The second female lead Dual Cultivates

She ignored the way Venus clung to her arm as she scouted the source of that clashing noise but Maria did not slow down. And finally, she entered a clearing where two figures seemed to be practicing their sword-play.

Maria did not have much experience in sword-wielding since it had never been her forte. But she did have formal training in weapon use and could recognize a training stance from a mile away.

The pair seemed to be training and weirdly enough, it looked as if the younger boy was the one who was teaching the elder how to wield the blade. Though ‘younger’ and ‘older’ was stretching the ages a bit. The kids looked to be fifteen and eleven from what Maria could observe.

“Awww, how cute. They are playing around as knights. I think I can take them in if they want to be royal guards” Venus commented in that overly-sweet voice adults often did when they found the children to be amusing.

But nothing was amusing about the pair in front of Maria. In fact, they looked as if they did not care what Maria and Venus thought and held themselves in the way trained warriors often held themselves.

They also did not look amused, not nervous to see two strangers coming their way. But they had tensed and marai could recognize the attacking stance from a mile away.

“Venus, don’t start now. These kids are not ordinary kids” Maria commented in a low voice so that only her companion could hear. She did not want to alert the kids that she was on to them.

They looked jumpy enough and Maria even had a feeling that she was missing something.

“An intruder? What do you want?” the elder kid asked as he took a stance in front of the younger ones. His body screamed of ‘protectiveness’ but Maria could also see the younger one roll his eyes in amusement.

If Maria had to categorize the two of them, she would say that the younger was the real danger between the pair and also the leader. Maria had no idea why she felt that way, but she could, not help herself.

There was just something familiar about the young child in front of her. Maybe it was his golden hair and blue eyes or the familiar feeling of magic emitting from the kid. The elder one had nothing though, blank as a sheet.

“No, not an intruder. I’m the princess and I want to see the boy-witch that lives in this forest-” Maria jabbed the princess very subtly to make her quiet down. She could see the pair in front of her tense up at the mention of the princess. It worsened even more at the mention of ‘boy-witch’.

Those seemed to have been the trigger words since Maria could see the elder boy showing extreme reactions to those words.

“There is no ‘boy-witch’ in this forest. You are mistaken and should leave now” the elder one forced out through his gritting teeth. Maria could see a subtle hand move toward the elder’s back in a show of silent support.

The younger’s blue eyes met Maria and she was taken aback by the intensity in them.

“You heard him. There is no witch in this forest so you should leave for now” the younger commanded. His voice sounded soft but it held a tone that could not be spoken against.

It had been laced with commanding magic and anyone who had no protection would have fallen victim to that voice. It solidified Maria’s belief that the younger definitely knew something about the ‘boy-witch.’

“Huh, why would we go back now? We walked all the way here and I am not going back without getting what I want” the princess opened her mouth, only to make the situation worse.

Maria could only shake her head in wonder as the princess made their situation worse. She had no idea why she had even decided to take the princess with her in the first place?

But she had and the was her mess to settle now.

“What she means to say is that we are not here to cause trouble. We just need information and once we get it, we’ll be out of your hair” Maria called. She could see the pair turn their attention toward her and ignore Venus.

The princess huffed at the audacity but she had no other way to release her anger than to huff and puff. She was more talk than show and it was fortunate for Maria that the princess was such a fool.

“Fine. then speak. But we still reserve the right to not answer” The elder boy replied. The pair had shared a look at Maria’s request but the elder had taken the charge.

But Maria still had a feeling that it was the younger that was in charge this whole time. There was just the feeling she got when those blue eyes looked at her. They challenged Maria to speak up against her and she found herself not wanting to anger them.

Still, she needed to have the situation under her control and that was why Maria tightened her voice when she spoke the next words.

“I want the location of the ‘Holy Land’. Kindly assist me in this endeavor” Maria even bowed down to show her sincerity. The correct term for the place she had been looking for was the ‘pool of purity’.

The silence that followed caused Maria to finally pick her head up and have a look at the pair in front of her.

The younger had gone white as a sheet and his eyes darted between Marie and the princess in a frightful way. The elder also did not stay idea and quickly hid the younger behind his back.

“There is no holy land. You both are on a suicide mission and it would be better for you to leave now. Yuuki, let’s take our leave as well now” before Maria could say anything else, the elder had taken the younger’s hand and dragged him out.

Maria could only watch as that happened, too stunned to even respond. Venus seemed to be in a similar daze as well, her eyes darting after the leaving pair with a ‘what the hell happened’ expression.

“Well, I guess we are back to square one. Let’s find a village for now and then we’ll start looking again” Maria suggested. There was nothing else for the pair to do anyway so the princess did not complain.

But something about this encounter seemed to have rubbed Maria the wrong way. That younger kid had been interesting and Maria felt her attention spin back to him.