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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Bell was standing in front of First Princess Brigitte’s closet, wearing only white underwear.
This was because there wasn’t a single suitable outfit for going out in the capital in Bell’s own wardrobe.
All the clothes were designed for extreme efficiency.
Therefore, they were all inappropriate for a date walking through the capital together.
“The Princess’s clothes are all too… bright.”
Bell despaired at the sight of a brilliant sky-blue dress!
“…I can’t wear this.”
Brigitte stared at Bell’s thighs, which moved elastically every time she bent her knees.
‘Oho, what a beautiful body.’
The muscles that moved like living things were truly awe-inspiring.
Bell weighed a pink cardigan against a sky-blue dress, but ultimately couldn’t choose either.
“Wh-what should I do?”
Bell ruffled her blue hair thoroughly.
Brigitte found Bell’s actions, seemingly trying so hard for a date with Yuma, quite adorable.
“Just go as yourself. Going out in what you usually wear might not be a bad idea.”
“Huh?”
Bell’s eyes widened at Brigitte’s words.
“You can ask Yuma to buy you clothes. There are plenty of clothing stores all over the capital.”
“…Ah.”
Bell nodded slightly as if she had just realized something.
Brigitte approached Bell and whispered.
“You can ask him to choose something pretty for you directly. To Yuma.”
“Oh…!”
Bell unwittingly got a little excited.
“You know these things better than I expected, Your Highness!”
‘Of course, I’ve never actually said such things myself.’
Brigitte didn’t voice that thought out loud.
She didn’t want to dampen Bell’s courage, who seemed determined to go on the date wearing her usual activewear-style clothes.
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“Did you wait long?”
Yuma wasn’t the type to dress up extravagantly.
Nevertheless, to Bell’s eyes, he looked quite well-dressed.
The light brown trench coat, slightly thinner than the black coat he had been wearing since the battlefield, matched well with Yuma’s dark gray hair.
“No, I didn’t, my lord. I just came out.”
They had met again about 30 minutes after lunch.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay!”
Yuma stepped forward first.
Bell followed behind Yuma with quick, light footsteps.
The imperial capital, Varnak.
As befitting a capital, Varnak was bustling with activity.
“There are a lot of people.”
Bell’s pink eyes took in the vast scenery of the imperial capital.
Laughing and chattering couples.
The smell of food wafting from various places.
The summer in this continent was quite short.
That’s why, even though it was August, a cold chill was starting to rise.
People were queuing up at stalls selling bread that looked similar to hotteok.
Yuma and Bell drank coffee along with warm hotteok.
“Hoo─ hoo…”
The sight of Bell puffing out her cheeks to cool down the hot hotteok was quite cute.
Yuma slowly sipped his warm black coffee.
The scent of the moderately bitter Americano welcomed his sense of smell.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking that you might be hiding something.”
Yuma continued slowly.
“It seems my suspicion was correct. It’s been bothering me a little.”
Bell ate her hotteok bit by bit with her head slightly lowered.
Then, opening her mouth just slightly, she spoke in a low voice.
“Yeah, I do have something to say… but can I tell you on the way back, after we’re done today?”
It seemed she had decided to say something on the way back, at least.
Bell smiled softly.
“I want to enjoy this moment a little, Yuma.”
“Alright, we’ll talk on the way back after we’re done having fun.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Bell opened her mouth wide and took a big bite of the hotteok.
“Mmm…! It’s so good it’s melting my tongue!”
After enjoying the hotteok and coffee, they headed to a clothing store.
“You choose for me, my lord.”
Unable to directly ask Yuma to choose for her, Bell reverted to calling him “my lord”.
Yuma slowly nodded.
“Alright.”
Yuma considered quite seriously.
After all, it was a gift for a precious companion who would walk a long, difficult path together.
“Try this on.”
The first thing Yuma handed over was a pure white dress.
And the second was a set of leather jacket and jeans that stood out for both practicality and fashion.
“You… want me to wear this…?”
Bell stared at the pure white dress with wide, surprised eyes.
It was her first time seeing such a fluttering white dress up close.
In the land of White night Clan, there was no need or value for such clothes.
“Customer! You can try it on over there!”
A short female employee came over briskly and cheerfully pointed to the changing room.
Bell first tried on the more manageable leather jacket and pants set.
The black leather brought out Bell’s original atmosphere well.
“It’s not bad.”
It looked good enough to wear casually anytime.
“Yes, it suits you well.”
Yuma nodded as well.
Bell swallowed hard once, then looked at the remaining challenge.
A type of clothing she had never worn before.
Creak
Bell went into the changing room, took off her clothes, and put on the pure white dress.
The female employee, who saw Bell’s appearance before Yuma did, rushed over saying,
“Sister, you look pretty! But we need to tighten the strings in the back a bit!”
The pink-haired employee rose on her tiptoes and whispered to Bell,
“Ask that gentleman to tie the knot for you! Sister!”
The problem was, Yuma could hear everything clearly.
“Can you… tie the strings?”
At Bell’s words, Yuma tied the strings at the back of the dress.
With her firm, toned upper body, the form-fitting dress seemed to accentuate her body lines even more elegantly.
“It suits you well.”
“…Does it?”
At Yuma’s words, Bell stared at her reflection in the provided mirror for a while.
She was quite surprised at the disparity between her usual self, who only wore practical clothes for combat, and her current appearance.
“Let’s go out wearing this.”
“Sh-should we?”
What reduced Bell’s hesitation was the short female employee who had been guiding them until now.
“Yes! Wear the white dress out! I’ll help you with the payment!”
Pitter-patter!
With the employee’s quick processing, Bell ended up leaving the clothing store wearing the white dress.
“Eep…”
Bell walked out with a slightly stiff expression.
It seemed it would take quite a long time to get used to walking around normally in this white dress.
After leaving the clothing store, Yuma and Bell had a light early dinner.
Then Bell realized she hadn’t given anything to Yuma.
So she dragged him into any nearby clothing store she could see.
She wanted to buy him at least a muffler or a scarf.
Bell was confident!
Because she had received pocket money from First Princess Brigitte!
“The sky blue one is pretty. Hehe.”
Bell rose on her tiptoes and smiled brightly as she looked at the deep purple scarf she had personally put on Yuma.
“Then let’s go with this one.”
“Okay!”
With that, they had exchanged gifts.
Just as Bell had come out wearing the dress, Yuma also left wearing the scarf.
The sunset was slowly fading.
“Shall we head back now?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Bell slowly nodded at Yuma’s words.
Even though there were so many people in the city, at some point she had only been aware of herself and Yuma.
They had enjoyed themselves so much that it felt that way.
Yuma and Bell walked side by side.
Thump thump…
It was the moment they left the city and entered the path leading to the Imperial Palace.
Kuung──
Something started falling from the sky.
Along with red lightning.
It was a red knight.
A knight in red full-body armor reminiscent of full plate armor.
Kuung─ Kugugung─!
The problem was that it wasn’t just one red knight suddenly falling from the sky.
A total of five.
Five red knights fell from the sky as if plummeting.
Yuma directly looked at one of the suddenly appeared red knights with his Search Eye.
Something that the Search Eye couldn’t interpret.
He had seen this case before.
When he used [Search Eye] on the god, Incrinew.
There were parts that showed up blank then too.
And there was clear evidence supporting this inference written in the caution section.
‘Is this sent by another evil god?’
Yuma spoke to Bell.
“Be careful, they’re Master-level strong ones.”
Right after Yuma’s words ended.
Bell’s voice overlapped Yuma’s words.
“Don’t step forward, Yuma.”
The voice directed at Yuma was clearly filled with affection.
But her eyes were shining with a murderous light.
‘I can’t let Yuma use his power.’
Bell didn’t care what kind of clothes she was wearing right now.
That wasn’t important.
Making sure Yuma didn’t need to use any power.
Ensuring his body wasn’t strained.
That was the most important thing to Bell right now.
Kwajik!
She stomped the ground fiercely.
Her thoughts accelerated.
She clearly recognized which swordsmanship she should use in this situation.
It was time to use that noble swordsmanship she had inherited from Yuma.
Blue currents spread throughout her entire body.
The first form of the Cherten Style.
A powerful vertical falling sword path.
The red knight extended his sword towards that sword path.
Kadeurk!
The red knight’s sword that had faced Bell’s [Iron] shattered in an instant.
A battle between Sword Masters.
Even that usually ended in an instant in most cases.
A momentary difference.
Because they had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship as Sword Masters, that tiny difference was even more crucial than in previous levels.
That’s why battles between Sword Masters rarely went beyond ten exchanges.
A single strike.
With the strike of Iron, the body of the red knight at the very front was cut in half along with the armor.
Then it oxidized, scattering red currents.
Four red knights remained.
Kwadeuk!
Three knights charged forward simultaneously, kicking off the ground.
Bell’s eyes, looking at them, were terribly cold.
“Die.”
Bell was enraged.
The reason was simple.
She felt that those knights were approaching solely towards Yuma, not herself.
Sswaeeaeaek!
The sword of the red knight at the very front rushed towards Bell.
Jjeong!
The sword shattered in an instant.
It completely shattered both the sword energy and the sword itself.
Then Bell’s wrists twisted.
To immediately execute the third form.
Kwaaaang!
A thunderbolt-like thrust cut through the air.
The second knight oxidized.
‘Weak. Their durability.’
The sword paths of those red things were quite sharp.
However, they were just like humans.
They die when cut.
If that fundamental principle was the same, there was nothing to fear.
‘Not even one.’
She could prevent them from approaching Yuma.
She could end this on her own.
Jjeojeojeok──
The strong energy spread throughout Bell’s entire body concentrated entirely into her sword.
She swings.
Again, the sword path that had fully blossomed yesterday.
Cherten Style, 4th form.
Blue sword energy.
Endless blue flames flowed from the grain of that sword energy.
Sseogeogeogeogeogeong!!
An extreme horizontal slash swept through space.
The waists of the red knights were brutally bisected along with their red armor.
However, Bell’s eyes shook violently.
Because only two of them had oxidized.
“…”
Yuma looked at the one red knight rushing towards him with indifferent eyes.
Sswaeeaeaeaeaek!
A thrust shot out, swirling red sword energy like a gale.
He observes the attack facing him.
‘The end of the gale.’
The tip of the blade.
Yuma drew Balmung from his waist and swung it simultaneously.
Kaaaaaang!
A clear metallic sound rang out.
A golden circular impact indicating a successful parry spread out.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwang!!!!!
The reversed red gale of sword energy swept through the entire body of the remaining red knight.
A thick swirl of sand rose from the ground.
Just as he thought the commotion was over.
A strange voice flowed from the side.
“Mortal.”
Yuma looked to the side.
There stood a woman.
A woman with orange hair.
She was wearing a very ordinary brown shirt and black skirt.
Tuk… Tuuk
Murky blood was flowing from her mouth.
Blood was flowing from both eyes.
Her right arm and left leg were grotesquely twisted.
The woman approached Yuma slowly, like a zombie.
“It’s certain that you killed Incrinew…”
Blood poured out steeply with every word she spoke.
Yuma looked directly at the woman with his Search Eye.
Currently, that unknown god is ‘possessing’ Yuriana’s body.
Her body is rapidly disintegrating.
“I still can’t understand the principle or logic of your power. Just from seeing it once… cough!”
A handful of blood spurted from Yuriana’s mouth.
“Are you an evil god too?”
The corners of Yuriana’s mouth twisted grotesquely.
“Well… let’s meet again next time. Human.”
Kwang─ang!!!
Yuriana’s head exploded.
The headless body sprawled on the ground.
Blood thoroughly soaked the floor. Even the remaining body slowly began to disappear, flowing with red currents.
It was the complete evaporation of the body.
Even the clothes burned away and disappeared.
The only thing that didn’t disappear was a necklace.
A necklace with a silver pendant.
Yuma opened the pendant.
There was a single photograph.
It was of Yuriana who had just died, and a boy who seemed to be her younger brother next to her.
“…”
Yuma put this pendant necklace, which didn’t seem likely to be much of a clue, into his spatial pocket for now.
What’s clear is that another evil god has recognized his existence and started to take an interest.
‘This one seems to be quite a cautious type.’
Unlike Incrinew’s case, it didn’t descend directly but approached him while possessing someone.
After organizing his thoughts briefly, Yuma gazed at Bell beside him.
“Bell.”
Bell’s pure white dress… no, the dress that had been pure white was now covered in thick dust.
“Why were you so reluctant for me to step forward?”
Bell’s pink eyes shook violently.
“I think it’s time to hear the reason. Lately, you’ve been unnecessarily concerned about my…”
Yuma swallowed the rest of his words.
Because Bell suddenly wrapped both arms around him and pulled him close.
Bell buried her head in Yuma’s chest.
“Because Yuma is in pain… because Yuma is in pain…”
And she spoke, whimpering. Very slowly. Very quietly.
“The coughing up blood, saying there’s not much time left while climbing the stairs… it’s all
because you’re overusing your power, right…”
Bell raised her head.
“It’s because I’m incompetent. Situations keep arising where you have to step in, my lord…”
Tears were welling up in both eyes.
Yuma thought.
He needed to return to the Princess’s Palace quickly and have a very long talk with Bell.
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