Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy

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“Captain, please make our Somerset Territory Duelists’ dreams come true!!!”

“Our captain will win!”

“We absolutely cannot lose to those other guys!”

Thump!

Aida answered the cheers of the neighborhood kids behind her with nothing but a raised fist.

“Victory pose, here it comes!”

For some time now, it had become Aida’s habit to raise one fist in certainty of victory whenever she felt confident.

The neighborhood kids, now accustomed to her victory pose, erupted in cheers once more.

“Alain, it won’t be easy, but please take good care of Aida so she doesn’t cause any trouble.”

“Yes, my lord. I still have the strength to handle that much of a task.”

It wasn’t quite right to send his still-young daughter to the capital, but the Marquis couldn’t tell Aida, who was beaming with joy over making it to the finals, to give up the tournament, so he decided to send her after all.

Initially, the Marquis intended to go with her himself.

“Marquis, you have a lot more responsibilities to manage now.”

Thanks to Rupert, the family had not only thrived but had even ascended to the rank of a Marquis, resulting in an increase in his duties, making it impossible for him to be absent.

Though he himself had not fully grasped it yet, the Marquis was now an undisputed high noble among the aristocracy.

He had the power to select one Count and two Barons as vassals, and could even grant the title of Viscount to those who weren’t nobles.

“Thank you for supporting me all this time.”

As a reward for his unwavering loyalty while the family was on the brink of collapse, the Marquis promoted Baron Klein to Viscount and entrusted him with part of the expanded territory.

He also conferred the title of Viscount upon Mularus, who had solidly fulfilled his role as the family’s senior knight, opening the path for him to become a noble.

With Somerset not only recovering its former prestige but also really in a period of upward growth, there were even some pesky flies buzzing around.

“Count… no, Marquis! Out of nostalgia, just one more time…”

As the Somerset family started to decline, some former vassals, who had left without looking back, shamelessly returned to request a position.

Among them was one who declared,

“I have worked for the Somerset family since the time of my predecessors! How could I possibly stand by and watch the territory be run like this after being away for just a moment?”

He acted as if he were the master of the Somerset family, throwing a fit in front of the workshop staff.

“That guy is a lunatic.”

“Yeah, right?”

Of course, Rupert would not just sit idly by and watch that.

Moreover, the celebrated Marquis Bradley was notorious for not forgiving them, so they found themselves getting beat up and chased away by the elite guards and knights of Somerset.

“Marquis, lately there have been more outsiders in the territory, and the public order is becoming unstable. Also, thieves targeting the Somerset Goods Store have been caught and punished…”

“We just scheduled a discussion date with the nearby lords about the exact byproduct boundaries concerning the territory we’ve received. Prepare the related materials…”

Thus, while Somerset drove those pesky flies away, it was also true that manpower was lacking.

For this reason, Somerset hired capable talents to replace his former vassals, so now Rupert could manage things without too much worry.

“Enough… Can’t I get some time to rest?”

Instead, the Marquis, who still hadn’t stepped down from his position as family head, was overwhelmed.

“Richard! Yes, I can forgive your wandering now!! So come back and…”

“I’m sorry, Father. It seems Cypris is pregnant and it will be hard for me to be away…”

“What’s with this kid, why is he so quick with things like that?”

At this rate, he would have to deal solely with family head responsibilities, and in a hurry, he tried to call his eldest son Richard, but that was of no use either.

“You need to work, Father. A little labor is good for your health.”

Moreover, the Marquis was well aware that complaining to Rupert, who was supposed to inherit the family, would be meaningless.

Instead, he could only admire Rupert now, as he was truly bringing in more work, realizing why the eyes of the former workshop staff were so fearsome.

Thus, since the overburdened Marquis couldn’t be absent, he assigned Alain and Oun as protectors for Aida, who was heading to the capital.

Honestly, with their level of skill, he was sure they could handle most dangers.

Oun was an Expert-level knight, and Alain was hiding his true abilities, being even more skilled than Oun.

***

“Miss, today’s skill we’ll learn is a bit different.”

“Far away!”

Seeing Aida’s interest in learning something new, Alain couldn’t hide his joy.

‘My life hasn’t been in vain!’

Alain, who had taken it as his mission to protect the Somerset family, was overjoyed that the family was now out of crisis and in excellent circumstances.

-You all should now live new lives.

As the last leader of the secret organization acrobat troupe that had been passed down in the Somerset family, Alain had disbanded the troupe at the request of the previous family head.

Though he played a role in protecting Somerset, he had stained his hands with much blood, so he understood the previous head’s wish to keep his son unaware of those bloody deeds.

But he still had some regrets, that he couldn’t prevent the family’s decline due to reckless investments during the war and that he couldn’t pass down the legacy of Somerset’s unique acrobat techniques.

Fortunately, thanks to Rupert, the former issue was resolved, but Alain had mostly given up on finding a successor for the Somerset techniques.

First and foremost, Somerset’s techniques could only be passed down to members of the Somerset family, as they were the ultimate vision treasured only for the Somerset family and acrobat troupe.

Now that the troupe was disbanded, only a Somerset family member was qualified.

However, the current head, Bradley, was inherently averse to conflict and, most importantly, had no talent for martial arts whatsoever.

Alain had thought of passing the Somerset techniques to Richard, who had shown some potential, but that idea fell through when Richard fled the family.

Now Alain thought Rupert was the only remaining candidate.

“Huff… huff. Have I run for about 30 minutes right now?”

“Just three minutes, Young Master.”

“What? No way!!!”

Unfortunately, Rupert had inherited his father’s physique, and it showed.

Just as he was about to give up on finding a successor and let the Somerset techniques fade into the backdrop of history…

“Make Oun lose!”

Aida’s wish appeared before Alain.

He knew Aida was exceptionally talented for her age, but he had excluded her from being a candidate for inheriting the techniques, thinking it wouldn’t be right to pass the family legacy to the aristocratic lady.

Nevertheless, Aida’s blossoming talent made Alain lose his mind.

There was no other way to describe Aida than as a talent sent by the gods. Thus, Alain began teaching her the techniques he knew from the very basics.

The Somerset techniques were such that even children could learn them if they had physical talent, so Aida absorbed the knowledge like a sponge.

And now,

“So, this technique uses the eyes, or rather the eye power, to predict the opponent’s movements, and even steal their techniques.”

He was even teaching her one of the extreme arts of Somerset techniques known as the Third Eye.

“Wow! Alain’s eyes are spinning around so much!”

Aida cheered, watching Alain demonstrate the Third Eye technique.

Then she tried to follow his movements.

“The key to this technique is to control the flow of mana within your body to create a new pathway in the nervous system that leads to your eyes.”

Inside the carriage heading to the Mage Tower to use the teleportation portal to the capital, Oun, who was observing Alain teaching Aida, was taken aback by his explanation.

“What? That kind of insane thing….”

Infusing mana into the nervous system was something only Expert knights who had mastered mana breathing could do.

For young Aida to attempt it was extremely perilous…

“Done!”

“Well done, Miss!”

Oun scolded himself for even thinking such a thing momentarily.

‘What was I thinking, trying to evaluate that young monster with human standards?’

After his defeat to Aida, Oun had submerged in self-loathing for some time but had subsequently begun recognizing her as an extraordinary being outside the norms.

Seeing Aida instantly succeed in executing a high-level technique like the Third Eye made him want to look away from reality.

Of course, thanks to Aida, he eventually regained his senses and began unlocking his own talents, but even now, it was difficult for him to adjust to Aida’s extraordinary nature.

Completely unaware of Oun’s feelings, Alain and Aida were happily taking turns using the Third Eye.

‘Using a comic to teach her techniques was a great idea.’

To capture Aida’s interest and motivate her in learning the Somerset techniques, Alain had utilized the comic “King of Cards,” which she had shown an interest in.

‘Alain, just how do you pull objects in and out of your hands like that?’

He had been integrating techniques used by characters from “King of Cards” into the Somerset techniques while teaching them as similar as possible.

‘This is a technique quite similar to the Thousand Eyes used by Flying Horse from “King of Cards.”’

When Alain brought up “King of Cards” while teaching the Third Eye, Aida eagerly begged to learn right away, immersing herself back into the Somerset techniques.

‘She really is excited.’

Watching Aida, who jumped for joy every time she learned a technique, Alain couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

“Rach, I’ve become stronger today!”

“Woof!”

Alain just felt pride in being her teacher while seeing Aida beam brightly.