Chapter 6: Licia’s strength and those above her.

Licia thanked Sarah for her cooperation, and when she heard her reply, she thought back to a time several years ago, before she met Ren.

“I’ve not seen you in years. It’s been almost four years since Licia beat me.”

“Yes, I’m sure it has.”

The four years ago was when Licia attended a party held in the capital city.

Sarah at the time asked Licia to attend.

The reason was that Licia had a reputation for her talent with the sword since that time. Sarah, who was also gifted with a sword skill, was curious about the strength of the Saint, Licia.

As the descendant of one of the Seven Heroes, who were renowned swordsmen, Sarah applied with the intention of winning at all costs.

The result, however, ended in a disastrous defeat for Sarah.

The day after the party, they challeneged each other at the Riohald family mansion in the Imperial capital.

There was nothing close in that standoff, and Sarah was overwhelmed by Licia from start to finish.

While Sarah was swinging her sword frantically and out of breath, Licia, who was facing her, didn’t disturb her breathing at all, showing the absolute difference in their strength.

That was the first encounter between the two.

Since then, Licia, who was recognized by Sarah, has been told to adopt a more open attitude, which she has done.

Even when they met again after a long time, it was no different.

“Since I’m on a business trip with my father, I never thought I’d run into you here, Sarah.” 

Licia smiled at the unexpected encounter, thinking back to that time.

“I was surprised too. I was on a tour with Vane when I ran into a snatcher, and when I chased after him, I found you.”

“Vane?”

“Yes, We were in Elendil together, but we got separated when I left to pursue the snatcher.”

Sarah’s cheeks broke into a lovely smile as she said this.

“He’s my friend and benefactor. When I was near his village, Vane saved me from being attacked by a Monster.”

“What happened to your guards when you were attacked?”

“I went into the forest thinking I could fight on my own, but I couldn’t do it….”

“You’re just an idiot.”

Licia sighed and said in an exasperated voice.

However, she wasn’t only dismayed, but also reminded herself to be careful, because she’s had a similar situation and caused trouble for Ren.

“Riohald-san. If you don’t mind, I’ll have the knight find your companion.”

Sarah is pleased to hear Weiss’s concerned voice.

“Are you sure? Then can I ask for a favor?”

Sarah, pleased with Weiss’s suggestion, nods and begins to describe the boy named Vane.

He’s the same age as her, slightly taller and slimmer than her. He had dark brown hair and green eyes.

Weiss leaves his seat and goes to the knight standing in front of the packing house.

Then, Sarah suddenly appeared to have a sudden idea.

“Since you’re here, why don’t you duel with me?”

She said this and walked toward the stuffing room.

“I’ll show you how strong I’ve grown since that day! I’m going to borrow the training grounds in the Packing building!”

“…… Oh? You’re not asking me for a fight you, are you ?”

“Of course I am! Do you know how much frustration I have spent the last four years enduring? I’ve been working so hard for so long to beat you next time!”

“Eh, is that so…….”

Licia giggled as Sarah’s momentum got the better of her.

“….. what should I do?”

Licia secretly muttered to herself.

 In the first place, their factions of the nobility are different, and she wanted to avoid being in a place where both parents weren’t present, as before.

She was sure she’d get into troublesome complaints later because of Sarah, but she can’t help but wonder.

But Licia went after Sarah.

Because the other party is a member of the heroic faction’s family, she had no choice but to do so in view of the difference in their positions.

“I must apologize to Ren when I return to Clausel.”

The feeling she has now is probably similar to the one that Ren had in the past.

Licia thought about this, reflected on her past behavior, and stepped into the stuffy room.

—-A few dozen minutes later

Vane, the boy who had visited Elendil with Sarah, walked into the room.

He was surprised to see Sarah slumped on the ground in the training room inside the stuffing house, looking pitiful, “What’s wrong?” He was surprised.

“See you later, Sarah.”

Licia’s dainty figure turned around and waved to him as she walked away.

She left with the same cool look as she had four years ago, and left this place after showing off more power than before.

…… It was a scene that painted a picture in the legend of the seven heroes.

In which the main heroine, Sarah and the boy who lends her a hand, the hero, Vane, see Licia off.

　

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

A month later, at Clausel’s mansion.

On this day, Ren and Licia, who happened to return to Clausel at the same time, were in the garden of the mansion.

It was shortly after they crossed swords at Ren’s invitation, which was a rare occurrence.

Licia was sitting on a wooden bench in the garden, telling Ren about her time in Elendil.

“There was something like that —-.”

After listening to the story, Ren uttered, “So that’s what happened – ……” while trying to keep his composure. 

(Well….. it was that time already.)

It was the same in the game era.

The main character, Vane, protects Sarah Riohald, who’s visiting near his village. In doing so, Vane caught the attention of Sarah’s parents, as the heroic power in his body showed signs of awakening.

He would then spend some time in the imperial capital before entering the Imperial Cadet Academy.

Recalling the events that took place at the knight’s stuffing house, Ren felt nostalgic.

(After all, Vane is in this world too.)

“Hey, are you listening?”

“I’m sorry. I was overwhelmed by the awesomeness of the city.”

Ren clears his throat and corrects himself.

Next he looked at Licia and helped her to her feet.

“Thank you…….”

She took the hand shyly and stood up, and Ren returned to the subject Licia had been talking about just a moment ago.

It was obvious, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“And did you duel with Riohald-san?”

“Yes, for about 30 minutes, but several times.”

The results, she said, were all overwhelmingly in her favor.

Although Licia never mentioned it, Ren could imagine that there was a difference between the two of them more than four years ago, just by listening.

However, it could also be said that it was obvious.

Licia is strong. Even if her opponent was the daughter of a heroic noble family and a descendant of Gajeel Riohald, one of the Seven Heroes, her advantage would be the same.

Ren who dueled with her on a regular basis knew this first hand.

“And yet….huh.”

Licia, who should have shown an overwhelming difference in power to the Descendants of the Seven Heroes, is now regretful when she sees Ren here.

Licia looked up at Ren’s face with pouting lips and felt the difference in height more than before.

She mutters “……he’s  getting cool on his own again,” so that Ren can’t hear her, and then she speaks out the reason for her regret.

“Sarah is a reputed swordsman in the imperial capital, and I was able to overpower her.”

“Yes. It must be the result of Licia-sama’s hard work. I’m happy too.”

“Oh, my! That’s not what happened!”

Then Licia took a half step forward.

She moved even closer to Ren, so close that you could count the number of eyelashes on her face.

“I’m the one who got beat up by you this time, Just a few minutes ago, as usual!”

She looks up at Ren, somewhat frustrated, but not irritated. And Ren knows it too. Licia’s appearance now seemed somewhat pampered.

“Ren, you’ve become strong again.”

“…… Eh?”

“I’m not looking away from you! Don’t fool around, look at me!”

Hearing that, Ren turns his face which had been looking away back to Licia.

The two gazes met head-on. Licia finally realized how close they were and her cheeks instantly flushed.

She backed away in a flurry of embarrassment.

A servant watching from the window of the mansion smiled through the pane.

“—-It’s not fair of you to look at me so suddenly!”

“No…… even if you say so…..”

Ren returned the somewhat absurd argument in a flushed manner and shrugged his shoulders.

“But I’m relieved. There was also the matter of Viscount Givens, so I thought something had happened in light of the factional relationships.”

“If that’s the case, Sarah has apologized to me many times.”

The situation becomes a little more complicated when you consider the position of Clausel and the Riohald familiy.

But of course, the matter of Viscount Given was unwanted for Sarah. Viscount Givens had cleverly concealed the move from the public, and it was only after the fact that she learned of the whole story that Sarah made repeated attempts to contact the Clausel family.

But —-

“I knew that Marquis Ignat was a great man. It seems that he was also putting pressure on the heroic barons so that they wouldn’t be able to move.”

“Was the pressure that great?”

 “Yes. I heard that Sarah’s parents tried very hard to stop him in order to protect Sarah. There were various issue regarding Viscount Givens even within the faction.”

Ren thought how encouraging it was to hear the story.

He was ridiculously troublesome when he was an enemy, but he didn’t know he was so powerful when he became an ally. I don’t know how stiff-necked he was, to the point that even the heroic Barons cowered.

“It seems that Riohald-san was strongly concerned about you, Licia-sama.”

“Yes…. she’s very kind.”

But it’s complicated.

Licia, who doesn’t have a good impression of the Heroic Faction, even if she doesn’t dislike Sarah’s personal character, she can’t help the complex feelings that stir in her heart, which cannot be put into words.

Furthermore, the more she thinks about it, the more complicated it becomes, because the factions are not monolithic.

“Hey, hey! Now tell me your story, Ren! How was the village?”

Ren’s voice is bouncy, and he’s full of good cheer as he recounts his memories.

And so their first day back in Clausel went.

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