A day had passed since Arturia got her mount. Right now Arturia was training behind Astrea’s Mansion together with Reinhard.
They swung their wooden sword side by side while their real sword was strapped to their waist. Both of them were wearing Lugnica’s Knight uniform.
Arturia tried to get used to the coat and the uniform in case she was attacked by someone while she was wearing the uniform. She could always change into her battle dress though, but she preferred to hide her ability to change into her battle dress in front of strangers of the other candidates.
Crusch most likely realized Arturia’s ability, but Arturia knew that Crusch wouldn’t believe something that she didn’t see herself. Crusch would think that Arturia changed her clothes while waiting for her in the room.
Getting her ability to change into her battle dress known to the other wouldn't hurt Arturia though, as it was mostly a rather useless ability. Her dress and armor were a different matter, as they were made from Arturia’s mana, the dress and armor had better defenses compared to normal full-plate armor.
Reinhard stopped his swing first and lowered his wooden sword as he looked at Arturia, “Milady, we’ve been swinging for two hours, do you want to take a rest?”
Arturia stopped her swing and looked at Reinhard with a surprised face, “We’ve been swinging the wooden sword for that long?!”
“Yes, Milady.” Answered Reinhard as he held the wooden sword in a reverse grip with his left hand and extended his right hand towards Arturia.
Arturia lowered her sword and handed them to Reinhard as she wipe the sweat that was built on her forehead with her left sleeves.
“I didn’t realize it. It’s like, I really like to swing the sword that time flew faster than the usual.” Arturia raised her right hand and looked at it. The skin had turned into a shade of pink because she swung her swords for two hours straight without rest.
“I was like that too sometimes. But, excessive training didn’t do any good to the body. So, please take some rest for today and get ready for our expedition in two days, Milady.”
“Two days, huh. It was faster than I thought. Well then, Sir Reinhard. I think I will visit some friends and walk around the city. The truth is I wanted to test my full strength and my affinity for Magic, but I was too focused with Hakugei yesterday that I forgot to ask Sir Julius to test my affinity.”
Reinhard’s eyes widened and he bowed his head, “My apologies, Milady. I had asked Julius yesterday, but I also forgot to ask him again when we met him yesterday. It’s my fault.”
Arturia quickly waved her hands in front of her chest, “No, Sir Reinhard, Raise your head! We were too focused at Hakugei, let’s leave it at that! We were both at fault, so let’s not blame ourselves, okay?”
Reinhard raised his head and smiled, “Certainly, Milady. Then, I need to leave as I had patrol this afternoon. As usual, I left 3 gold coins in your room. Please have a good day, Milady.”
Reinhard bowed his head once again before he turned and walked away to the mansion.
Arturia looked at his back before she raised her head and looked at the cloud that was swaying away in the sky.
“Have a good day… huh. Well, I did a good job of not appearing nervous in front of him. An expedition, although I knew that I will be okay, I can’t help to be nervous at the thought of it. After all, I’m just an ordinary girl before I turned as Arturia Lily.”
***
Arturia walked on the street in the slum. She walked towards Rom’s house because she wanted to talk with Felt.
The only place she was able to meet Felt, which she considered as a friend already, was Rom’s house. The reason why Arturia considered Felt as her friend was simple because Felt was the only girl that she knew outside of the royal candidates.
Not only that, Arturia felt that Felt was a girl with a lot of potentials. Her speed alone had made her a perfect scout, not to mention her tiny body.
Arturia wanted to get Felt to join her side, so she can help Felt and Rom more clearly. Rom also had a look of veteran, which was proved when he stopped Arturia to agree to Subaru’s request before she knew the consequences of agreeing to his request without thinking.
Both of them would be a great help for Arturia in her campaign. She could offer them a house or a job, with Reinhard’s connection of course.
Arrived in front of Rom’s house, Arturia knocked on the door three times and shouted, “Hello! It’s Arturia!”
The door was opened almost immediately and Felt appeared from beyond the door.
“Nee-chan! What are you doing here? You just came here yesterday.” Asked Felt as she put her hands on her waist.
Arturia smiled at Felt and said, “Yesterday I forgot to talk about something with you, so I came back here today.”
“You want to talk with me? Let’s talk inside Nee-chan.”
Felt gestured with her thumb as she walked inside the house. Rom was standing behind the bar while wiping a glass. Felt took a seat in front of the bar and swung her legs.
Arturia followed her and closed the door behind her. She sat on the chair in front of the bar.
When Arturia sat on the chair, Rom asked, “What do you want for a drink, young miss? There is a wine and milk, feel free to ask me.”
“Old man Rom! I will have milk!” Shouted Felt as she raised her right hand.
“Felt… you have drunk more than 3 cups!” Said Rom as he pointed his index finger at Felt and leaned his head closer to intimidate her.
Felt pouted her cheeks and leaned back against the chair’s backrest and said, “Stingy old man!”
“Fine! I will give you, half a cup. What about you young miss?” Rom pulled his head away from Felt and looked at Arturia.
“Ah, just water is fine. I just wanted to talk about something with the two of you.”
Rom nodded his head and picked a wooden cup to prepare the milk for Felt. As he was preparing the drink for the two girls, he asked Arturia.
“What do you want to talk about, young miss?”
“As you’ve known, I am one of the royal candidates. Right now my ally is Reinhard, and it was just him all this time. So, do you want to join me, Rom, Felt? It’s a selfish request of mine, but I hope … no, please feel free to refuse if you don’t want to work under me.”
Felt was looking at Arturia with her eyes widened in surprise. Rom was done preparing the drink and putting the cups in front of each girl. He looked at Arturia and crossed his arms.
“Why did you want to invite us?”
Arturia looked at Rom and smiled, “It’s my instinct. I had always relied on it since I arrived in this country, and it never disappointed me so far.”
Rom looked at Arturia and scratched the back of his head with his right hand, “I’m sorry young miss, but I can’t. I had retired from the battlefield and conflict, so I can’t join you.”
“I see, understood.”
“Old man Rom…” Felt looked at Rom with hopeful eyes.
Rom looked at Felt and let out a sigh, “Do whatever you wanted, but don’t ever regret it.”
He then looked back at Arturia and said, “I can’t join you, but if you need some men, just tell me. I had connections.”
“Yeah, Nee-chan! If you need some help, just tell me!”
Arturia smiled at both of them, “Thank you, that’s enough. Then I won’t beat around the bush. Can you contact 3 men for me, Rom? It’s to protect someone.”
Rom went silent for a while before nodding his head, “Yeah, leave it to me. It’s to protect that brat, right?”
“Yes, I’m counting on you, Rom.”
“Leave it to me, young miss.”
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