I Became a Swordsmanship Instructor in a Romance Novel

“Captain, isn’t there something strange about these guys?”

The man with a giant greatsword on his shoulder frowned as he spoke.

Before the members of Lost Hope, Duke Eustia and Hela were kneeling, tied up with ropes.

When had they, the most powerful figures in the Duke’s family, ever been treated like this?

They could only glare at the Lost Hope members with eyes full of murderous intent.

“Eugh!!”

Duke Eustia opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out because of the dirty cloth stuffed down his throat.

“Hmm… Yeah, something’s off. It’s like… It feels dirty, like we’re dancing to someone’s tune.”

The man called Captain spoke suspiciously as well.

He clearly saw a believer’s head fly off from an attack from behind.

A while ago, a Faith Bishop was also found dead.

Such circumstances made him believe that the Eustia bastards were prepared with a way to pierce through the ‘barrier.’

When the barrier’s effects were gone, the position they were in just now, where they could pour out attacks unilaterally, was truly dangerous.

That was why they came to take care of Eustia faster than dealing with Julie who betrayed Lost Hope.

However, contrary to their expectations, these guys only had numbers and were too weak.

‘Those ridiculous traps too… Then what in the world happened to Julie?’

The Captain felt a throbbing headache coming on.

It felt like the plan they had prepared for a long time was going awry from the start.

He quickly cooled down his heated head and organized the situation.

First, Julie, who betrayed Lost Hope, took Madam’s ability.

That itself was nothing to worry about.

They had left Tullak behind as well. There was no way their Demon King would forgive an apostate for taking his power.

He would personally deliver judgment.

However, what couldn’t be ignored was the reason why Julie betrayed them and Madam’s death.

Especially Madam’s death, it was a painful loss.

Her role was to impart various teachings to the new bishops and to be their spiritual support.

A great star of Lost Hope was gone, all too suddenly.

‘That’s why I thought we could find out if we caught this bastard…’

But after catching him, he just went on a rampage and spouted nonsense, so he had to shut his mouth for now to make him realize his situation.

The Captain looked down at the bound Duke Eustia with cold eyes.

“Remove the thing from his mouth.”

At that, the shadow next to him roughly pulled the cloth from his mouth.

“Cough! *Gasp* *Gasp*— *Cough*!”

Duke Eustia coughed as he inhaled roughly.

As he was about to open his mouth to speak again, the Captain pressured him with his energy.

“If you spout nonsense from now on, I’ll kill you right away.”

At the Captain’s chilling threat, Duke Eustia glared at him intensely before averting his eyes.

“Say it again. What do you mean we attacked you?”

“Ugh. You bastards tried to kidnap my daughter, Iriel Eustia, twice, and you massacred the assassination squad! You even caused chaos at the Eustia Banquet. Are you saying our revenge is unjustified?!”

“Then the ones who attacked us from behind… and made Julie betray us…”

“Who’s Julie! I don’t know! I don’t know who that bastard shouting my name from behind was! Or who attacked you!”

The Captain’s brow furrowed.

‘It doesn’t seem like he’s lying…’

Gasp—

Gasp—

At that moment, a believer from behind the bishops spoke with a pale face.

“…Captain, Battle Bishop Tullak is critically injured.”

The faces of the bishops hardened in an instant.

“What…? Wait, explain in detail.”

“The believers were almost wiped out by a girl and the knights of the Yohaiden Duchy! It was the Yohaiden bastards, not Eustia!”

Duke Eustia’s eyes widened.

Hela also clenched her jaw from beside him.

“It was a trap by those damn Yohaiden bastards!!!!!”

“Wait, Your Excellency. Does that mean… Zeke Clayman is also in cahoots…”

“Shut up and stay out of this! The believers… the believers were annihilated? And Bishop Tullak is critically injured? Is the Yohaiden Duchy’s power that strong?”

The Captain’s tightly clenched fist trembled.

They had divided about 30% of their forces, including Tullak, to capture Julie.

All the believers were dead, and even Tullak was critically injured.

Indeed, unexpected things kept happening.

“The Yohaiden Duchy used swords that pierce through the barrier to take down one believer with multiple attackers. And… it was the apostate, Julie, and a girl who did that to Bishop Tullak… Bishop Tullak lost an arm and his stomach was pierced.”

“That apostate survived even after taking the Demon King’s power? And a girl?”

“Captain, I’ll go. I’ll bring back Bishop Tullak.”

The man with the greatsword on his back spoke in a stiff voice.

“No, stay put. We don’t know who else might get hurt if we go down now… This is a serious threat to Lost Hope…”

He closed his eyes and organized his thoughts.

After a brief moment, he opened his eyes.

“We… will summon the Demon King now.”

“….!”

The bishops looked at the Captain with surprised faces.

“C-Captain, the sacrifices are down there…?”

“Don’t we have sacrifices here as well? Duke Eustia, a little cooperation, please.”

At his words, Duke Eustia gulped.

***

Zeke Clayman, who was watching over Soi, jumped up the mountain.

He erased his presence from atop a tree and observed what the Lost Hope bastards were doing.

“They’re progressing faster than I thought. Did Duke Eustia cooperate?”

Duke Eustia was there, tied up with ropes and yelling his head off, and the surviving Eustia soldiers were carving drawings on their stomachs with knives at his command.

“Their damn deeds always disgust me, no matter how many times I see them.”

The thought of Soi down there briefly crossed his mind, but Zeke quickly brushed it off.

‘Soi will be fine. She can do it.’

He was pushing an ordinary bakery girl to kill without hesitation and putting her in mortal danger.

In a way, Zeke might be asking too much of Soi.

However, she was originally born with a near 100% chance of death.

That meant a 100% chance even with him by her side.

Someday, fate would come knocking when Zeke wasn’t around.

In order to avoid that near 100% chance of death, proper blossoming was essential.

In the end, it was up to her to overcome this.

‘What you’re going through from now on will be more painful than anything you’ve experienced before, but endure it, Soi. I want you to live, even if you become a demon covered in blood.’

Of course, part of it was because she was the female protagonist, but…

He didn’t want her to be sacrificed to that damn fate.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to keep watching over Soi from the sidelines, but Zeke had to stop the Demon King.

“Phew… It’s been a while since I’ve had a good workout.”

Currently,

He had killed one bishop.

Julie had killed one bishop.

And Soi had killed far more of Lost Hope’s believers.

‘It would be nice if Julie could take out that Tullak bastard, but he’s more likely to die at Soi’s hands.’

Zeke nodded.

‘Alright then. To meet the conditions of the adversary, ‘to kill overwhelmingly more members of Lost Hope than anyone else,’ everyone is still far behind. First, I’ll take care of the Demon King who will be summoned here without any power bestowed upon him. And then, I’ll wipe out the rest of the Lost Hope bastards.’

***

The soldiers of Eustia, following the Duke’s orders, were kneeling on the ground, having carved the mark of sacrifice onto their own bodies.

“I-If we do this, you’re really going to let us live…?”

A Eustia soldier asked the Lost Hope member in front of him with a terrified voice.

Duke Eustia had told them to carve a strange drawing on their bodies with their own swords, claiming it was the only way to survive.

The soldiers had long since lost their will to fight against the bizarre abilities of Lost Hope, so they carved the drawing onto their bodies, desperate to live.

“Yes.”

The members of Lost Hope split up and checked the marks on the Eustia soldiers one by one.

Duke Eustia and Hela, still bound, watched them.

“Your Excellency… Are you sure about this? They are the knights of Eustia. Are you going to let them all die?”

Hela asked, looking at the Duke with trembling eyes.

“This is all your fault for suggesting we come here!”

“…”

Duke Eustia’s eyes were bloodshot.

Hela tightly shut her mouth.

“Or do you want to be thrown in as a sacrifice too? If not, then shut up and stay still. I have a plan.”

Duke Eustia realized that he truly was a frog in a well.

Even if he had defeated Yohaiden and taken over the Empire, he would have eventually been defeated by these people.

It seemed like the Yohaiden bastards were trying to use these people to get rid of him, but Duke Eustia had absolutely no intention of letting them have their way.

Bodies impervious to swords, and the summoning of the Demon King…

Weren’t they like monsters from some other world?

By sacrificing his knights, Duke Eustia saw a single path to survival.

The choice to bow his head to Lost Hope and join them.

“I… I will not just stand here and be defeated… Never…”

Eyes filled with intense emotions were directed at Lost Hope.

“Let the ritual to summon the Demon King begin.”