The rest of the day was supposed to be spent on the trade agreement proposal. Defining whose responsibilities would be, declaring the tunnel a joint-governed territory, taxes, even what to do with the waste from the horses and drivers going through. Worse yet was to know that all their work would be brutalized, quartered, split and patched in reverse by all the nobles and officials that wanted a piece of the cake. From both sides of the border.
Accounting and political nightmares aside, work went even slower because nobody could focus. The shadow of an otherworlder assassin coming for them was too much.
It was bound to happen. Someone snapped.
"I can't take it anymore. Get these papers away from me before I doodle on them." Cythrel the elf was the first to voice their collective discomfort. Despite being the eldest person in the room by almost two decades, she had the body and the mindset of an eleven or twelve years old girl. Unless she was being lewd or serious, that is. The latter was extremely rare though, a one in fifty chance.
She stood up on her chair and stretched up. Glancing at the people sitting by that long meeting table, she kept rambling.
"Are we really going to stay here and just wait for the guy to show up? That is stupid." Everyone was looking at her. "We should go outside the town and get him on our own terms. Because the fight won't be pretty and if he croaks us at least he won't destroy half the town." She puffed up.
"We can't leave the castle. It is for our protection." Claire pointed. Cythrel looked at the princess and froze. "What is the matter, my friend?" Claire asked.
She shrunk after a moment. "I'm sorry. I don't know if I should glare, laugh, scoff or sigh. I kinda want to do all four. But really, it is so much safer inside the castle." She quipped. "Because the examples I've got with Captain Melty, may the twelve look after his soul, Captain Zappy, may the twelve look after his soul, and Prince eyes-on-the-nape, may he long live, were so reassuring," She delivered, oozing sarcasm.
"You might've gone too far," Sora whispered from the seat next to the elf.
It had the opposite effect. Cythrel was as afraid as anyone in that room, but her natural lack of inhibition turned her into a flag-bearer for those feelings. And that flag was a bomb that just exploded.
"I really don't care if I've gone too far," She burst, angry. "Because I've figured out what they want to do. They are going to put the God-Slayer to fight the otherworlder assassin. And I'm done with people putting my man on the line for their own sake."
Everyone looked at Cythrel and then turned to face Sora. Dawn cleared her throat. "This is the third time I get wind of something like that. Care to explain, please?"
Cythrel looked at Sora, shrugged and sunk in her seat. "Your turn, partner."
Sora opened her mouth and made several non-speech sounds. It sounded more like a bad singer warming up her vocal cords than someone attempting to speak. Her eyes were confused too, switching between Dawn and Aidan and back to Cythrel.
"Is this another dark secret where someone will someday come to kill me?" Aidan asked. "Because if it won't end in a murder attempt, we can deal with that later."
"Another?" Pamela asked and earned a pinch from Nancy.
Sora shook her head. "I don't think this one will end in murder." She looked at Cythrel and she shook her head.
"I don't think we should keep working. Nobody can focus on the trade treaty and someone is bound to mess up something like tipping an inkwell." Pearl declared. "Or doodling on the document."
Everyone immediately corked their inkwells. It was an unspoken consensus that nobody wanted to work on documents that day.
Once more it was up to Cythrel to break the awkward silence.
"Why don't we go all to the knight training grounds and get some weapon practice? This way when Kazuya comes to brutally murder us we won't embarrass ourselves." Cythrel suggested and earned a lot of gazes. "What? That is a totally valid idea. We could take those female knights with us and train some bodyguarding. You know, to get to know each other and what to do in a crisis. Raise our chances of survival and lessen the amount of stumbling and tripping and, you know, bleeding. I'm not very good with bleeding."
"Serious Cythrel scares me." Sora pointed out. Pearl nodded.
"We need dulled Katanas, some nimble scout or skirmisher knights, and the bodyguards." Aidan pointed out.
Claire clapped her hands, "I'll send word to the bodyguard squad and the scouts. I can arrange the training session after lunch."
And this was how everyone gathered in the knight training grounds, dressed their academy field uniforms. Three princesses, one informal ambassador, three noble ladies, and a spunky elf plus an unassuming young man and a huge knight. By their side seven female knights.
"Baroness Rose, I'm glad to see you well." Pearl nodded at one of them, wearing captain pauldrons.
"Your Royal Highness. I'm also happy to see you in good health." Captain Theresa Rose switched to address everyone. "These are my unit, the Knights of the Rose. They will serve as your shields during this crisis."
Introductions made, nine scout knights came, armed with dulled katanas.
Claire came forward. "Lord Aidan will show you all how Kazuya fights. But as an Agility hero, he is very resourceful and will change tactics. Keep in mind flexibility and adaptability. He also may have unique skills to change the flow of battle."
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A knight handed out a katana to Aidan. He showed some moves he saw Kazuya using in the Kobold dungeon and some others he learned from the adventurers apprenticed to his father.
The scout knights all began to imitate his moves under the watchful eyes of the whole royal Knight corps and the girls. After over half an hour, Aidan led the nine scouts through the moves. They were elite soldiers and quickly caught up the style, at least superficially.
Captain Theresa Rose came forward to instruct in the next step of the session. "Now everyone will split into pairs and spar with the scouts. Don't worry about minor injuries, we have several healers on site. In case of injury, stop sparring and call for a healer. We need to make this short time we have count. As each of my knights will have one of the students as a ward, the pair cannot go more than two meters away from each other, or leave the training area."
The sparring began in earnest. Even with dulled blades, one could tell by the sound of metal clashing that the scouts were not pulling their punches. For those that could read the mood, some of the assembled knights were thinking too little of the female knight unit. Internal rivalries apart, Captain Rose and her unit were doing their best to protect their assigned wards.
The scouts were using that against them. They would maneuver and push the bodyguard into the ward, causing quite a bit of confusion. In some cases they ended up on the ground, tripping on one another. Cheers and jeers from the assembled audience and Aidan could swear he saw some knights handing out coins to one another.
Gurf had two hatchets and was defending Pearl with another female knight against two scouts. There would be only one Kazuya, so the scouts were taking turns with one attacking and the other observing.
The story of that hunter was unknown, as the big man was not eager to share his past, but his skill told of a past fighting both monsters and people. The fact that he could live in a hut outside the frontier town in a wilderness crowded by monsters was also a testament to his skill and expertise. Gurf was counterbalancing the superior speed of the scout knights with his experience and foresight.
"Hey. You two with Gurf, one of you come here. I want to spar with two scouts switching too." Aidan called. "Also, get sharp katanas."
"Milord, this is supposed to be a training exercise." The scout sparring with him retorted.
Aidan pointed at the free scout waiting to go against Gurf, "Go and get two sharp Katanas at the armory. Don't worry, I can't die. Dawn!"
He didn't need to shout, but he had to keep the mask. Dawn waved at the scout to interrupt their own training and stopped to cast.
"Undying Resilience."
She turned to the female knight that was defending her and the scout. "I will need to concentrate on this spell. You two rest, watch the others spar and switch with them if needed.
The scout returned with two sharp Katanas. "I got them here, milord."
Aidan smiled. "Good. Now, the two of you will alternate and try to kill me. For real."
The scouts glanced at each other, looked at Dawn. She nodded and pointed at Aidan. "Attack already, before he finishes casting his spells."
"Ember Wreath."
"Butterfly Step."
"Tailwind."
"Stone Bones."
The scouts unsheathed the katanas and one of them lunged at Aidan. He pointed at the scout.
"Fire Resistance."
And the game was on. At first, the scout was wavering, but Aidan pressed on with his own sword, not the training dull blade.
"Fight for real like the otherworlder or you'll die here, knight." Aidan taunted.
The soldier's training kicked in and the scout knight began his assault. Aidan still couldn't feel the rush of his family's special ability. He knew that he would if he was against the real Kazuya. He pressed on attacking and soon the scout knight was asking for a timeout.
Aidan took a step back, lowering his blade but not dismissing his spells. "What is wrong?"
"I'm sorry, milord. It seems I have sprained my arm."
"Healing Light."
"Is it better?"
He didn't answer. In fact, some commotion happened. Aidan felt the knights shifting their gaze. He followed their line of sight.
"Stop bullying my knights, Lord Aidan. If you want someone to spar with real weapons, I'll be your opponent." Prince Lucien entered the training area. "Hand me the otherworlder weapon, please." The other scout gave Lucien the sharp Katana.
"Lucien, we are training against agility and assassin tactics. What are you doing?"
The prince was taking off his jacket and smiled as he answered, "Apparently, I'm making sure you will be able to save the princesses. You want a live spar? You got it."
He took the katana and imitated the stance Kazuya uses perfectly. Lucien lunged forward and the game was back on.
Aidan blocked the first two blows but was forced to give ground. Lucien was aiming for the spots between the blocks of ember, timing his attacks perfectly. He had a spring to his step and the moves of an assassin.
"I've fought many agility fighters and skirmishers. Don't look down on me," Lumina's elder brother commented during their exchange.
Lucien went for Aidan's throat, backed off his feint as Aidan lifted his sword to protect the neck and went for the blind spot caused by the blade, on the flank. Aidan felt the time stretch and moved sideways. The wind pushed him in the direction he wanted to go and he avoided the stab to the guts by a thin margin.
Both of them were smiling. Aidan's 'Rise to the Challenge' was triggered by Lucien's attacks. "Finally. Keep the pressure!"
Lucien went for the sneak attacks. Feint, misdirect, kicks. The shower of sparks from the embers began in earnest, and the other groups had to stop to give them room. Lucien locked blades to talk.
"Why don't you attack me? You have to, otherwise, I'll just keep the assault without minding my own defense. One failed block and you are out. Even if you are going to use magic to defeat your enemy, you must attack with your weapon as well," The prince pointed out Aidan's beginner error.
"Fine."
Aidan stopped doing his full defense routine and launched some attacks. Lucien would dodge the younger man's sword with ease. He wasn't even trying to parry or block. It was unbelievable the prince's speed.
"I'm also using support magic this time, what do you think of it?" Lucien taunted.
They kept exchanging blows for some time and Lucien managed to stab Aidan's heart, even with Dawn helping his tactical vision.
Silence. Both combatants lowered their weapons. Aidan dismissed his support spells and began casting.
"Healing Light."
The prince stabbed the Katana on the dirt floor and used his own magic too.
"Healing Light."
Dawn didn't join the healing. She was feeling the rapid drain on her mana to keep the soul from departing Aidan's body. They had to overcome the Undying Resilience penalty to healing magic, but little by little the wound closed. Aidan was pale, a large pool of blood gathering on the ground. When the injury was no longer fatal, Dawn dismissed the spell and joined the healing. The wound closed completely over a couple more castings.
"Someone get a hematopoietic potion!" Lucien shouted before turning to his sparring partner, "You are a crazy man. And I am sorry."
"Don't be. And I came here prepared to bleed." Aidan took a red glowing stone from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
"Sanguine Genesis."
It was the blood magic stone he charged when they cloned Kamak.
"Cleansing Water."
Dawn washed the blood away from Aidan's uniform. Little by little color returned to the young man's face. An apothecary of the knight corps came with the expensive hematopoietic potion, but Aidan refused.
He took the stone out of his mouth when he felt he could recover on his own mana pool later. He consumed half the stone's energy to recover his own blood.
He looked down and walked out of the blood pool. With a smile, he made eye contact with Lucien and smiled.
"Did I bleed on your Royal Highness?"
Lucien raised an eyebrow, "Is that your concern now?"
Aidan laughed and coughed some blood to the side, "Yes! Anyway, thanks a lot for the training. I'll replay our session in my mind's eye later." He extended a bloody hand to Lucien.
Lucien took hold of Aidan's forearm and vice versa. "Fight well, my friend." The prince smiled back.
At the side of the training grounds, Cythrel was foaming. "Wasn't that guy trying to kill Aidan like two days ago? Why are they all friendly with one another now?"
"That is how boys are, my fair friend. It is a mystery to me too." Pearl answered. "Mortal enemies by morning, lifetime friends by evening. But that is how they are."