Chapter 34 - The foolish intruder

Despite her plans, Mila found herself stuck in the Obron’s family’s compound for the following week.

During one of the evening lessons with Harry, he told them there had been two more squads of the Pillar of Eternity hunters arriving. They had left soon after, but there always was one or two of those staying in the city.

There also had been an inspection run by guards searching the compound - a very irresponsibly done search by two guards who had spent most of the following evening drinking with Harry.

Mila, Isabel and Andrew also met those guards. They had to, as there were forged papers claiming they had arrived here weeks ago. Luckily, the two guards had been more interested in alcohol and didn’t even question them.

It was starting to get irritating. The irritation radiating from the Temple was getting to Mila. The constant tugging against her senses was unpleasant. And she couldn’t do anything about it.

Silinth had made them do physical training and taught them some simple spells. Mila had avoided doing most of it, making her boredom even more pronounced.

At least Harry had managed to get them training weapons. Mila studied the short wooden sword and then swung it to test it. She had skipped yesterday's testing spars, but she had watched them.

And today, she would join the rest. Mila stretched while gauging her possible opponents. Kefo was finally healthy enough to join them as well. However, he was a lot more reserved and spoke only in short phrases, if that. There were scars where his skin had burned, and he still couldn’t do anything taxing, but he was better.

Andrew and Isabel exchanged barbs, meaning they would soon come to blows. Tiff was eyeing Bazil, who was her opponent for the day. The boy was not a fighter by any means. He much preferred fighting numbers over people. Tiff would likely bully him thoroughly.

Which left Nordly for Mila to fight. And compared to his brother, he was willing to fight hard. Though, his style left much desired. There were too many flashy movements in the way he swung his sword. It looked good, but it was not a style meant to kill an opponent but defeat them ‘honourably’.

Nordly studied her in return. “Are you sure about this?” He tried to dissuade her. “Your friends can fight, but I haven’t seen you with a weapon in hand.”

Mila pulled her lips in a thin line. “I can.” She raised her weapon. Nordly had started to get on her nerves as well. He seemed to be constantly worried about her and was trying to help her in various ways.

“I am very good with this.” Nordly raised his own sword and took a pompous pose. He brandished it and made a theatrical swing, cutting the air. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

And this was another thing about Nordly. He always tried to impress her. Mila almost rolled her eyes. “I am sure you will try.”

“I won’t.” Nordly looked horrified by the idea. “I would never!”

“Then what’s the point of sparing.” Mila sighed. Why hadn’t Nordly developed a liking for Tiff instead? It would at least be fun to watch Kefo butt heads with a rival. “Let’s just get over this.” She took a step forward.

Nordly immediately stabbed his sword towards her chest, but it was a slow and controlled movement. It was clear he wasn’t putting any heart into it.

Mila lazily swayed to the side, pushing Nordly’s halfassed thrust to the side and striking his fingers holding the handle. The boy yelped and dropped his weapon. “Please take this more seriously.”

This had continued even after Mila had told him her age. Of course, Nordly had refused to believe her. He had just smiled and told her she was funny.

“You just surprised me.” Nordly hurried to pick up his sword and again took the flashy pose. “But good strike!” He shamelessly smiled.

So, of course, after her age had not deterred Nordly, Mila had mentioned she was taken. The annoying brat had dismissed that as well after she had failed to tell him who it was.

After all, Mila had failed to clarify her relationship with Isabel as the girl became fidgety every time it came up.

The date would be the perfect chance to make everything concrete, but that had not happened just yet. There was more planning to do, and before taking her girl out to town, she wanted to be sure no hunters would stumble upon them and disrupt their date.

It would also not be fair to Isabel to just claim her.

Oh, but Mila so wanted to. The irritation she felt started to overflow, but before she could trash Nordly, their sparring session was interrupted.

A man suddenly stumbled through the backdoors leading into the Obron’s family’s shop. Behind the man, a tired-looking Harry sent an apologetic look before returning to his work. He appeared busy, as a few other people were craning their heads behind him.

“Teacher Nolman!” Nordly exclaimed in surprise.

Mila looked around and noticed Silinth had vanished. She then returned her attention to the posh, handsome male in his thirties. He was lean and carried himself with confidence. He held his arm on the sword hanging on his hip and stood proudly, challenging anyone to protest his presence.

“Nordly, my boy!” Nolman’s shout filled the courtyard. “What’s this about you dropping my classes? I was so surprised I had to come and get a clarification, but your father refused to elaborate.”

“Uh, well, I just found a new group to train with?” Nordly sounded unsure. He had not expected Nolam to show up and intrude like this.

“Nonsense!” The loud man cried out. “What can be better than trying with yours truly? Was it this man?” He pointed a finger at Andrew, who had stopped in the middle of a strike. “That can’t be! He is carrying two swords at the same time! How uncultured!”

“Hey, now!” Andrew protested. “It looks cool.” He didn’t have a good reason for it either.

But Nolman ignored Andrew. “And you can’t start bullying girls just as you leave my wing! What will your peers think of such actions! That cannot stand! What if you hurt her!”

A moment later, housekeeper Galtron appeared and facepalmed. “Mr Nolman, you have not been invited.” He started. “I’ll have to ask you to leave the premises.”

“Not before I talk with Nordly!” Nolman dismissed the housekeeper. “My boy!” He walked to where Nordly and Mila were facing each other. “Now tell me! For what reason are you putting up a show? Are you teaching these-” He sneered. “- rabble? It’s too soon for you!”

Mila felt like punching something, or in this case - someone. This flamboyant man was too loud and obnoxious. Seeing Nordly at a loss for words, she stepped in front of Nolman. “That won’t be necessary, Mr.”

Nolman looked at her in surprise. “Who are you to step in front of me?” He made a shooing motion. “Now, be begone, I have words to speak with the boy.”

“Uh, Teacher Nolam, please don’t be rude.” Nordly gathered enough courage to step next to Mila to defend her. “She is a guest.”

Of course, it only served as another point of irritation to Mila. That said, there was no reason to involve herself any further. She prepared to take a step back when the noisy man spoke again.

“Just look at the way she holds that sword. Awful! Distasteful! Rubbish!” He critisised.

Mila stopped. She looked at the man as all emotions left her face. This style of swordsmanship was particularly dear to her.

The woman who had used it was one of her more positive memories. She had been kind, understanding and compassionate. Her movements were graceful and deadly. She had been a feared swordwielder back in her time.

Mila had spent almost a year in her skin until she sacrificed herself to save her squad. “Care to repeat?” She tilted her head. There was no doubt this was not a good idea.

There was no need for this, and this wasn’t in character for her. However, those few good memories were sacred for her. She had spent too much time with bad ones to have this trash speak foul of them.

“Oh, so you need something simpler to understand.” Nolman raised his nose. “It’s bad, girl. Ugly.”

Mila felt everyone's eyes fall on her. Especially Isabel’s, who seemed to be fascinated with how Mila acted.

Next to Isabel, Andrew had a troubled expression. He looked at Nolman as if he was making the biggest mistake in his life.

“Then do you care for a match, Mr Nolman?” Mila’s saccharine voice invited the man to a duel. She used her senses to study the man and found him wanting. From seeing how Nordly fought, she had a low opinion of this teacher to begin with.

“A match with you?” Nolman started to laugh and clap. “What a joke!”

“Teacher Nolman!” Nordly tried to interrupt, but seeing the man pretend to not hear, he turned to Mila. “Uh, Mila, please reconsider.” When that didn’t have an effect either, he turned towards the rest of the group but received only stares full of curiosity and pity aimed at Nolman.

Well, except for Isabel, who was still staring at Mila with her mouth slightly ajar.

“But of course, with me, Mr Nolman.” Mila’s voice was full of contempt now. “I am challenging you right now, am I not?”

“Fine then!” Nolman glared at her. “Normally, I would ask for pay before giving a lesson, but I’ll make an exception this time.” He extended his arm towards Nordly. “Your sword, boy!”

“Uh, I would rather not.” Nordly meekly resisted. But when Nolman wiggled his fingers, he gave up and handed the wooden weapon to his teacher. “Please don’t go overboard.” He murmured.

“Now!” Nolman raised the sword and made the same pose Nordly had earlier. “Being so magnanimous, I’ll allow you to choose rules for this duel!”

“Oh, I don’t know. How about until the first clean strike lands?” Mila suggested. She wasn’t foolish enough to propose anything lengthy. While the man was infuriating, he was still a fit adult.

“Ridiculous, but it’s what you choose! It will be over in a moment! Do not cry after I am done with you!” Nolman boasted. “Now, boy, give us the signal to start!” He continued to be annoyingly loud.

Mila decided to shut him up. It was the only way to keep her headache at bay. Nolman was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Nordly moved between them, checked if they were ready, raised his hand and let it fall.

Nolman was fast. Despite his attitude and questionable style, he was a skilled fighter when it came to duels. He moved with grace, putting emphasis on fluid motions that made it very clear where he would strike.

And he was likely holding back. Mila felt slighted by it. The man didn’t take her seriously at all. His sword headed towards her shoulder, making it easy to dodge.

But just that wouldn’t do. As the man was not using his pitiful mana pool, Mila didn’t either. She relied on her superior vision to intercept Nomlan’s stab with her sword, much like with Nordly earlier. She parried it to the side, leaving her opponent wide open.

And the fool of the man had the audacity to widen his eyes in surprise. He deserved what came next.

Mila’s hand was still numb from the strike, but she didn’t need her weapon to strike this man down. The idiot was still looking at her with confusion and was slow to react.

It felt wasteful to use her sword skills against him. So Mila didn’t. She gave up on playing nice and gathered most of her strength in her fist, then stepped in and struck the man’s open stomach ruthlessly.

Nolman doubled over, still looking at her in disbelief. Mila calmly met his gape. She was ready to jump back and dodge, but there was still no appropriate reaction from him.

So, Mila did something stupid. She dropped her sword and threw a hook. It reached Nolman’s chin without interruptions and pounded the man to the side, making him hit the ground already without consciousness.

There was no compassion in Mila’s eyes. She looked down at the man without pity. He was a fool. Perhaps he was decent with a sword, but nothing more.

Mila shook her head and refocused on her surroundings. Nordly was looking at Nolman with mouth wide open while her group had returned to their own training.

Well, not everyone. Andrew was currently poking Isabel, who was openly ogling Mila.

Mila sent her love a victorious smile.

Something good had come from the fool's intrusion.