Chapter 87

Chapter 87. The Maid Outfit Suits You (1)

Yurina’s Private Training Grounds.

In a training ground so vast that it was almost embarrassing to call it “private,” Yurina and I changed into training clothes and finished a light warm-up.

“Dale, want to have a duel after so long?”

“Sure.”

I was actually in the mood to move my body a bit.

‘I’m also curious how much Yurina has grown.’

She was already one of the top five strongest heroes among humanity even without a Blessing. Now that she had awakened her Blessing, I couldn’t even imagine how far she could grow.

Even I, who had watched over her through both her past and current life, couldn’t guess her limits.

“Are you going to use a training sword?”

“No, let’s use real swords.”

At our current level, whether we used training swords or real swords, the lethality was about the same.

In fact, using a training sword with poor durability was more dangerous because it could explode from not being able to handle the magic power.

“Okay, got it.”

Yurina, who seemed to know that well, drew her real sword.

A sword made from the horn of a One-Horned Beast, which she received for ranking first in the mid-term evaluation.

A silver aura bloomed along the sharpened blade.

“Then, let’s begin!”

The sword wrapped in a silver aura shot toward me like a flash of light.

I raised my sword and deflected the terrifyingly fast silver flash.

Kurururung!

The training ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.

A dizzying recoil traveled through my palm.

“Kuh!”

Yurina had always boasted an absurd amount of magic power, but after awakening her Blessing, her magic power had increased even more.

‘It’s not just her magic power that’s increased.’

I narrowed my eyes as I blocked Yurina’s fierce sword strikes.

The level of her Sun Sword was completely different from when we first dueled.

‘Last time, she had mastered up to the 7th form.’

The difference between the 6th and 7th forms of the Sun Sword might seem like just one step, but the difficulty was on a whole other level.

‘Even Rozanna, who had practiced the Sun Sword her whole life, never reached the 7th form.’

It wasn’t because Rozanna lacked talent.

In fact, she was one of the more talented heads of the Helios Family in history.

‘It’s just that the difficulty from the 7th form onward is insane.’

Even I, who had directly learned the Sun Sword from Yurina in my past life, took almost 300 years to properly execute the 7th form.

During my final battle with the Devil God, I had barely managed to use the 6th form, so it took 300 years just to climb one step.

Of course, part of it was because my talent was trash, but even considering that, the 7th form of the Sun Sword was a realm that even geniuses struggled to reach.

Kang! Kagagakang! Kang!

The fierce silver flashes.

Even though my own level had risen rapidly recently, it was difficult to hold my ground against Yurina, who had awakened her Blessing and improved her swordsmanship.

“Kuh!”

Kwang!

Unable to withstand the onslaught of sword strikes, my body was roughly flung back and hit the wall of the training ground.

“A-Are you okay, Dale?”

Yurina approached with a worried expression.

I wobbled to my feet and waved my hand as if to say I was fine.

“Sorry. I’m still not used to controlling my strength.”

Yurina scratched her head with an awkward smile.

“Then, let’s end the duel here…”

“No.”

I shook my head and gripped my sword again.

“Let’s go a bit longer.”

“But…”

“Scared?”

“……”

Yurina’s eyes narrowed slightly.

A silver aura rose from her sword again.

“Don’t regret it later.”

“Huh.”

I let out a split laugh and gripped my sword.

Clearly, Yurina had achieved something great this time.

She had awakened a Blessing she hadn’t in her past life and crossed a “wall” to reach a new realm.

Contrary to my worries.

She had grown even more steeply than in her past life.

‘But.’

She wasn’t the only one who had grown more steeply than in her past life.

“Bloom.”

Chiiiik!

With the sound of flesh burning, a gray smoke rose.

“Huh…?”

Toward her, who was staring wide-eyed in surprise, I kicked off the ground.

Kwaaang!

A sword strike wrapped in gray smoke fiercely charged at her.

“Kuh…!”

Yurina, who had been relentlessly pushing me just moments ago, swallowed her breath and stepped back.

Flames flowing along the blade.

The flames mixed with the gray aura began to eat away at the silver aura.

“Kyaak!”

Kwang!

Yurina, whose aura was being devoured by the “Primordial Flame,” couldn’t withstand the force and was flung back.

“Haa, haa. Dale… what is that flame?”

Yurina looked at me with disbelief as she gasped for breath.

“Well, it’s kind of like my secret technique.”

I shrugged and leaned against the wall of the training ground.

I barely withstood the deep exhaustion that came after “Ignition” and waited for my body to recover.

After my body had somewhat recovered, I approached Yurina, who was sitting down with a tired expression.

“Ugh… if it weren’t for Dale, my ‘Blessing’ would have shown more power.”

Yurina, seemingly still regretting her defeat in the duel, held my hand and stood up with a sullen expression.

“Ah, by the way, what’s the name of the Blessing you awakened this time?”

“It’s called ‘Moonlight’s Blessing.'”

“Hoh.”

If it were back when I was “Yuren,” it would have been different, but now, it was a Blessing name that perfectly suited Yurina.

“What kind of ability is it?”

“…That.”

Yurina suddenly blushed and averted her gaze.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“……?”

I tilted my head and looked at her, but no answer came.

“Ah… well, more importantly! Dale, there’s that swordsmanship you use. I’ve felt it for a while now, but it seems… really similar to the ‘Sun Sword.'”

“…Really?”

At the mention of it being similar to the Sun Sword, my shoulders involuntarily twitched.

“Yeah. Well… even if it’s similar, if you look closely, it’s quite different.”

Yurina, seemingly recalling our duel, stroked her lips with her index finger and continued.

“Ah, but… I’m not sure if I should say this.”

“What is it?”

“About the swordsmanship you use. It feels… kind of like it doesn’t suit you?”

“What?”

The swordsmanship I was using now was something I had perfected over thousands of years, based on the Sun Sword.

Except for the basic framework, I had modified it from top to bottom to suit me, and now it didn’t suit me?

“Ah, not exactly that it doesn’t suit you, but more like… inefficient? That’s the feeling.”

“…Inefficient?”

“Yeah.”

Yurina nodded and continued.

“Hmm… to put it in a metaphor, it’s like a millionaire trying to save a bit of gold by traveling by carriage instead of using a warp gate. It’s not like Dale’s magic power is that lacking, but it feels like you’re trying too hard to save it.”

“……!”

It felt like I had been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.

‘My magic power isn’t lacking.’

It was something I had never heard in my entire life.

‘Come to think of it, my magic power has increased a lot recently.’

And it wasn’t magic power forcibly inflated through elixirs or Holy Mark Amplifiers like in my past life, but pure magic power accumulated through the Primordial Flame.

“Hah.”

Of course.

Using magic power generously when needed was far more powerful than always trying to save it.

‘I’ve been saving magic power out of habit, even though I have enough.’

Honestly, if Yurina hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have realized it myself.

For someone who had always suffered from a lack of magic power, saving magic power was as natural as breathing.

‘My past life experience has become a poison.’

My mind went blank at the unexpected words.

“Hmm… was that too arrogant of me to say in front of my teacher?”

Yurina smiled awkwardly as she looked at my stiffened expression.

“It was arrogant. But it helped a lot.”

I wasn’t lying.

Yurina’s advice had given me quite a shock, as I had been stuck in the habit of my “past life.”

‘I didn’t expect to learn something like this again.’

I let out a hollow laugh at my own arrogance, thinking I had already learned everything in my past life.

“Hehe. I’m glad it helped.”

Yurina smiled brightly, as if something had made her very happy, and nodded.

“Phew. Then, shall we rest a bit?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Still feeling the aftereffects of “Ignition,” I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall of the training room.

“Uh, Dale.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s… something I want to show you.”

“What is it?”

“Well…”

Yurina swallowed hard with a nervous expression.

“Wait here for a bit!”

With that, Yurina quickly went into the changing room inside the private training ground.

About five minutes passed.

Click.

The door to the changing room opened cautiously.

“…Yurina?”

Yurina, who came out of the door, was wearing a maid outfit worn by the maids of the Helios Family.

The same outfit I had forced Rozanna to wear to humiliate her.

Yurina, with her face bright red, twirled her silver hair with her hand.

“Uh… Dale, you made my mother wear a maid outfit, right?”

Wait.

“How do you know about that…?”

“I was unconscious, but I was still a bit aware.”

“……!”

She was still aware.

That means she remembers everything that happened between me and Rozanna!

“Dale, do you like maid outfits?”

“N-No, it’s not that I like maid outfits…”

“Liar. Then why did you make my mother wear one?”

“Well…”

How could I explain?

That I wanted to see that arrogant woman humiliated, so I forced your mother to wear a maid outfit and treated her like a slave.

“A-Anyway! I don’t like maid outfits or anything, so hurry up and change back!”

“Hmm.”

Yurina narrowed her eyes slightly and lifted the hem of her skirt.

The white ankles and socks peeking through the slightly lifted hem.

My gaze involuntarily drifted downward.

“Not liking it, huh? Your eyes seem pretty honest, though.”

Yurina approached me with a mischievous smile.

“There’s no need to hesitate. Dale, you’re the benefactor who protected my Holy Mark, right? If it’s something Dale wants… I can do anything.”

She gently took my hand and declared boldly.

“Come on! Quickly give me any order, Dale! Just like you did with my mother, you can treat me like a slave too!”

“No.”

First the mother, and now the daughter as a slave.

‘You’re making me sound like a total scumbag.’