Kays Translations

Chapter 21: Tell the other person you can’t give up

Forgetting the other books, Licia, distracted by the reference book, says.

“I'm planning to buy one of these. If you don't mind, may I take a look at it?”

“Yes! It's okay ---- but it's a little embarrassing.”

Licia, who had wondered why she was embarrassed, soon understood why.

Fiona opens that reference book. It has many bookmarks tucked into it. Not only that, but many pages were marked with Fiona's notes.

She was probably embarrassed that her own notes had been left behind after she had used them to study.

But these notes attracted Licia's interest even more strongly.

“I was studying here with another reference book, and I couldn't figure it out.”

“Hm? Oh, here it is! I can find it here ----."

The private class began abruptly, with them standing next to each other. Fiona's teaching style is superb, and the areas that Licia didn’t understand were quickly resolved.

Licia couldn't help but ask.

"Do you have experience teaching others?"

“No, this is my first time. I did my best because Licia was my partner."

Fiona put her head down and said with a gentle smile.

“Are there any other areas of interest?”

“Actually, there are a few things.”

“Then let's talk about them for a moment.”

The strange atmosphere was subsiding a little.

They both returned to the sofa as if turning on their heels, relieved inside that the conversation had changed after reading the reference book.

The opportunity for conversation that they had wanted so badly to get down their throats was sublimated into a new one.

They sat down facing each other anew and exchanged wry smiles, relieved at that without saying it out loud.

Still, Fiona was good at teaching.

Licia's other questions were easily led to solutions, and she was actively asking questions along the way.

Then, gradually, the hardness was removed, and as at the end of their meeting on the night of the party, the reservation gradually disappeared between the two of them.

“Your written notes are also very clear.”

“W-well, that one is embarrassing ---- but I'm glad it helped.”

A dozen minutes pass, the questions settle down, and now Fiona asks.

“Licia-san, you are taking the special class, right?"

“Yes, I am. I've thought about it a lot, and I think it's better that way."

“We may see each other at the academy more often the next spring, when exams begin."

She said "may," but in fact it will be a lot.

Since they go to the same school building, it is not surprising that they see each other every day.

After talking about exams, the two exchanged a few words of silence.

Licia couldn't help but mention the inevitable topic.

“Fiona-sama.”

“Licia-san."

They called out the other's name at the same time and chuckled for the first time.

After exchanging remarks, Licia opened her mouth.

“I've been thinking about what to do.”

It is about many things, including the atmosphere that surrounds the two of them. Almost all of these things have to do with Ren.

It's something they had to talk about at some point.

It was as if they had been running away from the fact that they had been looking for an opportunity to have a conversation earlier.

The two of them renewed their mood and threw themselves into that inevitable conversation.

“I’m a noble, as are you, Fiona-sama. Even though we belong to different factions, we are daughters of two families who have been friends through fate.”

That bond is not something that can be severed now.

It is not something that can be cut off first, and the two heads of the two families, Lessard and Ulysses, wouldn’t bother to cut them off.

Currently, they are in a mutually beneficial and honest relationship.

Of course, neither of them would want the relationship to turn sour.

They knew that without saying a word.

『My love is my life. I would do anything for Ren, who risked his life to protect me. 』

『I would give my all for Ren-kun, the man who gave me this world. 』

The words they exchanged on the day of the party came back to them.

They didn't need to talk about it anymore.

So here they were, both of them knowing that they couldn’t ignore each other's presence and had to acknowledge it. There was no way they could keep each other at arm's length, and there was no way they could let a fight break out.

Besides, they were both in love with Ren with their lives on the line, and they had no intention of undermining their strong love for him. To do so would be like insulting the love they felt for Ren.

They were also the ones who had just saved a child in the castle town. They cannot dislike each other’s sense of justice.

Considering their personalities, it’s hard to imagine that the two of them would have fallen into a dangerous situation in the first place.

However, since they have fallen in love, they are as much mere town girls in front of Ren, and they have a problem they can't help but worry about.

They have to worry about what they think of each other and how they should treat each other.

“What kind of relationship do we have?”

Licia asked.

Are they just rivals? That's a complicated relationship, then.

Next, their voices overlapped.

“”My friend .......””

They looked at each other and were convinced that being friends with a noble was clearly not a good fit. Then, the only thing that remained was a rival. But neither of these seemed to fit, and the two girls racked their brains.

In fact, putting the relationship into words wouldn’t make a great deal of sense.

But for the two of them, it was of the utmost importance.

“From what I hear, when two people like the same opposite sex, many end up hating each other.”

“Licia-san, where did you get that information?”

“From a romance novel...."

“...... That’s an odd coincidence. I have several similar sources.”

Licia then coughed.

“But that doesn’t feel right either.”

“Yes, I agree with you.”

It’s obvious that there’s no benefit for these two to quarrel with each other. But then there’s the existence of the person you are emotionally attached to.

The two of them then began to speak their minds a little at a time.

The first to speak up was Licia.

“Rivals......"

Fiona followed with a few words.

“I have feelings that I can't give up.....”

“We are romantic rivals.....”

“We are close nobles.....”

Licia didn't feel like she could sort through all the words that had been uttered.

She felt that it would be different if any one of them were missing, and conversely, it would not be good to emphasize only one of them.

“I’m certain that I and Licia-san may be all of them.”

We haven’t given up on finding a definite word, but that’s exactly how it is.

“So you are saying that since there’s no clear word in the world, we are us ----?”

“Yes. I'm sure it's better that way."

Their relationship isn’t confined to any one person.

At the root of it all is the earnest desire to be Ren's number one.

Beyond that, as the saying goes, many positions are intertwined.

If that relationship was all that was spoken, then the two of them had to return to the question of how they should treat each other.

There is one part of that that is surprisingly clear though.

They decided to say only what was non-negotiable above all else and leave the rest to the passage of time.

“----I'll never, ever, ever, lose.”

The platinum feathers that adorned Licia's hair as she said this shook quietly.

“----I can't lie about how I feel either."

The star agate necklace that adorns Fiona's chest shakes quietly as she says this.

The two looked at each other with sincerity and understood the strength of the other's feelings.

There, their hearts finally ceased to be those of the nobility. They became town girls, Licia, and Fiona.

They forgot their positions and revealed their feelings to each other.

“Re-Ren sent this hair ornament for me! He found it for me for my birthday last year!”

“Ren, who saved me from Asval, gave me one good memory on the way home!”

The two of them have no intention of undermining each other's gifts, nor do they intend to differentiate one's gift from the other's. They just want to say that they are happy.

They just wanted to say it.

This is the first time she’s made such a declaration in front of her first love rival, and a powerful one at that.

"......"

“......”

But both of them were in love for the first time.

As was the case at the party that day, when she reveals her emotions in this way, her neck, cheeks, and even her ears become bright red and upturned.

They both knew that even their reddened eyes were moist with shame.

The ticking of the clock echoed through the room.

Thinking back, Lessard, Weiss, and Edgar were waiting for the two of them here in the waiting room.

It seemed that Licia's clothes would be dry soon.

This would mean that their conversation here would be coming to an end soon.

The two of them regained their composure just as the clock struck two o'clock in the afternoon

“You’re bright red, Fiona-sama.”

“I know! Even you, Licia-sama is bright red as well!”

“I'm just burning up after taking a hot bath!”

The two then held still in the silence they exchanged until the redness of their skin subsided.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

After another little while, it was time to leave.

It wasn’t long after two in the afternoon, but the trip to the blacksmith district was still postponed.

When Licia and Fiona went to the waiting room between the women's and men's dormitories, they were greeted by the men who were waiting for them there.

This waiting room also had a crimson carpet and was as glamorous as a high-class inn.

“Clausel-san, if you don’t mind, could you show me that vial?”

“You mean the small vial for practicing the hard sword technique?"

The redness was already gone from Licia's skin.

Same as Fiona, who is right beside her, but even so, if the two of them are a little distracted, they will think back to what just happened and their skin will be reddened again.

“That is correct. I would like to check on the situation, if that's all right."

“...... Fine, but there's no change in the crystal ball inside.”

Licia said and put her hand in the pocket of the clothes she had borrowed from Fiona.

She took out a vial, which she often holds in her hand these days, and handed it to Edgar.

A moment later, as she was about to do so without thinking about it, a clink sound came from her hand.

The crystal ball in the vial was broken in half.

“I’m surprised----"

Edgar's voice was as marvelous as his words.

“Clausel-san seems to possess a rare talent in the art of the hard swordsmanship.”

“Tsu---Really?”

“I'm certain of it. If you are interested, you may eventually learn the hard sword technique with Ren-dono. ---- No. I personally would love for you to learn it.”

Hearing this, Licia was bouncing with joy and hugged her father, Lessard.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

At the same time, in the wilderness away from the town of Elendil.

After a short walk along the road, he went deep into the forest, and then went further and further to a lake.

Ren had visited such a place a little more than three hours after leaving Elendil.

The lake, surrounded by short mountains, was covered with thick ice from the winter cold.

“Good."

Ren sat there on the land surrounding the lake with great enthusiasm.

He summoned his iron magic sword and asked how the lake looked.

“Just as well cause it's winter.”

He walked on the lake, which was covered with thick ice.

He took ten minutes to get to the middle of the lake, and with the iron sword in his hand, he cut through the ice to create a large hole.

“Let's give it a quick lift."

It had been quite a few months since he had learned that the evolution of the magic sword would be opened up.

But this year, because of all the time required to travel between Clausel and the city, he wasn’t able to hunt as much as in previous years.

That's why it took him, so long until today, but now it's time to level up.

Ren checks his bracelet and reaffirms that he will get it done today.

------

Ren Ashton.

[Job] Ashton family, eldest son

[Skill] ・Summoning Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/0)

・Summoning Magic Sword (Level 4: 3481/3500)

Level 1: Able to summon [one] magic sword.

Level 2: While summoning a magic sword, the user gains the effect of [Physical Ability UP (Small)].

Level 3: Summons 【Two swords】.

Level 4: Gains [Physical Ability UP (Medium)] while summoning a sword.

Level 5: Open the evolution of the magic sword.

Level 6: ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊.

[Swords already mastered]

Wooden magic sword (Level 2: 1000/1000)

Enables attacks of about the same level as natural magic (small).

The range of attack effect expands as the level increases.

Iron Sword (Level 3: 2925/4500)

The sword's sharpness increases as its level increases.

Thieves' Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/3)

Randomly steals items from the target with a certain probability.

Shield Sword (Level 2: 0/5)

Places a barrier of magical power around the wielder. The effect increases with the level of the sword.

The effect range can be extended.

Magic Sword of Flame (Level 1: 1/1)

The hellfire is the wrath of the dragon, the personification of power.

------

As he confirmed, he was very close to increasing the level of the magic sword summoning technique.

As for the art of summoning a magic sword, you gain proficiency by summoning a magic sword and training with it, so unlike the magic sword itself, he was able to gain proficiency little by little.

Today, he could finally raise it.

Ren threw the raw meat he had taken out of his pocket into the large hole he had opened.

The meat, which sank with a clattering sound, was something that could be bought at a street vendor's stall and was inexpensive, like the meat from a little boar, for example.

But it works in a big way.

A dozen seconds after dropping the meat into the lake, bubbles began to reach the surface of the water.

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