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In the end, Diolia was dragged here because of Shione’s request, and now we stood face to face in the training grounds, both smiling with excitement at having such a superb sparring partner.

“It’s my first time sparring with Diolia.”

Surely, until now, I had mostly been in real battles rather than engaging in sparring.

Even among those who fought alongside me in the battlefield, how many could truly grasp my archery and sword skills amidst the chaos?

Thanks to this, everyone in our special operations team gathered in front of the training ground, conveying their expectations.

“They say it’s just a short sparring session to master some new arrows… but still, a spar is a spar, right? Since it’s come to this, let’s place a bet. I’ll bet on the Deputy Commander.”

“Whoa, no matter how skilled our Deputy Commander is, it’s not like this open training ground has much distance. The Commander probably won’t even give her a moment before taking her down easily.”

“You’re not underestimating our Deputy Commander’s archery skills, are you?”

“Honestly, isn’t the sword just better than the bow?”

“What? You little—”

Thanks to that, yet again the rangers and knights divided over bows and swords, but instead it added to the excitement of the spar.

And there was Shione, sneakily jumping into the mix.

“I’m betting on Ray.”

“…Princess Shione?”

Without any thought of calming the heated atmosphere, she stoked the flames even further.

Everyone except the priests, who wished for no injuries, was now engaged in various banter.

In this flurry, Diolia drew her sword and spoke.

“…What happened for us to end up like this? It’s only a spar, so I trust the Deputy Commander will manage it well.”

“Don’t worry. If I cut the power in the middle of a strike, it’ll be a bit better, right?”

“That’s true. But aren’t you planning to shoot arrows instead of wielding a sword?”

“Archery is the same. If I shoot gently, it won’t hurt that much.”

“……”

“I have no intention of adding magic to my arrows, so Diolia, you should have no problem dodging them.”

“Hah.”

With a faint laugh, Diolia took her stance.

The tip of her sword aimed at my neck, reviving the blank humor into a sense of vigor.

If I cannot avoid it, I might as well enjoy it; fitting perfectly into the saying, the refined yet formidable malice was a palpable tension I could not ignore.

Creeeak—

Naturally, my grip tightened around the bow.

“Indeed, the difference between knights and archers is quite pronounced here. No matter how skilled the Deputy Commander is, with magic restricted, there will be limits.”

“……”

“I’ll concede the first move, so come at me slowly.”

“I won’t decline.”

In that moment, having drawn her sword, Diolia provocatively moved forward as if there was no way to back down.

I immediately nocked two arrows, shooting them consecutively with a swift sliding release.

One aimed for Diolia’s face, and the other zipped past her head.

“Wow, starting off aiming for the head is a bit heart-wrenching.”

She easily dodged despite her words.

With a surge, she dashed forward, rapidly closing the distance.

‘As expected, she’s fast. I’ll have to feint once.’

Before I knew it, Diolia was up close, thrusting her sword at me.

Though there was no mana imbued into her sword, her body was already enhanced. Swiftly drawing the bow back, I switched weapons to match the fluidity of her swift strikes.

Shiiing─! Clang─!

As our weapons met, Diolia pressed in, attempting to engage in close combat.

“Even as a Deputy Commander, your weapon switching is incredibly smooth.”

“Are you not going to give me some distance?”

“Where’s the scheming subordinate who aimed for my head right from the start? Sure, the goal is to practice getting used to the new arrows, but I also need some fun to balance things out. Let’s see if you can get away this time.”

The battle had reached a critical point.

Diolia’s initially swift attacks transformed into overwhelming, heavy strikes pressing me down.

‘Indeed, the legs of an ogre seem to have experienced a knight’s swordsmanship.’

While endpointing our strikes at each other, I aimed for a brief opening, aware of my balance teetering as I circulated my mana.

‘Now…!’

With delicate intention, I focused on the nocked arrow. As I released it, I pulled it towards me with the invisible thread of mana I had connected.

The arrow, redirected, shot back, aiming precisely for Diolia.

As she expanded her sensing abilities, Diolia’s eyes widened.

“Did you figure that out already?”

“Sorry, but I’ve got eyes in the back of my head.”

The close-quarters scuffle began to shift dramatically.

As Diolia twisted her body away from my center, her sword arced horizontally toward my neck.

With the change in the arrow’s trajectory due to the shifting quiver’s position, Diolia had begun to distance herself from my shot, but still, I succeeded.

Fwoosh─!

“Luck’s on your side, Deputy Commander.”

Capitalizing on the moment Diolia reevaluated her stance, I skillfully retreated while keeping my sword positioned to elude the strike.

Providing an opportunity, I had achieved a chance to shoot arrows again.

In a flash, I distance myself to return to ranged combat.

‘Before she gets close, I have to block any chance to handle me with quick shots.’

In this wide-open training ground.

Rather than attempting something in a disadvantageous arena, piling on speed would be far more troublesome.

And that approach would suit perfectly for testing these arrows.

‘Obscure her vision and shoot as many arrows as possible.’

I had declared I wouldn’t imbue magic into the arrows.

But I hadn’t promised not to use it elsewhere.

I quickly scattered dense flames across the training ground with the wind.

Of course, since this was just sparring, it wouldn’t harm her, yet still, the sudden magic would force Diolia to go on the defensive.

‘Even if I don’t particularly like rapid firing—’

In a battlefield, if anything ever posed a problem with supplies, a single arrow would become invaluable, thus I wasn’t very accustomed to unleashing this many arrows at once.

But just because I wasn’t used to something doesn’t mean I couldn’t do it.

Today, having gone to the trouble of retrieving arrows lodged into corpses, shouldn’t I feel the reassurance of arrows’ capabilities first-hand?

‘Pinch style shooting is ideal.’

Using my thumb and index finger to pinch and shoot arrows was indeed the most comfortable method for me.

Rather than focusing on power or the perfection of a singular shot, I bombarded Diolia with a multitude of projectiles.

As a result, relying on her senses instead of sight, Diolia emitted a rough smile and whispered.

“…If I thought all these arrows were imbued with magic, it would be quite terrifying.”

A rain of arrows aiming directly at her.

Aware of the destructive potential infused into the arrows Ray had shot in battle, Diolia couldn’t help but feel a chill.

As the wind charged the fletching and the flame of life ignited the arrowheads, this attack would surely shine.

“Then I have no choice but to take it seriously.”

Diolia infused her sword with mana.

She took a stance to ward off the swarm of arrows about to rain down, gathering her breath.

Just as she prepared to unleash a strike.

“Hm…?”

The nearest arrow, which was definitely capable of being deflected, suddenly halted in mid-air; on top of that, it was yanked back toward herself again.

Diolia let out a hollow laugh and sighed.

“You’ve crafted a crazily clever technique with just a single arrow.”

She was the one who suggested this spar to better grasp how to handle arrows.

Yet hadn’t it just been a short while since she’d used new arrows? If there was enough mana and arrows, wouldn’t a barrage rain forever until hitting its target?

Once all the arrows collected back, Diolia walked over, muttering.

“Deputy Commander, watching you collect all the arrows before I strike means you could’ve just trained on a scarecrow instead of me, huh?”

“There aren’t even moving targets at the shooting range… Furthermore, shooting arrows while sparring against a static target is a completely different sensation. It’s important to practice interaction during actual sparring sessions if we want to see how effective they could be in real combat.”

“Hah.”

“Thanks to you, Diolia, I was able to shoot arrows as per my thoughts. Without a skilled person like you, I would have hesitated no matter what I attempted.”

“Surely our Deputy Commander is quite the smooth talker. Later, I’ll propose some improvements for the training ground to the head of the family together with you.”

With the energy clearly drained from her, Diolia sighed.

Maybe I had extinguished the last flame of enthusiasm she built up, but that’s not to say that the arrows wouldn’t break under the brunt of Diolia’s sword strikes. It’d be a waste to let such valuable arrows fly off here.

‘This time, I really need to prepare a suitable favor in return.’

It’d be wise to ask Siabel or someone else what Diolia would like.

With that thought, I recalled the technique I had just used.

‘It seemed decent enough.’

Having retrieved arrows efficiently, I could consistently shoot arrows while pulling them back before strikes could connect.

This time around, a skilled knight might deflect attacks while approaching, but if infused with magic, my mana could surely neutralize an opponent as formidable as Diolia.

‘If I can just have a few more arrows with that kind of performance, I might be able to practice distant combat against demons.’

Activating the spell for the return magic wasn’t overly complicated either.

For the rangers sufficiently accustomed to the arrows, there seemed a likely prospect for unique training sessions.

Meanwhile, the audience was surprisingly busy discussing what to do with the bets placed on an undecided spar between me and Diolia.

While they busied themselves, Diolia and I were deep in conversation about training.

Diolia expressed her concern.

“It’s a bit troubling that as the Commander, I’m unable to show my skills in front of so many members. It feels like I’m only the one losing here.”

“…I genuinely apologize for that.”

“Well, it’s unavoidable since the Commander and Princess Shione requested it. But for future spars—”

As she was about to flee from slightly less relaxed sparring practiced in the Count’s estate, I knew I had to seize this chance.

“So in return, I was thinking of arranging a pretty decent attendant for you next time—”

“By the way, the head of the family asked when I plan to get married. That would be great for me.”

Suddenly, Diolia’s enthusiasm spiked dramatically.

“How about it? Want to jump into another round of sparring right now?”

After that, she worked out with me two more times and eventually freed herself only after overseeing Shione’s match.

 

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