Kahlua Scarlet
It had been one week since Milis started staying at the estate.
Inevitably, the commotion died down after a week.
The number of people visible from the estate grounds also gradually decreased, and now I could no longer hear the loud yellow cheers of “Hero-sama!”.
Thanks to that, Phil had been in an unusually good mood lately.
He often held a lecherous desire in his chest thinking “I wanna go to the brothel soon~♪”.
However, he couldn’t go to a brothel when the saint was staying over, as Kahlua said.
As a result, he had no choice but to enjoy his usual shut-in lifestyle.
But since things had calmed down, it wasn’t all bad news──
“Sir Phil, the Viscount Mirzas has come calling. He wishes to meet you…”
On a pleasant sunny day, Phil heard those words from one of his servants while sitting in the shade of a tree.
“Send him away.”
“Are you sure, sir?”
“Yeah, he probably just came to butter me up after finding out I’m the [Hero of Shadows]. I don’t wanna suddenly slam the door in his face and make things awkward. I also don’t wanna worry about him tattling…”
“If we use Mr. Zan’s name as you suggest, it may end up embarrassing him.”
“It’s a sign of brotherly concern. Whether it embarrasses him or not depends on Zan. Just say something like that to him.”
“Understood…but are you sure? If we do that, your reputation might─”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who cares? If I had time to think about stuff like that, I’d tell you guys to quit trash talking me behind my back and go get your heads checked at the church instead.”
The servant’s face clouded over at Phil’s blunt words.
There was no good comeback to that.
It’s true they used to badmouth him a lot, and only now started to think “Maybe he’s actually amazing?”.
Since the servant was in the wrong here, pressing the issue further could greatly displease Phil.
So the servant simply bowed his head and left without another word.
“Are you sure that was wise, Sir Phil? It sounded important…”
Milis timidly asked from her seat beside him.
Her golden locks shone brilliantly in the sunlight, giving off an illusory, mystical air.
Her beauty was so fantastical, divine even, that anyone who saw her would readily believe if told “She is a saint”.
“It’s fine. I’ve got no interest in playing nice with brownnosers. And the guys who’ve done nothing but look down on me coming around just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I owe them nothing either way.”
Ever since rumors spread of Phil being the [Hero of Shadows], more and more nobles had come seeking audiences with him.
And that was only natural─his worth as a person could no longer be ignored.
He was not just the [Hero of Shadows] admired by commoners, but now a close acquaintance of the Saint herself.
How far would his influence spread? Better to get in his good graces sooner rather than later.
He’d surely come help if anything happened─such ulterior motives were only expected.
And that was exactly why Phil ignored them outright each time.
“If you’ve got time to flip your palm, go to church and get your wrist looked at. And while you’re at it, get your head… oops, I think it’s about to start.”
Phil directed his gaze forward, away from Milis.
In one corner of the Salemabart Count’s estate─there was a large sandy training ground where the family knights were garrisoned.
Many armor-clad knights stood in neat formation, including some who’d come with Milis recently to visit the estate.
“The church knights are joining your training too…is that alright? It must be such an imposition.” Milis asked.
“No trouble at all. Can’t have them getting bored of nothing but preaching, after all. Getting stronger is a good thing…means more people who can protect you. That alone is reason enough for me to lend a hand.”
“O-oh…I see.”
Milis’ face flushed red at Phil’s words.
He tilted his head quizzically, then she shook hers to try and regain her composure.
[Alright, let’s begin.]
And among the knights, a maid-clothed girl spoke tonelessly to signal the start.
“Miss Kahlua is participating too for self-defense…right?”
Milis quickly changed topics to hide her lingering embarrassment.
“No, Kahlua’s instructing them.” Phil corrected.
“Instructing…?”
“Yeah, anti-mage training.”
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Phil said without looking back at Milis, instead keeping eyes fixed ahead.
Unsure what he meant, Milis watched the knights closely as instructed.
“There’s only two people here who can use magic. One’s me, but my magic isn’t suited for fighting. With her power suppressed, Kahlua’s at just the right level to train them. Especially for dealing with surprise attacks.”
In that instant, the maid-garbed girl’s figure─blurred.
“Ehh!?”
Milis cried out, shocked to see Kahlua vanish.
Her disappeared form slipped amidst the knights and rained merciless blows upon their armor.
Though they counterattacked as one, Kahlua flowed smoothly between them to circle behind a knight and kick his head skyward.
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scene transition
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Kahlua effortlessly toyed with the knights, not one able to touch her.
Their swords swung fruitlessly without even grazing her, their once orderly formation slowly crumbling.
[Got’ya!]
[Don’t try to follow Mistress Kahlua visually! Predict her movements!]
[Back to back! Eliminate your blind spots!]
The frenzied knights scrambled to recover their footing to no avail, Kahlua cutting off every path.
Though at first they barely kept sight of her, as time passed she danced further and further out of view.
Moving at speeds invisible to the naked eye, Kahlua calmly picked off one knight after another, knocking them unconscious.
Awe-inspiring.
Milis gawked speechlessly at the sight.
“A-amazing…”
A small, frail-looking girl overwhelming numerous trained knights.
Milis was stunned.
“There’s only two magic users here.”
Oblivious to Milis’ shock, Phil calmly explained.
“One’s me. The other is Kahlua. There just aren’t many people naturally born with magic power. On top of that, sublimating magic power into sorcery requires strict discipline, making competent mages exceedingly rare. However, that maid over there was one of the few to succeed─”
“Is that so!”
“Bratty demeanor aside, she’s crazy good. Still dunno why she insists on being a maid, though.”
Kahlua’s visage blurred as she effortlessly felled knight after knight, Phil’s mouth twitching into a wry smile. Even quite familiar with her, the sight astonished him.
Kahlua’s sorcery─ [The Strength to Always Accompany and Support the Ones I Love]
Born from her wish to forever remain alongside her most cherished one, Kahlua’s magecraft had three primary effects.
The first enhanced her movement speed.
Faster speed also meant increased weight and inertia, that is to say, strength.
By accelerating her movements, originally frail Kahlua covered her lack of power.
Furthermore, the more time passed the faster Kahlua became.
However, this speed was reactionary, fading away if she stopped moving.
Still, even initially she moved quicker than the eye could track.
Her speed is so powerful that Millis thinks Kahlua can “blip”.
The second effect was simple─enhanced vision.
If her movements sped up, her vision would whirl at an outrageous pace.
Despite her monstrous acceleration, without matching awareness her efforts meant nothing.
Useless in combat, super speed alone was empty posturing.
Thus her visual reinforcement kept pace with her body’s output.
Magecraft created solely to keep up with one’s actions.
The third resembled the second─ physical reinforcement.
At times even surpassing the speed of sound, otherwise the atmospheric friction would batter Kahlua’s body to shreds.
So to prevent that outcome, flesh empowerment. Not raw might but resilience to withstand intense velocity.
Wielding this sorcery, Kahlua couldn’t shake armies alone but could undoubtedly tip the scales of war.
A girl who despite unremarkable appearance held such strength─
(Not just Sir Phil but even Miss Kahlua…Just who are these people?)
What hid such outstanding figures in obscurity for so long?
Amazing yet puzzling. Milis’ respect for them only grew.
Meanwhile Phil wondered─
(Seriously, how the hell’d a monster like that end up glued to my side…?)
“What? What did you say? “
“Nevermind, it’s nothing.”
Setting those nagging thoughts aside, his eyes returned ahead.
Most knights now lay battered before the maid-clothed girl standing triumphant amidst them.
When had she taken down so many?
Even quite familiar, Phil couldn’t help but smirk wryly once more.
[That’s enough for today. You all lasted longer than before, right?]
[We’re grateful for the praise but…we have a long way to go. Thank you once again Lady Kahlua!]
[[[Thank you very much!!!]]]
The remaining knights bowed deeply in unison.
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