【I… I want Master…】
【I want to know why…】
【I want… Master to stay by my side forever…】
Rustling sounds came from the fruit trees in the orchard connected to the backyard of the inn where Ron and Lifa were staying. “Ugh.”
Messy white hair fluttered as she stood up, and Isis’s body swayed as if she were hungover after taking one step.
Ever since she had said goodbye to Lifa at the arena, she found that she couldn’t stand the agony of waiting for even a single moment once she knew where her Master was.
See him tomorrow?
What if Master left during the night!?
What if Master used some sort of trick to escape again, just like that other time!?
The evil obsession leaking from her blood-red eyes was encroaching on her sanity.
Isis fell.
Despite holding the Legendary Rank **[Hero]** title and possessing top-tier 8th Rank strength that had allowed her to slay multiple Demon Kings, she was currently staggering like a child who had just learned how to walk.
She wanted to see Ron, to see her Master, immediately.
But she also knew exactly what kind of state she was in right now.
*Click—*
At that moment, the door connecting the inn to the backyard was pushed open.
This sudden noise seemed to help Isis’s true self reclaim a temporary mental foothold, and she hid herself within the orchard bushes with lightning speed.
“Let me say this beforehand—you cute little couple.”
Ron and Lifa followed closely behind Madam Lida as they entered the yard.
“Every fruit tree here is a precious memento left to me by my husband. If you damage even one of them during your training…”
Madam Lida lit a lamp that illuminated a section of the area. Her right hand, gesturing toward Lifa, moved through the air as if she were gripping an invisible longsword.
“I used to be an adventurer, too. If that happens, I’ll have to kick you both out.”
“Please rest assured, Lifa and I will be extremely careful,” Ron said.
He could tell that Madam Lida’s warning was in jest, but he expressed his gratitude and promised to be attentive with a serious expression.
“Mm-hmm! Lifa will be careful. I definitely won’t knock off even a single leaf from these trees!”
Wearing her **[Radiant Set]** and holding her weapon, Lifa also offered her guarantee a beat late.
If favorability toward others could be materialized, Lifa’s favorability toward Madam Lida within Gaderade would be constantly popping up green ‘UP’ ‘UP’ icons.
The reason was simply because Madam Lida viewed her relationship with Ron exactly as she most desired in her heart, even though they hadn’t reached that point yet.
“Alright, I won’t disturb you two any longer. I must say, an adventurer’s date really is special.”
Madam Lida shook her head and gave Lifa an encouraging look before she left.
“Phew.”
Ron watched Madam Lida depart, let out a long sigh, and then clapped his hands as he faced Lifa.
“Alright, Lifa, now it’s just the two of us.”
“Let’s begin.”
After finishing dinner at the inn, both Ron and Lifa felt it was still early. With nothing else to do, they had both agreed to borrow Madam Lida’s backyard so Ron could see Lifa’s progress from today.
“Ah… B-Begin the date?”
Lifa, who had been hanging her head, was still dwelling on the keywords from Madam Lida’s parting sentence. Her blurted-out question caught Ron off guard.
“Pfft.”
Ron couldn’t help but chuckle, a relaxed smile appearing on his face as he raised his weapon.
“Right, right.”
“This is indeed a date between Lifa and me. And now, Lifa, it’s your turn.”
To him, Lifa saying those words was just a charmingly funny moment.
It reminded him of a little girl in the real world he used to give snacks to; that child had just started her first year of elementary school, yet she said she would marry him because of a snack.
“Ugh…”
Fortunately, the night light was insufficient. Once Lifa realized what she had said, she immediately used a starting stance with her weapon to hide her bashfulness and inner thoughts.
She didn’t know why, but a bad sense of urgency suddenly gripped her heart.
It felt as though if she didn’t reveal her feelings to her teacher soon, he would be snatched away by someone else.
But since it was just a baseless feeling after all, even though Lifa had gathered her courage to invite Ron to this backyard, the words that came out of her mouth were still just a proposal to demonstrate her results.
“Come on, Lifa. Move a bit slower and demonstrate how you launched your first attack against that Lady Ash this afternoon.”
As Ron urged her, he looked up at the starry sky, thinking it would be best to finish quickly so Lifa could get some rest early.
“Yes…”
Lifa took a deep breath, feeling both confused and reproachful of herself for hesitating again when it came to her feelings.
‘Stupid Lifa, stop thinking about it—’
‘If I can’t find the resolve, then I’ll just focus on getting stronger. Maybe one day, Teacher will notice on his own!’
“Teacher, I—I’m coming!”
The girl raised her sword. To accommodate Ron’s weakened reaction speed, she controlled her movements, keeping the entire sequence at a slower pace.
“After trying many times, Lifa finally understood what Lady Ash’s first move was.”
“Many times, my sword reached this position, but it would always be deflected away for some reason.”
Lifa continued her explanation. After a series of sword techniques, her blade stopped a fist’s length away from Ron’s neck.
“Did you feel mana flowing, or was it like hitting something invisible?” Ron guessed.
“No, actually… Lifa simply didn’t notice Lady Ash drawing her sword.”
Lifa lowered her weapon and then mimicked Isis’s standing posture.
“Hiss… Lifa, are you saying the opponent’s movements of drawing, parrying, and then sheathing her sword were so fast they couldn’t be perceived?”
After hearing his disciple’s description and testing a few movements that Lifa confirmed, Ron was also greatly surprised.
Given his vast experience, he knew Lifa’s combat intuition was one in a million.
If it took her hundreds of failed attempts just to notice the opponent drawing her blade, then the strength of this ‘Lady Ash’ might be far greater than he had previously thought.
J-Just who is she!?
Ron couldn’t figure it out, but he subconsciously thought of a few girls among those slaves who used swords as weapons.
Could it be…?
“Later, I pretended I hadn’t noticed yet. I waited for Lady Ash to draw her sword and try to deflect me as usual, then I changed my move.”
“That way, I at least managed to break her move, though I still couldn’t block the second strike.”
Lifa was quite excited when discussing her problem-solving approach, but she became a bit frustrated and defiant when talking about how she couldn’t crack Isis’s subsequent moves.
“I understand. After all, there is a massive gap in levels.”
Ron patted Lifa’s head and then cautiously asked about Lady Ash’s appearance.
“Eh? Her appearance?”
“Lady Ash’s hair is white. No, it’s also a bit gray…”
“Her eyes are red. She usually looks very cold and expressionless, but when she smiles, she’s very gentle and makes people feel very close to her.”
Lifa gave a roundabout description of Isis’s appearance, while Ron sketched a mental portrait based on it.
White hair and red eyes…
That’s a total moe trope critical hit…
Ron, who had just been worried about whether ‘Lady Ash’ was one of his former slaves, temporarily relaxed.
The reason he had the mind to crack a joke was that he remembered none of those children fit such characteristics.
“Ah, that hurts—”
“Teacher, Lady Ash is indeed a beauty, but when you meet her tomorrow, you mustn’t show such an impolite expression!”
Lifa’s boot stepped hard on Ron’s foot. Seeing her teacher looking lost in thought after hearing the description of Lady Ash’s appearance made her a bit angry.
“It’s nothing like that. Teacher was just thinking about some things.”
Ron felt a cold sweat, but the thought of a white-haired, red-eyed female swordsman did make him a little excited.
Even his curiosity from his past life as a player and blogger was reawakening for the first time since he had transmigrated.
What Ron didn’t know was that the very eyes he was curious about were currently casting a cold gaze from the fruit tree bushes a dozen steps away.
Whether it was Madam Lida’s reference to them as a couple or the intimate interaction and conversation between Ron and Lifa—
Isis saw it all.
By the time Lifa and Ron left while laughing and talking, the Hero clearly heard the mockery of that evil existence deep within her mind.
【Hahahaha — 】
【Do you see, Isis?】
【You are only…】
【A replacement.】