Chapter 58 The Start Of Rivalry (1)

After giving the keys to the waitress of the inn waiting in the lobby, Lyan left the Scholar's inn and head towards the House of Roses.

(It's past the seventh bell already, they must be in the middle of working, aren't they? I guess I'll take a brief look at the girls and go to the guild to look for tomorrow's plans) (Lyan)

Halfway through, Lyan met a crowd of people hindering the way as if they are spectating something.

"Oi, oi. Are they really going to go for it here?"

"This is going to be a great fight!"

"Yeah! A Mythril-ranked mercenary and a royal knight are going for it! Which one will win, I wonder?"

"Isn't it the royal knight from Astellia? Their knights are chosen from the best amongst the best, after all!"

The crowd chattered with each other. Lyan could feel the excitement in their voices. Not only mercenaries, but the merchants, peddlers, and even the local residents of the city are looking at the sight with full excitement.

(Is it a fight? But judging from their reactions, it seems that it's more like a duel rather than a fight) (Lyan)

"But rather than that... I guess I'm going to need to jump over the roofs to pass this crowd," Lyan was about to head to one of the deserted alleys and stealthily climb a house's roof, but suddenly he felt someone tug his cloak from behind.

"Hm?" Lyan turned his back, and saw Lichia with sweat profusely falling from her forehead. It's clear enough that she had been searching for him. But despite so, her hair and attire are still tidy, and her breath is not ragged. It looks like she had gone to several places in search of him, it's enough to make her sweat, but it's not bothering her much since her breath is still in order.

(It seems that she's used to searching for people in this big city) (Lyan)

"I finally found you. I know that you had just returned from the subjugation this morning, but the guildmaster requested for you to join the council of war inside the guild in three hours," (Lichia)

(Council of war, huh... Well, considering the scale of the battle, I guess it could also be called as a war with the goblins, huh. But why would he invite a gold-ranked mercenary like me?) (Lyan)

"I doubt I'll be any use there, though. I'm just a rookie in this field, after all, Miss Kukumila," (Lyan)

Lichia responds with a chuckle.

"But you're not a normal rookie. No normal rookie would be able to be a gold-ranked mercenary so quickly and defeat goblin champions. And once again, Li-chi-a! No need for honorifics!" Lichia said as she raise her index finger as if she were a mother scolding a child.

"*Sigh!* Fine. I'll be there after I finished my business," Lyan replied with a sigh.

"Good. Do you mind me asking what kind of business you meant?" (Lichia)

Lyan observed her. As an incubus, Lyan is well-versed in reading minds and emotions. But even so, guessing women's intentions are one of the most difficult thing to guess unless he use the Incubus magic to directly peer right through the opponent's mind.

(She has been showing curiosity about me, but it seems that she has no intention of heading down any romantic route anytime soon. I guess she still can't move on from that leader of the Crimson Talon, huh...) (Lyan)

"I'm going to the House of Roses, though. Are you heading there as well? Want to go there together?" (Lyan)

"You're asking a lady to such a place, you're quite a bold one, aren't you? I know I've told you before, but I still gonna remind you again since this is important. There are lots of mercenaries that went bankrupt because they keep on buying things to please the girls of the House of Roses. I know you've acquired a great amount of money, but remember to manage them well, okay?" (Lichia)

"Noted, my lady. Now, if you don't mind, can I-" (Lyan)

"Get out of the way! You're going to get caught in the fight!!"

Together with the vice, Lyan realized that the crowd had stepped aside and watched from the side of the road. Lyan swiftly pulled Lichia and follow suit.

*Clank!* *Clank!* *Clank!* *Clank!* *Clank!* *Clank!* *Clank!* *Clank!*

After Lyan pulled her, the fight really went to their former position. They could see a knight wearing a formal plate armor, and a familiar mercenary holding a red saber in his hand, desperately blocking the sword of the knight.

"Jean... He's fighting with the Astellia Kingdom's royal knight, Rodrigo Diaz...?" (Lichia)

Lyan took a glance at Lichia's worried face, even though she was using her composed-looking face, he could see a hint of worry inside her eyes.

(I'm thinking of traveling through roofs, but this is quite the battle. I guess they won't be using their full power here, huh. That Jean guy isn't using the power from his magic sword as well) (Lyan)

When battling the goblin champions inside the goblin lair, Lyan witnessed the strength of the Mythril-ranked mercenaries firsthand. They have high skills and abilities, but what made them even stronger are their equipment and their skills in wielding them effectively.

Since a human's usage and amount of mana is limited, a skillful fighter only uses their mana when they are about to move, attack, and defend. And with a skillful manipulation of the mana inside their body, they could effectively focus their mana on the parts of their body according to the situation they are in. The more skillful a person is in using their mana, the longer their mana will last.

In a battle, there are two ways of deciding a battle. One is to finish the battle with pure skills and defeating before the opponent run out of mana, the second is the battle of endurance, defeating the opponent after the opponent depleted their mana and has no mana left to reinforce and strengthen their body.

Because of the limited mana and human abilities of using mana, people like high-ranked mercenaries usually use magic weapons, armors, and items to add to their battle strategy.

In the battle with the goblin champions inside the goblin lair, Lyan witnessed Jean killing the goblin champion with his blazing saber skillfully.

(Well, he's strong, charismatic, and not dumb. I guess it's no wonder that there are lots of women wanted to get wooed by him) (Lyan)

"Seems like you've gotten weaker, Blazing Talon!" The knight said with a big smirk on his face.

"Hmph! We'll see about that!" Jean replied with a scoff.

Jean pulled his body back and evade the knight's sword, and his leg swiftly stomped it to the ground. Without letting the knight recover his sword, he slashed his saber towards him, forcing the knight to let go of his sword and retreat.

"Can't sword without a sword now, aren't you? How about surrendering?" Jean provoked the knight as he pointed the tip of his saber toward him. As he laughed and glanced at the spectators one by one, his eyes stopped at Lichia for a moment, then Lyan, then their hands.

(Ah. I forgot to let go of her hand) (Lyan)

Lyan immediately let go of Lichia's wrist, but he could feel that Jean is focusing on him from the corner of his eyes.

(Ah... I really did it, didn't I?) (Lyan)

"Even without a sword, a knight is a knight!" The knight rushed with only his shield.

Without replying, Jean pulled the knight's sword from the ground, and dashed to his side. Suddenly, his red saber glowed, emitting red light, and-

*Whoosh!*

It's a magic attack from his magic sword. Looking at the attack, the knight immediately dodged to the side, letting a vertical line of fire rushed toward Lyan's direction. It's definitely a deliberate attack aimed at Lyan.

('Don't touch my woman, huh?' It's not like I deliberately did so, in the first place. Looks like I have drawn unwanted attention again. I should have climbed the roof and gone to Belle and the others) (Lyan)

As Lyan is lamenting on his decision of watching the fight before him, Lichia panicked because of the incoming fire, and was about to push Lyan away, but Lyan grabbed her hand, and pulled her into his embrace.

"Eh?" (Lichia)

(Since you attacked me first, I need to punish you a little bit, I guess? You're dangering Lichia at the same time, after all) (Lyan)

Lichia closed her eyes and braced for the pain from the fire, but suddenly-

*Snap!*

"Look, Lichia," (Lyan)

Together with the sound of fingers snapping, Lyan's gentle voice entered her ears. Following his words, Lichia slowly opened her eyes.

"It's flowers made from fire. Beautiful, isn't it?" (Lyan)

The approaching slash of flame had gone, leaving a beautiful view before her. Not only her, everyone present is looking at the view with sparkling eyes.

The vertical flame approaching them suddenly transformed into flowers made from fire that slowly fell from the air.

"Beautiful..." (Lichia)