As he checked the number of men around him, he suddenly spotted two eyesores.
“…Hey, at least take care of the kids first.”
“I’ll do it.”
At the boss’s order, a burly man stepped forward and headed towards Oswald and the others.
“……!“
Without much emotion, the man stepped up to the easy job and brandished a cheap… mass-produced sword.
“Duh!“
“–”
Bernardo, who turned around, made a quick decision.
There was no hesitation.
Hidden in the sleeves of his hands were two dark weapons.
Hidden crossbows.
One was used during his entry.
Now, it was time to use the other.
“What? Gah!“
A small arrow pierces the man’s face as he swung his sword at Oswald and Lana.
“Oh, Grandpa!“
“Beru Ji-”
Lana’s cry of joy was broken by the sound of Bernardo’s voice calling out to her.
“Are you all right?”
“……”
His usual smile.
Bernardo’s gentle expression illuminated by the moonlight.
From his belly pierced a blade that gleamed—– under the moonlight.
“Grandpa!!”
Oswald wailed.
Bernardo’s fighting style was calculative.
Even though he was a martial arts master, Bernardo was an ordinary man.
He could not afford to give his opponents too much leeway, especially when there were multiple of them. He gained a last-minute advantage by adapting to his opponent’s movements and positions.
His strategy was something that needed constant and steady effort from him.
He moved so that his back would not be exposed, sometimes used desks and chairs to reduce the number of opponents he had, so that he would not have to take all of his opponents at once.
But if the wheels of his carefully manipulated game get a little out of gear….
“Gg….. ngh!“
“Ji?!”
He threw a roundhouse kick at the man who pierced his abdomen.
It was powerful.
It was not the kind of force that was wielded by a man who was carefully calculating his remaining strength, but the kind of force that a man squeezed out…. when he wanted to use every last ounce of his strength in the time he had left.
“Beru Ji… Beru Ji…”
Tears streamed down Lana’s face.
They kept dripping, no matter how many times she wiped them away.
“……”
He was speechless.
The pale Oswald just wanted all this to be a dream.
“HAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
With no energy left to evade, Bernardo was hit by slash after slash.
Warm, raw blood splashed.
“Hu, hu, hu…”
“What the hell is this guy….?! Why aren’t you dying……?!“
But with each wound, Bernardo’s strength grew.
Steadily, but certainly.
He burnt what little life he had left and turned it into power.
“Damn… Come on, you bastards! Don’t be afraid…!”
The door blew open.
All eyes turned towards that direction.
“……”
“Oh… Gerald-kun… My son’s here….”
Bernardo let go and collapsed at the arrival of Gerald, who had the bodies of the organization’s men in both hands.
“……”
“……”
A look was exchanged.
A look of entrustment.
A look that passed a duty on.
No words were spoken, and their eyes only met for a second.