Erika was working hard, so I also had to do so. Ever since that spar I had with her, I’d been excited.

“My swordsmanship has been stagnating for too long. Finally!”

It was a rare day off for me. Well…. Technically, it was my first day off, but I had a feeling that such days would be rare from now onwards.

In an empty training hall that Erika had given me permission to use, I took out Aerin and took a deep breath. [Cosmic Swordsmanship] was powerful and versatile, but I should not forget the basics.

Or at least, swordsmanship that didn’t require me to shoot out Aura. Pure swordplay, pure technique.

Erika’s swordsmanship, or rather, Swordmaster Gustav’s style of fighting had helped me achieve enlightenment. Since my left arm was already gone, and replacing it was a durable prosthesis, should I not be… more violent?

More… reckless?

At least, on my left flank, I should be. After all, I was pretty sure that for technique and speed, I would hold my sword with one hand—my organic one. For stability and strength, I would hold it with both. However expensive a prosthesis might be, it could never be as good as my real arm.

With a reckless posture that mirrored that of Erika’s, I let my body naturally fall down. Just as my face was about to hit the ground, my body blurred and was already five leaps ahead of where I was. 

Converting my falling momentum to a rotation one, I spun around once, left arm always defending my body, and cut the air upwards. A deafening pressure tore through the training ground, splitting the earth apart and leaving a deep gash on the floor.

“T-This….”

I wasn’t using Aura nor Mana. I hadn’t achieved the Strength of a Swordsmaster. Yet, the result was this impressive.

“I-If I use [Starlight Stream] together with this… and Theodore’s Lightning…. Hueheheh….”

My creepy laugh left my lips as the greed that I thought had dissipated a long time ago sparked inside me again. Forget ancient murals. Forget generational manuscripts! I want to meet all the current Swordmaster and watch them fight!

….And maybe borrow a bit from their styles to add to my own~

“L-Let’s not get ahead of myself. I’m nowhere close to relearning [Starlight Stream] yet. I haven’t even properly remastered [Star’s Retaliation].”

With the disappointment of reality hitting me like Ihwa did every time a girl winked at me (not my fault for being overly handsome), my face turned glum and I returned Aerin back to… whatever space she and Nira were in.

Hmm? Were Nira and Aerin really swords? Or were the swords just projections of their souls? If the swords got hurt, they would also receive the same wound. But… I saw both of them holding the swords several times.

That was why I often called the swords “Kirion” and “Avaron” when I wielded them and couldn’t hear Aerin or Nira speak.

Then again, they both could interact with the material world. I couldn’t feel any of my energies being sapped away when they manifested either.

All of this just made me realize how much I took things for granted. I only knew that things happen, but ‘why” or “how” they did.

“This is hurting my head….”

Let’s do what I do best: swinging a sword. I wasn’t a Mage anyways, and such questions were just a moment’s curiosity.

“Arughh! But how will I explain this?”

The deep gash on the ground wasn’t easy to cover up, after all. But then again, wasn’t this a good thing? I could just leave and let another servant discover the mess later. Rumors would surely spread, and no one would dare to mess with me anymore.

But what worried me was the leaders of the two factions. I didn’t know what their rank was, or what Gift they had…. I could always just stick to Erika all day and be safe, though.

“Aerin.”

[Huh…? Master? Was last night not enough?]

Her speaking of last night made me shiver. We’d discovered something called “scissoring,” which opened up a whole new world for me. Who knew two girls could have fun without the help of the potion? Certainly not me of yesterday.

“Nevermind, I’ll ask you later. Can you manifest now?”

Instead of answering, Aerin manifested and held her hands behind her back and leaned forward. 

I took the chance and pecked her on her lips. Holding her cheeks with my palms, I peppered her face with kisses.

As weird as it may sound, I often find kissing much lewder than sex. Especially when we did it while holding hands. How sinful—!

After a minute of affection, I finally let Aerin go with a satisfied smile on my face.

“You can go back now~”

“Eh? You wanted me here for just that?”

“Huh?” I innocently placed my index finger on my lower lip. “Is it a problem?”

“N-No.”

Seeing her blush like that made me grin wickedly. Help me, Nira’s mom. I’d tease this girl to death at this rate!

Luckily for Aerin, she still had the intelligence to retreat before she could get any more flustered.

I then summoned Aerin back in her sword form. Kirion, I should say, as I could still sense Aerin deep within my soul.

“Ah jeez, I promised to not think about it. Let’s not think about it after all.”

I readied the sword and once again got into the reckless posture. A mischievous grin crossed my face as I remembered what Erika said before giving me permission here.

-”You can go all out. I’ll cover all the costs.”

Freed from the burden of repairing the training room, I could only say sorry to Erika in my heart and continue training.

…

 

I wasn’t sure if this training room could be called a “training” room anymore. It looked more like the ground where monsters with claws the size of trees fought each other.

I left the room and passed a maid who was about to go into the training room. While bracing myself for the inevitable scream that she’d make, I looked out the window.

Dense mist seemingly covered everything in its path, reducing visibility to essentially nothing.

“Is it that time of the year?”

I’d been living in this country for years, after all, so it was a given that I had heard about the unique thing about this region.

The annual Great Fog.

Extending from an unknown source in the sea, it would cover half of the kingdom, and that also included the Capital.

I was a bit annoyed at the time that the town I lived in was barely out of the Fog’s range, but now that I could experience it personally, I felt… well, just normal.

It was just mist that was a little bit chilly and creepy. Nothing more. 

Then, it hit me: the reason why Erika was called to the Capital by the prince.

“Does he want her to accompany him during the Fog Festival?”

Having heard countless folk tales and bards singing about the festival’s romance, I could only come to a conclusion. This bastard… was he trying to really ask for her hand in marriage?

A prince, asking the daughter of a Viscount to be his wife….

Something fishy was going on, and that was all the more reason why I should help Erika get out of this situation.