The Swordsmanship Tournament
After the whole string of incidents finally wrapped up.
“Leonia. Still haven’t fixed that habit.”
“No, no! That just now wasn’t me moving!”
With the swordsmanship tournament only a day away, the two of them threw themselves into practice like their lives depended on it.
“Still… it’s surprising how full of energy Instructor Brika suddenly is…”
Meanwhile, an unexpected twist had occurred in the swordsmanship tournament.
The idea that the first match of the main bracket would be a duel between Leonia and Selene had only ever been a prediction.
The opening match lineup was originally decided by the tournament organizers.
They watched the preliminary bouts and picked the two contestants who seemed likely to draw the biggest crowd.
That was why the late Damian had assumed the monstrously powerful Selene would naturally face Leonia.
But.
“Instructor Brika advanced to the main bracket without giving up a single point…”
Something unforeseen had happened.
Brika, who once held the title of the previous empire’s sword, had somehow grown even stronger than before.
Because of that, she drew more attention than Selene, who had also advanced with a perfect record around the same time.
And so the opening match was set: the current empire’s sword versus the previous empire’s sword.
Clang!
“Leonia. Don’t think about anything else.”
“I know!”
“That habit. Get rid of it.”
“Right!”
“Brika. She’s gotten stronger.”
“......”
“If you can’t break the habit. You might lose.”
“Heh heh.”
News like that only poured fuel on Leonia’s fire.
“Just what I wanted!”
Now freed from every shackle tied to her family’s reconstruction, Leonia would become the official head of house the moment this tournament ended.
A direct order had come down from the imperial family. From now on she could reclaim her honor without the tournament hanging over her.
“Even if I lose… I’ll only lose to Professor Selene.”
“I’ll… be waiting.”
Clang!
“Ugh?!”
Leonia barely dodged Professor Selene’s blade and paused to catch her breath.
“Good. Habit gone.”
“Really?”
“(Nods)”
“Then how many habits do I have left?”
“One.”
“One?”
Leonia smiled at the single remaining flaw.
The thought that only one wall still stood between her and perfection filled her with even greater joy.
“So what’s the last habit?”
Leonia asked again.
“......”
But Selene stayed strangely silent.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Won’t tell.”
“What?”
This time she refused to give the answer.
“Final answer. Leonia finds it herself.”
“What?”
Selene suddenly recalled what Maid Mona had said about the dangers of cramming, and immediately shut down any further explanation.
“Leonia. You can do it.”
“Fine.”
Leonia, far from discouraged, simply threw herself even harder into training.
“You two should eat something first.”
“What?! You’re training without me?!”
Meanwhile.
Two visitors arrived after hearing that training was underway at Leonia’s private training ground.
“I’m a main-bracket qualifier too, Professor!”
“Ah. It’s Rubelia von Estelle.”
The moment Rubelia saw the pair training so fiercely, she frantically drew her own sword.
“Professor! Teach me too!”
“(Nods)”
As if answering her, Selene quietly stepped aside.
“No, no! I meant I want to learn from Professor Selene, not Lady Leonia!”
“Impossible. Rubelia. Bad at swordsmanship.”
“But I placed fourth in the preliminaries!”
“That. Rubelia’s limit.”
“Eeeeeek!”
Rubelia’s face flushed red with frustration.
Selene simply reached out and gently stroked her head.
“Rubelia. Strong with magic.”
“Huh?”
“Even if swordsmanship is bad. Magic. Plenty of potential.”
“Ehehe. R-really?”
Defeated by a single pat on the head, Rubelia immediately picked her sword back up.
“Then I’ll have to beat you first!”
“Oh? Fine! Come at me, Estelle!”
Clang!
She threw herself into fierce practice alongside Leonia.
“Ugh?!”
She was nowhere near their level, but…
“Viera.”
Meanwhile.
Selene quietly approached Viera and began whispering.
“That matter?”
“It’s proceeding smoothly, Professor.”
“(Nods)”
“But… I’m still not sure this is the right thing to do.”
“Can’t be helped. To catch the prey…”
At the same time.
Inside an interrogation room at the Security Bureau.
“Th-this is unfair!”
“Unfair my ass! What the hell is unfair?!”
Even with the swordsmanship tournament right around the corner, Brika’s mind was completely occupied by the problem in front of her.
“B-but…”
“We know damn well how your son spent years exploiting noble widows to expand the family’s influence!”
“I-I’m sorry about that. Didn’t I already confess to everything involving House Valteria?”
“You did. But you committed other crimes besides that!”
“No, no!”
Brika spread out the documents she had gathered and began grilling him point by point.
“Look here. Starting from this date, the pendant supplier changed to your people!”
“Ah, no, that’s…”
“And that same date marks the beginning of the murder cases!”
“Hiiik!”
Brika, who looked like she had shed ten years off her age, slammed her fist on the desk. The head of House Cromwell flinched and shrank back.
“Aah… I-I really don’t know! I just… I just followed orders from above!”
“Then spit out who gave those orders!”
“I don’t know! I swear I don’t! I only acted when instructions came down! Besides, I only handled deliveries!”
“Then tell me what the hell is inside the pendants you delivered!”
“I don’t know! We only send empty pendants!”
“Oh?”
“Eek…”
“The delivered pendants should all be finished products, right?”
“Ugh.”
Brika continued her meticulous investigation step by step.
Still, no name had come out of the Cromwell family head.
‘Selene mentioned there’s a chance Cassian is involved… Who exactly is this superior? There’s no reason for revolutionary members to fear a mere upstart family…’
While Brika was lost in thought, one of her subordinates came running.
She had recently replaced most of the Security Bureau personnel with people she trusted. This man was one of them.
“What is it?”
“About the prisoner we brought in.”
“You mean Rosy?”
“Yes! She’s escaped from prison.”
“...Is that so?”
When Brika heard the report, she let out a long sigh and stood up.
“Then let’s move.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Hehehe.”
Meanwhile.
“They’re all dead! Those bastards!”
Rosy, who had escaped the detention cell far too easily, licked her lips at the sweet taste of freedom.
“Jackson! Ah, Jackson! I’ll get revenge for you, I swear!”
She grew gloomy remembering the Jackson who had died in her past memories, but—
“Well, my next boyfriend should be taller.”
—she quickly shook off the painful past and strode forward with renewed energy.
A short while later.
“Hm? Is that Rosy’s voice?”
“Martin!”
Rosy had arrived at the secret hideout where her comrades waited.
“You got out? What happened to Jackson?”
“He’s dead. You already know! Those damn people…”
Rosy recalled the past with fresh fury.
But for some reason the exact moment of Jackson’s death refused to surface clearly.
“Wait… how did I even end up in prison? I can’t remember how they caught me…”
“Was that woman there too?”
“Huh?”
An unfamiliar voice spoke from the shadows.
“Huh? Who’s that guy?”
“A partner. He’s been part of this from the beginning.”
“What?”
“A pleasure.”
The hooded man.
The man with a prosthetic arm on one side…
“For now… please call me Black Hood.”
Concealing his true name—Cassian—he greeted the pair.
“What the hell? Why did you bring in an outsider?!”
“This job isn’t simple. You saw what happened to Jackson, didn’t you?”
“So?”
“This man was involved from the start. And about that woman.”
“That woman?”
“He says he knows about the one called Selene.”
“Oh? Her name is Selene?”
The moment Selene’s name was mentioned, Cassian stepped forward.
“Jackson’s corpse was nowhere to be found.”
“You! You were at the scene?”
“I arrived near the end. After Lady Rosy was swallowed by that woman.”
“Swallowed?”
Rosy’s memories seemed jumbled and inconsistent.
Cassian chose not to elaborate further and turned to Martin instead.
“That woman’s skill is considerable.”
“Yeah. Enough to take down both Jackson and Rosy.”
“I haven’t been taken down yet!”
“I’d hoped to absorb her power for myself.”
“Since that failed, we’ll proceed with the original plan.”
“It’s not the next plan. It’s the plan we always intended.”
Srrrng.
Martin drew his curved blade.
“Have you been practicing your swordsmanship?”
“There’s no need.”
“You’re being arrogant.”
“Arrogant? Hahaha.”
Martin swung the curved sword through the air and pointed it at Cassian.
“This is the strongest swordsmanship in the empire. And you’re calling me arrogant?”
“It’s reassuring to see you so confident.”
Cassian smiled at Martin.
“I truly hope you display that skill to its fullest in the swordsmanship tournament as well…”
