3. Asherah Glade – (24)
***
Today’s story related to arranged marriage is finally coming to an end.
Tolish felt that it was gradually becoming that way. Ashera, who seemed to be responding for the first time, the more I looked at her figure, the more I felt that she wasn’t paying attention to her own words.
Although she seemed to remember the subject of the conversation she brought up and the contents of the words.
“….”
As if to catch her breath for a moment, she quenches her own neck and glances at the blond boy standing behind her.
Ed Gleaard.
What kind of relationship did Asherah have with her? Asherah’s attitude was too foreign to see her as a knight standing in her simple escort.
Occasionally, Edra gave her eyes to her, and even though she had a maid, she poured her own tea. It didn’t even make sense to recommend her rest to a knight who stood in her own escort.
Asherah Her First meeting with her After many years have passed, she has met her again. I couldn’t help but feel it.
Asherah knows that her attitude towards that boy named Ed is obviously different compared to other people.
Afterwards, she told her about her various offers and the advantages of the Birbalce family, but she didn’t feel like she was earning much.
“Today was also fun.”
It seemed like he was going to end the conversation with her. Seeing Tolish finish his speech significantly faster than yesterday, both women, Ashera and Philia, opened their eyes in puzzlement.
Each of the two women had different thoughts, but the common idea was that Tolisch had no idea he would end her position so quickly.
“Asera, as far as I know, the knights of the Glead family have a good reputation in the North for their skills.”
Just as the event was about to end, Tolish suddenly made a fortune.
“… When it comes to training knights, I don’t think there are any shortcomings compared to other families.”
Asherah, who was proud of Glead, did not reject the words of Tolish.
She couldn’t figure out what she meant by saying her words, so she was casting a puzzled look at Tolish.
“I know that Glaade of the North itself protects the North with the uprightness of a mountain, and its knights are far superior to other knight families, but that would be true.”
“… What do you want to say?”
“I am suggesting a swordsmanship competition between knights.”
Tolisch, who slowly looked back at Filia, immediately recognized that gaze. No she headed Ed behind her.
“Now, Asherah, the one who stands as your escort. We know that he was given the surname of Glead. His name is Ed Glead. Is what I know right?”
Tolisch’s attitude of not lowering his horse against the escort knights seemed to be polite at first glance.
“Yes. It is an honor that Lord Tolish of the Marquis of Birbalce knows my name.”
Ed bowed his head lightly to show respect to Tolish.
“So how about it? I wouldn’t dare say that my swordsmanship is better than Glaad’s, but I am also someone who has lived the life of a knight who trains swords. I want to experience Glaad’s swordsmanship once.”
“… That.”
Ashera hesitated for a moment, looking at Ed at her unexpected situation.
Tolish Birbalce.
The eldest son of the Birbalce family, he was known as a knight who reached the highest level at an early age.
Ed Gleaard.
I thought that although he had only recently risen to the top level, he might not have enough experience to deal with Tolish.
Although Ashera was shifting the weight in the direction of rejection.
“Ah. If Ed doesn’t have the confidence, it doesn’t matter if he summons another Glaad knight.”
For a moment, she thought that all her thoughts had become useless at the sight of Tolish saying something like a provocation.
“… If you want to experience Glaad’s swordsmanship like that, I won’t refuse.”
Asera replied coldly and looked back at him softly.
Same words as Tolish’s challenge. In the current situation where he had heard such words so directly, if he pushed him back now, it would be like tarnishing Ed’s honor with his own hands.
Ashera, who contained a little anxiety, looked directly into Ed’s eyes and pursed her lips.
“Prepare… Let him do it.”
From noble mtl dot com.
“Yes.”
Ed gives an immediate answer. Outwardly, he was looking at Tolish with a calm expression, but in Ed’s eyes, Ashera read a kind of fighting spirit that had sunk deeply.
And at that moment, Ashera didn’t notice.
Seeing Asera staring at Ed, Tolish, who secretly clenched her fists, calmed down her heart and ignited her fighting spirit.
However, Philia, who had been watching such a series of situations, let out a small sigh as she read Tolish’s emotions.
‘… It’s not like Tolish.’
Suddenly applying for sparring.
That’s just plain jealousy.
I didn’t think there were any other emotions.
Ed Gleaard. There was a seven-year age difference between Tolisch and the boy.
Tolisch Even if he wins in sparring, it’s a match, and if he loses, Tolisch Birbalce’s prestige will be damaged.
No matter how much the opponent is a knight who was given the castle of Glead. If there was such an objective age difference, it was hard to hear good things about Tolish even if he won.
I thought that it would be a private sparring so that there would be no complications if we talked in advance.
After that, some time passed and Glad. A series of groups took up residence in one of the Gleard family’s gymnasiums.
And at the end of it, Philia couldn’t fulfill her idea of private sparring.
***
“For the first sum, you must do your best.”
Eileen, one of Ashera’s exclusive maids, was talking while looking at Ed, who was checking her armament while arranging her knight’s armor.
If you step out of the space you are in now, there is a gymnasium, and there were already more people gathered there than expected, as if rumors had already spread about the match between Birbalche and Glead.
Obviously, the sparring that was initially meant to be held privately was changed to an open sparring after Tolish first denied it, and later Ed accepted it as well.
Acera and Philia hardened their faces slightly at the sight of them.
Each of them couldn’t help but worry about what would happen in the future, as if they didn’t think of their back.
Now that each other puts on knight’s armor and prepares for sparring. In the space where Ed was preparing, Eileen, Ashera’s exclusive maid, was watching Ed and giving her simple advice.
The characteristics of the Birbalce family’s swordsmanship, and how to behave when facing sparring.
Since she was Eileen who had experience fighting knights before, she was giving information to Ed.
“Do not spend more than a certain level of mana in sparring between knights. Even if you use mana, you have to use it thin enough that the aura blade barely covers the surface of the blade.”
“It’s sparring, not a duel for honor, so you shouldn’t do things like aiming for the opponent’s life or striking the opponent’s vital parts.”
“Wield your sword as much as possible, but you should focus on touching the opponent’s sword.”
Ed, who silently nodded at Aileen’s request to check her equipment instead of answering her own words, looked at Eileen as if he had finished checking all the equipment.
After looking at Ed for a while, Eileen lowered her voice and continued her words.
“What is unfolding now is an ‘open sparring’, so we must not lose. When the opponent wields the sword, even though he is the eldest son of the Marquis of Birbalce and therefore has a high position. Bring your sword and face it with the determination to half-kill your opponent.”
Exactly the opposite of what E Lilyn said just a moment ago, telling her not to attack her opponent’s life and vital parts.
Ed took Eileen’s words as an expression that he must never be defeated.
Even now, he doesn’t say anything and just checks his equipment.
My heart continued to beat non-stop, like boiling lava.
A strange excitement-like emotion continued to circulate throughout my body, and it felt like heat that couldn’t explode in places like my hands.
‘Dalian….’
For the first time, I had a sparring with a knight from another family.
The opponent was also the eldest son of a well-known marquess family.
Can you say that the emotions you are feeling right now are simple excitement?
No, this simmering feeling was too weak to be dismissed as excitement.
Refreshing.
Rage.
Before.
Fight.
Various emotions swirled in his heart.
My body seemed to be delighted to finally be able to wield a sword.
Tolisch Birbalce My own fiery emotions, which had risen strangely since the first time I met him, continued unabated.
As he brought up the story of a political marriage and just watched the conversation with Lady Ashera, the feelings continued to circulate in his heart as if he didn’t know the end.
Everything is ready when Ed wears the helmet.
Glead’s knight’s armor that seems to envelop the entire body in blue light.
Ed, who was given the castle of Glaad, was soon able to receive a knight’s armor that fit his body, so the knight’s armor he was wearing now boasted a beautiful appearance and was tailored to Ed’s body shape.
Compared to general knight’s armor, its durability was of course high, and it was an armor that had a certain level of resilience even against crushing and scratches.
“Never… Don’t give up.”
Eileen knew that it had already been about two years since Tolish reached the highest level.
That’s why, rather than hoping for victory, I wanted Ed to finish the sparring without losing.
“I will win.”
However, Ed accepted Eileen’s words with a confident smile.
He is so confident that it is hard to believe that it is his voice…. Eileen made a slightly surprised expression at the voice overflowing with ambition.
“… I like that spirit.”
After Eileen’s words, Ed left the space and headed for the gymnasium.
The appearance of a knight full of fighting spirit, contrasting with his usual soft and stiff appearance.
‘After all, he must be a knight too.’
**
“Tolisch Birbalze, Ed Glaad. I would like the two knights to confirm their ideals regarding their own armaments.”
Glead. One of the family’s vassals raised his voice with a hint of uneasiness.
Birbalce and Glead are seated in the waiting area outside the gymnasium. In addition to the people from the family, there were even some people from other families who had heard the rumors.
Most of the people were full of anticipation for the upcoming match.
At the center of the waiting stone, there were Asera Glade, Philia Nardia, and other glades, as well as retainers following the Birbalche family. In the other waiting stone seats, people from other families were holding their seats. .
Compared to the vassals of the Birbalce family, who felt trust in the way they looked at Tolisch as if they were relaxed, the vassals of Glaad were feeling a bit uneasy as they looked at Ed, who was seated in the center of the gymnasium.
Tolish Birbalce. He was a knight who had reached the highest level of knighthood early on, and was a knight who raised his name even in Arvaltea, the capital of the empire.
Compared to him, Ed Glead. The vassals knew that he had recently attained enlightenment and reached the highest rank, but it was unreasonable to see a knight who had reached the highest rank earlier and a knight who had just reached the highest rank at the same level.
However, they still had expectations for Ed, thinking that Ed was also a Knight of Glaad.
“Equipment check finished.”
“Equipment check finished.”
It seems that they have finished checking the equipment to prevent accidents prior to the sparring. Tolish and Ed each spoke.
“Keep in mind that this is a sparring, and think first of all that you have to compete with each other’s swordsmanship.”
After those words, the vassal who was in charge of Dalian’s moderator was slowly moving from the center to the waiting room.
The vassal reached the waiting table and lifted the small instrument hanging from his neck….
ㅡPuuu!!!
Blowing vigorously, the ‘start of sparring’ between the two families of Glaad and Birbalce was greatly announced.
Isn’t Eileen the best girl??