Blood of the Lion (4)

1.

The academy students moved in droves.

As if a grand event was being held, students from all departments mingled and moved together.

Their destination was the dueling arena used by the Swordsmanship department.

The reason was singular.

To see the Saintess, who was currently the subject of the hottest interest.

As soon as the news spread that she would be having a one-on-one duel with the top student of the Swordsmanship department’s first year, everyone rushed to the dueling arena to see her skills for themselves.

-BOOM!!

Two Sword Auras collided, causing an explosion.

A storm blew, shaking the audience.

A cloud of dust billowed up in the center of the arena.

Like thunderclouds, light flickered within the dust.

Although they couldn’t see what was happening inside, they could tell from the Magical power that shook the air with each flash of light that they were clashing fiercely.

-CRASH!!

With a roar like a lightning strike, something soared above the dust.

A man clutching hand axes tightly in both hands.

Hoth Ragtrida, who entered as the top student and was called the academy’s Hero.

He had been kicked by Elia and sent soaring high into the air.

Hoth’s eyes were half-rolled back.

Even with the sturdy physique typical of the Southern Kingdom, being kicked in the solar plexus was a critical hit.

But it wasn’t over yet.

For Hoth, it was just the beginning.

Red Magical power rose like heat haze above his shoulders.

Heat shimmered around Hoth’s body, who was standing with the sun behind him.

“Sss…!”

He let out a hot breath between his clenched teeth.

Hoth raised his hand axes above his head.

He pulled his upper body back taut like drawing a bow.

And then.

Matching the timing of his fall, he threw the hand axes with all his might.

The hand axes spun and flew at a rapid speed.

The speed was impossible to follow with the eye.

-BOOOOOOM!!

Red lightning fell.

The power was so strong that the cloud of dust filling the arena scattered and disappeared at once, like a bursting balloon.

“That’s a really crude technique,” Elia said, looking at her broken sword.

She had deflected the flying hand axes with her sword, but the sword had broken in the process.

“I like that kind of crude stuff. Because it’s cool.”

Elia smiled brightly.

She tossed the broken sword to the ground and loosened her wrists.

“But…”

She stood with her legs shoulder-width apart, firmly fixing her body.

“We need to think about the next move, right?”

Elia snatched Hoth by the collar, who was falling to the ground at the perfect timing.

And just like that.

-BANG!!

She slammed him into the ground.

“Ugh…!!”

Hoth’s back was completely shattered.

At that moment, she healed him with Divinity.

There was a momentary, intense pain that made him feel faint, but his body was fine.

Hoth got up.

“Wow…”

“He fell from that height and he’s fine.”

“That’s Hoth for you. He’s different.”

The students, unaware that Elia had healed him, were impressed to see Hoth getting up unscathed.

“Wasn’t it amazing…?”

“He’s a real monster.”

“Is that what it takes to be the top student?”

“Hey, I think Hoth is the strongest of all the top students up to the fourth year?”

The lightning he had shown last.

Everyone’s eyes were wide at the spectacular and overwhelming sight.

The measure of Swordsmanship isn’t flamboyance.

Being flamboyant might be cool.

What’s important is how deadly it is to the opponent and how difficult it is to defend against.

Judged by that standard, Hoth’s last technique might be useful in large-scale Magical Beast hunts or battles against Greater Magical Beasts, but it wasn’t great for one-on-one duels.

The casting time was too long before using the technique.

So it was possible to predict what kind of attack he would make.

Moreover, it was a fast but linear attack, so if you could follow it with your eyes, you could block it.

Not that there would be many people in the academy who could do that.

At least Rael, the Holy Knight, had seen it, so he was displeased with the students’ reactions of admiring Hoth.

The students who didn’t know any better thought Hoth had fought Elia on fairly equal terms.

“They don’t even know the Saintess was going easy on him…”

Rael, who was dragged around as Elia’s training dummy whenever she was bored, knew that she had used about 10% of her power in this duel.

“The power was amazing. It was a practice iron sword, but it broke my sword that was surrounded by Sword Aura.”

Elia immediately went into feedback mode.

“Still, throwing two axes at once was too stupid. You threw away not only your means of attack but also your means of defense. If you had at least one hand axe left at the end, it wouldn’t have been easy for me to catch you, would it?”

Hoth nodded, taking Elia’s words to heart.

“By the way, you’ve gotten pretty good at using Magical power while I haven’t seen you for a while?”

“I’ve been training hard!”

While Elia was in the Northern Region, Hoth reviewed Elia’s lessons over and over again.

Magical breathing.

He hadn’t mastered it perfectly, but as he trained to master it, his skill in handling the Magical power in his body improved.

“You did a very good job.”

Elia leaned forward and stroked Hoth’s head.

Hoth’s eyes widened.

This was the first time he had received such praise.

A soft hand was ruffling his rough hair.

And.

Breasts that looked even softer than her hand were shaking in front of his eyes.

The valley of her breasts, lengthened downwards by gravity, was deeper than usual.

“Please give birth to my baby!”

If Elia had been weaker than him, he would have immediately demanded a child and proposed to her.

In the Southern Kingdom, the right to choose is traditionally given to the stronger person.

A strong man chooses a woman, and a strong woman chooses a man.

So, unfortunately, he couldn’t propose to Elia.

Today, Hoth had another reason to become stronger.

“Do I have to keep training steadily in the future?”

“Yes!”

Elia came down from the arena and went to Rael.

“It’s almost time for the service, so let’s go back.”

They left the dueling arena before the crowd gathered.

“Saintess, it’s best not to get close to that guy.”

“Why?”

“There was a foul desire mixed in the way he looked at the Saintess.”

Elia, who had a refreshed look on her face after dueling for the first time in a while, narrowed her eyes and looked up at Rael.

“Are you the one saying that, Rael?”

“I, I don’t have any lust for the Saintess!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m serious! Please believe me!”

“Did I ever say I didn’t believe you? It’s just that I remembered the expression on Rael’s face that morning. Your philtrum was very long, you know?”

“W, w, what are you talking about…!”

Elia chuckled.

Thinking that she was teasing him again, Rael stammered and argued.

“Saintess, you seem to be enjoying teasing me too much these days.”

“Your reactions are delicious.”

“I wish you would refrain from doing so. The Saintess must maintain her dignity.”

“It’s okay to relax a little when it’s just the two of us, right?”

“You’re too relaxed even when you’re relaxed! You’re also losing your caution, and you don’t even care if your clothes are disheveled and more skin is exposed.”

Elia thought of Rael as her adjutant.

When she was living as the Sword Saint, or rather, when she was living as a staff officer in the Imperial Army, she was close to her adjutant like a brother, so she was maintaining a similar distance this time as well.

She often joked and teased him.

On top of that, she had the playfulness unique to old people, so she often teased Rael.

“Why? Does Rael care?”

Elia smiled mischievously and gathered her breasts as if to show off.

Her breasts, gathered as if to boast of their fullness, stimulated the instincts of men seeking motherhood.

Rael was also a man.

He wasn’t a eunuch who wouldn’t be stimulated by this.

He was just holding back.

“Ah…!”

Rael endured it and flicked Elia’s forehead.

Because she hadn’t been strengthening her body at all, the pain was transmitted directly to her forehead.

Elia rubbed her forehead with both hands.

“No strawberry milk for a month.”

“Ah.”

Rael huffed and walked forward.

“Ah, I was wrong. I was just testing if Rael was really suitable as my escort Knight. An escort Knight shouldn’t have ulterior motives towards the person they have to protect.”

“…”

Rael looked at Elia with narrow eyes.

“No alcohol either.”

“Ah ah!”

“And I’m going to tell them to put broccoli in every meal.”

Elia was horrified.

Even the Saintess had her likes and dislikes.

Broccoli was a big, big, big dislike. So every time she ate, she asked them to leave out the broccoli from her dishes.

“Ah ah ah, that’s crossing the line.”

“You’re the one who crossed the line, Saintess.”

“Are you pouting over a little joke?”

“Yes, I’m pouting.”

“A man shouldn’t pout over something like this.”

“I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you.”

Rael covered his ears with both hands.

“Okay. I promise I’ll never tease you again.”

“…”

“I swear I won’t tease you.”

“…Hmph!”

Rael turned his head away.

“Hehe…”

It was like appeasing a sulky girlfriend.

Not that he had ever had a girlfriend.

“Sigh… I’ll give you something good when you cheer up.”

Rael, who had been silently turning his head away, showed interest.

“Something good?”

“I think you’ll definitely like it.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you when you cheer up.”

Rael pondered for a moment.

As a guardian, he had to correct the child’s bad habits.

But on the other hand, he was curious about what good thing the Saintess would give him.

He wasn’t having dirty thoughts.

It was pure curiosity, pure.

“…Okay. I’ll let it go this time.”

Elia smiled brightly.

“Then shall we go over there?”

Elia grabbed Rael’s wrist and dragged him towards the forest.

“Let’s skip the service for today and go do something good.”

For a brief moment, Rael thought that the Saintess might actually be a succubus, not a Saintess.

No way.

Having such thoughts was Blasphemy.

He immediately blamed himself for having such terrible thoughts.

“You mustn’t skip the service.”

“Is it okay for just one day?”

Elia pulled on Rael’s arm.

Saying it wasn’t okay, Rael followed Elia into the forest as if he couldn’t win.

And they did something good.

“S, Saintess…! Wait! Just a moment!”

“There are still 100 more to go.”

“I can’t do it anymore. No way.”

“Don’t be weak.”

Elia threw a punch.

The small fist landed on Rael’s abdomen.

Rael flew far away and knocked down several trees.

His ribs were broken.

Elia immediately healed him.

“I’m telling you to come at me with all your might? I’ll tutor you.”

Something good.

It was a one-on-one duel with all their might.

What they had been doing before was just warming up, and this time they were using their full power with all their heart.

It was the Sword Saint’s Spartan education to give guidance.

It was also the method she used to raise the Hero.

“Are you going to break Rael’s ribs until he gives it his all?”

She made a chilling threat with a lovely face.

That day, Rael directly experienced Elia’s high level.

The skill of the person who had defeated the two Legion Commanders was beyond imagination.

She was fighting him, one of the Holy Nation’s five Holy Knights, with her bare hands, and giving him immediate feedback on his Swordsmanship.

It was a painful time, but…

As a swordsman who wanted to become stronger, he couldn’t deny that it was a really beneficial time.