Sword, Magic and Academic Society

"Hmm, fine. Just don't drag me down with you."

"...I’ll do my best."

After successfully receiving permission from Olina-san, I glanced at my mother. 

This was probably the first time I would be facing her with such seriousness. 

My wind magic faintly captured her breathing pattern. It was a series of unhurried, and shallow breathing. Her feet were rooted to the ground so firmly, it was as if she and the floor were one. 

I was sure that she was paying attention to me in a corner of her mind, but her eyes were focused on Olina-san. 

I was pretty far from either of their levels, so I didn't understand everything, but maybe it was a tactic to gauge each other's caliber by not rushing to take action. 

"What's the matter? If you're not making the first move—"

After a momentary silent stare-off, Olina-san spoke while slightly moving forward when— my elder sister chuckled as she jumped backward.

The earlier leeway vanished from Oliana-san's expression when she saw that, replaced by an astounded look. 

"————I knew you would do that, Elder Sister!!!"

I promptly jumped to the left from my sister's viewpoint— in short, I was directly between her and His Majesty. 

I knew that was coming. I thought to myself, what would I do to create an opening in Olina-san's form? A frontal clash in a 2-vs-1 scenario would be a fool's errand. 

In that case, it would be best to use something in the surrounding as a distraction. By reaching that conclusion, the only way to force a reaction from Olina-san was to use something — in this case, it was His Majesty — that she would and must protect even if it cost her life. 

But of course, a person with common sense, like me, might think of it but would know that it was a move that was close to insanity. 

However, my elder sister was someone who would do it, that I had no doubt. 

That said, she wouldn't be thinking of actually targeting His Majesty at all. Plus, there were two knights stationed by his side, and they should be trained enough to hold their ground against her, not to mention the fact that her weapon had a dull edge. 

However, Olina-san wouldn't be able to stay calm, especially after noticing my sister's momentary burst of power... Wait, could it be—

Such doubt would certainly be able to create the opening they needed. A possible victory gained through such an act might make our family face some harsh criticism. I stepped up precisely to make sure no such incident happened. After all, Olina-san may be formidable, but 2-vs-1 wasn't a pretty situation to handle.

"I knew you would do that, Allen-kun! But… I can't have you get in the way, so stay there!"

My sister said that, and sharply turned toward Olina-san while throwing her sword at me. 

I managed to divert her charge, though as an attendee of this event, I couldn't let the sword reach His Majesty.

I parried the hurled sword and glanced at my sister. I noticed that my mother followed up with an upward slash from the right-hand side, taking advantage of the gap in Olina-san's focus due to my sister's action.

*Clang!!!!*

Seeing that I managed to deal with the incident without issues, Olina-san also hastily adjusted her stance and responded to the incoming slash. In the worst way possible, they were now locked in a stalemate.

Meanwhile, my sister, having created some distance between us, hurled a fist at Olina-san's face. 

"Rrrrrghhh!"

Oliana-san hastily pushed back my mother’s sword as she channeled her mana into overdrive mode, and accepted the incoming fist with her forehead.

*THUMMMP!*

A dull sound echoed as fresh blood sprayed from my sister's fist. The sound was an indicator that maybe she had hurt her knuckles, yet she continued to rain down fist after fist in rapid succession, giving Olina-san not even a moment to collect herself. 

My sister wasn't much of a swordsman. As far as I had seen her in action during her training sessions back at the Rovenne territory since childhood, she had never shown that great of an inclination to sword.

So my sister losing the sword was rather akin to her dropping a burden. Instead, her main forte was her speed, which she combined with close-combat martial arts along with all forms of techniques as it allowed her to exert her full strength unhindered. We might share the same blood, but even I had to say that her talent was abnormal, falling out of any logical domain I knew of. 

She knew her forte quite comprehensively, hence why she unhesitatingly threw the sword away. 

Olina-san accepted the machine gun-ish fist barrage with her mana guard while keeping my mother at bay, though the onslaught had forced her half a step back. The only thing that was stopping her from dealing with my sister was the existence of my mother, a lapse of focus on her part would give my mother a chance to launch her ferocious attack.

"Mother!"

The cry from my sister made my mother glance at me for a moment as I ran toward Olina-san to help her out. 

Then, with a slight smile on the corner of her mouth, she executed a horizontal slash without a trace of hesitation.

Holy mother of Christ, she couldn't be serious, right?! This was where she was supposed to cut us some slack, oh God!

"Rrrggh!"

Olina-san's posture crumbled away as she tanked the sweeping attack from my mother. Meanwhile, my sister must have predicted the situation to turn out like this as she delivered a low roundhouse kick from behind.

However, Olina-san, with unbelievable reflexes, managed to dodge my sister's sweeping roundhouse kick by jumping. 

Seeing that, my mother finally grasped her sword with two hands and took a stance, preparing for a ruthless cleaving strike.

Following her jump, Olina-san's gaze met my mother’s while she was still in the air and both of them flashed a grin.

Oh, for the love of God, what the hell are you guys happy about?! We're not putting on a performance!

The situation was clearly in my mother's favor. 

I was about to rush over to assist, but then I realized that if I wasn't careful, a major accident could happen, leading to a victory for both my mother and sister. So, I turned to using my wind magic.

"Howling Dragon"

I whispered the name of the spell as if reciting it. I kept myself from shouting it to create a sense of grandeur. In fact, I had a badass incantation specially prepared for it, though I had to forgo using it for now due to the urgency of the situation.

Having been caught in my magic, my mother and sister's bodies stiffened momentarily as their steps staggered.

Olina-san exploited the opportunity in a timely manner and fractured the sword in my mother's hand with a follow-up strike while she grabbed my sister by her head and brought her down to the floor.

"......I surrender."

My mother let go of her now halved sword and raised both hands to signal her surrender.

◆

Beads of sweat trickled down Olina-san's forehead. 

The match had come to a conclusion, but no one spoke a word. After experiencing such a tantalizing match, I wasn't surprised by their stunned silence. 

The one who shattered the awkwardness drifting in the air was none other than my elder sister who started all of this.

She happily hopped back on her feet with a bright smile, and wiped the blood from her forehead with the sleeve of her dress.

"Ahaha~, I lost. A pity I couldn't show my cool side to Allen-kun."

My mother sighed and rebuked her.

"How could you target His Majesty, Rose? It was supposed to be a mere spar. Learn to consider time and place, alright?"

A pout crept on my sister's face.

"But why? You didn't miss the chance to exploit the gap though. And that's what you taught me— 'You must resolutely hold your weapon no matter who you're facing. This is what it means to be a defender.' You’ve been telling me that since I was three, I think?"

She retorted. Nonetheless, my mother's stare continued to bore down on her. In the end, my sister flinched slightly and raised her hands in defeat.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I went overboard. I'm sorry."

As the two wrapped up their carefree exchange, one of the guests, having finally broken out of their trance, I think his name was Andrew-san, suddenly raised his voice in anger.

"Y-you think 'sorry' is enough?! How are you going to make amends for this travesty, Viscount Bellwood Von Rovenne?!"

My father, who had been staring at a potted plant, finally looked up and turned around with a genuinely surprised expression.

"Huh, ah, my bad. I was so entranced by the beautiful branches of the flowering quince tree that I didn't see the details. What about you, Schord?"

He pretended to be oblivious to the situation, and even pushed the problem to Schord.

"Now I see, so this has been your doing, Unceasing Prudence? Was your so-called lofty philosophical views about fortitude and spirit merely a stunt?! Answer me!"

Andrew-san next turned his attention to Schord despite the latter having no relation to the situation.

Schord, who had been standing at the corner of the venue, shook his head when people looked his way.

"That's rather a weird question to ask me, a commoner devoid of any martial arts talent. Moreover, the concept of fortitude and spirit had been conceived by Young Master Allen, which he's gradually fostering."

With an innocuous smile, Schord said this, and then turned to Olina-san.

"—'Fret not, I know when to take control of the situation if something goes wrong. You can't be a knight unless you're capable of that much, after all. So show me your strength.' I believe Olina-sama had said this herself. May I ask, have you found the answer?"

Everyone was taken aback by Schord's carefree words— except for one person.

His Majesty crackled in laughter.

"Kuku. Hahahaha! That was fun! This has to be the first performance I have ever had so much fun in!"

"You count this blasphemy as a p-performance, Your Majesty? This lass just pointed her sword at you!"

"She had no intention to harm me, I just happened to be in the way. Above all, knight Allen had promptly taken action to thwart the danger. This is still well within the realm of entertainment."

"However, Allen Rovenne himself had verbally said that 'I knew you would do that,' this isn't—"

"But don't you agree that it's only fun this way? Olina-san's expression was priceless, I must say. Hahaha… Alright, I won’t be receiving any more complaints about it. There's no need to make a mountain out of a molehill. And Olina, have you measured Cecilia's strength enough as a guardian? You wouldn’t suggest canceling the soirée now, would you?"

As His Majesty asked with a grin, Olina-san sighed.

"...Yes, Your Majesty. Of course, there is no problem. 

Caprine! Add six more knights to the security detail! Focus on protecting His Majesty and Yua-sama! His Majesty is due for a foreign trip starting tomorrow. Ensure the same level of vigilance as if protecting him during diplomatic negotiations with a foreign country! In case any mischievous person appears, buy us some time. I’ll take care of them. 

Roselia, you stay 10 meters away while Cecilia, you stay at least 15 meters away from His Majesty and Yua-sama."

After giving these instructions, Olina-san turned to His Majesty and declared with a serious face, "Everything is settled now."