Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Last chance. She had to beat three people in this fight. Leasis sighed, suppressing her nervousness.

Blix stroked the hood of her cape.

“Relax.”

“Thank you.”

Not knowing their bet, Setchen sighed. Some people were risking their lives in this competition, but these two people were like playing in a flower garden.

Setchen, who was staring at them with a disapproving face, closed his eyes and concentrated. Knowing that his current skills were less helpful to them as toenails anyway, he tried the breathing method that Blix had told him.

He wanted to be strong. He vowed to protect Leasis over time. Setchen breathed in lightly and exhaled heavily. Blix grinned as he looked at him. He thought he would have run away crying, but it was pretty good.

The weather was cloudy today. Thin raindrops were wetting her cape. Leasis was a bit bothered by her slightly wet cape hanging around, but only squeezed the water because she could not remove it and reveal herself. The way she twisted the cape was a bit odd, so Blix observed her interestingly.

Not knowing it, Leasis reached out her hand and touched the rain-soaked arena floor. It was more dangerous than usual because she could slip or fall if she made a wrong move. But it was a great opportunity for her to use her skills. She was a woman who could clean while running in and out of the mansion in the rain. Rain was a distraction to the others, but it was a positive factor for her to speed up.

Today their opponents were mercenaries who had made a name for themself in the neighborhood. They frequently used weapons such as chains and sticks. It was unusual information that the participants listened to before coming to the venue. Leasis had to beat the three unconditionally. She bit her lips with impatience.

One opponent was wearing a chain around his hand. On the surface of the chain, there was a cool blue energy. If he knew how to use a blue aura, she had to take him seriously. Leasis closed her eyes tightly and recalled Hizen.

‘The Count-nim… What would the Count-nim have done in this situation?’

[You weren’t a complete fool.]

[What?]

Leasis stopped sweeping and tilted her head. Hizen pointed with his chin at the dust collected on the floor.

Leasis was different from ordinary maids. Most of the maids wasted meaningless time sweeping and cleaning up. On the other hand, Leasis collected all the trash at once and cleaned it up at once. It was a very efficient way. To the point where Hizen admited it.

[You’re pretty good at cleaning.]

It was the first compliment she had heard after becoming his direct maid. So the memory was very important to Leasis.

“At once… all right.’

Leasis pulled out her wooden sword. She threatened her opponents by cracking a bone.

The red flag that marked the beginning was raised. As soon as the signal fell, Leasis slid to the other side. It was a different tactic from Blix who waited for his opponent to come to him.

Leasis’ goal was to overpower her opponents. In no time, she struck one opponent’s neck and began to spin a chain around her hand.

The sound of the chain cutting through the air was threatening. Blix turned his head instead of pointing a sword at his opponent. The chain that a man in a wet black cloak spined in his hand was winding half of the arena. There was a faint blue aura on top of it. The thin chain swelled immensely with blue energy.

The crowd began to go wild. Leasis was the only warrior who always broke predictions. They jumped out of their seats unknowingly. Even the Commanders who were watching from Prince Elnos’ side cheered. How could a talented person with a blue sword use Utran’s blood swordsmanship like that? How could such a talented person have appeared?

Even Hizen could not take his eyes off her. However, it was for the opposite reason of others. If it rained like that and she got wet, she would catch a cold. Her arms and legs revealed in the cape seemed to be thinner than he remembered. He did not know if she was eating properly. She ate a lot more than the guys, so he needed to take care of it properly. Hizen wondered if he had to secretly smuggle food inside.

Max sighed inwardly, alternating between Hizen and the arena. Seeing that he was not surprised at the sight, Hizen already knew it. The fact that Leasis was a monster that could use a blue aura.

Max doubted his eyes. The chains shining blue formed a huge circle and moved as if they were alive. They trapped the three men like preys and threw them out of the arena. It was a clean finish for Leasis.

A blue flag was raised. The Commanders applauded at the signal.

“Well, that’s great!”

“Which family does he belong to? Do you happen to know?”

Everyone looked at the stadium drooling. It was a skill that they had no choice but to covet even if they did not know him. They vowed to draw the fighter into their knights.

In particular, the eyes of Marquis Schwalnon changed. The increasingly unpopular 1st Division of Imperial Knights. Such a talented man was necessary to save his Knights.

But there was a strange scene. The man in the black cape ran to his opponents who had been pushed out of the arena. Then he shouted something to the hosts. He was restless.

Schwalnon opened his mouth. A mysterious light was emitted from the man in the black cloak. To be exact, it was from his fingertips. If so, he could have been a holy knight called by God.

He had to recruit him to his Knights. Schwalnon, with his arms folded, smiled meanly. In his head, there were all kinds of dirty operations to recruit that black cape to his Knights.

Leasis quickly healed her opponents. When the situation cleared up a bit, healers also came to the arena, and nothing she was worried about happened.

Leasis repeatedly apologized to the hosts, saying she was sorry for the mess in the arena. She could not raise her head because she had cut a lot of stones last time.

Hizen kept flinching, looking at Leasis in such condition. He wanted to go and wipe her head with a towel and take off his uniform jacket to give it to her. He was worried that she might really catch a cold because she kept getting rained on like that. He could not figure out what the hosts were doing, or why they were doing that when the game was over and they had to let the participants go back inside.

As Hizen’s expression grew more disgusting, Max tapped him on the shoulder with his elbow. Thanks to that, Hizen’s face returned as expressionless as usual.

*

As soon as he came down from the arena, Blix grabbed Leasis by the shoulder. His sparkling green eyes were directed at her. They were pretty eyes that showed interest and joy transparently.

“How did you come up with that idea?”

“Ah. Blix-nim, can you move back a little bit.”

He was too close. The tip of Blix’s nose seemed to touch her face. Leasis, who became burdened, said, but Blix remained steady.

She was forced to take two steps back. However, the grip of the hand holding the shoulder was beyond imagination and she could not move. It seemed like some magic glue was applied.

She was embarrassed, but Blix smiled. He looked so pure, but she thought he would be a little offended because he lost their bet.

Blix spoke in a voice higher than usual.

“Oh, my God. Hellhard! I didn’t know you’d pull that off!”

Was it a compliment or a curse? The participants who were watching around seriously wondered. Blix rolled his feet on the floor and expressed his joy. Leasis looked down at him and told him to calm down.

He could not calm down. He could not believe she had combined for the first time a blue aura with Utran’s swordmanship. Wasn’t this crazy? He had never seen a warrior with such an outstanding sense in Utran.

Blix admitted that he had lost. It was so pleasant that all the boredom flew away.

“I think you’re a real madman.”

“Thank… thank you.”

Leasis smiled awkwardly, scratching the top of her black cape. She asked carefully.

“Did I win the bet?”

“Of course.”

“Hurray!”

Only then did Leasis enjoyed the victory. She hugged Blix tightly.

“Thank you, Blix-nim!”

Blix hardened. It was strange. He had rolled in the arena, so he had to smell sweat, but he smelled faint flowers. What was it? Blix’s face got a little heated up.

Leasis thanked him and ran to Setchen. She talked about their bet and what she had felt in today’s competition. The two shouted thank you to Blix.

That was strange. Blix put a hand on his left chest while watching them. Something seemed to have cracked in his calm mind. He scratched his head and looked at Hellhard. The red lips revealed through the black cape were wide open, and the white teeth were neat.

Blix did not want to see it, but he did. It was an unexpected feeling. Embarrassed, he covered his cheeks with both hands. They were hot as if they had been burned by fire.

“What… why am I… what’s wrong with me?’

He did not even take poison. Blix kept muttering.

Before he knew it, Leasis, who had taught Setchen a simple move, approached him. Blix’s face was red and his breathing was a little rough. She bent slightly.

“Blix-nim, are you sick?”

“…No.”

It seemed like a lie. Leasis blinked her red eyes anxiously. Blix slightly lowered his eyes. Somehow he felt ashamed to make eye contact with her.

It was his first time experiencing it. Blix had always been confident. When he defeated the Crown Prince and mastered the blood swordmanship, when he was laughed at by the nobles after his mother’s death, he was confident even when facing death, almost killed by an assassin. So he could not understand even more.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Blix nodded silently. Leasis put her hand on his forehead with anxiety. She wanted to use some healing magic.

At that time, Leasis raised her head up. She heard the cry of a wild beast growling in anger in her ears.

She ran to the entrance in a fright. In the wind, Blix followed her.

“Hellhard-ssi?”

“Wait a minute!”

She put her ear to the iron door. What is he hearing? Blix followed along and listened to the iron door. But there was nothing but the sound of the calm wind.

Blix folded his arms. Leasis focused her ears on the door with her eyes tightly closed. One, two, three… There were more than five of them.

“Something’s coming.”

Blix focused on his ears again. However, there was still no sound. He could not feel anyone’s footsteps. He had better hearing than an average person, so he thought she was playing around.

He heard Leasis grumbling as he focused his ears close to the iron door.

[What are we doing because of the master? I’m so lazy.]

[Anyway, humans…]

[But why is this human so strong? Stronger than the master!]

It felt strange. It sounded like a human language, like listening to someone else’s words. Leasis’ breathing trembled.