Every time the horse’s reins were cut, Leonard’s face grew redder. If you lowered your gaze just slightly, you could see his tightly clenched fists trembling uncontrollably.
’This is working better than expected. If I play my cards right, I might land a hit.’
Mia pressed down the smile rising at the corner of her lips. The way Leonard reacted more violently than anticipated to mentions of his father suggested Marquis Leonard was either excessively strict with his son or, conversely, an unusually doting parent.
’Given the rumors, it’s likely the former.’
Stuttering slightly, Mia seized his wrist as he tried to retort and yanked him toward her. Capitalizing on Leonard’s flustered silence, she asked:
“Leonard. Even someone like you must harbor some filial respect, no?”
“What kind of bullshit is this! Now that you’re outmatched, you resort to wordplay?”
Mia wagged her finger, beckoning him closer. Her imperious demeanor was so natural that Leonard instinctively stepped forward before catching himself.
Unfortunately for him, Mia was quicker to act than he was to retreat.
A voice brimming with glee whispered something into Leonard’s ear.
After a prolonged silence, Leonard finally snapped.
“You bastard—who the hell are you dragging into this now?!”
He seized Mia by the collar, his patience spent.
Her feet dangled uselessly in the air. Yet her eerily calm expression made the sight of a hulking man threatening a petite woman feel oddly nonthreatening.
Infuriated by her composure, Leonard raised his fist.
“Huh...?”
His punch sailed harmlessly past its target. In the next breath, his grip on Mia slackened. With a dull thud, Leonard crashed to the ground, a muddy bootprint stark against his immaculate uniform.
It happened faster than he could process.
With a rustle of her cloak, Mia landed gracefully. The face she’d been craning to see now lay beneath her feet.
His formerly arrogant visage twisted into something pathetic. Mia released a razor-edged laugh.
“Even a deputy commander’s training is this pitiful? How can we wage proper war like this? I’ll have to inform the Legion Commander.”
The taunt pierced Leonard’s ears.
“You—you damned wretch! Riding high on one lucky dodge!”
Leonard’s face burned crimson as he roared. Mia’s eyes glittered with amusement.
Despite her solid kick, his determination to rise was almost admirable—though she doubted such stubbornness served him well.
Leonard staggered upright and lunged again. Mia didn’t bother evading, a slight that visibly wounded his pride.
Swish! His wild punches carved through empty air. Mia dodged every strike with mere tilts and steps, never once counterattacking. Her provocations—as if inviting him to try harder—grated on his nerves. The ease of her movements made him feel like a plaything.
“Pfft.”
A laugh burst from Mia’s lips at the sight of his apoplectic face.
“How dare you—?!”
His outrage was cut short as Mia hooked his ankle, sending him sprawling. A firm stomp soiled his uniform anew—the second indignity of the day.
“Tenacity over skill, I see,” Mia remarked.
Leonard thrashed, grabbing her ankle to break free. It earned him only a sharp kick to the chin. His head snapped back with a crack.
While Mia relished the exchange, Leonard’s eyes blazed with humiliation. Rage pooled hotter by the second.
“You fraud...! Not a speck of divine power in you!”
His enraged shout preceded a searing pain in Mia’s side—as if her ribs might shatter.
“Gh—!”
She doubled over reflexively. Though no stranger to pain, this attack transcended physicality—it carved into her very essence.
’Divine energy...!’
The realization came too late. Now it was Mia who lay crumpled on the ground.
Her mind blanked, thoughts scattering like leaves. Every nerve screamed as if flayed.
Ironically, divine power was the Achilles’ heel of the goddess’s champion. Mia’s body had always rebelled violently against its touch.
Through countless battles, Mia had somehow managed to learn unconventional combat techniques, including hand-to-hand fighting. But against attacks using divine power, even when she knew they were coming, she couldn't avoid them.
"Why would the goddess choose someone like you as a hero?"
She didn't even have the energy to care about the triumphant jeers of the man who had just been stepping on her. All her nerves were frayed raw from the pain.
A large military boot flew toward Mia's face.
'I need to dodge.'
But the lingering agony made it impossible to react beyond feeble squirming.
Mia desperately curled her body into a ball.
'...If I reduce the target area, maybe I can endure a hit or two.'
She prayed for this moment to pass quickly. Taking a few blows would be manageable. Leonard lacked innate talent for close combat—if she could just break free from his divine power's influence when he dropped his guard, she might turn the tables.
But the opportunity she desperately awaited never came.
"François Leonard. Explain this situation."
The icy voice interrupted Leonard's motion from behind.
"Commander..."
Though Etienne remained motionless, Leonard knelt before him with an arm twisted at an unnatural angle. Mia suspected Etienne's divine power had forced the submission.
"You know disciplinary breaches warrant punishment even in peacetime."
Leonard didn't—couldn't—answer. When he opened his mouth, only bestial grunts emerged.
Mia suddenly noticed Leonard straining to move his arm. The choked noises and white light crushing his shoulders confirmed Etienne's continued interference.
"Then you must know wartime demands immediate execution for such acts."
Etienne's sharp rebuke made Leonard's pained expression tighten further.
Etienne sneered.
"You couldn't possibly be ignorant. How should I interpret this?"
Mia closed her eyes. Even after returning to the past, she felt utterly powerless.
The confrontation ended with Leonard's collapse. Executing him over an attempted offense proved impractical, Mia's military standing remained precarious, and the Leonard marquisate wasn't weak enough to crush without repercussions.
Though Etienne appeared angrier than Mia herself, his decisive intervention already exceeded her expectations.
"The deputy commander position doesn't grant such authority." Mia voiced her longstanding doubt. "Even between superiors, the rank difference between staff officer and deputy commander can't be significant. Why would he dare attack Blanchard's daughter? It makes no sense."
Etienne sighed.
"He's been problematic since enlistment. Strangely quiet during promotions, but constantly clashed with superiors afterward."
"That implies you're his superior."
"Not exactly. We're considered equals in rank."
"...Hmm."
Mia frowned at the matter-of-fact response. This military's power dynamics defied all logic.
