Battle Preparations

"Oh goodness me, for Her Highness herself to grace us with her royal presence..."

After our dungeon quest, I had been shepherded directly to a noble's estate.

"And might this young man be the esteemed hero I've heard rumors of? If it's not too forward to refer to you so..."

The man who spoke these words as he glanced at me was none other than the lord of the estate, the Earl of Gitelle. He was short and stocky, not a build seen often among adventurers. The finery he wore marked him at first sight as someone of importance. Since I came from humbler origins than Margus and the others did, in past lives they were usually the ones who handled this sort of negotiation, while I tended our equipment. So while I had technically seen him before, this was the first time I was officially meeting the earl.

"I wouldn't call myself a hero just yet. My lord."

"Ha ha! But I have already heard much about your formidable strength." He laughed affably. Everything about him gave the impression of an extremely good-natured person.

"He is early yet in his training. And that brings us right to our main business, Lord Gitelle."

"Yes, indeed. There have been some suspicious activities involving your adversary Lord Argus, from what I hear." Lord Gitelle spoke with the air of someone announcing shocking information he had gathered, but Ciel cut in impatiently.

"Yes. He's going to start a war."

"A w-war? How do you...?" He trailed off, at a loss for words after Ciel's proclamation. He could only stare at her, dumbstruck. After a few moments he regained his composure. "Ah, is that an eventuality your Eye has foreseen?" he asked.

"No. But I am certain of it."

"I see. I can't say I'm completely surprised, to be honest," the earl said with an unconcerned smile.

Nobles really are made of different stuff than adventurers, huh? I thought to myself. Like...how to put it? They were imperturbable, somehow.

"Well, in that case we must make preparations. Are you able to offer any more specific guidance, Your Highness?"

"That is all the guidance I can give you. But I will offer military aid."

"Aha. Then our side will have governmental support, eh? To what extent are you proposing? When it comes to the royal army, even a few hundred troops makes a marked difference, of course..."

"One man and one beast."

"E-Excuse me?" Lord Gitelle was once again dumbfounded. "Do you mean—? You can't be saying..." Slowly, his gaze turned toward me. Our eyes met.

"Surely it will give you heart to have a hero on your side, won't it?" Ciel said.

"You were just saying it was early yet in his training..."

"You have my assurance he is plenty strong already. He will be more help to you than if I sent a thousand troops."

"That's quite a claim." The puzzlement in his eyes had given way to eagerness.

"Wait a sec," I said. "I can't replace a thousand troops!"

"You can," Ciel replied. "Okay, we've said what we came here to say. We'll be back once things are in motion. Ah, right—I said one man and one beast, but if all goes well, you can expect further reinforcements as well."

"What sort of reinforcements?"

"Our hero here is a tamer. Well, we'll see what happens." With that, having completed our mission here, Ciel made as if to depart.

Lord Gitelle, still apparently confused as he tried to process all of this, could only call out, "Where are you two headed from here?"

That was exactly what I was wondering as well.

With the eyes of two men and one beast upon her, Ciel replied, "We'll return to the capital for now, and begin preparations."

That should give us a chance to rest for a bit, I thought. Ah, to think I was ever that naive...

❖

It was a whirlwind trip back to the royal capital, and before I knew it, I found myself back in the throne room.

"Ah, Ciel, you're back," said the king.

"I am. I need to borrow some troops from the Royal Order of Chivalry." As though that completely settled things, Ciel swiftly left the room.

"Hm? Hey now, wait a moment, you need what now...? Did I hear that right...?" With a sigh, the king turned his gaze to where I still stood, left behind. "Ah, well. I apologize, but I'll leave you to deal with her."

That's a bit much to ask... Bowing my head to His (rather befuddled) Majesty, I had no choice but to follow after Ciel.

❖

"Princess Ciel, Your Highness. Whatever could bring you here...?"

"Ah, this is perfect. Sirius, I would like you to serve as a training partner for him."

"Huh?"

Ciel had brought me to the training grounds, and wasted no time in getting down to business. And the person she had accosted was, well...

"But, Your Highness, I still have the Royal Order of Chivalry to oversee. It's not a simple matter to find the time to—"

From the finery of his uniform, there was no doubt that he was the highest-ranking person here.

"You were just wounded on your left side, weren't you?" Ciel cut in, undeterred. "It's throwing off your whole balance. At your age, you can't afford to ignore an injury like that, or your whole body will go kaput."

"...Wow. Harsh."

"And anyway, they're just practicing. You don't have to be the one to oversee that yourself. Hey, you there! What's your name?"

"Yes, ma'am, I am Serram, if it please Your Royal Highness, ma'am."

"Serram, you're familiar with how the rest of the training exercises go, I assume?"

"Yes, ma'am, after this the next—"

"You don't need to give me the details. Since you're familiar with them, you'll take over leading training now."

"M-Me...?"

"Okey doke. Let's go, Sirius."

And just like that, Sirius was caught up in Ciel's web. But he wasn't the only one too shocked by Ciel's brazenness to process what was happening.

"Oi, what are you doing? You're coming too!"

"Oh! Right, right," I replied. Forgive me, Your Majesty. It just isn't in my power to stand in her way...

❖

"All righty. The reason I picked you for this task is simple. You're the strongest of the tools available for my use."

"Your words do me great honor, Your Highness," Sirius said.

This so-called "strongest tool" of Ciel's was indeed the commander of the Royal Order of Chivalry. And Ciel had unceremoniously plucked him from his duties and now called him a tool. She really is a force of nature...

"Now, down to business," Ciel went on. "We will now begin the hero's confidence-building training."

"I see," said Sirius. "By confidence-building, you mean that I will help him to practice, and offer praise of his strong points—"

"No," Ciel interrupted. The next words out of her mouth shocked both of us. "I mean that you will fight him using your full strength, and when he wins, he'll build more self-confidence."

"...Pardon?"

Well, I'm going to die.

"Full strength? Do you truly mean that?" Sirius asked.

"Yup. Ah, hold on. Move exactly how I tell you."

"Uh... Yes, ma'am." Ciel issued a stream of instructions as Sirius took a few practice swings.

I don't like where this is going...

"All done! Your poor balance has been repaired, see?"

"Huh? Oh! I feel so limber! I can't remember the last time I could move this easily..."

"Hey, wait! Why are you helping him get even stronger?!"

Ciel completely ignored my outburst. "Sirius," she asked, "how would you rate your current strength?"

"Rate it? Let's see, the last time I felt like this would be...probably the northern campaign where I took down a dragon."

"Perfect."

"No, wait, that is not perfect!" Did she really expect me to take on an opponent who could bring down a dragon?!

"It seems like exactly the right level to me. Remille, are you all prepared?"

"No! I'm not at all prepared! But...that makes no difference to you, does it?" I conceded in the face of Ciel's glare. Nothing I could say would deter her. Well, Catra gained a lot of power going through the dungeon. As her tamer, I should at least be able to draw on her abilities. That's something.

"Meep?"

But Ciel quickly dashed my hopes. "Oh, right, I meant to say—you'll be on your own in this battle. Catra's gonna sit this one out."

"You can't be serious." There really is no future for me no matter what I do, is there...?

Ignoring my angst, Ciel forged ahead explaining the rules of this mock battle. "Your swords will be blunted. All magic is fair game. As much as possible, keep it below the neck—don't aim right at the head. In the event of a fatal wound, we will stop the battle and dispatch a medical squad immediately. This is a serious mock battle."

Sirius laughed as he prepared his sword. "As long as we don't get our heads chopped off or skulls smashed in, the medical squad should be able to fix us right up."

"They should definitely be able to handle a severed limb or two."

There was nothing I could do to escape this ridiculous situation; all I could do was resolve to try as hard as I could not to get injured.

"Meeeep?"

"Thanks, Catra. You're the only one who actually cares about me."

"Meep!"

As I stroked Catra and waited for Sirius to finish his preparations, Ciel spoke again. "Let's see, what else... Ah, right, we should probably have some healing tonics prepared just in case."

"As you say, Your Highness. There is supposed to be medicine of the highest quality stored in the treasure house in case of emergencies, isn't there? Of course, I don't anticipate being that severely injured by your young hero, but you can never be too safe."

"Oh, that won't be necessary. Remille! Make five potions exactly how I tell you."

"Sure, no problem."

I could all but see the question mark floating over Sirius's head as he tried to follow the zigs and zags of Ciel's thoughts, but I was used to her sudden commands, and quickly readied myself to follow her instructions.

"First take this, and then... In the dungeon, did any of the monsters we defeated have more than four limbs?"

"There was that big bug thing."

"Yeah, that'll do."

"What in the world are you making...?"

"Meep?" Catra, as though echoing Sirius's question, also peered down at us with a quizzical expression as we worked.

"Right now we're making three different intermediate-level potions. Next we'll try two advanced potions that Remille has never made before. If we can do that, then we'll be able to make high-grade potions without having to raid the treasure house."

"Wh-What?! Even intermediate potions require abilities on the level of the royal alchemist class! And only a handful of alchemists in a whole generation can create advanced potions...to say nothing of those of the highest grade! Truly, only in legends..."

"Exactly. That is precisely what I intend to achieve."

"Incredible. Then you are saying he is already at the level of a legendary alchemist...?"

"And that's not all. That kitten of his is a behemoth."

"What?!"

"He can use all of the magical attributes."

"Th-That's..."

"But when it comes to swordsmanship, he's stuck at advanced. That's where you come in."

"I...I am...honored."

Well, when she lays it all out like that, I guess I really do sound damn impressive, don't I? Still, I kind of wished she hadn't told him all of that. Sirius hadn't seemed like he'd really been taking the fight seriously before, but now he radiated competitive spirit. He was really going to give it his all.

Oblivious to my misgivings as always, Ciel continued her instructions. "Is that one done? Next is an advanced potion..."

"Yeah, that's all done. Huh? Did I do something wrong?" At my reply, Ciel had fixed me with a sharp glare. My skill had leveled up right after making the intermediate potion, so this one had gone quickly...

"All done?" Ciel repeated. "Just like that, before I'd even finished explaining the ingredients?"

"Oh, yeah, as soon as I obtained the skill, the ingredients and procedure just sort of flowed into me. I could tell what they're supposed to make, so I made it."

For some reason Ciel let out a sigh at my explanation.

"Ah, I am starting to understand your aim in attaching yourself to this man, Your Highness," Sirius said.

"Good, I'm glad. He's been like this from the start."

Hey! The two of them suddenly seemed to be conspiring together.

"Yes, I see. He possesses such fearsome power, yet seems completely oblivious..."

"Which is why I brought you here to help instill more self-confidence in him."

"Ha. So I will lose, then?"

"Hmm, I can't say for sure. But I'd like you to do your best."

"Yes, ma'am."

I had thought Sirius radiated competitive spirit before, but that was nothing compared to the fierce energy that burned in him now. What is up with this guy...?

"Okay then," Ciel said to me. "How's the final high-grade potion coming? If you're not feeling confident, take extra care making this one. You might need it to save your life."

"Yeah, I know." The two advanced potions and a few other raw ingredients were arranged before me. Typically you would have to gather extremely rare ingredients to make this, but one of the perks of alchemy is that you can transmute potions into other top-grade materials.

"Finished."

As I showed it to Ciel, her Eye of Appraisal glittered. "Yup, that's high-grade. Excellent. Let's do this."

"Extraordinary, truly extraordinary." Commander Sirius beamed in astonishment.

This was it. I was about to fight someone strong enough to take down a dragon. "Take it easy on me..."

"Same to you."

"Ready? And..." Ciel winked at me and the commander. "Begin!"

The instant she spoke, Sirius bore down on me mercilessly with his blade.

—Clang!

"Gah... Damn, you're...strong..." Sure enough, the leader of the Royal Order of Chivalry was extremely powerful with the blade. I honestly had no idea how I was driving back his blows.

"What an odd feeling," Sirius said as we locked swords. "Despite your youth, it feels as though I'm dueling a veteran soldier."

"Really?"

It was Ciel who responded. "That makes sense. If we're measuring just in XP, he's way ahead of you."

"H-How can that be?! Well then, I must redouble my efforts!"

"Guh..." He skillfully extricated himself from our locked stance and forced me to jump back.

Ciel spoke the truth. However, the art of the sword had never been my forte. When it came to swordsmanship, I wasn't close to Sirius's level.

"In that case, it stands to reason that he would become stronger just by the act of fighting... I assume that is your aim?"

"That's right. But that's not all. Remille! You can use magic, can't you? So use it!"

"Huh? That's allowed?"

"Weren't you listening?! I said all magic was fair game. What, did you think you could beat a commander with your sword alone?!"

"...Uh, good point." I had been more focused on the swordsmanship than on actually winning the fight. And yet somehow, even fighting with just my sword, I had been holding my own. So if I also use magic... "That's how I can close the gap!"

"...?!"

Right as he charges at me, and...

"Shadow!"

"Wh—?! Dark magic?!"

"I told you he could use every attribute, didn't I?"

Shadow was a spell to turn yourself into, well, a shadow. At higher levels it could also let you manipulate your enemy's shadow, but for now it was basically just a way to make myself disappear. In this case, though, that was all I needed to make an opening.

—Clank!

"Blocked?!" That should have been right in his blind spot!

"I don't need to see you to sense you."

Damn him. Well then...

"Flash!"

"Ung...! But this is no different—"

"Slow!"

"Gah, such an irritating arsenal of spells..."

It turned out dark magic was surprisingly effective in combat. And what's more...

"Are you getting it now?" Ciel asked.

"Yeah. The sword and magic are stronger together." At first I'd just been thinking of Slow as a way to stall for time—but when combined with a blade, suddenly it was a death blow. Whereas before I'd only just been able to keep up, now that my opponent's movements were slowed down I could cut through his defenses easily.

"Ugh... I concede. You have won."

"I...won." My sword touched the exposed skin of his neck. The contest was decided. Weakening magic really is handy in close combat, huh?

"A magic swordsman...who uses dark magic. I never imagined such a thing. Your young hero really is incredible," Sirius said admiringly to Ciel.

"Dark magic is extremely delicate, so it's not feasible to use while also fighting in close quarters. Well, normally, anyway."

"That is so. And what's more, his swordsmanship is formidable as well. He fights with the intensity of one whose sword has seen many serious battles. And it was terrifying to feel his power growing steadily throughout the fight. Next time, I don't believe I would be a match for him."

"No, no, that's not..." I stammered. But I could not deny the truth of at least part of what Sirius had said. I had felt my own power growing steadily as we fought.

"Okay! So, did you gain some self-confidence?"

"Uh..."

"You just beat the best that the protectors of the realm, the Royal Order of Chivalry, have to offer. At this point, there are only a few people capable of beating you one-on-one on the whole continent."

...Oh. The reality of who I'd been facing hadn't really set in. But I supposed that made sense.

"Well, whether you believe that or not, it's about time you experienced a real war."

"Oh?" said Sirius. "You would expose an asset as powerful as him?"

"Not to the rest of the world. Just to quell the upcoming civil war."

"Upcoming? Has some faction been making suspicious movements...?"

"It's nothing that the Royal Order of Chivalry need concern itself with."

"If... If you say so, Your Highness." Sirius refrained from pressing her further.

"Hmm... From the look in your eyes, I don't think your confidence is sufficiently bolstered," Ciel said to me. "Perhaps it would be easier to understand in the context of adventurers?"

"What do you mean?"

"All you're lacking right now is confidence in yourself. Let's go to the Guild. We will officially register our party." And with our next destination abruptly decided, Ciel departed in high spirits.

It was all I could do in my bafflement to bow my head quickly to Sirius before chasing after her.

I didn't learn this until much later, but apparently Serram, the knight who had been left in charge of training in place of the commander, was awarded a substantial promotion in recognition of outstanding talent.