In the midst of all that darkness, Aiz could only watch, speechless, as her father walked away.
Armor shrouded in a thin black scarf. A long silver sword.
Her father held that gleaming silver blade in his hand as he faced the writhing shadow.
Father!
She ran after him, desperately calling out to him, but he didn’t turn around.
He grew farther and farther away, and her mouth twisted downward in an ugly frown. Just as she turned around to call for help—everyone had vanished without a trace.
In their place were weapons. A multitude of them.
Swords, spears, axes, staffs, shields.
They protruded from the ground like gravestones, forming a circle around her.
Aiz found herself lacking words, captivated by her surroundings. There was no one in sight, not even her father. Everything was consumed by the endless darkness.
Encircled by the meaningless, broken weapons, she called out their names again and again. Her father, her mother, everyone she knew.
And then came a powerful wind.
As it tousled and whipped her golden hair, she turned around to see her on the far side of her field of vision.
With the same long golden hair flowing down her back—her mother.
Her back was to Aiz as she confronted something writhing in the midst of the darkness.
Before Aiz’s call could reach her, the shadow flared its gills.
A swarm of new shadows sprang forth, entangling her mother, arms outstretched, swallowing her whole.
Tears flooded Aiz’s golden eyes.
She screamed, and suddenly, in front of her appeared a single sword protruding from the ground.
It was identical to her father’s, a silver sword covered with cracks.
Aiz pulled that decrepit weapon from the ground and gave chase.
—Wait for me!
She was no longer a young girl. She was the Sword Princess. And she raced forward, cutting her way through the darkness.
—I said WAIT!!
Again she yelled at the silhouette of her mother as it melted into the darkness.
I’ll make it there.
I’ll come for you.
And I’ll definitely bring you back, I swear.
She vowed to the figure already swallowed by that black vortex.
Then she swore to herself. To the young girl left behind, tightly gripping her sword.
And then.
A brilliant wave of white light slammed down on top of her, obscuring her vision.
“…”
Her golden eyes cracked open silently.
She blinked a few times to fight off the residual unease of the dream.
There weren’t any tears.
But her vision was slightly blurred.
Still on her side, she gave her eyes a stealthy wipe of her arm.
“…?”
She was getting her bearings and returning to consciousness when she heard something.
A series of soft, sleeping breaths that belonged to someone else.
She glanced to her side and found the boy splayed out on his back, eyes shut tight.
Bathed in warm sunlight, he was fast asleep without a care in the world, tiny snores whistling past his lips.
Blinking several more times, Aiz felt a smile coming on.
They were unusually far away from each other, weren’t they? Finding it rather curious, Aiz slowly slid herself closer to Bell’s side.
And then they lay there, the two of them, side by side on the stone floor.
The boy’s sleeping face was even more cherubic than when he was awake.
Aiz reached her hand out gently, as though tenderly handling some precious treasure.
Her fingers touched his cheeks. They were so warm.
The heat passed from his skin to the tips of her fingers.
His lips parted at the pressure. “Forgive me, Grandfather…” he murmured, as though he were having a dream of his own.
Aiz smiled.
The way she’d done so long ago, when she was carefree and young.
His white hair contrasted so distinctly with the terrifying black shadow of her dream, and she let her fingers run through his bright locks again and again, her eyes crinkling.
As unnerving as her dream had been, her heart was already calm.
She had a white rabbit to lead her tiny self out of wonderland.
That time of tenderness she was supposed to have lost so long ago wrapped around her now like a comforting blanket beneath the gaze of the blue sky.
It was nearing sunset.
The streets of Orario were stained a pinkish red as the sun began its descent toward the distant horizon.
Set against that vibrant sun, a fierce duel was taking place atop the city walls.
The boy and girl came close, then separated, over and over again.
Night had almost fallen.
A pair of eyes watched their match from far above, perched at the city’s highest pinnacle that stood nearest to the stars.
“While I can’t say I’m displeased that she’s drawing out that child’s radiance…” The image of the golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman was reflected in silver eyes with every scabbard strike. “…This intimacy they’ve formed worries me.”
There was a twinge of jealousy in her voice as she clenched a fist by her side.
“Especially if it should end up interfering in his trial.” Her silver eyes narrowed. “Allen,” a high, soprano voice ordered the petite man from up ahead.
“Yes?”
“A bit of roughhousing never hurt anyone. Give her a warning.”
“Understood.” The man replied courteously, his cat ears and tail twitching.
Something feels off, Aiz thought between strikes, bathed in the light of the setting sun.
“Bell. You’ve really taken a beating this last hour. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m…I’m fine! Really!”
Their arduous training atop the city walls had acquired an audience in the form of a young goddess.
A few hours ago, after their so-called “nap training” had ended, the two of them had decided to head down into the city for a bit to shore themselves up with a meal.
It was when they stopped to purchase Jyaga Maru Kun, Aiz’s favorite food, that they ran into none other than the goddess of Bell’s familia, Hestia.
The young goddess was working at the stand when the two had waltzed up, unassumingly, to buy themselves a few of the meaty potato snacks. Needless to say, they’d nearly gotten their heads bitten off once Hestia’s rage had been ignited. While the reaction was to be expected—seeing her own child hanging out with a member of another faction they weren’t even close to was enough to make anyone fly off the handle—something about the adverse reaction hinted at a residual grudge on the part of the goddess.
At any rate, after a bit of explaining from Aiz and a bit of desperate persuading from Bell, Hestia had finally, reluctantly, agreed to let them continue their training.
There was one caveat: “You have to let me sit in on today’s training session!”
Which was why the young goddess (and Bell’s new guardian, so to speak) had accompanied them to the top of the city walls. She needed to make sure nothing happened to her adorable little follower, after all!
The goddess Hestia…What was it Loki always called her?
Aiz threw a quick glance at Hestia in the far corner between her bouts with Bell.
The young goddess boasted delicate features that toed the line between adolescent and young lady. Possessing twin pigtails done up with blue blows that matched the color of her eyes, she sported a surprisingly ample chest despite her petite stature.
“Hey! Watch what you’re looking at!” The girl raised her hands in objection to Aiz’s wandering gaze, her breasts swaying with the movement.
The sight of all that bouncing finally reminded her what Loki’s epithet was: “That busty Jyaga Maru
midget tramp.” Now she had a pretty good idea why Loki and Hestia had never really gotten along.
All the more reason why Aiz couldn’t tell Loki and the rest of her familia about her training sessions with Bell.
“Nnguh!”
“You’re sure you’re all right?”
“P-perfectly fine!” Bell responded, recovering immediately from a particularly damaging blow from Aiz.
He was being even more stubborn than usual, as though he were especially motivated.
As proof, he’d yet to lose consciousness even once since Hestia had joined them atop the wall.
Like he was determined not to lose face in front of her.
“You can do it!” came Hestia’s cheers of support as he received hit after hit from Aiz.
As much as the corners of Aiz’s lips wanted to creep upward, she held them still—nothing but a humorless solemnity graced her features as she swung her scabbard in relentless onslaughts.
The sheer determination behind his every strike and block, his every desperate flail of his dagger only spurred them on faster and faster.
The high-pitched clangs of their colliding weapons echoed out into the sky above.
Time drifted like the clouds in the evening sky, forgotten, and before long, the dark blue of twilight had overtaken them.
“…Shall we end on that note, then?”
“Ah, sure. Thank you for…for everything.”
Aiz lowered her scabbard, looking up at the moon overhead, and Bell felt his strength leave him.
His body was peppered with bruises, but she had to hand it to him—he’d remained conscious the entire time. Even now, he continued to fight off what must have been an overwhelming urge to collapse. Aiz narrowed her eyes as she gauged his current state and then began packing up her things to head in for the night.
“Good work today, Bell! Feels good getting the stuffing kicked out of you now and then, doesn’t it?”
“L-Lady Hestia, I-I was really trying my best out there!”
“So many hits and not a single drop of blood or tears! Miss Wallen-whatever-her-name-is doesn’t think much of you, nope! She doesn’t, she doesn’t!” Hestia rushed to Bell’s side, a giant grin on her face as she violently pounded him on the back.
At the same time, Aiz calmly slid Desperate back into its scabbard. She could still remember the violent reactions whenever Hestia had seen her strike her follower in the past.
—“Just what do you think you’re doing?!”
—“Keep your hands off my Bell!”
Strangely, though, she’d been remarkably calm and composed during this most recent training session.
In fact, she seemed almost elated at Bell’s battered, bedraggled state—or perhaps at Aiz for doing the battering and bedraggling.
Giving the young goddess a curious cock of her head, Aiz turned her gaze away from the parapets to take in the city below.
It had grown considerably late by this point. The streets were filled with the dazzling glow of magic-stone lamps and the bustle of adventurers returning from the Dungeon.
Time had gotten away from Aiz. She’d been training since the morning, after all, and though she’d already told Tiona and the others she probably wouldn’t be back for dinner, she had a feeling there’d be a few scolding remarks from Riveria’s general direction.
Quickly gathering up her things, she vacated the premises with Bell, still wounded by Hestia’s comments, in tow.
They took the stone stairs down to the city proper.
After countless steps, they ducked under a door at the base of the wall and emerged into a back alley at the edge of the city’s northwestern district.
“U-um, Lady Hestia? We’re outside now, so could you…maybe…let go of my hand?”
“Are you crazy, Bell? Look how dark it is here! You need to hold my hand tight to make sure I don’t trip or anything!”
The three of them made their way through the streets beneath the darkness of the twilit sky, Bell and Hestia’s lively exchange in sharp contrast to Aiz’s still calm.
—Then her ears perked up as her intuition as an adventurer alerted her to something.
“…”
She became still, eyes shifting back and forth to examine her surroundings as Bell and Hestia carried on their horseplay beside her.
It was a fairly wide road, deserted aside from herself and the others.
Put another way, it was too quiet.
The complete lack of even a single other person was almost abnormal. Everything was submerged in the murk of nightfall, the stars and moon above providing the only light. Not even the surrounding buildings offered any illumination from magic stones.
A stealthy glance to a side of the road revealed a fancy magic-stone lamp pole that appeared as though it’d been smashed with some sort of blunt weapon.
—We’re being watched.
A back alleyway devoid of life, purposefully blanketed in darkness.
Aiz’s delicate brows slanted sharply. She could feel someone watching them.
Next to her, Bell sucked in his breath, his embarrassment from Hestia’s grip on his hand cut short the moment he noticed Aiz’s face. Not wasting a moment, he looked around to investigate their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Aiz came to a stop, staring long and hard at a corner at the side of the road.
“—”
“—ngh!”
“Whoa!”
Bell immediately froze as well, prompting a surprised gasp from Hestia, still unaware of the situation.
Aiz watched the path before them.
She peered into the shadows permeating each and every narrow crack between the countless dwellings lining the wide road.
She pierced the darkness with her glare: Come out, now.
And it did. At length, the one who had been observing them emerged from the shadows.
A catman…
Clad in black armor, black linens, and a black visor, he seemed to melt into the darkness itself.
He was male—that much she could tell—and slightly shorter than Bell, but the metallic visor covering his upper face made it impossible to discern his identity.
The light of the moon illuminated the black and gray fur of his feline ears and tail.
From his right hand protruded a silver spear that was at least two meders long.
He radiated bloodlust, like a cat unable to stop itself from killing a mouse despite its owner’s scolding, and Aiz felt herself instinctively revert to Sword Princess mode.
“”
There was a thud as he kicked off from the stone. He was by Bell in an instant.
Time seemed to stop. The appearance of the shadow in front of him was so sudden, Bell didn’t have a chance to respond.
The catman’s spear came at him in a flash—but so did Aiz’s already unsheathed sword, Desperate, blocking the strike with lightning speed.
“—Gnngh!”
“?!”
The spear was knocked away.
The Sword Princess would not be ignored. The silver flash that was her sword struck again at his spear, now raised in self-defense. Sparks went flying as she drove him away from Bell.
The young catman flew backward, and Aiz took a silent step in front of Bell, who was still in shock.
Her golden eyes were steely as she stared at him, an enemy who’d cleared out this stretch of alley to lie in wait for them.
He showed no signs of answering for his actions now.
Their eyes locked.
Then they simultaneously leaped forward.
“H-hey, hey, hey!!”
But the fierce duel had already begun.
By the time Hestia had recovered enough from her gaping astonishment to let out a yelp, Aiz and the catman were entangled in a furious whirlwind of blows.
Racing forward, pulling back, leading then countering, give and take, back and forth, again, again, again. The two upper-class adventurers collided in a ceaseless rhythm, oblivious to the lower-class b
oy and powerless goddess rooted to their spots on the sidelines.
Their speed increased even further, as did the rhythm of their alternating strikes.
—Who is this guy?!
Aiz’s eyes narrowed. Physical skills on par with her Level 6 abilities? Mastery of the spear that could easily rival her swordplay?
It was at that moment that she felt it. A presence from far above.
Four small shadows emerged atop the three-story building overlooking their duel.
He had friends after all, huh? Even in the midst of her fight she could sense them, and she expanded her field of awareness.
Then the four of them dropped in without a moment’s delay.
Sword, hammer, shield, and ax all fell upon the battlefield.
“—Miss Aiz!” Bell cried out from the sidelines once he noticed the surprise attack, but Aiz would not be daunted. She would show them she was every bit the War Princess that so many adventurers feared.
With an attack that broke the sound barrier, she fended off her feline opponent before using the momentum to propel her sword upward for a sudden second strike.
She then turned toward the four incoming weapons, her entire body a bow and her sword the arrow, taut and trembling with the full force of her might. She released.
“!!”
A flash. Her sword drew a brilliant crescent in the sky overhead.
It carved through space with such speed it left a silver afterimage in the air, repelling four attacks at once.
There was a metallic clash as their arms flew back. The four attackers landed on the ground, fear and dismay coloring their features.
Aiz’s golden hair still billowed from the movement. Behind her, the catman hissed.
“Tch…Monster.”
The golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman’s technique and strategy were even more impressive than her nominal Status.
Even Bell trembled at her display of sword prowess. The incredible number of battlefields she’d crossed in her lifetime was readily apparent.
The additional attackers, who had approached from opposite the catman, finally came into view beneath the moonlight—four prums, all clad in the same black armor and visors as their feline companion.
Aiz squinted at the residual tingle in her fingers, left over from the earlier impact. She swung her sword in front of her, and it answered with a crisp swish as it sliced through the air. On her one side was the young catman; on her other, four short prums, overshadowed by their disproportionately large weapons.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 4 Page 10
