Chapter 128: The Former Marquise’s Brilliant Method 1
The sword Erica wielded sliced through the air, its sharp, cold sound echoing all around.
These were practice swings, part of her warm-up.
We were just outside the city gate on the north side of Hecate, the one facing the Demon Realm.
It was the day after we’d asked Tepe to craft the rings, and we were here at Erica’s request.
She’d said, “If there’s an Adventurer Rank Promotion Exam coming up, then let us train.”
Honestly, I thought what Erica needed wasn’t training, but practice in holding back so she wouldn’t accidentally kill her opponent during the Promotion Exam.
Apparently, the opponent for the Promotion Exam would be chosen from active adventurers, and I already felt sorry for whoever that poor soul would be.
Well, knowing Erica, she’d probably manage somehow, as long as it wasn’t instant death.
Erica looked like she was truly enjoying herself, slicing through the air with a satisfying rhythm.
“Moving my body really does feel good, doesn’t it?”
Erica swung her sword with such speed that the tip blurred, all with the casual air of someone just loosening up a bit.
Incidentally, Erica wasn’t even using Physical Enhancement.
My wife’s amazingness was so amazing, it was amazing.
As I watched Erica, my vocabulary failing me, an exasperated voice called out from beside me.
“What are you smirking about?”
It was Shara.
“Erica is—”
“Please spare me right now.”
I was cut off just as I was about to enlighten her on Erica’s splendor.
“I got scolded quite thoroughly by the Bishop-sama yesterday, so I’m not really in the mood for anything sweet right now.”
“Isn’t that entirely your own fault?”
I bluntly shot down the dejected Shara. Besides, I had no intention of offering you anything sweet anyway.
This girl, despite being affiliated with the church, had apparently forgotten to report that her own superiors—the Maiden of Light’s party and the Pope—were coming to Hecate.
Forgetting about some damn prince from another country might not be a big deal, but forgetting to relay the news about the Maiden of Light and the Pope? It was only natural she’d get scolded. In fact, it would have been more worrying if she hadn’t been.
More importantly, how could she possibly forget something like that?
“I submitted the report the very next day, you know? I rushed to write it! I worked on it until the middle of the night!”
“I appreciate the effort, but a report that omits crucial details is worthless, you know?”
“Damn it!”
Shara let out a strange cry, flapping the sleeves of her Nun’s Habit—newly tailored for partying with adventurers and equipped with a built-in temperature-regulating Magic Tool.
Incidentally, the color of the Nun’s Habit differs depending on the faction.
Members of the Healer Faction, whose primary purpose is to soothe people with Healing Magic, wear black Nun’s Habits.
Members of the Monster Subjugation Faction, who aim to ensure the safety of the people by defeating Monsters in cooperation with adventurers, wear white Nun’s Habits.
The reason for the different colors is that the Healer Faction wears black so that bloodstains aren’t conspicuous, while the Monster Subjugation Faction wears white specifically so that blood is conspicuous.
Whether it’s the blood of others or their own, the reason boils down to blood.
The white Nun’s Habit is effectively combat attire. Not only is it made using materials from Monsters, but it’s also equipped with Magic Tools created by the bunch who aim to save the weak by developing and manufacturing said tools—the Research and Development Faction, known for gathering the most eccentric individuals within the church.
Looking at Shara makes it easy to forget, but the church, particularly the Monster Subjugation Faction, is teeming with individuals around Adventurer Rank 6 equipped just like her.
“If you have complaints, then give me back my lost sleep—!”
Watching Shara conveniently ignore her own failures as she yelled, however, made that fact seem rather doubtful.
“Shin.”
As I was reeling from Shara’s sheer incompetence, Erica called out to me.
“I shall return your sword.”
Saying so, she twirled the sword in one hand and presented the hilt to me.
My wife looks cool no matter what she does.
I accepted my sword back, the one I had lent Erica.
I’d lent it to her because she’d mentioned wanting to try using my sword at least once.