to true mutual understanding was still a long one.
"—Hey now. Those were our marks. What's with the kill-stealing?"
Suddenly, a man's voice cut through the forest.
A trio of adventurers emerged from the trees. Judging by their gear, every one of them was a swordsman.
"There were too many to leave unchecked, so we handled them ourselves."
"We were tracking that pack down. You think we're just gonna walk away happy when we finally catch up only to find everything frozen solid?"
"If you're after the proof of subjugation and the bounty, you're welcome to take them."
I offered the compromise to settle things peacefully, but the man at the front clicked his tongue in irritation.
"It ain't about the coin. A mage went and snatched the prey we swordsmen were supposed to bring down. That's what pisses me off. This is a matter of pride."
"What an utterly selfish excuse," Char interjected, her voice icy. "If you wish to claim the right to a subjugation, you should at least arrive on the battlefield in time."
"...What did you say?"
"Did you not hear me? Or is it an issue with your comprehension?"
"Char, that's enough."
The man's hand dropped toward the hilt of his blade.
I stepped between them, cutting off his line of sight.
"Hm? A staff and a sword...?"
The man's gaze bounced between the weapons at my waist.
"What are you... a mage or a swordsman? Which is it?"
"Both."
"Ha. Trying to have it all just makes you a half-assed nobody who's neither here nor there. What is this, a joke? Or are you just looking for a creative way to get killed?"
Behind me, the tension in Leticia's and Char's presence spiked.
I raised a hand to hold them back.
It seemed this wasn't just a petty squabble over monster kills. The rift between the staff and the sword ran deep—not just between the Knight Order and the Mage Order, but all the way down through the ranks of adventurers.
"—Then why not test it?"
The man raised an eyebrow.
"Test whether I'm a half-assed nobody with that sword of yours."
"Interesting. So it's a duel between representatives, is it?"
The man flashed a feral grin and drew his blade.
"If I win, you make that mage take back what she said. With a sincere apology, too."
"Fine by me. But if I win, you take back calling it a kill steal."
"Yeah, fine. If you can actually beat me, that is."
I drew my sword, rolling my wrist to let the blade spin lightly in my grip.
Across from me, the man's sword tip never wavered, his center of gravity rock-solid. Beneath that effortless, relaxed stance lay half a dozen disguised opening moves.
"Hey, half-ass. You sure you don't need that staff?"
"I'll use it if the situation calls for it."
"Hmph... Look at you looking down on me. Fine then, I'll carve the terror of a real blade into a foolish dabbler like you, just like you asked."
"I'm looking forward to it."
The smile tugging at my lips deepened.
—Good. This is good.
It wasn't just bluster. He was genuinely skilled.
The moment I realized that, a spark of heat ignited deep in my chest.
What kind of sword does this man wield?
How much of what I've never seen will he show me?
I wanted to know. I wanted to see more.
Every extraneous thought fell away until all that remained in my vision was the man and his steel.
I didn't need to hide my strength anymore.
For this moment alone, I would lay everything bare—and simply cross swords with him.
"Good grief... He really should have known better."
"A frog in a well knows nothing of the great ocean. He, too, ought to learn the terror of a true genius for once. More importantly, look. Leon-san's habit has surfaced."
"Ah. That little trick where he twirls his sword in his hand? Don't tell me he does that with his staff, too?"
"Yes. He twirls his staff just as skillfully. It is likely his way of shifting his focus."
"So it's the same whether it's a staff or a blade. Well, let's just stay back and watch."
"Agreed. Opportunities to watch Leon-san fight are rare. It will certainly be educational."
The two were murmuring behind me, but their voices sounded distant now, fading into background noise.
All that registered in my mind was the man's stance, his breath, and the faint tremor at the tip of his blade.
A single leaf drifted down between us.
The instant it brushed the forest floor, the man and I lunged forward together.