In a spacious courtyard, the afternoon sun shone brightly, with rays slanting down and casting shadows of eaves and leaves on the ground. In this late autumn season, the warm sunlight made everyone feel lazy and relaxed, turning even the slightly chilly autumn breeze into something soothing.
On a wooden bench amid the trees, EeDechi lounged half-reclined, holding a big apple and chewing it listlessly out of boredom. On the open ground in front of her, Barrett was teaching the blond, blue-eyed Climb how to fight.
Still dressed like an adventurer, Barrett gripped a broad wooden sword, sparring with Climb who held a similar wooden blade. Their swords clashed, the "thud, thud" of wood smacking together echoing through the air, while the gentle sunlight bathed them both, their dancing shadows weaving together.
The Last Defender of the Way adventurer team had already accompanied Princess Renner through a teleportation array to reach the kingdom's capital, and they were now temporarily staying right next to the princess's private quarters.
In the distance, the palace's tall spire and white marble castle were visible—supposedly home to King Ramposa III and the second prince.
The matchup between the veteran elite adventurer and the princess's personal guard quickly reached a conclusion.
Barrett stepped lightly forward, twisting his wide wooden sword at a tricky angle to deflect Climb's longsword and knock it to the ground. He pulled his blade back to his shoulder, then shoved his body ahead, sending Climb tumbling and sprawling onto the dirt.
"Kids these days—each generation's worse than the last." Watching from the sidelines, EeDechi saw Barrett take down Climb in just a couple of moves and shook her head slowly, her voice laced with regret and frustration, like she was pissed that he wasn't shaping up.
"Climb, don't get down on yourself—you've already improved." Barrett ignored EeDechi's snarky comment, reaching out his broad hand to haul Climb up from the ground as he instructed, "Besides attacking, you need to learn how to retreat, adjust your footing, and redirect the force from an enemy's strike on your weapon."
"But the princess and the civilians are right behind me—I can't retreat," Climb said as he got to his feet, his tone unyielding.
"Turn retreat into advance: step back once to spot the enemy's weakness, then push forward twice as far." Barrett wasn't annoyed at being challenged; instead, he guided him patiently.
Climb wasn't born into nobility like the other knights in the palace; he was an orphan, picked up by the kingdom's Princess Renner when he was on the brink of death as a child, becoming her personal guard.
Although his talent for swordsmanship wasn't great, he trained with incredible diligence and grit, and his strength was already top-notch among warriors his age.
He had a cheerful and humble personality, with a rock-solid will, and he put real effort into his martial training. Barrett liked him a lot and had taught him plenty of combat tricks.
Compared to the kingdom's stiff, by-the-book orthodox court swordsmanship, the experiences and moves Barrett had picked up from years of adventuring and bloody fights were sometimes a cut above.
"Take a breather first," Barrett said kindly, pulling a can of magical distilled water from his spatial ring and handing it to Climb.
Climb took the water can, wiped the big drops of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, twisted off the oak stopper, and chugged it down in one go. The crisp, cool water gurgled in his throat, washing away the heat from the workout.
"Captain," Climb set the can down and turned to look at EeDechi half-sprawled on the wooden chair in the shade, his eyes full of eagerness, "you must know some Martial Arts, right? Could you teach me a few?"
"Martial Arts? I know a couple. But your fundamentals suck too much; I can't teach you." EeDechi took a bite of her apple, replying bluntly.
The supernatural powers in this world were roughly divided into three kinds: Martial Arts, magic, and Innate Talents.
Magic didn't need much explanation; it was basically split into three categories: Arcane Magic, Divine Magic, and Divine Magic.
Innate Talents were abilities you were born with. In this world, almost one in every two hundred people had an Innate Talent. Most were simple stuff like sensing tomorrow's weather, and only a handful were powerful rare skills. For example, EeDechi's Innate Talent let her see other people's Justice Value.
Martial Arts were the skills practiced by warriors without any magical talent. As long as you had a bit of aptitude, through hardcore training, by focusing your mind and holding your body in a specific stance, you could draw out unique supernatural power from your own flesh.
EeDechi possessed the Innate Talent to see Justice Values, could learn and cast magic, and in her free time, she'd picked up a few Martial Arts, though she hardly ever needed them.
Looking back, the enemies she'd run into so far—except for that gothic girl in the black skirt—were nowhere near tough enough to make her pull out Martial Arts.
Climb, turned down so bluntly, didn't let it get him down. He scooped up the wooden sword from the ground, squared off against Barrett, got into position, and geared up to keep training.
On the courtyard walls, withered ivy vines swayed in the breeze, casting flickering shadows in the sunlight. The pine-board side door suddenly swung open, and a young man in fancy clothes, a bit pudgy, stepped over the threshold and shuffled in on his short, stubby legs.
His eyes were haughty as he scanned around, and he spoke rudely from the get-go.
"Hey, Climb, where's my royal sister?"
Climb put away his wooden sword, stood tall, and said, "Princess Renner isn't in her chambers; she's off preparing for tonight's banquet."
"Lead me to her—I have business to discuss." The richly dressed young man started to stride off, then his gaze flicked to Barrett standing with his sword in the sunlight, his round, fat face twisting with scorn. "Who are these two?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, they are guests invited by Princess Renner," Climb replied steadily, without groveling or arrogance.
"Adventurers, right? My sister always loves hanging out with low-status trash, using dirty mud to set off her own nobility, figuring that makes her look all kind and down-to-earth, hmph." The slightly plump man spat out his words and marched out of the courtyard.
Climb's firm face burned with deep anger, but he still gave EeDechi and Barrett an apologetic bow before trailing after the man.
"Who's this fatso asking for a beating?" The moment Climb's foot crossed the threshold, EeDechi turned to Barrett with the question.
"Keep it down! We're in the palace. That's the kingdom's second prince! Goes by Zanac—heard he's nothing special ability-wise. Full name's Zanac Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself. After the eldest prince got killed in battle a few years back, he's the kingdom's designated heir to the throne."
EeDechi frowned and said, "I can't stand that guy at all; his Justice Value is really low, even lower than the Baharuth emperor's."
Barrett couldn't help but laugh: "Is that Justice Value you obsess over every day actually useful? If it is, why do you always get conned into buying fakes at the shops?"
"Of course it's useful! Totally useful!" EeDechi's face turned red, but she was still stubborn as hell.
"Then why do you still buy fakes?"
"That's because... because... because I saw the boss was too poor and wanted to help him out." EeDechi forced out a reason.
"Haha..."
"Don't laugh!" EeDechi glared viciously at Barrett.
Barrett pursed his lips, his cheek muscles twitching, forcibly swallowing his laughter. He wiped the corner of his eye and asked curiously: "You're always nitpicking everyone else's Justice Value; so what's yours?"
"I'm 250!" EeDechi proudly put her hands on her hips.
"Okay, that's pretty high alright." Barrett remembered his own Justice Value was 146.
(Author's note: In the author's country, 250 has a slang meaning similar to "Dummy/Dimwit", so there's an implied layer here: EeDeChi proudly claims she's a Dummy.)
"Why can't Princess Renner be the heir to the throne now that the eldest prince is dead?" EeDechi asked.
She tossed the apple core in her hand, smashing a thick branch on a pine tree in the woods. A few fluffy squirrels, clutching pinecones in their little paws, scampered around on the branches.
Barrett looked at EeDechi with a weird expression and said:
"Captain, you don't know? Women have no inheritance rights—not just in the royal family, but nobles too. In the history of Re-Estize and Baharuth, there's never been a female ruler. Where's your hometown anyway? Why do I always feel like you're clueless about basic stuff?"