"Oh, hello, Cid," Iris nodded with a smile, "Please, take a seat, I have been waiting for you… And who's that?"
"Greetings, princess Iris," elven woman removed her hood as Iris realized who she was, "I assume you know me."
"Swordmaster Beatrix, the first winner of the Bushin Festival, yes, I have heard of you," princess' eyes widened at the sight, though she quickly calmed herself down, "Please, take a seat… Hmm, I assume you met with Cid along the way?"
"Hum," Beatrix nodded as she sat near Cid, "Indeed, quite a peculiar young warrior," she gracefully ignored his irritated glance.
'Man, what did I even do to deserve this…'
Not only she took his whole stash of burgers away, but she also still managed to draw attention to him with one sentence! Because, well, as it turns out, getting recognition from a famous warrior, actually named the War Goddess and First Bushin Champion, kinda makes you stand out…
Cid sighed and took a look at the arena. Some mobs were fighting… Well, if he can even say that. They just poured as much magic as possible and waved their swords around like clubs. At least Gamma tried to do so elegantly. Eh, who cares, anyway. He has something else to worry about…
He left the instructions for Rose on how to proceed with play, but he didn't even check up on her-!
"Your drinks, sir," maid with brown hair brought a plate with various drinks on it.
"Hmm, thank you," he nodded.
Yeah, that's Nu in disguise, Cid can say it with one hundred percent certainty. He took a cup of black tea from the plate and sipped.
"I guess you are enjoying yourself," Iris merely smiled upon seeing him growing accustomed to the high nobility average day.
"You could say that," yeah, even all of that is not comparable to how every Shadow Garden members kissed the ground he walked on… sometimes literally. He had to stop them from doing that… then when he looked in secret, the amount of people kissing the ground tripled. At least Shades and Named Numbers seemed civil enough and acted somewhat calm in his presence.
If only Cid knew what they did with plushies and pictures of him…
"…Say, Master Beatrix…" hmm, Iris wanted to ask something from Alpha's (apparently) aunt?
"Yes?"
"Is there anyone who attracted your gaze?"
"On the arena? No," elf shook her head.
"Your question means there was someone outside who got your attention?" Iris quickly picked up.
"Indeed," Beatrix turned his gaze to him, "This boy seems promising."
"Him? No way, he's not comparable to his sister at all!" "But was War Goddess ever wrong?" "You have a point, but…" "That means we simply have to forge relationship before he becomes strong… I have a daughter of his age…"
'Thank you very much, Alpha's aunt,' he sent burning gaze towards the elven woman who just smiled at him and nodded. Now he's at the center of attention, and everyone thinks highly of him! What the actual hell?!
"Ah, excuse me, I guess I am late," a middle-aged man came in… and Cid immediately noticed something.
'Hmm, isn't that Violet's magic I feel in you?… Guess you're from that Cult… Which I kinda already forgot about honestly… Should I make up a new ancient evil organization, by the way?… Maybe later.'
Perv was surprised by the stare a seemingly unassuming boy sent in his direction. No, more like… Hmm, nevermind.
"Chancellor Perv, where is His Majesty Raphael?" Iris inquired.
"He… doesn't feel so well, I am afraid," Cid smells bullshit!
"Understandable. Please, take a seat," princess sighed and nodded at the empty seat to her right hand.
The man immediately took the offer and sat down. Cid curiously eyed the this so-called Chancellor but in the end decided against taking any action: the guy seemed to be from Oriana, and judging by his words he had a beef with Rose… which has just gotten power from mysterious mighty individual hiding in shadows! Hell yeah! That's what he calls good hero story!
Oh, his fight is coming soon, in two rounds or so…
"Excuse me, I need to go out…" he stood up and walked out of the lounge.
He noticed how Beatrix eyed him in curiosity, but paid it no mind.
He also heard nobles calling him "weak character" but who cares about them anyway?
Rose Oriana focused on the slime.
Shadow Garden had… terrifying arsenal. Even this one thing that was supplied to every combat-oriented member was more than enough to allow an experienced fighter to completely annihilate his enemies. Sure, if you had weak magic control and bad fighting abilities, slime suit was even worse than a common steel sword.
But should you be experienced enough in battles and have a high level of magic control… Weapon? Armor? That's just the basics taught to everyone in Shadow Garden. The real challenge starts at being able to modify the suit on the spot… and frankly, even most members struggled at going past making the suit and weapon of their choice.
She heard some of the higher-ranked members, so-called "Seven Shades", were so terrifying that they were able to use the slime in the most insane ways: someone called Epsilon was even rumored to be able to completely change the way she looks and keep that form for a long time without anyone noticing something strange. And when she says completely, she means completely: even changing to completely opposite body type.
Of course, even they were simply not comparable to their leader, Shadow: if Lambda's (her current instructor) words are to be believed, he was the one who invented and granted most of the styles used in Shadow Garden… which meant he had a high proficiency in all possible weapons.
Of course, Rose did not wish to court Shadow; her heart solely belongs to Cid. Ah, she wonders if he still believed in her…
She only needs to sit out this day. Tomorrow, she will go and take that bastard's head. Then, she will promise herself to Cid. Hmm? Someone said about countries' relationship and the fact that Oriana might not take that well?
My, such a relationship between two countries' members of nobility would surely be beneficial, right? And if there's someone who wants to meddle in their relationship… She has enough stakes for their heads.
"So that's Annerose…" Perv nodded upon seeing the legendary Velgalta's Seven Blades member… even if she relinquished that title.
"And that's her opponent I heard about… Mundane Mann, was it?" Iris continued the dialogue, looking at the sick-looking middle-aged man who could barely stand on his legs.
"I am no swordsman myself, but…" Perv noticed Iris' gaze, "well, I am, but am no expert in these deals. However, I still think there's no way for this man to win."
"Hmm, we shall see on that," she turned her head back to the arena.
"Ready?" judge scrutinized the sick-looking man," Then, Annerose against Mundane Mann! Begin!"
Annerose carefully studied her opponent. His speed was unmatched. She knows that for sure. His speed was so overwhelming that no one was able to even notice his movements, and when they tried to attack, it was already over.
Nobody, except for her.
That magic sphere encounter was an eye-opening moment for her. From that moment, she trained herself to exhaustion each day before the tournament. And she saw improvements.
Now, she was sure enough: she could if not win, then at least put up a fight against him.
After all…
"You came here for the same reason as me, right?" she smiled.
He tilted his head, taking out his sword with shaking hands.
"You wanted to fight a worthy opponent."
Surprise flashed briefly in his eyes.
If it was her before, she would surely think this guy had absolutely no experience in sword and purely relied on his overwhelming speed to defeat his opponents. However…
She noticed that he always targeted the hardest to break weak points of his opponents. Always. Hardest to break, yet once broken, opponent will surely fall down. That was no mere coincidence. Mundane Mann knew, exactly, how swordfight worked.
Which means he was proficient enough in sword. Probably even an expert.
She slowly walked around him, seeking for his own weak points. He just blinked at her lethargically.
There… here…
Now!
She appeared in front of him in a fraction of second and slashed at his neck. Surely enough, he blocked. However, her real target was below!… Which he also blocked.
With each strike, she slowly opened him up more and more, until she gave one last blow that should have taken him… But it didn't.
She immediately turned around and blocked the strike.
"Hmm… Not bad…" she heard a whisper.
Not bad?! She is going all-out here, and all he can say is "not bad"-?!
Relax. Breathe. He probably wants you to erupt in anger. Don't look away from him. The moment you do, he will practically teleport and snap your neck. Focus on him. Don't blink.
She felt the air behind her. Her body reacted faster than her mind, blocking the strike once more. And again. And again.
Slowly, she could feel improvement. With each strike, she could feel her body growing accustomed to his speed. His dead fish stare was slowly replaced with that of curiosity.
And then, he jumped back.
"Interesting…" she heard him mumbling.
He still had that same pose of a man that got every disease in the world on himself that she saw back at registration days. Yet now, she could see that he finally takes her into account… Even though thinking like that hurt her ego a bit.
"Annerose."
She tilted her head upon hearing him speak.
"You were the first one to make me fight without limiters."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled briefly, knowing that attacking each other at such a touching moment was a taboo between warriors.
"Indeed. For the sake of my dream, I have forsaken a lot…" he coughed.
"I can understand you to some extent…" she sighed and gripped her sword tighter.
"So… let us make this dance beautiful," and at that moment, she felt it.
Out of the pure instinct and battle reflexes, Annerose placed her sword in front of her. Mundane Mann stopped a mere millimeter from it. Of course, she should have expected that.
In fact, she did.
Mundane's strike was blocked with her shoulder's plate. It hurt like hell, but she managed to get a hold on herself and strike right back!
Of course, he immediately went out of the way, but…
"Hmm…" he studied her once more.
Annerose took a battle stance.
"I haven't intended to use this until the very end… But you."
Her eyes widened as he finally took a proper battle stance, too.
"You're worthy."
And in the next moment, he slowly moved his sword. Beautiful, just like a dance he promised.
She could feel multiple swords attacking her body… Wait, he had only one, didn't he?…
Ah.
Now she can see.
That's how Sword looks like.
To be with the sword. To be the sword.
In a spike of determination, she looked up one last time. She looked up, and saw him smiling in respect.
'Beautiful…' she smiled back.
She could no longer hold herself. Huh, first time she felt that…
"Stand proud, Annerose."
And that was the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness.
"You are strong."
