Raiden adjusted his breathing as he continued to lock eyes with the person in front of him
His opponent in front of him, which was surrounded by glowing blue orbs, was no easy adversary. As the Captain of the Rosenblade knights, he must possess the attitude for it and its strength. And this strength was something that Raiden know well
Raiden's potential with the sword was nothing to scoff at. At the young age of eight, he had already learned most of the Rosenblade swordplay stances, which was considered one of the hardest to master. And the year after that, he had started on his victory spree against all of the knights that he had challenged
But be that as it may, his talent was still no match against the others that had accumulated the experience to combat it. Excluding Lia, the ones that he wasn't confident on beating yet in the manor were his mother, his father, their resident librarian, and the captain
"Hooo..."
Raiden inhaled as much air as he possibly could and stepped his feet forward, and his opponent responded in kind by moving backward
'I get the first strike eh...'
This wasn't exactly their first rodeo. Due to Raiden's skill with the sword, only a handful could even manage to train with him, and those people were usually assigned back to the city to stay guard. So Titus would usually make time to train him
And out of the times that they had trained, they had unconsciously begun to signal each other sometimes through body language and cues
"Heh...so be it!"
Raiden focused the mana in his body to enhance his strength. Both of them were using swords, but Titus's weapon was more like a claymore, so if he enhanced his strength as well, then Raiden would be at a disadvantage, so he had to expend quite a lot of mana from the get-go
He could feel his muscles getting stronger and his legs getting lighter. He shifted into one of the family sword stances and screamed
"Let's go!"
"Hehe, you sure are lively today!"
Raiden closed the distance between them in an instant and brought his sword overhead. Titus quickly adjusted his position blocked it with his arm that seemed to be crystallized with ice, however...
"Sucker..."
"Eh?!"
His mana which was scattered around quickly began gathering at his sword. the flames that were bursting forth were so strong and wild that it made the one in Lia's duel look cute in comparison
"Urk!"
Titus had no choice but to received the full blow of his attack, He knew that it wasn't the brightest idea out there, but it's only natural that blunders get paid dearly
The force caused by Raiden's enhanced strength and magic caused an explosion, which launched him backwards
"Guh..."
Titus struggled as he kept his balance with his claymore. After which,he turned to Raiden with a wide smile and chuckled
"What a surprise...you usually don't make an opening act as flashy as this"
"Well..."
Raiden brought his sword from the ground and pointed it at his opponent
"Let's just say I wanna end this continuous draws in our match"
"Oh, dear...Come on my lord, you didn't mind when our previous bouts ended in a draw so why now?... Oh, wait...I get it..."
"I know what you're thinking, and it's wrong"
"How exactly? You may be a bit talented for your age but you're still a child, my lord. and children would usually show off to the girl they like this...I was getting a bit worried since you usually act all stuck-up but it seems that you're set- !"
"Flames gather"
Titus was suddenly alerted by the fire being tightly concentrated on his sword, he knew full well what kind of attack he would launch if he doesn't do something so he quickly intercepted it by launching his own
He stuck his claymore to the ground which caused it to freeze, disrupting Raiden's attack and crumbling his stance. He quickly took advantage of this by closing the distance between them and bringing down his sword
"There's no need to be shy, my lord. I don't really have a good eye for women but even I could tell that she's a catch."
"Tch"
Titus swung the heavy claymore with a speed that was considered to be inhuman, even for the standards of this world. Raiden had dodged the attack by the skin of his teeth, but he looked shocked at the realization that if he were a second slower then he would've sustained some serious injuries
"She seems kind and extremely helpful to others to the point that the people in the manor consider her to be the most conscientious person around"
"Shut the hell up and focus!"
Raiden quickly countered the attack and sent a kick to the claymore in order to widen the distance between them. Titus however, didn't give him an inch to move and started chasing him
"She's wise for her age too, and good at combat as well...to the point that even I couldn't tell how much she's hiding, her hands were are a mystery"
"Hah? What are you even talking about?"
Raiden stopped and turned to face him without dropping his guard
"Never really told you this, my lord. But I could get a gist about how a person fights based on their hands. For example, assassins would usually have smooth hands in comparison to warriors that fight with heavy weapons. while mages would usually never have any roughness at all"
Raiden thought it to be a bit overblown but could somewhat understand it as well. He uses that same mentally after all
"But her hands are weird. It's extremely rough, and If she specializes in using light weapons like knives and threads then her hands shouldn't be at that state..."
He took a glance at Lia who watching them with an unchanging expression. If he thought about it clearly, She seemed to be intentionally holding back every time she fights
"...I could see where you're getting at, but that's really a creepy way of telling it. No wonder you have no luck with girls "
"You really hit me where it hurts...Or maybe...is this a sense of possessiveness I see? Hoho, so you're already marking her as yo-"
"Shut up!"
Raiden gathered even more flames in his sword as he changes his stance
"Yikes...Looks like I went too far"
Titus tensed up when he realized what Raiden was planing
The Rosenblade swordplay was a technique that specializes in manipulating magic with the skills of one's swordplay to make a deadly combination. It's especially effective in handling multiple opponents due to one thing, the wide range of its techniques
"Flames gather!"
Raiden's magic increased further as the flames began to trash the field, burning the leaves and the training dummies nearby its vicinity. The flames had also consumed Raiden's body but it seemed that he was not affected by it in the slightest. If anything, he was looking at his opponent with a smirk
"Come on, my lord. Are you planning on burning the entire field?"
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, our gardeners have the greenest hands out there so they'll fix this up in no time"
"...I'd appreciate it if they don't go through the hassle though...but it seems you're not listening"
Titus lets out a sigh as readied his sword and watch in anticipation
"Rosenblade swordplay..."
The raging flames all gathered to a single point, creating a heavy mass that was filled with heat and magic
Lia's eyes seemed to widen for the first time as she tumbles the table down and sought cover from it
While rest who were watching them sensed that it would dangerous and moved further away
"Bloom of death"
He felt a cold vapor around him before he struck his sword to the ground which caused the flames to condense even further
Before anyone knew it, their visions were suddenly blinded by a bright light. Then the sound of a powerful explosion echoed throughout the entire manor
(---)
"What a show-off"
Lia says as she stands up from the table that he used as cover for the explosion. The place around them was covered with smoke, and Lia's clothes were a bit dirtied by debris launched by the explosion so she quickly wiped them away
Katharine was beside her and was nervously trembling like a wet kitten and was sobbing out of fear
"W-What on earth was that? So much magic and power...No wonder everyone here calls him a tyrant"
"Speaking of a tyrant, did he lashed out to you guys recently?"
Lia spoke nonchalantly as she continued to wipe the dirt from her clothes
"Of course he's still...Huh?... Hmmm, come to think of it he was a bit calm these past weeks. Recently, I haven't heard anyone who was complaining about how scary he is "
"I see...that's good to hear"
If Raiden were still throwing his usual temperament tantrum then it would be a breach of their agreement, Lia didn't want to think the extra plans that she had to do if that was the case
Thankfully, she didn't have to do it
Lia finished tidying herself up before reaching her hands to Katharine
"T-Thanks"
She gently grabbed it and stood up from the ground, she thanked Lia once again before looking at the field, which was now covered with smoke
"That explosion seemed super deadly...Do you think the captain is all right?"
"Hm? Oh please don't worry about him. It'll take more than that to put him down"
"H-Huh?"
Before Katharine realized it, the sound of blades clashing echoed once again, and she saw the two of them exchanging blows like before
"Woah...how did he do that? Was it some sort of spell?"
"Perhaps..."
Lia intentionally responded with a vague answer. She of course, knew how Titus survived the attack
In this world, people are aligned to a certain element when it comes to magic. Those being Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Nature, Ice, Light, and Dark.
Being aligned to a certain element doesn't mean you couldn't any magic beyond that. Spells that don't align with any elements such as body enhancement exist after all, and If a person would practice hard enough, they could use more or even all of the elements if they tried hard enough.
It's just that if a person is aligned to a certain element, their specialty would naturally be that element
With their alignment, they would be able to cast and control spells of that element easier. Hence, why people would usually prefer mastering the element of their alignment rather than others
As a Rosenblade, Raiden's element was naturally Fire. In fact, the move that he just did right now was used by gathering flames using fire magic, and creating a certain reaction while manipulating the wind using basic air magic. It sounded simple in theory but it's quite complex in practice, that's one of the reasons why he's considered a prodigy of the sword
Titus on the other hand was aligned to the ice element. Meaning most of the spells he knew at basic, were accomplished through freezing things. It sounded simple but it was quite versatile for defense, people could crystalize most of their body parts for protection, and if their really good at it, then they could crystallize their entire body, a feat that was accomplished just now
'Freezing and defrosting yourself at such a short time span...Seems like you're quite the talented one yourelf'
Lia scoffed at herself as she turned her attention away from them
"Anyway, about that letter..."
"It's amazing how you could still stay nonchalant at this. it's still here but...should you be reading it though? You told me that you were assigned to watch over the young lord's progress"
"If he's fighting like that, then I already have a grasp of his strength. Watching any more would be pointless"
Lia also had already had a grasp on how strong he is based on the novel anyways
"R-Right..."
Katharine handed over the letter to Lia. And upon touching it, Lia's expression had drastically changed
The smile that Katharine usually sees when they're working together didn't really seem fake, but it didn't seem to be genuine either. To her, it seemed more similar to a gambler that's hiding her emotions
But the smile that Katharine was seeing right now was sweet and seemed to actually belong to a child of her age
"Is there something wrong?"
"N-No, nothing at all"
Lia continued to lock eyes with her before turning her attention away and opened the letter
Upon opening the envelope, her nose caught a whiff of a nostalgic scent. It was the familiar scent of home, the place where all of her colleagues and family reside on. Though it has only been a month since she left Victoria, she couldn't help but feel joy upon smelling such fragrance
"This smell...Astria flowers?"
"Umu, indeed it is. I'm quite surprised that you recognized it, Katharine"
"Well, my siblings really like the sweet smell that it gives off so they usually ask me to fetch some in the past...ahhh, good times"
"Hmmm, this is the first time I'm hearing of this. You have siblings?"
"Eh? Didn't I tell you before Lia? I have four baby brothers and three cute little sisters!"
This fact caught Lia by surprise
"Eight?....Are...Are you doing well financially? I can't really guarantee it but I could ask for some extra shift time from the mistress if you want"
The servants who were working at the manor were being paid wages above the average value. However, even Lia wasn't sure if that was enough to feed eight mouths
"Hehe...I'm glad that you care for me Lia but we're fine. I have another line of work that provides for us well"
"Oh?...No way, don't tell me...No! Stop that!"
Lia stood up as she puts both her hands at Katharine's shoulders
"E-Eh? Y-Your hands are kinda hurting me Lia"
She looked at her dead in the eyes before speaking
"No matter how bad life gets you mustn't resort to prostitution, Think about how your siblings would think if you-"
"That's not it! I work as a babysitter! You know, the one that keeps watch and discipline the bad and unruly kids that go out of line?! "
"O-Oh, I see..."
Lia seemed to have settled down as she breathed a sigh of relief. She knew how hard it was to struggle with money, and when she sees it being the reason used by others to commit such lewd acts, She couldn't help but be sad
Lia cleared her throat as she apologizes to Katharine and turned her attention back to the letter
Taking a glance at it, Lia saw that the letter seemed to be quite long, which made her smile
[A good day to you Lia
By the time you've received this letter, it means that I have most likely returned to Victoria. How's life back there? The Empire seems to be experiencing quite the amount of problems ever since the revolution, the other cities that I've passed through seemed to be devoid of the same energy that they have back there at Delphi]
'Hrmm...it's as I've thought...'
[I know you've probably already thought of this, but please be cautious. Everyone back home is worried ever since your departure. Oh and speaking of which, we've already had our new batch of recruits, they seem to be lacking compared to the previous generations but that's just how it is. They also seemed to be shocked upon hearing your achievements. I guess the title of The Iron Maiden is already engraved as a pillar to look up to her in Victoria, as expected of you my dear]
'Ugh...they're still calling me that?'
Lia felt a sense of embarrassment that was welling up inside her as she remembered the times that her colleagues would call her that with a straight face
Ever since an event in her previous life, Lia didn't really like the concept of having a cool-sounding nickname. If anything, it made her gag
[Anyways, I hope you're doing your job well out there. If you ever need assistance with something, you can call me if you wish. But knowing your nature, I guess the chances of that would be low]
'Correct...as expected of her, she knows me all too well'
[And I'm sure that you're thinking of multiple methods as to how to keep that tyrant in check. I'm honestly worried about that given how much of an extremist you are usually are, but as much as I want you to tone yourself down, the choice is ultimately up to you. Whatever approach you may choose, I'm sure everyone here would respect it, so go wild if you like]
"Go wild eh...Fufufu"
"I don't know how your face turned from sweet to sadistic in a mere second bu-! Lia the fight is..."
Lia turned her eyes to the field and saw Raiden on his knees with the Titus'sclaymore pointed at his neck
"H-He's in a spot for a fatal wound, which means...did the young lord lost?"
"No, Not really. Take a closer look at the field Katharine"
"Huh?"
Katharine followed Lia's instructions and saw that Raiden's blade was also pointed at Titus's neck
"If both parties are in that position then Knightly etiquette states that the match is a draw"
"A draw? But...this situation doesn't really seem like a draw to me"
"Indeed..."
Raiden had sustained quite a number of injuries. His legs were constantly shaking which tells Lia that the heavy mass of the claymore has taken its toll on him. His right arm also looked heavily injured from afar
'Cut wounds...multiple broken bones...and a damaged ego. Master wouldn't be too happy about hearing this'
Titus, on the other hand seemed relatively fine, he sustained a few injuries but it was nothing compared to Raiden's. If anything, he looked worried about the possible punishment that Aithne might submit him too
Lia silently prayed for Titus's wellbeing
She wasn't perturbed about Raiden's injuries since healing magic could fix most of them up after a few days, in contrast to staying in bed for months in Lia's old world
"Come on, my lord. The battle is over you should jus-"
"Shut the hell up! How are we still on this endless number of draws?! You held back again, didn't you?! What's with everyone around here not fighting seriously!"
It seems that Raiden was on his usual tantrum after suffering the humiliation of defeat. Granted, he technically didn't lose but the state of both fighters clearly told everyone that It'd be a different story if Titus was serious
Lia was about to walk to the field to lend Titus a hand but realized that there was still a line that she hadn't read
[P.S, I've heard that the "certain old lady's teashop" has opened there at the city recently, you should go there if you have the time. Anyways, you're probably still working so I won't bother you further. Stay safe out there, I love you Lia
From your loving mother, Hava]
"Love you to mother..."
Lia muttered to herself as she blushed for a bit while crumpling the paper in her hands
"Wha-...did something irritated you in the letter by chance?"
Katharine couldn't help but ask in wonder
"Hm? Oh no, not really. It's just a precaution we always take"
"A precaution huh? I see...quite a shame"
Lia wondered what she meant by that but decided that it would be unnecessary. She walked further to the field as she thought to herself
'The teashop huh?... Guess I should visit that soon'
When Lia finally reached them, Raiden broke out in a struggle while continuing his tantrum. The struggle with Raiden took about an hour before he was successfully treated by the Medics of the manor
_________
-Thanks for reading this week's chapters! It was released a bit late than I had intended because of wifi problems, ugh
Anyway, thank you all so so much for the support y'all gave in the previous chapters! and see you again next time! :) -