"Looks like you're planning to duel both of us in a row."
"Is there a problem with that?"
At Aramis's words, the young man shrugged his shoulders.
"You must be confident in your skills. Can you handle it?"
"To join the Musketeer Corps, I need to be able to handle people like you with ease."
"We are those Musketeers you're talking about."
At Aramis's words, the young man hesitated.
"That's right, I'm a Musketeer too, and that woman sitting by the fountain eating black bread is also a Musketeer."
At Lotos's words, the young man looked at me.
"I'm just the witness, so you three sort it out."
I made eye contact with the young man, shrugged my shoulders, and continued eating my black bread.
"Well then, I'll duel first, right?"
Aramis stepped forward in front of the young man.
"Since it's a bother, why don't you both come at me?"
The young man drew his rapier and pointed it at Lotos and Aramis.
"Euhahaha! You're as cocky as they come. What should I write on your tombstone? 'Cocky brat'? 'Mangy mutt'?"
Lotos asked, laughing heartily.
"Laurent."
"Hey, Laurent. When did you come to Paris?"
"Yesterday."
Laurent answered briefly to Aramis's question.
"If you arrived yesterday, you must have been busy from yesterday until today."
"Thanks to you guys, I've seen all the dirty sides of Paris since I arrived."
Laurent said, resting his rapier on his shoulder.
"I got a recommendation to join the Musketeer Corps, but soon after arriving in Paris, I was pickpocketed, and while trying to catch the pickpocket, I got into an argument with you guys, and in the end, I couldn't catch the pickpocket."
"You should have been more careful."
Lotos said nonchalantly, and Laurent's brow furrowed.
"After missing the pickpocket like that, I went to the Musketeer Corps empty-handed to apply for enlistment, but I was rejected."
"Laurent."
Aramis called out to Laurent, and Laurent looked at him.
"My name is Aramis. Those guys' names are Lotos and Marie, respectively."
"Aramis, Lotos... those are famous names I've heard somewhere before. But where is Fernand?"
"That bastard's not here. Don't bother looking for him."
I snapped, cutting off Laurent's words.
Laurent flinched at my sharp reaction.
"That's a shame. It would have been an opportunity to see all three of the famous Musketeers."
Laurent lowered his sword and said.
"My father was also a Musketeer. And my father's friend who wrote the recommendation letter was also a Musketeer. That's why I came to Paris to become a Musketeer too."
"Even with that recommendation, you won't be able to get in."
"Why is that?"
Laurent asked, surprised, as I mumbled while chewing on my black bread.
"Can't you tell by looking at us, the Musketeers, living like this?"
"Budget cuts, the young King's enthronement, the Duke of Orleans, becoming obsolete, take your pick."
Aramis continued my words and said to Laurent.
"Anyway, welcome to Paris."
Aramis drew his saber and pointed it at Laurent.
"It's a shame you're about to die, though."
"Well, even if I can't become a Musketeer, it would save face for my father to fight against one."
Laurent raised his rapier and pointed it at Aramis.
"If I can beat two of the famous legendary Musketeers in a 2-on-1, wouldn't that also be an honor as a man of Elans?"
"Hurry up and finish it. Black bread isn't filling enough, I want to eat meat soon."
At my words, Aramis laughed and put the tip of his sword against Laurent's.
"Euhuhu, well, my stomach is also telling me to hurry up and get some food."
"Aren't you going to join in?"
Laurent pointed his sword at Lotos, who was watching with his arms crossed without drawing his sword.
"Me? What's the point of drawing my sword when I know I'm going to be turned into a lump of meat by Aramis anyway."
"Don't regret it later."
Aramis and Laurent touched their sword tips together, then lowered them to the side, brought the handles to their faces, and performed the dueling ritual.
A tense atmosphere began to circulate between Aramis and Laurent.
At the moment their sword tips collided...
"Stop right there!"
At someone's shout, the four of us looked at him.
"Oh, Duchac is here."
Aramis sighed and lowered his sword.
"Can you believe this? Is this really the Three Musketeers I knew? One of the three is missing, and without any authority or honor, they've become drunks who do nothing but drink all day."
Not only I, but also Lotos, Aramis, and Laurent frowned at Duchac's words.
"Causing trouble in bars, addicted to gambling every day... now you're even ignoring the national law and trying to duel?"
"Are you tired of harassing citizens and now coming after us?"
"Nonsense!"
Duchac flared up at Aramis's words.
"Ahem! Anyway..."
Clap clap
"Block the road!"
Duchac coughed loudly and clapped his hands, and soldiers began to gather around us.
As numerous soldiers surrounded the area, Duchac proudly stepped forward.
"Drop your weapons and come with us."
"Hey, who are those people anyway?"
Laurent pointed his rapier at Duchac, who was showing off in front of us.
"A young master from the countryside might not know. That guy is Duchac. One of Count Raschfort's subordinates."
"Who is Raschfort?"
"Who else but the Duke of Orleans, uncle of His Majesty King Anjou XIV."
Lotos grabbed Laurent's shoulder and explained to his question.
"But... if you don't want to surrender..."
Duchac drew his rapier with a flashy motion.
"It's not a bad choice to fight against this many people."
Duchac put his hand on the hilt of his sword and took a step forward.
"Well... fighting isn't always the best option."
Lotos nodded his head after hearing Duchac's words.
"Hey, you. You're supposed to be honorable Musketeers, so why aren't you fighting?"
Laurent flared up at Lotos's reluctance to fight.
"Honorable Musketeers? That's all in the past."
At my words, Laurent looked at me.
"We were once honorable Musketeers, but now..."
"Just common drunks."
Aramis said instead, as I scratched my cheek and trailed off.
Laurent's pupils began to shake as he listened to our words.
"Your truly powerless appearance is like a chicken with a terminal illness."
Duchac smirked at us.
Laurent frowned at Duchac's criticism and stepped forward.
"This country bumpkin is trying to fight me? How could you make such a stupid choice... Ugh!"
Laurent kicked away Duchac's hand as he tried to swing his sword, then hit his face with his elbow.
"You bastard!"
Duchac fell back from Laurent's preemptive strike, and his soldiers next to him swung their swords at Laurent.
Laurent quickly deflected the soldiers' attacks and easily cut down one soldier's neck.
"Waaah!"
As the fight began, the citizens who were watching us from the windows and railings of the buildings began to cheer.
Two soldiers held out their rapiers to stab Laurent's stomach, but Laurent swung his sword to deflect the attacks and cut down each soldier's chest.
"Oh."
I, who was sitting by the fountain watching him, let out a small exclamation.
He was running through the soldiers like a wild horse, narrowly blocking each attack coming at him and countering every attack he could.
It seemed that his declaration to win in a 2-on-1 fight wasn't just empty words.
"He's pretty good."
Lotos, who had come next to me, crossed his arms and smiled as he looked at Laurent.
Laurent, who was subduing the enemies with his flashy swordsmanship, had already knocked down more than 15 of Duchac's soldiers by himself.
Laurent did a somersault to avoid the blades stabbing in from all directions, then cut down the soldiers.
"Whew~ He's quite something?"
Lotos, who had been quietly watching Laurent's swordsmanship skills, whistled.
"Watching this makes me unable to stand it. Shall we join in?"
Aramis threw his hat and entered the place where Laurent was fighting alone.
Lotos tapped my shoulder a few times, then drew his sword and followed Aramis.
Honestly, I wanted to follow them and fight together, but I was unsure how my changed body would perform in a fight, so I hesitated to join in.
As Laurent did a somersault to avoid an enemy's attack stabbing in from the side, blades continued to stab in from all directions.
Laurent smiled and leisurely dodged the swords, then stabbed a soldier's stomach with his sword.
"Kkeuaaak!"
As the sword was pulled out, the soldier grabbed his stomach and rolled on the floor.
"You... you shit!"
Another soldier swore and raised his sword high.
"Oh? You shouldn't hold your sword that high."
Laurent smiled, raising one corner of his mouth as if mocking the soldier, then slashed the soldier's side.
"Ugh!"
The soldier, whose side was cut, dropped his sword and fell to the floor.
"You idiots! You can't even subdue one hick from the countryside...!"
Peok!
"Eugh!"
Duchac, who had barely gotten up after being hit by Laurent, was furious at the sight of Laurent fighting his soldiers single-handedly, but was slapped in the face again by Lotos, who had come to support him, and fell down.
Aramis and Lotos headed to Laurent's side to help him, who was surrounded by enemies from all directions.
"Let me lend you a hand."
Tension flowed between Duchac's soldiers and Laurent, Lotos, and Aramis.
"What are you staring at! Attack now!"
Duchac, who had been hit by Lotos and fell down, got up again and shouted at the top of his lungs, and the soldiers all stretched out their swords towards the three of them.
Despite the numerous sword strikes coming at them all at once, the three of them easily deflected the soldiers' attacks and began to attack.
Aramis grabbed the sword of a soldier rushing at him, stuck it in his side, and then struck the soldier's wrist with the bottom of his sword.
"Ugh!"
He twisted the arm of the soldier screaming in pain from the broken bone, knocked him over, and then stepped on his neck.
"Kkeueuk!"
Lotos was cutting down soldiers with his saber, but he got bored and put his sword away and started beating the soldiers with a wooden hammer.
"Heoitja! Heoitja!"
Tuk!
Tak!
As Lotos swung his hammer, the soldiers fell down like lone sticks with dull sounds.
Laurent was fighting the soldiers in a 4-on-1, dodging here and there like a cat and cutting down the soldiers.
"You... you... you bastard die!!!"
As a comrade fell to Laurent's sword strike, three soldiers simultaneously swung their swords down at Laurent.
Laurent was struggling in a 3-on-1 tug-of-war, and as he tilted his sword diagonally to the side, the soldiers were about to fall over to the side.
Laurent did not miss the opportunity and turned around behind the soldiers and stabbed each of their backs with his sword.
"Waaah!"
The citizens continued to cheer as they watched the three's melee, and I was bitterly watching their performance, feeling regretful that I couldn't participate in the fight.
"Eit!"
While Aramis was cutting down soldiers with his saber, one soldier threw a mangosh (a short knife used for defense) at his back.
"Not a chance!"
As if he had already noticed, Aramis grabbed the soldier he had cut down with his sword and used him as a shield for his back.
"Kkeuaaaaak!"
The soldier screamed as the mangosh was stuck in his back.
Aramis pulled out the mangosh stuck in the soldier's back and threw it at the chest of the soldier who had tried to throw it at him.
"Keuk!"
The soldier let out a final scream and died as the blade of the mangosh went straight into his heart.
As I was blankly sitting by the fountain watching the fight, Laurent had already started fighting soldiers near me.
Two soldiers were unable to do anything to Laurent and were being helplessly pushed back.
'Pathetic bastards...'
Watching them being pushed back by a country bumpkin alone, I wondered if they were really the Duke of Orleans's soldiers.
"Hey."
Laurent had already cut down the two soldiers and was approaching me.
"Was your name Marie... or something?"
Laurent suddenly started talking to me in the middle of the fight.
"How is the show? Is it worth watching?"
'What is he talking about?'
I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.