PAID

Alice bit her lip tightly at my suggestion to stop using the sword.

It was clear that, just as Swordmaster had said, she had become overly attached to it.

"Hmm... but something still feels off."

I recalled Alice's attack motions from when she was first introduced into the game.

My memory was a little hazy due to the many complex incidents we'd gone through since falling into the Velvet School Life world, but still...

"Back then, wasn’t she using a spear in her attack animations?"

I vaguely remembered her wielding a long weapon, but I wasn’t sure if it had been a spear or not.

There was something else that made me suspicious.

Her title.

If her main weapon really was a spear, there’s no way she would’ve earned the title of Sword Flower (劍花).

If she had been using a spear, she’d have been given a title like Spear Flower (槍花) or Spear Ghost (槍鬼) instead.

In any case, finding the weapon that best suits her was crucial to understanding her character, so I spoke to her again. This time, I tried to be a bit more light-hearted about her sword attachment.

"Oh, was that too sudden? Well, if you really want to keep using the sword, that's fine too."

"…Really?"

Alice asked me skeptically, her wariness apparent. I needed to ease that tension.

"Yeah, let's put the sword matter aside for now. Could you show me the skills you have against me?"

At this, Alice, who had been staring at me, sighed as if she'd expected this all along and picked up a long staff from the corner of the training ground.

"As I thought... when I asked her to show me her skills, she picked up a staff."@@novelbin@@