Mia didn’t rest after her meeting with Rafina and instead headed straight for her next destination. She was rarely diligent, but today was an exception—an incredibly rare exception. Today, Mia was an Ultra Rare!
Anyways, just remembering Rafina’s furious expression was enough to... H-How terrifying! If I mess this up, it could be disastrous!
Mia felt that maybe, it would have been best to keep this a secret from the Holy Lady and move behind the scenes. But she couldn’t get the frown Rafina had worn when she heard Mia wouldn’t be attending the Holy Eve Festival out of her mind.
“Ugh. I need to use every last bit of my brainpower and make sure this succeeds!” With that conviction now in her chest, Mia sped down the halls. “But if we’re infiltrating Ganudos, I suppose I’ll need to limit our troops...”
If possible, Mia wanted to bring everyone she could and overwhelm them with the power of numbers. Subjugating their enemy by leading a large, imposing army into battle was the number-game strategy the Tearmoon Army tended to play, and Grand General Mia had been operating under the same principle.
“Since we can’t visit as official guests, we need to avoid standing out. I can’t bring too many people,” said Mia with a groan. “Even if our visit has a just purpose, it will take time for them to prepare to welcome in the princess of Tearmoon, and they might interfere in our plans if they grow suspicious. The Greenmoons are well-connected to Ganudos, so maybe using them would work. I do have to wonder, though—just how well-connected are they?”
This time, Mia had a clear goal: to make sure Dion Alaia was at the scene of the assassination!
“Any strategy we can think up will work as long as he’s there, and it’ll be hard for our enemies to think up a way to beat him. Dragging him into Ganudos and sending him to the scene of the crime is the easiest solution,” muttered Mia as she crossed her arms. “I may be able to enter Ganudos as Orania’s friend, but I could have a hard time maneuvering if the king grows suspicious...”
In that case, the assassin may grow suspicious of Mia and her crew and fail to make an appearance.
“Worst-case scenario, the timing of the assassination could shift so that it occurs only after we’ve returned home. That means we need to both stop the assassination and capture the culprit. In that case, we’ll keep careful watch of Ludwig’s diary and interfere only at the scene of the assassination. I think that’s our best course of action.”
But for that, they needed the king of Ganudos to act as he would if Mia weren’t in Ganudos.
“I really do need to limit myself to a few elites, and I need to make sure someone from outside of Tearmoon is present so nobody can claim we were acting out of line. Perhaps Abel or Sion would do a good job?” Of course, she did consider bringing Rafina, but... “Given our discussion, I think Miss Rafina would happily come, but the weight of her name is just too much. It would be a disaster if anything happened, so I’ll ask Abel or Sion instead.”
Thus, Mia rushed along to her destination—the training grounds. She had correctly expected to find Abel and Sion there at this time. As soon as she arrived, she saw the two boys facing each other, swords in hands. Sion was farther inside the room, holding his blade pointed to the ground, while Abel stood closer to the door, his back turned to Mia.
She couldn’t help but swoon at the sight of his strong, toned back. But then...
“Here I come, Abel!” shouted Sion as he raised his blade into the air. His stance overflowed with power, and it had Mia’s heart pumping!
But no, she hadn’t been enchanted by the sight of Sion’s gallant form. It would be crude to ask Mia to exhibit such a heroine-like response. As an unconventional heroine, there was no way Mia could have such a reaction. Instead, she was metaphorically hit by Sion’s blade from head-on, terrifying her little chicken heart.
She sucked in her breath and almost collapsed on her bum. But at the very last second, she was saved!
“Do your best, Sion!” Abel stepped in between them, planting his feet firmly on the ground and facing Sion. Now that she was staring at such a reassuring, gallant, and manly back...
“Abel...” Mia couldn’t help but sigh!
Sion moved in an instant. In a flash, he flung his blade downward toward Abel, who blocked with his left hand. Wait, left?
“Hmm? Is that a shield? I don’t recall ever seeing Abel use one of those before...”
A dull clang resounded through the room as sword met shield. Abel retreated a step. Then, he tossed his shield aside, brought both hands to his sword, and struck, letting out a ferocious war cry as he performed his killer downward slash.
But Sion blocked easily. Their hilts were locked together, but Sion shoved his forward, forcing Abel backward.
Once the two were separated, Abel shrugged his shoulders. “Good grief. I thought I finally had you.”
“Your movements flowed well, but your strike lacked the power it usually has when you have the chance to attack first. Did you not properly disperse the force when you blocked?”
Abel chuckled. “I really can’t win against you. Of course, I didn’t think having that shield would make blocking easy, but you really are in for a world of shame if you fail to properly neutralize the force.” He turned toward Mia. “Hey, Mia. What are you doing here?”
Seeing his dashing smile, Mia put on a gentle grin of her own. “I had something to discuss with you two, but,” Mia tilted her head. “What’s with the shield? Have you always had one?”
“Oh, this?” Abel lifted the shield he previously had on his left arm. “It’s so I can protect you from anything. I’ve been practicing with it recently, but...” His smile grew bashful. “It’s not really working out for me.”
“Moons!” Mia was deeply moved by his words. Oho ho! He’s getting even more dependable!
“So, what is it? It’s rare for you to come all the way to the training grounds.”
“Oh, that’s right. I almost forgot.” Mia looked first at Abel, then Sion. “There was something I wanted to discuss with you two.”