'I-I don't think this is alright…'
More than a kiss? No, how could she. Even the thought was atrocious.
'Yeah, this can't be wagered.'
Let's not do it, she urged herself.
Just when Lorraine opened her mouth to say no, Kieran smirked as if expecting her answer. The moment she saw that expression, something exploded, something in her that held her up broke.
"You are done for today! Grab your sword and follow me!"
So she crossed the river from which she would never return.
---
It was already late night when negotiations broke down. Neria looked up at the night sky and sighed.
As Kieran's colleague, she liked being part of the negotiations.
But that took up too much of her time.
Neria trailed her way to the gymnasium with subdued steps. As she expected, there was no one present in the gymnasium.
It seemed the knights had retired for today.
Well, not like they had to stay and train all the time. Training results were highly efficient when accompanied with proper rest.
Neria mused and picked up her wooden sword and shield that sat in the corner of the gymnasium.
She brandished her sword and shield to test her skills.
When that was over, she created an imaginary enemy to fight.
She took no breaks in between.
She pushed her body to the limit to be better than yesterday.
For nearly a year, her training routine had been like this.
In addition, she did not fall asleep no matter how late it was if she did not finish the training allotted for the day.
If her training ended early, she would do extra training until it was time to fall asleep.
As a result, her complexion became haggard compared to her past self. To the extent that Kieran, who was worse off, forced her to bed, admonishing her to rest. No matter what she was doing, when he forced her to bed, she took a break.
And the next day she continued to train as before.
Nobody could understand her, comprehend her actions; they questioned internally why she pushed herself so hard.
But Neria had her own reasons.
'I have to be stronger to stay by Kieran's side,' Neria would think.
In the past, she was weak.
She swore to protect him, but she didn't have the strength to do so. That's why she had to leave the seat next to him, and that seat was taken by another woman.
The only thing left for her now was a complimentary position by his side.
She was in such a humble position compared to before, but she was afraid of losing even that.
So she swung the sword ardently.
She braced her shield.
Her whole body screamed, but it mattered little.
As strenuous as it was, the fear and anxiety that gnawed at her heart disappeared along with.
So she continued and continued, and did so all again.
"Ah, I wondered from where such sounds were coming in the middle of the night, so it's Miss Neria training."
Lewis Sentry walked into the gymnasium with two of his escort knights.
Neria looked at him for a moment, then returned to her training.
Lewis was slightly offended by the blatant disregard, but he didn't bother showing it on his face.
He smiled softly and spoke to her.
"I was at the table across you during the negotiations earlier, do you remember?"
"…"
"Looks like you didn't notice me. It's okay. Because I saw you."
"…"
Neria ignored Lewis' attempt at conversation and silently swung her sword.
Every time the sword cut through the air, a loud whipping boom sounded in the ears of Lewis and his escort knights.
As the knights admired her neat swordsmanship and the power behind her swings, Lewis approached her, schooling his smile.
He had calculated that if he got close, he might get hit, so she would stop swinging her sword and shield, and then she wouldn't be able to ignore him anymore.
"Miss Neria. Will you please take a break from training and talk to me—Woah?!"
As the practice sword buzzed right across his face, Lewis fell backwards, flabbergasted.
"Young Master! Are you alright?!"
The escort knights who arrived belatedly tried to raise him up, but he jerked out of their grasp roughly and stared at Neria, reclining on the floor.
She was still wielding her sword and shield.
Swinging down without fail. She didn't care.
The face that had been filled with a smile distorted.
Lewis was the eldest son of the House of Count Sentry.
In the eastern region of the Kingdom of Prona, no one dared raising their voice in front of him.
Having never been ignored, he wasn't used to this kind of neglect, so he couldn't help his wrath unbridled.
If the individual who angered him this much had been an ordinary person, he would have completely crushed them under his heel.
Both physically and mentally.
But the individual here was no ordinary character.
She was a colleague of Kieran, the Hero of the Kingdom of Prona.
Nothing good would come from being hasty.
In the end, Lewis couldn't do anything he wanted, and even had to leave with a stain on his honor.
If it was up to this, it would have ended then and there.
"Acts like a slave to Gis and exhibits aloofness at others."
The problem was that his high self-esteem did not allow him to just leave, and the words he sarcastically said were, of course, reactive.
Her sword and shield, which had never stopped since Lewis came, drooped in her pause.
Neria stretched out her arms, hoisting her practice sword and shield slowly, very slowly.
She slowly turned her head to stare at Lewis.
"What did you say..?"
With a freezing cold gaze.
---
The man introduced himself as Lewis and started blabbering.
Judging by his fake laughs and smiles, his purpose was blunt obvious without asking. Having her training interrupted, she was slightly annoyed, but Neria shoved down the irritation and continued training.
"Acts like a slave to Gis and exhibits aloofness at others."
Until the name she didn't want to hear, words she didn't want to face slipped out of his mouth.
Snapping her head at him, she stared at Louis with a chilling gaze.
"What did you say.?"
On the opposite end of her frigid gaze, Lewis was taken aback for a moment. Why did a woman who had been ignoring all of his advances had a sudden change in her attitude? He just spat out incidentally to appease the unpleasant feeling lingering in his chest.
'Hmm? Ah… Come to think of it, that's not far off.'
It was a thoughtless remark, but it must have gotten on the woman's nerves.
Lewis smiled, leering, as he met Neria's cold eyes.
"I said: acts like a slave to Gis and exhibits aloofness to others."
He took special care of enunciating every syllable and spoke loudly. Hopefully, those words would turn this cheeky woman's attitude upside down. It seemed he succeeded when he saw that her already dead cold gaze felt even more menacing.
"…"
Neria took a step forward, closing in the distance between them, her gaze pinned on him.
Lewis snickered.
He seemed to have made her angry…
'What will she even do?'
Just as Lewis couldn't touch Neria, she couldn't touch him either.
He was the eldest son of the Sentry family and one of the main players in this negotiation.
His opinion could capsize their momentum.
If she even harbored any thoughts…
'W-Why? Why doesn't she stop?'
Neria footsteps didn't halt.
Lewis bit his lip, slightly nervous. Maybe he was just trembling because he'd trekked a long distance. But the chilling sensation, which increased each time she got closer, warned him of impending danger.
Even the escort knights felt that energy, that uncanny aura.
The two brought their hands to the sword hilts strapped to their waists.
"Miss Neria, please halt. If you approach any further, we will consider you a threat and take arms."
She trudged another step.
"Miss Neria!"
One of his escort knights shouted high-handedly, but Neria did not pay heed. The moment she took another step, the two escort knights drew their swords without hesitation.
A slash for her left thigh and a stab for her right shoulder.
Neria veered her body to avoid the cuts, then deflected the stab with her sword.
"Ugh?!"
The sword bounced violently to the side, and the knight's posture collapsed.
'What kind of power is this?!'
One of the things swordsmen were most wary of was losing their posture. As a knight, he naturally knew that, and moved with the measured change in the center of gravity in all direction.
But his posture collapsed due to the sword swat that Neria had just swung. It was impossible without a huge difference in power.
While the knight was shocked, Neria swung the shield on her left arm.
"Cheuk..!"
A blow from her shield hammered the full plate armor. The knight reeled while holding on to his stomach, then buckled to his knees.
Taking advantage of that gap, the remaining knight burrowed into Neria's lower left.
Whooop-!
The sword turned blue.
He raised the sword, brimming with sword energy and swung.
He was thinking of amputating the entire arm beyond the shield.
Tung.
the shield blocked the intended sword.
It wasn't even a normal metal shield, it was just a practice shield with some straps of iron encrusted to wood.
"What the hell…"
He wasn't even given the chance to be shocked. Neria let go of her sword and punched him in the face, and he passed out with his morphed helmet on.
"What, what… what are you guys doing?!"
The ones surprised most about the situation was Lewis, not the two knights. Because the two knights, contenders for the rank of Knight Commander in the family, were defeated so easily that it seemed like a show. He couldn't believe the absurdity.
However, unlike his thoughts, by natural law, the result was apt.
The two knights were level 34 and 37 respectively.
On the other hand, Neria's level was 51.
There stood a big difference in the basic physical ability.
In addition, Neria had a record of winning, contending against eight knights at the same time. And not the likes of these bumpkins, but against the elite knights of the royal family. It would be strange for her to struggle against a couple of knights from the fringes of the Kingdom.
Tang-!
The knights dispatched, Neria threw the shield to the floor as well.
She strode toward Lewis, her cold expression intact.
A frightened Lewis backpedaled, but Neria came faster.
She came right in front of his nose, and repeated, just like he had.
"What did you say? Say it again."
A haggard expression and cold eyes loomed over him.