I Became a Dark Knight the Empress Is Obsessed With

202 – Side Story: Afternoon in Freesia – (10)

When she was just beginning to take up arms and become a knight, a 17-year-old girl named Millia Liantour understood her reality more soberly than anyone else.

I never thought I could do everything with just one sword.

That’s the kind of thinking a child who’s just learned magic would have.

… … Actually, that was something Milia had thought about when she was little.

And it was a miserable illusion that was shattered.

Because of what I experienced at Hirings.

That’s why I decided never to repeat that mistake again.

No matter how hard you try, it’s nothing compared to overwhelming talent.

If that’s the case, it’ll just be more immersive and painful.

Millia’s stubbornness even made the stubborn Count Pendrin bend. Even he, who had initially been dissatisfied with the idea of ​​raising a daughter of a wizarding family as a knight, was impressed by Millia’s ascetic actions.

The training was tough and left permanent bruises all over my body, but I didn’t stop.

It wasn’t a narrow-minded, sane idea that effort would be rewarded someday.

It stems from a self-deprecating and self-deprecating mindset that one must work harder than anyone else because one has no talent.

When Millia, who had been like that, obtained the position of Imperial Guardian Knight, which was the highest position among knights, she was finally able to rekindle the vain hopes of her childhood.

Maybe I actually had talent.

I wonder if I was simply underestimating myself because I was blocked by the big wall of being my older sister.

“… … .”

Even that thought was shattered by the monster before my eyes.

A memory from the past when we were called to the training grounds for an initiation ceremony and had to fight swords.

Fried Iscobal looked like a stranger to Milia at the time. He seemed reserved and had a foul mouth. The words he spoke were frivolous, and not even a refugee from the gutter would say them.

He trained half-heartedly and often went outside the guard post to pursue women.

At the time, Millia didn’t understand how he became a Guardian Knight.

That may be why he responded so eagerly to Fried’s call.

“… …Why would you do something like that.”

Milia muttered softly.

Because I felt so ashamed of my past self who was so miserably broken without even being able to touch it once.

Not only was there a difference in simple mana management, but Millia was inferior in almost every aspect except speed.

This was the person who made me realize, after my older sister, the overwhelming gap in talent.

It wouldn’t be strange if he were your second swordsmanship master.

“Sir Fried.”

It was something that Milia reluctantly said as she quietly walked along the snowy path with such thoughts in her mind.

At her words, Fried turned his head and looked straight into Milia’s eyes.

Grayish-gray eyes. They look like they’re staring into a hazy fog.

“What was that just now?”

The voice that came out naturally was filled with discontent.

Fried tilted his head, not knowing whether he knew Milia’s feelings or not.

“Just now? That?”

“It’s black.”

A battle with a group of demons just now.

Fried made his sword about a span long and shot it around his enemy’s blood.

The carpet bombing literally turned trees the size of houses into dust, and even engulfed the enemy, leaving no trace behind.

It seemed closer to magic than to the skill of a knight.

More precisely.

“It was similar to my magic.”

“… … .”

“Right?”

Fried raised both hands in response to Millia’s questioning.

“Yeah, that’s right. I got the idea after seeing you coil and shoot magic.”

“How many times did you have to see it to copy it?”

“But we’ve been together for a long time. I can tell that much just by looking at you.”

As Fried snapped his fingers, drops of blood spurted out from between his nails and formed various shapes.

“I never thought about it because I was so bad at magic, but now there are techniques that can replace it.”

“Is this a grafting of blood magic? Forbidden sorcery into my own unique techniques?”

“……sorry.”

Milia blew air out of her puffy cheeks.

“… …Milia, are you angry?”

“No, I’m not angry.”

I wasn’t particularly angry at him or anything.

I just realized it again.

Millia herself completely copied the techniques she had worked so hard to develop, and even incorporated her own originality into them. If this isn’t genius, then what else could be called genius?

He felt bad for himself because he felt the talent gap between himself and Fried.

Empress Lincia, her older sister, and even Fried.

All of them are monsters who surpass their own talents.

Among the twinkling stars, Milia is just a small boulder.

Even if she obtains the Full Moon Flower, Millia will only regain her former power.

But I don’t think I’ll ever escape this gloomy, stone-like state.

In that case, it would be better to… … .

“… … .”

When he thought about that, his expression darkened.

When Fried looked at her with concern, Milia shook her head and changed the subject.

“What kind of demon is Sepia?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never communicated with him before.”

“I guess so.”

A demon used by Arwen, the apostle of foreign gods.

Even the fact that it was a personification was something Millia only learned a little while ago.

“Hilda said she would look into it, so I guess you can find out.”

“Are you close with that girl?”

“Hmm. Moderately?”

Hilda, who had just been helped out of a crisis, heard that Sepia had been resurrected and decided to leave Manwolhwa early.

The Black Tower Lord who was with them declared that he would gather his subordinates and come back, and in the end, only Millia, Fried, and Merta went into the forest.

Fried suggested that I go back, but I tried to refuse.

Now, I couldn’t bear to go back empty-handed.

“Sir Fried.”

“why?”

“Then what is the purpose of Sepia?”

At that question, Fried put his hand on his chin, which was unusual for him, and pondered it.

Soon he spoke.

“I guess… … contacting foreign media is the top priority.”

“surely.”

After the defeat of the religious sect, the influence of foreign media rapidly declined.

Up until now, it has been occasionally continuing its tenacious lifeline in the shady corners of the continent. That is why the devil Sepia of the foreign press must be longing for it even more.

A powerful person who will give you power.

“In the worst case scenario, you might make a contract with the person who obtained the full moon flower and become a new apostle.”

“……then.”

“It could be a war with a new religious sect. I’m only talking about the worst case scenario.”

Fried took a deep breath and took something out of his bosom.

Looking closely, it was a magical tool that Seira often used. It was clearly a device for long-distance communication.

Woohoo.

Suddenly.

“It’s not working after all.”

“Because the mana concentration is high.”

“Tsk.”

Fried tried to power it on a few more times, but the magic tool only lit up and didn’t work. Finally, he clicked his tongue and put the tool back in his pocket.

“Who were you thinking of contacting?”

“Seneca.”

“That apostle? Wasn’t he sentenced to death?”

“That’s right. There was a special envoy from Lincia. He is currently serving a life sentence in the basement of the palace.”

“Why that person?”

“I was going to ask you to tell me about Sepia. Well, as you can see, this is what happened.”

Fried’s impression hardened.

There was none of the slyness he had shown before.

The cool-headed knight Fried Iscoval. He was standing in front of Milia, just as he had been in the past.

The reason for this was well guessed by Milia.

“… … As expected, you are very precious.”

“huh?”

“You are worried that there might be some kind of threat to Your Majesty.”

“… … .”

“You can see everything, that kind of thing.”

Milia smiled faintly.

And then I realized it again.

Who has Fried been looking at all this time?

“You don’t have to notice. You don’t have to care.”

So I felt like I could finally say what I had been thinking about for almost two years, something I had kept buried in my heart.

“I’m fine… … .”

But before Millia could finish speaking, Fried suddenly turned his head away.

Just as Milia opened her mouth to say something, Fried leaned over and grabbed her shoulder.

“Wh, what are you doing!”

Kwakwakwang!

Milia opened her eyes wide.

A black blade passed through the space where he had been and where Fried’s upper body had been.

“Is this a raid?”

Fried clicked his tongue and took Ernst out.

A pure white light swept around, driving away the blizzard, and finally the surroundings came into view.

And what was there was an unexpected person.

“… …Who are you?”

A girl with black hair.

Black eyes, just like black hair. In contrast, pale skin that makes her look like a corpse.

Millia realized in that brief moment.

The fact that the girl in front of me was not human.

There were several reasons.

The girl’s body was filled with mana, and unlike a normal human, her breathing, gait, and even her hair fluttering in the wind gave off an artificial feeling.

Moreover, the girl seemed to have no intention of hiding this fact. Even Milia, who had been struck down, noticed it.

Above all, the reason why Milia could be certain was.

“Sir Fried.”

“okay.”

“That girl looks like Arwen.”

This was because the girl’s appearance strikingly resembled that of Arwen, the Apostle of Corruption.

A cold sweat formed on Fried’s forehead.

But without showing it, he raised his sword and opened his mouth.

“I didn’t know you had already been trained, you devil from the outside world.”

“… … .”

“Or should I call it Sepia?”

The girl snickered as she said that.

It was so bizarre that it was almost creepy, as it was only a crude imitation of human laughter.

“long time no see.”

A voice similar to Arwen.

But there was no intonation in those words.

“I knew you guys would come.”

The devil of foreign news, Sepia, spread her arms.

Then, black awls slowly began to appear from the surroundings.

“Certainly, it doesn’t seem like you have any intention of talking peacefully.”

“You too.”

“… … Yeah, well.”

Fried re-read his sword and pushed Millia back.

“are you okay.”

Millia took out the sword that Knight Riana had dropped from her bosom.

“I can’t use mana, but I can easily cut down tentacles like that.”

“… … Is that so.”

Fried chuckled.

“Then I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“I am the one who needs to take good care of you.”

Milia opened her eyes wide and stared at Sepia.

Soon, a bunch of black tentacles pointed their tips at Millia and rushed at her.

“Ugh!”

Millia used all her might, twisting her legs and swinging her sword with all her strength and brawn.

Chaechaechaeng!

A heavy impact ran into my palm along with a refreshing sound.

But, even in this tense situation, a smile somehow lingered on my lips.

“……under.”

It seems that he missed the battlefield.