"Are you ready, everyone?" Carbuncle asked.

I readied myself as I looked to my left and right. Luca and Kiri were on my side—meanwhile, Iris was behind me, with Carbuncle's mysterious crystal pendant dangling on her chest.

At the opposite side... My older brother, Alt-nii, was right in front of me, separated by a gap. Then, beside him, there were Clavis and Harvey. Behind them, there was Ein with the same crystal pendant dangling on his chest.

Outside the training ground, there were Dad, Mom, Nicole, and the escorts who came along with Nicole and the royal siblings.

Yep, Dad informed everyone involved, naturally, and all of them were anxiously—no, they were EXCITEDLY looking forward to us, children's friendly sparring!

Hey, be a little bit worried for us, young children, okay?

...Ah, they might put their trust in us a bit too much...

Anyway, Leticia was there next to Mom and close to her maid. Obviously, Leti was too precious to participate—err, I mean—too young. She barely began training anything, anyway.

Then, outside the training grounds but close enough to us—Carbuncle was floating—or flying. She was the referee of the match.

"Ready? ...And begin!!"

With her loud voice announcing the start of the friendly match, all of us began to move.

--A little bit flashback...

As per Carbuncle's idea, it was decided that we would have a team match.

Each team consisted of 4 people—3 people guarding one pendant carrier.

Alt-nii naturally teamed up with Harvey and Clavis.

I was thinking on how the other member of Alt-nii's group would be decided when Ein unexpectedly volunteered.

"I want to observe how Big Sis Lyra fights! So, it's better for me to be on the opposite team!"

That was his reasoning.

It wasn't incorrect. After all, he could see my movements better as the opponent—as we should watch over our opponents' movements and trust our teammates, so yup, we would be watching and observing our opponents more than our allies.

Since that was the case, my team consisted of me, Luca, Kiri, and Iris—with Iris as the pendant carrier.

The pendant carrier was more of a passive member, so yup.

Iris felt bad that she couldn't really do anything—and since it was like an [Adventure] class session simulation, she was allowed to carry her pouch—or bag that contained the very basic potions—limited amount ofher choice.

On the other side, it was said that Ein would be the [strategist] as he was a member of Loera clan, well-known for their amazing head... I wonder if the zombies who eat their brains will be smarter? Haha!

Despite him declaring that he would be the [strategist], Alt-nii and his friends didn't seem to hope much from him, as it would be their first time trying to fight with this composition.

Actually, Iris and Ein's role was to be the "protected" side, so it didn't really matter. Although their assistance might be able to help us, which would be much appreciated!

Still...

"Well, they're all younger than us anyway, so why don't we just give them an upper hand (referring to Iris carrying potions)?" Clavis said.

"Iris, do your best! You're the one who have to decide when to throw the potion and to whom after all! Consider it as a practice like what Carbuncle said," Harvey... encouraged Iris instead.

"Oy, whose side are you in?!" Alt-nii elbowed Harvey.

Harvey chucked, "It couldn't be helped, I'm worried for her, you know? Like a brother worrying over his kid sister, I guess?"

"...I'm Lyra's older brother yet I'm not worried for Lyra at all," Alt-nii said.

"Well, Lyra is strong... You would understand if your little sister was like Iris!" Harvey argued back.

"Big Brother Alt, Clavis, and Harvey! Don't worry and trust my judgment! I have a keen observation and perfect memory!" Ein suddenly boasted himself.

...We'll see about that!

Okay, let's return to the present—the match is beginning!

We didn't have to worry about anything, too, as Mom raised a barrier to restrict our battle grounds. And just to be double sure, Mom also cast a protective magic to each of us, to make sure that we wouldn't be hurt.

And the rule was simple and the same as my and Alt-nii's match against Carbuncle.

Whichever side managed to destroy the other party's crystal pendant would be declared the winner.

Yup, it was as simple as that. With a slight modification of team match.

As for the other three who should defend the pendant holder, a crystal brooch was attached to each of our clothes. Break the crystal brooch, and we would be forced to collapse without being able to move for a moment, marking our defeat.

Oh, by the way, you wouldn't be able to scratch the crystal pendant if you haven't broken two out of the three crystal brooches in your opponent's team.

I assessed the whole situation quickly. In my team, everyone carried swords. Mine was the same old magic sword that I received as a gift from Dad back then. Kiri was holding a normal sword—bulkier than mine. On the contrary, Luca was holding a rapier with the royal family emblem—eeh, a rapier was still considered a sword, right?

To be honest, I was so used with the bulky swords—the Grabberton clan's liking—so I felt that the rapier Luca was holding... seemed so frail. But I knew it was made of high-quality metal, and it was the royal family's rapier after all.

From my team, Luca and I possessed excellent magic proficiency.

When I glanced at Alt-nii's team composition...

Alt-nii was holding his usual dagger—I believed that he still had some other daggers concealed. Still, we were family of magicians, so physical weapons were used only for aid. Let's blame Dad for destroying the family signature—the Hartmann's legacy of magicians!

Clavis had his tail and wolf ears raised up in alert, both his hands held knuckles that were similar to claws for a wolf. Meanwhile, Harvey was holding a hammer.

Harvey's hammer reminded me of Gale somehow.

Anyway, I heard that Harvey wasn't quite good at combat—he aspired to be a blacksmith more. The only one proficient in magic there was Alt-nii. Oh well, he was the holder of the [mythical] magic—[Void].

But to overcome the disadvantage their team possessed, Rurune was allowed to participate.

...We still didn't know any of Rurune's power, but she could distract our attention, so that might work...

During [Adventure] class session, Rurune joined and she usually would either distract the monsters and evade their attacks. We weren't sure if Rurune was really powerless or she was still developing her power—as she could still be considered as a baby...?

Anyway, nobody objected.

And so, the match began.

We quickly set off to face against our opponents—my magic sword clashed against Alt-nii's dagger, Kiri's sword against Harvey's hammer, and Luca's rapier against Clavis' clawlike knuckles.

I faced my big brother in such a close proximity, both of us smiling as neither was pushed back.

"Not bad!" Alt-nii said.

"Alt-nii, too! Don't hold back!" I confidently said.

The competitive blood rose up to my head, the thirst of an all-out match against my big brother took over my yielding heart.

All my restraint was gone in face of the combat.

We clashed blades several times. When I could maintain a proper distance with Alt-nii, I quickly used the magic sword's magical aspect—swinging shards of ices as I swung my sword.

Meanwhile, Alt-nii tried to trick me by creating an illusion of multiple daggers coming my way—so I quickly rolled my way out of the daggers' area of attack. One of the daggers he threw should be real, but I didn't have the time to think of ways to see which of the daggers was real. Maybe next time!

Our distance was closing in once more, so I switched to a complete melee tactic, swinging my sword, aiming Alt-nii's crystal brooch.

Alt-nii swiftly retrieved another dagger and blocked my sword before it could reach his crystal brooch. As expected of Alt-nii!

"Eh... That stance...," Nicole's voice made my heart skip a beat for a moment.