Chapter 616: Onward To Kuros
Rienne was excited. She was a little worried about devout believers of foreign gods invading her Empire, but she trusted Zach's plan and the great people of the Empire. Her siblings, the Emperor, the duchies, and the Academies. They would all be working together to thwart the missionaries' success.
That meant she could focus entirely on exploring the new continent and learn as much as possible about potential enemies.
Most importantly, she would be traveling with Zach.
"Can you stop fidgeting?" Yan asked.
"..." Rienne rolled her eyes and sighed. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the two of them. She looked forward without answering. But she did stop fidgeting.
Instead, she focused on Zach's back as he sat not far ahead of them on Nessa's Millipede. She wanted to sit next to him, but she wasn't sure what to talk about, and she didn't want to sit in awkward silence, so she defaulted to sitting with her brother and his knight.
Yan glanced at Rienne's dazed expression and followed her gaze. Of course, she was looking at Zach.
He thought she should just talk to him. It was clear that she was interested, even if Zach wasn't.
Yan knew that Zach wasn't interested, mostly because he kept his mind busy. Rienne had to be proactive and make Zach think of her if she wanted to make any kind of progress. It was a tall hurdle, though, grabbing Zach's attention when he was surrounded by five beautiful maids and friends from the Academy.
But was she going to spend the entire Millipede ride to the other side of the tunnel just looking at Zach? If she wasn't going to follow Violina's and Anerias' lovey-dovey example, she should at least train.
The Apostle was not someone they could mess around with. And if the initial report was trustworthy, Bartuk wasn't even the strongest Apostle of a weaker goddess.
If Rienne wasn't strong enough, she wouldn't be able to protect herself, much less keep up with Zach. Yan doubted anyone could keep up with Zach, though.
The only ones Yan had seen who could compare with him were his friends. And they had Zach to thank for the motivation and guidance that had gotten them this far. Without him, it was unlikely that they would have become as strong as they were.
Yan glanced at Rienne. Then again, he didn't know how strong this younger half-sister of his was. He decided to stop thinking about it. Whatever Rienne did, it was her business.
Instead, he turned his gaze to the fully armored knight beside him. Lahso's business was his. Lahso was his personal guardian knight, after all. Yan was confident he knew Lahso well and how to get him to work.
However, right now, Yan was confused.
For the first time since he first met Lahso, the knight appeared restless.
It happened that Lahso was bored and didn't want to stand or sit still. But usually, that meant he wanted to lie down and look up at the sky or take a nap.
Right now, however, Lahso seemed like he wanted to do the opposite. He kept looking at the blonde maid by Zach's side.
Yan knew who that was. It was the sword-swinging angel. He had heard the rumors. She had inspired half the Imperial Palace's servants to take up the sword during their free time. Just looking at her could make an average swordsman enlightened.
Yan thought that Lahso just wielded the sword because it was the closest at hand when he was forced to start learning something. He was too lazy to pick something else. Or maybe he had been too lazy and chosen the sword because it was the one that fit him the best. He didn't want to bother testing other weapons.
However, it seemed there was a spark of passion even within Lahso, something he himself hadn't known about until he saw Yanael.
It was subtle like a flower bud yet to bloom. But her every breath smelled of swords. Her every step was sharp, like she was going to draw her sword. Someone with keen enough senses but not the wisdom to understand what they were looking at would feel their eyes sting if they looked at her for too long.
It was enough to make even Lahso's blood move faster than the speed of a snail.
Yan decided to make use of it and ask Zach for a spar on Lahso's behalf.
Although Lahso was interested, he wouldn't go through the trouble of first asking Yan for permission, then Zach, and finally Yanael. Maybe if he had just needed to ask Yanael.
In reality, her answer was the only one that mattered. Asking Yan and Zach was just due process, something that the two wouldn't care too much about. But it gave Lahso an excuse to be lazy.
Naturally, Yanael was happy to spar.
She had cleansed her sword and started from the beginning. She had sharpened herself and honed her body, basic movements, and techniques. But she had yet to fight properly against another swordsman. Even before her reset, she actually had little experience fighting other swordsmen.
This was a valuable opportunity for both of them.
Since it was a spar, they limited energy use to the minimum needed to bring out the sharpness of their basic movements. The focus was on technique and swordsmanship. Force and overwhelming strength to subdue the target were unnecessary. It wouldn't give them anything of value. The two already knew how to fight.
So, when it was finally time to take a break since the Order of Vatar couldn't move tirelessly through the tunnel the same way Nessa's Millipede could, Zach and the others prepared a place for Yanael and Lahso to spar.
Naturally, they had to build a stage and put up a barrier. By the time they were finished, the Order of Vatar had noticed the commotion and also came over to look.
Frida was especially interested in the fighting ability of one of Zach's servants. She wanted to know more about the worryingly self-confident Rising Sun Archduke Evandiel of the East of the Kiantier Empire of the Gjula Continent.