Isolte

When Hilde woke up, what she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

She forced herself to prop up her body, trying to sit, but the stabbing pain from her back quickly made her give up on that idea.

She reached back and felt around, and found that the wound had basically healed.

Some of the bones inside probably still had not grown back properly.

This was the first time she had ever been hurt this badly.

Ever since she was little, her body had been so absurdly tough that even falling from a high place would not injure her, and she never got sick either.

For a while, Hilde had even thought maybe she had some kind of invincibility cheat.

But obviously, she did not.

Although she did not know why her constitution was so unusual, it was clear that this unusualness had no limitless ceiling.

A special constitution was still just a special constitution. It was not some superpower...

Especially in this world of swords and magic.

Things like being born with divine strength did not sound all that amazing either. In the end, it just meant her lower and upper limits were a little higher than other people's.

At most, it only meant she had a bit more talent than ordinary people.

"..."

No, wait. Why was she getting depressed all of a sudden?

Sure enough, she really could not just lie around. Once a person had nothing to do, their thoughts started running wild.

Hilde tried hard to roll over.

After resting for so long, she should have already escaped the danger to her life, pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pain—

"Hilde! What are you doing?"

Isolte, who had heard the movement from next door and had just entered, saw Hilde trembling all over as she tried to get up.

She hurriedly pressed her back down.

"Do you have a death wish? You're this badly injured and you still dare move around?"

"Actually, my constitution is special. I'm not that fragile..."

"That still won't do. Lie down for now."

Isolte clearly had no intention of arguing with Hilde and held her down without another word.

Hilde had no choice.

Even in peak condition, she could not beat Isolte, much less now.

"Ah, right."

Isolte remembered the important matter and smiled.

"Congratulations. Starting today, you're a member of our dojo. From now on, you'll receive Teacher Linus's guidance together with me, and Grandma will also personally keep an eye on your training progress."

"...Is that so? That's good."

Hilde gave a faint nod.

Her purpose in coming here was to enter the dojo and study. Although there had been a bit of trouble, she had achieved her goal in the end.

Entering the dojo was only the first step.

Once she turned fifteen and became an adult in the legal sense, she planned to take the Asura Kingdom's knight examination.

As long as she passed the knight examination, she could become an official knight ennobled by the kingdom.

In terms of status, that would even place her half a rank above a knight ennobled by a lord like Paul, similar to the difference between the central army and the local army?

Hilde did not understand it that well either.

In any case, that was more or less the idea.

"Just focus on recovering here today. Once your injuries heal, we'll begin proper training."

Isolte stood up.

The current Hilde needed rest.

Even if she was taking care of her, it would be better to disturb her as little as possible.

Besides...

Isolte recalled her previous fight with Hilde.

That feeling of competing with someone her own age, that urgency as if someone were chasing her from behind and might overtake her at any moment.

It really was her first time feeling that.

Still, this feeling was not bad at all.

Thinking that, Isolte threw herself wholeheartedly into her training.

The weather was always pleasant at the turn of spring and summer.

Isolte wore heavy armor in the courtyard and swung a wooden sword.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The sounds of gaps in the armor clashing and the wooden sword cutting through the air continued without end.

Unlike the swordsmen of the Sword God Style, who were always leaping and darting about, Water God Style battles often did not even require movement. As a sword technique centered on defense and counterattack, most practitioners wore armor that offered protection against blades.

Leaving aside the essence of its swordsmanship philosophy, wearing armor could also be considered a kind of weighted training.

Sweat poured down like rain, streaming uncontrollably along Isolte's neck and soaking the front of her clothes. Feeling driven for the first time in so long, that sense of urgency as if someone were chasing her from behind, made even the arm gripping her sword forget its fatigue.

By the time she came back to herself, it was already evening.

Isolte wiped away her sweat and felt her throat was so dry it seemed ready to burn. She took a deep breath and was just about to get some water to moisten her throat when she saw a figure swaying out of the dojo.

"Hilde? Why are you up again?"

Isolte no longer cared about drinking water.

She rushed over at a trot and supported her.

"I'm fine. You don't need to be so nervous."

Hilde looked at her helplessly. Why did it feel like this girl was even more worked up than she was?

"You really are strange. You were injured that badly, and instead of lying properly in bed to recover, you're running around?"

"If I kept lying down, my body would rust... Besides, my wounds are already healed."

"How could that be..."

"If you don't believe me, you can take a look."

Hilde turned around, putting her back to Isolte, and lightly undid the buttons with her fingertips.

The fabric slipped silently from her shoulders, revealing inch by inch that smooth, fair skin, like silk quietly unfurling.

Isolte's breath caught slightly.

The once-hideous wound had now vanished without a trace. Her back was so clean and smooth it was as if she had never been hurt, with only the gentle rise and fall of her lines sketching a soft contour in the thin air.

"But it was clearly so serious this morning..."

"It looked serious, but it was only a flesh wound. No important organs were injured, and only a few bones were broken. That was all within the scope of what advanced healing magic could handle."

"I-Is that so..."

Isolte unconsciously pressed her lips together.

Her gaze wandered along the curve of that spine, from shoulder blades to waist, slender and fair, without the slightest trace of training. Her fingertips seemed to move with a will of their own, reaching forward until they almost touched that warm, smooth skin.

It was incredible. Such a body actually contained such astonishing power.

What was she made of...

"Are you done looking?" Hilde suddenly asked.

Isolte's hand froze in midair, and she snapped back to herself.

She hurriedly gathered up the shirt and gently draped it back over Hilde's shoulders.

Her fingertips accidentally brushed the other girl's shoulder, bringing a faint ticklish sensation.

"Why did you suddenly take your clothes off? What if someone saw?"

"Because there's no one here."

Hilde endured the faint sting on her back and put her shirt back on.

"The dojo is about to close, too. It's about time I left."

"Are you really all right now?"

"Of course."

"Then wait for me a moment."

Isolte went to change out of her armor, then came to see Hilde off.

Hilde was very unaccustomed to Isolte's attentiveness.

Or rather...

Even giving bread to strangers by the roadside was something she found hard to understand.

Was this girl just naturally warmhearted with everyone?

A girl's heart really was impossible to read...

In any case, even when Hilde politely declined, Isolte still forcibly escorted her to the dojo entrance.

"See you tomorrow," Isolte said, her face full of enthusiasm.

"All right."

Hilde nodded helplessly.

She left with steps as steady as she could make them, trying not to let Isolte notice anything wrong... But unfortunately, that was basically impossible.

Watching Hilde's slightly swaying figure gradually recede into the distance, Isolte bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, her hand gently pressing against her chest now that she had taken off her armor...

Her heart was beating so fast.

Of course, this wasn't love or anything like that.

It was just that the girl before her, born in some remote countryside, had traveled thousands of miles alone to study in an unfamiliar city. She didn't want to be looked down on, and even after suffering such serious injuries, she had stubbornly refused to collapse. Even her footsteps had to be forced strong, unwilling to let anyone see her weakness.

She was the kind of person who, even if her teeth were smashed, would swallow them with a blank face and say, "Is that all you've got?" Stubborn to the point that it made people wonder, "Is there really any need to go that far?"

Someone like that was really...

Too cute.

It stirred up an intense urge to protect her, to hold her in the palm of her hand, to hug her tightly in her arms...

"Oh, what am I even thinking?"

Isolte patted her burning cheeks.

She couldn't let her thoughts run wild like this.

Sigh, sword practice.