I had Kefin take me back to the entrance of the Executive Division, and after asking him the way back to the training field, I set off on my own.
When I returned to the training grounds, I was met with the sight of my master and Lionel dripping with blood. A dozen or so of the knights were unconscious on the ground, but the others didn’t even have a scratch on them. Yet they looked anything but calm.
“Ketty, how are things going?” I asked.
“Ah, chief,” she said when she spotted me. “Sir Lionel and the Whirlwind said they can’t hold back in their state, so they’re fighting unarmed to avoid accidentally killing the knights.”
“They want to fight that badly?”
It looked like I’d made the right decision coming back when I had. Neither of them seemed to mind the pain, but they were pretty beaten-up. If I’d left them alone a bit longer, they would’ve lost control, and it would’ve been nearly impossible to stop them. They were so starved for battle—for any kind of combat, really—that their little bout with the knights should’ve had helped them blow off some steam, on top of being a good training drill—though I figured they might be a little traumatized by how competitive my master and Lionel were.
Ketty crossed her arms and shifted her gaze to the two of them. “It’s good to get heated during practice,” she said as if she’d read my thoughts. “But during a real battle, you’ve got to keep your cool and fight smart instead of just pouncing on your prey. That’s the way of a true warrior.”
“It sounds really cool when you put it like that...though in their case, I’m sure they just wanted to fight without holding back.”
“Well, duh. Who do you think we’re talking about? And now that you’re back, they might even allow themselves to use their weapons,” she said with a resigned sigh before walking up to the two battle-crazed lunatics.
She told them something I couldn’t hear, and they looked at me, breaking into ferocious grins as they reached for their weapons.
“All righty, play time’s over,” Brod announced as he turned back to face the knights.
“We’ll be using our weapons too, if you don’t mind,” Lionel added. “Don’t worry. As long as Mister Luciel’s here, it’s fine if you lose an arm or two. He’ll patch you right up.”
“Careful, though. If you let your attention slip, you might cross over to the other side before you realize what’s happening to you,” my master continued, picking up where Lionel left off. “So if you wanna finish the training fast, you’d better hope Luciel runs out of mana.”
“Let’s pick up from where we left off, shall we? C’mon, attack us. Don’t be shy.”
“No? All right, then. If you’re not gonna make a move, we’ll just have to come to you first!”
No sooner had they finished their little exchange than they put their threats into action and charged at the knights.
“No matter how you look at it, they just wanted another go at the knights, didn’t they?” I commented in exasperation.
The knights’ morale was already at rock bottom, so I probably should’ve stopped Brod and Lionel from beating them up further, but I couldn’t exactly do that now that they’d dragged me into their shenanigans, the sneaky rascals.
“But they’re still your teachers despite their quirks, are they not?” a voice said from behind me.
I whipped my head around and was surprised to find Lumina standing there. When had she arrived? My attention had been so focused on Brod and Lionel that I hadn’t heard her approach.
“When did you get here? I didn’t even notice,” I said.
She chuckled softly. “You were distracted, so I thought, why not give you a little fright?” she replied, a mischievous smile curling her lips.
Now that I thought about it, wasn’t it her first time meeting Brod?
“My master and Lionel are more than just my combat teachers; they’re my life mentors, almost like a father and an older brother. They’ve shown me what it truly means to be a man,” I explained.
“You trust them a lot, I see.”
“I do. If I hadn’t met my master, I’d probably be stuck in Merratoni doing regular healing jobs. And if I hadn’t met Lionel in Yenice, I might not have made it out of there alive. The more I reflect on it, the more I realize how lucky I’ve been with the people I’ve encountered—including you, of course.”
“Stop it; you’re going to make me blush,” she said.
“It’s true, though. If you hadn’t come to my rescue back in Merratoni, I never would’ve found the Healer’s Guild that easily. And since I didn’t have time to get lost, I had no idea how badly people viewed healers when I jumped in headfirst to offer my services to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
Had I known, I most likely wouldn’t have dared to set foot in there. In a way, my meeting with Lumina had kind of become the first turning point of my new life.
“The thing that has got you so far was your hard work, Luciel. You’ve even risen to the rank of sage. Most people could never even dream of achieving such a feat.”
“I didn’t really have the option not to try. After all, my life was pretty much always on the line.”
I was happy to hear Lumina praise me. Still, I probably wouldn’t be here right now if I had given up at any point.
“Perhaps it’s because of that attitude of yours that the people around you always seem so happy,” she said.
I shot her a quizzical look.
“I’m a bit envious,” she added.
“I was actually really envious of the bond between you and the other Valkyries at first,” I confessed.
I’d always wished I had someone close in age to share a friendly rivalry with. Actually, scratch that. I probably never would’ve been able to befriend someone I considered a rival. It was only because I had older figures to guide me, like my master and Lionel, that I’d gotten to where I was today.
Another chuckle escaped her at my words. “You haven’t changed at all.”
“Really? I feel like I’ve matured a bit, at least. But I’ll keep working on myself until I become someone others can rely on,” I said.
“That’s not really what I meant, but I’m looking forward to it.”
“This new, gentler manner of speaking is quite refreshing,” I remarked.
“That’s...not something you should say to someone’s face.”
“You’re right, sorry. The words just slipped out.”
I’d accidentally put my foot in my mouth. Still, I hoped the reason Lumina’s face was all red was because she felt embarrassed.
“Luciel, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why are you so passionate about fighting? As a former healer, you must’ve had ways of avoiding combat, did you not?”
I wouldn’t say I was passionate about fighting. Unlike my master and Lionel, I’d never actually liked combat.
“You’re making me sound like a battle-crazed lunatic like those two,” I said with a smile.
“Ah, um, that wasn’t my intention...”
I grinned at her, and she returned my smile, though she looked a little tense. She must’ve been worried about me after hearing me mention all the times I’d almost died during my little speech earlier. It felt like all I ever did was make her worry.
As to why I fought... Well, thinking back on it, it had all started when I met the Holy Dragon and he’d told me that unless all the Eternal Dragons were freed, the future hero wouldn’t stand a chance against the Demon Lord. In other words, if I didn’t do everything in my power to save the dragons before then, a lot of people would unfairly lose their lives when the Demon Lord made its move. I wanted to avoid that scenario no matter what. Plus, I’d given the Holy Dragon my word that I’d try to save the other dragons when he gave me his blessing, and breaking that promise wasn’t an option.
While it might sound a bit contradictory, I genuinely believed this was the best choice if I wanted to live a long life in this world. And I hated it. But I couldn’t level up without fighting, so here I was.
“Well, to answer your question, I’ve come to realize that I have a knack for getting myself into all sorts of troublesome situations. Even worse, I can’t just ignore them and let things be, or they’ll spiral into the worst-case scenarios imaginable.”
Between the Wicked One and the demons, I had my hands full. I couldn’t waste a second dealing with all the problems popping up in my path, or I’d definitely end up getting dragged into this whole mess. Well, I guess I already had been after the whole Dongahar debacle. But yeah, if I didn’t make my move soon, things would definitely take a turn for the worse.
“You could try an exorcism to get rid of that bad luck of yours,” Lumina suggested.
“If that was enough, I’d have done it already, believe me,” I replied.
A serious look came over her face as she locked eyes with me. Then, she abruptly asked, “Luciel, where are you headed next? Blanche or Illumasia?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“If you plan on visiting Blanche, I have many connections there, who...” She stopped and shook her head. “No, forget that. I’d like you to take me with you.”
Right, Lumina was originally from Blanche. She must’ve been worried about her family back there.
“I’d definitely feel a lot more reassured with you by my side,” I replied. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you for sure what my next destination is until Dongahar wakes up.”
Both Illumasia and Blanche were involved in demonization experiments, so I probably wouldn’t be able to avoid them forever, no matter how much I dreaded the thought of going.
“I wish the higher-ups would send me on missions with you sometimes,” Lumina said, her cheeks reddening slightly.
When I saw the embarrassed look on her face, it felt like the world came to a stop. I racked my brain to come up with something to say and decided that, for now, replying to her comment was my best course of action. “Um, Lumina. I—”