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“W-What?! The Holy Maiden has a… Calcedonia has a betrothed?!”

He turned to the subordinate who had brought him the news, his expression a mix of shock and anger.

He was around twenty years old—a tall man with a rather handsome face and carefully combed, smoky-blond hair.

Everything he wore was clearly of the finest quality at a glance. This made it clear that he belonged to the ruling class—the nobility.

“Calcedonia’s betrothed…? I-Is that for sure…?”
“Y-Yes… It’s a rumor that’s been circulating lately at the Temple of Savaiv and among the common folk… but it seems to be quite credible.”

While gauging his master’s reaction, the man who had brought the rumor added,

“A-and… apparently Lady Calcedonia is already living with said betrothed…”
“Wha────?!”

The man’s eyes widened.

The woman to whom he had proposed marriage time and time again—Calcedonia Chrysoprase, the Holy Maiden of the Temple of Savaiv.

And now, far from accepting his proposal, she had become engaged to another man—and was already living with him?

In his rage, his vision turned completely red, if only for an instant.

“W-Who is he…? Who has stolen my Calcedonia…?”
“W-well… a-according to rumors, he’s a commoner who came from a foreign land…”
“A commoner…? After rejecting the proposal of this Larlaik Galgadon—the heir to the Count of Galgadon family, a lineage that has continued for generations in the Kingdom of Largovere—the Holy Maiden instead chose some commoner…”

A loud thud echoed through the room. The man who owned the room, Larlaik Galgadon, had kicked a small table nearby with all his might.

The table flew through the air, crashing into the ceiling and shattering into pieces.

Paying no heed to the splinters of wood raining down on him, Larlaik shrugged his shoulders dramatically.

“U-um, Lord Larlaik…? W-well, even if he’s a commoner, he’s been personally tutored by the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Savaiv, and there are even rumors that he might eventually pass the position of Supreme Pontiff on to him… s-so he’s certainly not just any commoner…”

His subordinate tried to add more, but Larlaik, seething with rage, couldn’t hear him.

“That wretch… That annoying Free Knight was finally gone from the temple, and the Holy Maiden was surely going to be mine, and yet… A commoner? You’re telling me a commoner stole the Holy Maiden from me, a noble…?”

Larlaik turned his bloodshot eyes toward the subordinate standing by his side.

“Investigate!! Find out everything you can about that commoner, immediately!! And do whatever it takes to make him break up with the Holy Maiden!! Whether it’s blackmailing him, threatening him with violence, or bribing him—I don’t care how you do it!!”

The man who had received his master’s orders seized the opportunity and dashed out of the room. If he stayed any longer, there was no telling what kind of venting he might face from Larlaik.

Once his subordinate was gone, Larlaik, consumed by uncontrollable rage, began smashing the furnishings in the room indiscriminately.

His room was a truly opulent and lavish space, built entirely on the strength of his wealth.

The furniture was all top-of-the-line. Every single piece of decor was a masterpiece crafted by first-rate artisans.

The total value of the furniture and decor in his room would likely be enough for an ordinary citizen to live a life of leisure for over a decade.

However, since these numerous works of art had been collected and displayed without any thought, they were a step or two—or even several steps—removed from true “good taste.”

He smashed the expensive ceramic vase displayed on the desk to the floor, slashed the painting by a renowned artist hanging on the wall with his dagger, and violently trampled the rare magical beast pelt spread across the floor.

While the maids and servants of the Galgadon household hesitated to approach Larike’s room, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire, Larike continued to wreak havoc in his room like a storm.

Before long, the room—which had been excessively luxurious—was left in a pitiful state.

.

Standing before Tatsumi was their instructor, Soldier Captain Oujin.

Tatsumi and Oujin were now in the training ground where the soldier priests devoted themselves to their daily drills. In the center of that training ground, the two stood facing each other, clad in their armor.

Tatsumi wore what could be called the uniform of a soldier priest apprentice—a simple leather armor—along with a training sword and shield that had become second nature to him.

As for Oujin, he wore plate armor engraved with the sacred seal signifying his status as a soldier priest, and specifically, as a Soldier Captain. In his hands, he held a long-handled battle axe with both hands.

“Well then, shall we get started? Are you ready, Tatsumi? As I explained earlier, focus on defense at first, okay?”
“Yes! Got it!”

Tatsumi responded energetically to Oujin’s inquiry. Standing at a distance, watching them, were Barse and the Nitz brothers, as well as the senior soldier priests, all holding their breath as they watched Tatsumi and Oujin.

Of course, Calcedonia was among them.

Her ruby-red eyes, gleaming with concern, were fixed intently on Tatsumi, not moving a muscle.

“All right, then… here we go!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Oujin dashed forward like a released arrow, closing the distance between himself and Tatsumi in a single bound.

Having closed the distance in a single bound, Oujin swung his battle axe down at Tatsumi with a wide, sweeping motion.

The battle axe Oujin was using now was the same training model with the blade blunted as the one Tatsumi used. However, its weight was no different from that of a combat-ready weapon, and even without a sharp edge, a direct hit would cause serious injury due to its sheer mass alone.

But Tatsumi calmly assessed the trajectory of the oncoming battle axe.

Then, he interposed the shield he held in his left hand into the axe’s path. Holding his shield firmly in place, Tatsumi kept his eyes fixed on the battle axe as it came down toward him.

The next moment, a loud “thud” echoed through the training ground. The sound wasn’t caused by Oujin’s battle axe colliding with Tatsumi’s shield—it was caused by Oujin’s battle axe slamming into the ground at Tatsumi’s feet.

“Ugh…!”

The moment he realized his attack had missed, Oujin leaped far backward.

Then, he glared fiercely at Tatsumi, who still held his shield in position.

.

Although he had certainly held back, Tatsumi still managed to dodge Oujin’s strike.

No, he didn’t actually dodge it just now. He parried it.

The moment the shield and battle axe made contact, Tatsumi maneuvered his shield to parry Oujin’s attack to the side.

As a result, Oujin’s battle axe never touched Tatsumi’s body, but instead ended up gouging the ground right beside him.

If this had been a real battle, the moment his attack was deflected, Oujin would have been pierced through the exposed side of his torso with a sword.

Realizing this, Oujin trembled slightly, unnoticed by others.

It wasn’t out of fear. It was because he was pleased.

*—I’d noticed it even during training, but this guy is really good with a shield.*

It seems Tatsumi is better suited to defense than offense.

He solidifies his defense to withstand enemy attacks, then strikes without missing the slightest opening that arises. This so-called “counterattack strategy” is Tatsumi’s basic tactic.

Right now, Tatsumi stood with his shield covering the lower half of his face down to his abdomen.

He turned his body sideways to minimize the surface area exposed to Oujin as much as possible. He pushed the shield in his left hand forward and assumed a stance as if hiding behind its shadow. Then, he concealed the sword in his right hand even further within the shadow cast by the shield and his body.

From Oujin’s perspective, Tatsumi’s sword is completely hidden. As a result, it’s difficult to read the initial movement of Tatsumi’s attacks.

Of course, it was Oujin himself who taught Tatsumi both this counterattack-focused tactic and this stance. But now that they were facing off directly, Oujin was keenly aware of just how troublesome Tatsumi’s stance and counterattack strategy truly were.

Moreover, Oujin’s weapon is a two-handed poleaxe, which inevitably leads to large, sweeping movements. The larger the movements, the easier it is for his attacks to be read.

Furthermore, the only areas Oujin can directly target are Tatsumi’s legs and the top of his head. But Tatsumi is surely aware of that as well. If he attacks those spots, he’ll just be easily parried, leaving himself open.

*──It’s really a pain when a guy who’s skilled with a shield goes on the defensive. But even though I taught him that, I never imagined he’d master it to this extent.*

Muttering that to himself, Oujin flashes a pleased smile.

As a teacher, seeing a student grow is always a joy. Moreover, Tatsumi is a truly earnest student who has devoted himself to training silently and diligently, without ever voicing any complaints about my instructions.

It’s been quite some time since they—Tatsumi and his peer—began their training as apprentice soldier priests, and the results of that training are steadily becoming apparent.

Switching from a pleased smile to a combative one, Oujin unleashed a whirlwind of consecutive attacks on Tatsumi.

However, Tatsumi calmly parries this torrential barrage of attacks.

Of course, Tatsumi is well aware that Oujin is holding back. If Oujin were so inclined, it would be a breeze for him to shatter Tatsumi’s arm—shield and all.

It is precisely because he knows this that Tatsumi remains calm as he defends against Oujin’s attacks.

As his instructor, Oujin does not launch reckless attacks that Tatsumi cannot handle. He might deliberately launch a reckless attack, but even then, it wouldn’t be enough to cause serious injury.

After all, this is merely training, not actual combat. And through this training, Oujin is assessing Tatsumi’s current true ability.

He parries the flurry of strikes coming from both sides with his shield.

He adjusts the angle of his shield to deflect a heavy blow coming down from above to the side.

He steps back to avoid a powerful sweeping strike coming up from below.

As he parried the attacks coming at him one after another, Tatsumi glanced up at Oujin’s face and saw him smiling with genuine delight.

“You’ve improved quite a bit.”

Feeling as if he’d been told that without a word, Tatsumi smiled back.

It probably wasn’t because he saw that, but Oujin suddenly halted his fierce assault and spoke.

“All right. Now, you take the initiative and attack me. If you want, you can even use that magic of yours.”

At Oujin’s words, Tatsumi’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed Oujin knew about Tatsumi’s magic.

He’d probably heard about it from Giuseppe..

“Understood. Chiiko.”
“Yes, Master.”

Caledonia, who had been watching the battle, approached Tatsumi when he called her.

Right now, Tatsumi is wearing a magic-sealing device borrowed from Giuseppe on his wrist.

This device is normally used on mages who have committed crimes.

Therefore, the bracelet cannot be removed without a special key. He had entrusted that key to Calcedonia.

“Good luck.”

As she used the key to remove the magic-sealing device from Tatsumi’s arm, Calcedonia offered him words of encouragement.

“Yeah. But if I get hurt, you’ve got my back, right?”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”

A brief exchange. Yet there was not a single person gathered there who could fail to sense the deep bond contained within it.

With smiles filled with absolute trust, they gazed at each other for a moment before parting ways.

Tatsumi assumed his usual stance, thrusting his shield forward, while Calcedonia returned to her original position to watch over him.

“Alright then, Instructor… Here I go!”

The moment Tatsumi declared this after taking a deep breath, he vanished from the spot.

.

Tatsumi vanishes.

And in the very next instant, Tatsumi appeared right in front of Oujin.

“Whoa?!”

Tatsumi was already raising the sword in his right hand. But just a split second before the sword came crashing down, Oujin had already leaped far backward.

“I-Is this the ‘Instant Teleportation’ His Eminence was talking about…?”

By the time Oujin muttered this, blinking in surprise, Tatsumi was already gone.

Almost the moment Oujin realized this and took another huge step back, Tatsumi reappeared.

Tatsumi’s sword swept through the space where Oujin had been standing. Then, before he could finish the swing, Tatsumi vanished once more.

Tatsumi repeated this cycle of vanishing and reappearing over and over, launching attack after attack.

Sometimes he appeared directly in front of Oujin, sometimes behind him. Other times, he appeared right beside him, diagonally in front, or diagonally behind. He would vanish and reappear, launch an attack, and vanish again.

Even Oujin, as formidable as he was, was completely forced onto the defensive by this.

Oujin’s weapon is a large, two-handed axe that is difficult to maneuver. In contrast, Tatsumi’s weapon is a slightly shorter sword that allows for greater agility.

For Tatsumi, who can easily slip inside Oujin’s range through teleportation, Oujin is a well-matched opponent.

Even so, Oujin skillfully wields his battle axe to parry Tatsumi’s attacks.

Although Tatsumi’s technique is still somewhat crude, Oujin’s ability to block every single one of these rapid-fire, surprise-like attacks is no mean feat.

However, the sense of ease is gradually fading from Oujin’s expression.

Tatsumi’s sword strikes are gradually increasing in speed.

“W-what… is this…?”

Oujin’s eyes widen in shock at Tatsumi’s extraordinary sword speed.

Emitting a golden magical glow visible only to mages from his entire body, Tatsumi increased his speed even further.