Training ground in Redcliffe castle.

Mithra had spent most of her time in Dioral. She just arrived in Redcliffe last week, thus she had never witnessed Lyla in action. Lyla also had never seen Mithra's ability. 

"Please allow me to be your next opponent!” Mithra, the dalish girl threw her own name in the ring.

She was clasping a wooden sword, although everyone didn’t even know where she’d found it. As she gave it some practice swings to make sure of its feel, Lyla narrowed her eyes.

“Whoa. You’re quite skilled, aren’t you?”

“You sure look happy about that.”

“Well, I still haven’t had enough,” Lyla admitted cheerfully.

It was no sarcasm either. Scarlet knew that Lyla was purely thirsting for fights against strong fighters.

“Sure, then do your best.”

“Leave the wooden sword here before that.”

Demia put the sword on the ground and headed over to Scarlet.

“Good work.”

“I’m totally drained.”

She sat down next to her. Even though she only fought for a few minutes, she felt completely exhausted. Not only her stamina, but even all hee willpower was gone.

“Which is better between Mithra and Lyla, Princess Scarlet?” Tina walked and sat beside Scarlet.

“Lyla, I’d say? Though I want them to have a good fight.”

“You don’t think that Mithra is going to win?” Demia asked in confusion.

“No, I don’t. At the very least, Lyla will win in pure skill. It's different once Mithra fights with her magic.” Scarlet explained.

Either was excellent in a different aspect that Scarlet’s couldn’t make any educated guesses, but she was still confident that Lyla would win the pure swordfighting bout. No, it was probably more correct to say that she was confident of Mithra’s loss.

She looked at Lyla and Mithra. Both were facing each other with around five meters between them. Mithra was holding her wooden sword halfway up while Lyla was shouldering hers. At this point, one could think that Mithra had an advantage. After all, the moves one could perform with her sword shoulders were limited. It was too much of a handicap against a agile fighter like Mithra.

"Here I come――”

“Yaaaaaaa!”

Lyla launched herself at her before Mithra could even finish speaking. She threw her large wooden sword.

Mithra let the projectile passed by crouching down. Scarlet on the sideline suspected that Mithra had either read that attack or reacted on instinct. Either way meant that she was quite hardened against pressure. But――

“Yiiiiieeeh!”

Lyla picked up sword.on the ground.

“――gh!”

Lyla shouted something akin to a squeal and swung her wooden sword down. Mithra’s body froze for an instant there, before she blocked the attack with her own sword. However, Scarlet couldn’t tell what had surprised her so much.

Scarlet thought,

"Was it the scream? Or the fact that Lyla picked up Demia's sword? No, it’s possible that she might have guessed her strength based on what she saw in Demia fight against Lyla."

“Yiiee! Yiiee! Yiiiiieeeh!”

Even as Scarlet wondered about it, Lyla continued her attacks. While keeping those weird screams going, she kept slamming down her sword as if there was no end to it.

"W-Wait! That was a foul start!”

“Yiiee! Yiiee! Yiiiiieeeh!”

Mithra cried in protest while being completely on the receiving end now, but Lyla continued her onslaught. It didn’t seem like she intended to do the start over. Then again, Scarlet could understand it when considering Lyla’s position. Even Scarlet wouldn’t start over when in an advantageous position.

“I-I would like you to wait!”

“Yiiiiiiiii!”

Of course, the tempest-like onslaught by Lyla didn’t come to a halt. And seemingly realizing that she had absolutely no intention to redo the match now that things had proceeded up to this point, Mithra used a break in the attacks to pass by Lyla with outstanding footwork. And then, after taking a big distance――

“You are unfair!” Mithra yelled while pointing a finger at Lyla.

She was teary-eyed, apparently shocked about having been cornered into a one-sided, defensive battle.

“Hah? It’s OK for you to attack after declaring so, but it’s unfair for me to attack you?” Lyla taunted the the girl who never fought in war against humans.

“U-Ugh, t-that is…,” Mithra faltered. “A-Anyway! You are unfair! Unfair, I tell you! If you intend to cheat like this, I will use magic!”

“Are you a brat or something?” Lyla spat out in appall when Mithra stomped her feet.

But, immediately following, Lyla revealed a smile. Her face was making it obvious that she was scheming something. Scarlet suspected that Lyla was about to tease Mithra.

"Well, if it’s something like divine arts, you’re free to use it if you want.”

“Is that true?”

“No point in me lying about it.”

Lyla propped herself up on her wooden sword as if using it as a cane. Mithra groaned while glaring at her. Scarlet assumed that Mithra was trying to read Lyla’s aim. At the same time, she believed that it’d be better for her to not think too deeply about this.

“Goddess, I would like to lend your divine assistance! Dalish magic – Activation, Divine Garment!”

Darkness, similar to diluted ink, billowed up from Mothra’s body. It was a divine art of the Goddess Ruling over Jet-Black Chaos. Activation boosted the user’s physical abilities while Divine Garment increased the defensive power.

“Here comes..!”

In the next instant, Mithra vanished, only leaving behind traces of thin black. A dry clack could be heard. Once Scarlet looked in the direction of the sound, she saw Lyla receiving Mithra’s attack by shouldering his sword.

Of course Mithra was incredible for moving into Lyla's back instantly, but so was Lyla for blocking her attack. Once she swung her sword, Mithra jumped back as if being repelled.

“Your manners sure are lacking if you’re trying to hit a helpless human girl from behind, don’t you think?” Lyla teased her.

“A helpless girl would not charge at me while raising weird battle cries!” Mithra retorted with a sullen look.

“No doubt. Anyway, come at me with your full strength from the front next.”

“You could die for real, you know?”

“If I’d croak from an attack by the likes of you, I’d have bitten the dust a long time ago by now. Don’t worry about it, and give it your best shot. I’m a guy you won’t be able to beat even if you exhaust all your strength.”

“Very well!” Mithra shouted as Lyla beckoned her over with his sword resting on his shoulder.

It was a blunt provocation, but the magical sword fighter called Mithra naturally went along with this.

“Goddess, I would like you to bless my blade! Dalish Art – Holy Celebratory Blade! Goddess, I would like to lend a bit more of your power! Dalish Arts – Activation, Divine Garment!”

A darkness like stick magma covered her wooden sword, and the density and quantity of the darkness engulfing Mithra’s body had clearly increased. Scarlet started to worry that might plan to kill Lyla for real.

“Here I come!”

“…Sure, give me your best shot.”

The instant Mithra disappeared, Lyla sat down on the spot. A loud bang indicated a clash.

“Mine full attack has been shattered!”

Mithra flew through the air. After getting tripped up by Lyla. Scarlet didn’t feel surprised about the sight of a person flying through the air, even if it happened right in front of her. Rather, she felt it was only natural for it to play out like that, seeing how she stumbled while moving at such a speed that her body had vanished from sight.

“Alley-oop!”

“Whuuut!?”

Lyla threw his wooden sword while still seated. Mithra repelled it even while airborne. And just as she somehow managed to land――

“Yaaaaaaa!”

Lyla’s kick exploded, and Mithra got slammed against the wall. But, since the effect of her divine arts was still running, the damage seemed small.

“Alright, I’m done.”

"Please wait! I cannot agree with this!” Mithra begged while clinging to his leg as Lyla tried to head back into the castle. “One more time! I would like to have another bout with you!”

“You’re really incorrigible, girl” Lyla sighed very deeply.

"I do not understand! Be more precise about it! Please teach me!”

Mithra asked repeatedly while stuck to Lyla’s leg.

"Because of your magic, you’ve never experienced any tough fight. That’s why you don’t try to use your brain when you should. Going along with simple provocations like the one earlier will just lead to your death. At this rate, you’re going to quickly fall for any enemy plan.”

“Ugh,” Mithra winced.

"That wasn’t not all either. Your flow immediately goes haywire as soon as things don’t go your way. It’s proof of your lack of preparedness. I’m not gonna tell you to always act like you’re on a battlefield, but brace your mind when it’s time to fight.”

“Thank you for your guidance,” Mithra separated from Lyla's and bowed her head.

Thereupon, she suddenly hammered Mithra's head with the wooden sword.

“Why did you hit me?”

“Because I felt like it. Anyway, I’ll train you for a bit longer,” declared Lyla while shouldering her sword again.

“Thank you!” Mithra responded cheerfully.

“And with this I’ll be safe until departure.” Demia uttered.