"So, you chose me?"
The moment Manner saw Noah, he already understood the whole story. Noah wanted a trustworthy and capable assistant, and coincidentally, Manner was proficient in business and was also a familiar elder, so she naturally trusted him more. Although it was somewhat presumptuous for a junior to hire an elder, Noah believed that Manner wouldn't mind such a thing; otherwise, he wouldn't have said that Nearl was still Nearl even without her noble status.
From that moment, Noah knew that this Nearl still possessed the inherent pride of every Nearl, which was different from arrogance. It was a deep-seated pride, a refusal to follow the crowd, a steadfast resistance to assimilation by any era.
Noah still remembered that Manner was once an unrestrained young Ranger—even if he was now a middle-aged corporate slave, it couldn't erase the will he held most dear in his heart.
Now, the treasure sword was merely sheathed. When it was drawn, it would still gleam with cold light.
"I won't explain the ins and outs, Mr. Manner, will you accept my employment? The terms are negotiable," Noah said with a smile, while Manner looked at the girl in front of him and let out a long sigh. Perhaps he should have expected this before he came; after all, the other party was a rising star in the business world, with reason and qualification to become the spokesperson for the Commercial Federation. Taking this position was clearly dangerous, at least for Noah, the risks of this position were self-evident.
For a blind girl with inconvenient legs, holding a high position was in itself a way of setting her up for failure. The spokesperson's position was both an opportunity and a crisis. Although her safety could be guaranteed when Kuro was by her side, what if Kuro wasn't there? Or what if Kuro was lured away?
Then Noah would have almost no ability to deal with emergencies. This was unavoidable, no matter how capable she herself was. So, she chose to seek the protection of an elder, or rather, the protection of Manner.
Although Manner hadn't drawn his sword in a long time, Noah still believed in the strength of the Ranger with the name Nearl.
That was Nearl, after all—
Manner could guess most of Noah's thoughts and understood her unease about her own safety. In fact, if Noah truly thought that Kuro alone could protect her, it was indeed a bit fanciful. When she appeared before Manner seeking help, Manner suddenly remembered some past events from his time as a Ranger. Back then, he had many people around him: knights, mercenaries, forest rangers, and members of guerrilla groups. When they were together, many laughable things often happened.
A motley crew, an unconventional Ranger. Back then, he was far from his family, not needing to bear so many responsibilities.
Manner's style of action was actually very mercenary, but he didn't care about the reward; he simply acted according to his own will. He would single-handedly cut through a bandit camp to protect a girl, and he would scatter light rain for a pet dog, regardless of the cost, just acting on impulse.
If he really had to say what price he would exact... it was the plea of the weak.
At that time, he probably never dreamed that he would become the person he hated most. And the cause of all this... was a letter, a letter from his family, informing him of his brother and sister-in-law's disappearance.
And so, the shining Ranger disappeared—
He thought he wouldn't receive such pleas for a long time, as he had already left the mountain forest that bore his dreams, and he had also left those brothers and sisters, many of whom probably didn't want to see him again.
Only...
Manner lowered his head and looked at the girl who was powerful in the business world but looked incredibly fragile.
"I accept."
Perhaps, it was just old habits dying hard—
—
Maria probably had no idea that her uncle had already become Noah's subordinate. She didn't have much time to think about such things now. Zofia's training was even stricter than she had imagined. According to her, the current competition format included free-for-all battles, so sufficient stamina was required. Therefore, among the training she added for Maria, there were quite challenging long-duration combat exercises.
"Hurry, I'm only using one hand! You haven't hit me even once!"
"Aunt, your sword art only uses one hand anyway!" Maria complained. Indeed, Zofia was currently using a rapier, and her swordsmanship was similar to Letania's sword art, which was indeed a type of swordsmanship that could be wielded with one hand.
"If I were in a real fight, my other hand wouldn't be idle—whether holding a hand crossbow or releasing Stone source art, both could increase the danger of the battle. Do you want to experience Letania's fighting style?"
"Eh..." Maria once again blocked Zofia's lunge with her shield. The practice sword in her hand had already started to feel heavy. There was nothing she could do; they had been fighting for two or three hours, and Zofia still looked energetic, but Maria was almost out of strength. "I... I... pause... I need to rest..."
"No! Keep attacking!"
"...Wuwuwu..."
Maria forced herself to gather strength, but this time, her slash clearly exposed a huge flaw. Zofia effortlessly threaded her rapier through the gap in the shield, like threading a needle, and touched Maria's armor.
"Alright, point," Zofia twirled her sword in place, elegantly sheathing it. "You're still a thousand years too early to defeat me."
"...It's clearly because I was dragged into a long-duration battle," Maria complained. "I ran out of strength, that's why..."
"Then why did you run out of strength? And why didn't you use your Stone source art during your recent battle?" Zofia then pointed out, "Your Stone source art could have allowed you to last longer, yet you chose to compete with me using your weaknesses. Do you think your sword skills can surpass mine in a short amount of time?"
"No... I never thought that," Maria quickly shook her head. "But, this is sword training, isn't it?"
"I've already said it, this is practical combat training, not just swordsmanship—you can use everything else," Zofia found it amusing. "You need to fully utilize your advantages. Your Stone source art can provide emergency healing and pain relief; these are inherently your strengths. The most important thing in combat is flexibility; you must use your strengths to counter the enemy's weaknesses. You are indeed still too green."