At the top of the summit, Leona managed to drag herself back to the training grounds through sheer might alone.

“Ha… ha… dammit.”

She swallowed dry. Her parched throat and aching body were killing her.

“Welcome back.” She noticed a pair of wooden slippers in front of her and upon tracing her gaze upwards, she noticed it was Robert. He kneeled down and extended his right hand towards her. “Heal.”

A verdant green light enveloped her body and sharp pangs of pain traveled from her legs to her brain in a zap.

“GAH!”

“Hang in there. You somehow managed to drag yourself all the way here despite having some pretty bad injuries. You’ve got some grit.” He chuckled. “Worry not, as long as I heal you within a few minutes of the injury it won’t leave permanent damage.”

“Must you make it this painful?!”

“Hey, good medicine tastes bitter. Or I should say, good healing feels excruciating?”

“How very astute of you…” She gritted her teeth as her hamstrings felt like they were being pulled and torn apart before being placed back in her body. “Goddess have mercy…”

“Oh but I can’t do anything about dehydration. Go get some water when you’re able to.” He stood up. “You can talk to Yuna, she should be near the trail.”

He was about to leave when Leona asked.

“Where are you going? I thought we’d train more magic afterwards.”

“Hm? I just need to get some business out of the way. A certain red haired annoyance has been a thorn on my side as of late.”

His amused expression didn’t leave much room for her to discern what exactly he meant by that.

“Red haired annoyance?”

“You needn’t concern yourself over it.” He brushed the question off as he turned around. “In any case, go get some food in you and prepare for a mock battle after you’ve got some rest. Setsuna said it was entertaining to fight against you.”

“Huh?” He waved with his left hand before snapping his right fingers, disappearing from her sight in the blink of an eye. “Smug bastard.”

She uttered to herself as she stood up. Her body was still aching from pain but it felt different. As opposed to the excruciating pain in her lower body, her legs felt like they were sore from an extensive jog rather than hiking through half a mountain.

Nevertheless, she used her staff to aid her steps as she made her way to the beginning of the trail that led to the shelter in the cave.

At the foot of the path Yuna was preparing lunch by a roaring campfire while reading a thick book she held with her left hand while the right kept feeding a continuous gust of wind over the fire with wind magic.

There were three entire animal ribs with metal spikes ran across them affixed to the ground. The smell of the searing meat and fat dripping over the amber coals left the air filled with a mouth watering aroma that only served to make the tactician even more hungry than she already was.

“Hmm…” The young shrine maiden closed the book with a satisfied expression on her face before leaving it on the nearby wooden table to focus solely on the food being cooked. “I think it should be close to done…”

She rotated her hand while flexing her fingers ever so slightly as if imagining grabbing a hold of the rib before lifting her arm. The metal spike jerked upwards and one entire slab of meat was removed from the ground.

By that point, Leona reached the other side of the table, however she chose to stay quiet while watching Yuna.

‘Gravity magic?’ The tactician thought. ‘I don’t feel any wind element so it must be dark magic…’

The shrine maiden lifted the entire rib before rotating it around its axis in order to make the bones align vertically where she then used her left hand to quickly cast multiple spells.

“Water Blade!”

Thin razor sharp blades of water erupted from her fingertips effortlessly cutting through the meat and only leaving the bones intact. She then proceeded to plate every bone with a generous portion of white rice. At that moment, Yuna turned around to put the plates on the table and noticed the tactician standing at the other side of it.

“Oh, welcome back Miss Leona.” She was holding eight plates in the air with gravity magic while also using the same spell type to scoop the same amount of rice for each plate. “Was your training fruitful?”

“Hello Yuna. I’d say it was ‘too’ fruitful.” She settled her staff on the side of the table and pulled one of the chairs before sitting down. “Can I have a cup of water?”

“Normal or cold?”

“Slightly cold if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Okay.”

Although the shrine maiden’s right hand was handling all aspects of serving the food, her left quickly grabbed a hold of a nearby glass jug filled with water and poured it on a floating glass cup. After filling said cup, she left the jug on the table and snapped her left fingers close to the levitating glass and spheres of ice formed on the surface of the liquid.

“Here you go.”

She gently put the cup in front of Leona alongside her plate of food.

“Oh, thank you.” The crispy cold water refreshed her parched throat as she glugged down the entire thing. “Haaa… I needed that.”

“Father often said that drinking water before a meal is a healthy thing to do, but I never personally felt any different.” Yuna commented as she was finishing putting the plates in front of each seat. “That being said, drinking roasted tea does feel quite good right before and after a meal.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I don’t know about it before a meal but it certainly feels great to drink something refreshing after an intense training session.”

“I know right?”

Leona leaned against her chair as she took a slow and deep breath. The refreshing air had a hint of earthly morning scent mixed with a slightly salty taste from the ocean breeze.

It was peaceful. Peaceful enough to trick her into thinking everything would be alright even if she didn’t lift a finger. However deep in her mind she knew the more time it passed the worse the situation in Arcadia would become.

‘How long will it take until I’m fully prepared?’ She thought while looking at the large white clouds striding along the sky towards the horizon. ‘Alexander won’t wait until he can confirm whether or not I still live. If anything, attacking the demon capital now would be ideal for him.’

She closed her eyes for a brief moment.

‘Do the people really seek revenge even now? Wasn’t enough blood already spilled?’

The more she thought about it, the less it made sense. Humans and demons had once worked together to bring down the dragon god in the past. Despite being an alliance born out of fear, it was one that lasted a thousand years.

‘Not even Adele knew why the war had started…’ She opened her eyes and noticed the clouds parting in the horizon. ‘Adele… why did you sacrifice yourself…?’

A feeling of dread was eating her mind as all worries and fears seemed to come back at once.

“Is there something bothering you, Miss Leona?”

The half oni maid was standing beside her with a glass jug filled with orange juice.

“Oh! Tomoe, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.” She leaned forward and gave her a forced smile. “I was just thinking about the kingdom.”

“I see.” She had a faint smile on her face as well while pouring some of the jug’s content in a spare glass beside Leona’s meal. “Though your expression tells me otherwise, I will not pry if you do not wish to talk about it.”

That made Leona flinch with a surprised look on her face. That situation was all too familiar to her. When she was little, any time something had upset her, Adele would come and ask if she wanted to talk about whatever was bothering her despite Leona’s best attempts to hide it.

The tactician’s forced smile soon turned into a discreet chuckle.

“Heh… you remind me of a very good friend of mine.”

“I am glad to be regarded as a welcomed company.”

She finished pouring the juice and settled the jug on the table before standing at the end of the table, as if waiting for others to arrive.

“Say… Tomoe.” Leona started to talk without really looking at her. “What is your relationship with Ren?”

The maid briefly looked at her but seeing how Leona wasn’t looking at her, she decided to not stare and simply look at the end of the table.

“The young master? I’m simply his maid.”

“No, but… more like, how can I say it…?” She looked downwards as she was trying to find the right words. “Is he someone you would lay your life down for?”

“I can confidently say yes.”

“What makes you say so?”

“I was born and raised in a place far away from here. Though my country and family were torn apart, the young master not only saved me but he gave me a future I could never hope to have if I remained a slave.”

Leona looked at her with widened eyes and a half open mouth.

“You were a slave?!”

“Onis weren’t really seen as people outside of Nara.” She tapped one of the two thin black horns protruding out of her forehead. “These earned me a ship to Nara where I met the young master.”

“I see…”

Leona leaned back again against the chair and closed her eyes.

‘I never did anything for Adele. If anything, she was the one always by my side. But… why then?’

She was absorbed by her thoughts while the rest of the seats were being occupied one by one.

Krieg sat beside her and promptly noticed her expression with a quick glance.

“What troubles you, Leona?” He asked as he was being served orange juice by the maid. “It has been a while since you last had that kind of expression on your face.”

“Just reminiscing about Adele. I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.”

“I’m sure wherever she is, she must be watching over you.”

She smiled faintly.

“Heh, I’m not a kid anymore Krieg.”

“Kid or no, you’re still you. The Princess tactician we all swore to serve and protect. Be it out of duty or respect, I’m sure everyone in the mansion regarded you as a worthy leader to follow.”

Her smile slowly faded as her eyes traced down to the plate of food in front of her.

“She sacrificed herself without a second thought… I prided myself on being a tactician because of the lives I saved, not the ones sacrificed for that end…”

“And that is how wars are fought.” Miyamoto joined the conversation by sitting by the corner of the table near Tomoe, who began to serve a glass of orange juice. “If we could save every single soldier from dying in the frontlines, it could hardly be called a war.”

Krieg gave the swordmaster a stern look while his right hand discreetly clenched tightly into a fist under the table.

“A kingdom without its people is no kingdom at all.” Ren approached the table while carrying another glass jug filled with water. “At least, that is my own opinion on the matter.”

He sat down beside the swordmaster and only then Tomoe walked around the table and sat beside him.

“Alright, alright.” Setsuna approached the table from the other side while clapping her hands. “Enough of this sad conversation. Father said he would be late so we could start eating.” She looked at her sister. “I’ll put in my own portion so you can feel free to sit down and eat.”

“Thanks sis.”

Yuna did as instructed and sat by Leona’s left side while simultaneously using gravity magic to lift the jug of orange juice and pour some for herself.

“I’m sure uncle didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

Yuna said to the tactician while smiling.

“Uncle?” The swordmaster raised an eyebrow while muttering to himself. “Am I that old?”

“Your ideals are old.” Ren gently elbowed him. “Did you lead Nara with that sort of mindset?”

“What else did you want me to do against death angels of all things?”

“Hey.” Setsuna slammed her plate on the table as she was taking the seat beside Yuna. Her tone was still somewhat calm but her face clearly told otherwise. “I’d rather enjoy this meal prepared by my sister and not have to deal with this kind of conversation during it.”

Despite being older than her, both men flinched.

“Urk…”

“I’m sorry. Miss Setsuna.”

“Tsk.” She sat down and pinched her nose ridge. “Father’s attitude is rubbing off on me.”

Yuna giggled. Seeing how serious she was just a second ago prompted Leona to lean closer to the young shrine maiden and ask.

“What exactly made your sister act like that? I never saw her upset before.”

“Father has a saying that he doesn’t mind being stressed, hungry or lacking sleep. But he only does one of them at a time.” She had a wide smile on her face. “Well, not that I mind. I still find it funny.”

Despite the easygoing attitude, Leona faintly noticed a trail of mana coming off Setsuna. Usually it’s not visible unless one is engaging in an activity that uses mana directly, but this time felt different, it was as if she could directly see it coming out of her soul.

“Hm?” The shrine maiden noticed her gaze and turned to face her. “What’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing. Don’t mind me.”

“?”

Setsuna raised an eyebrow but decided not to ask and instead focus on the roasted rib in front of her.

Leona turned to her plate but her mind was racing. It was the first time she ever saw someone else’s mana come out of their body.

A tingling sensation was coming up her throat from the bottom of her stomach, as if she was being pulled towards it like a moth to a fire.

‘What was that…?’