The Iron Maiden

Part 15

In the southern part of the Rosenblade garden, near its gates, lies a certain field that the knights use for training. 

Unlike the field that Lia and Raiden had their bout on, this one was more spacious and was a bit densely occupied by the knights who were intently focused on further polishing their combat abilities

"Hiya!"

"Grh!"

"Take this!!"

Screams and grunts echoed in the field as the wind howls and the nearby trees dance. The knights continued to use their weapons either against each other or to the training dummies. Either way, one could clearly see their desire to improve

They say that the body of a warrior tells their tale, looking at this scene would confirm this fact. Most of the knights that were training in the field were riddled with scars, presumably ones that were obtained from battle. 

Their faces also had a certain hint of danger to it, one that would be enough to intimidate a common folk just by looking at them

Which is why a certain person looked  extremely out of place 

Sitting on a wooden chair on the sidelines was Lia. Her posture was elegant, her presence was silent, and her eyes intently watched the knights as they were training. Needless to say, this was a weird situation for them

Ignoring the fact that she was the Victorian maid that defeated a prodigy of the sword who has trashed most of them in the past, it was unusual to see a household servant that wasn't a knight to watch them like that

Of course, some of them would stop by sometimes to deliver a message or fangirl on some of the good-looking knights but they would usually leave after a few minutes, almost no one would stay any longer

So why exactly was she here?... Did their master sent her to spy on them to see if they were slacking off? Or did she came out of personal interest? Questions like those popped in the minds of some of the knights that couldn't help but wonder

In truth, neither of those were right

"Haaa..."

Lia breathed out a sigh as she continued watching. She let it out in a way that wouldn't be noticeable from a distance. To appear elegant in the face of many was part of the Victorian Creed after all

"I wanna get outta here..."

She was bored out of her mind. And the reason for this boredom was the order of her master

Don't get her wrong, If her master's order were to clean the knights' entire training field, then Lia would be overjoyed that Christmas came early. But it wasn't exactly that. Her order was only to observe a certain someone, not to guard or spy on, but to simply observe

Out of all of the possible orders that she could've given, this was one that she dreaded the most. She loved to work, But jobs like these that didn't really require her body to move much or her mind to be used were a few exceptions.  

"That guy isn't even here yet...If I go on without doing anything else then this is the same as wasting time..."

Her mood began to plummet with each passing second, though it wasn't obvious based on her expression. She was about to take her to leave and possibly beg her master to give her another job, But her eyes caught a familiar figure that was approaching their direction, and so she sat down once again

It was the sight of Raiden

His sword was still hanging in his hip as usual. But surprisingly, He wasn't wearing the extravagant black garments he normally wears, but instead only wore a simple white shirt and navy-blue pants. Even the shoes he's wearing was unexpectedly dull compared to his usual one