“Radiant Set…”
Isis subconsciously grasped her own left arm with her right hand and murmured to herself.
“Huh?” Lifa’s confused gaze shifted between Ron and Isis as she made a questioning sound.
‘What did I do?’
Lifa tilted her head, her confusion deepening after further observation.
‘Sister Ash kept staring at me… no, at the equipment in my hand.’
‘And Master? Was that wink just now trying to tell me something?’
Lifa didn’t understand, so she handed the thorn blade that Isis had given her to Ron and began to equip the armor starting from the right arm guard.
“No.”
As soon as Lifa placed the pieces of the radiant set beside her, Isis suddenly spoke up when she picked up the right arm guard.
“The magic core of the radiant set is in the left arm guard. You should start equipping from the left hand.”
Isis walked over to Lifa, while Ron stood behind Isis and winked at Lifa again.
Then the white-haired brave took a deep breath and, with a sigh full of seriousness and nostalgia, helped Lifa put on the left arm guard.
“Oh wow, Sister Ash even knows about this?”
Lifa just then remembered that Master had indeed told her the same thing before.
“Mm.”
Isis nodded. After putting on the arm guard for Lifa, she didn’t stop and immediately took out the skirt armor next.
“Next is the skirt armor. If both arm guards are already equipped, it’s more troublesome to put on later. Lifa, is this your first time wearing this set?”
After discovering that Lifa’s radiant set was the female version with a skirt, Isis’s eyes brightened noticeably.
“You could say that. Last time, Master Ron helped me put it on.”
Lifa lowered her head. She felt that Isis was like a little girl who had just gotten a new doll, with an unusual enthusiasm and emotion for dressing her in the radiant set.
“Sister Ash, why are you so skilled?”
Just in the time it took to answer, Isis had not only helped Lifa put on the skirt armor but also arranged the remaining pieces in order.
Ah…
She had just set down the last leg piece, and her movements halted.
‘Why am I so skilled?’
“Miss Ashen, please take a rest over there. You are still very weak. Let me handle this.”
Ron knew it was time for him to speak. Such a familiar scene—at least his identity hadn’t been exposed yet, and Casalima probably hadn’t had the chance to gossip to Isis.
“No need.”
Isis shook her head. Amidst her nostalgia, her fingertips traced the magical patterns on the radiant set.
“Lifa, where did you get this equipment?”
As soon as Isis finished asking, as Ron expected, she turned her head to look at Ron again.
“Ah, yes. Master said it’s been passed down in his family.”
Lifa’s answer made Ron’s smile even gentler.
“Passed down in the family?”
Isis softly repeated the answer, her expression showing surprise, a trace of nostalgia, and a hint of disappointment.
“Yes. The radiant set was the standard equipment of the Church Radiance Knights hundreds of years ago.”
“Later, with the changes in the Radiance Knights, many pieces were lost. This set is a collection piece from my family.”
Ron had come prepared this time. Apart from this radiant set, during his free time in Enid, he had conceived reasonable explanations for his fabricated identity and many other things.
“I see. Then your family is indeed deeply steeped in heritage.”
Isis sighed and turned back to Lifa to adjust the radiant set that the girl had already put on.
“The radiant set comes in male and female versions. Apart from the initial formation of a company of female knights, there were no reinforcements afterward.”
“So very few female versions of the radiant set exist in the world, and those preserved in such good quality are even rarer.”
Lifa listened to Isis’s explanation and nodded thoughtfully.
“The gift from Master… is it this precious?”
“Mm. I’ve traveled across the continent, always wanting to find a complete and intact radiant set, but I never expected to find one at this time.”
Seeing the object reminded her of the person; the scene stirred her emotions.
Ron observed Isis’s various reactions and expressions but could only respond with silence. As for Lifa, she also didn’t know what to say.
“Sister Ash, actually, Master told me about this equipment before…”
“Given your conditions, you should be able to easily find something better, right?”
Lifa looked at the thorn blade in Ron’s hand and then at the hero’s sword at Isis’s waist. Those were Legend grade and Platinum grade weapons respectively.
Lifa couldn’t believe that Isis, who held weapons of such grade, couldn’t get better equipment than the radiant set.
“Mm. This set has a special meaning to me.”
Isis closed her eyes. She understood that this radiant set was a gift from Ron to Lifa, just like the one she had received before.
[Isis, hurry and try it on~ Start with the left arm guard.]
[Why would you give such good equipment to a slave?]
[Idiot, if you die on an adventure, I’d have to spend money to buy a new slave, but finding another cute child like Isis is another matter entirely.]
“Oh?”
Lifa showed a curious and inquisitive expression.
“Sister Ash, why do you want to find the radiant set?”
At this question, Ron, standing behind Isis, gritted his teeth.
‘This girl really knows how to bring up the wrong thing. We could have just laughed it off and moved on.’
‘This is still my fault. I only asked Lifa to keep my secret, but I didn’t tell her to be careful about these details.’
“Lifa, you can’t just casually ask about other people’s private thoughts and inappropriate questions~”
Ron sighed, stepped forward, and while appearing to scold her, he tugged firmly on Lifa’s hand.
Lifa noticed the change in Isis’s mood before and after, and immediately recognized her mistake.
Often, an inadvertent word or a small gesture can have many effects.
“It’s nothing.”
Isis shook her head quite lightly, looked up at the morning sun rising from the horizon, and then glanced casually at the forest and lake still mostly shrouded in night.
“If there’s any reason I must find the radiant set…”
Isis’s crimson eyes lowered, and she spread her hands before slowly clenching them.
“I want to be able to die wearing it at the last moment of my life.”
“Eh!?”
Isis walked over to Ron and took back the thorn blade that Lifa had just handed over.
“Lifa, I’d like to make an exchange with you. Is that okay?”
“An exchange?”
Isis’s actions and words were quite incomprehensible to Lifa. The only thing her overloaded mind could think of was to look to Ron for help.
Little did she know that Ron, too, was unable to understand Isis’s self-questioning and was lost in thought.
“Mm, I’ll take back this thorn blade for now.”
Isis retrieved the weapon she had just given away and stored it in her storage item.
“As for the exchange…”
“I want to use it.”
“To exchange for the radiant set on you, Lifa.”
Isis casually unclasped the hero’s sword from her waist and, along with the scabbard, held it out in front of Lifa.
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