Sigrid

“I mean the 1st Imperial Guard. After all, it’s full of people who live off their own conceits.”

“Does that include you?”

“Perhaps.”

Alita replied and then stopped, asking:

“So you’re an Aura user?”

“Yes.”

“An Aura at twenty.”

Alita smirked.

“There are many people eager to see that prodigy’s swordsmanship.”

‘Ah.’

Sigrid swallowed a sigh. This happened wherever she went.

Initiation.

“If you want to see it, I’ll gladly show you.”

Sigrid said confidently. Alita grinned at those words. Sigrid focused on his blonde hair.

‘Is it similar to Marie-Chez? No, Marie-Chez’s is honey blonde, while this is more faded… Like hair bleached by the sun.’

“We’ll see how long that confidence lasts.”

Alita said and turned around to start walking again. Despite his attitude, he gave a thorough explanation of the Imperial Guard quarters. He didn’t give strange information or play tricks.

Perhaps it was due to the pride of being an elite.

“You have your badge, right?”

Alita held out his hand, and Sigrid took the badge from her pocket and handed it over. The dragon-shaped badge had its tail curled into a circle. Alita hung it on a hook on the wall.

“Hang your badge here when you arrive. The names of those off duty are written below.”

“Everyone’s on duty.”

“Usually. We have excellent training grounds here.”

Sigrid nodded at his words. Horse-riding martial arts require more demanding practice, but it’s difficult to have training grounds in a city mansion. It probably meant they come to practice even on their days off.

“That concludes the tour.”

Alita dusted off his hands lightly and said:

“Now, rookie, shall we see your skills?”

“Gladly.”

Sigrid smiled.

Nas glanced out the window and said:

“Again, the rookie hazing begins. It would be nice if they treated her a bit more gently since she’s a woman.”

“They probably want to drive her out more because she’s a woman.”

Beramund said without even looking out the window. Nas clasped his hands behind his back, assuming a relaxed stance, and asked:

“Aren’t you going to stop them?”

“Why?”

“Wouldn’t it be a problem if Lady Ankertna gets hurt? You personally scouted her.”

Beramund laughed and swiveled his chair to face Nas, saying:

“1000 kerb says my dear Siri wins.”

At those words, Nas tilted his head and said, “Hmm—”

“I’ll bet 1000 kerb that she ‘loses at least once.’ Alita’s performance has been excellent lately.”

“Alright.”

“Add it to the tab,” Beramund said as he skimmed through a report.

“The Third Prince is still the same, I see.”

“It’s fortunate that the 1st Imperial Guard doesn’t have to escort him.”

“We might have to take turns if he keeps driving away all the guard knights at this rate.”

At those words, Nas shuddered.

“I’d rather not.”

“Me neither.”

The youngest Third Prince was notorious for his foul temper. The guard members shuddered at the mention of the Third Prince, known for his atrocities like forcing guard knights to act as horses.

“If worst comes to worst, we’ll just assign regular guards.”

“I suppose we’ll have to.”

Beramund muttered as he closed the report. Opening another report, he asked:

“How’s Her Highness’s escort?”

“We’re taking every precaution.”

“It’s a crucial time.”

“Indeed.”

Erial’s belly was now visibly swollen. It was the birth of their first child. Servants, soldiers, and knights were all on high alert.

“Let’s hope the western border remains quiet this winter as well.”

As winter approaches, the likelihood of magical beasts or barbarians approaching the border to escape the cold and hunger increases. Even as Beramund made the wish, he didn’t believe it would come true.

Sigrid lightly tapped her sword blade. The faces of the 1st Imperial Guard members who had gathered to teach the rookie a harsh lesson were now stiff.

‘The difference in information.’

She had experience fighting most of them. She had sparred with them during social gatherings while in the 6th Imperial Guard.

Every winter, a tournament is held among the guard members. Even if it was a tournament to encourage competition among them, the duels were always helpful.

At that time—that is, before she came back—Sigrid was the only one from the 6th Imperial Guard to survive to the end, so she always faced all the members of the 1st Imperial Guard.

‘Though I never beat Beramund.’

Frustrating thoughts aside, the experience gained from that was invaluable.

But these people had no experience with her.

‘It’s a fight that’s hard to lose.’

Sigrid thought leisurely and then frowned.

‘Wait, then what kind of person is Beramund anyway?’

Even when she attacked all of Beramund’s known weaknesses, he managed to dodge them all by a hair’s breadth and respond with improvisation.

‘Did I just end up improving his skills instead?’

Sigrid suddenly felt uneasy. She shook her head as if to shake off the feeling.

‘No, it doesn’t matter now since he’s not an enemy anymore.’

After tapping her sword blade one last time, Sigrid lowered the tip to the ground.

“Not going to do more?”

At those words, Alita frowned and drew his sword.

“Let’s go one more time.”

“Alright.”

Face to face, a bow—and then a quick first exchange.

Clang!

The swords rang out with a reverberating sound. Sigrid’s Aura was so finely controlled that one had to look closely to see the Aura rippling on the surface of her sword.

Sigrid minimized the amount of wasted Aura use.

As Sigrid had to compensate for strength and stamina with Aura, her Aura use naturally became more delicate.

‘Simultaneously, speed and technique mostly deflected. And your weakness is—’

Sigrid deflected Alita’s sword as if brushing it aside and immediately aimed for his neck. He flinched and stopped his movement.

‘There’s always a gap between your left slash and the next move.’

As Alita raised his hand to signal surrender, Sigrid lowered her sword.

“You win.”

“I know.”

Sigrid said and grinned. Alita’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Is this funny to you?”

“What?”

“This situation?”

“No, I’m happy.”

“What?”

Alita’s face hardened even more, and the expressions of the guard members listening weren’t pleasant either. Sigrid gripped her sword tightly and said:

“I mean, being able to fight against equal opponents.”

To say ‘equal’ to someone who had just lost repeatedly seemed like a novel way of mocking, but Sigrid continued:

“I’ve never had the chance to spar continuously like this before. It’s not easy to meet Aura users, and it’s difficult to find opponents to cross swords with sincerely. I’m glad to meet you all.”

Five Aura users.

Her heart was pounding with excitement. In the 6th Imperial Guard, there were only two Aura users including herself and the captain. Moreover, it wasn’t in her nature to spar often.

But lately, she had developed a taste for it through teaching swordsmanship and sparring with Beramund. Sparring didn’t mean losing her techniques; rather, it allowed her to realize and learn more.

Seeing Sigrid speak with such sincerity on her face, Alita deflated.

He had thought she was an arrogant female knight recommended by Lord Lunatil, but it seemed that wasn’t entirely the case.

“If we’re done here, shall we return to our duties?”

At the sound of the voice, the knights quickly rose from their seats. Beramund had come out to the training grounds accompanied by Nas. He grinned and said:

“After work, we’ll have a welcome party for the rookie.”

“Yes, sir!”

Everyone answered in unison. Beramund said:

“Lady Ankertna, stay behind.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dismissed.”

At Beramund’s words, the members hurried back inside. Beramund held out his hand to Nas, who sighed and said:

“I’ll add it to your tab.”

“Good.”

Beramund looked at Sigrid and asked:

“How was it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your impressions after crossing swords with the 1st Imperial Guard?”

“I thought the level was high.”

“Of course, only the elite of the elite are gathered here. It’s incomparable to the 2nd Knight Order.”

Sigrid pressed her lips together. It was an undeniable fact.

“Then you’ll stick with me for the day!”

“Pardon?”

‘Why is the conversation suddenly jumping there?’

Sigrid swallowed the words that had risen to her throat.

“You’re new, so you need to make your face known around here. Right, Vice-Captain?”

“I’m not sure if it’s necessary for you to do this personally, Captain, but… very well, I understand.”

After Nas disappeared, Beramund took the lead and said:

“Shall we go then?”

“Where to?”

“The Imperial Palace.”

Sigrid followed behind without a word.

The structure of the palace and the rotation of soldiers hadn’t changed at all from before, so Sigrid easily recalled her memories.

She remained calm until Beramund requested an audience in front of the Moon Palace.

The Moon Palace is the Crown Princess’s palace. As Sigrid tensed up, standing rigidly and saying “Eh? Why?”, permission was granted, and Beramund led her into the palace.

As Sigrid and Beramund entered the inner chamber, Erial, who had been seated, rose.

“Beramund, Lady Ankertna, welcome.”

Sigrid quickly dropped to one knee.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Oh my? I don’t like such stiff greetings. Please rise.”

Sigrid slowly stood up. Erial looked up at her with a bright smile. Sigrid’s eyes widened as she saw Erial’s belly.

“Congratulations, Your Highness.”

“Hehe, thank you. This is all thanks to Lady Ankertna. Come, sit down. I called you here to commend you.”

“Not at all. I only did my duty.”

“Then rewarding a subordinate who has done their job well is also a superior’s duty.”

Erial said as she sat down. A maid quickly brought a footstool for her feet.

“My feet and ankles are so swollen these days.”

“Don’t overexert yourself.”

As Beramund spoke with concern, Erial laughed.

“I don’t want to either. Now, quickly take a seat. Lady Ankertna, may I call you Sigrid?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“You sit down too.”

Feeling awkward to keep refusing, Sigrid sat down. Erial’s eyes sparkled.

“A female knight who can use Aura, what a blessing for the empire.”

“You flatter me.”

“No, really? Please become like a hero from an epic poem.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You’re quite stiff for one of Beramund’s subordinates.”

“I apologize.”

“If you want to have an interesting conversation with Siri, it’s best to bring up swords.”

Beramund advised from the side. Sigrid glared once at her superior, who was sitting in a completely relaxed posture, before turning her gaze back to Erial.

“I’m afraid I won’t be an entertaining conversation partner for Your Highness. I’m sorry.”

“We’ll get to know each other better as time goes on.”

Erial replied and gestured to the attendant standing behind her. Two attendants then approached, carrying a large wooden box by its handles on either side.

Even the box, inlaid with silver, looked quite expensive.

“This is my reward for you. I do hope you’ll like it.”

The attendant quickly opened the wooden box and showed its contents. Sigrid’s eyes widened. Erial said:

“It’s armor made with magical beast hide and plate metal.”

“Such a precious thing…”

Sigrid stared at the armor as if mesmerized. Her crimson eyes filled with wonder. The silver plate armor glittering in the sunlight and the black magical beast hide emitting a strange luster were in perfect harmony. The shoulder plate guards and gauntlets that reached to the wrists were clearly high-quality items at a glance.

“I’m glad you seem to like it.”

The attendant put the armor back in the box and closed the lid.

“I’ll have it sent to your mansion.”

“Th-thank you, Your Highness.”

Suppressing her desire to try on the armor immediately, Sigrid quickly got down from the sofa, knelt, and bowed. Erial smiled again.

“Even this is insufficient payment for saving my life, the Crown Prince’s, and the imperial heir’s. I heard you received some harsh words from the Crown Prince.”

“Not at all, Your Highness.”