Chapter 707: Chapter 707
When they realized Henry was there, the children took a break from training as they rushed up to him, this time without being struck from behind.
“Let me introduce them. This is the oldest of the bunch Ryan, and our younger brother Fabian. And this is the older sister Cinthia and the younger Rosemary.”
Henry plopped his hand down on the heads of the children as he introduced each one of them, who reacted either by standing proud or looking embarrassed when it was their turn. And out of all of them, Ryan’s reaction was the strongest.
His face was reddening, almost like he had forgotten how to breathe as he tried to stand tall and confident. That was the moment when that boy who aspired to be a knight fell in love for the first time.
“So bro- Henry, who…who is she?”
Ryan’s voice quivered with nervousness as he asked that, and Henry replied with a quick nod before introducing Mira to them.
“She is Mira, an experienced adventurer according to Lady Esmeralda. And she was looking for Meimei, so I brought her to visit. Please treat her with respect.”
Hearing that, the children’s reactions visibly changed. For a moment, they looked at her with far more serious and reverent eyes, but a moment later that was completely overshadowed by infantile curiosity again.
“An adventurer? That’s so cool!”
No matter in what country or in what city, adventurers were always popular. There was something about their brazenly straightforward and unique way of life that especially made children adore them. It did not matter if they were children of a family of knights, they still were just as impressed by adventurers.
But Ryan’s mind was clouded by a mix of emotions, as he held both admiration and a budding love. There was nothing more painful than realizing the girl of one’s dreams was standing far out of reach for him.
“Ohh, you want to know?”
Mira basked in the admiration and curiosity of the children, standing arrogantly before replying, already dreaming of the reaction they would give once she told them she had reached Rank A already.
But someone would interrupt her before that would happen.
“You, I already know who you actually are.”
Meilin, who had been silently staring at Mira the whole time, suddenly raised her voice declaring that.
The worst possibility flashed in Mira’s mind.
Being so well-versed in martial arts, Meilin had the special ability of detecting even the most minuscule movements on others, allowing her to identify people by their mannerisms or footsteps. Now Mira was dreading the possibility that Meilin had noticed some inconspicuous habit of hers that would tie her to Danbulf, and was about to announce it to everyone present.
“Wait, stop, don’t—!”
Since Meilin likely did not know anything yet, she would likely not hesitate to reveal the truth, pushing Mira to attempt to silence her. But that was of no use, as Meilin’s confident voice was far louder.
“You are definitely the Spirit Queen!”
After Meilin’s announcement, the children quickly became riled up. Mira was not just an experienced adventurer, but one so renowned she had her own nickname.
Meilin had the strange ability to quickly learn about powerful people, so she was also quite familiar with the Spirit Queen. And now that she had revealed that, the children were even more excited.
(Oh, she went there.)
In contrast to that, Mira had never felt more relieved. While Meilin had ruined her big reveal for the children, she had managed to keep her true identity secret.
Even Meilin’s discerning eye was not able to see through Mira’s current appearance, and would not notice that unless Mira moved around a bit more.
“Humm… So you’ve seen through my disguise. But yes, you’re correct, I’m none other than the Spirit Queen!”
Mira puffed her chest in an exaggerated manner, seeing how excited the children were and Meilin’s high expectations that her guess was correct. As soon as she did that, the children’s faces lit up with joy.
“Woahh, that’s incredible!”
There was a mix of surprise and admiration in their eyes, which also pleased Mira as she smiled back saying, “Mhm, I’m so amazing.”
But there was someone there who was smiling even more intensely than the children and Mira…it was Meilin.
“Yes, just like I thought! We were doomed to meet !”
Those were the words that came out of Meilin’s mouth, even though she seemed overjoyed. But Mira just let out a sigh while shaking her head, not even questioning whether she had done something for Meilin to have a bad opinion of her.
“I don’t think that means what you think it does…”
This was something that frequently happened with Meilin, which brought back a lot of memories to Mira as she pointed that out. Meilin tilted her head in confusion for a moment, before asking, “Oh right, then you came just like a moth flying to the fire?”
“That’s not quite it either.”
Mira chuckled awkwardly hearing that, and Meilin frowned as she tried to think about it more. That only lasted for a few seconds before she gave up and just said, “Well, who cares!” before rushing up to Mira and adding, “Please fight me!”
(Obviously it came to this.)
That was something she had already anticipated.
Meilin was constantly on the move, wandering through the continent in search of stronger rivals, so it was natural for her to also see an adventurer that was growing in popularity as someone she wanted to fight. Especially someone who came out of nowhere like the Spirit Queen.
(Either way, I should focus on my mission first.)
Mira had been looking for Meilin with a specific goal in mind. To aid her in concealing her identity as one of the Nine Wisemen before she participated in the tournament.
If they began fighting here, it would lead to a violent brawl between two Wisemen. That would become an explosive event that would stand out a lot, and if they stood out, the chances of people recognizing them would increase, especially before Mira could give Meilin her disguise.
“Very well, I’ll take you up on that!”
But before Mira realized, those words escaped her mouth.
That was because there was no better candidate than Meilin to test out everything she had theorized during her experiments before, as she was essentially on the same level as Mira.
There was also the reaction she noticed in the children when Meilin made the request. It was clear they were excited to see who was stronger, their teacher Meimei or the Spirit Queen.
If she declined the match, it would look like a summoner was weak and running away, and Mira would never allow that to happen.
“Yes! Thank you thank you!”
Meilin jumped in happiness, and then quickly got ready, taking a wide stance with one hand high and the other low, ready to counter any attack, and said, “Summon all you want.”
But Mira shook her head.
“You don’t have to be considerate. A true summoner can adapt to any situation in battle.”
Being able to summon anything she wanted beforehand would give her too much of an advantage in a one versus one match, so Mira declared there was no need for such a handicap, and instead grinned as she said, “Or rather, you’ll have to act soon if you don’t want to get crushed.”
Mira was very familiar with Meilin’s fighting style. She loved to fight, so she was always on the offensive. The only time she would take a defensive stance was to gauge her opponent’s strength at the start of a fight, so she could limit her own strength to match it. That was her favorite way of fighting new opponents and improving her own skills.
That was why Mira also readied herself and warned her. If Mira got a headstart, she would defeat Meilin in an instant.
“Ah, I think you’re right.”
Seeing Mira’s stance, and more importantly, the resolute aura around her, Meilin understood that Mira was different from all the previous opponents she had encountered. That made her smile as she lowered her body to increase the amount of explosive speed she could unleash, which she was so adept at.
“You give the signal.”
Meilin said that, as she and Mira both looked at Henry. He instantly knew what they wanted from him, as he was also a trained fighter, and walked over to stand just in the middle between Mira and Meilin.
Henry raised his hand, and the instant he swung it down, Mira and Meilin’s intense fight began.