Ch.89Looking Back to Speak (Complete)

Kain really wanted to rest today.

“Lily. I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t remember anything.”

“…If you’re serious, I’m a bit disappointed. Didn’t you say that an agent should be prepared in any situation?”

Lily remained expressionless.

“But you also said to prioritize taking care of yourself when you’re not feeling well.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lily grabbed Kain’s arm and dragged him along. Her reasoning was that nothing solved a hangover and temporary memory loss better than a sparring session.

“Working up a good sweat will help with your hangover, won’t it? And I’m only doing what you told me to do last night.”

Kain was quite bewildered. He wasn’t the type to cause trouble while drunk and then completely forget about it. But seeing Lily insist like this, he suspected something must have happened.

Maria joined them for this sparring session. She came along with a leather pouch containing the cipher decoder disk and encrypted letters, so Kain couldn’t even use the excuse of “protecting valuables.”

The rules were the same as two days ago. Even the penalty remained the same. The only concession to Kain’s condition was that they wouldn’t wrap him in blankets.

And Lily pushed even harder than she had two days ago.

“You’re slower than you were two days ago. It’s not like you’ve never seen standard Imperial swordsmanship before!”

She was right. Lily’s swordsmanship followed the orthodox Imperial style. The only difference was that her wooden sword came buzzing in half a head higher and twice as fast as a typical Imperial soldier’s would.

It felt more like she was swinging a log than a wooden sword. Seeing Kain’s wavering gaze, Lily pressed her attack fiercely.

“The Knight of the Scabbard fights from a much more advantageous position than we do. That’s why we need to learn how to face him when we’re at our most disadvantaged! Didn’t you say last night that we won’t always face him when we’re in peak condition?”

Lily thrust from above. Kain responded by slightly twisting his body and thrusting his training sword. He desperately tried to remember what he had said the night before, but even after breaking two wooden swords and collapsing with muscle cramps in his limbs, he still couldn’t recall.

Lily didn’t leave Kain lying on the ground. She put down her training sword and massaged his cramping arms and legs. Though he knew cramps should be worked out immediately, Kain was in too much pain and discomfort.

His arms were so numb that he couldn’t even properly eat the sandwich he’d brought for lunch.

But when he saw Lily’s afternoon schedule, he was left speechless. Lily was fiercely swinging her sword at Maria, who was empty-handed and practicing dodging all the attacks.

Perhaps concerned about injuries, Lily had replaced the training sword with a handful of reeds from the lakeside, which she wielded like a sword. The reeds bent like whips, making them twice as difficult to dodge, but Maria twisted her body this way and that, occasionally launching sharp counterattacks at Lily’s limbs.

After about an hour, Lily and Maria’s eyes met. This time, Lily sat down on a rock to rest, and Maria brought two wooden swords, placing one in front of Kain.

“Hey. Let’s go a round? Surely you’re not going to say you’re tired in front of me? You’ve rested plenty.”

“…What’s with everyone today?”

“You’re really funny. Don’t you remember what you said last night?”

“What did I say, exactly?”

Maria poked Kain’s shoulder lightly with the wooden sword as if to say he was being noisy. Kain grabbed the sword and stood up.

“Since I don’t know the Imperial dueling style, let’s change the rules a bit. The winner is whoever stabs or cuts the opponent with the sword first. Kicking or punching is fine, but it won’t count as a victory.”

Maria’s stance was textbook perfect. But she was challenging in a different way than Lily. While Lily was destructively overwhelming, Maria used her flexible movements to launch attacks from unexpected angles that Kain couldn’t anticipate.

Despite having rested for an hour, his limbs were still prone to cramping. Maria teased Kain by hitting him with the back of her sword or playfully pushing him with the flat side.

“Remember? The winner is whoever ‘stabs or cuts’ with the sword. Not hitting with the back or pushing with the flat side. So get up now!”

Forcing his body to move actually helped loosen it up. Of course, he knew he’d be completely immobile tomorrow. Kain was so exhausted that he couldn’t even smell the alcohol on his breath anymore.

Before three in the afternoon, both Kain and Maria collapsed in exhaustion. In a real battle, Kain would have been sliced to pieces.

“What? I’m really disappointed.”

Maria looked down at Kain with her chin held high. Judging by her trembling hands, she was quite tired herself.

“Disappointed?”

“You said a Security Bureau agent should always be fully prepared in any situation. But look at the state you’re in now.”

Kain had no response. It was exactly what he always emphasized to Lily. Maria smiled brightly and extended her hand to the collapsed Kain.

“Can you get up if I help?”

“Of course.”

Due to their weight difference, Maria almost got pulled down instead, but Kain managed to stand up. Lily gathered the leather pouch and training equipment, while Maria supported Kain, who could barely walk.

“…What exactly did I say last night?”

“You were quite a sight last night.”

Maria pinched Kain’s arm.

“Do you know how frustrated Lily and I were? You told us everything that professor guy told you. You relayed it well despite seeming quite drunk.

You clearly seemed angry at that professor, but you wouldn’t answer when we asked why. You just grumbled to yourself and kept drinking.”

Despite feeling like his leg muscles were tearing, Kain stopped walking.

“…So last night I…”

“Yes. You didn’t say anything like this.” Maria chuckled and slapped Kain’s leg. Kain grabbed his leg, barely suppressing a scream.

“So Lily and I made a plan. ‘That guy’s going to die before his time if he keeps this up, so let’s help him relieve stress by making him move his body.’ Plus, there was something we needed to confirm.”

“You tease me and then talk about confirming something?”

“Well. It’s related to swordsmanship, so Lily will answer that. But hey, do you feel better? Is your anger subsiding? So tell me, why were you so angry last night?”

Maria nudged Kain with her elbow. Kain swallowed a hollow laugh.

“…Just that the professor had no respect for humans. He talked about someone else’s experiences as if they were completely unrelated to him. Moreover, he freely used them for his own… social advancement. It was… disgusting to see.”

“That’s what it seemed like. Watch out for that protruding rock… Were you that angry about it?”

“I couldn’t bear to tell you both.” Kain shook his head. “It was nauseating just to hear it. I struggled to contain myself. And seeing how I can’t control myself like this, I think it’s the right time for me to retire.”

“Think positively. Holding in anger will kill you before your time. And… hey. That’s what friends are for. We listen to each other’s problems and such. How long are you going to keep your distance?”

Friends.

It was a word casually thrown out, but for Kain, it was an overwhelmingly heavy term. So Kain remained silent for the entire journey back. Only when they were almost at their lodgings did he manage to say,

“Thank you.”

Maria shook her head with a smile.

“Let’s wash up and have dinner.”

* * * * *

After dinner, at bedtime. As expected, there was a knock at the door. Kain opened it. Lily stood there, pale-faced, hugging a pillow and blanket.

“A knight has come just for you.”

With his arms and legs still numb, Kain stepped back. Fatigue was visible on Lily’s face too, but she smiled brightly as she arranged the blankets.

“Just in case you’re wondering, I’ll be staking my knight’s honor tonight too. So you don’t need to worry. And since your limbs and body must be very tired, I won’t wrap you in blankets either.”

“…The sparring was your idea too, wasn’t it?”

“It was mine and Maria’s idea.”

The form of address had changed. From “Lady Maria” to “Maria.” Kain understood what that subtle difference meant.

Lily lay down first, and Kain lay beside her. True to her knightly nature, Lily didn’t rub against him or slip her hands under his clothes. Instead, she held him tightly.

Lily’s clothes were thin, but since both Kain and Lily were covered with their own blankets, nothing embarrassing happened.

“And this is my own thought. Last night… I actually wanted to hold you. But I couldn’t.”

“Because I smelled of alcohol?”

“No. You were angry while being sad. You spoke dispassionately about your conversation with the professor and only said, ‘A person shouldn’t say such things to another person.’ You wouldn’t explain what you meant no matter how much I asked.”

“I really don’t remember that.”

“So, I wanted to know what happened that was so terrible you couldn’t even tell us and kept it all bottled up inside. And I wanted to help you somehow… so I plotted with Maria.”

“It seems a bit childish.”

“That’s why it’s more effective.”

Lily embraced Kain. The pleasant scent of her skin gradually eased Kain’s tension. Though he thought he shouldn’t melt into it.

“And… there was something else I needed to confirm.”

“What?”

“That staff technique you learned in the East. You learned it from someone who primarily used thrusting techniques, correct?”

Surprised, Kain pulled away. Though the soreness in his back and waist muscles prevented him from moving far.

“How did you know?”

“I could tell from your stance. Your defense is fairly good, but your attacks are rough and unstable. Especially your upper thrust stance completely collapses.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. Even when you need to thrust at the upper body, you try to change to middle or lower cutting. With a staff, that’s fine because it’s light and easy to change direction, but an Imperial sword is longer and heavier, making it cumbersome. Even if you had a rapier—no, even with a rapier, such a sudden change would be inefficient.”

Lily caressed Kain’s shoulders and arms.

“Your stance keeps leaning forward, naturally pushing you into the opponent’s inner arm space. Fortunately, your hand-to-hand combat skills are top-tier, but against someone like the Knight of the Scabbard who’s covered in armor, you’d hit a limit. After all, it’s hard to defeat plate armor with punches and kicks.”

“So what should I do?”

“The most urgent thing is to fix your thrusting stance. Once that’s properly set, I think everything else will balance out. Why are you forcing yourself to change your stance?”

Kain hesitated. From that hesitation, Lily read the answer. But instead, she stroked Kain’s hair.

“You know the reason, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Is it…” Lily bit her lip briefly. Only after swallowing did she continue. “Is it related to that person from the Eastern Union?”

“We were on the run.”

Kain answered in a dull voice.

“The alleys of Venelucia are narrow, and the buildings and fences are high. Opposition assassins kept coming down from roofs and balconies into the alleys, and we were being driven into a dead end. I knew that if we continued like that, we’d both die.

Fortunately, being narrow wasn’t all bad. No matter how many opponents there were, only one or two could come at us at a time, and both of us were confident in our thrusting techniques. But there were too many of them.

She was eventually caught by some thug. She told me to run, and I was exhausted but… I was arrogant. I thought one thrust would tear through his throat. But my aim went astray too easily. I…”

Kain couldn’t continue. Lily moved closer, burying his head against her chest and stroking his hair with both hands.

“I’m sorry.”

Kain’s voice was suppressed. Lily kissed his forehead.

“Shall I be honest with you?”

“Yes.”

“If I could, I’d tear out every trace of her from you.”

Kain couldn’t speak. Lily continued, mixing in a forced smile.

“You said she was inferior to me in many ways. But… that woman left such marks on your body. Indelible marks. I hate that. The way I pushed you so persistently during our first sparring session… that was actually one of the methods to block the Eastern Union sword technique.”

So there was a reason why it seemed so emotional.

“But I can’t do that. As I told you before, that strange combination of Imperial and Eastern swordsmanship is the way to defeat the Knight of the Scabbard. So I’ll help you perfect that technique.

It won’t be easy. I’ll use every sword technique I know, and since just seeing it makes my heart burn… I’ll be merciless.

So please, complete it quickly. Before I tear out all those traces. Show me your completed technique that is uniquely yours.”

“Why do you want to see it so badly?”

“Because I want to see and learn from it too.” Lily gazed steadily into Kain’s eyes.

“If that woman left indelible marks on your body. And if I can’t tear them out. Then leave those marks on me too. Leave… indelible marks on me too.”

Kain hesitated. Lily’s sincerity was hotter and more intense than he had thought. A heat that would burn and melt him if he got too close.

“I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You don’t need to worry about that part.” Lily smiled brightly.

“I’ll push you so hard that you’ll break an arm or leg if you can’t block. It’s not a matter of whether you can or can’t—you will do it.

If you don’t complete it quickly, I’ll hit you severely every time I see traces of that Eastern sword technique. So severely that you won’t even think of trying it again. Posture correction can be done that way too.”

“Isn’t that teaching too harshly?”

“I think it’s better than you dying. As you are now, it’s too unstable and dangerous.”

“Not today though.” Kain burst out laughing. “My arms and legs are too numb. And I’m tired. I feel like I could sleep for two days straight.”

“I’m tired today too.” Lily smiled. But then she asked seriously, “But before you sleep, you can manage one kiss, can’t you?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Kain kissed her. With their lips pressed together, Lily pulled Kain’s body toward her. In her warm embrace, Kain fell asleep as if collapsing.

* * * * *

The next morning. Maria tiptoed to Kain’s door and peeked in. After confirming that Kain and Lily were asleep, she calmly ate breakfast alone.

“Such stiff people…”

Judging by the absence of clothes on the floor, they must have slept fully clothed and wrapped in blankets. How boring.

“The Life Tree.”

But soon she was drawn back into the story Kain had told her. It was the first time she’d heard that the Life Tree Order was behind the Children’s Crusade.

“…I need to find more people who might know about this.”

Maria unconsciously stroked her chest. But she shook her head. To awaken the “Mother” residing within her, she would have to die at least once. Unless the leather strap was infinite, she couldn’t do that with so little remaining.

Lily woke up a bit later, and Kain much later. Maria went to get groceries, and Lily organized the luggage in the mail coach. Since they wouldn’t be able to use the coach for a while, she was preparing to return it to the Capital Security Bureau.

Despite suffering from muscle pain, Kain wrote an encrypted letter and report for Anna. He included everything he had seen, heard, and deciphered, as well as Professor Osrant’s behavior. He also enclosed the encrypted letter William had sent to Arianne and its interpretation.

The next morning, Kain gave the broken cipher decoder disk, the encrypted report package for Anna, and a repair bill addressed to Verneith to Allen, the disguised Royal Guard agent. He didn’t forget to advise that if he was going to write something to Verneith, he should label it as “Art Purchase Invoice.”

The Security Bureau Director would grab the back of his neck when he received the bill, but that wasn’t Kain’s concern.

Under the bright sunshine, the three rode on horseback. Toward the Hunter’s Forest, where the kindest woman in the world was waiting.