Floria was depressed on the bed in the room she had been given.
Just a while ago, Alec had been scolding her.
It was, of course, about her attitude towards Kousuke.
If anyone else had witnessed that scene, they would have tilted their head and wondered if that was a scolding, but to Alec and Floria, it was undoubtedly a scolding.
In fact, Floria was reflecting on it like this on her bed.
“…… Ugh, seriously. What am I doing?”
Floria wasn’t reflecting because she thought Kousuke was weak.
It was because she had carelessly spoken her thoughts out loud.
That was the trigger that caused her to step on Kouhi’s tiger tail.
Being able to immediately put her thoughts into words is Floria’s strong point, but it is also her weakness.
The incident from earlier was also a result of that, and it could have led to a life-threatening situation if things had gone wrong.
Alec had pointed that out to her as well during his scolding.
Floria herself understood her personality, but she couldn’t quite fix it.
After all, even setting aside her position as a blessed individual, she had lived as royalty in the Florece Kingdom since birth.
No one had ever confronted her directly like Kouhi did earlier.
“…… And yet…”
Floria shivered as she suddenly remembered Kouhi’s movements from earlier.
More precisely, she could recall her appearance before drawing her sword and her appearance when she pointed her sword at her.
She had moved before Floria knew it, and a sword was pointed at her.
Floria couldn’t see at all when the sword was drawn or how it was pointed at her.
Despite having some confidence in her swordsmanship, Floria knew that she was completely outmatched the moment the sword was pointed at her.
The emotions that then came to mind were admiration and envy.
Although she had reflexively uttered those words, her heart had been captivated in that instant.
She realized that was where her sword was aiming.
Before she knew it, Floria’s mind was occupied by Kouhi’s beautiful form, and her earlier reflections had flown away somewhere.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
The next day.
Someone came to visit Floria.
It was Mitsuki.
Mitsuki had heard about yesterday’s events from Kouhi and, having thought about it a little, had come to see her without asking Kousuke.
Seeing Mitsuki for the first time, Floria’s eyes widened involuntarily.
Just like when she saw Kouhi, her eyes were drawn to an unparalleled beauty.
She never imagined that there would be someone with a beauty that could rival Kouhi.
Calming her slightly flustered heart, Floria looked at Mitsuki and said.
“You said you had something for me?”
“Yes. I’d like you to come to the temple for a bit.”
“…… Huh?”
Floria wondered why.
The current temple served as the headquarters for the Crown, as well as an administrative body.
Naturally, Floria’s father, Alec, would be working at the temple.
However, there was no reason she could think of for herself to go to the temple.
Mitsuki chuckled and said to the bewildered Floria,
“It’s just for a friendly spar, you see. But it wouldn’t be good if you were mistaken for being weak by fighting in a conspicuous place, would it? So I want you to come to the temple where we can choose a secluded spot.”
Floria’s expression turned grim at Mitsuki’s obvious provocation.
“…… Oh? You think I’m so weak that I’ll get beaten?”
“Can you argue back when you couldn’t react to Kouhi’s movements at all?”
Mitsuki’s words made Floria, who was about to fly into a rage, calm down.
“…… What did you say?”
“Oh my. You have enough brains to understand the difference in strength between you and Kouhi, I see.”
If Kousuke were here, he would have been confused by the difference between Mitsuki and her usual self.
Mitsuki was clearly provoking Floria on purpose, but unfortunately, there was no one present to point that out.
“…… Fine. I’ll take your provocation.”
Floria glared at Mitsuki, but the person herself seemed unfazed and brushed it off.
“Yes. Then, let’s go.”
Mitsuki said so and took Floria to the temple.
Beneath the temple, there are rooms unknown to the general public.
Originally, several rooms were added for adventurers to train in, but some of these rooms are not open to the public.
All the rooms in the basement are built to withstand powerful magic, but the rooms not open to the public are even more robust.
The stated purpose of these rooms was to allow Kouhi and Mitsuki to unleash some of their power without issue.
By the way, they are, of course, not strong enough to withstand the full power of the two individuals.
Since Kouhi and Mitsuki rarely leave Kousuke’s side, these rooms were never used.
Finally, this room would see the light of day.
Well, it was more to avoid the eyes of others, for that reason.
In that room, Mitsuki and Floria, Alec and Silvia were now present.
Silvia was positioned between the two, ostensibly as a judge.
Alec had been called by Silvia while Mitsuki was bringing Floria.
“Then, we shall begin.”
Silvia said so and activated a device in the corner of the room.
Then, a barrier was activated, surrounding Mitsuki and Floria.
This prevented anyone other than Mitsuki and Floria from interfering within the barrier until Silvia gave permission.
Incidentally, the technology and the device used to create the barrier are not particularly rare.
With enough money, you can procure certain items.
However, when it comes to the scale of what is currently in place, the number of such items drastically decreases.
“With this, at least you will not affect your surroundings even if you unleash your full power. Fight to your heart’s content.”
Silvia said so and looked at Floria.
Then, she turned to Mitsuki and said,
“Mitsuki, please, hold back your strength properly. Do not blow up the temple above us, I beg you.”
“I know.”
Mitsuki replied, barely holding back a smile at Silvia’s earnest plea.
“By the way, can I expect healing?”
“There are things that can be done and things that cannot.”
“I understand that.”
“Then it is alright.”
Floria and Alec were puzzled by the conversation between Mitsuki and Silvia, but unfortunately, they were not allowed to ask questions.
Silvia gave the order to begin.
“Then, please, begin!”
The battle scene will be continued next time. Sorry about that.
2014/5/24 Typo correction
