“Truly... thank you.”
Was it because her hair was so red?
Today, even her face looked red.
With those words, Seraphinlie hurried away as if hastening her steps.
&
“Well, well. Our young master. You’re seriously impressive, aren’t you?”
“I know. I didn’t think you’d give her something like that.”
“That’s not what I meant, but... Ah~ so that’s your style?”
Miles smiled strangely.
“Well, it is a style that works well on beauties.”
“What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, Miles shrugged.
“Let’s head back. On the way, you can finish what you were talking about before.”
What was I talking about?
Ah.
Right.
Yes.
Even if Miles wasn’t exactly a knight I liked, his skills were certainly reliable.
But this time, too, I ultimately couldn’t get straight into the carriage.
“Are you leaving already?”
This time, it was Aileen.
Unlike yesterday, she was wearing a pure white dress.
It had a clean design without a single unnecessary embellishment,
but if anything, it made her looks and her hair stand out even more.
“There’s nothing more for me to gain by staying. I should hurry back and raise the rice that’s growing so well.”
Aileen laughed lightly.
“That makes me sad.”
“Pardon?”
“I thought you would at least say goodbye before leaving.”
“Pardon? Ah, uh... I’m sorry.”
“Pfft.”
What?
Why am I apologizing?
It’s not like she cares about my farewell in the first place.
Ah.
Is she pressuring me?
How dare someone like you leave without even greeting me—is that it?
I’ve really stepped in it.
Just then, Aileen subtly turned her head.
When I unconsciously followed her gaze,
I saw Seraphinlie standing far away, looking this way.
Why is she watching from over there now?
“What a relief.”
Aileen looked back at me and said,
“That you don’t notice even when it’s that obvious.”
“...??”
What is she really talking about?
“In any case, it was nice meeting you.”
I’m tense every time we meet.
I don’t want to meet her.
But contrary to my thoughts, I couldn’t take my eyes off her smiling face.
“When shall we see each other again?”
“Ahaha... Unless I do something wrong, wouldn’t there be no reason for that to happen? Haha...”
“Oh my.”
Aileen’s eyes narrowed.
“That sounds truly disappointing.”
“Ah, no. I didn’t mean it in a strange way.”
I hurriedly added,
“What business could someone like me possibly have with a person as beautiful as Lady Aileen? So if we do meet, it would mean I caused some kind of trouble.”
I meant that there would be no other reason for her to go out of her way to see someone like me.
“Hmm.”
Aileen seemed to think for a moment,
then slightly raised the corners of her lips.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to create that unfortunate business myself.”
“Pardon?”
“As it happens, I also wanted to talk a little more about rice.”
Did some problem come up with management?
We had also discovered a few things about pests and disease in the meantime.
“If it’s a management issue, then as it happens, my—”
“Not now.”
Aileen cut me off gently.
“I’ll be visiting in person soon.”
In person?
To our territory?
Why?
Why are you really doing this?
Do you want to see me die from my heart bursting?
She’s determined to torment me to death.
“Understood. In any case, I also bear some responsibility. We’ve discovered a few things on our side in the meantime, so I’ll hope they can help resolve it.”
I didn’t know whether she liked my answer, but a smile spread across Aileen’s lips.
“See you soon.”
The moment I heard those words...
...
For some reason, one side of my chest strangely resonated.
Memories overlapped.
If I truly had lived the married life I had once wished for,
wouldn’t she have seen me off with words like that?
That thought brushed past me.
It felt... strangely good.
And so, without realizing it, I answered as though I felt the exact same way.
“See you soon.”
At that moment, Aileen’s eyes widened slightly.
“Didn’t we just seem like a real married couple?”
Gasp.
No way.
She isn’t reading my thoughts now too, is she?
“Ah, uh, what I said yesterday really wasn’t meant that way...”
But Aileen didn’t bother responding to my words.
She simply looked at me,
unable to hold back her laughter, as if she found something terribly amusing.
In the end, I climbed into the carriage in a daze.
Even so, Aileen remained standing there.
Until I left,
she raised her hand and slowly waved.
At that sight, Miles, who had boarded the carriage with me, glanced outside and shook his head.
“Wow. This is seriously something I should learn from you, young master. How on earth did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“What do you mean, what?”
Miles let out a small laugh.
“Making beauties of that level react to you like that.”
“You mean how to make enemies?”
“Enemies?”
“Haa.”
I glanced out the window once and sighed.
“Well, it’s not like you’d understand even if I told you now.”
Right.
To Miles, it might look enviable.
Miles shrugged,
and after that, he didn’t ask any more.
There wasn’t much conversation while we traveled.
When night fell, the carriage stopped,
and we filled our stomachs simply with the meal the coachman prepared for us.
And after the meal was over,
Miles and I stood facing each other with wooden swords in hand.
“Go ahead.”
“Mm... I’ll tell you in advance, my style is a bit dirty.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
I nodded lightly.
Then, holding my wooden sword, I slowly moved my feet.
“...?”
A flicker of doubt crossed Miles’s eyes.
At that moment,
I leaned my upper body forward ever so slightly.
It was a simple motion of bending forward, but Miles’s body reacted immediately.
As expected, he’s fast.
But that was a feint.
I looked as though I was about to enter, then withdrew my axis half a beat late,
and immediately dug forward again.
“Oh.”
A short exclamation slipped from Miles’s mouth.
The start was a simple downward strike.
Tak.
The moment Miles lightly received it, I pressed my sword forward as it was and drove my body in too.
Thud.
My shoulder struck Miles’s torso.
Rather than a frontal contest, it was a way to break the flow.
The moment our bodies touched, I grabbed the blade side of the sword with my hand,
and twisted the handle upward as it was.
Whoong.
The end of the grip flew in like a blunt weapon.
Half-swording.
More important than form was connection.
How smoothly it continued.
How late the opponent noticed, even by a single beat.
Tak!
Miles blocked even that lightly.
The moment it was blocked, I immediately extended my foot,
low,
and short,
hooking Miles’s leg.
I intended to break his lower center of gravity while his attention was drawn to blocking his upper body.
But Miles didn’t dodge and simply lowered his center of gravity with a light shift.
With that single motion, he nullified it.
I thought that one would work at least a little.
Miles took one step back.
The look in his eyes had changed slightly.
“Now I’ll see your defense.”
It seemed he had already finished judging my level of attack.
Miles moved.
A basic-form attack.
From top to bottom.
From outside to inside.
It was a textbook attack.
And yet, strangely, there was no room to breathe.
Taak. Tak. Tadak.
I tried to add all kinds of variations, but Miles’s attacks were truly honest.
And yet the pressure was truly considerable.
Once I blocked, the next came in instantly,
and when I barely deflected it, the following trajectory continued immediately.
It seemed slow, yet it was fast.
It seemed simple, yet there were no openings.
It was clearly a monotonous attack, but my breathing kept falling out of rhythm.
It wasn’t the tip of the sword, but the flow itself that drove a person into a corner.
I clenched my teeth and received it.
I blocked head-on,
deflected,
twisted,
and when I saw an opening, thrust in briefly.
Because he pushed me with the orthodox, I twisted even more.
The moment our swords tangled, I pushed back with force,
and when it felt too close, I turned my body and killed the angle.
At a timing that was half a beat off, I struck it away roughly and pried into the flow.
Taak!
Our swords clashed heavily once.
Had we exchanged a little over ten bouts?
Miles stepped back again.
“Good.”
“Haa... haa...”
“To give my assessment.”
Even though it had been a short exchange, my whole body was quickly drenched.
My palms were slick with sweat,
and my breathing was far rougher than I had expected.
My physical condition still isn’t there after all.
Even so, I caught my breath and looked at Miles.
“To be honest, it’s shocking.”
Miles spoke without smiling.
“Young master, were you a genius?”
“What genius?”
“When on earth did you learn something like this? I’ve seen you do nothing but run.”
Miles’s eyes gleamed strangely.
Still, I had expected to receive a good assessment.
I had past experience, after all.
What a relief.
“I was embarrassed, so I practiced alone.”
“Did you perhaps sneak out to the village and go around beating up thugs?”
“As if.”
“That makes no sense.”
This time, Miles cut me off firmly.
“Your attack combinations, your reactions in the bind, and your speed were good. Even your responses.”
The bind referred to the state where our swords were locked together.
He spoke as though retracing each of the scenes from our bout just now.
“Above all, it smells of real combat. Quite strongly, at that.”
A knight really is a knight.
He notices right away.
“People who learned orthodox swordsmanship usually don’t fight like that. Disturbing the flow, cutting off the opponent’s tempo, and ramming your body in the instant they block—those are the habits of people who have survived real fights.”
Miles glanced down at my wooden sword.
“Perhaps because the movements seem self-taught, it is rough. But it isn’t merely rough. It’s a method you’ve solidified as your own strength.”
At those words, I silently looked only at Miles.
“What’s especially surprising is that you haven’t merely learned such a method with your body, but can bring it out very naturally.”
Miles spoke slowly.
“Those are movements only possible for someone who has experienced life-and-death fights several times.”
He paused for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.
“Rather than a battlefield... it would be closer to small-scale combat.”
He really is sharp.
“Hmm...”
Miles rubbed his chin and muttered,
“Even as I say it myself, I can’t understand it at all. It makes no sense. This is practically saying you’re a genius... but you definitely didn’t give off this feeling before.”
Miles’s expression grew increasingly confused.
If I had proper equipment and showed him other methods too, he’d be even more surprised, wouldn’t he?
I’m fairly confident in hand-to-hand combat too.
“In any case, since your assessment is good, I’m feeling a bit more confident. I should build up more strength and stamina.”
Miles nodded.
“If you continue sparring and properly raise your strength and stamina, you should be able to grow into a knight sufficiently.”
“A knight? I’m not interested.”
“You’re not interested?”
Miles blinked.
“Then why are you training?”
“Because I still need to be able to protect myself, at least.”
“Do you have some separate goal, young master?”
“What goal?”
I rested the wooden sword on my shoulder and said,
“My goal is simply to develop the territory and have everyone live peacefully together. That’s why I’m working so hard like this now.”
Miles looked at me for a moment.
“I had already been a little surprised by your recent actions, but I never imagined you were hiding skills like this as well.”
Rather than hiding them, there simply hadn’t been a situation to show them.
“I misjudged you badly, young master. Very badly.”
“What was I like before?”
“A timid, typical fool of a young master from a provincial noble family?”
Uh.
That, that was probably right.
Miles, who had been touching his chin, spoke with serious eyes.
“From now on, don’t run on flat ground. Run in the mountains.”
“The mountains?”
“Yes. And don’t do separate strength exercises. From now on, do them through sparring with me.”
It was a serious expression I had never seen from him before.
“What you need, young master, is not orthodox knightly movement. It’s a sense closer to real combat, and a body that can endure it. Rather than strength alone, the strength gained through continuous movement will be far more effective.”
I was a little surprised.
Even when Miles trained soldiers, he usually showed no interest beyond basic training.
The fact that someone like him was making such a proposal first was quite surprising.
“Ah, I shouldn’t be doing this.”
Miles muttered softly.
It seemed he had some circumstances, but I didn’t particularly want to ask.
In any case.
I’m going to get even busier now.
I was also curious about how Serena’s armor was coming along.
Receiving a patent was not an easy thing.
The procedures were so meticulous that it took a long time.
If anything, finishing too quickly would be closer to a sign of failure.
So the fact that things were quiet right now was, in truth, good news.
A few days later, we arrived at the Brennan territory.
Perhaps the people of the territory had truly been working hard in the meantime, because the rice had grown noticeably.
Seeing that the transplanting was almost finished even for the remaining paddies, progress was much faster than I had expected.
As soon as I returned, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work again.
And from that day onward, each day began passing busily without a moment to catch my breath.
Every morning, the first thing I did when I opened my eyes was put on armor.
A form of armor with no practicality, merely heavy.
In that state, I ran up and down the hill behind the estate, then immediately sparred with Miles.
But the sparring method was not ordinary.
He had me alternate between holding weapons that looked the same on the outside but had different weights,
and when one round of sparring ended, I had to pick up the original weapon again and reproduce the movements I had just made as identically as possible.
It was far more demanding training than I had expected.
It wasn’t only my body that suffered.
I had to use my memory too.
“You must remember what attack you just made.”
Miles always said the same thing.
“That way, you’ll come to know what movements you can bring out on your own. In real combat as well, you’ll be able to make the appropriate response in an instant.”
It was good teaching.
Truly.
Thanks to that, I could clearly feel that I was growing day by day.
Compared to when I did it alone, the speed of growth was on another level.
There was a reason people sought out good teachers.
Of course, my body felt like it was dying just as much.
My muscles always throbbed,
and if I let my guard down even a little, my whole body screamed.
Yet strangely, I didn’t dislike that pain.
So I like living diligently, huh.
This is fun.
It’s incredibly hard,
but the fullness and pain that accumulated day by day had turned into enjoyment.