Book Two - Chapter Twenty-Four

Ander winced as Lusya finished binding his leg. He sat on the edge of the driver’s seat, his legs swung to hang over the side. Despite the commotion of the fight—and Ander once again forgetting to restrain the horses, which was lucky in this instance—the horses had remained in place. Apparently, they were trained not to get spooked by combat or move without instruction. That explained how they had stayed around this long, though it seemed wise not to rely on it.

“Is it too tight?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. You just did that a little forcefully.”

“I see,” she said. “My apologies. Let us move on to your other wounds.”

Although it wasn’t bleeding, the leg was probably the most severe of his injuries. As far as she could tell, it was not broken. It was, however, a severe sprain. He would do well to stay off of it for a month or so. Of course, that was not an option, but he could at least minimize how much he stressed it.

The cuts were minor. None of the sword fragments had struck anything vital, and they were too small to pose a grave risk, even in numbers. If they became infected, they may have become problematic, but that was exactly what she aimed to prevent. She grabbed her poultices and bandages and got to work.

“Are you going to put that on my face?” he asked, recoiling at the thought.

“Of course,” she said. “Those cuts are no less at risk than the others.”

“Gross…”

She cocked her head and blinked. “To what are you referring?”

“The poultices,” he said. “They’re all slimy.”

“You sound like Ariya,” she replied as she dressed his wounds.

He winced again as she spread poultice onto one of his open cuts. “Am I wrong?”

“I would not know,” she replied. “I have no opinion on the matter.”

He chuckled. “You wouldn’t.”

She was not sure what he was implying. Whatever it was, it did seem to be in jest, so she would stay focused on the task at hand.

“I suggest that you avoid further reckless action for the time being,” she said. “You will not be in top shape again for several weeks.”

He smiled and nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

“Good,” she said. “Do not think holding a sword means you can contribute something.”

She meant that literally. He had spare swords, so it wasn’t as if a lack of a weapon would cow him.

He gave a weak chuckle. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You would do well to do so.”

He scrunched up his face and leaned away as she put the final bandages on his cheek and forehead. It really was a stroke of luck that neither of those had taken an eye out.

“Take these,” she said, handing him a couple pain-killing leaves.

“Right.” He put one in his mouth and gagged, but he avoided spitting it out and slowly chewed it up before swallowing and repeating the process. She would have thought making the process quick a better way to deal with the taste. “Thanks.”

“No thanks are necessary,” she said. “Simply learn and avoid a repeat of this situation.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With that, his treatment was finished, and she moved on to her own. He grimaced and scratched at his bandages as she moved away but made no effort to remove them.

The cut to her side was her only open wound. It was not severe, and, while some of the hits the demon had gotten in might be sore over the coming days, she doubted any of them had done major damage either. Still, it was better to see to the matter than not, so she cleaned and dressed the wound. It did not need more than that. It was not big enough for stitches, and nothing hurt much. Although, she seldom made use of anything to dull pain anyway. She was confident in her ability to handle it on her own. She had to remove her blouse to dress the wound properly, and, for once, Ander did not make a fuss. He just blushed and averted his eyes.

Once that was done, she examined the damage to her blouse itself. It had not just torn open. Some of the fabric seemed to be gone. Closing up the hole as it was would have changed the fit of the garment. Probably not by enough to hinder her, but it was worth noting. Of course, the whole point was moot. She did not know how to sew. Perhaps it was time to learn, but, for now, she would have to wait for an opportunity to take it to a tailor. In the meantime, she would make do with the other blouse she carried, which she put on once her treatment and examination was complete.

“Do you want me to fix that one?” Ander asked. Now that she was dressed, he was looking at her again, pointing at the damaged blouse.

She blinked. “Can you?”

He nodded. “It won’t look good, let alone professional, but I can at least close up the hole. There’s a sewing kit and some spare fabric next to where I keep the medical stuff. Pick whatever fabric seems closest and bring it here. I’d, uh, get it myself, but…”

“You will not,” she said. “You will rest that leg as much as possible.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She found what he had asked for and brought it to him, along with the damaged blouse. He cut off a small patch of white fabric and set about sewing it over the hole.

“I’m surprised you don’t know how to do this,” he said. “Even if you can afford repairs and replacements, it’s not always convenient to get them done.”

She nodded. “I am realizing that. This is a relatively recent need.”

Fighting under Father, she had never been responsible for repairing her own clothing or equipment. During her search for a sacrifice, meanwhile, it had never been necessary. Avoiding attention and conflict had meant nothing getting damaged. Even during the first month of her journey with Ariya, she had not encountered any enemies capable of even striking her unless she allowed it, so her clothes had escaped unscathed until encountering Captain Kadel.

“I can teach you, if you want,” he said. “We can call it repayment for teaching me motomancy.”

“That would be appreciated,” she replied.

“Then it’s a deal.”

He resumed his sewing. It took him about a minute to finish, at which point he handed the garment back to her.

“There you go,” he said. “Can you get me some water too?”

She nodded and returned to the carriage, where she stowed the blouse and grabbed a flask to bring back to him. He grabbed it and began eagerly gulping down the water. Perhaps a near-death experience had made him thirsty.

“Why do you avoid looking at me undressed?” she asked.

Ander’s eyes opened wider than she had ever seen. He tore the flask away from his mouth and started coughing, pounding on his chest.

“What kind of frostbitten question is that?” he exclaimed.

She tilted her head and blinked. “It confuses me. I have made it quite clear I have no compunctions about nudity, and yet you avert your eyes and even avoid me entirely when possible. Am I less attractive with fewer clothes on?”

She wasn’t sure this information would ever be helpful. While her appearance was helpful at times, seduction had never been part of her repertoire. She would not have known where to begin if she wanted to add it. However, greater understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses was seldom harmful. Above all, it was a mystery that needed solving.

“That’s not it, believe me,” he said, blushing a deep red. “I would have looked away way sooner the first time if that were true. I mean, um, I meant to put that more tactfully. Listen to the things you’re making me say!”

She blinked. “I am not forcing you to do anything.”

He groaned. “Anyway, trust me you’re a beautiful woman. It’s just that I was taught it’s wrong. I can’t just stop thinking that, even if you say it’s fine. Maybe that’s inconsiderate of me.” He hesitated. “Did you want me to look at you naked?”

“I have no preference,” she said.

“Because I will if it’s really important to you.”

“It is not. I was simply curious.”

“Oh,” Ander said. He let out a small sigh, almost looking disappointed.

He took another swig of water, and they were silent for a long moment as the blush faded from his face.

“Still think the bandits don’t have any effect on Malice?” he asked suddenly.

She cocked her head at him and blinked. “That is not what I said. I said it would have no appreciable impact on the Demon King cycle. A single high-rank demon appearing does not change that.”

Ander scowled. “Are you sure?”

“I am sure,” Lusya said. “That would be the case even if he had formed here. If he is to be believed, he did not. He traveled here based on rumors that enticed him.”

Ander kept scowling at her. After a moment, he sighed. “You have a point, and I don’t know enough about the cycle or Malice at this scale to argue. You’re pretty confident, though. Did your father teach you about this too?”

“He taught me about many things.”

Though much of this was intuition and estimation, using history as a guide. She was confident in her conclusions, but it was not an exact science, even having been taught by the nexus of it all.

Ander nodded and handed her the flask, which she returned to the carriage.

“We will rest for a few more minutes before we depart,” she said. “Can you still drive the horses?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “That doesn’t use my legs much.”

She nodded and took a seat beside him. The rest was for her benefit as well as his. That had been an exhausting battle. Being a passenger didn’t take much energy, but it was somehow less refreshing than sitting still.

“Why do you use your swords like that, by the way?” Ander asked.

She cocked her head, blinking two times. “Like what?”

“Switching between them,” he said, pointing at his own hands to indicate switching. “Couldn’t you summon them at the same time? That way, you wouldn’t be vulnerable while switching. Maybe you could even combine their powers somehow.”

“The thought has occurred to me,” she said. “However, I have always dismissed it as impractical.”

For one thing, part of her had always worried that using two Demon Blades at once, one of which was not even properly hers, would have negative consequences in and of itself. Summoning a Blade was not especially strenuous once one learned how, but there was always the possibility of some unforeseen interaction between them. She had heard of Blades that were two weapons in and of themselves, but that was not a comparable situation.

Even putting that aside, however, it had seemed a questionable idea. While both Miudofay and Lunera could be wielded one-handed, she tended to favor using two, unless she needed one open for something else. They were both longswords too. There were styles involving two swords, but two of their size was traditionally considered impractical.

“It might be,” he said, shrugging. “But I think you could make it work.”

She blinked. “On what basis?”

“Can’t I just have faith in you?” he asked, chuckling.

“Your confidence is not unwelcome, but an actual reason would be preferable.”

“Besides the fact that you’re just strong in general?” He smirked. “Most people would consider constantly changing weapons impractical too, but you beat a former Sacred Knight captain and a high-rank demon that way. Why not two swords at once?”

She was not sure that reasoning could be called logical, but there was something resembling sense to it. In any case, the issue may have been worth reexamining. There was no reason she needed to be bound by conventional wisdom, and she had grown in power since the last time she had tried it. Even motomancers avoided using two swords that way, but that did not mean it was impossible.

“I will give it renewed consideration,” she said. She got back off the carriage and walked a bit away. Her injuries were not severe enough to take any special measures for. “In fact, I will practice a bit now. Miudofay.” She still said that name under her breath, almost mumbled. She was not sure if Ander had heard it. She had not attempted to hide it at the end of the battle, but he had not given any indication of having heard or recognized it. His injuries may have distracted him too much. “Lunera.”

She called Miudofay to her right hand and Lunera to her left. Perhaps it would have made more sense to call her own Blade to her dominant hand, but having the more offensively powerful weapon there also made sense.

“Are you going to try to figure it out on your own?” he asked.

“As I said, I have considered this before,” she said. “I have read about several dual-sword styles, and even tested some with practice weapons.”

Wielding two longswords may have been impractical, but that did not mean it had never been done. There had been warriors who had done it with some success, and sword masters who had put effort into refining the method because of its difficulty, a dedication to problem-solving that she could appreciate. Furthermore, techniques from schools that used two shortswords or one of each could still be applicable. Some such schools even used two longswords as a training method. The logic being that, once one was accustomed to managing two longswords at once, the actual techniques would come easier.

She began moving through the motions she remembered. Later, she would have to integrate them into her fighting style, but going over what she had learned as it was was a necessary first step. At first, she was quite rusty. She had not practiced this since well before Father’s defeat. While she was confident in her memory for things she deemed important, it was not perfect by any means, and it seemed her muscle memory did not always keep up. She fumbled motions and forgot techniques. Trying to do a single strike like this would have gotten her killed in a real fight.

Getting discouraged was not in her nature, however. Resolving the issue was the purpose of practice and serve that purpose it did. She refined her movements, and the missing pieces came back to her. It was not long before she could move through entire forms with ease. It remained to be seen if this would amount to anything, but she could do it, at least.

Ander watched her intently. In most cases, he was quite an easy mortal to read, but, for a moment, his expression was inscrutable. Somehow, that was not a welcome change. Then, he shook his head, seemingly at some private thought, and smiled at her as his eyes followed her movements.