I Was Reincarnated as a Mob Noble, and I Swear I'll Protect the Villainess Who Got Married Off to Me No Matter What ~To Dodge Our Total Downfall, I Went All Out Training My Trash Skill [Super Recovery] Through Crazy Hard Work, and Before I Knew It, I Could Totally Wreck the Game Protagonist Who Condemned My Wife Easily - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Zenon Saves His Sword Saint Father in a Dire Crisis

[Sword Saint Baldo’s POV]

—

“Hah… no matter how much you bark, you can’t close the gap in our strength. Now then, Alfin, let’s resume the combat test!”

Leticia snapped her fingers.

At the same instant, Alfin vanished from right in front of me.

She’d moved into my blind spot—my crushed right eye side.

“Guh!?”

The moment I blocked Alfin’s slash with my sword, a shock slammed into me so hard it felt like the bones in both my arms were creaking.

Heavy.

So this… this is the power of a dragon?!

“Enchant—[Flame Emperor].”

Flames wrapped around Alfin’s blade.

She’d enchanted her sword with fire magic.

“Haha! Well? How’s the taste of Alfin’s magic sword—the one you dismissed as heresy?”

“Gah!?”

The heat traveled straight through the blade, mercilessly burning both my hands gripping it.

“She had such incredible talent for enchantment, you know. But you called it heresy… it broke her heart.”

Leticia laughed, like she was toying with me.

“All she wanted was to get stronger so her beloved father would finally acknowledge her. But that same father was too busy chasing after a promise to some princess he adored… never even thinking about his own daughter. And in the end, you crushed her talent. Heh… how pathetic.”

“You…!”

Damn that Leticia. While altering Alfin’s body and mind, she must’ve read her memories too.

She’d hit the mark—and it shook me.

More than anything… knowing Alfin had wanted my recognition filled me with a deep, bitter regret that twisted in my chest.

“But I’m different. I can draw out her talent to the absolute limit and make it grow. Look—doesn’t she shine beautifully now!?”

“Ghk!?”

The moment I lost my footing under the pressure, Alfin raised her left hand right in front of me.

Red magic gathered there.

At this distance… she was about to fire a wide-area annihilation spell point-blank.

“Forgive me, Alfin!”

I kicked my daughter in the stomach and used the recoil to leap back.

A split second later, the spot I’d been standing in was swallowed by a blazing fireball like the sun.

Cutting through the blast, two more swordsmen came at me from both sides.

“That sword style… Fritz and Gale!?”

From the faint quirks in their movements, I recognized them instantly.

My own disciples. I thought they’d vanished on the battlefield… died.

To think they’d been captured by this witch…

Like Alfin, they must’ve had some kind of beast factor implanted—their physical abilities were drastically enhanced. And with three of them attacking together, this was no small threat.

Worse still, these two were using magic as well.

Lightning burst at close range, numbing the hand holding my sword.

“Guh—!?”

Then Alfin’s blade, moving at near sonic speed, came crashing down.

I barely managed to deflect it on instinct.

But the heat from her enchanted blade scorched my hands again, pain shooting through them.

Damn it… that enchanted flame sword is trouble.

If I kept blocking, not only would my hands burn—my sword itself was starting to melt.

A few more exchanges, and it’d be destroyed.

So this is the way a magic swordsman fights… the very thing Alfin tried to convince me of…!

Back then, I brushed it off in irritation—said she was just copying someone like Boldo.

But… I never imagined it was this formidable.

“I’m sorry, Alfin… If only I’d listened, I could’ve nurtured this incredible talent of yours…!”

If I had… maybe she wouldn’t have lost to Boldo.

Maybe she’d still be by my side.

The same goes for Zenon.

I misjudged my son’s talent and his skills.

I’d only ever measured my children by my own standards.

If I’m given another chance… I want to face them properly this time. Talk to them.

“…Father.”

At that moment, tears spilled from Alfin’s eyes.

“Kill me… please…!”

With that desperate plea, she unleashed a barrage of explosive magic.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!!

I kicked off the ground and barely escaped the blast radius, rolling across the dirt.

“Alfin…!?”

Just now… she hesitated, even if only for a split second.

That hesitation let me dodge without a scratch.

So she hasn’t been completely brainwashed by Leticia…?

Then… if I defeat Leticia—

“Hm? Oh? I thought I’d completely crushed her original personality?”

Leticia tilted her head.

“Hehe… oh well. She is just an experimental subject, after all.”

She let out a strange laugh.

“If I can get my hands on Zenon, then even if Alfin breaks, it’s no big loss. That alone would make up for everything. I’m sure Boldo would be pleased in his grave too!”

“Y-you bastard…!”

I was being pushed entirely onto the defensive.

The three of them pressed me relentlessly with flawless coordination.

But I am the Sword Saint.

If I wanted to counterattack, I’d had chances.

…But I couldn’t cut them down…!

No matter how monstrous they’d become—they’re still my daughter… my disciples.

And Alfin, with tears streaming down her face… she’s asking me to save her.

I have to break through without hurting them… and cut down Leticia.

“…Even if it costs me my life, I’ll take you down!”

I clenched my teeth, steeling my resolve.

There was only one way—stop defending, endure their attacks, and charge straight at Leticia.

I’ll die.

But if it frees Alfin and the others… that’s enough.

The Greivan frontier count house will be fine.

After all… I have a dependable son who’ll carry on after me.

If Zenon and Alfin can stand side by side and support the family together… what greater joy could there be?

“…Lady Lydia… my vow ends here.”

I abandoned my oath to protect the kingdom.

My final strike in this life… would be for my daughter Alfin and my son Zenon.

“Zenon… I’m leaving the rest to you!”

I prepared myself and moved to charge at Leticia—

“Stop, Alfin!”

A shadow leapt in from the side and kicked Alfin away just as she raised her sword.

“Wha—Zenon!?”

The one who landed before me… was my son.

The sheer spring in his body, his speed—it was astonishing.

When did he become this strong?

Zenon held Lady Valeria in one arm, and a drawn sword in the other.

“Black Lightning!”

A jet-black bolt of lightning from Valeria forced Fritz and the others back.

Alfin, who’d been blown away, halted midair before landing. Dragon-like wings had sprouted from her back.

“Big sis Alfin… wow, you really went bold with that whole dragon-girl makeover…!”

Zenon raised his sword, stepping between us.

“Zenon! Alfin has been turned into Leticia’s pawn with magical drugs! Do not let your guard down!”

I warned him—unable to bear the thought of my children fighting each other, my body trembling with helplessness.

“It’s okay!”

But Zenon declared something unbelievable.

“I’ll bring big sis and my senior brothers back to their senses—all of them—with my Heal!”

“What?”

Leticia’s face twisted in disbelief.

“So you’re Zenon? I’ve heard reports about your [Miracle of Healing], but you really think something like that is possible?”

…Unfortunately, I agreed with her.

I couldn’t believe Leticia’s alchemy would be broken so easily…

Even if we defeated her, restoring Alfin and the others was a gamble.

“With my [Super Recovery]—I can fix them! If Saint Alicia could do it, then I can too!”

But Zenon shouted, cutting through my doubts completely.