Chapter 239: The Strongest War Potential

“…Here I go.”

Immediately after Arte whispered those words, two puppets made of wooden blocks and clad in Mythril gear kicked off the ground and took flight. They leaped lightly from the castle walls, as if carried by the wind, and used that momentum to sprint straight up the cliff face.

“Oh, like a ninja.”

I unintentionally voiced my impression. Arte, who was concentrating, didn’t seem to hear me, but Khamsin looked at me with interest. Panamera, on the other hand, had her eyes glued to the puppets Arte was controlling.

“W-what is that movement…”

She muttered in a raspy voice, seemingly all she could manage. For some reason, that made me happy, and I began to speak about the greatness of Arte’s magic.

“I actually heard that two of Arte’s puppets once toyed with a knight order numbering in the thousands. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see that gallant figure myself, but the adventurers who were with her told me all about their exploits.”

“Is-is that so? Come to think of it, I have seen Lady Arte’s puppets before, but I had never seen them actually fight. I never imagined they could move like that…”

While Panamera was unusually flustered and shocked by Arte’s puppets, right in the middle of her sentence, one puppet finished climbing the cliff and launched itself into the air like a rocket.

As everyone watched with eyes wide in astonishment, it crossed paths with a Wyvern attempting to return to the cliff. At that moment, those with keen eyes would have seen Arte’s puppet swing a longsword that exceeded its own height.

The proof came an instant later. The Wyvern that passed by Arte’s puppet suddenly lost its balance, spinning around in the air before pointing its head toward the ground.

It was inevitable. After all, the Wyvern’s wing had been sliced off in a single stroke. It was a scene right out of a heroic legend.

“W-what in the world…!”

Panamera and the knights cried out in shock. But the exploits of Arte’s puppets didn’t end there. While the first Wyvern was falling, the other puppet was already sprinting across the terrain, targeting the next Wyvern. Perhaps realizing this, the Wyvern that had closed in near the cliff tried to change its flight angle.

However, Arte’s puppet didn’t give it that luxury. In the blink of an eye, it climbed halfway up the cliff, kicked off the wall, and leaped into the sky. The jump was something far removed from human capability, but the altitude was slightly lacking. It passed below the Wyvern, and as if in a desperate, last-ditch effort, the puppet swung its sword.

It was an action where the puppet simply extended its arms to the limit, stretching its body like a stick to maximize the sword’s reach. Anyone skilled with a sword would have judged it as the futile struggle of a beginner—a strike with no power behind it and unstable form. If one were to force a compliment, it would only be to marvel at the brute strength required to swing a greatsword longer than one’s body as if it were a mere stick. That would likely be the only impression.

But the greatsword swung by the puppet grazed the Wyvern’s leg. The tip of the blade merely touched it.

Fresh blood danced in the air. It looked like a mere touch, but the result was the Wyvern losing a leg and violently losing its balance. Although it didn’t fall immediately, the puppet succeeded in shaking off the puppet mage riding the Wyvern.

Suddenly left without a controller, the Wyvern flew in an erratic trajectory, crashed into the cliff face, and then fell. Seeing this, Arte finally let out a sigh of relief.

“I-I managed somehow…!”

She must have felt the pressure. Arte turned around with a smile as bright as a blooming flower and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Yeah, that was perfect! With this, they won’t be coming to attack Centena anytime soon. Let’s go rescue Commander Talga and Marquis Jalpa quickly.”

When I suggested this, Arte nodded and moved to recall her puppets. However, Panamera, her Knight Commander, and the members of the Centena Knight Order were in no state to move on.

“W-wait a minute!? What was that strike just now!? It was a slash so faint it was doubtful whether it even hit!”

“I think it hit, which is why the leg was cut off…”

“How can it be wounded by a mere graze?! That is a Wyvern! A Wyvern! Sometimes even a direct hit fails to leave a single scratch…”

Unable to comprehend what she had seen, Panamera finally clutched her head and looked up at the heavens. Then, with a look of realization, she turned to me.

“…I see. That’s it. The swords those puppets are wielding… you made them, didn’t you, boy? You gave those puppets swords with that unconventional sharpness, right?”

“Of course. In fact, I equipped them with the best gear to maximize their high athletic ability. A full suit of Mythril armor, lightened to the absolute limit. And a Mythril greatsword boasting the highest sharpness… It’s perfect, right?”

Why state the obvious? I replied with that kind of vibe, but Panamera narrowed her eyes and glared at me in exasperation.

“…Normally, such things are impossible with Puppet Magic. The stories one usually hears involve manipulating servants for assassinations and the like, but they say complex commands are impossible. Furthermore, there should be limits on distance and time…”

“I see.”

I nodded at the bewildered Panamera’s words, organizing the information in my head.

Normally, those with an aptitude for Puppet Magic do not reveal themselves. After all, it is a magic that has historically been used frequently for crimes like assassination. Information is scarce, and research likely hasn’t progressed much.

“Maybe willpower has something to do with it? Humans have high intelligence, so they might be hard to control… There was a difference in materials too, so maybe that guess isn’t entirely off the mark? Hmmm, either way, I won’t know unless I try it myself.”

I muttered this vaguely while looking toward Arte. Just then, the puppets had returned to her side.

“…Is it my imagination? Not only are the puppets completely intact, but I can’t even find a decent scratch on them.”

Panamera muttered again, her voice sounding dumbfounded.

“Well, personally, I consider them one of the strongest war potentials of my Seatoh Knight Order. It’s a breeze for them, a breeze. Fufufun.”

When I answered without hiding my pride, Arte tilted her head shyly.

“N-no, I’m not that great…”

Arte being shy is cute, too. She had two puppets wielding drawn greatswords waiting behind her, but well, that was a trivial detail.

“…I thought Lady Arte had changed, but to think she has changed in this direction…“