Although Karya patiently apologized and explained in detail why it had happened, the "Outstanding Graduate's Battle Record" still got under Lux's skin.
For some time afterward, she devoted herself wholeheartedly to carving Magic Circuits and doing simulated training. Her opponents in the simulations had gone from scarabs at first to more cunning desert jackals and hyenas, as well as poisonous desert monitor lizards and snakes.
As she faced different enemies, Lux gradually learned to adapt and deal with each one strategically. After all, every kind of animal she encountered had appeared in one of Karya's bedtime stories.
Once she realized this, Lux began thinking proactively about their strengths and weaknesses, then planning how to counter them.
As her experience grew, Lux finally began to show signs of turning her talent into combat ability.
This went smoothly right up until the fifth chapter of her virtual training.
That was where she encountered sand raiders.
It was the first time Lux had faced humans as training opponents. Even though she knew perfectly well that they weren't real, that they were merely products of a memory, she was still taken aback when she saw the sand raiders. She simply couldn't bring herself to attack.
Unlike the utterly wicked villains she'd imagined, the sand raiders in the simulation weren't much different from the scavengers she'd met before. They were just as ragged and just as frail.
The only things that set them apart from scavengers were the weapons in their hands and the bloodlust in their eyes.
When they spotted Lux, the sand raiders drew their sharp scimitars. The blades gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight.
One by one, their greedy eyes fixed on Lux, their leering gazes practically tangible as they looked her up and down.
Even in the scorching desert, even dressed in a robe, Lux couldn't help shivering.
Lux didn't know Old Shuriman, so she couldn't understand what the sand raiders were saying.
But from their expressions and eyes, Lux could still feel the malice stabbing straight into her soul. Their undisguised greed was even more direct, even more bestial, than that of the hyenas she'd faced before.
They were human, but more terrifying than beasts.
The sand raiders rushed at her as one.
As soon as they attacked, it was obvious they wanted to capture Lux alive. And what would happen after that...
Lux wasn't about to believe they wanted to be friends.
The last trace of hesitation she'd felt about fighting her own kind vanished completely. Lux took a deep breath, raised her left hand, and gathered a sphere of light in her palm. Then she gently swept it over her sword.
Wherever her hand passed, the longsword in Lux's grip began to shine brilliantly.
The next moment, as the sand raiders stared in astonishment, she charged forward with her sword!
The enchanted blade sliced through their desert scimitars with ease.
The astonishing display sent the sand raiders scattering. Lux picked the two slowest runners and quickly put them out of their misery.
Even after all that, though she'd grown used to the smell of blood in her battles with jackals and hyenas, Lux still felt sick.
Before she could steady herself and suppress the urge to vomit, the sand raiders reached a "safe distance" and drew their slings and javelins.
This was Lux's first time facing ranged attacks. The whistling stones and javelins streaking through the air left her momentarily at a loss. Her earlier fights had gotten her used to ending battles up close, and having her enemies keep their distance and wear her down was a first.
But after so many simulated battles, Lux was no longer a novice. She silently gauged how much stamina she had left, pressed her lips together, and planted her sword in the sand at her feet. Then she raised her left hand high.
In Lux's palm, the lively sprites of light suddenly became furious heralds of light's punishment. Brilliant light burst above her head, then crystallized into solid, needle-like beams that shot out in a dense volley.
The beams came down like heavy rain, striking the sand raiders still hurling stones and javelins at her.
And just as rain could wash away filth, this shower of crystalline light cleansed a whole band of filthy souls.
When the dust settled, Lux felt weak again, for the first time in a while. She toppled backward onto the dune and gasped for breath.
Unlike when she'd defeated the jackals, hyenas, monitor lizards, and venomous snakes, this time Lux felt no joy of victory at all.
"Lying down right after a fight isn't a good habit." As Lux struggled with how she felt, Karya came over and held out an arm to help her up. "After strenuous exercise, even if you're exhausted, you should walk around as much as you can. That's how you keep from hurting yourself."
Lux said nothing. She'd felt the roughness of Karya's palm, even rougher than her father's.
He claimed to be a teacher... So why were his hands so rough?
Thinking back on the enemies she'd faced and the places she'd seen in the simulated training, Lux finally understood that when Karya called himself "an old fellow who'd seen too much of the world's suffering," he hadn't been joking.
At the thought, Lux's dreadful mood suddenly seemed... not quite so bad.
She even felt a little sorry for Karya. So she opened her arms, rose onto her toes, and hugged him. Like a little grown-up, she patted his back and said softly, "You've worked hard."
Karya stared at her, dumbfounded. She'd stolen his line.
He'd meant to comfort Lux after her first real fight. But as soon as he'd helped her up, she'd turned around and comforted him instead...
That girl!
"Being cute won't help." Karya snorted and turned away. "Training's not over. Don't waste time here. It's Sona's turn!"
Karya had been worried that Sona might hesitate when she faced the sand raiders.
He hadn't expected the seemingly delicate Sona to be even fiercer than Lux. Under the influence of her music, the sand raiders turned on one another, and the last one standing eventually fell to the lingering notes of her instrument. Sona hadn't even blinked once throughout the whole thing.
"Don't your eyes get dry?" Karya asked, helplessly watching Sona's calm expression. "You and Lux are both so strange. Neither of you was calm at all in your first fight, but when it was your first time fighting people, you finished up as if nothing had happened..."
Before Karya could finish, Sona suddenly shoved her zither, Aihua, into his arms, then bent over and retched.
In a simulated training session, Sona couldn't actually bring anything up. But at least reacting that way made her feel a little better.
"I got completely swept up in the mad music..." At the sight of Karya's stunned expression, Sona's face turned bright red. "I didn't expect it to happen either."
"Fine, fine." Karya waved a hand. "The important thing is you both passed this training session. If you're tired, we're done for today. Hurry up!"
After more than a month of training, Lux and Sona passed Karya's first round of simulated training and gained a measure of real combat ability.
Then, just as Karya began preparing for the second round of practical training, Ogesha sought out Lux and gave her a "practical assignment" on behalf of the Crown Guard family.
"What? You want me to go back to Silvermine City?" Lux was surprised by her mother's request. "To look into the frost disaster there, assess the tax situation, and organize relief efforts?"
"That's right." Ogesha nodded and stroked her daughter's smooth, golden hair. "You're twelve now. You can start learning how to handle the family's internal affairs."
"But I've never dealt with any of this before!" Lux wasn't against helping with disaster relief, but she was still worried. "I'm afraid I'll mess everything up..."
"Don't worry too much, sweetheart." Ogesha smiled. "Mr. Kuren will be going with you. You'll be in charge in name, but the real purpose is for you to learn. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask Mr. Kuren."
"...Phew, so that's how it is!" Lux patted her chest. "That's a relief. But it'll take a long time to get from here to Silvermine City. Father's at the Gate of Sorrows, and Aunt's gone to Irondale. That'll leave just you and my brother at home. Won't it be too quiet?"
"Your brother is going off to join the army too," Ogesha corrected her. "But he'll be stationed not far from Silvermine City. And Tiana wrote last time to say that her work in Irondale is nearly finished. Maybe the three of you can spend the New Year together in Silvermine City!"
"What about you?" Lux frowned. "Why don't... you come with me, Mother? We can spend the New Year in Silvermine City this year and leave Father by himself at the Gate of Sorrows with his soldiers!"
"Don't talk about your father like that." Ogesha pinched her little darling's nose. "I'm not going. Someone has to stay in Demacia City. Since our little princess is leaving on family business, I'll have to stay behind and fill in..."
Lux eventually accepted the relief assignment.
Back in her bedroom, Lux tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
On one hand, she didn't want to leave her mother or be separated from Sona. On the other, she was excited at the thought of going out to see the world on her own. Even if, as Ogesha had said, she'd be learning from Mr. Kuren, she was still looking forward to it.
"Karya, Karya, do you think Mother will be bored all by herself in Demacia City?"
"No. She'll only have more work to do. She'll have to take over all the banquets you used to attend."
"Karya, Karya, won't Sona fall behind in her studies?"
"She can focus on studying music for a while, practice more, learn Demacia's classical musical styles, or even join an orchestra. She won't fall behind."
"Karya, Karya, have you ever been separated from your friends?"
"Yes. Many times."
"Karya, Karya—"
"..."
"Karya..."
"..."
In the end, Karya was so dizzy from Lux's endless questions that he had to end the conversation with a story. But as soon as he'd started, Lux was fast asleep.
"Darn girl." Karya sighed softly. "Well, let me think... Silvermine City..."
Before you continue