Vol 2 Chapter 26 – A Meeting with Sparks Flying (Elmina POV)【Vol 2: The Blazing Labyrinth and the Lonely Witch】 

(What is with this girl…!)

I crossed my arms and glared at the woman in front of me—the swordswoman called Lilia—like I was sizing her up.

Her chestnut hair was blowing in the wind, and she stood there with that cool, composed look on her face.

That polished, honor-student kind of expression got under my skin like nothing else.

I’d heard about her from Fuyuya’s letters.

The sword master he met in his first village.

An important companion he was finally seeing again after three years.

Fine, whatever. I didn’t mind another companion joining us.

More people meant more fighting power, so I was willing to welcome her.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Before I actually met her.

(…The air is different.)

I knew it the moment she appeared.

She wasn’t just some swordswoman.

She had the aura of a “strong one” like me… no, maybe even stronger.

In these three years, I’d grown into one of the top mages on the continent, and even I could feel it instinctively—that sharpened pressure of a true powerhouse.

“Sword Saint”… yeah, that title apparently wasn’t for show.

But none of that is what really pissed me off.

That’s not the part that actually gets under my skin.

(…It’s her eyes.)

The way she looks at Fuyuya.

It resembles what I feel for him, but the purity and weight of it are completely different.

It’s absolute trust and devotion, so strong it’s almost fanatical.

Like Fuyuya is the center of her whole world.

“To stand beside you, Fuyuya, I devoted all of my swordsmanship to these last three years!”

And she says something that insane with a calm face.

She looks so complete, so perfectly in place, like there isn’t even a crack for me to wedge myself into.

(What the hell is that…!?

Don’t stand there looking like the main heroine!)

My blood rushed to my head.

Three years?

Three years, really?

Give me a break.

I’ve been training right beside Fuyuya for these same three years too.

Burning through my mana until I was falling apart, collapsing over and over, and still getting back up.

I’ve been the one keeping up with all his ridiculous training this whole time!

(I became Fuyuya’s companion first!)

I’m the senior one when it comes to being his “master”!

So what is this?

She shows up after all this time, and now she’s acting like, I’m his number-one understanding person.

And then there was the introduction.

The second I put her in check with “I’m the one who drilled his magic into him,” she comes back with, “Everything I am is in the way he swings.”

A gentle smile hiding a will that absolutely refuses to yield.

It pisses me off.

It pisses me off so much.

(And that sword…!)

That cursed magic sword—where my magic got mixed together inside Fuyuya.

At its core is the swordsmanship she taught him.

An intruder that barged into the three-year world Fuyuya and I built together.

That’s what this woman—Lilia—is.

(I’m absolutely… not losing to her…!)

The place beside Fuyuya is mine.

It’s the only place I finally found after three whole years.

I’m not handing it over to anyone.

Especially not to you.

◇◆◇

Even after we went back to the cave we were using as our base, my irritation still wouldn’t settle down.

Fuyuya was so happy about seeing her again after three years that he just kept talking with Lilia.

“So you became a Sword Saint, huh? What kind of training did you do?”

“I drilled the tactics you taught me into my body over and over. Even when sparring with Father, I always imagined monsters…”

“Damn, that’s amazing. I can’t afford to lose either.”

“Of course not. Don’t think you’ll catch up to me that easily!”

(What is with that atmosphere between them…!)

All I could do was stand off to the side with my arms crossed and glare daggers.

Even if I tried to jump in, all they talked about was swordsmanship.

I’m a magic specialist. It was all Greek to me.

(Oh, come on! I can’t watch this anymore!)

I stood up on purpose with a loud noise and called out to Fuyuya.

“Hey, Fuyuya! What are you doing about training today!? Don’t tell me you’re planning to slack off!”

“Hm? Oh, right. Sorry. Yeah, we should do it.”

“Then get ready already!

I’m ready whenever you are!”

Even I knew this was pure taking-it-out-on-him.

But if I didn’t do something, I felt like I was going to lose it.

That woman was going to take Fuyuya away from me.

That sense of panic was what was driving me.

“Sorry, Lilia. We’ll pick this up later.”

“Yeah. Good luck with training.”

Lilia just smiled gently, not looking bothered at all.

That smug, composed attitude got on my nerves all over again.

(Hmph! Just watch!

I’ll burn the last three years with Fuyuya into those eyes of yours!)

Fuyuya and I headed out to our usual wasteland.

Then we took our distance and faced each other.

This was our everyday life.

Serious live-combat training, practically no different from trying to kill each other.

Time that belongs only to us—time you know nothing about.

“Here I come, Fuyuya!”

“Yeah, bring it!”

Right from the start, I built one of my biggest spells.

A huge magic circle spread out across the sky, and blazing meteors began raining down.

One of my trump cards—《Meteor Swarm》.

“—《Aerial Shield》!”

Fuyuya deployed layer after layer of compressed-air shields and blocked every meteor perfectly.

(Of course he’d block it…!)

But that was just a feint.

The real attack was this.

“—《Flame Pillar》!”

A giant pillar of fire erupted from under Fuyuya’s feet.

A surprise attack from his blind spot.

But Fuyuya dodged it with a backstep, like he’d seen it coming.

“Too slow, Elmina. I saw that combo last year.”

“Ghk…!”

Fuyuya grinned.

It pissed me off.

But this was fun.

Knowing each other’s tricks inside and out, then slipping past the other’s expectations.

I loved this razor-sharp feeling.

Without another word, we traded magic back and forth.

Wind raged, the earth split, and flame and ice crashed together in midair.

It was like a battle between gods.

There was no opening anywhere for that woman to step into this.

This was the shape of the bond Fuyuya and I had built over three years.

(So what do you think, Lilia!?

This is our world—the one you could never reach!)

In my heart, I shouted that toward Lilia, who was probably watching from the distant cave.

Feeling triumphant, I threw myself completely into fighting Fuyuya.

But at the time, I didn’t realize it.

At the cave entrance, the eyes Lilia used to quietly watch our battle weren’t burning with jealousy or panic.

They held pure respect—and just a little fighting spirit.

(My world with Fuyuya—the one I never knew about…

My sword still can’t reach that realm of magic.

Then I need to get stronger.

Strong enough to stand beside those two with my head held high—)

The sparks born from the meeting of those two geniuses weren’t going to burn each other down.

They were beginning to blaze into a new fire—one that would push them to grow stronger.

None of them had realized it yet.