Lully stands up when she sees me arrive. She raises both hands toward me. I slap my palms against hers and immediately afterward she shouts, “Yay!” I’m glad she enjoyed this tournament, I’ve seen many genuine smiles throughout the entire day.
“Congratulations on your victory, you put on a performance worthy of a fencing master.” Lully tries to imitate my sword movements with her hand.
She hasn’t received much physical training, she has focused more on long-range attacks and other abilities. I can feel a certain level of power from her, she’s above Sol, Arisa, and Marga, but she’s still one small step away from reaching ruby rank.
“Thank you, you told me I couldn’t come back without first place, so I worked hard to get it.” I answer honestly. For a moment, I considered losing by a tiny margin, then I remembered her words. I’m also sure Mirtha would find out and tease me about my defeat until I left, so I decided to win.
“You worked hard? Really? I saw you looking relaxed, or even a little more awkward than what I’ve heard in the rumors... although maybe awkward would be a better word.” Lully’s eyes judge me fiercely.
“Yes, I had to give it my all to win that final. I’m not used to fighting with only one sword, I always use twin swords.” That might be why I seemed uncomfortable while fighting that petite woman.
I wasn’t injured because, in the end, I can dodge or block most attacks regardless of whether I’m using one sword or two. The cut she landed on me only happened because I instinctively tried to block with my left hand where my second sword should have been and reacted a little too late when dodging.
“Would you have won faster if you had used both swords?” she asks.
“If I had really tried and used both swords, I don’t think any of them would have lasted more than twenty seconds. Maybe the last woman would have lasted ten.” I’m not bragging, that’s simply the difference between our swordsmanship.
“Don’t be so arrogant.” She punches my shoulder lightly with her fist, and I simply shrug.
“I’m not being arrogant. By the way, where do you want to go now?” People are already slowly leaving for other areas of the fair.
“I’d like to go to...” Before Lully can finish her sentence, we hear a sound similar to a phone ringing. She quickly searches her pocket and pulls out a circular communication device. It could be described as a very primitive phone.
“It doesn’t matter where I wanted to go. My mother is calling us, apparently something happened. We need to return as soon as possible.” She looks rather depressed after receiving the call.
“Don’t be upset. We’ve had a lot of fun, and Mirtha wouldn’t call us unless it was important. It’s better to return as quickly as possible.” I pull out a piece of candy from my dimensional bracelet and offer it to her.
She doesn’t say anything or thank me, she simply pops it into her mouth. “Yes, you’re right... it must be something very important. Did you just call my mother Mirtha? What kind of relationship do you have with her?” Her gaze judges me while I simply turn around, walk away, and ignore her.
Thanks to my Personal World, I can see her complaining behind me. I have to tilt my head slightly to avoid an empty water bottle flying in my direction. I continue walking without stopping. Eventually, she gets bored of being ignored on that topic and decides to talk about what she enjoyed most at the fair.
Mirtha’s point of view:
“What a headache... why do I have to rely on him? I’ve only known him for a day.” I review the reports about yesterday’s caravan attacks once more. “Seven dead...” That’s far more than expected.
I sink back into my chair and place a hand over my eyes while trying to think of another solution. Asking the empire for help is always the best option, but the paperwork alone takes at least two days. I can’t wait that long.
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The areas near Snowflake City that need help the most urgently require medicine and food to survive this winter. We’ve already suffered losses, and time is unforgiving. More people will die if a quick solution isn’t found.
Situations like this are such a nuisance. They’re taking advantage of the governor being absent for several days. That creates another problem, someone must have leaked that information to a criminal organization.
There aren’t many ruby ranks in this territory, and we’ve already lost some during these attacks. I don’t want to risk losing more and weakening our overall defenses. There is only one person currently in this territory capable of facing several ruby ranks at the same time... a limit breaker who could already do that while still at sapphire rank.
“I hope he accepts my proposal... although I can’t blame him if he refuses, it’s quite dangerous.” What is that little monster doing in this small territory? I know he’ll leave once the governor returns, but for now we have very few options.
The familiar sound of my daughter knocking on the door echoes through the room. I give them permission to enter. Both greet me formally, sit in the available chairs, and wait for me to speak.
They look surprisingly good together. A child from these two would be the incarnation of beauty itself. It’s a shame they only look like friends... perhaps that could change in the future. If I were twenty years younger... I shake my head internally to banish those thoughts.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.” I give them a cordial smile. Both immediately notice that something is wrong, and their expressions become more serious. “I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I truly didn’t want to interrupt so soon. Something has happened that can’t be ignored, and I have a proposal for you. Have you ever worked under contract before?” I look directly into Maki’s purple eyes.
“It’s not a problem, Mirtha. No, I’ve never worked under contract, but I know how it works.” He answers calmly, placing the ball back in my court so I can make the proposal.
“We’ve suffered several attacks while transporting medicine and food to one of our nearby cities. A criminal group is taking advantage of the governor’s absence to make our lives miserable...” I explain far more details than I should, partly to convince him and partly because I realize how much I trust him.
I can see my daughter frown. When I finish speaking, she doesn’t even let Maki answer. “Mother, that’s too dangerous. A diamond rank has been appearing to help the bandits whenever things become difficult. Sending Maki to solve our problems is far too risky.” She looks completely serious.
I understand what she means by risky. If Maki dies, it could become a disaster for our territory. The King of Juka and several major figures in the empire could easily close their doors to us.
The strange thing is that Maki never showed the slightest sign of fear after hearing about a diamond rank. His eyes lit up slightly, and I even saw a small smile appear at the corner of his lips.
“Calvin will go with him. I’m not planning to send Maki to his death. He’ll even have the option to retreat if things become too dangerous and still receive whatever payment he requests.” Only he and I know that information. Nobody else can know that the head of the guard will be disappearing.
I continue explaining more details about the mission: the approximate number of sapphire- and ruby-rank bandits, their methods of operation, the strange technique they use to conceal themselves until the moment of attack, and everything else that could be useful if he decides to accept.
Maki asks several questions. I answer all of them honestly, without hiding a single detail. If I want to convince him, I can’t conceal any information.
The contract terms are extremely favorable for Maki. I don’t mind being at a disadvantage. The comments from the empire and Skyblue City speak highly of him, and from what little I’ve gotten to know him, I can tell he has a good heart.
“So, Maki, are you willing to work under contract with us? I won’t be angry or resentful if you choose to refuse. The decision is yours.” Leaving the ball in his court and acting vulnerable at the end always places more pressure on the person making the decision.
My daughter says nothing more. She stopped objecting the moment she realized Maki didn’t seem particularly concerned about the existence of a diamond rank. Maki remains standing, looking directly into my eyes. His gaze never wavers, those purple eyes shine fiercely.
“It seems I’ll have to delay my return by a few more days. I’ll think about my reward later, nothing comes to mind at the moment.” He answers after several seconds. “We’re leaving tonight, right? Then we don’t have much time.”
His answer makes me smile from ear to ear. Maki may be young, but he’s terrifyingly strong. Those bastards won’t even realize what hit them. He’s a surprise weapon that will strike them like a hammer.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” I toss him an earring. “This is the item I mentioned. It can even deceive diamond ranks, but it only changes eye and hair color.” Maki catches it and places it on his ear. His eyes turn blue and his hair becomes light brown, yet he remains quite attractive.
“Don’t thank me yet, I haven’t done anything.” He smiles fiercely. “I promise I’ll return with good news.”
The confidence in his smile makes me believe something good really will happen