Chapter 283
Chapter 283. Peaceful Days
“Woof…”
Liliana looked on with a mix of exasperation and resignation.
“Hey!”
“What is it?!”
Sparks flew in the fortress’s basement, where Alex and Barbara were crossing swords. “Let’s train!” Alex had suggested, and Barbara agreed.
“Sword techniques are forbidden!”
“That’s cheating!”
Barbara released her magical power while parrying Alex’s spear attack with her left hand.
With a loud snap that sounded like a leather strap breaking, the curse was broken, and the thrusting sword let out a howl.
With a sound akin to shattering glass, Alex’s protective spell was reduced to fragments, and before he could react, a kick landed squarely.
“Guh!”
“Yes! Rib-crushing move!”
Clad in the scales of a white dragon, Barbara’s kick unleashed at Sword Saint-level speed now rivaled a dragon’s strike.
“Wait, wait a second…!”
“No holds barred!”
Barbara relentlessly attacked Alex, who clearly lacked his usual vigor.
“Come on, show more guts! You used to be able to use that teleportation spell, didn’t you? You almost got killed by me!”
“Fair point…! Sword techniques are forbidden!”
“Ugh!”
While Barbara tried to shake off the curse again by releasing her magic power, she remained immobile. From Alex’s body emanated a different kind of forbidden energy—
“This is—Antendei! Double is unfair!”
“No holds barred!”
Alex seized the opportunity, shifting to offense against Barbara, who was struggling to evade the thrusts of his spear. But she countered, landing a palm strike just as her movements slowed from the pain in her ribs.
Utilizing the Sword Saint’s dimensional acceleration, even that single strike held tremendous power. Alex felt as if he had been hit by a giant beast, floating off the ground. While his protective spell mitigated the damage, he was still pinned down by Barbara, with her blade pressed against his neck.
Not a sword technique, but a motion akin to chopping with an axe. Though it was a thrusting sword, it was expertly sharpened dwarven craftsmanship—capable of easily slicing through flesh—
“I give up.”
Raising both hands in surrender, Alex confessed.
Liliana dashed over, howling, “Uwaaa!” Unlike the usual brutal training, there was no taste of blood, but the internal damage was severe. She licked and poured warm magic into him, healing him instantly.
“I can’t believe I was toyed with like that…”
Leila, who had been watching, held her mouth in shock.
“Man… I couldn’t keep up at all. I’ve gotten soft with all this peace.”
As Alex gently patted Liliana’s hair and smiled, saying “Thank you,” he shook his head.
“But you trained so hard with Virosa…”
Leila had a face that seemed to question what peace truly was. Liliana, although she didn’t understand the conversation, remembered well that whenever they had free time in the Autonomous District, Alex and Virosa would duel until they were covered in blood.
“No. She’s faster and stronger than Virosa. She can even dispel magic… I can’t handle it.”
“Virosa— that Night Elf Sword Saint?”
Barbara had an expression as if she would snort if she had a nose.
Virosa was a balanced Sword Saint in power, technique, and speed, while Barbara, in her previous life, had specialized in speed.
However, now, she maintained her previous speed alongside tremendous brute strength and magical resistance.
“I feel like I could beat Hessel in a strength contest right now.”
Showing off her biceps, Barbara boasted.
“But I feel a little overwhelmed by my own strength, so I need to train more.”
“Ugh. There’s still more to go…?”
Alex watched Barbara with a sense of reverence, as if impressed.
“Wow…”
Slim and sleek, yet some warrior’s might was compressed to an extreme in that silver-haired swordswoman.
Liliana also felt that Barbara was incredible. But at the same time, an intense sadness washed over her. Both her existence and Alex’s gaze filled with admiration added to that melancholy.
“Kuunn.”
But she couldn’t put that feeling into words.
Being a dog, all she could do was lick Alex’s cheek.
“Ahaha.”
Alex laughed, tickled, and it felt good when he patted her hair.
“I need to train more too.”
“That said, you’re just in your everyday clothes without any armor, while I’m practically full-on geared up…”
Knocking on the armor plates fused with white dragon scales, Barbara added, “If you were wearing your city battle armor, it would be a different story.”
“When it comes to dodging and parrying, you have more options, and it might even be different from just receiving blows.”
“In fact, if you couldn’t beat me in your casual clothes, I’d have a real problem.”
“That might be true.”
“And you’re not even going all out! It’s like you’re holding back. I thought I’d get a hit in a couple of times, but then your strength felt so weak that it caught me off guard.”
“I’m not holding back! But if I swung around recklessly and you somehow got damaged, fixing you would be a huge pain…”
“…Hey! Don’t underestimate me! I’ll figure out how to handle it, so just break me and then say it! Plus, it wouldn’t be good training for me!”
“Well, I suppose you have a point there. Alright, I’ll step it up…”
Alex made a sour face. Liliana licked him.
“But can we take a little break? I’m really thirsty.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
With a light jump, Barbara said, “Can I also get some magical power? I might be in trouble soon.”
“Ah, it really takes a toll to fight at full power.”
“It’s nice to have resistance to magic, but resisting seems to drain quite a bit.”
Liliana sensed it. Barbara’s presence felt considerably diminished.
Before they began training, she had been like a large bonfire, but now she felt like just a simple torch. It seemed that Liliana could blow on her, and she would disappear.
Yet when Alex placed his hand on Barbara’s abdomen and poured in power, her overwhelming presence resurfaced instantly.
“I guess in actual combat, you need to replenish power as you go.”
“Does it have to be direct contact?”
“It should be possible remotely, but it’s inefficient… still, I guess it’s worth practicing just in case.”
“It would be great if I could store more magical power.”
“If you stuff more magic stones than that in, the balance would get messed up… maybe we could use an external option like a backpack?”
“I like that.”
As they discussed such things, Alex invited Liliana and the others, saying, “Let’s have some tea,” and they climbed the stairs.
In the cooking area on the ground floor of Auror Fortress, they boiled water and made tea.
By the way, making tea was Barbara’s job. She liked to “watch everyone eat and drink deliciously since she couldn’t do it herself.” Perhaps she said that cheerfully on purpose so that Alex and the others wouldn’t feel out of place.
Yet, her tea was quite good, on par with the creations of a well-mannered butler from a noble family.
“Delicious…”
“It’s tasty!”
“That’s great to hear.”
As Alex and Leila chatted while enjoying cookies at the table, Barbara rested her chin on her hand, watching them. She had a faceless mask, but she must have been smiling inside.
“Woof woof!”
Liliana also sat at the table, leaning forward and slurping the tea poured into a shallow plate, devouring snacks with abandon.
It was delicious!
“So hot, but you’re alright?”
“Woof!”
Being a dog, it wasn’t a problem. Plus, she had definitely had her fair share of scalding things poured into her…
She couldn’t quite remember, but in any case, this level of heat felt neither painful nor bothersome.
“Recently, the heat seems to have eased up a bit.”
As Alex gazed out the window at the starlit night sky, he remarked.
“The Canis Major and Serpens constellations are already dropping so low. They’re going to disappear soon.”
Holding the cup with both hands, Leila sipped her tea. The knowledge of constellations that she inherited from her father still lived on within her.
“It’ll get cooler from here, leading into autumn…”
Barbara appeared to stare far into the horizon.
“Kyun.”
Liliana poked Alex with her nose, demanding more cookies. Smiling, Alex added a few more cookies to her plate.
“Woof woof.”
Delicious!
“What’s the Demon Lord Army up to right now?”
“Diagias’s army is moving north through the Arena Kingdom. They’re about to take over a third of the land.”
“…Should I say they’re faring better than expected?”
“The Gigamont Tribe is quite strong. Diagias himself is a remarkable warrior. The Arena Kingdom certainly boasts its martial prowess.”
As Alex and Barbara began discussing this, Liliana didn’t understand. Being a dog, she couldn’t.
“Besides— the Holy Great Tree Alliance seems to be sending quite a bit of reinforcements.”
However, Liliana, still munching on her cookie, abruptly froze.
“Not only sorcerers but bowmen were dispatched on a brigade scale. The Gigamont Tribe is reportedly sustaining damage comparable to the Reiju Tribe during the Evaroti campaign.”
“If only we could have them sent to the Defteros Kingdom… but then again, it’s too late now.”
“The western invasion of the kingdom was primarily led by the Izanis Tribe. If it was defended with wind magic, bowmen might have had a bad match-up. I hear the Arena Kingdom’s forest elves are engaged in a muddy, drawn-out battle in the woodlands.”
“That’s quite troublesome… so they aren’t taking a detour?”
“If they take a detour just because it’s tough, they’ll be branded as weaklings. That said, I’ve heard Diagias has been forcing his way through the tough spots. Many of the delaying units have been decimated in the process… With this operation, his duke title is all but assured.”
Alex suddenly wore a wry smile.
“The militarized national army and a large troop of forest elves… it seems even the Demon Lord Army is having a hard time.”
“But what happens when the Rubyphia’s army takes over? If the forest is turned to ash, no matter how skilled the bowmen are—”
Liliana didn’t understand. Being a dog, she couldn’t.
Liliana didn’t understand. She was supposed to be a dog.
Liliana shouldn’t be able to comprehend. She was supposed to be a dog—
“…………”
As she dropped her gaze, a blurry face stared back at her from within the shallow plate of tea. Blue eyes, short, styled golden hair, long pointed ears—
Not a dog, but the face of a woman.
With a twitch, her long ears perked up.
“…Liliana?”
A voice came from the side. Leila was looking over with a hint of concern.
“Woof?”
But the innocent Liliana tilted her head.
And proceeded to slurp up every last drop from the shallow plate.
Not a single drop remained.
