When they realized Henry was there, the children took a break from training as they rushed up to him, this ti without being struck from behind.
“Let introduce them. This is the oldest of the bunch Ryan, and our younger brother Fabian. And this is the older sister Cinthia and the younger Rosemary.”
Henry plopped his hand down on the heads of the children as he introduced each one of them, who reacted either by standing proud or looking embarrassed when it was their turn. And out of all of them, Ryan’s reaction was the strongest.
His face was reddening, almost like he had forgotten how to breathe as he tried to stand tall and confident. That was the mont when that boy who aspired to be a knight fell in love for the first ti.
“So bro- Henry, who…who is she?”
Ryan’s voice quivered with nervousness as he asked that, and Henry replied with a quick nod before introducing Mira to them.
“She is Mira, an experienced adventurer according to Lady Esralda. And she was looking for ii, so I brought her to visit. Please treat her with respect.”
Hearing that, the children’s reactions visibly changed. For a mont, they looked at her with far more serious and reverent eyes, but a mont later that was completely overshadowed by infantile curiosity again.
“An adventurer? That’s so cool!”
“Are you strong? What Rank do you have?!”
No matter in what country or in what city, adventurers were always popular. There was sothing about their brazenly straightforward and unique way of life that especially made children adore them. It did not matter if they were children of a family of knights, they still were just as impressed by adventurers.
But Ryan’s mind was clouded by a mix of emotions, as he held both admiration and a budding love. There was nothing more painful than realizing the girl of one’s dreams was standing far out of reach for him.
“Ohh, you want to know?”
Mira basked in the admiration and curiosity of the children, standing arrogantly before replying, already dreaming of the reaction they would give once she told them she had reached Rank A already.
But soone would interrupt her before that would happen.
“You, I already know who you actually are.”
ilin, who had been silently staring at Mira the whole ti, suddenly raised her voice declaring that.
The worst possibility flashed in Mira’s mind.
Being so well-versed in martial arts, ilin had the special ability of detecting even the most minuscule movents on others, allowing her to identify people by their mannerisms or footsteps. Now Mira was dreading the possibility that ilin had noticed so inconspicuous habit of hers that would tie her to Danbulf, and was about to announce it to everyone present.
“Wait, stop, don’t—!”
Since ilin likely did not know anything yet, she would likely not hesitate to reveal the truth, pushing Mira to attempt to silence her. But that was of no use, as ilin’s confident voice was far louder.
“You are definitely the Spirit Queen!”
After ilin’s announcent, the children quickly beca riled up. Mira was not just an experienced adventurer, but one so renowned she had her own nickna.
ilin had the strange ability to quickly learn about powerful people, so she was also quite familiar with the Spirit Queen. And now that she had revealed that, the children were even more excited.
(Oh, she went there.)
In contrast to that, Mira had never felt more relieved. While ilin had ruined her big reveal for the children, she had managed to keep her true identity secret.
Even ilin’s discerning eye was not able to see through Mira’s current appearance, and would not notice that unless Mira moved around a bit more.
“Humm… So you’ve seen through my disguise. But yes, you’re correct, I’m none other than the Spirit Queen!”
Mira puffed her chest in an exaggerated manner, seeing how excited the children were and ilin’s high expectations that her guess was correct. As soon as she did that, the children’s faces lit up with joy.
“Woahh, that’s incredible!”
“She’s a queen!”
There was a mix of surprise and admiration in their eyes, which also pleased Mira as she smiled back saying, “Mhm, I’m so amazing.”
But there was soone there who was smiling even more intensely than the children and Mira…it was ilin.
“Yes, just like I thought! We were dood to et like this!”
Those were the words that ca out of ilin’s mouth, even though she seed overjoyed. But Mira just let out a sigh while shaking her head, not even questioning whether she had done sothing for ilin to have a bad opinion of her.
“I don’t think that ans what you think it does…”
This was sothing that frequently happened with ilin, which brought back a lot of mories to Mira as she pointed that out. ilin tilted her head in confusion for a mont, before asking, “Oh right, then you ca just like a moth flying to the fire?”
“That’s not quite it either.”
Mira chuckled awkwardly hearing that, and ilin frowned as she tried to think about it more. That only lasted for a few seconds before she gave up and just said, “Well, who cares!” before rushing up to Mira and adding, “Please fight !”
(Obviously it ca to this.)
That was sothing she had already anticipated.
ilin was constantly on the move, wandering through the continent in search of stronger rivals, so it was natural for her to also see an adventurer that was growing in popularity as soone she wanted to fight. Especially soone who ca out of nowhere like the Spirit Queen.
(Either way, I should focus on my mission first.)
Mira had been looking for ilin with a specific goal in mind. To aid her in concealing her identity as one of the Nine Wisen before she participated in the tournant.
If they began fighting here, it would lead to a violent brawl between two Wisen. That would beco an explosive event that would stand out a lot, and if they stood out, the chances of people recognizing them would increase, especially before Mira could give ilin her disguise.
“Very well, I’ll take you up on that!”
But before Mira realized, those words escaped her mouth.
That was because there was no better candidate than ilin to test out everything she had theorized during her experints before, as she was essentially on the sa level as Mira.
There was also the reaction she noticed in the children when ilin made the request. It was clear they were excited to see who was stronger, their teacher ii or the Spirit Queen.
If she declined the match, it would look like a summoner was weak and running away, and Mira would never allow that to happen.
“Yes! Thank you thank you!”
ilin jumped in happiness, and then quickly got ready, taking a wide stance with one hand high and the other low, ready to counter any attack, and said, “Summon all you want.”
But Mira shook her head.
“You don’t have to be considerate. A true summoner can adapt to any situation in battle.”
Being able to summon anything she wanted beforehand would give her too much of an advantage in a one versus one match, so Mira declared there was no need for such a handicap, and instead grinned as she said, “Or rather, you’ll have to act soon if you don’t want to get crushed.”
Mira was very familiar with ilin’s fighting style. She loved to fight, so she was always on the offensive. The only ti she would take a defensive stance was to gauge her opponent’s strength at the start of a fight, so she could limit her own strength to match it. That was her favorite way of fighting new opponents and improving her own skills.
That was why Mira also readied herself and warned her. If Mira got a headstart, she would defeat ilin in an instant.
“Ah, I think you’re right.”
Seeing Mira’s stance, and more importantly, the resolute aura around her, ilin understood that Mira was different from all the previous opponents she had encountered. That made her smile as she lowered her body to increase the amount of explosive speed she could unleash, which she was so adept at.
“You give the signal.”
ilin said that, as she and Mira both looked at Henry. He instantly knew what they wanted from him, as he was also a trained fighter, and walked over to stand just in the middle between Mira and ilin.
“Ready… Fight!”
Henry raised his hand, and the instant he swung it down, Mira and ilin’s intense fight began.
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