Scanning her top to bottom, Felix asked, "Veronica, are you feeling well?"
Veronica grinned. "You bet. I woke up and heard I won. What can be the most entertaining news after waking up?"
"I guess you are right." Darius ca forward. "I an you are not a puny kid anymore. You are a warrior now. People are looking for you all over to recruit you. How can you not feel well?"
Veronica giggled at his teasing, not a bit offended. "I'm so famous. I don't know what to do anymore."
Darius suggested, "Just go to the street and announce, 'I'm the famous lady archer' and then start giving autographs to everyone."
"Is that a thing nowadays?" Veronica was surprised.
Felix shook his head. "No, he is joking. Don't listen to him. I'm glad you are on two feet. We were worried about you. We were giving you a hard ti, didn't we?"
"Don't say that. if I didn't want to do it, you could never force . I still owe you all an apology. You all worked so hard for but I ended up running away. I'm such a coward. I'm sorry," saying that Veronica bowed.
"Don't bother," Ironin curtly replied.
"He is right, Veronica. Why are you bothered with it? You already won one competition. There is always next year," Darius comforted her.
"I don't think even next year I will have the guts." Veronica rubbed her palms uncomfortably. "I saw those swordsn. They are just too strong."
Darius waved his hand. "You didn't even see them fighting. All right. Don't think about swordplay anymore. Just take a week's break. After that, ask Ovior to take you to the barracks of the imperial palace. Imperial soldiers practice martial arts and sword fighting there."
"What will I gain from watching them fight?" Veronica inquired.
Darius grinned. "You will find out how weak they are."
"Imperial soldiers are weak!?" Veronica exclaid. "You want to believe that?"
Darius replied, "You don't understand how powerful you have beco. You just kicked the asses of those young archers who were supposed to be the best.
"Since you don't have faith in yourself, you can just use your eyes to see and use your brain to judge."
Veronica gave up talking logic with him. "Fine, I will do that but I cannot guarantee that it will boost my confidence. You see, I never won against anyone."
"Hey, hey, you won against and Roxana. I even got injured…" Darius tried to show his wounded mark but it had disappeared a long ti ago. After all, Veronica was an excellent healer.
Ironin strode forward and stood in front of Veronica. His purple eyes stared at her.
Veronica found his action rather odd. "…Is there sothing you want to say to ?"
"Your master… the one who taught you archery… who is it?" Ironin flatly asked.
"That was a living being," Veronica was quick to reply. "It wasn't a dead human or a dead dragon, believe ."
"I want to know that person's identity," Ironin stated with a poker face.
"I cannot do that," Veronica replied. 'Ironin is a straightforward person. I can only answer him the way he likes it.'
Ironin's eyebrows slightly creased. "Why not?" He refused to back down.
"That's because my master doesn't want others to know. I swore to keep it a secret," Veronica flatly lied.
"Paynt." All of a sudden, Ironin changed the topic of the conversation.
Not understanding what he ant, Veronica blinked. "Paynt? What paynt?"
"For teaching your swordsmanship."
Veronica's jaw dropped. "You want to give you my master's identity as a paynt for teaching swordplay?"
Ironin nodded quietly.
'Sotis, I wish I was a dumb woman,' Veronica lanted inwardly.
She forced a smile and then suggested, "How about I give you the sa amount of money Roxana gets for training ?"
"Ooo… nice paynt. I would love that," Darius grinned.
Veronica didn't bother to reply to him.
In return for her suggestion, Ironin stayed expressionless. "Your master's identity."
Veronica let out a deep sigh. "Ironin, aren't you a good friend of my husband? Aren't you a good teacher of mine? Why do you have to be so difficult? I already promised my master. I can't tell you my master's identity."
Darius put his elbow on Veronica's shoulder and said, "Yeah, we can see that. You are trying so hard to cover that person's gender. I'm not sure how else one can hide one's identity like that. So, Veronica, why don't you tell us who that person is?
"Just look at you. You were gone for a few months. It's not like you were gone for years or sothing.
"You have done a trendously great job. Bending your back and then shooting with the little bit of ti you had left. Who could do that?
"I've never seen anyone doing sothing so amazing except for Ironin. You are almost as good as him. That's why we are all curious to find out who your master is. I'm sure Arthur wants to know as well."
After talking so long, he suddenly lowered his voice, "You don't know. When you were playing in the field, Arthur's expression was cold. He looked like he was going to kill anyone. I'm sure he was wondering how much you worked hard to be this good in archery."
"Work hard?" Veronica let out a dry laugh. "You have no idea. It didn't matter what kind of weather or situation I was in. I had to practice every single day. It's great that my hard work paid off."
"Hard work, practice and persistence always pay off. Now tell who is your master," Darius pressed.
"I'm not telling." Veronica was also stubborn. "I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry, Ironin. But I can't tell you. Don't tell to beco soone I'm not for your personal curiosity. I can't even tell Arthur about this."
"Why won't you tell him? Won't he get mad if you do this?" Felix beca curious.
"It's not like he doesn't have secrets. He has many secrets and I'm not prying them out. Then what gives him the right to be mad at ?" Veronica shrugged.
Darius and Felix exchanged glances.
"Just inform before the tower shatters into pieces. I need to run away with my life," Darius told her.
"Why do you think Arthur will get mad? Even if he becos upset, he won't hurt anyone, trust ," Veronica tried to ease his worry.
"Phht! You are telling that he won't hurt anyone because he will be just upset?" Darius found her logic ridiculous. "He will slaughter people if he gets a bit upset. Forget about being furious."
Ironin and Felix nodded in reply.
"We have known him for a long ti now. It's easy to predict his actions. Although he changed a lot after eting you, a leopard doesn't change its spot. Rember this," Felix advised her.
"Fine, I'll rember it and inform you in advance so that you people all can run away. I'm heading downstairs. I want to greet Arthur as soon as he cos back."
"Go to your bedroom rather than going downstairs," Felix instructed her. "He teleported to the palace. He will co back using teleportation."
"Then, I'll go downstairs and walk in the garden before going back. I want to stretch my limbs a bit. See you later. And Ironin, I'll pay you money. Sorry that I can't give you what you want."
Afterward, she slipped away from the room.
'Huff! I can't believe they would gather around to find out about Urulas and his people. It's been a long ti since I t them. I should ask Arthur to give my reward money.'
'With that money, I will buy a house for myself in the capital. I'll keep one room for myself and leave the rest to Urulas and his soldiers. At least they will have a good place to live. They deserve it.'
Veronica went to the garden and walked around. The flowers were blooming and spreading sweet slls. It was a pleasant atmosphere.
'I can't rember the last ti I ca to the garden to enjoy the view. Just how busy was I? I should spend more ti here. The weather will be warm soon. I can bring so books and read them here. I can hold a small picnic for myself.'
Veronica was planning for her recreation when sothing huge crashed on her behind.
"Eek!" Veronica stumbled and nearly fell facing the ground when an arm circled around her back. Soon, she was enveloped with warmth and a tight hug.
"Nica…" Arthur's voice shook as he called out her na. "When did you wake up?"
"Arthur!" Veronica's face bead. She turned around and circled her arms around his back. She placed her head on his chest and responded with a smile, "I woke up three hours ago. Are you done with the eting? I heard you went to the imperial palace."
"It was an annoying eting. It's no fun talking to bugs.. I was worried about you and ca back. Why are you walking here alone? Where are the others?"
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