Viviane was wrong.
Lady Sakura's shooting was not merely impressive.
It was godlike.
To describe it in any other way would be an insult to the level of skill that she had achieved.
"You lose."
"Indeed. I yield, Dame Krista."
Krista's chest heaved heavily as the tension in her muscles finally relaxed. The blunt dagger that she had been holding against Sakura's throat just a second ago clattered to the floor and she dropped backwards in exhaustion.
With a weary hand, she seized a lock of her sky-blue hair, her brow creasing with displeasure as she stared at the splotches of red paint that marred the once pristine strands. "Ironically, I've never actually been hit by an arrow. I wonder if this washes off easily..."
Sakura grinned as she sat down next to the knight, her back straight and poised. Though she was equally as exhausted as Krista, if not more, her upbringing had ingrained the need of retaining a certain amount of dignity that she had to retain within the presence of strangers. Internally, she envied the Avalynian knights' freedom to ignore etiquette and decorum outside of formal situations.
"I'm sure it will, Dame Krista. The pigment used appears to be a gentle one that should dissolve in water."
Krista raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Do you paint or something?"
"Calligraphy," Sakura corrected. "All nobles in Higashi must be proficient in calligraphy to some degree."
"...Sounds pretty annoying if you're not into that sorta thing."
"W-Wow! That was incredible, Lady Sakura! Amazing!" Viviane beamed, the light in her eyes glittering like refracted sunlight as she cut into the conversation.
Despite her loss, Sakura had indeed achieved something that would have previously been considered impossible.
It had all begun when Sakura led Viviane back to the academy after declaring that she would prove her skill to the blonde-haired noblewoman.
"P-Please forgive my rudeness Lady Sakura, but that's a terrible idea!" Viviane had exclaimed, her expression the perfect picture of concern.
"Fret not, Lady Viviane. I shall dash all those doubts within your heart. This will be an essential step for your training."
"For... my training? M-My apologies, but I fail to see how this has anything to do with my training! If anything, it's just dangerous!"
Sakura stopped mid-stride, turning to face Viviane. She jabbed a finger into the right side of Viviane's chest. "Because you don't believe," she stressed. "There's no point in teaching you my techniques if you don't have confidence in them."
"But—"
"What I teach you shall become yours, Lady Viviane. If you cannot even trust in your own skills, then what else do you have left?" Sakura waited for an answer, but Viviane remained silent. "That's right. The first step to taking that knight of yours back is to believe in your ability to do so. If you can't even believe in yourself, no one will."
Viviane bit her lip. She truly had no response to Sakura's words. It had been so obvious after all... She didn't even believe in her own ability as a noble, nor did she have any confidence in her Crest. All this time, she'd allowed her worth to be decided by others. It was no wonder why she couldn't attract a single knight.
Even her relationship with Medrauta was one-sided. All she'd done was stand on the dais as she watched and hoped for the best. Medrauta was the strongest knight, so Viviane could place all her trust in the silver-haired knight. The one and only time she'd done something for herself was during their first match together.
The only match where they successfully resonated.
...Yes. The feeling that coursed through me during that match... The feeling I had when I finally realized that I should've been fighting with Medrauta all along. Perhaps—
"We're here," Sakura announced as she pushed open the doors to the training hall, breaking off Viviane's train of thought. The knights within stared at the two noblewomen with curious gazes.
She stepped inside undaunted, a serene smile on her face. Viviane could do nothing but follow.
Sakura cleared her throat. When she spoke, her voice carried to all corners of the room easily without shouting, overpowering even the sound of nearby sparring. "Greetings, knights. I am Sakura Kazeyumi. I wish to spar against the most skilled archer present."
Her announcement had left everyone in the room stunned. Even those who were mid-bout had stopped what they were doing to stare at her as if she was a lunatic. In all of the academy's history, there had never been a noble so bold. Or so stupid, as most of the knights thought.
"Need I repeat myself? I said I wish to—"
"Lady Sakura," A knight with brilliant blue hair stepped forward and away from the group that she had been socializing with. Her conversational tone barely managed to conceal the thinly veiled contempt in her narrowed eyes. "I won't say I understand how things work in Higashi, but we do things differently here. I saw you shoot. You're good. I'll give you that. But let me give you a word of advice."
"Oh?"
"There's a reason why nobles stay on top of their dais instead of trying to grandstand in the arena. You might've been lucky because Dame Medrauta refused to use the princess' Crest, but I would advise that you not become conceited. In fact, I'm pretty sure she didn't use the Crest out of concern for your safety."
A few knights chuckled at the blue-haired knight's jibe. They were proud of the skills that they had honed, and because of that, they were acutely aware of the differences between themselves and nobles. For a noble to even think that they could match a knight's skill was the height of arrogance.
"I thank you for your advice, but I must correct you on one thing."
"Oh? And what might that be, Lady Sakura?"
"I was not being conceited. Or perhaps is there no knight willing to take my challenge?"
Silence filled the room. The tension in the air was as taut as a bowstring. A few knights exchanged worried glances. While some of them were archers, none of them wanted to be responsible for sending a noble to the infirmary, and a foreign one at that. The punishment would no doubt be severe.
Yet, the knights knew that they could not allow Lady Sakura's challenge to go unanswered now that she had repeated it. To do so would be tantamount to admitting defeat, and to a noble no less.
"...Krista Almisa. Second year. Rank fifty-seven." The blue-haired knight declared as she strode toward a rack where her bow rested. It was a large wooden longbow that was nearly twice her height, but she hefted it easily. "There is no better archer than me here at Avalyne Academy."
Instinctively, the knights in the area moved away to clear a large space for Sakura and Krista. They were grateful for the almost unbearable tension that had been broken, but now a different sort of pressure dominated the room.
A second later, Krista had retrieved two quivers filled with blunted arrows with red-painted tips that smeared easily. She attached one to her hip and tossed the other at Sakura who caught it.
She likewise attached it to her hip and then plucked a small shortbow from a nearby weapons rack. It was about the same size as the silver bow she'd wielded during her match against Medrauta and the princess, but even Viviane could tell that it was a far cry from it in terms of performance.
Even so, Sakura never faltered as she faced Krista with unflappable poise.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid you've already lost that position."
"How so?"
Sakura merely smiled. There was no arrogance in that expression. Only unshakeable confidence.
"Because I'm here."