Rishenne vs Stefaria

introduction

Rishenne wants to fight strong opponents in order to regain his intuition in swordsmanship,
I was talking to Esperanza.
Esperanza who received it,
Call out to higher-ranking generals and skilled sergeants.
Then, Stefaria, who was usually thought to be the most uncooperative, turned to
. He unexpectedly agreed to help me.

Although I was wondering how the wind was blowing,
From Richenne's point of view, the decline in her swordsmanship is
. There was no better opportunity to see how far I had recovered.
If you become a knight as good as Stefalia,
There is nothing to gain from this combination.
If you lose, you will only experience humiliation, and even if you win, nothing will change.

(But maybe…)

Stefaria is
like me and Esperanza. Considering the bond of being a member of the "Evalon Kingdom Army",
Maybe he cooperated.
While I was lost in such thoughts,
Richenne was waiting for her arrival at the appointed place.

After a while, Steparia, who straightened her back, turned to
. He walked with a dignified appearance.
Richenne, on the other hand, greets her with dignity.
Esperanza was watching from a distance.
She probably feels responsible for setting up this battle.

When Stefaria comes in front of me,
Richenne smiled a little and bowed her head slightly.
"I'm sorry, Stefaria…Thank you"
However, Stefaria remained expressionless and just scratched her head.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I was interested too.
After all, you are my boss…"
"I'll do my best not to let you down.
Because you are a user of the holy sword…
I'm sure he was a rival to Gregory's Holly, right? ”

Hearing those words, Steparia closed her eyes and let out a small sigh.
"…I don't know"
"Don't you understand?"
Steparia looked up at the sky with distant eyes.
"I've only been training as a holy sword user.
I thought Holly was the same way. But the last time we put our hands together… it was a disappointment."
"…I see."
“At one point, I felt like even I might not be able to catch up with
. He was a great user. I feel like I was desperately chasing after my back.
But I guess I was overtaking him when I noticed…”
"…You've always been single-minded."
"So…I was interested today."
Stefaria's gaze pierces straight through Richenne.
“Holly has lost my interest.
So…Rishuenne. As a rival who seeks strength just like me,
I want to see if he is a knight I can walk with.”

At those words, Richenne's eyes widened involuntarily.
"That's… a big role."
"It's okay if you don't like it…I'm going home"
Seeing her trying to turn back,
Richenne grinned fearlessly.
"Who said I didn't like it? …This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Richenne vigorously drew her sword and readied it.
“In order for me to be proud as the highest-ranking general, I would like to I have to show my ability that I'm not ashamed of.
Please, Steparia. Look at me now! ”

Then, Stefaria's expression tightens and becomes serious.
"You look better. At one time, you were eating out all the time and gaining weight."
"That's…!"
"The clothes were so tight I felt sorry for them"
"What…!"
"The reason I lost to Muriel was not just because I didn't know her techniques."
"…uh"
“Esperanza also said that.
As your status and weight increased, your ability decreased.''
"Eh, Esperanza…!"

Esperanza watches from afar, looking embarrassed,
However, there was a wry smile on his face.

“But it seems like you’ve been working hard lately.
So it's good, let's cross swords for the first time in a while. It's synchronous. Remembering the time when I joined the army”
Hearing Stefaria's words, something warm wells up in Richenne's chest.
"…Stefaria. That's right! Don't worry, let's fight fair and square for the first time in a while!"

"Let's go!"
"Okay."

The blades of the two were quietly about to intersect.

Settlement

Esperanza, who was watching the battle between Lishuenne and Stefaria, said
I felt a certain discomfort.

compared to Richennu who is relaxed and goes into battle. Somehow she wasn't the usual Stefaria–that's how I felt.
Unlike Richenne, whose expression shows the joy of having a battle with fellow knights,
Stefaria is full of loneliness, as if staring into space,
It seemed like he wasn't really concentrating on the fight.

Lishuenne became excited and launched an attack himself.
"Let's go! Stefaria!"
Richenne charges while covering her entire body with a golden mist, which is her special skill.
Her sword drew a golden trajectory in the air.
"…"
Steparia silently blocked Richenne's sword and pushed it back with force.
“Ah!”
Stefaria's sharp slash approaches Richenne, but
Richenne brilliantly assesses the attack and evades it.
"Hey!"
Richenne's thrust grazed Steparia's shoulder.
On the counter, Stefaria slashes at Richenne's thigh, but
Richenne jumps back to avoid this.
After regaining his balance, Richenne gently called out to Steparia.
"As expected. Just the way you move now shows how great you are, Stefaria."
Stefaria stared at Richenne for a while, then looked away.
"Yes…hello"
Richenne was taken aback by the reaction, which was different from what she had expected.
Esperanza, watching from a distance, also has a strange expression on her face.

Richenne readied her sword once again and charged at Stefaria.
"Let's keep each other up! Stefaria!"
It's even faster than before.
A large amount of light mist gathers around Lishuenne, disrupting Stefaria's vision.
"Damn!"
Stefaria is Rishenne's
, which has become even faster. One by one, the sword streaks of light that contained afterimages were repelled.
An invisible exchange of swords dominates the space between the two.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
"Damn…!"
Esperanza looked at the battle between the two with a serious expression and muttered to herself.
"…Stefaria?"

–After a fierce exchange of swords for a while,
Rishenne's thrust caught Stefaria's sword tsuba.
Gakin!
A dry sound echoed, and one of Stefaria's swords flew in the air.
"Still aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Rishenne's sword captures Steparia's torso.
"Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Stefaria was violently blown away and slammed to the ground.
"Stefaria!"
Esperanza tried to run towards her, but Stefaria quickly stood up and
He opened his palm toward Esperanza.
"Esperanza…don't stop"
Stefaria said with a distressed expression on her face.
Richenne looks a little worried.
"Stefaria…Did something happen?"
"It doesn't matter…let's continue"
"Hey, Stefaria… how are you feeling…"
"It doesn't matter!"
Stefania raised her voice a little.
"Rishuenne…please, let me continue. Don't slack off. Seriously, come at me with all your might."
Richenne's eyes widened at Stepalia's serious look and her words.
"Stefaria…"
Sensing the unwavering strength in his eyes, Richenne responded forcefully.
"…Of course. I'll defeat you with all my might. That's chivalry."
Stefaria smiled slightly.
"Let's go!"
This time, Stefaria put all her strength into her body and let out a roar.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Stefaria's entire body's muscles tighten. It jumped at Richenne with great force.
It was the fastest and heaviest attack ever.
Zugan!
Stefaria's heavy blow pushes Richenne's sword into place.
"Damn… it's heavy!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Right away! ! !
Stefaria's pursuit sent Richenne's body flying backwards.
“Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
"Haa… haa…"
Just before falling to the ground, Richenne rotates his body 180 degrees parallel to the ground, and at the same time,
He kicked the ground and rushed towards Stefaria.
Stefaria was momentarily distracted by the speed of his movement.
"Eh"
"Take it! It's my special move!!!"
A light haze enveloped Richenne's entire body. At the same time,
Steparia was hit by a series of thrusts from her that were incredibly fast.
Hyuuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh…!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" "Haaaaaaaa!"
The final blow with all her might caught Stefaria.
Thump…Thud.
"Haa… haa…"
"Stefaria!!!"
Esperanza immediately rushes over to Stefaria.
Richenne was staring at the fallen Steparia.
Stefaria tried to raise her upper body, but she quickly gave up and relaxed.
"…As expected of you, Richenne. It doesn't look like you'll be able to stand up for a while."
Richenne asked in an unsatisfied manner.
"…Why…?"
Esperanza also raises her voice as if asking a question.
"…What happened?"
Stefaria slowly exhaled and choked out her voice.
"There's nothing…I'm not going to make any excuses. But…I feel relieved if I lose…"
Richenne looked a little sad.
"… Am I… not worthy of your seriousness?"
Stefaria shook her head.
"That's not true"
"That's a lie. The sharpness of your movements is completely different from when you were training for Gregoris's Holly."
Stefania closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"…my interest in Holly… is gone. It doesn't matter.
I lost to you. That's it. As your boss, I have nothing to complain about…”
Richenne turned her back without saying a word and left the place.

Esperanza, who was left there, called out to Stefaria.
"Thank you"
"? For what?"
“About Richenne”
"? I just fought and lost."
"No…somehow"
"You say strange things"
Esperanza stared at Stefaria and said as if she had made up her mind.
"I'd like to meet Holly from Gregoris"
Stefania looked a little surprised.
"? Why"
"To return you to the way you were before…I guess"
"…I'm not interested anymore…"