Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 67 - Rosaline's Plight

One and a half weeks had passed since the attack on Avalyne Academy.

One and a half weeks since Amelia revealed herself to be a witch and Kaslavna had mounted a fierce offensive on our northern borders.

Surprisingly, the empire seemed fine on the surface, but everyone knew that turmoil was brewing. Avalyne Academy's situation had somehow improved, but the campus grounds that once brimmed with hopeful students were now little more than a shelter for displaced knights who had yet to graduate.

With so many knights called to serve on the front lines, all classes had been canceled, however there seemed to be a sliver of hope still nestled in the ruined campus grounds. Thanks to Medrauta and Brigitte's efforts, the knights managed to organize daily training sessions which helped maintain the knights' morale and keep their mind off darker thoughts.

"Do you think they ever get tired of it?"

Viviane turned, regarding Rosaline with a curious gaze. "Hm? Whatever do you mean, Lady Rosaline?'

Rosaline gestured toward the knights who were busying themselves by whacking each other with blunted training swords. "Oh, you know... Doesn't hitting each other with metal sticks get boring after a while? The knights could use a good tea party or two in my opinion."

Viviane laughed. "I suppose it does sound quite dull if you put it that way, but there's quite a bit of finesse that goes into all that 'whacking', Lady Rosaline. For example, look at Dame Loretta's swordplay. Isn't she moving just so fluidly?"

Rosaline squinted as she attempted to make out the movements of the knight that Viviane indicated. Despite her best attempts, she couldn't make out anything more than a blur. "I must admit that she's moving a tad too fast for me to see, Lady Viviane. Regrettably, I do not possess your impressive visual acuity, though... I can see she's incredibly focused."

Ah, right... Viviane nodded, remembering that she was only capable of keeping up with Loretta's movements thanks to enhancing her physical abilities with ki. She'd gotten so used to doing it passively that it'd just become second nature for her now.

"Hm..." Viviane drummed her fingers against her thigh as she tried to think of another topic to segue into. The two noblewomen sat on a bench across from the training grounds.

Normally, they would be in the archives or in one of the staff offices assisting the remaining instructors with some clerical work. Thankfully, the archives hadn't been damaged much during the attack, but there were still a large amount of documents that needed replacing or revising.

However, today was special in that the instructors had convened for some sort of meeting that only they were privy to, leaving Viviane and Rosaline completely free for the whole day. Naturally, Viviane had chosen to watch the training sessions that her knight had organized and Rosaline simply tagged along.

"Ah, right!" Viviane suddenly exclaimed as she remembered something while watching Medrauta spar with another knight. "Lady Rosaline, how is Dame Leticia doing? Medrauta would like to see her soon."

"Ah..." Rosaline's gaze dropped from Viviane's. "...I'm afraid Lettie is still..."

"That's okay!" Viviane hastily said. "I'll let Medrauta know that Dame Leticia still isn't feeling well. But... I certainly hope she feels better soon."

Rosaline simply nodded in response. Though she did not speak, words were not necessary to convey the depths of her emotions to Viviane. Even a casual glance at Rosaline's countenance revealed her immense worry to Viviane, and when Rosaline finally met Viviane's eyes once more, the blonde noblewoman understood that no words could express Rosaline's grief.