SSS Ranked Merchant: Rebuilding a Broken Kingdom With Unlimited Wealth-Chapter 29: By The River

The sun beamed down upon the riverbank, its golden light shimmering off the water's surface as the gentle rush of the current hummed a soothing tune. The scent of fresh grass and damp earth lingered in the air, mixing with the sound of rustling leaves and the occasional chirp of a bird overhead. It was an ideal setting for training—or at least, it would have been, if not for the incessant bickering of two very determined girls.

"She's going to marry me when she grows up," Meila huffed, hands planted on her hips, eyes ablaze with defiance.

"Ridiculous! She's obviously mine!" Ruan shot back, crossing her arms in a near-perfect mirror of Meila's stance.

"You're her sister, you can't!" Meila cried, scandalized.

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Lyrasia, the subject of their absurd debate, stood between them, gripping her tiny wooden training sword and staring at them with an unreadable expression. "...Since when was this a competition?"

"You don't get a say in it," Ruan declared with unwavering confidence. "You're too baby to understand."

Sir Usario let out a long-suffering sigh and rubbed his temples before raising his wooden training stick and, with the wisdom of a man who had seen too much nonsense in his years, delivered two light but firm whacks to the heads of the feuding children.

"Enough," he said, exasperation lacing his tone. "Stop fighting over a toddler and focus on your stances, you fools."

Meila and Ruan yelped, rubbing their heads with synchronized pouts. Lyrasia, meanwhile, merely blinked, completely unfazed by the chaos around her. If anything, she had long since accepted that these two were a lost cause.

With a grumble, Meila turned back to her training. "Fine! But I'm not giving up!"

Ruan scoffed. "Neither am I."

Usario groaned but wisely chose to ignore them. Instead, he adjusted Lyrasia's stance, nodding in approval as she mimicked the basic forms he had been drilling into her for days now.

"Good," he said, his voice gentler now. "You're getting better."

Lyrasia nodded but remained silent. Her mind, however, registered the warmth in his tone, and for a fleeting moment, she felt something unfamiliar—peace.

The sun continued its slow descent, casting long shadows over the riverbank as their training persisted. Though the world was growing darker by the day, in this moment, amidst laughter and friendly quarrels, Lyrasia could almost believe it would stay bright forever.