「BASTION — TRAINING GROUNDS」
THE NEXT MORNING — 4:30 A.M.
Cold air moved through the empty Training Arena, carrying the faint rustle of trees beyond the surrounding stonework. The sky had only begun to pale above the Bastion, leaving most of the grounds in darkness.
G6 stood on the sand in her black training clothes. A familiar warmth stirred beneath her hair, behind her right ear.
"You can get out."
A blue shimmer gathered beside her, expanding until Daunt's massive form settled onto the ground. He shook out his fur, the spectral flames along his mane flickering as he surveyed the arena.
"The coast is clear. I sense no one within three hundred paces."
"Of course. The knights wake at a quarter to six and gather here at seven."
"You are certainly well-informed."
Daunt turned toward the entrance.
"So? Where are my favorite students?"
Footsteps answered before G6 could. Lord Zen and Edmund emerged beneath the archway, their measured approach carrying clearly across the vacant grounds.
"Looks like they are here. Such a dramatic entrance."
"Good morning."
Lord Zen offered a restrained nod. His noble attire was immaculate, though the weariness around his eyes suggested that appearances had required more effort than usual.
"Good morning, Lady Reise. Master Daunt."
Edmund bowed, and G6 examined him.
"You, Edmund. Did your old bones finally recover after resting the entire day yesterday?"
"They have. Thank you for your gracious concern, my lady. Lilia also attended to me most diligently."
"Fortunate indeed," Lord Zen murmured. "Though, of course, I am also grateful for the… awful tonic."
"Right? Alistair sucks."
"Enough chatter."
Daunt stepped between them before the agreement could develop into a discussion of the household's medicines.
"You two have merely stabilized your mana forms. You are nowhere near shaping them into reliable attacks. Today, I shall teach you the basic applications of Mana Form. Perhaps then you will appreciate the difference between this discipline and those simple magic tricks you already know."
"Why didn't you ever teach me that?"
"Do not interfere, Reise. You know perfectly well that you can invent whatever spell pleases you, you inhuman creature."
"Did he just call me a monster? You did just call me a monster, didn't you?!"
G6 rounded on him. Daunt lifted his head with the offended dignity of someone who considered the accusation less important than her tone, and their argument resumed with a familiarity neither of the men found encouraging.
Lord Zen cleared his throat.
"I apologize for interrupting your… moment. Shall we begin?"
Daunt looked toward him, then turned away from G6.
"Very well. Follow me."
He led Lord Zen toward the far side of the grounds. Edmund remained long enough to address his mistress.
"And you, Lady Reise?"
"I'll be practicing on my own. There's something I need to test. Go ahead."
"Understood. Please do be careful."
Edmund bowed and went to join the others.
G6 rolled her neck and began warming up, working through the stiffness in her shoulders before moving into stretches. Only after Daunt had occupied both men at the opposite end of the arena did she turn toward the reinforced training dummy in her own corner.
She extended one hand.
"Manifest…"
Her attention followed the circulation through her chest and arm. The sensation differed from the familiar movement of Wind, a biting chill gathering along the path toward her fingertips.
Rime Point.
Frigid mist curled around her hand. The cold narrowed into a fine point, and she released it toward the dummy with a small motion of her wrist.
G6 pushed across the sand immediately afterward. Her strides shortened as she approached, allowing her to arrest the movement without driving her full weight into the target.
The needle stood buried in its center. Frost spread in delicate fractures around the impact point while she examined the small construct from inches away.
"Hmm. This is still too heavy."
She drew her hand back.
"I'm only using 20% output, but the density is ridiculous. And my movement… isn't that overkill?"
G6 flicked her wrist.
"Disappear."
The needle vanished into fine white smoke rather than melting. She watched the last trace disperse, then turned toward the place where she had begun.
The return carried her across the sand in another brief rush. She slowed into her original position and pressed two fingers against her pulse, waiting for the vicious contraction she remembered from the earlier attempt.
It did not come.
Her pulse remained slow beneath her fingertips.
"As expected."
A smug smile appeared.
"If my control was even slightly off, I'd have painted the far wall with my own organs. But since I barely broke a sweat, I really must be a genius. Ha… boring."
She lowered her hand and looked toward the brightening sky.
The Queen's request returned to mind. Killing the prisoner did not particularly interest her; deciding what the people watching would understand afterward offered considerably more promise.
Let's see.
What's the perfect way to kill that bastard, while simultaneously sending a message to that Queen about what happens if she tries to double-cross me?
A spell from the ancient tome surfaced in her memory. The final four words of its description held her attention, and the smile on her face slowly widened.
"HA. HA. HA. HA!"
Her laughter carried across the empty grounds.
At the far end, Lord Zen's concentration faltered. He looked toward her while Edmund lowered his hands, the unstable pale light above them thinning as his attention shifted.
"W-what is she laughing about?" Lord Zen asked quietly.
"I cannot say."
Edmund watched her for another moment, unease tightening his expression.
"But I have never heard a sound quite like it."
"Hmm. I can sense the malice from here. Tsk." Daunt.
Daunt gave G6 a displeased look before turning on his students.
"AND STOP SLACKING! MANIFEST YOUR FORMS NOW!"
❈.❈.❈
By the time sunlight reached the arena floor, the private lesson had ended and Daunt had withdrawn into the chained rose behind G6's right ear. She sat on the upper bleachers with considerably more composure than either of her companions.
Lord Zen lay across the stone, his glasses crooked and his previously immaculate clothes marked by sand and sweat. Edmund occupied the row below, resting with his hands open beside him as the last of their trembling subsided.
"I… I believe I may die before mastering even the basic Mana Form techniques," Lord Zen said between breaths.
"I never imagined I would resent my age this much."
Edmund flexed his fingers carefully.
"My joints feel as though they have been replaced with rusted iron."
"Tsk. You guys are being dramatic."
G6 looked down toward the first groups entering the grounds. The recruits were beginning to assemble below, their voices still subdued in the early light.
"C-Captain… we are not… like you…"
Lord Zen appeared to have exhausted himself further merely by making the distinction.
"Do not be such weaklings!" Daunt complained privately to G6.
She ignored him. Movement on the far staircase had caught her attention.
Tina was approaching with Lilia beside her, both carrying wicker baskets. The child climbed with considerably more enthusiasm than the weight in her hands justified.
"Looks like the rations are here."
Both men lifted their heads.
"WATER!"
"Lady Reise!"
Lilia hurried through the final steps, shifting the basket enough to wave.
"Hello there, Lilia."
Tina reached them a moment later and bowed, slightly breathless from the climb.
"Good morning, my lady."
Her gaze passed over the two men.
"My goodness… what happened to you, Lord Zen? And Edmund! You look as though someone put you through a meat grinder."
"W-water… please…"
Lord Zen reached toward the basket. Tina set it down immediately and began handing out bottles, while Lilia watched both men drink with wide-eyed fascination. Water escaped the corners of Lord Zen's mouth before he steadied his hand, and Edmund lowered his bottle only long enough to draw breath.
Did Lady Reise actually torture them? Tina wondered.
She glanced toward G6, who seemed thoroughly untroubled by their condition, then returned to unpacking the food.
"I have brought double-layered sandwiches. Please eat… to survive, I suppose."
"Thank you, Tina. You are a saint."
The sincerity in Lord Zen's voice would have been flattering under less alarming circumstances. He unwrapped his portion and took a grateful bite while Edmund accepted his own with equal appreciation.
Tina blinked at their expressions.
Are those… tears? she wondered.
"I shall return to the office once I have collected the empty baskets," she told G6. "There is a mountain of paperwork awaiting me. I am leaving Lilia here to assist you, my lady."
"Alright."
G6 was already halfway through her sandwich. Lilia settled beside her, happily working through a piece of crust while Tina arranged the remaining food.
"Want me to tell that woman to halt the paperwork?"
Tina paused.
"My lady, please address Her Majesty with respect."
She adjusted her glasses.
"And there is no need. I would feel guilty doing nothing while you are out here… doing whatever this is."
"Well, don't say I didn't try."
G6 shrugged and returned to her meal.
"I see Lord Zen is joining your dawn training now," Tina observed.
"Don't pry, Tina. Zen is trying to reach A-Rank."
"Pursuing A-Rank would be easier than this torture…"
Lord Zen's complaint emerged around a mouthful of ham.
"Tsk. Look at this guy. He used to be the 'rational mediator,' now he's just a bitch."
"Good heavens… your language, my lady."
Tina's reprimand was weary rather than hopeful.
"Ah, that reminds me. Alistair sent these."
She reached into the bottom of the basket and produced three glass vials. Lord Zen stopped chewing. Edmund lowered his sandwich slowly as Tina placed the bottles on the stone before them.
"P-poison," Lord Zen whispered.
G6 leaned away from the nearest vial.
"What the fuck is this? Every time Alistair concocts a new tonic, the color gets darker… This looks like literal poison."
The contents were almost black, thick enough that the light revealed little through the glass.
"He said it would immediately soothe fatigue and accelerate mana restoration."
Tina delivered the assurance with a pleasant smile. It seemed to reassure no one.
"I don't need it. I'm perfectly fine."
G6 pushed her vial toward the men.
"You two can split my portion."
Edmund and Lord Zen looked at the three bottles, then at her widening grin.
"D-devil…"
Their muttered agreement went unanswered.
Before Tina gathered the baskets, G6 drew her attention back to the recruits below and gave her a message for the officers overseeing them. Pete's instruction needed to be settled before the morning's drills carried him away on another collection of errands.
Tina listened, nodded, and descended toward the arena.
「THE ARENA FLOOR」
The Five Angels entered in white-and-gold uniforms while the recruits gathered for their morning instruction. Captain Kepler's attention drifted upward, stopping on the small group occupying the highest bleachers.
Two of its members appeared to be lying down.
"Who are those?"
Lieutenant Frenz Libert followed his gaze.
"The woman in black appears to be a Worthon."
Lieutenant Nash Thonson narrowed his eyes.
"Oh. That is… Reise?"
"Lady Reise was here yesterday as well," Lieutenant Libert said. "She looks rather different in training clothes."
"It appears they have been exercising," Lieutenant Ursal Nocturne observed. "Their state of dress suggests as much."
"Ah, the maid is coming down."
Lieutenant Thonson watched Tina approach. She stopped before the officers and offered a formal bow.
"Good morning, my lords."
"Tina! It has been some time."
She acknowledged Lieutenant Thonson's greeting with a restrained nod before addressing the group.
"I come bearing a message from my lady. She requests that one of the provisional trainees be excused from the general drills."
Captain Kepler regarded her more closely.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The underage boy admitted by Prince Dio's permission, on Lady Reise's recommendation. My lady feels responsible for him and wishes to observe and instruct him personally."
"Lady Reise?"
Captain Kepler glanced toward the bleachers.
"That spoile—ahem. She is not a knight. Does she have relevant experience? Is she even a fighter? There is a considerable difference between a mage and someone qualified to train a combatant."
Tina's expression tightened before settling back into its usual composure.
"I understand your concern, Captain Kepler. However, Lady Reise has proven herself to Her Majesty personally. She is not merely a Bastion staff member. Her work extends throughout the Royal Collegium."
"You mean she may choose which department she serves in at her own discretion?" Lieutenant Thonson asked.
"Indeed. And that privilege was not granted through family patronage. We all know Her Majesty is perfectly fair. She bestowed it upon my lady because it was earned."
"You speak very highly of your lady," Vice Captain Cortez said. "But it does not change the fact that she is the same Wicked Rose who tormented the ladies around my nephew for years."
"Who is?"
The voice came from behind them.
Prince Dio stood near the passage into the arena, dressed in his knight's uniform. The officers turned and bowed, with Tina following their example.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
Prince Dio raised a hand to ease the formalities. His gaze stopped on Tina.
"Tina? Is Reise here? Where is she?"
Vice Captain Cortez glanced toward Captain Kepler.
He just called her Reise? Vice Captain Cortez thought.
The casual inquiry sat awkwardly beside what he remembered of the Prince's attitude toward his fiancée.
"Lady Reise is… there, Your Highness."
Tina directed his attention upward.
G6 had risen from her seat. As they watched, she caught Lord Zen by the jaw and brought one of the dark vials toward his mouth.
"Oh my…"
Tina's fingers tightened around the basket handle.
My lady, you impossible creature, are you trying to kill Lord Zen with that tonic? she thought.
"Is she attempting to murder that prostrate gentleman?" Lieutenant Libert asked.
Prince Dio's brow lowered.
"Who is that?"
"Lord Zen, Your Highness. He joined my lady and Edmund for dawn training."
"And I was excluded?"
Tina cleared her throat before the question could draw her farther from the errand.
"In any case, Captain?"
"As I stated, I cannot in good conscience entrust a recruit's training to a novice, however privileged."
Captain Kepler held his position. His colleagues' reactions suggested that Tina's defense had not yet answered their concern about G6's experience.
"What is this concerning?" Prince Dio asked.
"My lady wishes to take the boy under her personal instruction. Captain Kepler is… reluctant."
"Ah, the boy."
Prince Dio looked toward the recruits.
"Captain, let Lady Reise have him."
"B-but Your Highness, Lady Reise is—"
"He was admitted as a provisional trainee on her recommendation. That arrangement still stands. We are speaking of Pete, are we not?"
"Pete, Your Highness," Tina confirmed.
"You heard her. This is an order. Send the boy to the bleachers. We will discuss the broader implications later."
Prince Dio turned toward the staircase before the Captain could pursue the matter.
"I shall take my leave as well."
Tina bowed and withdrew. The five officers watched the Prince ascend, his attention returning toward the disturbance above.
"I was under the impression their relationship was… sour," Vice Captain Cortez murmured.
「ON THE BLEACHERS」
Lord Zen had begun regretting several decisions, foremost among them the refusal that had brought G6 to her feet.
Her hand remained against his jaw as she tilted the half-filled vial toward his mouth.
"Drink it, Zen. If it doesn't kill you, I'll kill you for refusing."
A strangled protest failed to become words. The tonic coated his tongue, and he closed his eyes against its astonishing bitterness.
I should not have refused earlier… Lord Zen thought.
「A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER」
"Now, is the food settled?"
G6 looked at the men resting against the stone. Their attention moved reluctantly toward the vials still waiting between them.
"You two, drink this. You look half-dead."
"I believe I shall pass."
Lord Zen had attempted to make the refusal sound gracious. Unfortunately, his gaze remained fixed on the black liquid with undisguised revulsion.
"What? I said drink it. You need energy."
"B-but… I do not wish to die."
"Tsk. You're being a bitch again, Zen."
G6 stood and uncorked his vial.
"W-what—"
His objection ended when she caught his jaw. She held the bottle to his mouth and waited only until he could swallow before tipping it farther.
Is this the end? Lord Zen wondered.
Across from them, Edmund examined his own vial, looked at what was happening to his companion, and chose cooperation. He closed his eyes and drank the entire portion.
The decision appeared to cost him dearly.
"THIS IS ABOMINABLE."
He lowered the empty bottle, struggling to retain both the tonic and the dignity with which he had consumed it.
G6 finished with Lord Zen's first vial and reached for the portion she had refused. She divided it between the newly emptied bottles, leaving half for each man as promised.
Edmund had begun reaching for water when she indicated the additional measure.
"Hey, there's half left."
He looked down at it, then accepted his fate with an expression of profound resignation.
Lord Zen watched him drink.
"G-give up… C-Captain…"
"What do you mean? There's still this half."
G6 lifted his remaining portion.
「PRESENT」
"Lady Reise! Please don't kill Lord Zen!"
Lilia tugged at G6's sleeve while Lord Zen struggled through the final swallow.
"Lady Reise."
Prince Dio reached the top of the steps, his gaze moving immediately toward the hand holding Lord Zen's face.
"What are you doing to him?"
"Improving him."
G6 released her companion and set the empty vial beside the others.
"H-help…"
Lord Zen reached for his water. All three vials now stood empty, their contents divided between the two men, while G6 returned to her seat without having tasted a drop.
Prince Dio examined the sand on their clothing and the wear across their knees.
What manner of training leaves one looking so… used? Prince Dio wondered.
"It is surprising to see Lord Zen joining your dawn training."
"What's so surprising? We live together."
G6 glanced at him.
"Ah, right. The Queen forbade you from moving into the main building, didn't she? My bad."
His expression tightened briefly, but he let the remark pass.
"In any case, I heard you wish to train Pete."
"Yeah. They were making him a page boy. It offends my pride, since I insisted on his admission."
Below, a knight was escorting a bewildered Pete toward the staircase. G6 watched the boy struggle to understand why he had been summoned.
"Thanks for the assist, Dio."
The Prince acknowledged her thanks with a small nod and took a seat beside her.
"What manner of training do you intend? The recruits who concentrate on Physical Enhancement still receive instruction with the sword."
"You think I don't know how to use a sword? Speaking of which, you still owe me one."
"I have seen you practice. Preparing a recruit is another matter."
Prince Dio rested his forearms against his knees.
"And I have not forgotten what I said about a sword."
Pete reached the top of the steps before G6 could answer. He stopped to catch his breath, taking in the Prince, Lord Zen's lingering misery, Edmund's exhausted composure, and G6 waiting in the middle of them.
"G-greetings, Your Highness."
He bowed before turning toward her.
"L-Lady Reise… I am here."
G6 stood.
"Hey there. Start with warm-up exercises, then stretches. Zen, stop whining and show Pete what I taught you."
Lord Zen lowered his water bottle and rose with a groan.
"A-alright…"
Pete followed him toward the broad stone landing adjoining their row of seats. Lord Zen demonstrated the physical warm-ups, working through the movements slowly enough for the boy to imitate them before progressing to the stretches.
Prince Dio watched for a moment.
"It seems Zen has grown closer to you as well. He was always rather aloof, a solitary figure."
"He's just a housemate I'm helping out."
G6 turned her attention back to Pete.
❈.❈.❈
When the stretches were finished, G6 gestured for Pete to sit on the stone step before her. Lord Zen returned gratefully to the seating, while Lilia settled beside Edmund and watched the boy prepare himself for the lesson.
"Alright, kid. Lesson one: this world's fighting is stupid."
Pete blinked.
Prince Dio raised an eyebrow but allowed her to continue.
"You're being taught to think in two paths here."
G6 held up two fingers and indicated the drills below.
"Mage. Or Swordsman. A neat little binary system built for nobles—big mana pools or fancy blades."
Her hand turned toward Pete.
"What happens when a mage runs out of mana in a fight? Or gets tackled before they can finish a chant?"
Pete shook his head.
"If that's all they know, they die. They become a punching bag. Their whole elegant system collapses without its fuel."
G6 lowered one finger.
"Next. Swordsman. What if your precious sword breaks? Or you're disarmed? Or you're cornered in a space too narrow to swing?"
She let her hands fall.
"If the sword is all you know, you're just a person in armor who's now a very heavy, very slow target."
Pete sat straighter, his gaze remaining on her.
"Remember, inefficiency costs lives."
G6 looked toward a group practicing farther below.
"The hand-to-hand drill I've seen them give the recruits downstairs is what they call 'Footwork.' It's basically just kick-focused sparring. Like a primitive, dumbed-down TKD. It's for show, for duels. It assumes you'll have space, that your opponent will follow the same rules, and that you'll never, ever end up grappling in the dirt."
She leaned toward Pete.
"Real fighting isn't a duel. It's a system failure. It happens in mud, in alleys, when you're exhausted, when your tools break. Train only for that 'Footwork,' and you fail the second someone grabs you or takes out your legs."
Her voice remained matter-of-fact.
"Too many of the drills I've watched leave the rest to magic and metal. That is a critical weakness. I'm not going to teach you 'Footwork.' I'm going to teach you how to be a problem that their neat little categories can't solve."
Movement on the staircase drew Prince Dio's attention.
Lord Earl, Lord Keith, Lady Brenda, and Miss Eliza had appeared on their way toward the main training grounds. Lord Keith noticed the gathering and opened his mouth, already smiling.
Prince Dio raised a finger to his lips and shook his head.
Do not interrupt, the Prince thought, holding his cousin's gaze.
Lord Keith's smile faded into curiosity. He looked toward Lord Earl, who gave a slight nod, and the four changed direction. They climbed quietly to the rows above G6 and took their seats.
She continued without acknowledging them.
"The system I'll teach you is called Krav Maga. It's not a sport. It has no rules. Its only principle is efficiency: end the threat as fast as possible, by any means necessary. It uses everything—your hands, elbows, knees, teeth, the dirt, a rock—and it targets the weakest parts of the human machine: eyes, throat, groin, knees."
Lord Keith's expression became more attentive. Beside him, Lady Brenda leaned forward, while Miss Eliza listened without speaking. Lord Earl's gaze moved from G6 to Pete, following the direction of the lesson.
G6 stood and stepped onto the open landing.
"Demonstration. Zen, try to grab me from the front."
Lord Zen looked at her for a moment before rising again. He stopped opposite her and reached forward.
G6 moved into the attempt rather than retreating. Her palm redirected his arm, and a knee rose toward his midsection before stopping short of contact. The edge of her other hand halted beside his neck.
The sequence left him with his arm displaced and her already inside his reach.
"Close-distance neutralization. No room for a spell, no room for a sword swing. Just anatomy versus aggression."
She lowered her hands and turned toward Pete. Only then did she let her gaze pass over the new audience.
"The point is to be the variable their system can't compute. When the mage reaches for mana that isn't there, and the swordsman fumbles for a blade that's gone… that is when you win."
Her attention returned to the boy.
"But what happens if both sides are stripped of magic and sword? If your opponent also knows how to fight with just the body?"
She turned toward Lord Zen and snapped a low roundhouse kick at his leading leg.
His response came immediately. He withdrew the threatened leg and lowered his weight, bringing his forearm into the path of her shin as he turned the strike aside. The sharp contact carried across the landing.
G6 followed before he could settle. A feinted jab drew his attention upward, then her elbow drove toward his ribs.
Lord Zen shifted with it, deflecting the elbow and returning a knife-hand strike toward her neck. G6 caught his wrist just short of her throat.
For a brief moment, they remained close enough that neither had room for the wide movements of the earlier exercises. Then she released him, and both stepped apart.
Prince Dio sat forward.
Lord Zen's fatigue was still visible, but it had not prevented the response. There had been no pause in which he tried to remember what a scholarly nobleman ought to do with someone suddenly attacking him.
"Whoa… Zen," Lady Brenda murmured.
Below, several recruits looked toward the sound of the exchange. Lieutenant Thonson followed their attention and stopped midway through demonstrating a sword grip.
"Is that Lady Reise?"
The other officers turned. Captain Kepler watched Lord Zen adjust his stance opposite G6, his brow drawing together.
"This is… oddly familiar."
G6 moved again.
Her next thrust sent an open hand toward Lord Zen's center. He stepped aside, caught her arm, and turned his hip into the attempted throw.
She followed the movement rather than resisting it. Her body rolled through the fall, shoulder meeting stone before she came up low and swept toward his legs.
Lord Zen jumped clear. He landed facing her, his breathing heavier but his guard already returning.
There were no visible elemental effects to distract from the exchange. Their positions changed through contact, footwork, and the brief openings each attempted to create. G6 stopped the most dangerous strikes short; Lord Zen did the same, though neither offered the other much time to recover.
"They're not… using anything," Miss Eliza whispered.
Lord Earl did not answer. His attention followed the transition from Lord Zen's attempted throw to G6's immediate recovery.
This is what she meant. When magic and sword fail… this is what remains, Lord Earl thought.
G6 stepped back, creating more distance than she had allowed so far.
Lord Zen adjusted to follow.
She accelerated toward him, then sprang before he could settle into the expected exchange. Her legs caught him high and low, one crossing near his shoulder and neck while the other secured his waist.
The turn of her body drew his balance sideways. Lord Zen tried to follow the fall, but she carried the motion through and brought him onto the stone with a hard SLAM.
Before he could rise, her position had become a pin.
"WHOA!"
Lord Keith jumped to his feet.
"What in the world was that?" Vice Captain Cortez asked from below.
Captain Kepler's gaze remained fixed on the landing. Lieutenant Libert looked from G6's finishing position to Lord Zen, examining the exchange rather than offering an immediate judgment.
Prince Dio stayed seated, a slow smile touching his mouth.
She never ceases to amaze me, Prince Dio thought.
G6 released the hold and stood. She smoothed the wrinkles in her black training clothes while Lord Zen remained on the stone, staring at the sky and drawing breath.
The morning's private lesson had already left him depleted. The sparring had used what recovery breakfast had given him, and the lingering taste of Alistair's tonic did nothing to improve his disposition.
"This is what happens when you stop being a 'class' and start being a proper fighter."
G6 looked toward Pete.
"Zen didn't lose because he was weak—though right now, he certainly is."
Lord Zen closed his eyes.
"He lost because he expected me to play by the rules of a person. In a real fight, there are no people. There are only threats and survivors."
She turned fully toward the boy.
"Now, Pete. Imagine you aren't just limited to being a mage or a swordsman. Imagine being a weapon when you are weaponless. That makes you invisible to their logic. It makes you a ghost they can't catch."
Pete swallowed, his attention moving from Lord Zen on the ground to the woman who had put him there.
I knew it… Lady Reise is on an entirely different level, Pete thought.
G6's gaze shifted upward.
Lord Keith was still standing. Lady Brenda had drawn closer to the edge of her seat, while Lord Earl continued studying the space where the throw had ended.
"Enjoying the show?"
"Reise…"
Lord Keith stepped over the bench and approached the landing.
"What in the seven hells was that? You jumped—you caught him—you just turned a grown man into a falling tree!"
"It's a Scissor Takedown."
G6 returned toward her seat beside Prince Dio.
"Highly risky if you miss. Highly final if you don't."
The Prince glanced toward the Five Angels below, then back at her.
"You just humiliated every manual in the Royal Library in under sixty seconds, Reise. Captain Kepler looks as though he is having a crisis of faith."
G6 ignored the praise and looked toward Lord Zen.
"Enough, Zen. Thank you, you may rest."
He pushed himself upright, taking a moment before standing. After a stiff nod toward the Prince and the others, he withdrew to the farthest pillar behind the seating.
The expression he wore discouraged anyone from asking whether he wished to participate further.
"Edmund. Stop lounging and get over here. Since Zen's stamina is as pathetic as his social skills, you're taking over."
Edmund rose with a faint, knowing smile. He worked the stiffness from his neck and stepped onto the landing, settling his weight before facing Pete.
"Wait!"
Miss Eliza had stood.
Her voice was not loud, but the clarity of the interruption drew G6's attention. For once, she appeared more concerned with the answer than with how the question might be received.
"If… if magic and sword fail, and this is what remains… can anyone learn it? Even someone like me, with little physical strength?"
G6 examined her.
"Anyone can learn the mechanics. This system is designed to use the opponent's weight against them. It's the ultimate equalizer for the small against the large."
Her gaze sharpened before Miss Eliza could respond.
"However, if you lack the discipline to exercise and build the necessary muscle, don't dream of using it. Without a solid foundation, the force of the impact will just backfire and shatter your own bones."
Miss Eliza remained standing for another moment, absorbing the warning.
Below them, instruction resumed in the nearest recruit lines. The officers returned their attention to the men awaiting orders, though more than one glance traveled back toward the landing before the familiar rhythm of practice reasserted itself.
G6 looked over her lingering audience.
"Well, don't just stand there gawking."
She waved toward Lord Keith, Lady Brenda, Lord Earl, and Miss Eliza.
"You have your own training. Go be productive somewhere else."
Lord Keith began to object, but Lord Earl stopped him with a look. The four descended together, quieter than they had been on their arrival.
Prince Dio remained a moment longer.
His attention passed from Lord Zen beside the pillar to G6 preparing to continue Pete's instruction. There were questions he had not expected to acquire before the morning's duties: where Lord Zen had developed those responses, how much of G6's practice he had failed to see, and how casually she treated both as ordinary teaching material.
G6 had already turned back toward the boy.
The Prince rose without pressing her and made his way down to the arena.
❈.❈.❈
A routine took shape across the two days before the judgment.
The predawn hours belonged to the private lessons. G6, Edmund, and Lord Zen met in the empty grounds, where Daunt's impatient corrections accompanied their efforts to stabilize and shape raw mana. The men's progress remained uneven. A form that held through one attempt might falter during the next, and sustaining it while moving demanded concentration that exhaustion made increasingly difficult.
G6 divided her time between their practice and work of her own. Lord Zen continued attending with determination, though he had begun referring to the schedule as inhuman whenever he believed she was sufficiently occupied not to answer.
The tonics remained no more pleasant for repeated exposure.
Before the grounds filled, Daunt withdrew and the visible manifestations of their private work ended. Pete arrived afterward, ready for the instruction the officers had permitted him to receive.
Under Edmund's patient but firm guidance, the boy practiced his stance, movement, and the three foundational attacks G6 had demonstrated. The movements came awkwardly at first. His feet lagged behind his intentions, and concentration on one part of an exercise often cost him control of another.
G6 watched closely enough to notice each mistake.
"Your hip is lazy," she told him when a turn stopped short.
During the next attempt, her correction came before he had finished recovering.
"You're pulling the kick."
Pete reset while Edmund indicated the position again. G6's final instruction was delivered in the same flat voice.
"Commit, or you'll die."
Throughout the day, the others found reasons to pass the bleachers. Lord Keith repeatedly discovered something he needed to discuss with Lord Earl nearby. Lady Brenda arrived with messages that required less time to deliver than she spent afterward watching the practice.
Miss Eliza returned to her Light exercises with renewed concentration. Her question on the landing had not left her, and the answer had given her more to consider than another impressive technique.
Prince Dio's days were increasingly occupied by the approaching trial. He examined the surviving records of House Neviden, questioned the guards about the prisoner's behavior, and prepared for the dispute surrounding the proposed transfer.
The investigation had produced a criminal without producing an answer to the blood inside him. As the ceremony approached, the uses other people intended to make of that uncertainty became no less troubling.
Across the Capital, attention gathered around the same event.
「MAIN PALACE — GRAND ARENA」
JUDGEMENT DAY
The Grand Arena lay open beneath a hard, cloudless sky.
On the raised royal dais, the King and Queen sat before the assembled court, with Crown Prince Amir and Prince Dio flanking their father's throne. Below them, the three Pillar heads occupied seats of carved obsidian: Duke William Worthon, Duke Trevon De Lune, and Duke Severon Nocturne.
Their expressions offered the watching nobles little to interpret.
The Upper, Middle, and Lower Courts filled their designated sections, silk and brocade interspersed with polished ceremonial armor. Conversation had diminished to a restrained murmur, but the anticipation remained visible in the faces turned toward the center.
Silver Company formed a guard around the prisoner.
He stood within heavy, rune-etched chains, their suppressive markings holding against the unstable power inside him. His cheeks were hollow, his eyes restless, and every small movement drew a response from the nearest knights.
A noble in the front row shifted away from the edge of the seating. Others remained rigidly composed, watching the prisoner as though proximity alone might make them participants in whatever had been done to his blood.
The Head Justice stepped forward.
His voice carried across the stone as he began reciting the charges. Attention settled on him, then on the bound man before the dais.
A kilometer distant in the open sky, Daunt held his position above the palace grounds.
Wind supported him beneath his paws, its controlled currents shifting through his fur while G6 remained seated on his back beneath a black cloak. She leaned forward and brought an elongated mana-made scope before one eye.
Perception sharpened the magnified view.
The prisoner's restless movements became precise and readable. She could see the pulse in his throat, the tension in the Queen's fingers against her throne, and Prince Dio's attention fixed on Marquess Vinesthorne.
Her own breathing remained steady.
Wind passed the edge of her hood as Daunt adjusted beneath her, and the slight movement disturbed the view.
Stupid mutt.
He's showing off with the wind currents.
Keep it steady.
She directed the complaint toward him through their bond and settled against his back again.
Below, the court proceeded through the solemn opening of its judgment. G6 followed the ceremony through the scope, already in position while the Head Justice named the crimes of the man she had been sent to kill.
—To Be Continued…—