The Branded Female Fencer

r master, Aldorius.

「Hey, hey, Master.
What will happen if I release the spell?」

「Let’s see.
It may be good when you are using it, but you will be very tired afterwards.
Also, if you carefully release it, the erosion of the spell mark will continue.
Then the pain will become stronger.」

「What if I keep using it?」

「Alfie will cease to be Alfie and the mark will become you.」

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「I—I don’t want that.
Then, I’ll never use the spell mark!」

Alfiris looks up at Aldrius with moist eyes as if frightened.
Aldrius smiles gently at Alfiris.

「Yes, that’s good.
But it’s no good if you die, and there may be times when you really need to use it.
You’ll have to carefully assess when, where and if you need to use it, okay?」

「Hmmm… I think I got it, but I don’t know…?」

Alfiris crossed her arms and tilted her head, and Aldrius look at her smugly.

「I’m fine with that for now.
If, for example, you have an important friend and you want to help him or her, you might be able to use it.」

「Okay, then I will, Master!」

Aldrius pat Alfiris on the head for her cheerful reply.

「Alright, good girl.
The spell mark can also be released by strong negative emotions, so be very careful, okay? Now, I’ll tell you how to release the spell mark in case of emergency—」

Then, Aldrius tells Alfiris how to do it when she releases the spell mark.
At that time, Alfiris didn’t really understand what it meant to release the spell mark.

「(That’s right.
I’ve decided that it’s okay to release the spell mark in order to protect my friends.
If I released from the beginning, Anorn would not have died… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Anorn—)」

Alfiris’ consciousness awakens as she grasps the light.

「Anorn!」

「Hmm, what is it?」

When Alfiris jumped up from her reverie, she found herself in bed.
Anorn was sitting in front of her as if nothing had happened.
Apparently, she was peeling a fruit with a knife.
It was quite a brilliant knife work.

「You’re very good… But that’s not it! I, I thought Anorn was dead…」

「Don’t kill me when I’m here! I’m still kicking you know?」

「Ehh, but, it’s because Anorn was stabbed through the heart… was I dreaming?」

「Yeah, she was pierced, wanna see?」

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Her clothes were indeed torn everywhere, matching the places where Alfiris had seem her pierced.
It was definitely not a dream.
But there was not a single scratch on Anorn.

「But why there’s no single wound?」

「Nnhn… I didn’t mean to trick you but… I can’t die no matter what I do.」

Anorn speaks uncomfortably.

「I wasn’t born this way, though.
For now, I won’t die no matter what they do to me.
I’ve been torn to pieces before, but I didn’t die.」

「…」

「Oh, but if I lose my head, I won’t be able to move, you know? And it’s not like it doesn’t hurt.
I don’t want to get stabbed in the heart, because it’s too painful to move.」

「…」

「Isn’t it uncomfortable, this human being.
I don’t even know if I’m even human anymore.
You don’t have to do this, Alfie.
I’m going to disappear right in front of your eyes.
I can’t travel together with this disgusting thing… It’s impossible…」

「Anorn!」

「Ah, yes!」

Suddenly a loud voice called her name, and Anorn couldn’t help but be awed.

「Don’t you have something to say to me before you do that?」

「No, I don’t think so.
I was pretty determined to tell you…」

「Aaaannnoorrnn?」

She doesn’t why it was like that, but Alfiris’ eyes were seriously angry.

「(I’ve never had anyone stare at me with such an attitude in all my years of traveling with this girl… no matter how much I teased her, she never got angry.)」

It was a very bad decision, but Anorn could not tell that the mood was not deceiving.

「Ah, uhh, sorry about that.」

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「Good.
You’re forgiven.」

Then after saying it, Alfiris embraced Anorn.

「I’m sorry too… I dreamed that if I had released the power of the curse from the beginning, Anorn would have not died! But, but… I’m glad you’re alive… really!」

Alfiris’ shoulders were trembling slightly.
As she gently hugged her back, Anorn thought.

「(She’s crying.
She’s crying for me.
This is the third person who has treated me the same way even though they know I’m immortal.)」

A passionate feeling welled up in Anorn’s chest as well.

「Do you even consider me a friend?」

「Of course I do! What are you talking about?」

「But I’m immortal.
I’ve been alive for 300 years.」

「I don’t care! Anorn is Anorn, right?」

Alfiris is looking straight into Anorn’s eyes.
Anorn recalled that the same thing had happened to her a long time ago.

『Immortality? Does it matter?』

『Immortality? You’ll be beautiful forever then? That’s great!』

She remembered the faces of both of them as they stared straight at Anorn.

「(I see.
I think I understand what Master meant by moving forward.
I can’t go on like this.)」

Anorn made up her mind.
Now… She’s sure that now is the time for her to go through this ordeal.

「…Hey, Alfie.
I will tell you this because it’s you.
Will you listen to an old story?」

「…I’m okay with it」

Alfiris smiled gently.
Anorn was relieved that she was alright, and she began to tell her about her past.