Playing as a Tank

For [Ord], who could no longer call himself either a soldier or a hunter, today was also a time no different from usual.

As usual, he slaughtered monsters that had come down from the snow mountain since dawn, and as usual, he returned to his modest dwelling covered in monster fluids and polished old cold weapons.

He silently stared at the fire crackling in the center of the small hut, and at some point, when the remnants of the past rose up, he finally forced himself to close his eyes.

It was a day that had already been repeated thousands of times since he isolated himself in this small hut.

Yes, surely yesterday and today.

Today and tomorrow would have been a colorless life with not much new, but.

-Knock knock.

The unexpected knocking sound created a crack in the stagnation and silence that had continued for such a long time.

The presences felt were a total of two.

The silhouette of a youthful girl who could not be described in any word other than a novice, and in contrast, the silhouette of an adult woman were captured in his tired vision in the form of outlines.

But it was a combination he had already experienced several times.

The reason they had walked to this remote place was also a reason he had already experienced several times.

Like humans who had sought out Ord himself until now, it was obvious they would ask him to escort or serve some “distinguished person.”

Now even tired of saying go away, he threw a hatchet by his head forcefully.

However, not only did they lightly avoid the thick axe blade, but they didn’t run away and rather stared firmly at him.

“…Would you look at that.”

The fighting spirit created by his instinct as a barbarian made Ord step out beyond the shattered wooden door.

What he heard from the one who finally fully revealed themselves was a question or protest clearly imbued with wariness.

However, he didn’t care at all and only chose words of strength to utter.

It was right after that when the voice of the youthful child hidden behind the elongated shadow was heard.

“Um…! Excuse me…!!”

He was slightly taken aback by the appearance that was slightly different from the numerous “young ladies” Ord himself had seen so far.

This was because instead of being intimidated or shrinking back from his authority, the child was looking straight into his eyes.

…Was that why?

“Hmm, I don’t have a habit of eating young ones. If you were going to bring a sacrifice, you should have brought one with more meat on its bones, you miser!!”

He laid out barbarian-like threats to determine whether that appearance was a bluff or not.

Almost simultaneously, the woman who appeared to be the girl’s bodyguard showed an appropriate ‘response’.

However, he was not one to be intimidated by just that much.

-Thud.

He lightly pulled out the giant axe that was embedded in the ground and aimed it forward.

He had somewhat guessed that this was not someone who could be easily defeated.

However, the barbarian race is not a race that is bound by such trivial things.

Either dominate or be dominated.

No other conclusion had ever existed or could exist.

So, boom.

As attacks finally began to fly toward him like arrows, he began to swing his heavy axe in a spiral pattern.

Without dodging even once, he blocked and cut through everything.

As expected, the gusts of wind and resonant sounds that occurred several times eventually colored even the atmosphere.

All kinds of strong energy and killing intent that clashed between self-illuminating cards and savage axe blades.

After a truly long time, the blood vessels throughout his body also swelled and contracted repeatedly with boiling impulses.

But because a delicate figure suddenly jumped out in front of him after just a few seconds.

Because she precariously blocked between Ord himself and her bodyguard, forcibly stopping the battle that had just begun.

“What… is this about?”

He looked down at the child who was sweating slightly with a mixture of bewilderment and curiosity.

“P-please compete with me!”

However, after swallowing dry saliva, the words from the opened mouth were also slightly different from what Ord himself had expected.

“…You want to compete.”
“Yes!”
“You and me.”
“Yes!”

He briefly doubted whether the voices he had just heard were illusions, wondering what kind of crazy kid this was.

However, for some reason, the woman who was the girl’s bodyguard did not try to stop this audacious girl.

No, rather…

“If you can win against Ms. Lua, I’ll provide you with the [Hearth of Yggdrasil].”

Because she readily presented a reason for him to engage in this foolish competition.

Because she said she would voluntarily offer something he had been unable to obtain since cutting ties with the secular world.

“Instead, if you can’t defeat Ms. Lua, we will employ you as a teacher.”
“…Do as you please. It won’t happen even if the sky splits in two anyway.”

In the end, he accepted a competition quite different from the fierce battles he had experienced countless times, where victory and defeat could not be easily predicted.

He began to feel that something was strange from the moment the girl’s hand pointed toward the ground.

Specifically, at that moment when several giant cards emerged from the empty space and formed a huge barrier in front of the girl as they were stuck in the ground.

“Come… come at me!”

It was truly ridiculous to see her using mere scraps of paper as a shield and provoking him.

Does she not know that he could crush such a thin wall in one breath?

Ignorance may not be a sin, but groundless confidence is.

In addition, since this was strictly a competition between that child and Ord himself, he had no intention of showing any restraint.

“Ha… This isn’t even funny.”

So, once again, as soon as he raised his giant axe toward the sky and brought it down to tear apart the seriously thin shields at once…

-Boom!

“…What.”

Literally, it didn’t budge at all.

It not only didn’t powerlessly split under his full-strength energy but didn’t even get a small hole.

He blinked several times for a moment, wondering if he was seeing an illusion, but the vibration and dull sensation he felt as soon as his axe touched the giant card was definitely not an illusion.

Right after that, due to an inexplicable sense of discomfort, he once again let his intimidation seep into the axe blade.

And once again. Crack.

However, what he faced were snow-white barriers that, for some reason, truly didn’t have even a small scratch.

As the sense of incongruity continued to rise each time he swung his axe, his gaze, which had always been straight, began to waver.

-Boom!

This is impossible.

It’s something that goes against principles, something that shouldn’t exist in reality.

The time lived as a strong person is honest. Even if they have come to bear the name of the old past, their mighty power should still be shining.

-Boom!
-Crack!
-Swoosh… Booom!!

But how.

Despite being mere sheets of paper that don’t really have thickness.

Despite being pure white temporary walls without any hostility or killing intent permeated in them.

-Crash!
-Thud!
-Crack, crack… Boom!!

Do they display a firmness even greater than the rugged mountain ranges beyond?

Do they offer an endless vagueness greater than the vast ocean?

It was like swinging an axe against the sky.

Something that could never be destroyed no matter how many thousands or tens of thousands of times the axe blade is applied.

Something that one must look up to for a lifetime, to the extent that it seems foolish to consider oneself an opponent.

“Haa, haa…”

In the end, what subsided was not the girl’s audacity but Ord’s own rough intimidation.

The noticeably collapsed breathing signaled that the chance of victory was slipping away.

Not long after, a small shadow was cast at his feet.

“Do you… want to continue?”

What was contained in the blue eyes slowly directed upward was only concern toward Ord himself.

In other words, since the competition had already been decided from the point where this child was not threatened at all by a person named Ord.

“Let me… ask one thing.”

He asked what the reason was for wanting to bring him in as her teacher, going to such lengths.

Wondering why she would need to seek a teacher when she already possessed such a peculiar firmness that even Ord himself couldn’t penetrate.

However, the answer delivered from the child’s mouth after a moment of thought was somehow not an unfamiliar kind.

‘What meaning is there if only we return alive? So, please allow us to protect the captain just this once.’

“I want no one precious to get hurt. No, I want to protect them.”

He ended up overlapping with faces that he could never forget no matter how hard he tried.

With fools who gave their lives for the sake of just one person, whom he could no longer see.

His mouth naturally closed tightly.

The self-blame and guilt he thought he had already thrown away completely began to swim deep within his heart once again.

…Was that why?

“I’ll tell you in advance, I extremely hate regretting things belatedly.”

He ended up uttering words that were not what he should be saying to such a youthful child when thought of rationally.

He could have spoken indirectly, considering the fear of the harsh future, but he deliberately revealed it without reservation.

Yet instead of turning away and distancing herself, she slowly extended her small, soft hand.

In the end, he ended up grasping it.

Despite having the experience of letting go once already.

“My, the sky has split in two.”
“…Be quiet, miser.”