In the small garden inside the fortress, Meila and Arturia talked to each other, having not seen each other for quite some time.
Meanwhile, Val sat on a bench not far from them.
“So you’re stationed here as well?” Meila asked.
“That’s right.
I wanted to see for myself whether the cause of the Blight invasion in this region was a Nullifer.” “Even so, isn’t it rather risky to move directly into a danger zone?” “I was worried about the villagers living near the danger zone.
My fears came true when a group of Blight suddenly attacked the village while I was evacuating them.
We suffered many casualties.” Arturia remembered the soldiers under her command who had died.
Meila patted Arturia on the shoulder twice.
“You did well.” Arturia simply responded with a smile.
“So, when did the two of you meet?” Meila looked toward Val.
“Why are we going back to this topic?” Arturia sighed.
“I’m just curious about him.
His face doesn’t look like someone from the kingdom.” “I first met him while evacuating the villagers.
Other than his name, I don’t know anything else about him.” “Then I’ll ask him directly.” Meila sat beside Val, and Val merely glanced at her with his dead-looking eyes.
“Valerius, right?
I’d like to know where you’re from.
You don’t look like you’re from this kingdom.” “I come from a distant land.” Val had no intention of revealing where he truly came from.
Meila could tell that Val didn’t want to tell her where he was from.
“I see.
Then how did you end up here?” “An incident.” Val was telling the truth.
“An incident?
So you came to this kingdom by accident?” “Yes.” “I see.” Meila nodded, but in her mind, she had already labeled Val as suspicious and assumed that what he was saying was a lie—even though Val was telling the truth.
Suddenly, Meila grabbed Val’s arm, causing Arturia to panic.
Val was surprised as well, but he showed no expression.
He simply wondered what Meila was doing.
Meila felt along Val’s arm, examining his muscles that had been trained extensively.
“Meila!
What are you doing?!” “Relax.
I’m not going to steal him from you.” “That’s not what I meant!” Meila looked at Val’s face and leaned closer until only a few inches separated them.
“Val, fight me,” she said with a smile.
“…Excuse me?” Val was confused as to why Meila had suddenly challenged him to a fight.
“I’m just curious about how strong you are.
I also want to make sure you’re worthy of accompanying Arturia.
Don’t worry, it’s only training.” Arturia let out a long sigh.
“Why did it turn into this?” “Do I have a choice?” Val asked, hoping there was a way out.
“Unfortunately, you don’t.” Meila tightened her grip on Val’s arm and pulled him toward the training grounds.
“Come on.” “Wait!” Arturia followed them from behind.
On an open training field, Meila stood while holding a wooden sword.
On the other side, Val also stood with a wooden sword in his hand.
Val had never crossed swords with another person before, even in training.
The situation had also arisen so suddenly that he had no time to prepare himself.
He hadn’t even managed to mentally prepare.
Val didn’t know what to do and wanted to get out of the situation.
He looked toward Arturia, hoping she would help him.
Arturia looked back at him, and their eyes met.
Arturia remembered what had happened earlier and immediately turned her face away, blushing.
‘Why?!
Did I do something wrong?!’ Val didn’t understand.
“Get ready and grit your teeth!” Meila warned him.
Val had no other choice.
He assumed a defensive stance and prepared himself to receive Meila’s attack.
Meila shot straight toward Val.
Her first strike came at him, but Val managed to evade it.
Her second strike followed, and Val successfully blocked it.
His arm was knocked aside, but he quickly returned to his defensive stance.
“Not bad!” Val counterattacked, but Meila blocked it.
Val attacked her repeatedly, but every strike was stopped.
Although Meila could block Val’s attacks, she could feel his strength pushing her back slightly with every blow.
Val attacked again, but this time Meila deflected his strike.
Val lost his balance and nearly fell, and Meila didn’t waste the opportunity.
She immediately attacked Val, but fortunately, her strike only narrowly missed his temple, allowing him to regain his balance.
“You’re strong, but your weakness is your technique.
You just attack without thinking.” Meila gave her assessment of Val’s fighting style.
“Technique, huh?” Val understood what Meila meant.
He had no technique whatsoever, but he could potentially defeat Meila.
It would simply be difficult.
He would have to watch and predict the direction of her attacks, counter them, and strike back whenever Meila left herself vulnerable during an attack.
‘But do I really have to defeat her?
It would be better to just lose and get this over with.’ Val didn’t want to fight Meila any longer, but this was also an opportunity to see how far his physical training alone had taken him during his time in prison.
On the other side, Arturia was worried that the training might become too excessive.
She was concerned that her friend might go too far when facing Val.
She knew what Meila was like.
Meila looked like an ordinary woman with a hobby of tending plants and reading romantic stories.
She smiled frequently, making her seem like an ordinary girl.
But she was still a division captain, a position that was not given to just anyone.
Arturia knew what Meila was like on the battlefield.
She also knew how Meila behaved whenever she encountered an opponent who caught her interest—even if that opponent was stronger than her.
Arturia described Meila as a devil in sheep’s clothing.
And she wasn’t exaggerating.
“Do you want to end this?” Meila asked.
Val raised his wooden sword toward Meila, looking completely prepared to face her.
Meanwhile, Meila initially regarded Val as a strong man who could do little more than swing a sword.
But after seeing how Val could actually push her back, Meila changed her assessment.
Val wasn’t merely strong.
He had potential.
After changing her opinion of Val, Meila suddenly realized that there was something strange about him.
Her body seemed to scream at her in fear whenever she looked at Val.
She didn’t know why.
And as Val prepared himself, an intensely unpleasant aura seemed to envelop her.
Only she could feel it.
Arturia looked completely normal.
Whether it was because Meila was facing Val directly or because Val was focusing solely on her, Meila didn’t really care.
“You’re really ready, aren’t you?” Meila asked once more.
“Yeah.” “Then…” Meila’s ordinary smile suddenly changed into a terrifying grin.
Her mouth curved into a crescent moon, her eyes widened, and her pupils shrank.
Although she felt afraid, she forced her body into a fully committed combat state.
“I’M COMING!” Whoosh.
Meila shot toward Val at incredible speed, aiming for his neck.
Val never expected a movement that fast, something straight out of a comic book, to happen right in front of him.
He tried to block Meila’s attack and succeeded.
The two wooden swords clashed against each other before shattering simultaneously.
But the exchange didn’t end there.
Meila threw a left punch, which Val managed to catch with one hand.
However, it was a feint.
Meila’s right hand shot upward from below and struck Val directly in the solar plexus.
Val gritted his teeth from the pain and tried to endure it.
He retaliated with a powerful punch that struck Meila directly in the face.
Meila was knocked backward, blood flowing from her nose, but her terrifying smile didn’t disappear.
“Good!
A good old brawl really is the best!” Meila wiped the blood from her nose.
Val held his aching stomach but immediately returned to his defensive stance.
Meila understood that Val was already prepared for another attack.
“I see!
Good!
I like that!” Meila was about to attack again, but in the middle of the fight, a fireball suddenly exploded between her and Val, forcing the battle to stop.
“Stop this fight!” Sera stood beside Arturia.
“Who are you?” Meila asked.
“I’m Sera Lotusiana.
Stop this fight right now!” “My name is Meila, captain of Division 12.
Why are you stopping our training?” “Training?
I thought this looked more like a fight to the death.
No—forget it.
I need to speak with the man named Val over there.” Val heard that and looked toward Meila.
Meila stared at Val for a moment before deciding to end the training session.
“Let’s call it a day.
Thank you for training with me.” “I’m grateful as well.
This helped me understand my limits.” “I see.
That’s good.” Meila and Val ended their training and approached Sera and Arturia.
“What is it, Sera?” Val asked.
“I want to talk to you and Marc about our journey to the capital.
Let’s find Marc and discuss it.” “All right.” After Sera and Val left, Arturia and Meila watched them walk away.
“You have a rival,” Meila whispered to Arturia.
“Stop it.
Don’t drag me into your romantic fantasies.” Arturia sounded slightly exasperated.
“Come on.
Don’t you think he’s interesting?” Arturia didn’t answer Meila and simply walked away, leaving her behind.