“Hah! Hah! Hah!”

Swinging his sword with a tremendous amount of force, Riko ignored the sweat falling from his face as he tried to improve his swing strength even by a little bit.

He’d done this time and time again with little improvement.

He hadn’t anticipated this, so Riko, or rather, the man who reincarnated as Riko, found himself growing frustrated by his lack of progress and all he could do was keep swinging. Hoping that might calm him down if even a little bit.

Taking a minute to rest, Riko sat down and rubbed his eyes.

Back in school, he figured it’d be easy enough to play out his role and nail a girlfriend before living the rest of his life in peace.

However, when Axel Savoncho entered the picture, that changed everything and ruined his plans of hooking up with Xara.

Not wanting to give up, Riko tried going for Dianne next. But it didn’t take long for him to notice something was different when the scene that was supposed to be her confession to him ended up being a cop-out. Not only that, but he noticed her constantly glancing at Savoncho time and time again whenever the three of them were in the same room. It angered Riko to no end when he didn’t just lose one, but two love interests to this guy.

Even so, he couldn’t deny the Axel's abilities. Which was why, despite hating the guy, led Riko and Xara to making a little deal with him during the hunter games and now, it wouldn't be long before that bargain was set be completed.

And with the day they were supposed to meet fast approaching, all Riko could do was swing his sword.

Thus, once he was done with his break, he returned to swinging. Working hard to improve himself bit by bit so that one day, if possible, he could surpass the man he hated and maybe even take back what he deserved.

In a similar fashion to Riko, Ella was training hard with her sword. However, unlike Riko, Ella was training with a partner.

“Begin!” shouted an old man as he waved down his hand.

On that signal, Ella dashed forward with her sword at the ready.

“Haah!”

Trying to catch her off-guard, her opponent slid to the side and tried to fake her out.

Sensing this, Ella took a step back and avoided the weapon just before it cut into her.

Looking caught off guard, the opponent tried to take a step back which Ella took advantage of and aimed to sweep them off their feet.

However, she never could’ve figured that this was also a fake out.

“Watch out,” her opponent said casually before jumping over her attack and elbowing her in the face. Knocking her to the ground.

“Ow!”

Landing on her butt, Ella rubbed her rear only to find a sword pointing at her neck.

“Looks like I won again," said her opponent as they returned their sword to its sheath.

Getting onto her feet, Ella chuckled awkwardly.

“You really are skilled Flynn. I just can’t seem to win.”

Flynn, who crossed his arms, shook his head.

“No. You saw through my first fake-out with ease. Not only that, but our previous battles showed me that despite your lack of training, you have an understanding of the blade.”

“Eheheh. Thanks.”

“With that said, there is still much to improve. So for the time being, we should keep training.”

“R-Right…”

It had only been three days since Ella had first asked Flynn to help with her training.

She figured since he had an understanding of the sword, he was someone she could rely on for help. But to her surprise, he was far better than she could’ve ever anticipated. Not only that, he was a good teacher who explained what she needed to improve on. It made her wonder how he was a student instead of a teacher. Even so, she still really appreciated the help.

“Alright. Are you ready to try again,” Flynn asked. Pulling his blade out to which Ella responded by getting into position.

Standing between them, the old man from before raised his arm high.

“Ready? Begin!”

As he brought his hand down, the two of them charged at each other. Continuing their training for the rest of the day.

In her room, Dianne was standing above her bed using a ladder to take down the photos of Riko she still had set up.

“Just two more,” she muttered as she grabbed at one of the two remaining photos. Pulling it off and dropping it to the ground which was now completely covered with the torn-down pictures.

Reaching out for the last one, Dianne peeled it off and looked at it.

The photo was one that she was given after the events during that one school trip she’d planned to confess her feelings to Riko.

However, right before she confessed, she found herself hesitating.

At the time she didn’t know why, but she just found herself struggling to really say the right words. Like what she was trying to say just sounded wrong.

Not only that but as she tried to force out the words, she found herself thinking about Axel. Which only confused her even more.

But now, she finally understood.

She didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, she had fallen in love with Axel. Was it because of his help with Riko, or what he did during the hunter games? She had no idea. Even so, the fact of the matter was that she’d fallen in love with him and hoped that one day when she knew how to say the words, she would be able to tell him that. But until then, she was fine just being friends.

Getting down from the ladder, Dianne picked up all the photos and walked over to her desk. Opening one of the drawers, she put the pictures inside and closed it up. Ready to move on and keep walking forward.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door.

“Princess Dianne, dinner will be ready soon and your parents wished for me to escort you to the dining room.”

A maid spoke through the door with a formal tone. Making it clear she was focused on doing her job.

“Right. Just give me a minute and I’ll be right out.”

“Understood Princess Dianne.”

After that, Dianne changed into something a little more formal and walked out of the room. Following the maid toward the dinner table.

Arriving a few minutes later, the king and queen were already sitting there waiting for her.

Sitting down herself, the maid walked off as Dianne got comfortable.

Turning to her, the king looked like he was about to say something, only for the queen to interrupt.

“So Dianne, have you spoken with that boy since we met him a few weeks ago?”

Dianne was a bit surprised by this question. Still, she responded in a calm and collected tone.

“I have not. He’s been busy with other things so we haven’t spoken since. More than likely we won’t be seeing each other again until school starts back up.”

“I see. That’s disappointing. I thought he had some nice charm to him. Though he could learn to be a bit less tense when around other people.”

“Mother…I’m pretty sure he was only that tense because he was with the king and queen.”

“Oh? Do you really think so?”

The king crossed his arms.

“That’s sad to hear. With what he’s done for you, I’d love to see how he acted normally. I’m sure he’d be an interesting fellow that’s for sure.”

“...Why are you guys even talking about Sir Savoncho? It seems like a rather odd conversation to have.

“Huh? Why wouldn’t we talk about my future son-in-law?” asked the King.

“Huh!? Son-in-law!?”

“Well of course. You like him, don’t you? I’d say put a ring on it as soon as possible.”

“Wah-!? W-W-What are you saying, father!?”

Dianne was bright red. Causing her father to let out a small laugh while his wife smiled.

“You don’t have to pretend. We know you like the boy. It’s fairly obvious even to me,” said the queen.

“Yeah. And considering how long it took your mother to realize I was interested, I think it’s best you let your feelings be known sooner rather than later!”

B-B-But…”

Steam rose from Dianne’s head. Causing her to struggle with making a coherent sentence.

In the meantime, the food arrived and was placed in front of the three family members.

The King and Queen happily started eating as Dianne just sat there stuck in place with a beet-red face.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

After a few minutes, Dianne managed to calm herself down and started eating.

“I mean, it’s true that I’m rather fond of Sir Savoncho, but even if there was anything romantic, it wouldn’t work. We’re of different statuses after all.”

“Hm? And why would they make a difference?” asked the King.

“Huh? Isn’t status important when two people wed?”

“Well in some cases that might be true, but for you, this would just be a good opportunity to achieve your goal.”

“My…goal?”

“Yes. You want to close the difference between royalty and commoners, correct?”

“Erm…Well yes. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re saying it’s not obvious? I’m basically trying to tell you that marrying him would get you closer to that goal. Since it means even common folk have a chance at finding life with royalty.”

“That’s…true.”

She had never thought about it like that. She just figured it was something she’d have to work around when confessing to him. However, when she thought about it as a chance to get closer to her goal, it made sense. Even so, marrying him not only seemed like a bit much, but she needed his consent. Since romance without giving the other the right to say yes or no wasn’t a true romance at all.

“Even so, I’m not ready to speak with him about such things yet. So if you could let me move at my own pace, I’d appreciate that.”

The king and queen were silent for a second before responding.

“I see. Well, we understand. Just please do when you can, I’d love grandchildren as soon as possible,” said the queen.

“Mother!”

Giving a light chuckle to her daughter's screaming voice, the queen continued eating her food with the king following suit. All the while Dianne sat there with steam rising high above her head. Flustered by the words her parents had just said.

Entering the meeting room of the Wizardly Six, Alister looked around only to find no one else had arrived yet.

It made sense considering he arrived early, but he was used to seeing at least Royil in there with how much of a stickler for time he was.

However, not a single person was inside.

Thus, Alister just got into his seat and sat there awkwardly waiting for the others to arrive.

As he did so, he looked at the papers that were important to today's meeting.

It seemed they were going to be discussing some details involved in some of the developments moving across the world. A topic they discussed fairly frequently due to how often things changed.

Although as he thought back on it, he still remembered the day he heard something crazy that even he couldn’t have anticipated when it was revealed that someone had found a floating island and claimed it as their own.

He didn’t know at the time it belonged to the infamous Axel Savoncho he’d heard so much about, but a part of him really wanted to go see the island for himself.

But with how busy he could be, he never found the time to do so.

Even when he had time off he just couldn't find a good way to approach Savoncho and ask him if Alister could come onto the island. Thus, he still hadn’t given it a visit.

But despite that, his interest was still peaked. So if he was given the chance to check it out, he was sure to leap at the opportunity.

However, with that chance seemingly quite far off, all Alister could do was keep moving forward.

Click

Hearing a sound, Alister looked up from the papers and saw Durio enter the room.

Spotting Alister, Durio gave him a wave.

“Hey there Headmaster. It’s good to see ya. Oh! And thanks for your help earlier.”

Alister smiled.

“No thanks necessary. I simply kept my end of the deal. Speaking of which, do you plan to keep yours? It was quite dull having to clean up the mess once I was done.”

“Yeah yeah. I’ll be sure she joins this school when she starts her freshmen year. Though that won’t be for a good minute.”

“I’m happy to hear that. With her abilities, I’m positive she’ll be a great student.”

“I’m sure. But anyway, where is everybody? I figured at least Royil would be here, but there’s no one else.”

“I find myself wondering that as well. They haven’t called in at all, so I assume their still coming. But this is a bit unusual.”

As Alister said that, a voice suddenly entered his ear. Causing him to put his finger to his ear like he was wearing an earpiece.

“Hm? Is that so? Got it. I understand. Thanks for letting me know.”

Finishing whatever call he just got, Alister turned to Durio.

“It seems Yamito won’t be joining us today.”

“Again!? This is the fourth meeting in a row!” shouted Durio

Alister let out a sigh.

“Well we can’t really blame her, she actively runs a whole nation after all. I’d be more surprised if she had all the free time in the world with how many things go down around there.”

“I guess you’re right. She is the only person brave enough to form a whole nation close to demon territory. Either that or the most stupid.”

Alister let out a chuckle.

“Can you stop calling it demon territory already? Demons haven’t held settlement there since the last demon lord was killed fifty years ago.”

“Well, it’s not like I can just forget about that place. It’s where I lost a lot of comrades after all.”

“I guess that’s fair. Still, leaving demon stuff aside, taking care of a nation is a big responsibility. So we need to respect when Yamito can’t make it.”

Staying silent for a moment, Durio responded with a sigh.

“Alright. I understand. I just hope she can make it next time. There’s a lot of things I need to talk with her about.”

“I’m sure she’ll be here next time. So for now, just sit down and wait for the others.”

“...Okay.”

Deciding to let the whole thing go, for now, Durio sat down.

Just as he did so, two more people walked into the room.

“Oh? Alister and Durio are here first. Strange. I really thought Royil would beat us all to the punch.”

The one who said that was a man in his early thirties with slick back silver hair that seemed to sparkle. This man was known as Fruis.

“Really? Talk about strange,” said another man behind him who had a bulky feature, short brown hair that made him look practically bald, and skin tanned to the point he looked like he cooked himself to a crisp. This man was Elbrick.

Sitting down, the two men looked around the room.

At this point, four of the wizardly six had gathered, with a fifth absent due to personal reasons. Meaning there was only one missing.

“Did Yamito call in absent?" Elbrick asked Alister who nodded his head.

“She said she had to deal with a dispute involving a neighboring nation. So she couldn’t make it.”

“Damn. That’d sure be a pain to take care of. Makes me glad I don’t have to deal with things like that.”

“So you say, but don’t you literally run a country of your own, meathead?” asked Durio with a bored tone.

“That’s different. The people run everything. I just do what I please.”

“Oh, how I envy such freedom.”

“Hmph. Do you think I can’t tell when you’re being sarcastic? Well news flash cheapskate, beating punks with your kind attitude are a cakewalk for me!”

“Is that so? In that case, how about we have another duel? I’d love to beat you into the ground like I did last time.”

“Wah-!? You little-!”

“Relax Elbrick. We aren’t here to pick fights with the others. Stuff like that should be saved for after we’re done here,” said Alister.

“Grr…Understood Headmaster.”

Calming Elbrick down, Alister neatly aligned the papers in his hands and placed them on the table.

As he did so, the final person they were waiting for stepped into the room.

“Ah. Royil. So good of you to finally join us,” Durio said in a sarcastic tone.

Instead of responding, Royil simply sat down and turned to Alister.

“I apologize for being late Headmaster. I was being kept up by some personal matters so I was a bit delayed. I hope I didn’t keep you.”

Alister shook his head.

“Not at all. We’re just glad you could make it.”

“I see.”

Royil looked around the room.

“Is Miss Yamito not joining us?”

“No. She had some business to attend to,” replied Alister.

“Understood. In that case, shall we get started then?”

“Of course.”

Looking down at the papers for a moment, Alister brought his attention to the people in front of him as he clasped his hands together.

“Now then, here’s what I wanted to discuss first.”

Pointing at the paper, Alister started talking to the others and another meeting between the members of the Wizardly Six had officially begun.

“Hm. Are you sure this looks good? It feels a bit off to me,” I said looking at myself in the mirror.

“Haah. For the millionth time, yes. You look great. I know you don’t understand fashion that well, but you’re way too paranoid.”

“This coming from the girl who wears the same outfit all the time.”

With it almost being time to leave for my date with Xara, I asked Nia to come out of the grimoire and tell me what her thoughts were on my outfit since she might understand what girls would like a guy to wear on a date.

However, despite her saying it was all fine, the whole thing just didn’t feel right when I looked at myself in the mirror.

I wasn’t wearing anything too fancy, but it wasn’t exactly casual either.

I had a white shirt that was covered by a black overcoat, along with a grey tie, and black pants which wrapped up with shiny leather boots.

“I really don’t know about this,” I muttered.

“Look, you’re fine. It’s not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be.”

“But...”

“No buts! You. Are. Good!”

I still didn’t think it fit right. But at this point, I was just delaying our departure. So, deciding to suck it up, I took in a deep breath and checked to make sure I had everything I needed. All while Nia returned to the grimiore on my belt.

Once I was confident that I was good to go, I walked out of the room and started making my way toward the entrance of the mansion.

I made sure Sirin told Xara to meet me at the front of the house, so if she was ready, she’d be there by now. But if she wasn’t, I would simply wait for her.

Wanting to calm my heart down, I decided to walk to the door instead of teleport and thankfully, that seemed to help me calm down a bit.

And when I finally made it to the door, I was surprised to find Xara wasn’t there yet.

“Weird. With how excited she was, I was positive she’d beat me here.”

Well, whatever. I’d simply wait until she got here.

Thus, I waited…and waited…and waited for about ten minutes.

I didn’t know what was keeping her since this was the time I had told us to meet, but if she wasn’t here within the next few minutes, I was gonna check and see if everything was okay.

So, I continued waiting. And then two minutes later, I finally heard footsteps.

“Sorry Axel! I was struggling to put my dress on and it took me some time to figure it out.”

“Er…It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re...”

Just as I was about to finish my sentence, I got a look at Xara’s outfit.

She wore a fluffy black dress with a rose design covering the entire bottom of the dress.

The skirt of the dress stopped right above her feet and she had a purple purse on her right arm that she casually adjusted while I looked at her.

“You look…amazing,” I muttered. Amazed at how beautiful she looked.

“R-Really? I’m glad to hear that. You look great too.”

Xara looked a bit embarrassed as she said that. But even so, she smiled and grabbed my hand.

“Well then, shall we get going?

“Y-Yeah.”

Holding her hand tightly, I found it a bit hard to focus on casting my teleportation spell.

Even so, I attempted to calm my mind and thought about the first location I wanted to visit for this date and once I was confident I could pull it off, I cast my spell. Teleporting us there in an instant.

Watching me struggle to focus like that, Nia told me later how funny she thought I looked. To which I gave her a light hit to the noggin. But that wasn’t important right now.

What was important was that it was time for my date and I was ready to give it my best effort.