Who Are You?
The carriage came to a halt with a clank.
“We’ve arrived.”
Camilla slowly opened her eyes. It had been a year since her return.
The mission was complete, and her schedule was empty. She had heard that her father had adopted a child.
It was sudden, but she had thought she’d at least see the face once before leaving.
Camilla stepped off the carriage and headed toward the mansion.
Then, a whooshing sound cut through the air. She stopped and turned her head, only to see someone swinging a sword alone on one side of the training ground.
Whoosh!
“1,000,021!”
Whoosh!
“1,000,022!”
Sword Mastery
Proficiency: +10%
“Alright.”
By the way, it wasn’t actually one million swings. She had simply thought that swinging the sword this way might raise the proficiency a bit more.
Sword Mastery
Current Proficiency: 205%
At first, going over one hundred percent had seemed meaningless. It didn’t make her stronger or anything.
But now she had no such doubts.
It kept rising.
So she kept raising it.
Moreover, lately her body itched if she stayed still, so swinging the sword like this was better than nothing.
“1,000,023!”
While swinging the sword vigorously, she sensed a presence at the entrance of the training ground. She turned her head and found a girl she didn’t recognize standing there.
Short hair. A sword was sheathed at her waist.
“...”
“...”
But why was she staring at her like that?
Rian had also been carefully studying the girl’s face. It felt familiar, yet he couldn’t quite place her.
“Who are you?”
“...”
Suddenly the girl looked at him as if she had spotted a bug.
“Trash.”
“...”
Wait, what?
Why insult someone?
Rian was utterly bewildered and stared at the girl.
“Isn’t it too much to say that to a complete stranger?”
“Stranger?”
The girl’s lips curled into a smirk.
Why, had he said something wrong?
But no matter how hard he tried to recall, no familiar face came to mind.
“Yeah, first time seeing you.”
“...ha.”
The girl let out a short, hollow laugh. Then she reached for the sword at her waist.
-Skreech.
“Eh?”
The sword was drawn.
“Wait.”
-Kwaaang!
Rian instinctively dodged to the side. The spot where he had been standing moments ago sank in.
“Insane!”
“You dodged it.”
The girl lifted the sword without a care in the world.
“What are you doing!”
-Kaang!
Instead of answering, another attack came flying at him.
The shock of the swords clashing spread through his entire body.
“Wow, shit.”
What kind of sword was this? It felt like swinging a huge iron club.
He gritted his teeth and pushed back against the sword.
-Chang!
He barely managed to keep some distance, but the girl didn’t budge an inch. Meanwhile, his wrist and elbow throbbed with pain.
“Not bad.”
“What’s not bad!”
“If it were like before, you’d have already collapsed.”
“Before?”
The words made Rian’s eyebrows twitch.
Wait, what?
We really know each other.
“So who the hell are you!”
The girl’s expression grew even colder.
“Still don’t know?”
“...”
“Ha.”
A short sigh.
And then.
-Kwang!
Another sword came flying.
“Damn it, I said talk!”
Why was there a bomb sound every time this crazy woman swung her sword?
This time he didn’t take it head-on. He held the sword diagonally and deflected the trajectory.
-Kiiik!
Sparks flew as the blades scraped against each other.
“Of course.”
If he received it with raw strength, he would lose. He twisted his body and drove the sword straight in.
-Whip!
The girl’s eyes widened slightly.
-Kaang!
Of course it was blocked.
Sword Mastery
Proficiency: +10%
Even in the middle of this, the proficiency kept rising. She hadn’t planned to raise it this much.
The girl looked at him with strange eyes.
“You dodged the sword.”
“If you see, you wouldn’t know.”
“...You?”
At that moment.
-Swisk.
A hand slipped between the two swords.
“Please stop.”
“...”
“...”
Sebas had appeared between them without a sound.
“Welcome back, young lady.”
Young lady?
So that meant...
“...Sister?”
“...”
The girl looked at Rian with the same icy gaze once more.
“Hmph.”
She sheathed her sword and walked into the mansion.
Rian stared blankly at her retreating back.
This crazy woman was his sister?
Evening meal time.
Father was away on business. Now it seemed fine to leave Lucia alone.
Instead, someone else was sitting at the table today.
“...”
Camilla.
The crazy woman who had swung a sword at him at the training ground earlier.
And his sister.
No, how could he not remember her face?
“Oppa.”
Lucia, sitting beside him, tugged at his sleeve and whispered.
“Is that person your sister?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately?”
“Nothing.”
Lucia glanced at Camilla for a moment.
“Then are you my unnie too?”
“Yeah.”
Lucia nodded and turned toward Camilla.
“Um... Camilla-nim.”
“Why?”
“Can I call you unnie...?”
Camilla’s hand stopped.
“Unnie?”
“Yeah.”
“...”
The cold eyes softened noticeably.
“Of course.”
Even her voice had grown gentle. Rian had been about to rush forward to kill her, but...
“Unnie.”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe.”
Lucia smiled softly, and Camilla’s lips curved upward too.
Sigh, what a shitty world.
“By the way, Camilla.”
“Yeah.”
“After coming back, you fought with Rian, right?”
“...”
Mother opened her mouth quietly.
“Aigoo...”
Rian grabbed his side as if waiting and launched into a Hollywood-style dramatic act.
“Suddenly here a bit...”
“Oppa, are you okay?”
“Rian!”
Mother startled and stood up from her seat.
“Does it hurt a lot? Let me check.”
“I’m fine, it’s bearable.”
While saying that, he made his expression as pained as possible. Even then, no red card? It was infuriating.
“...She’s faking it.”
He looked at his mother pathetically instead of answering.
“Mom...”
“Camilla, you shouldn’t say that.”
“...”
Camilla’s jaw twitched.
“You, come with me right now.”
Camilla pushed her chair back and stood with an expression that said she would kill him on the spot.
“M-Mom!”
“Camilla!”
Camilla’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Kkuk, she looked pitiful.
Finally, Camilla sighed and sat back down.
After that, the dinner continued in silence.
“Wow, today’s food is extra delicious.”
“Lucia.”
First to speak was Camilla.
“Yeah, unnie.”
“...”
Look at that, her expression softened at the word ‘unnie’ again.
“Staying here is okay?”
“Yeah.”
Lucia thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Has Mom, has Dad.”
Then she looked at Rian.
“Oppa too.”
“...Yeah.”
Why, what?
He obediently sliced the meat.
In front of the new sister he had just met, he didn’t feel like talking about how messed up their relationship had been.
“Where was unnie?”
“Imperial Knight Order.”
“Knight?”
“Yeah.”
Lucia’s eyes widened.
“Then you’re super strong?”
“Roughly.”
Roughly? The training ground floor had exploded. High vitality?
In the game, her face hadn’t been shown, but her name had appeared a few times, so he remembered it.
Especially after the Caron boss fight, it was mentioned casually in the afterstories of the Count family and the Imperial Knight Order.
“How long will unnie stay?”
“This time, about a week.”
“A week...”
Lucia’s expression slightly drooped.
“Short.”
“...”
“Next time, I’ll stay longer.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Lucia smiled brightly, and Camilla’s eyes widened.
Yeah, this was it.
World’s number one family one Lucia distribution.
This crazy woman had only just met her, yet she was already released from detention.
His theory had been correct after all.
A week later.
Camilla had finished preparing to return to the knight order.
Though the time had been short, one thing was clear.
Rian had changed.
He had picked up the sword again, and he no longer treated the servants roughly.
Most importantly, Lucia followed that guy very closely.
“What the hell happened?”
She hadn’t asked. The guy wouldn’t have answered honestly anyway.
Camilla took out one document from the luggage.
『Rubellion Academy』
It had been a steady stream of professor position offers for years.
Until now, she had rejected every single one.
She had no intention of leaving the knight order, and she had no interest in teaching anyone.
But this time it was different.
At least when Rian and Lucia reached the age to enter the academy...
“Not bad.”
At the very least, it wasn’t a proposal without any value to worry about like before.
Camilla wrote a different answer instead of rejecting it for the first time.
“I’ll think about it after three years.”
Time passed. Seasons changed several times.
Now.
Three years were approaching their end.
