A week had passed since Stella and Saint Clare arrived in the Northern Territory.

If I could express my life in the North in one sentence,

It was a continuation of a peaceful day that made me wonder if it could be like this.

Feeling the cold was a story that applies to monsters as well, not to humans.

In particular, when the blizzard was in full swing like now, it was a time when it was difficult for both humans and monsters to move.

The group of demons from the northern border that were said to attack every day were also in a state of lull for a while.

Assuming that both sides had similar strength, it was a natural fact that the defending side had an advantage over the attacking side.

If it’s a time when you have to come in through knee-deep snow and fierce blizzards, the difference in power will be even greater.

Although monsters may lack intelligence compared to humans, they were not creatures lacking in learning ability.

In particular, monsters who were born and raised in this cold northern region must know how to fight in such an environment.

That’s why it waits. Until an environment favorable to them is created.

Of course, even at times like this, low-ranking monsters lacking the ability to learn would jump over the fence in groups of five or six.

At this time, without such small raids, they were literally hoarding their strength as if they were in hibernation.

Perhaps the reason is that the Dark Church’s executives are controlling the monsters for the upcoming air raid.

The king of monsters, Beldrial.

One of the four strongest beings in the Dark Church, excluding the Demon God Cardia.

In order to make classification easier, the Orthodox Church referred to those who were at the level of Beldrial as the ‘Magic Pope’.

He was probably planning the northern monster raid this time.

So, rather than infiltrating the monsters by dispersing their power little by little as usual, they must be preparing for an all-out attack.

It was probably an operation planned by Beldrial, but he probably wouldn’t participate in the battle himself.

The black dragon that had built its nest in the volcanic region would not dare to go to the north where it would freeze to death.

Even if it wasn’t for that, since he was a guy with heavy wings, he wouldn’t participate in the war unless he got close to his territory.

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Judging from the circumstances, it was highly likely that one or more of his subordinates would intervene.

Minimum magic level. Or it should be regarded as the level of the Archbishop of Darkness, which is one level higher.

The reason why it was impossible to identify the other party was because of the rule-of-thumb record written by northerners.

Even though it was a battle they lost, they didn’t leave any explanation about their strongest enemy, the ‘mysterious woman in black’.

It was a report that could be called a northerner’s, if you were a northerner.

Most northern warriors who approached close enough to identify the characteristics of the ‘mysterious black woman’ recorded in the logbook would probably have lost their lives after rushing at it without looking back.

In the end, the only thing that can be identified is that she is a female executive under Beldrial’s command.

Fortunately, that alone narrowed down the candidates quite a bit.

The most likely candidate is probably the Dark Archbishop Seely Willy.

There weren’t any other female executives, but under Beldrial, except for Silly Willy, all the female executives were lower than Magi rank.

In any case, it would be better to prepare based on the fact that Silly Willy will appear.

If he prepared enough to kill that woman, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to deal with those lower ranks no matter who appeared.

Considering the fact that he had dealt with half of the Northern Territory’s troops, Seely Willy was the most likely.

Anyway, the information I remember from my previous life is that this winter is the time when one of the officers of the Dark Church invades.

The exact time would have to wait to find out.

Maybe not Silly Willy, but an executive under another Demonic Pope.

None of them can be specified hastily. Just prepare with the biggest possibilities in mind.

Although it was a little regretful that I had to complete most of the preparations by myself because I couldn’t easily depend on anyone.

In any case, the great warriors of the north, Miss Willia, Stella, and Saint Claire were all doing their best in their respective positions.

“I would like to ask you to do something today too, Stella-sama!”

Miss Willia makes a request for sparring with a voice as confident as Stella’s.

“Yeah. I’ll do anything for you, Willia!”

Stella’s sparring, where she received her horse and sword with a louder voice than that, had already become famous among the great warriors of the north within a week.

Miss Willia of the swordsman, who emphasizes speed and power, and drives opponents with simple but endless attacks.

And Stella, a strong sword who wields a heavy sword filled with heavy energy with unbelievable power and speed.

The splendid battle seen when two swords of different styles faced off was a great spectacle even for northern warriors.

“Willia! Today is the day you will win!”

“Win one round! Isn’t that what you’ve been training for all this time!!”

For reference, Miss Willia already had a long experience of living in the north since last spring, so most of the warriors in the north who were onlookers were cheering for Willia.

There was a high possibility that her unestablished swordsmanship was also taught by swordsmen here.

Naturally, many people will empathize with Miss Willia.

He was a talented person from the start.

However, as he spent a long time as an escort knight for Saint Clare, he grew up in an environment where mistakes were allowed.

What resulted from that was her unestablished swordsmanship and shrewd movements.

After all, sending her to the north seems to have been the right decision.

There were many teachers in the north who voluntarily wanted to develop her inexperienced swordsmanship.

Because there was also an endless battle against monsters where you could immediately use the knowledge you had learned.

Even so, it certainly wouldn’t compare to Stella, who was born with the fate of a hero.

“aaa!!!”

It was impossible for Miss Willia to deal with Stella, who wielded a strong sword that radiated blue energy like a quicksword.

There was a big difference in skills between Stella and Miss Willia, enough to say that there was a thick wall between them.

No matter how fast Miss Willia wields many attacks, Stella has the speed to repel all of them.

In the end, if the two swords collided at a similar level of speed, Stella, who used a much heavier and stronger sword, would of course have an advantage.

A light and sharp sword would of course be best for simply cutting and stabbing someone.

In swordsmen’s fights where swords often collide, swords that are too light sometimes become weak points.

It was only natural that power increased in proportion to speed and weight.

Miss Willia, who hit the sword at the same speed, was pushed back a little every time Stella and the sword collided.

In this situation, the only way for the side with the lighter sword to win is to wait for the opponent to get tired.

The strategy of waiting for Stella to get tired must be an overstatement.

Well, it was commendable to endure as much as I did against the next hero.

The moment Stella’s sword pierces her shoulder to deliver the final blow to Miss Willia, who has been sneakily driven to the edge of the arena.

“aaa!!!”

Miss Willia suddenly lifted the sword she was holding with both hands with one hand and leaned forward.

“… … !!”

Stella’s sword turned quickly at the rapid movement that appeared in a matter of seconds, but almost zero.

Stella’s waist was hit first by Miss Willia’s full strength.

Less than 0.1 second later, Stella’s sword touched the scruff of Willia’s neck.

Of the heavenly shields surrounding the two bodies, Stella’s was the first to break.

Soon after that, Miss Willia’s shield was also broken, but the winner of this sparring must be Miss Willia.

“Willia’s victory by decision.”

As soon as I declared Willia’s victory while watching the judging of the sparring between the two that lasted all week, the Bavarian Duke’s front yard became cheerful as if it were a festival.

“Ajaaa!!!”

“Willia won!”

“Willia’s sword beat the sword of the head of the academy’s swordsmanship department!”

“The Bavarian family’s swordsmanship beat the Arwen family’s swordsmanship!!”

Dozens of warriors rushed at Miss Willia at once as Willia let out a spirit of victory.

He started rinsing her with the expression of a toddler.

“For Willia!”

“Hey, wait! Wouldn’t it be rude to Stella-sama if it was too noisy… !”

“Tonight is a banquet!!”

“For Willia’s first victory!!”

Ignoring Miss Willia’s bewildered reaction, the northern warriors floated her body up and down as if they were genuinely happy.

As she flew into the air, she couldn’t hide the strange joy from her face even though she put on an apologetic expression.

Having won against an opponent that felt like a wall just a week ago.

I could roughly guess the size of that sense of accomplishment.

In this atmosphere, only Saint Claire was restless and perplexed.

“Nose, Mr. Conrad… .”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, what should I do? Later, when Willia and the warriors find out the truth… .”

“Let me enjoy it for now.”

“yes… .”

After flying through the air like that five or six times, Willia corrected her posture and handed her right hand to Stella, who was waiting for her.

Stella grabbed her right hand with a smile as if she had been waiting.

“I learned a lesson, Willia.”

“It was a good sparring for me, Miss Stella.”

If each other’s hands fall like this, both sides will accept the result and the ending will be heartwarming.

“Now let’s move on to the next step.”

Listening to what Stella continued, it seemed that she probably didn’t intend to end it like this.

“… What is the next step?”

In contrast to Miss Willia, who asked Stella’s words back with a slightly uneasy expression.

Stella began to untie the armor tied to her arms and shoulders in front of everyone.

Before long, the four iron blocks that had been tied to the inside of the armor that wrapped around the arms and shoulders were revealed.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Those who witnessed the scene, including Miss Willia and the warriors, were speechless.

Stella did not respond to such a gaze, only removing the four weights tied to her arms from her body.

Even though it was on a snowy field, each iron block made a thump and thump the floor as it fell.

I could guess its weight just by looking at it without even listening to it.

Saint Clare and I, who had already seen many swords wielded by Stella when she had no weights, knew from the beginning that she was doing handicap sparring against Miss Willia.

The northern warriors, including Miss Willia, were blatantly embarrassed as if the situation was completely unexpected.

‘thud!’

When the last of the four weights fell to the floor, Stella asked Saint Clare a question.

“Saint Claire, how many celestial shields do you have left that can be used today?”

“Three, three left… .”

“Then we can sparr three more times.”

His confident attitude that he didn’t need a protective shield on himself could have seemed arrogant in a way.

There was no one at the site who could point out that attitude, at least.

“Willia.”

“Yes Yes!!”

“Grab your sword again.”

Stella put on the pauldrons and Vambraces she had taken off before she knew it, and prepared for the next match again with serious eyes.

“… … Yeah.”

Miss Willia’s self-confident expression from just now had completely disappeared, and she gripped her sword again like a lamb being led to a slaughterhouse.

In the following three fights, Miss Willia collapsed without being able to properly approach Stella.

To the point where I felt sorry for myself watching it, miserably.