Ch.133133. Spring Outing (1)

The Kingdom of Aicilia’s border, the Eastern Front.

Inside a large tent. A woman was sitting at a round table.

Seated at the head of the table, Eunice Kallia had her arms crossed with a deeply troubled expression.

“Just this week alone, we’ve had three skirmishes with the Empire’s regular army… The Empire’s ambitions are growing ever larger.”

At the woman’s low, subdued voice, Eunice Kallia’s brow furrowed slightly.

The kingdom is in turmoil.

Recently, there had been a war at the westernmost part of the kingdom, the County of Sianella. The opponents were said to be demonkin and demons.

The situation at the easternmost border wasn’t much better either.

The Empire, consumed by territorial expansion and conquest, kept provoking our Marquisate of Kallia, testing our limits. It wouldn’t be surprising if a full-scale battle broke out at any moment.

Relations between the Kingdom and the Empire were already poor. The royal court was closely monitoring the Empire’s movements and the safety of the Kallia Marquisate, and now some royal troops were even stationed in the territory.

In this situation, an even more troublesome matter had arisen.

“What should I do about this…?”

An elf from the Great Forest, who had been secluded in the woods, had come to see her at the Kallia Marquisate’s border.

Secretly, so no one would notice.

—My lady, we can suppress the Empire’s forces for you. The forest between the Kingdom and the Empire is essentially our domain. It’s simple.

At first, the words were sweet.

—But… there are conditions. You must provide loyal soldiers to the Great Forest clan in the near future. And grant a small request that will come later. The brave women of the Kallia Marquisate and the elegant ladies of the royal court… would surely be of great help to us.

But she had questions.

Why would they want to borrow the Kingdom’s soldiers? And objectively speaking, the Empire’s military was much stronger than the Kingdom’s. Why would they want our soldiers, or were they perhaps testing us?

So she asked, and received an answer.

—The reason for borrowing soldiers… you’ll know when the time comes. And if you ask why we chose the Kingdom over the Empire… we elves are beings who know how to ride fate. As for the small request… I’ll let you know next time.

The elf revealed an incredibly seductive smile as she spoke.

—You seem to have many questions. In three days, we elves will officially visit the Kingdom. Let’s discuss this more deeply then.

—…If the forest clan officially shows themselves at our marquisate, won’t the Empire become even more vigilant?

—It’s fine.

The elf’s arrogance at that moment was unforgettable.

—The Empire’s rabble are like candles that go out with a single breath before us. Don’t worry about those insignificant Imperial troops. We elves will handle them easily…

The elf—

—Since we have chosen you… you should forget about the Imperial troops and prepare to welcome us.

Before spring could arrive, in the winter days, they began to intervene in a chaotic fate.

* * *

“Phew…”

I wiped away the beads of sweat on my forehead and caught my breath. Though my muscles and stamina had improved lately, they still weren’t solid enough to fully handle sparring with Siabel.

My body felt heavy, weighed down by fatigue and the heavy protective gear. So I plopped down on the floor of Ainel’s private training room.

I took a moment to catch my breath and thought.

‘Time has passed so quickly already.’

Time had flowed relentlessly.

Time passing without mercy. The white snow that covered the ground melted, and gradually greenery began to breathe life into the frozen earth. The sun, rising higher than before, extended the bright daylight hours and encouraged the stirring life.

The power of the northern gales diminished, replaced by warm spring breezes and sunshine.

Finally, the winter filled with cursed incidents ended, and a hopeful spring with blooming flowers arrived.

And I hadn’t been idle while waiting for spring to come.

‘It was tough.’

During this time, I had continued sparring with Siabel.

‘She never went easy on me once during all our sword matches.’

At first, she seemed to be holding back a little… but at some point, Siabel’s sword became so persistent it was truly exasperating, and quite troublesome.

Moreover, as expected of an Expert.

Her stamina was so impressive… did she even understand the concept of fatigue? Siabel continued our sparring without stopping as long as I had enough strength to swing my sword one more time.

‘…Despite being sisters, her personality is completely different from Sione’s.’

If it were Sione, after exchanging some blows, she would collapse on her own, claiming exhaustion.

Even when I charged at her seriously, Siabel might sweat profusely, but she never showed any sign of fatigue. Instead, she would giggle as if the situation was nothing but fun for her.

If it were Sione, she would have crawled under the blankets by now, saying she didn’t want to move for two days… but Siabel, who had tirelessly torn apart enemies on the wall, was truly a unique and stubborn individual.

“Still…”

It wasn’t just difficult training during this time; there were definite small gains as well.

‘One quest was cleared.’

As positive stories about Sione steadily spread throughout the territory, her reputation had improved incomparably from before.

Of course, the servants in the count’s residence who had directly experienced her verbal abuse still didn’t seem to like her much. But even they acknowledged the merits she had built up during this war.

When her common designation changed from “incompetent, worthless noble” to “brave archer,” the quest reward came to me.

‘Mana improvement and complete unlocking of blocked abilities up to a certain level.’

My total mana increased, and its efficiency improved. It was sufficient progress.

And more importantly, the complete unlocking of abilities. Those abilities were my spirit magic and basic physical capabilities.

Not only did the power of my spirit magic greatly increase, but it was as if this body had evolved to be more suitable for using spirit magic, allowing for more precise control. Mana efficiency had definitely improved, so I could use more daring techniques in the future.

Archery also gained a lot. My senses became sharper, and I could shoot arrows more quickly. These honed senses were quite excellent compared to the rest of my body, so they would be a great help not only with the bow but also when handling a sword.

The outline of my abilities from when I rolled around in that cursed dungeon is gradually taking shape. If I can just maintain this pace, I should be able to recover my strength within one to two years.

But—

‘The rapids of fate…’

What Princess Adelheid called the “rapids of fate” bothered me.

In any case, the princess who could see fate personally informed me that this county would be caught in the rapids of history. So there would likely be some troublesome events.

It was quite concerning not knowing what variables these “rapids” or whatever might create.

As I was lost in thought, Siabel, who had already removed her heavy protective gear and cooled down, was looking down at me with her hair let down.

“Today was more fun than before. Your swordsmanship and magic utilization are improving… that sharp wind earlier even surprised me a bit.”

“For someone who was surprised, you countered it too easily.”

“Wind blades that follow the trajectory of your sword swing can be easily seen and avoided if I read the flow of your movements.”

“…You could see that?”

Siabel just smiled mischievously and shrugged.

…I had kicked the ground with my left foot, shot my right foot forward, and pivoted. Simultaneously, I had slashed upward from the lower left to the upper right. It was an attack executed at a formidable speed with the help of magic.

But apparently Siabel could see all of that.

“I have rather good eyes.”

Siabel tapped her eye area with her index finger.

Then she extended her hand to me sitting on the floor.

“…May I borrow your hand for a moment?”

“What’s the big deal, you’re my disciple. Take it comfortably.”

I grasped Siabel’s hand and stood up.

Afterward, I removed my protective equipment, organized it properly, and prepared to leave the training room.

With the thick protective gear gone, the occasional cool outside breeze brushing against my skin created a refreshing sensation.

“Sione is probably at the shooting range now?”

“Yes, if it’s now, she’s likely taking a short break after shooting.”

“Good. Let’s go to the shooting range together.”

“Together?”

“Yes, I have something to tell Sione.”

“I could deliver the message for you—”

Siabel shook her head in the middle of my sentence.

“I want to tell her directly.”

I quietly nodded at her words.

Seeing my response, Siabel casually flicked her hair with her hand and started walking.

I followed closely behind her.

We soon arrived at the training ground.

There were still quite a few awkward new recruits at the training ground.

Many lives were lost in the previous war, so a considerable number had been replaced with new personnel. When Siabel and I appeared, they naturally looked at us with something akin to admiration. It seems our achievements had spread more deeply among the new recruits.

Siabel and I passed by them and entered the shooting range.

“Sione is… ah, there she is.”

Siabel’s gaze turned to a corner of the shooting range.

Her eyes caught not only Sione but also the face of a welcome acquaintance.

I too followed her gaze and spotted Sione.

“She’s with Flora.”

The somewhat naive new recruit who had joined us in catching kobolds and tangling with orcs on that snowy day.

Recently, Sione had been spending more time chatting with Flora during breaks like this. They would even occasionally watch each other shoot and offer pointers. While Siabel and I were crossing swords, they had been gradually building a friendship.

‘…I never thought Sione would make a friend.’

She does have a childhood friend named Noah Velleia, but their relationship is quite complicated, and they rarely meet, so that doesn’t count.

It’s actually quite admirable that Sione, who is usually quite cold to everyone except me, has made a friend like this. If this momentum continues, perhaps Sione could make about three friends someday. I should encourage her.

‘By the way, Flora’s skills have improved a lot too.’

Having experienced war once, and spending time with Sione who is knowledgeable about archery.

Flora’s skills had visibly improved. Her once trembling arrowheads had steadied, from nocking and drawing the bowstring to the arrows flying straight and sharp. She had filled in her lacking skills and was transforming into a rather excellent ranger.

I didn’t notice when she was clumsy, but given enough time, she could probably become a quite renowned ranger.

Siabel and I approached Sione.

When Flora saw our faces, she flinched and immediately bowed her head.

“Ah, hello…!”

…I guess she’s still timid except when shooting.

Well, Sione might be somewhat used to us, but it’s natural to be nervous when our future head of the family comes around.

After briefly exchanging greetings, Flora discreetly stepped back and resumed shooting.

The conversation naturally continued between me, Sione, and Siabel.

Sione tilted her head cutely and asked.

Then, seeing me behind Siabel, her face brightened.

“Sister, what brings you here?”

“I wanted to talk to you, so I came right after our sparring. Do you have a moment, Sione?”

Nod, nod.

As soon as Sione gave her permission, Siabel crossed her arms with a satisfied expression.

“We were supposed to have fun together at the last festival but couldn’t. Now that winter is over and the weather has improved, I was thinking we could go out to the territory together.”

“With you, Sister?”

“Yes, I know some nice restaurants and places worth seeing. Sion is suddenly wanting to become a battle priest and practically living at the church these days, so he can’t join. How about just us sisters going with a few attendants?”

“Hmm…”

As Sione was pondering Siabel’s words, Siabel dropped a line as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“I know a beautiful plum blossom path… by now, the plum blossoms should be blooming beautifully.”

“Plum blossoms…?”

“Yes, plum blossoms.”

“Hmmmm…”

Sione fell into deeper contemplation. But judging by her expression, she seemed to be leaning toward going out with Siabel.

Since there are no plum trees in the count’s residence, if she wants to see plum blossoms, she would inevitably have to go outside.

The perfect hostage for Sione who loves flowers.

Sione eventually agreed to Siabel’s invitation.

“…I’ll go.”

“That’s great. As for when… I’ll let you know after coordinating the dates. Is that okay?”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting, Sister.”

Siabel stroked Sione’s head with a familiar gesture.

As expected, Sione closed her eyes tightly and simply felt her touch.

“My disciple will be coming too, so look forward to it.”

“I will.”

With that, the conversation ended, and Siabel left first.

Sione and I also left the shooting range not long after.

Sione walked with a more bouncy, lively step than usual.

Then she ran ahead, twirled around, and faced me.

“Ray, Ray.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what the flower language of plum blossoms is?”

It seems my master is very excited about going to see plum blossoms.

In the end, I had to listen to her dissertation on plum blossoms until we returned to our room, to the point of exhaustion.