Page 13

I heard a small clap behind me. A woman wearing the Adventurer Guild uniform stood behind Mio.

"Good performance, even Mio will lose in three moves."

"And for Nicholas, a warning letter will be sent to your house."

"Next, Hello.. cute girl. Where did you learn that sword technique?"

The aura that woman radiated was terrifying, especially with her sharp gaze at the man behind me.

"Um, Mama.. maybe that was a bit too much" Mio replied while holding the woman's arm.

Eh? Mama?

This woman is Mio's mother?

Mio gave me the lunch box in her hand, but Mio's mother put the lunch box on the empty table beside her. Our eyes met and she smiled at me. Is it just me or is it a signal to invite me to sparring?

"Cute girl.. want to try sparring with me?" she said.

"Eh?" I was stunned by this sudden invitation. My feelings turned out to be right, it was an invitation to a match sparring.

"M-Mom.. Um.. don't you have lunch first?" Mio was a little awkward to separate the two of us. Until Mother Mio's hand took the sword from Mio's waist.

Aren't there rules about fighting here?

Mio's Mother moved towards me and suddenly disappeared.

Eh, disappeared?!

Where did Mother Mio go?

My body felt uneasy and felt someone moving above me. I immediately swung my sword up and a small flash of fire that occurred from the two swords rubbing together was seen.

Mother Mio was right above me and attacked me!

Luckily I followed my body's feeling and parried Mother Mio's attack. This is very strange. After I managed to parry Mother Mio's attack, time seemed to slow down and small shining dots appeared on Mother Mio's body.

Ah! I remember this technique. This is a combination of the Perfect Parry, Counter Attack, and Precision Attack techniques. The combination of these three techniques is to parry and counterattack the enemy by giving attacks to the enemy's vital points.

Uh, should I attack Mother Mio's vital points?

What would happen if Mio Mother was seriously injured?

Would Mio hate me?

I moved my body to dodge, delivering a counterattack required fast timing and the right response. The time that passed around me changed to normal, I missed my chance to launch a counterattack.

At this time, our little fight was getting more and more attention, especially among the adventurers and Adventurer Guild staff.

"N-No way!!"

"Who is this little girl? She can block this Old Woman Demon's attack!"

"Wooah! Beautiful technique! This is the first time I've seen it!"

"Did this little girl come to register as an adventurer? The sword technique she has is great and strong."

"Is it just me or has the Old Woman Demon's attack style weakened?"

The people around me whispered to each other. Hearing their voices, I felt a bad aura getting stronger.

At a glance, I saw Mio walking backward and preparing lunch from the lunch box that was lying on the empty table. My gut feeling told me that Mio Mother was going to seriously attack me.

"That's a good move, sweet girl. What's your name?" Mio Mother moved away from me a little.

"L-Lily..." I gave my first name without telling my father's noble status.

"Lily? Could it be... Oh! So that's how it is! I heard stories about Lily-chan from my daughter and it seems like she likes you too much... Lily-chan."

Hearing that, I held back my embarrassment a little.

W-What did Mio say? Mooo!

"How about this, Lily-chan? If Lily-chan can beat me, I'll give you my daughter!!" Mio Mother said in a loud tone. The words echoed across the ceiling of this building.

"HAAAA!!" the people around me were surprised by this statement.

I glanced at Mio a little and our eyes met. Unlike Mio who usually looked calm, Mio looked at me with a bright red face.

Should I win this match?

"Sorry, but beating me isn't that easy!" Mother Mio moved to attack me again. This time, she disappeared and attacked me from various sides.

Attack after attack rained down on me. Luckily, I could feel Mio's Mother movements and the direction of the attacks that were aimed at me. It didn't mean that I didn't want to attack back if Mio Mother was seriously injured from my attack. I was afraid that Mio would be angry with me.

Mio Mother stopped her attack.

"Pretty good reflexes, where is your weak point?" Mio Mother began to observe my appearance from top to bottom then looked at Mio.

"Mio, good job!" she said.

Mio who heard this fell silent and bowed at the table filled with food.

"Lunch is waiting, shouldn't we end this little fight?" The aura around Mio Mother changed again. A distinctive fragrance wafted out and cherry blossom petals fell.

Eh? Cherry blossom petals?

Mio Mother attacked me without being seen. The sound and movements she used were very different from before. I could feel hundreds of attacks directed at me. Until the time that passed around me began to slow down and I was able to see Mio's Mother attack pattern.

This match would not end if I continued to defend myself. I ignored Mio's Mother attacks and moved using Sakura Dash to shorten the distance. When I was in front of Mio's Mother face, she smiled when she saw me. Our swords clashed very quickly and accidentally.. my sword scratched Mio's Mother uniform.

The incident happened very quickly. The scenery around me that seemed to slow down gave me time to do a counterattack and Precision Strike. The attacks that I managed to block I used as a counterattack point.

I also attacked Mio's Mother vital points, but with a minimum attack that only scratched her uniform.

Deep inside me, I didn't want to hurt someone who had a special relationship with me.

The counterattack I did should have been enough to end this match because Mio Mother uniform was quite messy. So, I decided to escape from Mio's Mother attack range using Sakura Vanish.

When Mio's Mother attack almost hit my body, in an instant my body disappeared and was surrounded by cherry blossom petals and then appeared behind Mio Mother. The sword I was using started to point at her neck and stopped at a safe point so as not to scratch her.

"I-I give up," said Mio-san.

Our little match ended with the sound of Mio's Mother sword falling to the floor. I immediately put my sword back in its sheath to finish our fight.

"W-What move was that?" asked Mio Mother.

"Mio! Aren't you training Lily-chan too hard!" Mio Mother immediately went to Mio and scolded her.

I immediately picked up Mio's Mother sword that had fallen to the floor and rushed to return it.

"M-Mom.. I didn't train Lily-sama."

"What do you mean you didn't train her? That move.. wasn't it you who taught her? And.. where did you find such a talented girl? Didn't you work as a Maid at Marquess Rommel's residence?"

Is it just me or is Mio's Mother teasing Mio?

"Y-Yes I do work there and.. Ahem! I also don't know why Lily-sama can do our family's sword technique."

"Eh, then... Who is teach that our family's sword technique to her?" Mio Mother asked confusedly.

"Mioo.." I stood beside Mio and handed her the sword.

"Ah, thank you, Lily-sama" Mio immediately took her sword and put it back into the sheath on her waist.

"Lily-sama, sorry if this is a little late. This woman who thirsts for fighting experience is my mother. And Mom, let me introduce.. this sweet and beautiful girl is Lily-sama."

"Lily-sama?? Why do you call her Lily-sama again?" replied Mio's Mother in a fake tone.

"Because she is the young lady I serve at Marquess Rommel's residence."

Hearing Mio's explanation. The people around me also had pale expressions.

"Didn't Mama already know?" Mio asked.

"Eh? What?" it turned out that Mio's mother was just acting to introduce me in public.

Uh, I was a little embarrassed by this kind of introduction.

"And Lily-sama, I entrust my daughter completely to Lily-sama."

"Eh??" Mio and I answered each other.

"With this, I bless your relationship! Teehe~"

"M-Maaamaaa!!" Mio replied with a face full of red.