……And he’s fast, too. To swing two swords with such speed and strength, he certainly has very sturdy muscles. This guy just might be the best swordsman I’ve ever fought.
“That girl can fight…”
“She’s holding her own against Nate.”
“She’s swinging so fast, I can’t keep up.”
“The captain is taking this fight seriously…yet those skinny arms are blocking all his attacks. I can’t believe it.”
The spectators grow more and more restless.
“Alicia!”
As I hear Gill cry out, the tip of a sword shoots right before my eye. It has to be moving at a remarkable speed, but it looks like it was in slow motion. As I dodge the sword, a piece of my hair, cut, falls to the ground.
……If I let my guard down for an instant, I’m dead. Nate is fighting to kill.
“How could she have dodged that…?”
“Come on, she used magic!”
“Ohhh, right. Magic. Little cheater.”
“That’s the nobility for ya. They always fight dirty.”
Suddenly, the crowd is jeering at me.
“Shut up,” Nate growls, glancing sharply at the booing crowd. In a flash, they obediently quiet down.
“She ain’t fighting dirty.” With his intense gaze on me, Nate smirks.
Oh my, he’s actually a nice guy. Perhaps he’s the type who respects someone who puts up a fair fight.
“I was going to say that,” Gill says, looking a little upset.
“Hey, milady, you’re good.”
“You too.”
After we each take a breath, he drops back into a fighting stance. I can’t believe the addition of one sword made him that much more powerful… I want his technique.
“They’re moving so fast, I can’t see what’s happening.”
“The rich girl has been on defense mostly—I think maybe the captain will win?”
“You idiot, of course the captain’ll win. He’s the best fighter we’ve got.”
I am so focused on the swords’ movements that I don’t know what our audience is saying.
……I want to launch a counterattack already, but he’s not giving me an opening.
“It ends now.” Nate grins, his eyes sparkling as he assumes victory.
……What an evil grin he has. I love it. But I will never be defeated. I watch his swords closely, searching for my opening. Stay calm. Don’t rush it. He’ll give you an opening eventually. Nate kicks off the ground with all his weight, leaping up to strike my head from above.
……His stomach. I let go of my sword and lunge forward, and as I dodge his strike, I sink my fist into his gut with everything I have. The hit sends him flying.
As silence hangs heavily in the air around us, I look down at Nate. His shoulders shake as he struggles to his feet. Oh my goodness…is he crying? No, no…he would never.
“You got me with a punch?”
……He’s laughing?
“You win. Sorry I mocked you.” With a shrug, he looks at me and chuckles softly. “Will was right. You’ve got a crazy-good eye for fast-moving objects.”
……Huh? How does Uncle Will know that?
“His eye used to belong to you, right?” Nate asks, sensing the question on my mind. “He told me once how wonderful your eyes were. Didn’t realize the world through your eyes looked so beautiful.”
Aha, now it makes sense. The abilities in my eyes were transferred over to Will…… But I think the world looks pretty filthy in my eyes. I mean, they’re the eyes of a villainess. I doubt the world could possibly look beautiful through them.
“Your magic is incredible; your sword technique is incredible… Almighty. That’s the only word I can find to describe you.” Rebecca stares at me, her eyes sparkling with adoration.
“I’m not almighty. There are plenty of people in this world who are more powerful than me. Here’s your sword. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
I am about to hand it to her when I suddenly remember I can use magic again. I snap, and a black sparkly aura wraps around her sword. (Naturally, I cast the spell on every sword in the vicinity.) As the black auras disappear, the chips in the blades vanish, and all the rusty spots are now clean. I am secretly relieved to see that my magic has made a full recovery.
Everyone’s eyes are sparkling. Nate’s are open wide, staring at his own swords. His broken sword sliced my hair. If he’d fought with his sword now, the damage would have been much worse… Thank goodness he only cut the tips of my hair.
“Oh my god…”
“She made those crappy swords look just like new.”
The onlookers scrutinize the swords over and over in awe. This gives me a new appreciation for the wonders of magic. It’s undeniable that the ability to cast spells puts me at an advantage above others… If I hadn’t come to Roana Village, I might have never had this realization.
So since these villagers can’t use magic…what keeps them safe? Their king? No…if their king took care of them, they wouldn’t be in such a hellhole in the first place… And even among the nobility, there are people who accomplish nothing, even with their magic.
I want to become a wise and powerful baddie…but at the same time, I want to protect the weak. In the past, I focused only on making myself stronger. But after spending the past two years in obsessive practice with the sole purpose of getting up to level 90…I think my philosophy has changed a little.
Naturally, I still want to become a villainess. That hasn’t changed. But the strong have an obligation to protect the weak. Maybe that’s why this world gave the nobility the power to use magic in the first place.
“Alicia…are you okay?” Gill asks, peering into my face.
……I know this is obvious, but looking people in the eye when you talk to them is very important. I can hardly believe this is the same little boy who cowered in fear at the sight of me all those years ago.
“I was simply gaining a new awareness of how a villainess should be.”
“And by that, you mean…?”
“The weak should follow the strong.”
“And?” Gill prompts me for further explanation.
……Why are you interrupting my flow? Is this some new way of teasing me? I only gained this new awareness myself just now. Well, when Gill challenges you, your only choice is to surrender and give him what he wants.
“On the flip side, the strong have a duty to protect the weak,” I murmur quietly but firmly, strengthening my resolve.
“That’s a very Alicia sort of conclusion.” Gill nods in understanding, as if he already knew what I was going to say before I said it.
I wake to the brightness of the morning sun. I sit up in bed in my cottage and yawn daintily.
I never wound up seeing Will the day before. The question of whether he could return to the nobility aside, we left Roana Village without even a lead toward any potential resolution of its core problems.
There were no events in the game where Liz saved Roana Village. She just offered her thoughts and prayers and never actually set foot in Roana. Will is the one to save Roana Village—that is an undeniable fact.
When will all these problems be resolved? I wonder. Maybe I’ll practice my sword forms… That’ll clear my head. I grab my sword, stretch my arms, and walk out of the cottage.
“Alicia?”
An unexpected voice calls out to me.
I know that Gill got up before me and is outside. I also know that Henri is out there with him. So here’s the question…what is he doing here?
“Long time no see.” Paul—the owner of the plant shop—looks at me and smiles. “You’ve grown into quite a pretty young lady, Alicia. Your eye…what happened?” Paul asks, pointing at his own left eye.