Chapter 189. Engagement – The Strongest
White steam escaped from Lena Einarr’s mouth. Steam rose from her sweat-drenched body after a grueling training session.
It was an open space. After finishing her training, Lena hung her sword behind the house and went inside, but then came back out, thinking she needed to bathe, and poured icy cold water over herself.
With the backyards combined into one, an unspoken rule was established between Leo’s house and Lena’s house.
Leo, Noel Dexter, and Dehorman washed themselves at the well on Leo’s side, while Lena Einarr and her mother used the well on their side.
There was no specific agreement.
Since Lena’s mother was the only one who knew how to cook in both households, they drew cooking water from the well on Lena’s side, which naturally divided the usage.
Lena went up to her room and changed into her everyday clothes, drying her hair. Eventually, she grew tired of it and shook her hair dry, then sat on the floor and started to stretch.
First, she grabbed her feet and stretched—
Her chin touched her knees. With the space that remained, she twisted her back to infuse some relaxation into her weary body. Changing her position, she stretched her back—leaning backward, she thought,
I’m hungry.
She knew it was almost mealtime. Toweling off her hair, she went downstairs to the living room, her hair drying quickly as it wasn’t very long.
“Mom— what about dinner?”
“You brat. You don’t come when you’re called. It’s in the kitchen, take it.”
Another rule between the two households involved the timing of meals. The Dexter family typically ate at Lena’s house, but they only all ate together when Dehorman was home. If Lena’s father Dehorman was out hunting, Noel Dexter wouldn’t come over. Only Leo would occasionally show up.
So, Lena was responsible for delivering meals. She divided the food onto two trays.
With the backyards connected, she carried the trays to Leo’s back door.
Leo’s house was rather desolate.
Economically well-off, it had a fireplace, a table, uniformly high chairs, quality curtains and carpets, several silver candlesticks and frames—everything you could think of—but it still felt eerie.
It was starkly different from Lena’s house, which was filled to the brim with knickknacks and mementos.
“It’s because of that armor. That armor.”
Lena blamed the unfortunate armor. In reality, it was because Leo’s mother wasn’t there, but mentioning her was taboo. This was another one of their unspoken rules.
Lena walked past the armor displayed in front of the study. Though the armor was cleanly polished, it somehow still exuded a scent of blood.
– Knock, knock.
“Dinner’s ready.”
Leo’s father, Noel Dexter, was almost always in the study.
Since retiring at a young age, he seemed to spend the rest of his life reading; the study was filled with books, which Lena thought also contributed to the desolate feeling of the house. She put down the tray.
Noel Dexter, who had been reading in a rocking chair, moved to the desk. He thanked his student and future daughter-in-law, then asked,
“Is Leo still the same?”
“It seems so.”
Noel Dexter nodded. His expression turned a bit bitter, but he adhered to the unspoken rule of the household.
Lena carried the tray to Leo’s room. After ascending to the second floor and clearing her throat a couple times as a warning,
– Bang!
She kicked open Leo’s door.
“Hey! Dinner time!”
Idiot.
She almost added, but stopped herself. She set the tray on the table and approached Leo, who lay on the bed with an arm covering his face. She sat next to him and coaxed,
“Leo! Get up and eat with me.”
It seemed he wouldn’t budge, but his arm groped around, finding Lena. Only after grabbing her wrist and breathing a deep sigh did he seem relieved or perhaps even more worried.
“Hey!”
But Lena wasn’t one to pamper such foolishness. Whatever the reason, lying around all day was enough.
“Get up and eat! Not training—what are you doing?”
She moved his arm away from his face. Reluctantly, he moved it, revealing Leo’s scowling face.
Short, neat hair. A face that could be called handsome. His strong jawline and defined eyebrows might be polarizing, but at least he had a masculine look.
Of course, Lena had no complaints about his appearance. Her immediate issue was with his eyes.
“What, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
– Squeeze.
The hand gripping her wrist tightened slightly. A faint tremor softened Lena’s heart.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“…”
“If you don’t answer, I’ll hit you.”
“Oww!”
Lena pulled at his ear. Whether he made a strange face or not, he relented and his expression became bearable.
“Get up and eat. Quickly. I’m starving.”
“…Alright.”
Leo got up. At a slightly small table for two, Lena and Leo ate together.
“That merchant group that’s here now.”
“…”
“Could you respond?”
“…Yeah. What about them?”
“They’re leaving tomorrow. I wanted to buy something. Do you want to come with me later?”
Tomorrow?
Leo’s expression turned puzzled. But soon, as if losing interest, he leaned back and said, indifferent. Lena’s eyes widened.
“Are you talking about the leather strap?”
“Huh?! How did you know?”
“I went with you, didn’t I?”
“But I didn’t say anything… Or did I? No, I didn’t.”
Did I make it too obvious?
If I had known he would figure it out, I should have gone alone. Lena, feeling deflated, pouted as Leo, having finished his meal, lay back down on the bed.
Now he even turned his back to her, so Lena pounced on him, pressing him down and asking,
“So are you coming with me or not?”
But perhaps she was too close. Leo turned around, and their faces were very close together. They were at a perfect distance for a kiss rather than a conversation.
Leo’s expression was very emotional, and his eyes were so deep that Lena thought,
‘Oh no. He’s going to kiss me.’
But nothing of the sort happened. Leo lifted his hand and caressed her cheek.
“Lena.”
“…What?”
“Shall we…run away?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Lena quickly pulled her face back, half sitting up in bed and asked again.
“Why would we run away?”
“I just… want to go somewhere far and live just the two of us. Don’t you want that?”
Hmph. Lena finally got it. Leo was joking. He was so convincing, and since Leo hardly ever joked, she’d almost believed him.
“Wow~ So you wanted to elope with me? That’s quite touching, but do you have any money?”
“…”
“Stop talking nonsense and get up. If you’re making weird jokes, I guess you’re fine now.”
Lena got up. Leo firmly grabbed her hand, but Lena heartlessly pulled his hand back.
“We have to go spar with Father. Get ready quickly. Huh? What’s this?”
[ Achievement: Bound Item, 1/3 ]
[ Sword – Indestructible. ]
[ Mirror – Unusable. ]
Lena picked up the hand mirror by the bedside. She examined its plain border and unadorned backside, narrowing her eyes.
“Hey! Where did you get this? You bought it from the peddler, right? Sneaky, buying it alone! You’re terrible!”
“Take it.”
“Alright! I’ll take it… Huh?”
Leo sat up on the bed. He pulled Lena, who was in front of him, close and said,
“It’s a gift. It’s a bit early… but more than that, Lena.”
“Why, why are you acting like this?”
“…”
Leo was silent for a moment. He buried his head in her stomach and didn’t move.
It was the first time such a large Leo looked so small.
Feeling pity, Lena stroked his hair, and soon Leo stood up. The shadow cast by his large frame enveloped Lena.
That’s enough pouting.
Leo hugged Lena, who fit perfectly into his arms once. His fingers touched her hair, but fortunately, Leo didn’t know. If he had memories of their previous engagement, he wouldn’t have been able to bear that sensation.
“Let’s go.”
Leo grabbed his sword, and Lena, holding the hand mirror, stared blankly at his back.
“What’s gotten into him?”
It was hard to understand.
* * *
“You’ve come.”
Father was waiting in the clearing.
Noel Dexter did not reproach his son, who had been locked up in his room all day since yesterday. After sparring with Lena, he kicked her out as usual with a punt in the behind.
“Ouch, ouch… Just wait till you get old. I’m going to disdain you every day, Father or not.”
Muttering as she gave up her spot to Leo, Lena did not dare to say she’d surpass that monstrous man. She felt she might catch up someday, but by then, her master would have aged.
That’s how skillful Leo’s father was. If he hadn’t retired, he would have been at least a commander of the knights, someone Lena deeply respected despite her confidence.
Leo picked up his sword.
Instead of stiffly gathering strength, he extended his sword calmly. Facing him, Noel Dexter felt a tension that made his hair stand on end.
Instinctively, he realized that his son, no, the opponent in front of him was a formidable foe and adjusted his stance. He didn’t speak a word.
“Huh?”
Lena also gasped at the changed demeanor of Leo.
All the habits of Leo that she had seen hundreds of times were gone. Whether good or bad habits, everything had disappeared, and the person in front of her was serenity itself. The lack of anything made it even sharper.
– Clink.
A cautious first move. The two exchanged the first move to determine their starting directions.
The clashing swords indicated they had both chosen the right side. Noel Dexter took the initiative.
Keeping the swords touching, he raised his arm. The intent was to lift the opponent’s sword with his prostrated sword and step inside.
There are countless responses to this, so many that they can’t all be listed. However, broadly speaking, there are evading responses, countering responses, and those leading to a power struggle.
Normally, Leo would have led it to a power struggle.
He wouldn’t dare face his father with swordsmanship, so he would have relied on his strength to hold out.
But Leo countered it. He slightly lowered his stance and moved inside, causing Noel to quickly reverse his grip on the sword. He raised the hilt even higher to create a striking angle.
If you do it this way, Leo’s vertically held sword will become useless. It will be difficult to slash, and even if he does, Noel will avoid it, and any part of his body might get pierced by the stabbing sword.
In this situation, the only options are to either back off or raise the sword in the same manner. It’s about deflecting the angle of the downward strike.
Since this is the set sequence, Noel prepared for the next move…
Leo raised his arm. But he only raised his left arm.
Wondering what he was doing, he rotated and pushed Noel’s sword with the forte, the part of the sword near the hilt. Since he had raised his arm high, Leo’s right elbow shot towards Noel’s exposed right armpit.
“Hmph!”
He didn’t read the intention to rotate. He didn’t expect Leo to let go of the sword, but his son was already prepared to rotate.
Feeling it’s unavoidable, Noel turned his back. He received the elbow on his back and rotated. While rotating broadly with his sword held arrogantly in one hand–
-Clang!
However, he was late by a beat because he had held the sword in a reverse grip. By the time he jumped and spun like a top, Leo was in a proper stance.
Thus, I was the only one who got hit. Even worse, my stance was disadvantaged…
Before he could even admire it, his son pushed forward. While Noel readjusted his stance from the broad rotation, Leo charged like a bull.
Noel put force into his back foot, drawing out every bit of his hidden skill to withstand it, but his body slid back.
At this time, one can trip the opponent with an inward leg or stab by changing the sword’s position while the opponent is pushed back.
Noel Dexter broke out in a cold sweat. If he didn’t stay alert now!
A strong smell of blood filled his senses. The tense days from a decade ago during the civil war flashed by, but–
-Chaang!
Leo pushed Noel’s sword away forcefully and stepped back. Returning to the original calm posture, his breath was unwavering.
“Heh heh…”
Noel Dexter chuckled dryly.
He knew his son was hiding his skills. Leo had been blocked by a wall for a long time, and Noel expected tremendous progress when that wall broke.
But this…
He wore a look of not just admiration but marvel. Watching nearby, Lena Einarr looked at Leo in utter disbelief.
Hoo.
Meanwhile, Leo managed to calm his troubled mind. His strong physique and unprecedentedly powerful swordsmanship filled his hollow heart with confidence.
I am strong.
Besides the Apostles of the Evil God and the three Swordmasters on the continent, there wouldn’t be anyone stronger than him. Even Sir Bart, who had once seemed far out of reach, was now below him.
Leo quietly sheathed his sword. But he had no intention of becoming arrogant.
After all, there were people stronger than him, and there were countless mighty figures with power exceeding any individual’s might.
He was still just a mere swordsman.
‘I can’t go to help Lev. By the time I arrive, Nevis will be surrounded. I can’t leave Lena behind either.’
In this case, there’s only one thing for him to do this round.
Leo raised his head. Looking high into the sky, he prayed this wasn’t a trick.
[Quest: Duelist 986/1000 – {Swordsmanship} skill level increases by one step.]
[War]: I need to somehow fulfill this in the battle. If my skills can still grow, if they can improve…
[Swordmaster]
…That’s all that’s left. The title of the continent’s strongest was beckoning him.
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