Arknights' Lock of Heaven

After all, Zofia and Marna's relationship wasn't exactly great.

She felt guilty when she saw Marna.

When I joined the Knights' Club, Marna was against it as always, but I still went.

In the end, he lost one of his hands, which led to his current predicament.

I will cry if I continue.

As for Xia Yu and the others, the excuses that Lin Guang had told her to make up might be enough to deal with Zofia and her naive sister, but they would definitely not pass muster with Marna!

That man isn't so easily fooled.

Therefore, you cannot go directly to the Linguang family's mansion; you must go to the tavern that Marna would never return to and wait for Maria and Zofia's arrival.

When the time comes, you also need to persuade them not to tell Marna that you want it back, just say that he would never agree.

Well, they really are family; they all think alike.

Although they were only from a branch of the Linguang family and not direct relatives of Maria and her sister, they were still worthy of having grown up together.

Before Xia Yu and the others could even speak, Zofia had already taken care of everything perfectly.

Xia Yu was happy to not have to speak.

"..."

"Was it Zofia who instigated it?"

After a moment of silence, Marner finally spoke.

“No, it was my own choice,” Maria shook her head firmly.

“I think so too. Although Zofia is just a servant of the Nearl family, she still has a place in that kind of commercial farce... She is now a ‘knight’, hah.”

Marner's words were utterly merciless.

Even though his words to Zofia were so harsh, Maria did not refute them.

I watched Zofia participate in the Knights Tournament back then.

Before that, Marna treated her, a member of the Lin Guang family's collateral branch, no differently than her own niece.

This whole family is supported by him working as a corporate slave. Even though Zofia is an adult, Marna still gives her a considerable amount of living expenses every month.

They really didn't treat her like an outsider.

When Zofia became a competitive knight and even made it to the top sixteen, she could have actually taken the title of Nearl from the main branch.

After all, the Nearl family no longer had long riders after Margaret was exiled, Marna no longer cared about the Knights Guild, and Maria was not yet an adult.

At that time, the Business Federation had essentially put a price tag on the knighthood, and with her wealth as one of the top sixteen, it wouldn't be a problem for her to seize the title of Nearl.

But she didn't do that.

If one was unhappy in their home and was ostracized, it's impossible not to do this.

This is enough to show that Marna was really good to her back then.

As for why she went to participate in the Knights' Tournament... well, you can only say that she grew up with Margaret.

The three grew up together, and now they have all chosen knightly competition for different reasons.

"I...I just wanted to protect..." Maria said timidly, her head bowed.

"Even if we are stripped of our noble status, our beliefs will not waver in the slightest, and there is nothing that needs to be protected."

Marna interrupted her without hesitation.

“There is nothing that needs your protection, Maria. Don’t be like Margaret, who easily broke his composure just because he was young and impetuous.”

Marna looked at Maria in front of her and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by a phone call.

"--minister?"

"Good evening, yes, it's me..."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, if you have any questions about the previous meeting, you can come to me... What? No, no, please reconsider... Please, yes..."

Marna glanced at Maria and then walked upstairs indifferently.

"No, it was indeed my mistake, and it has nothing to do with you. I will mail you the revised document later... tomorrow, yes, tomorrow definitely... I'm very sorry."

"No, I beg you to reconsider. Yes, I promise, I won't make that mistake again. Please forgive me..."

“Maria, next time we talk about your business, I hope you’ll know your limits.”

The man left the hall without looking back, leaving Maria with only his indifferent back view.

Upon seeing this, Maria gently bit her lip.

Why did I choose to participate in the Knights' Tournament?

Perhaps it was out of admiration for her older sister, or perhaps it was a desire to protect the things passed down in the family.

But no matter what, this uncle in front of me deserves a share.

Maria remembers her childhood, when her uncle was completely different from the one she has now.

He was so radiant and full of brilliance.

But since his parents disappeared, he has stopped pursuing glory. He gave up what he had always been doing and returned to the Great Knight Territory to become an ordinary employee to earn a living and support his family...

Now, he is bowing and scraping before his boss, who is far away at the company.

Maria almost burst into tears when he said "Please" into the phone.

I'm an adult now...

It's time to shoulder the responsibility!

And so, Maria wiped her eyes with her sleeve and left home, dragging her huge suitcase.

On the second floor of the mansion, Marna watched Maria's departing figure, her eyes no longer cold as before.

After much hesitation, he finally took out his phone and dialed a number that had been dormant for a long time.

"haven't seen you for a long time……"

167 Enhancement Magic

"Is this the armor you forged?"

Xia Yu looked at the bright silver armor in front of her, stroked her chin thoughtfully, and said, "Hmm, it's quite beautiful."

The overall design features a light, silver armor with wing-like decorations on the skirt and shoulder armor, achieving both aesthetic appeal and sufficient protection while maintaining a suitable weight.

Only a world like Terra, powered by materials science, could do something like this. If it were Earth in my previous life, you would have to choose between aesthetics and performance.

Unlike the armor in front of us now, which is not only aesthetically pleasing but also suitable for playing in competitions.

“Well, it wasn’t all done by me alone,” Maria said, scratching her head sheepishly. “Master Koval helped me a lot too.”

"However, this is just common light armor, not full metal plate armor, so its defensive capabilities are not as good as the new armor developed by those large companies."

"This is also related to our family's swordsmanship tradition. We have always worn relatively light armor. After all, Pegasus is known for its speed. Although full plate armor would not make the wearer move around as people might guess, this kind of light armor is more suitable to match our family's swordsmanship."

"If it's armor like this," Xia Yu said, lost in thought as she looked at the armor before her.

“Of course it can’t compare,” Zofia rolled her eyes at her. “If the armor you, a little girl, and a retired craftsman could forge in a nearly bankrupt workshop could match theirs, then all the engineers at those big companies could quit.”

"But if it's just the qualifiers, this armor should be fine. After all, not everyone can afford products from big companies."

"Most of the opponents you encounter in the qualifiers won't have equipment that's much better than yours."

"But this is just normal. Just look at today's news. How could those greedy businessmen let you make it into the main competition so easily?"

“Honestly, I’m not surprised how many underhanded things you’ve encountered along the way,” Zofia sighed. “Maria, are you really unwilling to give up?”

Hearing this, Maria recalled her radiant older sister, her family, and her uncle's subservient manner in front of the company's executives, and nodded firmly.

"Okay then."

Zofia sighed, then took the old training sword out of Maria's suitcase.

"I haven't seen this sword in so long..." Zofia stroked the scratches on it; many of the marks were left by herself.

"Maria, why are you carrying Margaret's sword?"

"Oh, this," Maria lowered her head shyly, "It's just... I just grabbed it..."

"Just a casual touch... Hmph," Zofia snorted, not exposing her little scheme, and casually tossed the sword to Maria. "Catch!"

"Oh, oh, oh," Maria hurriedly took the training sword.

“Now that we have the swords, why don’t we go out and practice now?” A cruel smile appeared on Zofia’s face. “Let your older sister teach you properly. Knightly competition is not some child’s play that you think it is.”

"Ah, but I'm not wearing my armor yet..." Maria was being dragged away by Zofia, who was pulling her by one hand. She turned back and stretched out her right hand towards her armor. "My armor..."

"What armor do you need? I'm not wearing any either," Zofia said, unmoved. "Come on, let me see how much you've improved over the years."

"You dared to register without telling me? Let me see where your confidence comes from."

Xia Yu was left alone in the living room.

Skadi rested in her room, while Manticore had other tasks to complete.