Chapter 97
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 97
The dress shop that Fatima introduced was quite spacious, occupying an entire two-story building. The first floor offered relatively affordable prices, while the second floor appeared to be reserved for more distinguished clientele.
Echinacea Loaz, Alice Winterbell, and Fatima began selecting dresses on the first floor, trying on the displayed gowns. Though the banquet was still about ten days away, that timeframe was insufficient for custom tailoring. They could only choose ready-made pieces and have minor alterations or adjustments made to the embellishments.
"Alice, try this one on."
"It doesn't appear particularly different from what I'm currently wearing."
"What are you talking about? It's completely different! You're so slender and tall—a clean, elegant style like this suits you perfectly."
Alice sighed and changed into the dress. The attending staff member gasped in admiration.
"Oh my, it suits you beautifully!"
"Doesn't it? Hmm, but I think it would look better without the panniers. Do you have any dresses that show the lower body line?"
"Of course. We have styles that came from the west—they're quite fashionable these days. Would you like to see them?"
"Yes, please bring them. In white or bright shades of blue."
"And in a simple style, I presume. You certainly have excellent taste, madam."
The staff member winked and went to fetch the dresses. Alice started to protest but, seeing how visibly excited I was, simply sighed again. I had set aside my own dress selection and was thoroughly absorbed in dressing Alice up. With her tall frame and elegant bearing, Alice was more than worth the effort of trying on different gowns.
As I examined Alice's short hair, barely reaching her neck, contemplating how best to style it, Fatima passed by in a dress she had just changed into.
"...Senior, just a moment."
"Hmm?"
"You're not planning to choose that dress, are you?"
"Why? Don't you like it?"
Fatima tilted her head and spun around. The brilliant blue dress, embroidered densely with large red flowers bigger than a palm, swayed along with her braided black hair. Fatima was adorable, but that dress was not the right choice. I swallowed back a deep sigh rising in my chest.
I had spent fifteen years away from high society before returning. Yet no matter how long I'd been gone, I still retained some memory of the fashions from around my twentieth birthday, when I had just come of age and was caught up in the excitement of it all. In truth, even if I had forgotten, a single walk around the dress shop would have given me a sense of the latest trends. For the woman I was before becoming entangled with the Demonic Sword, such knowledge was second nature.
"Senior, not that one... Ah, this one. Try this on."
"I like flashy things! I prefer dresses with lots of embroidery."
"Well, how about this? It has embroidery too, but it will suit you far better than what you're wearing now."
"Isn't the color too dull?"
"Once you try it on, I think you'll find it different."
"Hmm..."
Fatima knitted her brows and examined the dress I offered, then took it into the fitting room. With the staff's assistance, she changed into it and soon burst back out with a radiant smile.
"Wow, it didn't look like much on the hanger, but it's so pretty on! I really love it!"
"Clothes are often difficult to judge until you try them on."
"But how did you know it would suit me?"
"Experience and attention. Understanding swordplay is not so different from being able to recognize another's technique once you know the blade."
"That's impressive... I've always just worn whatever my handmaids gave me. If I chose for myself, I'd be scolded."
Fatima laughed softly. I felt my preconceptions solidifying.
'Cadets really are cadets, aren't they...'
The cadets of Agenka were sword prodigies filtered from the finest talents gathered across the entire continent. As a result, most of them were rather inexperienced in matters beyond swordplay. Even among noble-born women, Fatima was completely different from the young ladies of society I had once associated with.
It wasn't a matter of one being better than the other. It was simply that what I needed in this moment was not myself as a swordswoman, but my former self—the countess's daughter who had taken keen interest in high society. And that realization brought me considerable joy.
Fatima, who had been marveling at her reflection in the mirror, suddenly turned to face me. Her large, round eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Echinacea, will you help me choose shoes and accessories to match?"
"Of course. Let's bring Alice along as well."
"Pardon? I thought we were only purchasing a dress?"
"Alice doesn't have shoes. Surely you weren't planning to wear leather boots with a dress?"
"...."
The staff member who had left earlier returned, pulling a clothing rack laden with Western-style dresses. She squeezed between them and, noticing Echinacea's hair, asked carefully.
"Excuse me, are you Echinacea Loaz?"
"Yes, that's me."
"There's someone looking for you on the second floor."
"For me?"
"They saw you pass by and asked if the young lady with the pink hair was Echinacea Loaz. The person looking for you is Teresa von Frang Almari. Will you come with me?"
"Ah... yes."
I answered uncertainly. Why was Teresa here? And she was looking for me? What could this be about? The first thing that came to mind was the advice I'd given Mikhail. Had Mikhail sparred with Teresa? Or was it something else?
In any case, when a Giosa Owner summons you, a cadet can't refuse. At the mention of Teresa, Alice's eyes filled with admiration as she saw me off. I left Fatima and Alice behind and followed the staff member alone to the second floor.
The second floor had a distinctly different atmosphere, apparently arranged for special customers. It was more luxurious and quiet, with several reception rooms arranged so guests wouldn't encounter each other. The staff member guided me to one of them.
"You can go in."
The staff member, smiling kindly, withdrew. Expanding my senses, I felt that only Teresa was inside the reception room. I stood before the door and straightened my appearance. Since I'd gone out with Fatima and Alice, I wasn't wearing a hat or veil. With only a simple jeweled pin in my hair, my face was completely exposed.
'...It's fine. Teresa doesn't remember.'
If she had remembered, she would have been present when Yurien stopped the Specter in White Raven Gorge. Despite my rational judgment, the tension didn't easily fade. I'd encountered or passed by Teresa several times before, but this was the first time I'd be alone with her in such close quarters.
I checked my appearance once more in the mirror hanging in the hallway, took a deep breath, and opened the door. The moment I stepped inside and closed it behind me, I heard a voice unusually low for a woman.
"You came."
Teresa sat on the sofa in her uniform, her long, wavy blonde hair carelessly tied back. She flipped through a thick dress sample book placed on the table before her and gestured toward the sofa across from her.
"Sit down first."
"Hello, Teresa von Frang Almari. I am...."
"Introductions aren't necessary. I already know."
I sat down carefully across from Teresa. Only then did she look up, her green eyes studying me.
Teresa was taller even than Alice, with a lean, muscular frame honed through rigorous training. Unlike her younger brother Mikhail, who was an angelic-looking boy with delicate features, her eyes were sharp and fierce. Yet they resembled each other enough that their sibling bond was unmistakable.
"This is our first proper meeting, isn't it? Squire Echinacea Loaz."
Teresa studied me quietly, then smiled slightly and spoke. Before I could respond, she got straight to the point.
"Mikhail came to see me yesterday. I sparred with that boy for the first time in a long while."
So it was about Mikhail after all. I felt inwardly relieved yet simultaneously tense. I'd thought Mikhail was too proud to mention me, but it seemed he'd told her about the advice I'd given during their match.
"I've never heard of the Loaz Family. I looked into it briefly and found that the family has produced almost no knights. We've never had any dealings with your family either. Besides, you're from a different country altogether."
Teresa kept her eyes on the sample book, turning pages and muttering as if to herself. She picked up a quill pen and wrote dress numbers on a piece of paper beside the samples.
"Which means you either never had the chance to witness Frang Almari swordsmanship, or if you did, the odds of you truly understanding it are extremely low."
After writing several numbers, Teresa set down her quill pen. Then she looked up and fixed her gaze directly on me.
"So how exactly do you know about the secret techniques of Frang Almari? Answer me, Echinacea Loaz."
"...Secret techniques?"
"Don't play dumb. Mikhail told me everything. You used that technique from the very first time you faced him, didn't you?"
Teresa's gaze was intensely cold. There was caution and scrutiny in her eyes. And I was genuinely flustered.
'Secret techniques? A family secret technique? Could it be that sword strike I used?'
What was she talking about? I had simply instinctively recognized the most vulnerable point in Frang Almari's defensive stance and determined the most efficient way to attack it, then acted accordingly.
[Wait, isn't a secret technique supposed to be something really important? If the master figured it out, does that mean we're fighting to keep the secret now? Wow, if we fight, I should kill her!]
The Demonic Sword, which had been dozing out of boredom while I was choosing dresses, suddenly became animated and chattered excitedly. I cursed the Demonic Sword inwardly and hastily made an excuse.
"Teresa, if you're referring to the attack method I taught Mikhail during our sparring match, that was simply something I came up with on the spot...."
"The swordsmanship of Frang Almari."
Teresa cut off my words. She explained with crisp, deliberate pronunciation, as if pressing each letter firmly into paper.
"It is founded upon counterattacks based on defense, and therefore revolves around a defensive focus. The heirs of Frang Almari learn first and foremost how to become an impenetrable wall. And when that wall is perfected."
Teresa gripped her quill like a sword. The clean, sweeping motion as she sliced through the air—whoosh—traced the exact same trajectory I had shown Mikhail. She pointed the quill at me as she spoke.
"That wall experiences the shattering of a single blade. From your seniors, by receiving that very technique you taught Mikhail."
"...."
"After complete destruction, one forges a true wall. This time, building one's own wall based on what was inherited from our ancestors. So that we can withstand the secret techniques of Frang Almari. We each raise different walls upon the same foundation, and that is how we become knights."
Teresa slowly set down her quill. In its place, a sharp aura took form, dense and unmistakable, aimed directly at me. I barely managed to suppress the mana that reflexively surged in response.
"The secret technique of Frang Almari is not the strongest skill, but a rite of passage that guides each person to create swordsmanship suited to them. It is a technique refined to be most efficient and deliver the greatest impact to those who have begun learning Frang Almari's defense. How on earth did you know that? Who taught you?"
[How did I know? I saw it, so I just did it. It's nothing special to my master. Hmph.]
The Demonic Sword boasted smugly, chattering away. I felt unexpectedly wronged by this unforeseen situation. Having experienced killing Teresa, who could be called the perfected form of Frang Almari, I had admittedly grasped it more easily, but in the end, I had simply understood it by observing her defensive stance. I had nothing to say in my defense.
"Teresa, as you said, I have no connection to Frang Almari. I simply saw it. That's why I attacked."
"You simply saw it, you say. The moment you observed Frang Almari's defensive stance? Should I believe that?"
"That's the truth."
Teresa let out a hollow laugh, as if exasperated. Then, with her lips pressed firmly shut, she glared at me. An intangible aura bore down upon me. I calmly met her gaze without flinching.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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