「Onee-sama, I want to have a match with you!」Eliza

「Eh?」Elise

Everyone stopped sipping their straws and our bodies stopped moving with our mouths opened in agape after hearing Liz's sudden suggestion. None of us saw it coming.

Well, all of us except Fritz, he just continued drinking his smoothie. He seemed to have a slight idea of what Liz was about to ask for. It must have been because he was the one who had been with Liz the most.

「Eh? Liz, what are you talking about?」Elise

「I want to have a march with you!」Eliza

「No, no, I understood that part. What I'm asking is why?」Elise

「I just want to test how much I've grown by fighting with you!」Eliza

「Eh?」Elise

With Liz's vague explanation, Elise became even more puzzled, and having no other choices left, she asked her father for an answer with an eye signal.

「Hm? Didn't Grey and Yuna tell you? They also trained Liz while they stayed at our mansion back Moterno.」Fritz

When Fritz said that, Elise's eyes immediately shifted to us. Well, not just Elise's, but Elaine and Eleanora-san's eyes also shifted to us. Their faces were asking us for confirmation.

「Ah... Did we forget to tell you?」Grey

「「「Yes, you did!」」」

In unison, the three's voices rang throughout my ear. It was so loud that my eardrums were about to burst. It was even worse for Yuna who had sensitive ears, the noise still continued ringing in her ears.

Ah... Now that I think about it, we really did forget to tell them that, no, rather than we forgot it, we just thought it was insignificant to tell them that so we didn't.

「Wait! So that means!」Elise

「Ah!」Elaine

「Eh?」Eliza

A sudden realization hit Elise and Elaine at the same time, and for some reason, they rushed towards Liz and checked up on her condition. Her arms, her hands, her legs, her face, they checked up Liz with worried eyes.

「You weren't hurt, are you?」Elise

「They didn't make you do anything harsh, did they?」Elaine

「You didn't have any wounds, right? Right?!」Elise

「You're still getting the right of sleep are you?」Elaine

Liz tried to resist the two of them but they were too much for Liz to handle alone. She really looked like a doll, being played by her older sister and cousin.

While that was happening, the four of us were confused why they suddenly acted that way, while the other two didn't even pay attention. Those two were Galvin and Elnart who just continued drinking their smoothies.

「Umm... Elise, Elaine, what are you doing to Eliza?」Eleanora

「We're checking up on her condition if she's fine. After all, it were Grey-kun and Yuna-chan who trained her.」Elise

「That's right! Yuna-chan is a demon when she's on teacher mode!」Elaine

「Urk!」Yuna

Yuna's face cramped when she heard Elaine and Elise's statements. It was as if she was betrayed by her best friends. Well, they were her best friends so her reaction wasn't too far off.

Well, I couldn't really argue with what the two of them said since any normal person would outright die with our training regime. Not only from the training itself, but also with the consequences after the training.

「Uuu... Onee-sama and Elaine-oneesama, please stop! It's really uncomfortable!」Eliza

「「S... Sorry...」」

After Liz' short outburst, everyone came back to their senses and calmed down. Elise and Elaine in particular were downhearted by what Liz said, while Galvin and Elnart still continued with their smoothies.

「But still, to think that Liz was trained by Yuna-chan and Grey-kun... It really shocks me...」Elaine

「That means that Liz had already learned how to fight...」Elise

「Then, onee-sama, does that mean you agree to have a match with me?」Eliza

「Uuu... Fine. But I'll decide the rules.」Elise

「Thank you, onee-sama!」Elize

With an elated smile, Liz dashed towards Elise and gave her a tight hug, and as the one on the receiving end, Elise's mood improved drastically and a smile sprouted on her face.

And as the parents of the two sweet girls in front of us, Eleanora-san and Fritz can't help themselves but smile as well along with their daughters.

After Elise agreed on having a match, all of us headed to a wide space so that the two of them could move freely.

Of course, I didn't forget to store the juices and smoothies back to my 『Storage』. I don't want them to go bad, after all. Also, refreshments taste the best when served chilled.

With their weapons both at their disposal, the two sisters positioned themselves in the open space and readied themselves for the signal. Their cousin, Elaine was the referee.

And the rules Elise made are as follows; first, they can only fight inside the garden. Second, super destructive spells and arts are prohibited. Third, blows towards the vitals are prohibited. And lastly, no using of auras.

In order to win, the opponent must surrender or be rendered unable to fight. Breaking the rules will result in the opponent's victory.

Hmm... This should be a good fight. I've already appraised them and their combat powers are not too far off from each other. Elise's at 50 while Liz's at 52. They were both F-rankers.

I really haven't seen Elise fight so I can't tell who has the upper hand, but what I do know is that Liz is a fighting genius, she can easily beat up anyone whose combat power is lower than 65.

Also, in order to ensure that the other sections of the garden stay safe, I erected a barrier around the fighting area. It also served as a safety precaution so that none of the spectators gets hurt

「Are the both of you ready?」Elaine

「Yes.」Elise

「Un.」Eliza

「Then... Fight!」Elaine

With Elaine's signal, like her previous match with me, Liz took the initiative and dashed towards Elise to land the first blow.

Elise, who hasn't seen her little sister fight, was taken aback by how quickly Liz approached her, but in less than a second, she was able to regain her composure. It was what to be expected from one of year 2's top students.

Liz brandished her sword left and right, trying to crack open Elise's guard at every moment, but Elise receiving the blows parried them perfectly. She was gauging how strong her opponent was.

Seeing that attacking directly was pointless, Liz halted her assault and stepped away a few meters back and when she was in position...

「《Heavy Slash》!」Eliza

... she struck the ground with her sword, making earthen debris fly in every direction. Luckily, the debris wasn't on the level where they could break my barrier. Actually, I made it so that not even high-level magic can scratch it.

When the debris was on the level of her shoulders, Liz swung her sword with the flat facing the debris and hit them with great power, making them fire like bullets towards Elise.

With quick reflexes, Elise immediately erected a wall with earth magic in front of her, blocking all the bullet-like projectiles coming her way.

But Liz didn't let her rest, after she fired those debris towards Elise, she ran towards her direction and leaped over the wall, and with both her hands gripping her sword, she attempted to land a devastating blow to Elise.

「《Heavy Slash》!」Eliza

Rather than parrying it, Elise chose to dodge the attack, making debris scatter all over the garden once again after Liz's attack hit the ground.

After seeing Liz's attack, Elise calmly breathed in air with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, a dangerous glint flashed from it. She had finished gauging Liz's strength.

Hmm... Looks like Elise has gotten serious.

Without a single warning, the two dashed towards each other and when they were at each other's range, sounds of swords clashing which one another echoed throughout the garden.

With each of their blows packing enough power to break trees like small twigs, the two continued clashing with each other as bursts of winds exploded in the garden every time their swords clashed.

「《Heavy Slaー」Eliza

Liz tried to use an art but before she could finish executing it, Elise interrupted her by parrying, hitting Liz's sword and hitting the hilt of hers. The flow of mana was interrupted.

「Tsk! 《Gust》!」Eliza

Noticing her disadvantage at direct combat, Liz casted 《Gust》to push Elize away and give her time to create some distance between them.

「《Soaring Edge》!」Eliza

Following her 《Gust》, Liz quickly executed an art and launched it towards her older sister. Elise, on the receiving end, countered it by erecting another earthen wall.

So far, Liz's performance has been great and she has been fighting in equal grounds with her sister who was stronger than her, but...

「Haah... Haah... Haah...」Eliza

... because of using spells and arts one after another in such a short amount of time, the fatigue from rapid mana exhaustion started kicking in. In spite of that, the flames of determination in her eyes still kept on burning.

Taking that opportunity, Elise quickly demolished the wall she erected and started charging towards her sister again.

Liz was about to swing her sword, waiting for Elise to enter her range, when out of nowhere, a wall emerged suddenly from the ground, blocking her vision from her sister.

Elise then leaped to the top of the pillar and shortly after she stepped foot there, she leaped once again, making her high up into the air. She was like a deadly butterfly.

「《Cross Edge》!」Elise

Like a meteor crashing into the earth, Elise's attack came crashing towards Liz with great speed and power comparable to that of a dozen grenades.

With the attack only a few seconds away hitting her, Liz quickly propelled herself with wind magic, making her dodge the attack. Although she was safe, she was only a hair's breadth from danger.

「Tsk! 《Heavy Slash》!《Heavy Slash》!《Heavy Slash》!」Eliza

One after another, Liz struck the ground with her sword making debris and dust fly all over the place, and when she was satisfied...

「《Gust》!」Eliza

... she scattered the dust even more with a spell, creating a smokescreen, and disabling Elise from knowing of her position. The same could be said for us, we couldn't see anything either.

「Please hold on a moment, I'll just enchant the barrier so that we could see them clearly.」Grey

「Ah, thank you. That would really be helpful.」Fritz

「That would be greatly appreciated.」Eleanora

「Don't mention it.」Grey

By the time I finished enchanting the barrier, Elise had already erected yet another wall, and the reason for that was none other than Liz.

「《Water Blade》! 《Water Blade》!《Water Blade》」Eliza

From the left, from the right, from all directions, spells were fired one after another in an attempt to Elise, but with reflexes as good as hers, she was able to block them with ease.

The only problem was...

「Haah.. Haah... Haah...」Elise

Elise was also suffering the fatigue from rapid mana exhaustion. It was because she kept erecting earthen walls one after another.

By the time the cloud of dust settled, there was already a maze of earthen walls formed inside the garden, and behind one of those walls, Liz was lying in wait for an opportunity to attack Elise, all while recovering her stamina.

Although it would be better for Elise to demolish the walls, she didn't have enough mana to do so. She must conserve as much mana as possible or else it would be a disadvantage for her.

Both of them were already worn out but neither of them wanted to surrender, the only way for them to win the match was either to exhaust the opponent's mana or corner them.

Trying to conserve her stamina, Elise started navigating the maze in search for Liz, and while she was doing it, she was being mindful of her movements so that she won't make any unnecessary noise that will give away her position.

And if one would ask how we were able to see the fight although the garden was littered with walls, it was because we were viewing it from bird's eye view using an enchantment I applied to the barrier.

When Elise was about to enter a crossroad, she suddenly halted her movements and with a swing of her sword, she cut up one of the walls, revealing Liz who was waiting behind it.

「Found you.」Elise

「Tsk! 《Gust》!」Eliza

The moment she saw her older sister, Liz quickly widened their distance with one another with a wind spell. She was trying to avoid direct combat.

「Don't even think about it!」Elise

Seeing Liz escape, Elise quickly chased after her. They took left turns, right turns, and they even leaped over walls. To make it short, Elsie has been chasing Liz for a considerable amount of time.

Driven by impatience, Elise then erected a high wall in front of Liz, making her unable to continue. Liz was about to take a turn, but before she could even try, Elise has already enclosed the two of them in a small area.

With nowhere left to run, Liz faced her older sister and their swords started clashing once again.

With every clanging noise echoing through the garden, sparks and bursts of wind would always accompany it. It was a very intense battle between the two sisters.

Liz raised her sword, and with every ounce of strength she got, she gripped her sword and tried to deliver the finishing blow, or so it seemed like it.

When Elsie tried to parry it from above, Liz suddenly docked and shifted the trajectory of her sword. It was the same trick she used against me before, a feint.

「《Soaring Edge》!」Eliza

Following the feint, Liz's real attack came rushing from down below towards Elise's torso, but before it could hit her, Elise used her sword to parry it.

And since the attack had just been fired and was still concentrated, cracks started running throughout Elise's sword, and a few moments later, it shattered into smithereens.

But Elise didn't let that shake her. She quickly let go of the broken sword and with swift movements she lowered her body and swept Liz's feet off the ground with a simple low kick.

She then hit Liz's wrist from below with her hand, making Liz lose grip of her sword, and with skillful movements, she stole Liz's sword from her.

By the time Liz fell to the ground, Elise was already pointing her own sword at her. It was the end of the match.

「It's over.」Elise

CHAPTER 69 END