Chapter 116 - <5>
In the gentle afternoon, with still some time left before evening, a harsh training session was unfolding in the forest a short distance from the village, on the opposite bank of the river.
"I'm telling you, what's the point of dodging?"
"It's hot, what do you expect me to do?!"
"Flames are supposed to be hot."
"Listen here! Try being on the receiving end for once!"
Edward watched the exchange between the two men from his seat on a straw mat laid out nearby.
To an outsider, it might look like a fire spirit user was fighting an unarmed man, but in reality, this was practice to pass Ritz off as a fire spirit user.
Apparently, the two had had a very hard time after going out into the crowd.
Ritz had apparently spent the entire time repeating to the swarming people, "The spirits are the breath of all life that dwells in this land. To summon them carelessly is to blaspheme them. We do not approve of such acts."
It seemed he had thought he would have no choice but to have Franz use the spirits if things got out of hand, but that hadn't been necessary. They seemed to unconditionally accept whatever a member of the spirit clan said, and there was no resistance, defiance, or persistent pleading.
But after a while, another group would come along, separate from the one that had just been convinced, and plead for the same thing. This repeated over and over again.
Exhausted by the situation, the two consulted and made a difficult decision.
They went to the chief, Adlif, and asked him to announce to all the villagers that they would perform something at the welcoming feast that evening, so please stop swarming them. Adlif had happily accepted their request.
It was when they were considering what to do with the fire spirits at the welcoming feast that Franz had told Ritz with a bitter look, "I can't keep a fire spirit stationary in one place." Without that basic skill, it would be extremely difficult to pass Ritz off as a spirit user.
Looking up at the blue sky peeking through the gaps in the trees, Edward murmured.
"A nice breeze. Dry, yet just the right amount of cool."
"It is, isn't it?"
Next to Edward, Anna sat primly, her hair styled to match his. For some reason, Anna not only did her own hair but also Edward's every day. To an unknowing observer, the two probably looked like a grandfather and his granddaughter, sitting side by side, drinking tea and watching this rather pathetic practice session where only Ritz was suffering.
In the distance, the sound of a gently flowing river could be heard, and occasionally the song of a bird. The space was incredibly calm and peaceful. It was a serenity that made one forget they were in the middle of a reddish-brown grand canyon.
A short distance away, by the riverbank, Lef was standing guard to prevent the villagers from crossing over to their side. If he didn't, the villagers, with all good intentions, would try to come over with snacks and other things. And since it was all out of goodwill, they couldn't be rude about it, so they had to politely decline.
Besides, if they came and saw this situation, they would realize Ritz was a fake spirit user. And then all of Ritz's hard work would be for nothing.
Behind the two leisurely spectators, Ritz's neatly folded robe and wig were placed.
"Don't singe his hair! I can't fix that."
Anna, sitting next to him, called out to Ritz and Franz, who were facing each other. In response, the two looked over at her simultaneously, but with completely different expressions.
"I'm being careful."
As usual, Franz was completely expressionless. But Ritz, who was shirtless and covered in red burns, made a pathetic face at Anna.
"Hey, now. What about my actual body?"
"It's fine."
"These are pretty bad burns, you know?"
"I know. But my healing magic isn't strong enough to heal hair, too."
Anna replied with what looked like an embarrassed smile. It seemed she was thinking something like, 'I'm sorry I'm not skilled enough to heal hair.'
That sentiment, in reverse, meant 'If I were skilled enough, I could heal everything from your hair to your body, so it's fine if you get completely burned.' In other words, if Anna were a slightly more skilled healing magic user, Ritz would be thoroughly set on fire by Franz.
Edward, who was not the one involved, found this amusing. The one who was involved, the one Anna had said it to, obviously realized this as well and his shoulders slumped. Ritz probably wanted Anna to show more concern.
But to hope for that in this situation was a futile wish, as he himself must have known.
He cleared his throat once to stifle a laugh, and the sharp-eared Ritz noticed and glared at him.
"What is it, Ed?"
"Oh, nothing."
What an interesting man. And yet, if Anna actually did show him concern, he'd probably be at a loss as to how to respond, which made him all the more troublesome. Franz, whether he had heard their exchange or not, declared with a blank face and once again formed a ball of fire on his palm.
"I'll aim for anything but the hair."
"Okay. I'd appreciate that."
Anna agreed with a smile, and to Franz, who was gradually making the fire on his palm larger, Ritz made an even more resentful face.
"…You guys have a grudge against me or something?"
"Huh? I don't have a grudge against you."
Anna's expression as she replied held no malice. On the contrary, she was smiling brightly, a lovely smile for a girl her age. Seeing that expression, Ritz's shoulders relaxed for just a moment.
If he were to put it into words, it would probably be something like, 'Well, she's cute, so I guess it's fine.' For now, only Edward could understand such an expression. Naturally, unless Ritz said it himself, there was no way Anna and Franz would understand his feelings.
"The chitchat is over."
As Franz said that, he quietly pushed the fire from his palm towards Ritz. The fire, moving through the air as if gliding, headed for Ritz's reluctantly outstretched palm… and then flew past it towards his face.
"Whoa!"
"I told you not to dodge…"
"You idiot! Hurry up and learn to stop it on my hand!"
Pointing at his own palm, Ritz roared. Franz slowly averted his gaze and muttered.
"…It's difficult."
"I know that! Just do something!"
"Alright, one more time."
Franz, who had created a ball of fire in his palm, said that and threw it at Ritz without any warning. Although his feelings were completely different from Anna's, Franz had no ill will. There was only Ritz as a target.
"Gah, hot, hot, hot!"
Ritz, who had held out until the last second, dodged a direct hit from the flame.
"My bad."
"I said, stop it right… here!"
Ritz was pointing at his own palm and shouting. To make him look like a spirit user, it was necessary for Franz to stop the fire ball above his target. But in his case, while he could move the fire ball, he still couldn't stop it.
During the battle with Laria Ecarlate in the ruins before coming to the Royal Capital, he had said he understood in his head that he could stop and control the fire ball, but being able to do it was apparently a different matter.
After repeating this for a while, Ritz, who was now covered in burns and looking pitiful, finally gave up.
"Maybe it would be better to practice with a rock or something?"
"…You're right."
Franz, perhaps feeling a little sorry for Ritz, nodded. But practicing with a rock would lack a sense of tension, and his progress would be even slower. That was the reason he had used Ritz as a target from the beginning in the first place.
The fire ball could injure an opponent. But if the target were a rock or a tree, it wouldn't cause any injury. Because of that, he would inevitably be easy on himself. That was only human.
Ritz, of course, and Edward, who had been in battles for a long time, knew this from experience. When you need to build up strength in a hurry, one real battle is worth a hundred practice sessions. That's why Ritz was standing in the line of fire.
"Anna, I'm at my limit."
Ritz said and sat down heavily on the mat where Edward and Anna were sitting.
"Whoa… that looks painful."
"Yeah. It's pretty painful."
Anna's small hands gently, yet a little happily, traced Ritz's burn-covered body. That alone seemed to hurt quite a bit, as Ritz grimaced dramatically. The burns, spread across his upper body, were a mix of red, raw patches and blisters that had already formed, making for a very painful sight.
"Don't touch."
"Okay, sorry. I was just thinking how amazing it looks. This one…"
Anna poked a large, swollen blister with her slender fingertip. Ritz immediately grimaced and groaned.
"That hurts!"
"Sorry. But it looked so soft and squishy, I couldn't resist."
"…You…"
"You just want to touch blisters when you see them, right?"
Anna was staring at the large, raised blister with a look of longing. Ritz, noticing this, sighed and grumbled.
"Indulge yourself with that sort of thing when you get burned yourself."
"You're right. But it's a little bit of a shame to heal it."
"I said stop."
Edward secretly smiled at their exchange, which was like two children playing. Just as Anna was special to Ritz, Ritz was special to Anna, though in a different way.
If, by some chance, Franz were to suffer such an injury, Anna would not be leisurely enjoying the situation like this; she would be genuinely worried. It would be the same if any of her close friends—Edward, Joe, Patricia, Kenny, Greig—were injured. What's more, if the situation were this bad, she might even tear up.
And yet, for some reason, she didn't treat Ritz, the one closest to her, the same way. She either thought Ritz was so tough he couldn't die, or unless he was in a life-or-death situation, she would enjoy his predicament.
She instinctively knew that she was being helped and protected by her companion, Ritz. Until she left on her journey, she had not been in a position to be protected by someone; she had been in a position of mutual help with her adoptive father, protecting the orphans. Her situation had changed completely when she left on her journey.
Perhaps because of that, Anna seemed to always be thinking, 'I want to be useful' to Ritz. That's why she was overjoyed when a situation where she could be useful arose.
"I'm sorry. I'll heal it now."
Anna said happily, then her expression changed as she placed both hands over the most prominent burn on Ritz's chest. It seemed she had finally resolved to part with the blister.
"Please do, seriously."
Because he had to spread his arms to receive the flames, his chest and the shoulders that the flames touched when he dodged at the last second inevitably got the worst of it. If you dodged over your head, that was the only position left, so it couldn't be helped.
"O Water Spirit, who governs healing and peace…"
As Anna's mature chant began, her eyes closed in concentration, Ritz gazed at her face lovingly and his eyes softened. For now, being this close to her in a situation she was completely unaware of was Ritz's greatest happiness.
Edward, who had watched him grow into a senior figure, found Ritz's emotions—the calmest he had ever seen, and at the same time, the most childish—very endearing. But he had no intention of saying it out loud, as that could lead to trouble.
Lifting his eyes from the calm pair, Edward saw Franz looking slightly dejected, though his face was expressionless. He was probably honestly thinking about practicing with a rock. But that was unlikely to get them anywhere by this evening.
What he needed was even more concentration and confidence in his own power. From an outsider's perspective, the calm and collected Franz was surprisingly easily flustered and worried deeply about everything from small to large matters, though he didn't show it on his face. Because of that, to Edward, he seemed to lack self-confidence.
Perhaps it was the meddling of an old man, but it was in Edward's nature to want to teach such a person a lesson. Without letting it show on his face, Edward made a great resolution inwardly and calmly called out to the sighing Franz.
"Franz."
"Yes, Your Majes… Ed-san."
Franz, who had reflexively tried to use his title, stammered before replying.
"While we let Ritz rest for a bit, practicing with a rock won't get us anywhere, will it?"
"No, well…"
"I will be your target. To become proficient in battle as quickly as possible, a sense of tension is most important."
As he said that, he threw off his jacket, and the air on the spot froze in an instant. Ritz, who was having his wounds healed, was also staring at Edward's face in stunned silence, and Anna's mouth was hanging open.
Ignoring them, he threw off his clothes. The breeze blowing across the river felt pleasant on his exposed upper body. He was well past sixty, but his body was reasonably trained. It wouldn't be an unsightly sight.
"Besides, if you burn my hair, it's not much of a problem for me."
He grabbed the hair at the back of his head that Anna had tied up and said so, trying to look as relaxed as possible, but the tension among the three did not dissipate. But time was precious, so he turned to face Franz once more.
"Now then, Franz, shall we begin?"
As he was warming up his body, rotating his shoulders, the first one to come to his senses was Franz, the one he had called out to.
"What are you saying, Your Majesty!"
It seemed that when it came to this, titles and honorifics didn't matter.
"Th-there's no way I could make Your Majesty my, my target!"
He was stammering, a rare sight. And he had been shouted at, another rare occurrence. But having said it, he had no intention of stopping here.
"Oh? Am I not a worthy enough target?"
When he gave him a light glare, Franz swayed on his feet.
"That's not what I meant. As a target, you are more than sufficient."
"Then what's the problem?"
"It is a problem!"
He calmly looked at the unusually emotional Franz and deliberately, slowly, and with余裕, crossed his arms.
As he silently stared at Franz, Franz's usually calm blue eyes widened to several times their normal size. Then, though with little emotional inflection, he desperately spoke.
"If something were to happen, I would be the one in trouble. It is unforgivable to use the kingdom's hero as a target."
When the usually quiet Franz spoke emotionally, he generally miscalculated. He had given Edward an opening for a rebuttal.
"Oh? So you cannot use the kingdom's hero as a target, you say."
"Of course!"
"The man you were just using as a target so extensively is also a man whose name is in the officer's academy history books, you know?"
"Ah…"
Franz, realizing he had just given Edward material for a rebuttal, gritted his teeth.
"Ritz is my right-hand man, and he is loved by the people as a hero, you know?"
"Ugh…"
Franz, who had become a bookworm after coming to the Royal Capital and awakening to the idea that 'ignorance is a sin,' could not possibly be unaware that the name Ritz Alster was in modern history books with the title of the right-hand man of the hero who supported Edward.
"B-but… Your Majesty is elderly…"
The more he tried to cover up, the more flaws appeared. Franz's weakness was that he was terrible at speaking. In Ritz's case, he was a smooth talker, but in Franz's case, the speed of his thoughts probably didn't directly connect to the act of speaking.
But to call him elderly was so blunt that it was hard to be angry; he couldn't help but smile wryly. But he was in the middle of an attack, so he would use it.
"I see. So you're saying this body of mine is useless because I'm elderly?"
"That's not it!"
When he said it with deliberate emphasis, Franz, realizing his slip of the tongue, turned pale rather than flustered.
"Do you think my body has grown so dull?"
"Ugh…"
"Do you still think so, even after seeing this body? It's at least healthier than yours, Franz."
"Ah, uh…"
Groaning meaningless words, Franz, his expression stiff, silently pleaded for help from Ritz, who seemed to be the only one who could resolve the situation. But the one who spoke up was Anna.
"You're amazing, Ed-san! Your physique is completely different from my adoptive father's!"
And it wasn't helping Franz's case at all. If anything, her words seemed to be supporting Edward. Receiving her respectful gaze, he raised a hand and smiled back.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome!"
At those words, Ritz sighed and grumbled.
"Your adoptive father is a clergyman, and he's a warrior. What's the point of comparing them?"
"That's true, but still, it's amazing. So this is what it means to train…"
"Listen. Wouldn't it be kind of creepy if Father Anton had a body like this?"
"Huh? You think so? I think it's cool…"
"Really?"
He was very grateful for Anna's admiration, but he wished Ritz, who was jealous of Edward being praised by Anna and was glaring at him resentfully, would cut it out.
"Anna has said as much. Now, practice to your heart's content."
When he smiled and spread his arms wide to face Franz, Franz's face clearly twisted into a frown. It was clear he was annoyed, but more than that, he was clearly嫌がっている.
"But…"
Franz hesitated, then glared at Anna, who had said something unnecessary, with a look of loathing. But he seemed to know that wouldn't change anything, so he once again pleaded for help from Ritz. In this situation, only Ritz could stop Edward.
So Edward glanced at Ritz. Ritz, noticing, gave a slight nod that was imperceptible to Franz.
After confirming that, he resumed his attack.
"What will you do, Franz? I may be old, but I am a soldier."
"No, you're the king!"
"Former, former."
"It's practically the same thing."
Franz's tone was gradually becoming dismissive. He must have realized he couldn't do anything about it on his own.
"If you two have been listening this whole time…"
Ritz, somewhat grumpy at having his happy moment with Anna interrupted, stood up with a look of resignation. Since the commotion had started in the middle of it and Anna's hands had stopped, he was naturally not fully healed.
"Don't bully the pure youth so much, you delinquent old man."
Ritz, not bothering to hide his displeasure, put his hands on his hips and stared at Edward. It was clear he was complaining about being interrupted, but with Franz and Anna watching, he naturally couldn't say it out loud.
"Those are words I wouldn't expect from a companion of the kind Franz, who shows me respect for my age even while using an older man than me as a target."
"Shut up."
His sarcastic words were cut off with a single word. Of course, this situation was all part of the plan. He deliberately, slowly, yet seriously crossed his arms and looked up at Ritz.
"But think about it, Ritz. Even after inflicting those burns on you, Franz's improvement is minimal."
As he said that while crossing his arms, Ritz shrugged and nodded.
"Well, that's true."
"If it were me instead of you… what do you think would happen?"
After a moment of silence, Ritz spoke in a tone of half-resignation.
"His rate of improvement would be much faster than with me, I'm sure."
"W-wait a minute, Ritz."
Franz panicked at the unexpected affirmation from Ritz, who was supposed to be supporting him. But if he let him interject, the conversation wouldn't progress, so he ignored him and looked at Ritz.
"You see? We don't have time right now. Don't you think it's logical for the target to switch from you to me?"
"It's logical. I don't think there's a better way to improve either. But…"
Ritz scratched his head, looking troubled, and then let out a small sigh.
"Just so you know, I feel the same way as Franz, you know? It's a bit late to be saying this, but I've raised your banner before. The thought of having you take my place is a little unsettling."
Despite all his complaints, Ritz always stood before Edward. Whether on the battlefield, before a monster, locked in the hold of a ship, or even in a trivial matter like this. It was a remnant of the oath he himself had sworn when Edward had resolved to go to war.
"I understand, but I am no longer the Crown Prince or the King."
"Hmm… you're right."
Sighing again, Ritz turned to face Franz. He clapped Franz firmly on both shoulders.
"So that's how it is. Good luck, Franz."
"Ritz!"
Smiling at the despairing Franz, Ritz nonchalantly said this.
"It'll be fine. We have Anna, after all. If Ed's heart stops, we'll just bury him somewhere around here and move on."
"Ritz…, wait a minute…"
"Don't worry. The Yuresla Kingdom has King Gerald."
Ritz said, placing a hand on his chest with a look as if he were lost in distant thoughts.
"Hey."
He really did not want to be buried and forgotten in a foreign land far from home.
"What? It's the truth, isn't it?"
Ritz's smirking face held none of the lighthearted tragedy of before. He had probably decided that if a really serious situation arose, he would just deal with it then. But his words were so lighthearted that a little bug of sarcasm started to stir.
"Yes, it is indeed the truth. The only truth is that even if something were to happen to me, your dear Anna would somehow manage."
"Ed!"
The flustered Ritz instinctively looked back at Anna and Franz to see if they had heard, but they just looked puzzled, with no particular reaction.
"What? Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, not really…"
The finishing blow to Ritz, who was mumbling the end of his sentence, was delivered by the unexpected ambush of Anna.
"Ritz, you said that before, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
"You know, after I was caught by the thieves in the underground treasury."
"…Did I say something?"
Ritz asked Anna timidly.
"Yeah. To the guy pretending to be the butler, you said, 'How dare you do this to my dear Anna.'"
"Ugh…"
His eyes wide, Ritz looked away in a random direction. It was probably a word that had slipped out unconsciously at the time, but now it was a huge statement.
"I'm happy you called me dear, but what did you mean by 'my'?"
"W-well, you know… various things."
"Various things?"
There was no way he could say, "I really want to make you mine," so Ritz was just completely at a loss. Eventually, Ritz seemed to have resolved to bluff his way through and turned his wandering gaze to Anna, who was listening with a complete lack of understanding.
"Anna, I'll tell you eventually, so let me off the hook for now."
"? Okay."
"Besides, what's the most important thing right now?"
"Franz's practice?"
"That's right. If Ed gets hurt, you take care of it. I can't do anything about it."
Anna, who had fallen into Ritz's pace while tilting her head, smiled brightly at his next words.
"I'm counting on you, Anna."
"Okay! Leave it to me!"
Ritz, who had been smiling at Anna, slowly turned to face him with a resentful look and groaned like a curse under his breath.
"I hope you suffer at the hands of Franz."
"Hmph. I have reflexes, you know."
After confirming that Ritz, who was mentally damaged and slightly staggering, had sat down next to Anna again, Edward faced Franz.
"Shall we begin, Franz?"
Having already given up resisting, Franz nodded with a blank, vacant expression.
"Then I have a proposal before we begin. I was thinking as I watched earlier…"
As he said that, Edward stretched one hand high above his head. He opened his palm.
"Can't you create the fire here from the start?"
"Huh?"
"I think the problem lies in creating it in Franz's palm and then slowly launching it towards Ritz."
"Ah."
"Doesn't the acceleration from launching the fire prevent it from stopping?"
"Oh…"
Ritz also clapped his hands.
"In other words, Franz stands behind Ritz and places the fireball on his palm from a short distance. Don't you think adjusting it to stay in place on top of that would lower the difficulty by several levels?"
"I see…"
Ritz and Franz nodded at the same time.
"And if you then destroy the fireball with a Flame Arrow to extinguish it, wouldn't that make for a decent spectacle?"
If he remembered correctly, the only things Franz could do were the fire ball and the Flame Arrow he had been practicing recently. But even those two, depending on how they were combined and presented, could take any form. Franz, realizing this, nodded deeply.
"I see."
"That's a good idea, for sure."
"Yes. This way, the one receiving the flame can do so with minimal danger."
In fact, Edward had noticed this method quite a while ago. That was why he had volunteered to be the target.
"Alright, let's go with that."
Ritz said cheerfully, then tilted his head for a moment.
"Wait a minute. You came up with this method rather easily. You didn't happen to have thought of it a while ago, did you?"
"Yes. Pretty much from the beginning."
"Then you should have suggested it."
"No, no. The young ones were working so seriously that this old man couldn't bring himself to interrupt."
"Ed…"
"No, no, it was a brilliant page of youth."
"You…"
Completely ignoring the exasperated exchange between the elders, Edward turned to face Franz seriously, who had begun to concentrate. Perhaps deciding it was too much trouble to complain any further, Ritz fell silent.
"Do your best, Franz, Ed-san."
Receiving Anna's leisurely words, Edward braced himself for the onslaught of fireballs that would likely not be limited to one or two burns.