Ersia: Raven Dawn

"I'm sorry, Uncle Vincent."

Finally, the word came out of Lisabelle's mouth. That word is all that Vincent wanted to hear. Now that the young lady understands his point, he is ready to let go of the conversation. He closes his eyes and fixes his tie.

"The gift will be sent to your house. Now, come. There is one more gift for you."

Vincent, Lisabelle, and Liam are walking to the back of the mansion, where the training ground is. Vincent asked how Eleanor was and other things regarding Lisabelle's school, the court ruling, and how she handled all of that. He also wondered whether Liam needed more servants - to which Liam shook his head. The baron of Neims said that he never enjoyed being surrounded by too many strangers.

"Lisabelle. As a consequence of your action, you will be attending the military academy - provided that you are able to perform well."

". . . . I thought they had painted me red. Lady Diene, the woman I hurt, isn't she with the military?"

"This was her suggestion."

"Pardon me?"

Vincent turns silent and keeps walking until they reach the training ground. It is a vast space filled with dummy targets and various wooden practice weapons. In fact, there is even a jousting area on the far side of the ground since Master Graham was a big admirer of mounted combat, especially since his return from the Far East.

However, one thing that immediately catches Lisabelle's attention is the sight of Viena training with a wooden sword with Diene as well as the two guards; Alan and Gwen.

"W-Why is she here?"

"I invited her."

After the court ruling was announced, Vincent, who saw himself as Lisabelle's guardian, paid a visit to Diene's residence. During their talk, Diene told him that if there was ever a chance for her to meet Lisabelle in person soon, she would like to be invited. Vincent gave her his words, and thus the current circumstances.

"Ah, there she is," Alan gives a heads up. 

"Woah, I knew she had some noble blood in her, but she really showed it today," Gwen put her wooden sword on her shoulder.

Seeing Lisabelle and the others approaching them, Diene takes the initiative to greet them. She solemnly bowed to pay respect, and the others responded in the same manner. Her face is calm and showed no resentment whatsoever. It's as if the thing that happened the other never happened at all.

"Greetings, Master Liam, Baron of Neims . . . . and Young Lady Lisabelle."

" . . . Greetings, Lady Diene."

Despite all the things that happened between the two, Lisabelle and Diene never really had any conversation with each other. The awkwardness is building up in the air, and everyone is starting to feel it. That is when Vincent stepped in as an intermediary between them so that they could have a fresh start.

"Lady Diene, following our discussion the other day - You said that you are interested in Lisabelle . . . physical competence."

"I do."

Seeing the small smile on Diene's face, Lisabelle's notions of her spin once more. 'What is she thinking? What is it that she wanted from me? Why is she still bothering herself with an enemy?' her head is filled with such thoughts, and that is completely reasonable.

"Then, Yabel, What do you say you entertain our guest?" Liam put her hand on Lisabelle's shoulder.

"Uhm, with all due respect, isn't this a little too sudden? I believe none of you have mentioned this before."

"Don't sweat too much. It will be just a little sparring between you and a duelist of my choice," Vincent smiles.

"U-Uncle Vincent?"

In the end, Lisabelle has no say in the matter. She then follows Janette and returns to the mansion to change her clothes to a more fitting attire for outdoor activity. She wears a black-white striped light gambeson and banded pants, her usual outfit for light exercise. Viena who was standing at the side along with the others finds her look to be so dashing. Lisabelle now looked more like a boy rather than a girl, in fact, she would be easily mistaken for one if it wasn't for her beautiful platinum hair. 

"I thought that maybe you were pent up from all that academic stress. The accumulated negativity bursts out in such an unfortunate moment, thus causing the deeply regretted incident with Lady Diene," Vincent shook his head while holding a silver goblet filled with white wine.

"Indeed. Perhaps a release through physical exercise every now and then would be very good for you, Yabel," Liam rubbed his hands, seemingly getting cold from the autumn air.

Lisabelle feels a little annoyed with how her uncle phrased it. It's as if he is telling everybody that she neglects her physics all the time in the academy - which is completely false. She has never lost for the last two years to anyone during mock duels thanks to her constant gruesome training almost every single day.

"Fine, let's get down to it; Who is my opponent?" Lisabelle ties her hair.

"A mercenary who helped me find a map two weeks ago in Eaglehorn Port. He is quite expensive even for me to be honest. But he promised me that he is so good that I don't have to hire anyone else. Of course, that still needs to be proven since no one ever heard of his name . . . Long story short, since I like his confidence, I brought him with me today."

Then, Vincent whistles with his finger.

"Mister Sunday! Come over here and show your skin!"

Suddenly a man jumped to the middle of the training ground from the oak tree branch that is protruding from the outside of the mansion's wall. He somersaulted in such an acrobatic manner, full of grace and aesthetic. Not only that, at the second he was about to touch the ground, he suddenly threw his wooden sword to the ground and stood on top of the hilt, although almost slipping and ended up showing silly poses.

"Oopsies! That was close! Hehehe, I should've practiced more."

The man makes silly remarks. He sounds like a young middle-aged voice, probably in his very early 30s.

As for his appearance, he looked as if he was around 180 cm tall and wore a simple tunic and a white petticoat breeches all colored in white. Below, he also wears black boots and a white masquerade mask signifying a cute, children-friendly, toon-ish black cat. However, it's quite strange because one can see that it has no holes at all in its eyes. Thus, everyone can only wonder how he saw everything in that strange mask. Truly, a fashion terrorist with everything all over the place.

"Ahahah! That's funny, but cool! How did he do that?!" Viena jumped on her little feet giddily watching him.

"Well, well. That's the first time I saw him doing that myself. I guess he's not lying about himself after all," Vincent claps his hands.

While the others are enjoying the spectacle, Diene feels a little anxious about it, like something is terribly wrong about the man. Surprisingly, her anxiety is confirmed when she looks at Lisabelle. The young girl stays frozen still, all of the hair on her nape is standing, and the pores of her skin expand. Her eyes are wide open, showing true fear.

"U-Uncle . . . Who is that man?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Lisabelle threw up. Due to her constant struggle and lurking danger during the last two years, she knows an absolute imminent danger when she sees one. As for the man that is standing in front of her, in front of everyone, he is simply a death sentence. Her body feels heavy and she even already leaked herself.

"Lisabelle! What is it? Are you sick?"

"Get off of me! How come you all don't feel it?!"

Lisabelle pushes Vincent away, and everyone starts to wonder what happened.

"T-That man you brought - he is a monster!"