Mage Manual-Chapter 296 - 254 How Pitiful I Must Be to Have My Heart Stolen by You

"Phew."

Sonia exhaled a sword-like white breath, stopped her tired hands, and waited for the armor dummy, pierced with a huge hole, to slowly recover. The other swordsmanship apprentices in the training hall watched the red-haired Sword Maiden curiously. This was their first time seeing the redhead train in the afternoon—although, thinking of the evening’s social event, they couldn’t help but admire her.

Because she had to attend an event later, she’d trained earlier in the day. Truly deserving of our Sword Maiden!

"Sonia!" Adelle rushed in, calling out, "Loy and the others are waiting for you, aren’t you leaving yet?"

"Just a few more minutes." Sonia held the wooden training sword level, ready to thrust: "Wait for me a moment."

Adelle was terribly anxious but could only obediently stay on the side, squatting and rubbing her own calves—she had run all the way from the dormitory, and just this short distance made her feel exhausted.

She boredly watched Sonia thrust again and again in training. Today, Sonia had tied her beautiful red hair into Buns for ease of movement, revealing her proud and smooth neckline. Droplets of sweat traced across her forehead, rolled over her nose, streamed down her neck, and disappeared into the dark vest of her training uniform.

Each time Sonia thrust, her vest made a heavy swaying sound—she had added weights to her hands, legs, and torso.

"You look so tired." Adelle propped her chin with both hands and sighed: "Sonia, do you find training enjoyable?"

"How could I." During a moment’s breath, Sonia let out a clip of white breath and smiled: "Even Ingrid wouldn’t find training fun. The very act of repeating monotonous exercises contradicts human nature; if it were pleasurable, the training hall would be packed every day."

"Isn’t that the case?" Adelle was somewhat surprised: "Everyone says you must really love swordsmanship training since you persistently come to the training hall every day. Isn’t that what the stories say? That geniuses of a certain faction often find joy in their cultivation, while those without talent can only harvest misery..."

"Maybe there really are people like that." Sonia thrust fiercely, her wooden sword piercing through the armor dummy, but aside from Sword Trace, there were no cracks anywhere else: "But I’m not one of them."

"Swordsmanship training, for me, is, very, boring!"

"If it wasn’t for, being forced, I certainly, would never, cultivate swordsmanship in my entire life!"

Curious, Adelle asked, "Who forced you?"

She waited a while, but Sonia didn’t answer, merely thrusting at the armor dummy fiercely, as if it owed her a personal grudge.

Adelle asked again, "Even though you don’t want to practice, I feel like you quite enjoy swordsmanship, right?"

"I don’t like swordsmanship," Sonia said: "I just like the extras that come with it. Honor, prestige, attention, and prospects."

"I love being dazzling. I crave being the center of attention. I wish to become a noble, I want to stay in Jiale City."

"Though I don’t like swordsmanship, as long as it can fulfill my wishes, I will pretend to love it. Adelle, by your standards, I’m definitely not a genius."

"But if everyone wishes me to be, then I’ll play the part very convincingly."

"Phew."

Sonia sheathed her wooden sword, picked up a towel next to her to wipe off the sweat, and Adelle twisted open the Villager’s water bottle on the side, taking a big swallow before handing it to Sonia: "You’re lying, right?"

The Village Girl paused, sipped a little water, and stared at the naive and privileged native girl.

"Even though I dislike reading and sports, I’m not stupid," Adelle said with her arms crossed: "Whether one truly likes something, even I can see through it."

"When you go out every night with your sword bag for training, to fight Felix, to challenge senior Reonie, I see no reluctance, just anticipation. You really enjoy this life of constant refinement, progression, and strengthening." She glanced at the weights on Sonia’s body: "If you really didn’t like it, you wouldn’t make it harder for yourself. It’s like when I can’t get enough after watching a drama, scouring through Veils for plot analysis and fan creations, it’s a craving born out of deep love."

"Besides, I only realized how true it was when I watched you train up close just now."

Adelle spoke earnestly: "When you hold the sword, when you sweat, when you swing it, you’re incredibly, undeniably gorgeous, only a little less so than me."

"Gorgeous is definitely right, so Sonia, you are certainly a swordsmanship genius."

Suddenly, Sonia felt like she couldn’t quite keep up with Adelle’s train of thought, "Because I look beautiful holding a sword, I’m meant to become a Sword Master?"

"What else?" Adelle countered: "Beauty is the sole reason for existence. Would you betray the favor of Dazzling Star?"

"Indeed." Sonia couldn’t help but nod: "That sounds sensible, is it a famous quote?"

"It’s from the 17th episode of ’How Pitiful I Must Be to Have My Heart Stolen by You.’"

"A drama huh... I never watch shows that Dedarose doesn’t star in."

"Then you’ve really missed a lot of classic masterpieces." Adelle spoke with authority: "Having seen so many stories of joy and separation, I can see through the vanity of words and the disguise of gazes."

Do separations in dramas even count...

"Like you, Sonia, clearly loving swordsmanship, but you stray off topic, using so many excuses to prove that you only cultivate swordsmanship for the benefits, as if admitting you like swordsmanship would mean losing some competition."

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