04

“Ains-sama, please allow me to test myself against you!”

Sophia gripped the wooden sword with both hands and took a proper forward stance.

She closed her eyes and, for a moment, focused on the magic power within her body.

She brought that magic power fully under her control, readying herself to manipulate it internally.

Once accustomed to internal magic power control, this preparation would take less than a second to enter a combat-ready state.

“…I’m coming!”

Sophia opened her eyes and locked them onto Ains.

For Sophia, it likely felt like nothing more than a light kick off the ground. Using her usual sense, she leapt straight into Ains’s range by the shortest path.

But the speed was on a completely different level.

In truth, it was instantaneous.

This was not due to footwork technique—simply put, the springs of her entire body had been strengthened.

Individually, the degree of enhancement in each “spring” had not changed drastically. However, as Ains had explained earlier, bodily movement was not the result of a single muscle, but a complex combination of movements across the entire body.

In other words, strengthening each spring meant that power, speed, and sharpness of movement were all amplified synergistically.

Slipping into Ains’s range with a low posture, Sophia slashed horizontally.

Even though it was a bladeless wooden sword, the keen strike sliced through the air.

Sophia had stepped into a realm she had never experienced before.

Her bodily movement was flawless. Yet, there was one point of discomfort.

It was the resistance of the air as the wooden sword cut through it. Because her swing had become so much sharper, she now perceived this unpleasant sensation.

Amid the feeling of omnipotence, she nearly felt irritation at the crude nature of the wooden sword.

Until now, she had chosen and adjusted swords based solely on weight and length. But having stepped into this realm, Sophia keenly realized that far more delicate adjustments to the sword would be required than ever before.

Her wooden sword clashed with Ains’s.

PANG!—a bursting sound erupted, nothing like what one would expect from wooden swords colliding.

“How does it feel, Sophia?”

“It’s incredible. …I’m sorry, I can’t find the right words to describe it.”

Ains forcefully knocked back Sophia’s wooden sword.

Sophia was launched into the air and flew backward. The distance between them opened once more, and both came to a halt.

“Do you think you’ve got the feel for it? Then let’s trade blows.”

“Yes!”

From that point on, Laika could no longer follow their movements.

With explosive sounds, fragments of wooden swords scattered as they were shaved away. The lawn was gouged, and wind was born in the garden around the two of them.

It brushed Laika’s cheeks, cooling her flushed body.

“…Riste, can you see the two of them?”

“No. However, I can see a future where both of them receive a long, drawn-out lecture from the master of the house.”

“Haha, true. But really… what are we going to do about this?”

As many maids watched the garden from the mansion windows, drawn by the repeated explosions, Laika and Riste were already thinking about how to restore the lawn.

After several minutes, the exchange finally ended when the wooden swords reached their limit and split cleanly in half.

Amid the ravaged battlefield, Ains and Sophia stood holding only the grips of their swords, steadying their ragged breathing.

“Huff, huff… Ains-sama, thank you very much.”

“Hah… no, no. It was good exercise for me too.”

Breathing heavily, Ains put on a smug expression and said,

“Well, I think this proves my usefulness to everyone here!”

At that moment, Laika walked over.

“Sorry to interrupt while you’re both feeling refreshed, but…”

She spoke with a bright, beaming smile plastered on her face.

“That was amazing. You’ve tilled this beautifully maintained garden so thoroughly it now looks like farmland perfect for growing vegetables.”

Her tone was cheerful.

By contrast, Ains and Sophia looked around, their faces turning pale. Especially Ains—who had experienced Kansas’s long-winded scoldings before—was far more panicked than Sophia.

“Please look forward to Father’s heartfelt words of wisdom!”

Laika winked cutely, but to the two of them, it looked as though the Grim Reaper itself were smiling.

Later, when Kansas returned and saw the devastated state of the garden, the two were, as expected, subjected to a prolonged and merciless lecture from him.