Chapter 225, You Won’t Be Able to Handle It (3)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Her prediction was wrong.

 

She had misread the direction Kalian intended to go. If it had been anyone else, they would have been momentarily dazed and lost their grip on the situation.

 

Of course, Dmirea’s response was different.

 

She quickly turned her head toward the sword flying in from the opposite direction. As if any mistake could easily be reversed, Dmirea, who had sent her sword to the right, twisted her body. She put all her strength into the toes supporting her on the ground and swung her sword toward Kalian, who stood in the exact opposite direction.

 

Instead of receiving Dmirea’s attack laden with tremendous force, Kalian moved quickly as if sliding the foot he had planted on the ground and moved his sword. He struck not the tip of the sword where the force was concentrated, but the blade itself.

 

*Kaaang!*

 

With a long sound of impact, Dmirea’s sword, having lost its direction, swayed greatly. The crimson sword tip that didn’t miss the opportunity showed a form as if splitting into countless branches and once again aimed for her throat and heart.

 

*Kaaang! Kagang! Kaang! Kang!*

 

Movements of simultaneously targeting each other and then distancing in an instant continued in succession. A sword full of determination to never lose easily and a greedy sword trying to inform her of every single opening without missing even one relentlessly targeted each other’s weaknesses.

 

*Kang! Kaang!*

 

Dmirea, who had pulled back her extended sword with all her might, ducked to avoid the incoming attack. A few strands of short hair that had come loose despite being tied securely were cut by the sharp energy and scattered to the floor.

 

Dmirea’s eyes moved quickly. She watched not the sword tip but Kalian’s shoulder and the movement of his feet. Having properly read the direction Kalian was heading this time, Dmirea rushed toward Kalian as if she wouldn’t lose to that speed and drew up the strength that had been supporting her waist.

 

Putting the greatest force she could muster into it, she sent a strike toward Kalian. The weight added to the force created speed, and that in turn became weight again.

 

*Bwoong!*

 

Fast yet heavy. The force that traveled from feet to legs, from legs to waist, from waist to shoulders, and then to her hands flew as if it would bisect Kalian’s chest.

 

Kalian’s foot lightly kicked off the ground.

 

The crimson sword tip in his hand gently landed on the back of the incoming silver sword’s blade. Then it moved upward as if grazing the blade’s back. Without receiving the force and letting it flow completely, it climbed up as if scraping along the blade’s back from Dmirea’s sword tip to the handle.

 

*Kagagagagagak!*

 

As the strong and fast friction continued at length, sparks flew. A spine-chilling friction sound rang out from the crimson sword that created sparks scattering in all directions. Only after Kalian had reached close proximity to Dmirea did the sound of air being torn come from the tip of the silver sword laden with force.

 

Just before being blocked by the guard attached to the silver sword, the crimson sword changed direction faster than an instant.

 

Having neutralized the fast and strong strike Dmirea had created, Kalian lightly poked with his sword tip at the back of Dmirea’s hand that was gripping her sword. Unable to dodge the light attack aimed at a non-vital spot for the first time, a shallow wound appeared on the back of her hand.

 

*Kaaaang!*

 

Due to the wound she had just received, the strength in Dmirea’s hand gripping the sword became disordered for an instant. Not missing the gap when one hand that had been putting in all its strength loosened, Kalian’s sword struck Dmirea’s sword directly.

 

“Ah.” With a small sigh, a long line of blood appeared on Dmirea’s throat.

 

“Don’t carelessly anticipate.”

 

*Thud!*

 

A heavy sound rang out as the heavy sword that couldn’t fly far after leaving her hand fell to the ground.

 

“If you don’t want to die.”

 

And Kalian’s voice followed.

 

* * *

 

Kyrie, who had been standing far away watching Kalian and Dmirea, turned his head. Kyrie’s eyes, which held different colors, turned toward Plants, who was still not taking his gaze off Kalian, who was examining Dmirea’s sword after finishing the sparring match.

 

Kyrie was the first to speak. It was because he seemed to know the reason why Plants wasn’t turning his eyes away.

 

“Are you reviewing it?”

 

Plants, who finally turned his gaze away, looked at Kyrie and nodded once.

 

“The exchange between the two of them was long, but do you remember all of it?”

 

“I remember.”

 

Plants, who had been about to nod again, opened his mouth and gave his answer.

 

Although Kalian had crossed swords with Plants or with Kyrie many times, he had never exchanged swords at such length as today. It took that much time because he was trying to deliver combat, sparring, and education all at once.

 

And Plants remembered all of it from start to finish. However, that didn’t mean he had ‘captured every exchange in his memory.’

 

“It seems you probably couldn’t follow all of His Highness’s movements, am I correct?”

 

Plants, looking up at the one who had become Kalian’s Knight with just a single letter of appointment from Rmain, without any grand oath or knighting ceremony, nodded without hiding anything.

 

“Still, too fast.”

 

“If it’s alright with you, I’ll show you the swordsmanship His Highness demonstrated today again.”

 

Although he had watched the entire exchange between the two, unfortunately Plants had not been able to capture all of Kalian’s movements with his eyes. But Kyrie was different.

 

Thanks to having crossed over one wall, although he still couldn’t yet catch up to Kalian’s speed to block and strike, he was able to follow with his eyes.

 

Plants, facing this unexpected kindness, looked at Kyrie with quietly sunken eyes. Looking at the tall Kyrie like a birch tree in the rear garden of Chermil Palace made him think of Hina, who was so small as if her brother had taken all her height. Thinking of the one commonality shared by the two he had thought had nothing in common, Plants spoke in a low voice.

 

“Strange siblings.”

 

“Why are we strange?”

 

“Because you’re alike.”

 

The pale green eyes that said this moved forward again. Toward Kalian, who was saying a few words to Dmirea that Plants couldn’t hear. Without seeing Kyrie’s face turn into one that said ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about again’ as he pressed his lips tightly shut.

 

“Just like that, for no reason. Continuously.”

 

“…Did you consider me offering to show you the swordsmanship or Hina being considerate of Prince Plants as excessive kindness?”

 

Kyrie, who had barely, truly with great difficulty, understood the meaning of what Plants was trying to say, asked.

 

“Whether it’s excessive. Or undeserved.”

 

Plants, who swallowed the words that he didn’t know which of the two it was, turned his head toward Kyrie again. Then he gave a slightly delayed answer to the offer to review Kalian’s swordsmanship.

 

“Come. Wilhelm.”

 

“Are you alright to go now? Deputy Commander Hertz will probably look for you again. I won’t forget, so it’s fine to meet after you finish your schedule.”

 

“Doesn’t matter.”

 

Plants, who truly did not care at all about the blue-haired Mage, picked up his sword and went outside. While thinking that it would now be difficult to determine whether Dmirea’s sword or his own sword was heavier.

 

* * *

 

She only realized she was out of breath after dropping her sword.

 

After exhaling several short breaths, Dmirea bowed her head slightly toward Kalian.

 

“Thank you.”

 

She didn’t feel puzzled about losing in the sparring match.

 

She had experienced Kalian’s skill in handling the sword again and knew well herself that there was no luck in entering the path of the sword.

 

Kalian had better skill than Dmirea, who was already putting in sufficient effort. It seemed there was a difference in talent they possessed, so she thought about being envious of that but just let it go.

 

‘Don’t push yourself too hard.’

 

Aren’t pursuing and envying different things? If she envied, she would push herself, so today she thought she would just comfortably rest while drinking a cup of tea.

 

Now that she properly knew what level of skill difference existed, she would just swing her sword again.

 

“If I follow behind, the day will come when I catch up, and when I catch up, the day will come when I move ahead.”

 

At the end of such thoughts, Dmirea said this.

 

Kalian didn’t suddenly ask what that meant and just nodded. It was because he remembered Bern, who had been facing his Master in the way of the sword, Taillan, saying something similar.

 

Kalian moved his feet and personally picked up the fallen sword. After confirming once more the weight of the sword that had become much heavier than when he had seen it in Siegfried Territory, he made an apologetic face seeing that the blade had become somewhat dull. Winning in the sparring match wasn’t something to be sorry about, but damaging the sword was.

 

“Ah.”

 

Then, realizing that wasn’t the only thing to be sorry about right now, he took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket.

 

“Sorry, Dmirea.”

 

While they were crossing swords, he had made sounds full of killing intent as if he would devour her immediately, but he quickly returned to his usual caring face and apologized.

 

Seeing Kalian speaking with a handkerchief in one hand and her own sword in the other, Dmirea smiled faintly and received the sword first. Since she handled blades, minor wounds didn’t bother her that much. Besides, there was someone who would heal her right away anyway.

 

“I just need to go to Wilhelm Hall, so you don’t need to worry.”

 

“Alright.”

 

As if he had truly decided not to care that he had just drawn a red line on his fiancée’s throat, Kalian smiled as if it was fine since Dmirea said it was okay.

 

Well, would Kalian’s way of thinking be any different from Dmirea’s, who was closer to a Knight than a Noble?

 

“There’s no one in Siegfried Territory who uses a sword as fast as Your Highness. Thanks to you, I learned a lot.”

 

“There probably isn’t anyone in Cyries either.”

 

Kalian, who had been thinking of Taillan anyway, retorted like this. Whether he knew or not that he had just said something that would make Allan want to smack the pretty Prince’s back if he heard it, Kalian nodded and opened his mouth.

 

“I learned a lot too. You’ve really improved a great deal.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“You’re definitely different from Duke Siegfried. Of course, Duke Siegfried probably held back a lot when he faced me then, but your swordsmanship seems more troublesome in some ways.”

 

“Lighter swordsmanship is also passed down in our Family. Of course, we learn both types, but the sword I handle is a bit different from my father’s.”

 

Kalian made a sound of understanding and nodded.

 

As if by agreement, neither of them mentioned the exchange that had just occurred. It was because he had shown and taught sufficiently without adding more words, and Dmirea had also recognized everything Kalian had tried to teach her in the sparring match just now without missing anything. Both of them were people who had that level of skill.

 

“But the sword is a bit damaged.”

 

“The Roten Smithy you introduced me to has excellent skill. You need not mind the damage.”

 

Saying this, Dmirea spoke about hiring Gix, the blacksmith who had been the owner of Roten Smithy, under the Ducal Family. Kalian chuckled at the news that she had actually employed the person he had mentioned in case her current place was short of staff. It was because it seemed excessively characteristic of Dmirea’s decisiveness.

 

“The Knights’ training is also progressing without problems. When are you planning to bring them into the palace?”

 

“There’s no one mixed in from the Beurisen side?”

 

“No. It seems Count Aprin paid a lot of attention. There’s no one conspicuous.”

 

“Good.”

 

Having heard words of praise for Aizen Aprin, who was helping him gather and nurture Knight forces, Kalian made a satisfied face as if he himself had been praised.

 

“If you get the chance, meet Count Aprin once too. It won’t be bad. If I had my way, I’d like to call the Count to the Capital, but there are too many lines connected to me, so I can’t do that.”

 

“Yes. But Gray Beurisen…”

 

“That’s for later.”

 

Dmirea, who had been about to ask when he planned to bring Gray Beurisen to the Capital and whether he planned to personally meet several people he had in mind as new Count candidates, closed her mouth.

 

Dmirea recalled that Kyrie was standing quite far away from the two who had been sparring and nodded as if understanding Kalian’s words.

 

Because of that, a drop of sweat hanging on the end of her hair, the same color as Ian’s, fell to the ground with a plop. Only after seeing that did Kalian, realizing there was something else he had failed to be attentive about, smiled brightly and operated his Mana.

 

“Just a moment.”

 

Mana with an energy completely different from the eeriness felt from the Aura Blade passed over Dmirea like a caress.

 

The sweat dried and the heat cooled.

 

Freed from the state of being soaked in the sweat she had shed with the most tension recently, Dmirea raised the corners of her mouth as if pleased.

 

“Magic certainly is very helpful.”

 

“Is it helpful?”

 

Of course.

 

No matter how much one can’t wash, it keeps one clean, so it’s good for working overtime, and it doesn’t leave the smell of alcohol, so one need not have to worry after drinking. It removes red tea stains from clothes too.

 

Not to mention, it also removes cat fur.

 

“…It is helpful.”

 

Kalian, who chuckled and muttered, looked at Dmirea and said.

 

“Can you come back after meeting Hina and getting treated? We’ll have a meal and I’ll take a walk with my fiancée and talk a bit.”

 

“Yes. I have time.”

 

Dmirea, who just let the insincere fiancée talk pass by, nodded. In truth, it was largely because she hadn’t paid much attention, being preoccupied with continuously thinking about what had been regrettable in the sparring match just now.

 

Thanks to that, she also passed over without particularly recalling the thought that she had wanted to quickly return to the mansion to rest while drinking a cup of tea, the words full of secrets that Kalian had let slip again while mentioning Cyries, and why the energy felt from Kalian’s sword and Magic were so different.

 

Whether he knew or not that the reason for getting smacked on the back by Allan had disappeared, Kalian smiled and said.

 

“Don’t be late. Let’s eat something delicious.”

 

Seeing that he still liked food even after stopping hiding his Aura, it seemed he was probably trying to grow taller.

 

With that thought, Kalian made a pleased face.