Water Magician

At a distance of about 20 meters in the center of the practice ground, the two faced each other.

“Ryo, are you ready?”

“Yes, I can start at any time.”

“Then, here I come!”

Sera’s figure disappeared the same moment those words were said.

(Fast!)

In an instant, she leaped into the Ryo’s space and sent a downward blow at her fastest speed.

Ryo did not retreat but instead retaliated by thrusting his sword forward.

He aimed for the point where Sera had not focused her force yet to interrupt her sword from reaching its greatest speed.

He aimed for a strike at Sera’s hand.

However, Sera removed one hand from her sword and dodged it. She followed up with a sideways sweeping motion with that hand.

Ryo shifted his center of gravity to the back and dodged with a swayback.

Without changing the position of his feet, he returned his center of gravity to the front and swung down with his sword.

Dodging it with her body, Sera thrust twice.

Ryo dodged the first thrust, twisted his sword, and slashed diagonally upward from below as he dodged the second thrust.

With a light back step, Sera dodged his sword.

That exchange only lasted a few seconds.

They had returned to their starting positions once more.

“Ryo, you’re amazing!”

She was all smiles with joy.

Sera praised Ryo with a voice of delight from the bottom of her heart.

“Well, Sera, aren’t you way too fast?”

Her speed was terrifying.

She dove in at a speed that the Devil Prince yesterday could not even hold a candle to.

It was at the speed of sound similar to the Akuma Leonor or the one-eyed Assassin Hawk.

A frightening swiftness that allowed her to dive into his space in an instant.

“But Ryo dodged it! No one in the Knights Order can dodge that dive.”

Then Sera looked around.

Ryo followed her gaze and found dozens of people who seemed to be knights in the audience seats.

“Since you were able to respond to that, had you experienced that speed before?”

“Yes … in the past, something similar.”

“I see … Then, I’ll be completely serious next!”

“Wait- …”

Before Ryo finished his sentence … she lunged at him once again … this time at supersonic speed.

Moreover, the speed of her sword swing …

(It’s even faster than before!)

The speed of her swing was about 50% faster than before.

As expected, it was impossible to dodge that speed.

In addition, that made it difficult to directly interrupt her from the front.

When he clashed with her sword at the point where her speed was the highest, it turned out to be a surprisingly heavy blow.

(Sera-san, even though she’s so delicate, where does this weight come from …)

A line that was sure to anger a woman crossed Ryo’s mind.

In the first clash, he could counterattack after interrupting her strike, but now he was completely prioritizing his defense.

He occasionally threw out stabs and slashes to keep her in check but they were predominantly defensive strikes.

However, when Ryo devotes himself to defense, he would transform into an iron wall.

After all, neither the one-eyed Assassin Hawk nor the Akuma Leonor could break Ryo’s iron wall defense.

Ryo’s defensive abilities when he devotes himself to defense were to that extreme.

However …

(Kuu~ this is intense. It’s as if I’m continually receiving Mentor’s sword strikes …)

Even that iron wall defense was on the verge of collapse.

In terms of speed alone, she may even exceed the sword speed of his Mentor, the Dullahan, who was called the Fairy King.

(This is it, Wind-Attribute Magic.)

Of course, they did not prohibit the use of magic.

However, there was no time to use magic in such a swift sword fight.

Even the slightest amount of concentration used for something else would spell defeat in a split second.

Even with Ryo’s magic generation speed, it was impossible to utilize magic in such a match.

But …

(But Sera was able to use it. With Wind-Attribute Magic, she sped up everything from the swing of her arms, the movement of her legs, and even to the movement of her body …)

It was astonishing magic control.

She was using magic as though it was as easy as breathing … the ability to use magic completely unconsciously … just like how a heart constantly beats without conscious intent … her magic control had been raised to such a level.

Clearly, she had mastered a fusion of Wind-Attribute Magic and swordsmanship greater than what the Akuma Leonor had.

Even her sword strikes were infused with Wind-Attribute Magic to increase its power, so her sword strikes were unusually heavy.

Against an opponent who surpassed him in speed and power … he would have to use extraordinary means to win … but Ryo didn’t want to do that.

He finally had such an opponent.

Precious experience…….

Now that he thought about it, it felt as though he had grown dull since the last lesson from his Mentor, the Dullahan.

If that sword fight could whip him back into shape, it would be a fortuitous encounter indeed.

The change was negligible.

Of course, it was Ryo who felt the change the most.

The change was 『complete disintegration』.

Until now, it was barely holding on, but now it had reached its limit.

His sword was in bad shape because of the repeated unreasonable clashes.

(This is tricky …)

And catastrophe.

When Sera attacked with a horizontal slash from the right, he had no option but to receive it head-on instead of parrying it.

At that moment, the sword broke, and the next moment, Sera’s sword was snugly attached to Ryo’s neck.

“I give up.”

Cheers could be heard from the audience seats, but it didn’t matter to Ryo.

“You’re amazing, Ryo!”

Then, Sera hugged Ryo.

“Huh……”

Due to the abruptness of the situation, Ryo’s mind fell into panic.

“Ah, sorry……”

With her face bright red, Sera let go of Ryo.

However, she immediately held both his hands and shook them up and down.

“Ryo, it’s amazing you can block my 『Wind Equip』 sword that much!”

“No, Sera-san is even more remarkable for mastering such a skill.”

It was Ryo’s honest impression.

Using Wind-Attribute Magic to speed up all body movements … the idea was simple but executing it was a different matter.

Even if you think about it, maintaining that state would already be difficult, and when it comes to executing it, it would be impossible with shallow magic control.

In the first place, with the amount of magical power of a normal person, their magical power would quickly be exhausted.

“That’s because I put in a tremendous amount of practice. Putting that aside, Ryo’s iron wall defense. What the hell is that! I can tell that you gained it through a staggering amount of effort, but … what on earth did you do?”

“My sword was trained by my Mentor.”

“Mentor?”

“Yes. The one who gave me this robe …”

When she heard that, Sera’s eyes opened wider than usual.

“The Fairy King is your sword Mentor?”

“Yeah … how did you know?”

Ryo was surprised Sera knew that it was the Fairy King’s robe.

“Oh … well, an Elf is like a half-Fairy. So, we can tell that the robe is the Fairy King’s robe because of its racial characteristics. I can tell that the Fairy King is extremely interested in Ryo … he gave you that robe after all. But I thought that he was interested in your magic. But instead, a sword mentor … Learning the sword, and not magic, from the Fairy King, that is too amusing.”

“I remember being told exactly the same thing some time ago … Is it so strange?”

Once, the Dragon Ruwin said those same words while laughing.

“Not to mention strange … in the first place, the Fairy King is already considered a legend … well, never mind.”

Sera had an expression that showed her indescribable thoughts.

And as she was about to continue, she was called out from the audience.

“Sera-sama, Alfonso-sama’s training time is approaching.”

Looking at the source of the voice, a young woman was calling Sera with all her might.

“Oh … it’s already this time. Ryo, I’m sorry, I have some work to do.”

As she said that, Sera beckoned the woman who called her out loud earlier to come over.

“Who is Alfonso-sama …?”

“The Lord’s grandson. He came of age last year. All of the Lord’s children have passed away so he is set to be the next Lord. In the past, he was a hopeless boy so I disciplined him … he tried to violate me so I stabbed with my sword and crushed his shoulder.”

There was an Elf here who could say something that frightful with an everyday tone …

“But he’s the next Lord …?”

“It’s okay. When I was first hired, the Lord told me that if that happened in the mansion, he would kill him. Just keeping his life was already a blessing.”

A very lovely smile … it must be impossible to imagine what she was saying just by looking at that smile.

Ryo decided to be careful about what he said and do.

By that point, the woman who called Sera managed to reach the center of the practice ground.

“Reylita, this is Ryo, an adventurer. He’s an important person, so make sure to guide him to the outside. Then, I’m off to training.”

With that, she probably used wind magic as she jumped to the exit with a single leap and left the practice ground just like that.

Ryo and Reylita were left behind.

Reylita had been surprised and her eyes and mouth were left open since Sera’s introduction.

“Um……”

“Ha. I’m sorry.”

Ryo called out and Reylita finally returned to herself.

“I’m a maid working in the mansion, my name is Reylita. I am in your care.”

“Ryo, an adventurer. Likewise, I am in your care.”

“Then, I shall guide you to the gate, please follow me.”

Reylita said and started walking.

However, she was mumbling something softly.

“Important person Important person …”

It didn’t reach Ryo’s ears.

On the way to the gate after leaving the practice ground, a carriage that overtook them stopped in front of Ryo and Reylita.

The man who opened the door was …

“Isn’t it Ryo? Fancy meeting you here.”

“Guild Master …”

Hugh was on his way back to the guild after reporting to the Lord.

“Are you returning to the dormitory? I have something to talk about so hop on.”

“Eh……”

To be honest, he didn’t want to ride because of yesterday’s case …

“The lady there, I’ll definitely send Ryo to the guild, so tell them that.”

There was no way to refuse it at that point.

“Thank you, Reylita. I’ll return in the Guild Master’s carriage, so thank you.”

“Yes, I will relay that.”

Ryo thanked her and entered the carriage.

Hugh was the only person in the carriage.

“Excuse me.”

“Oh, take a seat there.”

After seeing Ryo sit down, Hugh hit the wall of the carriage.

With that as a signal, the carriage started moving.

“So, you’re probably aware, but what I want to talk about is yesterday’s case …”

“Yes……”

Yesterday, Advisor Arthur saved him.

But it wasn’t possible today … Ryo prepared himself in various ways.

“Hey, don’t get so tense. I heard a lot from Arthur and understood that if you didn’t make it in time, they would have been wiped out. I’m grateful for that. Thank you so much.”

Hugh bowed, though he was still sitting.

“No, I just went on my own volition …”

Ryo was flustered due to the unexpected development.

“Still. You’ve saved Abel’s life twice. But … it’s no good to break through the guard’s blockade. As a guild member, it doesn’t appear good that you break through so openly. So as a punishment, I’m thinking of having you take on requests.”

“Requests?”

“Yes, you haven’t accepted a surface request since you registered, haven’t you?”

Come to think of it, he had never taken any requests.

Well, he didn’t even think of taking any.

“There’s a possibility that I have not.”

“Oh, it’s not a possibility, you have not.”

Hugh asserted himself.

Before visiting the Lord’s mansion, he confirmed it in the guild, so he could be certain.

“That said, it’s not like I want you to pick up any requests urgently. You just need to complete three requests in the next two months. It is up to you to choose which request you want. That should be acceptable as punishment, right?”

It was a lighter 『punishment』 than expected.

“Um … I shouldn’t be saying this but … is it okay with such a light punishment?”

“It’s okay. In this way, no one loses.”

The guild benefits because the requests would be cleared.

Ryo would benefit because he would gain achievements.

Abel and the ones who were saved could just offer him requests normally … so there is a possibility they can benefit too …?

Well, there was no loss.

“By the way, why was Ryo at the Lord’s mansion?”

“Oh, I was having a little mock combat …”

Ryo answered lightly but at that moment, Hugh’s face with his eyes wide open came into view.

“Yo-you didn’t destroy the facility … right? It’s okay, right?”

“Hey now, Guild Master, I wouldn’t do that.”

Ryo assumed he was joking and shrugged it off.

On the other hand, Hugh couldn’t laugh at all because he wasn’t joking.

“It was a mock combat with swords, so that can’t happen in the first place.”

“I-I see … It’s okay as long as there’s no damage, yup, yeah.”

Hugh nodded with a truly relieved expression.

At that point, the carriage finally arrived at the guild.

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