Following the mouth-watering yet unpalatable lunch, Elric followed Hughesin out onto a courtyard constructed specifically for those pursuing martial arts. This special treatment Elric received was not at all well-received by the dozen other noblewomen, though their complaints were silenced at once by Merlise.

This would be the very first time Elric would be invited to such a place. He was curious about the area despite hearing information from Kite how most knights with peerage would have specially catered training grounds. He had also heard that most knights preferred practicing their martial arts in enclosed places rather than outdoors, so Elric’s interest was even more piqued by it.

Based off the size of the place, Elric estimated it to be a little smaller than the centerpiece of Crazy’s laboratory. The room was ovallish in construction and had a series of iron shutters adorning the walls where sunlight splashed through the open shutters to illuminate the room clearly with natural light.

A red lacquer finish was applied to the floorboards to give them a glossy and reflective shine so the reflection of any single person could be seen. Before the two could enter the room, Hughesin brought a pair of strange footwear for Fantasia to try on. When the latter slipped them onto their feet, they realized that the footwear had been custom-made for their feet. It had a golden buckle so the boots could be fastened easily and had an especially masterful-looking craftsmanship to it. It was a little startling to see just how dedicated Hughesin was; to think the duke would have the place and equipment all prepared for Elric in the span of a single day.

The first thing to catch Elric’s attention was the weapon rack aligned across the walls. He understandably had a deep interest in these weapons given his inaptitude for magic, but Hughesin’s collection of weapons was far more comprehensive than Elric thought—and were of substantially higher grade too. As the son of a grocer, Elric was actually quite confident in his eye for craftsmanship when it came to metallurgy, and his eye was telling him right now that these weapons were all forged by master weaponsmiths. 

On the other side of the room was an archery range with a single target. A single glance was all Elric needed to know that this target was actually quite different than normal. The outer three rings of the target were considerably larger than the standard target; a distinction that made Elric feel discontent. 

Hughesin was underestimating him.

Elric strode forward with purpose to the weapon rack. The first item to be retrieved was a longbow. The second was a leather belt with a quiver attached to it. Both these items were essential to archery and Elric was fully confident in his capabilities on using both. He slowly walked up to where the room indicated the archer should stand and held the bow tightly in his left hand. With practiced ease, Elric withdrew an arrow and nocked it onto the bow. He drew the bow back eight parts—Elric’s stature was just a smidgen bit short of the longbow and was physically not capable of drawing the bow back completely—and aimed it. For a second, he held his breath and arrow before exhaling, releasing the bowstring simultaneously to let loose the arrow.

The arrow flew as true as his confidence and embedded itself into the center of the target with a satisfying ‘thwock’, the fletchling quivering for several seconds before coming to a gradual rest. 

This was a result that caught Hughesin off guard. 

He expected Fantasia to be a newhand at archery, given her status as a magus. At best, perhaps she had some experience using a light hunting bow to shoot at the occasional hare or other wild game. Who was to expect a young lady like her to so readily shoot a bullseye with a longbow created with warfare in mind? 

As far as Hughesin was aware, the Sovereign Kingdom was a country that cared little for archery. In fact, the Duke knew for a fact that the sole remaining archery regiment in the Kingdom only existed as a nod to tradition. 

It made little sense for a young noblewoman from the countryside to be so proficient in archery. Given these factors, Hughesin was once again fascinated and curious about Fantasia’s true identity.

Yet Elric felt unsatisfied by Hughesin’s reaction. To further drive his point home, he fished out several more arrows and fired them off in rapid succession; a feat he could only thank Charle for his guidance. In a stunning showcase of Elric’s skills, each arrow he loosed landed squarely in the center ring of the target with extreme precision.

A series of applause erupted from Hughesin the moment his stupor was broken with the last arrow being fired.

Hearing this applause only served to motivate Elric even more. Every arrow loosed was another arrow that landed in the center of the target. By the time Elric emptied his quiver, the center ring of the target was without a single empty space for another arrow to fill. 

His job done, Elric turned toward Hughesin with a content stretch.

The Duke stopped clapping only after the last arrow was released. Gathering his thoughts together, the man pulled at the door of a small cabinet to reveal an additional arsenal of weaponry inside. He searched the contents for a considerable amount of time before finally picking out a single weapon.

Elric drew close for a better look; he had never seen a weapon like this before. It looked like a belt with an arch in the hands of Hughesin.

“What is this?”

“A bow,” Hughesin laughed as he sized the strange object up, “a new sight, I’m sure.” 

Elric found it hard to associate such a strange-looking weapon to what he knew archery to be. The curvature of the object was significantly greater than any other bow he knew of, and the two loops at the ends of both limbs was especially mystifying. Even more confusing was the softness of the weapon itself. Something as soft and wobbly as this couldn’t possibly be capable of shooting arrows like a bow could, he thought.

In response to Elric’s confusion, Hughesin calmly revealed the object held in his other hand, a thin and coiled loop of bowstring.

　　※※※

Bowstrings and their manner of production wasn’t exactly a foreign topic to Elric. He knew that a special process was used to turn animal tendons into usable bowstrings, but the bowstring in Hughesin’s hand was most certainly not one made from a cow. It looked more like it originated from a drake of some kind.

Then Hughesin began to do something that caught Elric’s attention. Attaching the bowstring onto the lower limb and then to the upper limb, Hughesin held the bow taut with his left hand and pulled at it with his right hand, forcing the bow to slowly reverse its curvature into the opposite way.

The bow was slowly taking on the same exact shape as Vindrhorn. 

Elric’s jaw dropped open—he understood now just how unique the Duke’s ancestral art was.

He took the bow when offered by Hughesin and began to inspect it on an even closer level than before. 

Everything

 about this bow went against what Charle taught him; from materials used to create the bow to the process necessary to bind them all together into one perfect product. The outer parts of the limb were clearly made of something wooden, but the inner parts were made of ivory of some kind. Elric couldn’t even begin to fathom what kind of glue was used to bind them together.

With the body of the bow tested, the next thing to observe was how easy it was to draw the bow. But rather than being easily drawn back, Elric realized that the bow was practically refusing to move a quarter of the way back.

This bow was more of a mysterious puzzle to him than it was a bow. The body was far more pliable than any other type of bow Elric knew of. A bow like this should’ve been easier to draw open rather than the other way around.

Hughesin had been watching Fantasia the entire time, enjoying the looks of confusion on her face whenever she saw something strange. He only chose to take the bow from her when he saw a pleading look—or at least that’s how he saw it—and smiled.

“Dearest Fantasia, it will take more than the standard draw to fully draw this bow. A special touch is required, allow me.”