Ling has not slept at home since she inherited Rozenbelk's workshop. This is the first time in more than a year. And it must be nearly seven years since she spent the night together in the same house with Joshua.
First time.
The precise biological clock made her open her eyes at five o'clock in the morning, and she immediately became awake without any feeling of confusion. Probably because she had a good dream, Ling was in a good mood. In addition, even though there were several walls between her,
You can feel Joshua's steady breathing. Although there is a sense of distance between you and him now, we used to live together as a family in the past. However, the Joshua now is not the same as that time.
Joshua.
After washing up, it was time to practice daily. Thanks to the successful miniaturization of the gravity control device, Ling now does not need to stay in the gravity room when exercising, but can do it anytime and anywhere. It took less than a minute to complete fifty exercises.
After squatting fifty times and doing 50 pull-ups to warm up her upper and lower limbs, she walked out and started her morning jog.
The Nordia state is actually a bit far north on the continent of Samria. At the end of January, the faint light of the morning sun has not yet reached me, so it is not an exaggeration to say that it is still "nighttime".
There is no clear destination. Walking itself is one of Ling's hobbies to relax her mind. With the addition of gravity, she can exercise by the way, but it is definitely not an action taken for the purpose of exercise.
When we arrived at the lower reaches of Spinner Creek, we took out the fishing rod and fishing line that were usually hidden in the rocks. These are not for sale gifts given by "Lakerod Company" only to distinguished users. Ling's fishing skills are based on the appointment.
Yasim learned it. Although it is still far from the ultimate fishing king or fishing saint, at least it is not difficult to catch some fresh fish for cooking.
It was a little after six o'clock when I got home, and I opened the kitchen and started cooking food. There were extra ingredients that Sharon bought yesterday. She carefully chose to use the flames she released to control the heat, instead of relying on the guided kitchen utensils to control the heat.
Food is heated.
After preparing breakfast for three people and serving it to the table, the other two people had already gone downstairs. She originally wanted to give Joshua a free wake-up service, but it seemed that she missed the opportunity while tinkering in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Joshua, Ceria too. For drinks, do you want a cup of coffee to refresh yourself? Or drink black tea like me?"
"Black tea is fine."
The opportunity to have breakfast with Joshua was rare. Although I wanted to keep it as natural as possible, I still didn't hide it from the black-haired boy's eyes.
"What's wrong, Ling? Is there something on my face?"
After her name was called, Ling stuck out her tongue playfully, and looked at the little girl next to her with an expression as if she had seen a ghost.
"Well, it's been a long time since we had dinner together like this. It hasn't happened since you went to Liber Kingdom."
"No, it happened once. Have you forgotten? At the end of the year before last, you and Levi dined with me at the cafe in the royal capital."
"Eating outside is different from eating at home. How about it? The taste of shredded potatoes isn't particularly bad, right?"
"It's quite delicious. Ling's cooking skills are even better than Estelle's."
"After all, I have trained with Sharon. If Sharon were to make breakfast, there is no doubt that it will become a masterpiece."
Thinking of what happened at last night's dinner, Joshua nodded.
Things like washing the dishes after breakfast are left to the automaton.
There was still a lot of time before Joshua could meet with the technician on the fourth side, and he made a request to try fighting against Ling.
Ling usually fights against Arian Hurd, Reinhardt, Du Barry and others at the Crossbell Martial Arts Gym, so although she has not participated in the association's killing missions for many years, her experience in fighting against people is indescribable.
Not rich, but the situation of sparring with Joshua... I can't remember it. Could it be that the two of them have never fought before, right?
"When was the last time we fought?" Ling scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
After hearing her words, Joshua shook his head.
"We never fought."
It's true. In fact, Ling has never really felt about Joshua's strength because she usually doesn't use him as a comparison object.
A long time ago, Ling would admire the back of him practicing swordsmanship, and thought Joshua was very handsome like that. But in the years when the two didn't meet, she didn't know when she overtook him. Now.
Will you still have the same feeling you experienced at that time?
"Have confidence?"
"I don't think I can beat you, but I'm definitely not without a chance of winning. In addition, after meeting Patriarch Yun, I got teachings from him, 'Go and see more battles. In the battle, you may be able to find yourself.
's sword theory'."
It was influenced by that swordsman.
If Joshua uses assassination techniques, even Ling will have to be cautious and prepared to deal with it, but in a positive situation, she has the pride of standing at the top.
Standing on the grass outside the villa, Ling held in her hand the unmarked sword made of Samlian stone. Joshua drew out the sword "Xingyun" from the pair of stone swords "Xingyunliushui".
"Do you only use one weapon? The two-sword style is what you are best at, right?" As far as Ling knew, the two-sword fighting method learned from Reinhardt's guidance since childhood was Joshua's best martial art.
"I've also had some changes recently. And you haven't used your usual weapon, right? Ling, you're not a tachiji? You haven't used either the zanma sword you showed us before or the thin sword you wore on your waist. And
I can’t feel the chill from your sword, is the weapon in your hand unedged?”
"There is a reason why we choose unedged weapons. We are just sparring, not fighting to the death, right?"
The thinner the blade, the sharper it will be. Bladed weapons are generally polished into a ∧ shape. Weapons made of Samlian stone generally don’t have to worry about chipping caused by being too thin. However, if it is just for sparring, then even if the weapon is
The ∩-shaped blade is sufficient.
"Of course, there is no need for Joshua to change weapons. I am stronger now. Even if we suffer a little loss in terms of weapons, it will not change the balance of victory between us."
The two stood face to face. Although she was using a tachi, Ling's starting stance was the Fool's stance, which is the middle iron gate position where the weapon is lowered. The habit of using large weapons has been integrated into the body's instincts, even if
Changing weapons will not change her dominant hand.
Joshua, on the other hand, uses the most standard interruption posture of Eastern swordsmanship, that is, holding the end of the sword hilt with the little finger and ring finger of the left hand, holding the sword hilt away from the sword with the right hand, and keeping the sword in a straight line with the thumb of both hands.
Law.
"Am I on board?"
Although she could feel the sword of thoughts that Joshua radiated towards her, Ling had no intention of trying the sword with him through the interweaving of fighting spirit in his thoughts.
Compared to that kind of elegant approach, she still likes to be more rough and reckless.
He didn't use fighting energy, nor did he use force to relieve his body like he did during exercise. He kept his body functions at 30% that would not put any stress on his body. In other words, he slashed into the wind with a force of about 7,000 krim.
.
A fighting method that deliberately does not use technology and relies only on superior speed and strength to crush.
This is a state of lightness and weight that even Arios cannot deal with. Although it is not like "killing at first sight", if you don't deal with it carefully enough, you will easily suffer a big loss.
Ling limited her power to the extent that she could stop at any time, but she was surprised to find that her strength was easily deflected.
As Joshua swung his sword in the air, the air flow was like a top, forming a circle of pressure difference, pulling Ling's "heavy sword" aside by a hair's breadth.
"This is... using "Spiral" to defend. It turns out that Joshua, you have not only practiced "Blast"!"
"I have been discussing with Estelle, and I have been influenced a lot by her. Don't be so surprised, let's continue."
It seems like we need to be more serious, Ling thought.