A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 1, Chapter 5: The Fugitive and a Twinkle of Talent

「 Yes, I acknowledge that. You’re right, I am Caria Burdnick. So, let’s finish the demon beast right now. Just watch me do it. 」

For Caria Burdnick, her name was something that she was not necessarily proud of.

In the aristocratic world, the surname Burdnick represents stigma.

Although the Burdnick House was one of the main aristocratic houses; during the Great War, it was the only House that didn’t engage in the war. There was chaos surrounding the absence of the family head, and thus, the Burdnick House was forced to take a large part of the responsibility caused by the war; this made them fall from the aristocratic class into the knight class.

Naturally, there are also prestigious families in the knight class. Marriage between the knight class and aristocracy is not uncommon. Therefore, the knight class itself is not stigmatized. However, there was no precedent of an aristocratic family downgrading into the knight class.

The downfall of the House of Burdnick. The loser Burdnick. The family name was mocked. From a young age, Caria Burdnick might be familiar with the feelings of those who are despised.

She is stuck to her family name. Stuck with that reputation, that meaningless strength. Not free to prove herself, only herself. It was the same in the Knight’s Order. Being unable to break this ill-fated chain. Nevertheless, she denied the fact that she had no power.

Therefore, she decided to acquire that power. She thought she must have it, and declared she would have it. Not only must the body be strong, but also the spirit, in order to avoid being surrounded by the unbreakable chain of misfortune. To overcome and succeed. She must have felt that even if she was miserable in her situation; if she didn’t have the will to overcome her fate, then nothing would ever change.

This person, a silver-haired girl, stands again in front of the demon beast. It must be intimidating to approach, because that beast defeated her sword skills before. Caria Burdnick felt a terrible shivering rising from the tips of her hands and feet, through her body.

「 …you mustn’t expose your apprehension. 」

I mutter that she would be able to overcome this obstacle. I don’t know where these words came from, but I’m having mixed feelings. Even so, Caria didn’t notice them.

It is an extremely difficult task to strike a demon in the exact moment. Nowadays, beating monsters like this would require traps or magic. However, fighting with a sword head to head with these beasts is something that no longer is heard of, belonging only to a knight’s tales.

Yet, Caria Burdnick ran forward to the demon beast that was spewing smoke from the whole body.

If she were an ordinary person, then it would’ve been different, but she’s not. “Because you are Caria Burdnick”, I certainly said that. I gave her a reason to fight, even though I was a stranger. By the way, I said her name but I was supposed to never have heard her name before. I was a random person who came here from somewhere. My appearance is a bit dubious, so no wonder she was suspicious of my nature.

But, she did hit that demon beast. Even though it was an unpredictable attack, she scratched that thing and I could see a scar.

I said she wouldn’t be able to do anything if she kept fighting sloppily like she was doing before.

She needs to lower her stance and cover as much ground as possible to get close to that beast. This is no longer an easy fight. This is no longer ordinary, but she needs to retain sanity at all costs. She needs to aim to the neck when an opening presents itself.

Compared to the common wild boar that its only ability is to strike forward, this large monster shows the dexterity of a much tougher opponent. It uses both fangs as if it were its own hands and feet, and attacks with precision. It certainly has a clear murder intent to kill its prey.

It clearly has a different murderous intent as opposed to human beings. I don’t mind paraphrasing that people possessed by evil sometimes resemble demons beasts. However, this thing is brutal, yet not evil, because the monster attacks with no conscience but with animal instincts, preying on the existence of vulnerable preys, in this case, in search of fragile humans.

She was failing to hit the monster, but still kept swinging her sword back and forth. If she lets this beast take its turn in attacking for real, she won’t have a chance to avoid it. She is trying her hardest but she continued missing the target several times. However, Caria is making amazing progress in her movement style, and her eyes are extremely focused on the beast’s fangs. Then, she dodged an attack from above, and got a chance to strike its jaw.

I’m holding my breath. On that instant, Caria was holding her sword tight; she swung her sword with all her might. The target was the monster’s jaw. The monster, however, was ready to strike back. On moments like these, she cannot be nervous or she’ll miss the opportunity. The overwhelming difference between the two, might overthrow Caria’s strength. It was a successful hit, but not enough to kill the beast.

One, two, three. Caria tried to keep the rhythm of her attack, and continued dodging the attacks of the monster. If she goes out of sync, she could die instantly. If the interval changes as well, she would die too. Besides, the enemy doesn’t want to give up and continues his series of furious attacks. Caria understood that if she misses the timing of one her dodges, she will immediately die. She needs to hold her physical strength, or else it will be meaningless. If she defeats this demon beast, the history of these events will spread. Nevertheless, until then, she needs to defeat this murderous beast, or she’ll continue to be the prey.

When she saw the perfect chance, Caria was able to land a critical hit without hesitating. I expected no less. The enemy is no longer as strong as he was before. The beast was exhausted and hurt, so it kept doing useless resistance. This is her opportunity to finish that thing.

One, two, three. One, two, three. Keep the rhythm. Don’t lose your interval. He will try to kill you on any moment, but you can’t afford to die here.

「One, two, three! 」

She took one-step back, and then she jumped. She didn’t make it, but that didn’t stop her. She jumped one more time and managed to land behind the beast. She started preparing to strike the monsters waist with her long sword. From that position, she took a long breath.

For a demon beast, trying to catch up to her movements seemed like trying to grasp shifting clouds. The beast much be thinking that the fragile human from before, was no longer an easy prey; the path to death could be near for the beast.

Perhaps that’s what the beast really perceives. Because on that moment, the beast made one last attempt to strike back.

That thing took a deadly stance, with the jaw going upright, pushing forward; it was ready to attack with intent to kill once and for all.

Instantly, I see a running “flash”. The silver-haired “flash” took the opportunity of the upright jaw of the demon beast, and pierced it right through its neck. It was in a blink. It was a unique sight. She moved so fast, it happened so fast, that no one in world would be able to see it.

In a few seconds, the surrounding area was painted in red. The large demon beast could not even make a single sound and died instantaneously. I am astonished. For a moment the beast had the advantage, but his desperate attack was full openings when it tried to strike back, and now it was standing on the ground, having lost its life.

The “prey”, who was supposed to have died instead, was standing victorious on the top of her predator, holding a sword soaked in blood. The demon beast was defeated.

After the beast fell down, I heard a peculiar laugh that did not sound anything like the voice of Caria Burdnick. She couldn’t express her emotions on that precisely moment. While laughing, tears were overflowing from her eyes.

Right now, her sword skills undoubtedly reached the “heavens”. She looked at both her hands and she was so happy that she couldn’t really believe it. However, that feeling was brief. The feeling of having killed a being with a single blow seemed like too much to bear. It was bitter and sad at the same time, and Caria Burdnick was laughing while crying.

After a moment of intense emotions, Caria finally stopped laughing, and then she proudly turned around looking happily, and gave me this look.

That’s right, I am indeed Caria Burdnick. It was just as you said it would happen. You are the first to witness my victory, so you should feel honored.

She is someone quite difficult to handle. In the beginning, Caria saw me as a man who was suspicious and shabby looking, not wanting to ask me a favor because of her pride. Yet, in this moment, she got a bit interested in me and showed me some respect.

Yes, she didn’t told me her name. Still, I knew her. She must be thinking who I am. Where do I come from. Who are my associates. Where did I learn the crucial information about these type of monsters. How do I know her name. Sure, there are many unanswered questions.

Caria looked at me and had a smile on her face.

There wasn’t anyone beside her, except the corpse of the demon beast.

Caria Burdnick’s smile was trembling, unable to control her overflowing emotions.