"You Avalynians have quite the terrible habit of barging into places uninvited."
Viviane looked at Sakura in confusion. She'd only just arrived before the forest east of the school. She wore a loose shirt that was unfashionable, but easier to move in and tight riding pants in lieu of a skirt. The early morning air was cold and biting, but refreshing.
It helped clear away her morning fatigue, but even so, Sakura's remark had caught her off-guard and befuddled.
"Um... I'm sorry, Lady Sakura. I'm not sure what you mean."
Sakura shook her head. "I wasn't referring to you. A little while after you left, a knight had entered the room and interrupted my conversation with Riku. I believe her name was Brigitte."
"Ah..."
"Indeed. I hope you ended up reuniting with her. She looked rather worried when she appeared before us."
In fact, Viviane hadn't met up with Brigitte after departing from the prep room. She had gone straight to bed in preparation for waking up early. She now pressed her lips into a thin line, feeling guilty.
"...It would appear that I owe Dame Brigitte an apology today..."
Sakura nodded in agreement. "It would appear so. But before that, I shall make good on my promise to you. Please follow me."
The two girls made their way into the forest, following a trail that meandered through the trees. As the woods were located on academy grounds, they were free from any dangerous animals or magical beasts, but the enclosed nature of the forest's interior still made Viviane slightly uneasy.
Eventually, Sakura led Viviane into a large clearing where a few stumps and fallen logs rested in the center.
"Now then, let us begin. We'll start with a warm-up," Sakura said as she made her way to the center and surveyed their surroundings. "I think ten laps around the clearing would be a good start."
"T-Ten laps!? But I thought we were going to be shooting bows, not running!"
The black-haired lady merely raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to do it, or are you not?"
"I-I'll do it!"
Sakura sat on a stump, watching as Viviane began her laps. The girl's running form was sloppy, to say the least, but that was the least of her problems. While the clearing was large, it was by no means gigantic. Despite that, Viviane's breathing had become rapid and shallow after just her second lap.
Well, she's determined. I'll give her that, Sakura thought as Viviane pushed herself to complete a third lap, and then squeezing out a fourth before collapsing onto the grassy ground beneath her.
"It's so hard..."
"That's fine. The main objective of the exercise was to get a general gauge of your stamina, but..." Sakura sighed. "You're a lot worse than I expected."
"...I'm sorry."
"My father always told me that if I had time to be sorry, I should've tried to do better instead. I suppose that would be a bit too rough for the nobles of this country, though."
"N-No... I can do it! I just need a few minutes to rest!"
"Don't push yourself too hard, Lady Viviane. It's only your first day, remember? Over the course of the week, we'll work on improving your physical stamina. After that, we'll work on your muscular strength and then we'll see about shooting."
"...My apologies, Lady Sakura. You couldn't have known, but... I d-don't exactly have the luxury of time... The princess intends to make off with Dame Medrauta when she returns to the Imperial Academy..."
"As far as I am aware, she will depart when Riku and I return to our homeland. That gives us quite some time, does it not?"
"I-It does, but..." Viviane paused, not sure if she should voice the immature dream of hers.
"But?" Sakura prompted.
"...The Summer Gala..." Viviane answered in a meek voice. "Y-You dance with your knight, so..."
"Ah. Yes. I have heard the dance occurs at the end of this month. So... Two weeks from now. How problematic..." Sakura mused. In truth, she found Viviane's unrealistic desire of acquiring enough proficiency with the bow to somehow win her knight back in a match rather cute.
Whenever outsiders had approached her or her relatives in hopes of learning their family's coveted archery techniques, their motivations had always been for personal or political gain.
In Higashi, there was a strong emphasis on family, familial bonds, and filial piety. While this could be seen as a boon from the outside, it was rather messy once one understood the effects such a mentality had on society.
Where it was possible to rise up in status and fame merely on your own merit in the empire, to do so in Higashi was far more difficult. Whether knight or noble, society judged an individual's worth by not only their personal accomplishments, but that of their family's as well.
Because of that, people seldom pursued goals that did not further both their own ambitions and their family's. The more martial and scholarly knowledge that a family accrued, the greater their worth was to society, and the more an individual contributed to their family's wealth of knowledge, the greater their standing in both their family and society.
It was a vicious system that looked beautiful on the exterior, but was plagued with disgusting infighting and backstabbing on the inside all for the sake of increasing one's status.
Sakura abhorred it.
That was why, to Sakura, Viviane's goal of retaking her knight in time merely for a dance was quite noble to say the least, if not extremely endearing in contrast to the other reasons she'd heard in the past from others.
"Very well," Sakura said as she stood and strode over to Viviane, extending her hand toward the Avalynian noblewoman. "Within these two weeks, I shall turn you into the greatest archer in all of the empire."
Viviane took Sakura's hand gratefully, only to be hefted up in a single easy tug by the foreign lady. She stumbled slightly, surprised by Sakura's strength. "I-In all the empire? Ahaha... There are knights who wield bows, Lady Sakura."
"I am aware, but I did not mispeak."
"But..." Viviane did not want to appear impolite, but she simply couldn't believe such words. After all, it was impossible for a noble to surpass a knight in martial skill.
"There is no archer greater than me in the empire, knight or otherwise." Sakura spoke with such conviction that Viviane flinched. "And I shall make you an archer second only to me."
How impressive... If only I could muster such confidence... Viviane bit her lip. She had certainly been shaken by the force of Sakura's personality, but for a noble to surpass a knight...?
She shook her head almost imperceptibly. In the end, it was impossible, even if Sakura's shooting had been nothing short of impressive.
"...You do not believe me."
Viviane remained silent. There was nothing she could say to that, even if it meant offending Sakura.
But Sakura was not offended. Instead, a wide smirk spread across her face, an expression that held neither arrogance nor haughtiness, but simply the height of confidence in the excellence of her own skill.
"Then I need only show you."