At this point, the training sessions with Arbitrator D’Émori felt like training with Maîtresse in Great Zhou all over again. She started me off with tens of repetitions of just swinging her heavy longsword, all to prime my arms for the weapon. With each swing my muscles tensed, bulking and retracting until they became sore. Luckily it was nighttime in her backyard, and the cold air made even my sweat to be comforting. After the warmup I collapsed to the dirt.

“Huh. Is my sword really that heavy…” D’Émori commented while standing beside me.

I looked at her blade which collapsed flat on top. “Just how do you carry this thing?”

“You insult the weapon of a mandarin arbitrator?”

“No ma’am!” I shot straight up and brought up the longsword again. I felt as if it was going to slip through my fingers. To think she had this baggage with her at all times during her job…her arm strength must’ve outrivaled some D’Orientois.

She narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “It’s more than just muscle. There’s Wawaqi children who could slice damp bundles of straw.”

“Huh…” I glanced at Espadon Ohzorain d’Arbitrage once again. I remembered the incident in Xanton where I’d barely held my own against one, before Maîtresse came and defeated the rest of them. That petite woman being a master swordsman never occurred to me—despite her small stature Maîtresse could take on those bigger than her.

And so I squeezed the hilt and raised my arms higher. We spent the next hour only doing basic forms and stances.

Eventually I’d reached my limit and fatigue weakened my grip on the longsword. I returned the weapon to D’Émori before falling back into the dirt, staring into the starry blue sky. My sweat watered the cool earth below me as I gasped and panted. The bitter stench of soil filled my nose.

“You alright?” D’Émori walked over and extended her hand. I took her hand and she pulled me back to my feet. I couldn’t feel my arms at all.

“Actually, I’m—” My stomach rumbled. The noise overshadowed the buzzing bugs of the night, and silenced the nocturnal birds. I put my hand to my abdomen and gave an embarrassed smile.

“...” The arbitrator folded her arms, breathing a sigh. “Did you have dinner before arriving here?”

“Nope…” To be fair, I did tell Kahokayo that I would be skipping the evening meal.

“...That’s enough for today. With your prior knowledge I believe you can learn shield-piercing techniques quickly. Come back inside and I’ll make something.”

“You don’t have to.” I lifted my hands in protest. I’d already asked too much of her in Yubiyubi…adding more debt would prevent us from departing Koroné.

“It’s not a fine meal, so I insist.” She started heading to the patio before I could refute. I followed her inside the house.

On the first floor, I sat at the end of the long table, facing away from the kitchen, as D’Émori set down her sword and headed to the nearby pantry. The strange painting on the staircase wall still drew my curiosity while I waited. I squinted to see if I could point out the details of the man’s face that was etched out. Assuming it was D’Émori’s family portrait, the father being a human and the mother being a demihuman meant that the daughter would be…

“The offspring created from a demihuman and human result in a child bearing no animal ears.”

I knew that revelation was a sensitive topic, so I slouched back in the chair and rubbed my brow, yawning in silence. Soon enough D’Émori came over and slid a bowl of soup to my side of the table. Barely catching it on the ledge, I looked over to notice the ingredients used in the dish. My eyes widened.

“This is—”

“‘Hasamisu’. It’s a Wawaqi soup well-known for being prepared in a timely manner,” she explained, taking the seat adjacent to me. My gaze bounced between her and the family portrait before glancing down at the soup. A gentle steam came from the watery base, which had been mixed with chopped scallions and mushrooms. It reminded me of my homeland’s exact equivalent.

“Thank you for the meal.” I lifted the bowl with my hands and drank it. The nostalgic taste flooded memories into my mind, and finished it in mere seconds.

“Hey, I was wondering…” She faced me with a serious face. “Has that upcoming duel with that person been bothering you?”

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I set the bowl down. “Of course it is. It’s that he…”

At that point, I remembered that I never told her that it was the Royal Marshal’s Fifth Officer of Brevity, Dantë Biyu. Sorah, Ruri, Yuanyuan, and I agreed to not share with the arbitrator that we were runaways, and so I needed to watch my mouth.

D’Émori read my look and glanced away. “...I see. I shouldn’t delve into your life, since we don’t trust each other that way.”

“No, no, it’s not like that…”

“But—”

“To be honest, I don’t understand why you’re helping me out in the first place.” I leaned back to the family portrait. “I don’t know anything, but I just know you’re the first person in Koroné that has my back, among those with ulterior motives. So I trust you.”

She sighed as her eyes widened. “Still…I apologize for that question. Usually I’m not the one to ask others, although for some reason I felt the need to, even when I don’t know anything about your situation.”

“I guess that’s your keen intuition as a mandarin arbitrator.” I grabbed the empty bowl and stood up, walking over to the kitchen sink. Then I turned around and held three fingers. “How about this? Starting tomorrow, let’s say three things about each other. That way you can train me better, and I can ease into your teaching style.”

D’Émori got up. “That sounds embarrassing.”

“C’mon. It’s only four days.”

“...Fine.”

Afterwards I packed my sword and prepared to leave the house. Kahokayo probably had her bodyguard wait for me late into the night, so I figured I’d better return to the Biyu Residence soon. Slinging my rucksack over me I headed to the front as D’Émori and I said our farewells. Today we didn’t get to the ‘shield-piercing techniques’ she talked about, but I was sure D’Émori made me practice for a reason.

Yet I still had no clue why she helped me, even when I was just grasping at straws. I wondered how long this one-sided debt would last.

“Good morning. I heard you made Mister Gayuo wait until midnight,” Kahokayo commented the next day, pouring tea into each individual cup. Today I walked into a living room early in the morning, almost getting lost in the Biyus’ massive manor. A three-story building not as big as a luxurious, noble estate, but enough with an all-surrounding courtyard and spacious room. I only found Kahokayo by merely following the scent of brewing tea.

I scratched my bedhead and yawned. “Yeah about that…I’m sorry for staying so late.”

“While I know this city has a relatively low crime rate, please do not let Mister Gayuo stay up that late. He–”

“I am honored to be the root of concern for you, Lady Biyu.” Mister Gayuo came through the double doors of the living room. He politely bowed as the two of us turned in surprise. At that point, Kahokayo set down the teapot and shyly looked away. “However since I am your only working steward of the residence, I must remain diligent. A few more hours waiting for Mister Kaizenji Kawari will not impact my health.”

“Hmph.”

“You were there the entire time?” I yawned again before letting my hands fall to my side. “I’m sorry Mister Gayuo, I won’t be late next time.”

What he’d said correlated with the observations I’d made in this house. The Biyu Residence didn’t have any other personnel other than Gayuo, who appeared to take care of the house all day. I had the impression that the Biyu siblings were pretty well off, but no other family seemed to live here at all.

“The surviving members of the Biyu family are Lady Biyu and her older brother. No parents, no relatives, no one else to support them except them.”

In fact, maybe there were only four people currently in this estate.

After Mister Gayuo positioned himself by the door, I sat and promptly drank the tea served by Kahokayo. Thanking her for the drink, I already made up my mind for the day. D’Émori’s training would be in the evening, so I had time to investigate some places. But as soon as I stood up from the chair, Yodomi burst through the double doors. His eyes widened at me before Kahokayo called out to him.

“Yodomi.”

“Good morning, Lady Biyu.” My brother bowed to her, and returned a scowl to me. He had that strange katana slung around his back, once again covered in cloth. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Hey.” I raised my hand towards him, and he stopped in his tracks. I could feel a glare even with his back turned.

“...”

“Until the duel, I’ll be training at Arbitrator D’Émori’s house. If you want–”

“No.” Yodomi stomped off, opened the door on the opposite end of the room, and slammed it shut. I let my hand drift to my side and balled into a fist. He came here just to say ‘no’? What the hell was that?

“I apologize. Yodomi has been quite dismissive lately, even with me…” Kahokayo glanced at the nearby window.

To think his mood soured the morning already…that was my older brother. He’d always leave me with that feeling back in my own world.

I sighed. “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter because we have only four days left. There’s no time to waste.”

We had less than a week until I would face an Officer of Brevity. I’d managed to grasp at a straw, namely, Arbitrator D’Émori, and I thought it was a great idea to get everyone here on the same page. But Yodomi’s reaction bothered me…so I planned to ask him again tomorrow. I bet he didn’t want to see me for the whole day.

I decided to confront Kahokayo about my intentions today. “Miss Biyu.”

“Hm, yes?”

“If you have time, would you please come with me to visit Baubau Arena?”

The arena was the place Dantë wanted us to fight in. I had something in mind passing by the giant structure to D’Émori’s house, so I wanted to investigate it further with a second pair of eyes. A sly man such as Dantë couldn’t have picked the location so carelessly.