When Connie came to call the two for breakfast in the dining room, this was the scene that greeted her—
Durandal stood behind Elysia, one hand supporting the other's neck, the other resting on her slender waist.
To any unknowing onlooker, it might have seemed as if Durandal was trying to forcefully turn Elysia around to do something.
At least, that's what Connie, a complete layperson, assumed.
Combined with the fact that both were still wearing the same couple outfits from yesterday, Connie instantly thought she understood everything. Covering her mouth, she quietly slipped away.
'No wonder yesterday, when I instinctively tried to use my charms on Durandal, it had no effect at all.'
So, her subconscious intuition had been correct. Durandal was indeed on that side.
It was just that she already had a young and pretty little girlfriend, so naturally, she wouldn't respond to anyone else's advances.
Simultaneously, Connie's mind began weaving a touching, dramatic tale—
Durandal had said it herself yesterday: when she invited Elysia, the other had clearly refused, saying she had already joined Fire Moth.
Faced with an organization under the United Nations, Durandal had still resolutely whisked Elysia away, completely unconcerned about potentially provoking such a colossal organization.
Regarding this, Connie could only sigh: 'The power of love is truly blind, and truly limitless!'
Connie thought her movements had been quiet enough, that she hadn't disturbed the two. But the pair in the backyard, right in the middle of their training, noticed immediately.
"Did someone just come and leave?" Elysia said.
Durandal nodded. "When you do this move, your gaze should be on the enemy, not on yourself. Also, keep your core tight, always ready to attack or defend."
After explaining the final key point and ensuring Elysia had the stance correct, she finally responded to the earlier comment.
"Yes, it was Connie. Probably came to call us for breakfast. Let's go eat. There's no need to rush martial arts techniques. Finish learning the basic moves today, run through them all together tomorrow, and the day after we can try some practical sparring."
Elysia didn't comment on Durandal's proposed 'accelerated' learning schedule.
This pace was normal. Elysia, who considered herself the very picture of beauty and intellect combined, actually thought it was a bit slow!
She felt that after running through everything tomorrow, they could jump straight into sparring.
After all, she couldn't wait to give Durandal a couple of good solid punches.
That infuriatingly stoic face of hers was just too much!
'Hmph! Absolutely infuriating! How dare someone resist the charms of the great Elysia? Unforgivable!'
When they arrived at the dining room following a servant's directions, Connie, who was already enjoying her own breakfast, looked genuinely surprised to see them and blurted out, "How was it so fast?"
"What was so fast?" Durandal asked, puzzled, as she took her seat and began eating.
"Was it that fast? We started at six this morning, and now it's already..." Elysia glanced at the clock on the wall and nodded. "It's eight o'clock. Two whole hours."
"Right, not fast at all, not fast at all," Connie said, realizing the two had started so early.
So what she had stumbled upon wasn't the beginning, but the end!
No wonder...
And so, a delightful misunderstanding began on this utterly ordinary morning~
After breakfast, once the servants had cleared the dishes, Connie asked cautiously, "Aren't you two going to... rest for a bit?"
Durandal had felt Connie was acting strange since breakfast began.
Now, faced with another seemingly random question, she furrowed her brow slightly and shook her head. "No need. I don't make a habit of sleeping during the day."
"I'm used to a nap, but it's not time for that yet," Elysia offered her own reply.
Seeing this, Connie could only manage an awkward smile before quickly making an excuse about having urgent business and scurrying away, clearly intending to leave plenty of alone time and space for Durandal and Elysia.
However, what Connie didn't know was that after she left, Durandal and Elysia simply stared at each other for a moment before the latter let out a loud "Hmph!", turned on her heel, and strode off towards the rooms, leaving Durandal wondering what she was up to.
Durandal, feeling a bit baffled, tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and found one of the manor's servants.
She asked if there was a place with internet access, intending to continue searching for some information she hadn't had time to find yesterday.
The morning passed in a flash, and soon it was lunchtime.
This time, Durandal was thoroughly satisfied. She had managed to search most of the names and places she vaguely remembered.
Some names, like Kevin, Su, Hua, and Pardofelis, yielded no results online for now. After all, they weren't famous figures at this point. Kevin's popularity was pretty much confined to his school.
However, she did find information on the others: Mobius, Eden, Aponia, Vill-V, and even Mei.
Putting aside Mobius, who had already joined Fire Moth.
Eden wasn't yet the mega-star who would define an era.
She was just a rookie who had recently debuted, but thanks to her talent and beauty, she was considered a very promising newcomer this year. Anyone could imagine that an 'Eden' era was soon to arrive.
There wasn't much information on Aponia. Just some mentions online about a sanatorium in Sundown Alley where a very young nun was dedicated to caring for the sick and weak, and was very well-liked by everyone, and so on.
Vill-V and Mei had somewhat similar reputations, though the former was famous here in Russia, while the latter was known in the Far East and the Mu Continent.
Vill-V was a bit older, already in university, but she was exceptionally talented in engineering, having won gold medals in many internationally renowned invention competitions. She was hailed as the next great inventor to watch in the coming era.
As for Mei, she was currently still in high school at Chiba Academy in Nagazora City, on Honshu Island in the Far East.
However, a quantum mechanics paper she submitted to a famous academic journal on the Mu Continent had sparked widespread discussion in academic circles there.
Many prominent scholars were saying they looked forward to Mei's future growth, and that she was sure to have a place in the future world of science.
Suffice to say, whether it was Fire Moth or the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, they were all gathering grounds for exceptional talent.
But now that Durandal had arrived in this era, she intended to scoop up all this talent for herself!
The Flame-Chasers organization could absolutely accommodate all these unique individuals—provided they could accept the principle of 'leaving professional matters to professionals.'
For instance, asking a scientist like Mei to handle management and strategy, or having a warrior like Elysia act as the social glue between members... well, that was just out of the question.
The former's absolute rationality might lead to strategies that were too cold and ruthless, breeding discontent among some members and harming internal unity.
As for the latter... the birth of the 13th Herrscher was the perfect example of how that could go wrong.
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