I left Lillywood-san's residence and returned to Lilia-san's mansion.
According to the servants, Lilia-san and the others are in the training
grounds, so I decided to head that way.
Aoi-chan and Hina-chan often use the training grounds from midmorning to around noon, but there's actually a reason for that.
It's because the people in charge of the mansion's security often use it
in the afternoon, and there's a chance that they will be in the way if they
train around their time.
Incidentally, we are free to visit that place, and I've had the opportunity
to visit a few times as well.
It seems like the people training now aren't only Lilia-san and
Lunamaria-san, but also Anima, Eta and Theta as well.
When I arrived at the large training area behind the mansion after a
short walk, I heard the sound of what seems to be the clashing of
swords.
As I looked around, I saw that while the guards were watching from a
distance, a tremendous battle was taking place, which honestly looks
too frightening to be called as a training exercise.
The sight of Sieg-san, using her two swords to handle the attack of
Lunamaria-san, who was holding a short spear in one hand and a
slender sword in the other, is also amazing, but the battle on the other
side looks even more eye-catching.
Lilia-san catches Anima's arm, brandished with her claws elongated
and possesses overwhelming physical strength, with her greatsword
disproportionate to her slender body… I guess you could call it a power
battle, as tremendous sounds resound with each of their blows.
In the training I've seen so far, Anima has just been training Eta and
Theta, and this is the first time I've seen her fight against Lilia.
Anima once fought Theta and won, but that actually isn't a reference to
Anima's strength at all.
After all, Anima ran over the mountains without sleep or rest after
finishing her work with joining the guard force at Rigforeshia. She may
not have shown it in her face, but she was terribly tired.
In fact, in a mock battle after Theta came to serve me, Anima won
against her with just one punch.
Anima's fighting strength is comparable to that of a Viscount-level,
high-ranking Demon so… of all the people in Lilia-san's mansion, I think
Anima is the strongest.
However, even if she isn't fighting her seriously, I would say that Liliasan is very strong because she's able to fight head-to-head with Anima.
As I was thinking about this while observing their battle, Sieg-san and
Lunamaria-san seemed to have finished with their fight and
approached me.
[…Lilia-san's battle with Anima is amazing, isn't it?]
[Yes, as one would expect from Anima-sama. To be able to fight with My
Lady head on…]
Lunamaria-san reacts to my words and responds with words of praise
for Anima.
Hearing her praise Anima makes me feel happy as if I'm the one being
complimented, and I can't help but have a smile appear at the corners
of my lips.
[Speaking of which, I've been wanting to ask you for a while… Putting
aside Lunamaria-san, is Sieg-san not as strong as Lilia-san?]
[Miyama-sama, Miyama-sama? Why do I feel spite in that statement…]
[Luna's strength is that of an all-rounder. It can't be helped if her
combat ability is a step behind from us… And to answer your question, I
wasn't able to match Lili anymore after she became "16 years old".]
[Eh? Really!?]
I thought that Lilia-san, Lunamaria-san, and Sieg-san's fighting strength
were all somewhat equal, but it seems that Lilia-san had a slight edge in
overall strength.
In fact, Lilia-san said something like that during the Sacred Tree
Festival… The way Sieg-san is saying it now, Lilia-san is prominently
stronger than them.
Looking at the surprised me, Lunamaria-san explained to me with a
gentle smile.
[…Previously, when Miyama-sama didn't know that the Demon you met
was the Underworld King… When I thought that the one you met was a
peerage-holding, high-ranking Demon, this is what she said. "I wish that
I won't have to fight a Demon of that class if it's possible"…]
[Y- Yes, I also heard that she was relieved that she didn't have to fight.]
[…However, My Lady never said anything about "not being able to win
when she fights", didn't she?]
[…Ahh.]
Indeed, if you ask me, before she found out about Kuro's true identity,
Lilia-san said that she was glad that she didn't end up having to fight a
high-ranking Demon, but she never said anything about being unable to
win.
[…Lili, how should I say this… I don't want to sound like I'm being
strangely pretentious, but it's like she doesn't want to appear too
uncivilized. That's why she has never seriously fought anyone.]
I nodded in agreement with Sieg-san's words. It's true that Lilia-san is
concerned about being ladylike. Or rather, she doesn't like to be
frightened by others, so she tries to hide her strengths… Well, she can't
hide how strong she is most of the time though.
[My Lady is a natural prodigy at fighting… and she's strong enough to
be called as the "strongest human".]
[…The only Human who can fight head-on with Lilia would be her
Majesty Laguna, the "strongest being in the Human Realm".]
(T/N: human refers to humans itself, while Human refers to the species.
Elves like Sieg and mermaids like Laguna are also under Human.)
As I recall, her Majesty, the King of Hydra Kingdom was once a member
of the First Hero's part, right?
To be compared with such an amazing person… No, for a person in her
twenties to be able to match the strongest being in the Human Realm,
someone who has already lived for over a thousand years, that shows
how extraordinary her talent is.
[…Incidentally, which one of them is stronger, Anima or Lilia-san?]
[If they were to fight seriously, it will definitely be Lili.]
[She's that strong…]
Apparently, Lilia-san is stronger than I thought she would be.
Sieg-san and Lunamaria-san are also supposed to be among the
strongest fighters in the country, but for them to say that they are still
no match for Lilia-san… Hmmm. That's amazing.
I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to see Lilia-san fight seriously
someday? With that thought in mind, I turned my gaze back to the still
ongoing battle between Lilia-san and Anima.
Dear Mom, Dad—– I knew that Lilia-san was strongest, but I never
expected that she was stronger than Anima. However, when I heard
about it… frightening it may be——– I thought I'd like to see Lilia-san
fighting seriously at least once.