Just past noon.
Rynel returned to the estate and let out a tired breath.
“Mr. Rynel, lunch is not yet prepared.
Please wait just a little longer.”
The old butler bowed politely.
“…Thank you for your consideration.”
Rynel nodded and slowly looked around.
“Where are my companions…?”
“Both of them are training in the indoor sparring hall.”
“…Those two?”
Rynel laughed and tilted his head.
The butler wore a knowing smile.
◇
In front of the indoor training hall.
Even with the door shut, shouts and pulses of mana leaked out clearly from within.
“Hah!!”
A heavy impact followed.
A sharp flow that split the air.
Rynel carefully cracked the door open.
Through the narrow gap, he didn’t see practice—he saw something closer to a real fight.
Two of the count’s mercenaries.
And facing them, Aira and Monero.
No one’s breath lasted long.
Inhale—exhale—cut off—again.
The sensation of seeing each other as an “opponent” was vivid.
“Knife Slasher!”
With the swordsman’s shout, a keen blade aura sliced through the air toward Aira.
And immediately—
“Now, Aira!”
“Yeah! Wind Armor!”
On Monero’s call, Aira released mana from her fingertips without hesitation.
A pale green wind shield spread smoothly over Monero’s body.
Boom!!
The blade aura struck Monero’s defense and ricocheted upward.
The scattered wind skimmed the floor like fragments.
“Good.”
Keeping his stance low, Monero kicked off the ground and charged forward.
“Qi Cannon!!”
Compressed energy burst from his fist and flew like a shell toward the enemy.
KWAANG!!
The floor split under the pressure, and a cloud of dust swallowed the training hall.
“Did we get him?!”
Monero shouted.
His judgment was one beat too early.
A shadow thrust out of the dust.
The swordsman.
“Guard Break!”
Gripping the hilt with both hands, he brought the blade down hard toward Monero’s abdomen.
Thud!!
“Kh—!”
Hit cleanly, Monero swallowed his breath and dropped to one knee.
He doubled over, both hands on the floor.
His shoulders jerked once, sharply.
“Monero!!”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Aira started to cry out—
Swoosh.
From behind.
A blind spot, hidden by dust and lingering mana.
A shadow slid in.
The mercenary mage.
Aira’s eyes were fixed on the front.
The mage stepped into the gap—one step, two steps, the final stride.
The tip of the wand touched the top of her head.
“…Ah…”
Her body stiffened first.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“…I yield.”
Short. Final.
Aira sank to her knees as her strength drained away.
Her fingertips searched the floor, but found nothing to hold onto.
Then the door opened.
Click.
Slow applause echoed through the hall.
Clap. Clap.
“A fine combination.”
It was Urs.
Rynel entered behind him.
“…Rynel!”
Aira lifted her head and shouted.
Monero, still catching his breath, looked over too.
Urs swept his gaze across the room.
Neat. Measured. A look that held both praise and critique.
“In the end you lost, but your coordination up to mid-fight was impressive.”
He continued, looking between Monero and Aira.
“The synergy between Wind Armor and Qi Cannon.
And the timing control. That wouldn’t have worked without the two of you.”
“…But we still got broken through.”
Aira bit her lip quietly, frustration on her face.
“That’s the part that requires continued training.”
Urs said it gently, but firmly.
“In combat, timing and awareness.
A single moment of carelessness is enough to collapse the flow.”
Monero stood with a bitter grin.
“I got too fired up.”
Aira nodded without speaking.
“But still.”
Monero wiped the sweat from his brow and laughed.
“We did it.
That combo just now… it clicked perfectly.”
Aira glanced away slightly, the corner of her mouth lifting.
She looked exhausted, but for that one moment, she was unmistakably proud.
Rynel watched them and smiled quietly.
And that day, what Rynel recorded in his eyes
wasn’t just training.
If those two… get properly tuned, they could get pretty strong.
He lowered his gaze a little, and let a question slip toward himself.
Where… do I stand in that?
◇
The old butler opened the training hall door and stepped in.
“Lunch is ready.”
The first to react was Monero.
“Oh, perfect timing! I was starving!”
His face brightened as if energy rushed back into him.
“Haa… it feels good to actually work up a sweat for once.”
He rotated his shoulders and started casually tidying the practice gear scattered on the floor.
In contrast, Aira had collapsed right where she was, lightly swinging her legs.
“…My legs are jelly… ugh…”
A pout.
Her eyes drooped, cheeks flushed red.
Rynel and Monero exchanged a look.
No words needed.
Monero quickly averted his eyes and turned toward the dining room.
“I’m hungry~ I’m hungry~ I’ll talk after I eat~!”
He hummed as he went, but his steps were unnecessarily fast.
Anyone could tell—he was running away.
Rynel let out a short sigh.
“…Haa.”
Then he quietly raised his fingers.
Whoosh.
An unseen force wrapped around Aira and lifted her gently into the air.
“Whaaa—!”
Aira flailed, arms windmilling.
“Hey! Seriously, Rynel!
Don’t float me around like luggage?!”
Her legs kicked uselessly in midair, her hands wobbling with no balance.
Her cheeks turned bright red, and she mumbled like she was talking to herself.
“…I’m going to die of embarrassment…”
And so they left the training hall.
One drifting along, one following quietly behind.
◇
The hall fell quiet.
Only Urs and his two direct mercenaries remained.
Urs asked in a low, heavy voice.
“Nesto. How do you evaluate that spar?”
The man with the sword, Nesto, stepped forward.
His posture was clean. His eyes didn’t waver.
“Ordinary C-rank adventurers.”
A short, definitive opening.
“They coordinate well enough to use combination techniques, but…
their combat skill itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy.”
“I see.”
As Urs nodded, the woman behind him, Karin, continued.
“I think it was one-sided training.”
She loosely crossed her arms, gaze flicking out the window.
“There’s no real reason to spar them again… honestly.”
Her tone wasn’t arrogance so much as a cold conclusion.
Then Karin’s eyes returned to Urs.
“But, Mr. Urs.”
“…?”
“That man, Rynel.
How strong is he?”
Urs was silent for a moment.
He exhaled once, then said firmly.
“Overwhelming.”
“…!”
The reaction was immediate.
Even Nesto, who rarely wasted words, narrowed his eyes slightly.
“I didn’t expect you to go that far, Commander.”
Karin uncrossed her arms and turned her gaze.
“Just from looking… he didn’t seem that different from those two.”
Urs didn’t answer.
He only pressed his lips together and slowly closed his eyes.
◇
The dining room held warm food scents and a brief, peaceful mood.
“Whew~ I’m alive…”
Monero exhaled with satisfaction, chopsticks in hand.
Aira kept drinking water, wiping sweat, cheeks still red.
Then someone entered quietly.
Urs.
He moved close to Rynel, dipped his head slightly, and whispered.
“···”
Just a few short words.
When it ended, Rynel’s expression hardened instantly.
His gaze cooled, his lips pressed into a thin line.
But then he took one steady breath and nodded in silence.
Aira and Monero looked at each other.
“…What is it?”
Before Aira could even finish, Rynel rose slowly.
He tidied what was left of his meal, returned the dishes, and headed straight for the exit.
“Rynel!”
Aira’s voice behind him.
“Is something wrong?”
Rynel turned back with an oddly bright face.
He shook his head slightly and forced a smile.
“No. Just something I need to help with.
You two eat slowly, and rest.”
A short answer.
He turned again and disappeared out the door.
In the middle of the dining room, only Aira and Monero remained.
Rynel’s back growing smaller.
Aira clenched her mouth tight and muttered.
“…Let’s go to the training hall.”
They finished eating quickly.
Then they slipped out carefully and circled around to the back of the hall.
“Quiet… walk quietly!”
“I’m being quieter than you!”
Trading barbs under their breath, they peered through a side window.
Inside, Rynel was already facing the count’s two mercenaries.
“It’s those two.”
Monero said in a low voice.
Nesto the swordsman. Karin the mage.
A short silence fell.
Then Monero spoke quietly.
“Aira, this… they’re testing Rynel, right?”
“Yeah… that’s the only explanation that fits.”
“But listen…”
Monero cut off, then looked at Aira with a pointed expression.
“Have you ever seen Rynel really fight?”
“Of course… I have! …Wait.”
Aira’s eyes darted as if she’d startled herself.
“When we fought the goblin pack, and those few monsters in the forest…”
“Come on. That was warm-up level.”
Monero cut in flatly.
“Then you’ve seen it?”
“…On that mountain ridge, when we faced those bandits, I saw him handle it.
But…”
Monero stared through the window and muttered low.
“It ended too fast.
So fast it made you wonder if something even happened.”
“…….”
“We’ve been adventuring together, and yet we’ve never actually seen what Rynel can really do…
Doesn’t that feel strange?”
Aira nodded silently.
Then, inside, something shifted.
Both mercenaries bowed in greeting.
Rynel bowed quietly as well.
“Looks like they’re about to start.”
Aira swallowed.
She bit her lip and fixed her eyes on Rynel.
Monero watched with the same gaze.
“Yeah. Now we’ll finally see it for sure.”
The first to move was Nesto.
A short preparatory motion.
Then a straight-line rush that exploded forward.
His toes dug into the floor, his whole body shooting out like a blade.
“…Fast.”
Monero whispered.
At the same time, behind him, Karin began chanting quietly.
Red mana took shape at her fingertips, sliding in to match Nesto’s movement.
A double pressure—physical and magical.
“No—when they sparred with us… they didn’t use attacks like that together…!”
Aira whispered, gripping the window frame tight with both hands.
Speed. Angle. Power.
All of it was real.
But Rynel still stood where he was.
Not a single step taken.
“Rynel… what are you doing. Why aren’t you dodging…”
Instinctive fear crept into Monero’s voice.
And then—
Nesto’s sword came down toward Rynel’s shoulder with full momentum,
and Karin’s massive fireball streaked in from the flank.
A simultaneous strike—body and magic.
An overwhelming combination.
But.
Rynel’s eyes began to glow, quietly.
A blue current.
An alien force spreading slowly inside his pupils.
And Nesto’s body,
mid-swing,
stuttered—as if something invisible had pressed down on him.
“…He stopped?”
Monero murmured, barely breathing.
Not frozen so much as… suppressed.
The sword trembled, unable to finish its descent.
“That’s… Rynel’s power…?”
Aira stared, unable to even breathe.
Then the huge fireball from behind swallowed Rynel whole.
KWA-AAANG!!
An explosion.
Red flame erased the view in an instant.
Heat surged even through the window as firestormed through the space.
“Rynel!!”
