Ch.104104. The Successor of the Summer Window

“My name is Edel! The next successor of the Summer Spear. Gilbert, next successor of the Winter Sword, let’s settle this!”

Gilbert sighed as he looked at the small child pointing a finger at him.

Though this was their first meeting in this world, Gilbert knew very well the confident little one who had boldly extended a finger at him.

Edel Reeves.

She was the devoted follower of the master who had saved her, and the successor-in-training of the Summer Spear, one of the four seasonal weapon arts that embodied everything her master stood for. She was a notable figure who would naturally become his rival once he became Briana’s direct disciple and learned the Winter Sword.

Despite her appearance, she was genuinely talented with the spear, a true prodigy. Even Gilbert had great difficulty facing her when he first played Tactical Combat.

Having built a solid foundation more thoroughly than any other character, she also excelled at adapting to unexpected situations, making it impossible to defeat Edel with ordinary tricks.

One had to build up orthodox skill to defeat her, and whether one could truly beat her or not was a measure of one’s skill in Tactical Combat.

However, she was quite polarizing among users, and the reason was obvious just by looking at her.

With her short red hair, large eyes, and slender jawline, she seemed like she would be quite popular as a passionate character, but one single flaw offset all of that.

Her small stature—not even reaching Gilbert’s chest—and youthful appearance made Edel into a passionate little kid, appealing only to users with specific preferences.

Naturally, her character design couldn’t compete in popularity with the charismatic Seraphina, the cold-on-the-outside-but-warm-on-the-inside Briana, or Lily, whose mere presence made one’s heart race.

From Gilbert’s perspective, if he had to judge whether he liked Edel or not, he leaned toward liking her. Her passionate little kid persona was quite amusing, and when recruited as a companion, she performed beyond expectations, making her a character he couldn’t dislike.

However, the one thing he didn’t like was that Edel also had a romance route available.

In Tactical Combat, having a romance route meant that completing all romance-related content with that character would earn an achievement.

At that time, Gilbert, obsessed with achievement completion, pursued Edel’s romance route with full force without considering her appearance.

And therein lay the problem. First of all, Tactical Combat was an adult-rated game, so the romance routes were quite explicit.

Whether it was the developer’s intention or not, Edel’s romance route in particular emphasized this explicitness, but the achievement-obsessed Gilbert paid no mind to that either.

In the end, after investing time and effort to complete all of Edel’s romance routes and earn the achievement, Gilbert came to his senses and had to live with self-loathing for a while as he saw Edel sticking close to him.

Especially whenever he saw Edel looking at him with that clingy gaze, his self-loathing intensified.

But Gilbert, not stopping his gameplay, somehow finished the playthrough where he had completed Edel’s romance route and then deliberately avoided scenarios involving Edel for a while.

No matter that it was just a game and she was set as an adult, completing Edel’s romance route was no different from admitting he was a lolicon.

Since Tactical Combat was a packaged game, there was no chance of anyone finding out, but the problem was that Gilbert himself kept remembering this fact.

As time passed and he focused on clearing other achievements, he had forgotten about it, but…

Gilbert emerged from his thoughts and quietly looked at Edel, who was still rambling on about something.

Though it would never happen in this world, looking at her involuntarily reminded him of Edel’s romance route.

Gilbert watched Edel, who was talking non-stop without even seeming out of breath, and searched his pocket. He found a few honey jellies he had been carrying to replenish his energy after intense physical training.

He took out all the honey jellies and carefully placed them in Edel’s hand, which was still extended with her finger pointing.

“Honey jellies. Eat them.”

“Huh..? Th… thank you…?”

Edel, who had been in the middle of explaining why they needed to have this duel, forgot what she was saying and expressed her gratitude for the sudden gift from her opponent.

Though not mortal enemies, she had viewed the successor of the Winter Sword—which had once defeated her master’s Summer Spear—unfavorably, but seeing him offer such delicious food, he couldn’t be a bad person.

Gilbert smiled wryly as he saw Edel immediately quieting down after being given food.

This aspect was consistent with her character in Tactical Combat.

Edel, who had been an orphan, lived on the streets and experienced hunger before meeting her master Diara, so she had a great attachment to food. Therefore, the best gift to raise her affection was to give her delicious food, especially sweet treats.

That vague memory had prompted him to give her the honey jellies, and seeing her immediately unwrap and eat them, it seemed reality was no different.

Gilbert gently patted Edel’s head as she stuffed all the honey jellies into her mouth at once.

“Ah…?”

At Edel’s puzzled voice, Gilbert suddenly came to his senses.

Removing his hand from her head, Gilbert hurriedly left, ignoring Edel’s wide-eyed stare.

He was additionally flustered because he had unconsciously performed the skinship he often did when pursuing her romance route.

Edel, who had suddenly received a bunch of honey jellies and had her head patted, stared blankly at Gilbert as he hurriedly left, then blushed and shouted loudly.

“How dare you treat me like a child, you disrespectful man!”

Her anger erupted at Gilbert, who had dared to touch the head of a mature lady (at least in Edel’s personal opinion) without permission.

Though she appreciated the tasty snack, giving food and patting someone’s head were actions reserved for children, weren’t they?

It was absolutely not something to do to a well-grown adult woman (again, strictly Edel’s personal opinion).

So why did he do such a thing?

Edel’s expression crumpled as she pondered for a moment.

He wouldn’t have thought she was a child based on her perfect physical appearance, so it must have been a metaphorical expression. And considering her actions just before, it wasn’t difficult to understand the hidden meaning of that metaphorical expression.

“Are you looking down on my skills, treating me like a child!”

There could be no other explanation for Gilbert’s sudden actions. There was no other reason to give delicious honey jellies and pat the head of someone he had just met.

Edel trembled, unable to express the humiliation and anger rising from the bottom of her heart. Since becoming Diara’s disciple, she had never been so disrespected, until today.

She looked at the honey jellies in her hand, shuddered at the thought of Gilbert, and raised her hand high as if to throw them to the ground. She had thought of him as a destined rival and requested a duel, but all she received was contempt and disregard.

Why had she eaten jellies given by such an ill-mannered, uncultured man?

Edel gritted her teeth and swung her hand down.

“…”

But the honey jellies in Edel’s hand did not end up rolling on the ground. No matter how angry she was, there was nothing wrong with the food itself.

Edel, who still couldn’t forget her days of living on the streets, could never throw away perfectly good food. If only for the sake of her past self who had nearly died from not being able to eat even a piece of jelly on a winter day.

Instead of throwing away the honey jellies, she stuffed them into her pocket and glared at the path where Gilbert had disappeared.

Since the food was innocent, she vowed deep in her heart to crush Gilbert, who had looked down on her, at the exchange meeting to resolve this humiliation.

“Definitely.”

Edel’s eyes began to burn as hot as the summer sun.

***

Diara was uncharacteristically nervous as she faced Briana, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Until meeting her, she had been smiling contentedly, reminiscing about their duel from long ago, but upon reuniting with Briana after more than ten years, her body had stiffened.

She had thought she was simply meeting an old acquaintance, but her true feelings seemed different.

Two hours ago, upon entering Demeia Academy, Diara had immediately sought out Briana.

It was impolite to seek out Briana—a professor at the academy and renowned Sword Saint—without an appointment, but Diara was the current successor of the Summer Spear.

Although Diara had lost to Briana in their duel ten years ago, the title of successor to one of the four seasonal weapon arts was not to be taken lightly.

Especially since she had been specially invited to this exchange meeting, she was immediately directed to Briana’s location upon giving her name.

However, the timing was off, and Briana was away from her office. The attendant who had guided Diara hurriedly left, saying they would notify Briana.

Left alone in her office, Diara couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the austere room with no decorations.

After ten years, Briana seemed unchanged.

Though they hadn’t had deep interactions, she prided herself on knowing Briana better than anyone.

Wasn’t the exchange between warriors always through duels?

That all-out duel had revealed much about Briana while making them close comrades.

Even as they parted, they had promised to compete again, so it wasn’t just Diara who felt this way.

She wondered if Briana would remember.

Diara suddenly wondered if she would remember their promise from that day.

The reunion, which she had expected to happen sooner, had been delayed this long because Diara had taken in Edel, so there was a good chance Briana had forgotten.

Of course, if her personality remained the same, that wouldn’t be the case.

The Briana that Diara knew was a born swordswoman and a warrior who pursued strength. It was impossible that she would have forgotten her promise to duel again with an opponent who had satisfied her so much.

Having settled that thought, Diara began to meditate to clear her mind.

How much time had passed?

Diara’s sharp senses detected a familiar presence.

She slowly awakened her consciousness and looked at the office door with half-opened eyes.

-Creeak

The door opened, revealing Briana, who hadn’t changed at all since they had parted.

Seeing her, Diara also returned to the day they had parted, smiling so brightly her teeth showed.

“Successor of the Winter Sword, I’ve come to settle our score.”

As she spoke the first words she had ever said to her ten years ago.