“How would I dare mock the great Pure-White Knight?” Samimi said with a grin.
“Every time I want to show you a little respect, you open your mouth,” Fabiana replied, clearly tempted to punch her.
“Lady Pure-White Knight, I’ve seen you practice swordsmanship often. Could I trouble you to teach Niubao some basic sword skills for self-defense?” Samimi asked politely.
“What?” Fabiana frowned.
“I know I used to be a jerk, and I’ve done a lot of things to hurt you all. I’m truly sorry,” Samimi started playing the emotional card. “But Niubao is innocent. I hope you won’t hold a grudge against me and will teach her something to protect herself. You saw what happened today—I can’t always be by her side. I don’t want anything to happen to her when I’m not around.”
Samimi apologizing first made Fabiana feel like she was choking.
Why you first?
Why would you, the one we drove to ruin, be the first to apologize?
Something I couldn’t bring myself to do for days, she just did without a second thought.
“…Fine. But it’s only for Niubao’s sake. Not yours,” Fabiana finally responded, prideful as always.
“Thank you.” Samimi took hold of her armored hand and lightly patted it.
She was very tactful. Knowing the other girls disliked physical contact with her, she just tapped the gauntlet instead of skin.
It felt like a punch landed straight into Fabiana’s heart.
A strange feeling began to rise in her again.
Why did she feel this way?
What was this emotion?
Could it be… admiration?
Why on earth would she admire Samimi?
Impossible!
The walk back was silent and just a little awkward.
“Niubao, come here!” Fabiana shouted as soon as they got home. “Starting today, you’ll learn swordsmanship from me. I’m your master now, so you must do everything I say. Understand?”
“Mm! Mm-hmm!” Niubao nodded so hard it looked like smoke would puff out her ears.
Fabiana grabbed two sticks and dragged Niubao to the open ground behind the chapel for training.
“Bless you, thank you,” Samimi stood in prayer, fingers tightly interlocked, looking like she meant every word.
“Hmph.” Fabiana snorted, but inside, it felt strangely satisfying. She felt… good.
Having successfully sweet-talked Fabiana, Samimi returned to her room and began studying the two new black books she had obtained.
One of them was a Magic Amplification Tome, and she didn’t even need to study it. It contained no real text—just pages of engraved runes.
So her focus went to the other black book—the one the stubborn old lady had forced on her.
Opening the first page and scanning the table of contents, Samimi instantly understood what it was.
It was a skill book on making healing potions.
“Pfft!” Samimi slammed the book shut, shocked and utterly disbelieving.
A potion-making skill book?!
This was a heavily monopolized technology of the Church. Only the Church held the complete knowledge and rights to produce healing potions.
Even in large cities, healing potions were rare and sold at sky-high prices—all because the Church kept a strict monopoly.
This was one of their biggest cash cows. Anyone caught brewing their own potions would face the Church’s full wrath.
Wait… hold on!
Wasn’t she part of the Church?
She was a nun! Making potions and selling them was perfectly within her rights, wasn’t it?
After a round of internal psychological gymnastics, Samimi convinced herself and resumed reading, determined to learn the craft of potion-making.
It turned out the process wasn’t very difficult—the real challenge lay in the requirement of a priest blessed with the Light of Healing to infuse the potion with holy energy.
Essentially, healing potions were just a way to store healing magic.
And luckily for her, she just happened to be one of those blessed priests.
Of course, the exact proportions of ingredients were the key part—that knowledge must’ve been the result of thousands of failed experiments over generations.
Samimi managed to memorize and master the entire process in a single day. It was just that easy.
The only problem was she didn’t have the right ingredients on hand. So, potion-making would have to wait.
But there was an even more urgent skill Samimi needed to work on: the one unlocked by her growing Virtue Points—her exclusive skill, Phantom Sword of the Holy Rose.
She had unlocked it long ago but hadn’t been able to activate it. The reason? The spell required a magic staff or a magic tome. She’d had nothing but empty hands until now.
But now, she had a magic tome—finally, she could attempt the spell that had been haunting her thoughts.
Samimi grabbed the tome and linked her mana to it.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh…
The tome began to float gently above her palm, pages fluttering as glowing green runes lit up from within.
It was a thrilling sensation—one she could’ve never experienced in the modern world.
Thinking about it, this was her first time ever using a magical amplification tool in this new world. Her previous Holy Staff had been confiscated before she could even try it.
“Phantom Sword of the Holy Rose,” Samimi whispered.
Suddenly, one page tore itself free from the magic tome. The rune-covered paper floated into the air and spiraled into a cylindrical shape.
Her healing magic began to transform, mutating into a strange purplish-red energy.
Using the rune paper as a hilt, a flying sword formed—its blade entwined with magical thorns and brambles.
“I get it now,” Samimi instantly grasped the full mechanics of the spell.
The Phantom Sword of the Holy Rose had two effects:
- Magical Blade Creation
She could form and control swords made from rose mana, shooting them like arrows. - Enchantment (hidden ability)
She could enchant her own weapon with rose thorns, but only her own—it wasn’t a support spell.
As she ended the spell, the phantom sword vanished, and the rune paper returned to the tome, seamlessly reintegrating into the pages.
“Thank goodness it’s reusable. I didn’t want this magic tome to become a one-time-use item,” Samimi murmured in relief.
Now, she finally had an offensive spell to defend herself.
Sure, she owned a Demon-Slaying Sword—but to be honest, it wasn’t her main weapon. She just carried it to look intimidating.
That sword was her secret trump card. Unless she was truly desperate, she wouldn’t draw it.
The Phantom Rose Sword, however, could be her go-to spell for everyday skirmishes and conflicts.
“Everything is going in the right direction.”
Samimi stood by the window, watching Fabiana teaching Niubao the basics of swordsmanship.
As the granddaughter of the Knight King, Fabiana’s sword style could only be described as “turtle-style.”
It was a very traditional, conservative, defense-focused knight style—suited for human-vs-human duels and inner conflict, but terrible for fighting non-human enemies.
But hey, look at our current living standards. Niubao getting any sword training at all was already a miracle. Who cared about the style?
Once Niubao finished learning Fabiana’s method, Samimi planned to collect a round of boarding fees… and then politely kick Fabiana back to the hero party.
She couldn’t just freeload here forever.
You ask why she was so nice to Fabiana just now?
Heh. Of course—it was acting. Pure tea artistry.