“You’ve come. The meal preparations are almost done, so please wait a moment.”
After finishing the morning training and returning to the mansion, I found Mari already at work, cooking a mouth-watering lunch.
I let out a sigh of relief at the sight.
Finally, I thought, I can eat proper food.
“Thank you for your hard work, Mari. We’ll just wash up quickly and come back down.”
“If you’re too late, it will get cold, Lady Esther.”
“I’ll be careful.”
With our bodies covered in sweat and dirt, it felt a bit wrong to eat, so we headed upstairs to wash our hair, faces, and hands thoroughly.
We also dusted off the dirt that had stuck to our clothes.
When we came back down, we had timed it perfectly, and the dining table was filled with carefully prepared dishes.
Steam rising from chicken stew, slightly salty fried eggs, and soft, moist bread with a slight sweetness.
“Is the food to your liking?”
“Yes, thank you so much…!”
“Don’t mention it.”
The menu and taste were quite ordinary, but that ordinariness was exceptionally welcome right now.
Of course, I wasn’t the only one enjoying it; Friede was also stuffing herself, emptying her stew bowl completely.
Thank goodness it was Mari cooking and not Lord Veloren.
If I had to eat that trash food again right after this hellish ordeal, even I, who usually stays calm, would surely explode and become a delinquent.
I never expected Lord Veloren, who’s lived his life as a knight, to have proper cooking skills, but at the very least, he should serve food that humans can eat.
If he kept feeding me that kind of food for a week, even an assassin raised as a weapon since childhood would likely confess that their base is in the northern mountains and give up.
—
“Now that you’ve finished your meal, take about an hour to rest and regain your strength. After that, we’ll move on to afternoon training.”
After a satisfying meal, what awaited me and Friede was a ridiculously short break and the impending hellish training.
“Uh… right away?”
This question implied, considering how exhausted I was, that today would be a good day to rest.
However, Lord Veloren seemed to have a very different opinion. He tilted his head, as if wondering what I was talking about.
“Is there something else you need to do?”
“……”
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Something else to do…?
Well, no, not really…?
Unless I was thinking of leaving this town right away to explore a dungeon, there wasn’t much else to do around here.
There’s a market street, but it’s so small there’s really nothing to see, and the only place to relax is the riverbank.
“W-Well, we could buy some clothes to wear for the time being….”
Friede hurriedly came up with an excuse, saying that since we’d be staying here for a while, it wouldn’t hurt to prepare some clothes in advance.
“Oh, do you lack clothing? Don’t worry. We can just ask Mari.”
But she was shot down instantly.
Was that even a valid counter? It felt more like logic got demolished by nonsense.
Lord Veloren dismissed Friede’s concerns, saying there was no need to go to the shops just for clothes. He said it’s fine to order some suitable ready-made outfits from Mari, and that was how he lived too.
Was that so straightforward, or was it indifference? He seemed utterly uninterested in anything other than swordplay and training.
Is that personality the reason he could become a high-ranking knight?
Anyway, since even Friede had been defeated in this argument, we had no means to resist anymore.
We could only tremble in fear for an hour and brace ourselves for the harsh time to come.
“I-I think I’ve chosen the wrong identity….”
“…I didn’t choose it. That prince did.”
I’ll definitely repay you someday for this grudge, Argantir. I promised myself as I put on the dreadfully heavy armor over my sweat-soaked training gear.
—
Five days passed like this.
Wake up, eat, train, eat, train, eat, wash, sleep.
It was a harsh, regular routine that almost made me feel like I was back in military training camp.
“…You’re learning quickly. It’s only been five days, but a significant number of your critical flaws have improved.”
On the sixth day at noon, after finishing the morning training, Lord Veloren complimented me with a faint smile.
“Haah, haah… is that so…? Then, does this mean…?”
Does this hellish torture finally end? With that thought, I lay sprawled on the training ground, looking up at Veloren.
“Yes. Now it’s time to move on to the next phase.”
“The next phase…?”
There’s no way it’s over.
What a fool’s dream.
“Even if you have a fake identity, I can’t ignore someone wielding such flawed swordsmanship under my daughter’s name. I will teach you my swordsmanship, so make sure to incorporate it thoroughly into your body.”
“Um, is that really okay…?”
He’s willing to teach me his swordsmanship. It was an enticing offer from my perspective, but I still wondered if it was alright.
“No problem. It’s not something I’d call a special skill anyway.”
Okay, then.
“If that’s the case… I would be grateful to learn.”
With that, I had no reason to decline. Whatever she taught me would surely be more systematic and useful than the swordsmanship I was currently using.
Plus, unlike the current state where I was getting beaten up while having my flaws forcibly corrected, sword training seemed like it would involve less pain.
The pain that doesn’t kill me must make me stronger, but this was definitely the kind of pain that could kill me.
What kind of crazy person would pass out from morning training and then run five hours in full armor daily?
Moreover, since Lord Veloren would also be running alongside me, I wouldn’t even have the luxury of slacking off or complaining.
The reason his real daughter might have run away wasn’t just to rebel against her strict mother but perhaps because it was the only way to survive.
Well, compared to that hell, sword training might feel a bit closer to paradise.
It wasn’t like I could teach swordsmanship with simple physical training; such systematic techniques couldn’t be conveyed through reckless teaching methods.
“So, should I call you ‘Master’ from now on?”
Thus, I promptly accepted Lord Veloren’s proposal and sprang to my feet to pay my respects. Once I put it on the table, I was resolute about it.
“Well… it’s not such a grand swordsmanship, but if you want to, I won’t stop you.”
Lord Veloren slightly turned her head with a gentle smile, shrugging her shoulders in response. If I wanted to, I could call her that.
…Does this mean she wants to be called ‘Master’?
It seemed like she quite enjoyed the title. Though she didn’t show it outright for the sake of appearances, it was hard to hide her delight.
Regardless, from that day onward, I started learning Lord Veloren’s… no, my Master’s swordsmanship.
I devoted every bit of the two hours of free time I used to have after finishing the afternoon training.
…In other words, it meant that my hellish daily schedule remained unchanged, only now my personal maintenance time had been replaced with training time.
I was crazy.
Why didn’t I think it would turn out like this? It brought tears to my eyes.
But thanks to that, my skills were rapidly improving.
—
Another week passed.
They say humans are animals of adaptation. The training that had once felt hellish—no, outright hell—was starting to become somewhat familiar as we approached a fortnight.
It was still an incredibly hard and exhausting routine, but somehow, I managed to endure it.
Initially, after finishing my training, I would collapse on the bed and instantly fall asleep as soon as I lay down, but recently I’d been able to stay awake for a while.
Sometimes, I’d even find myself waking up in the middle of the night instead of sleeping straight through to morning.
And tonight was one of those nights.
“Ah.”
Suddenly waking up in the dead of night, I let out a soft groan as I sat up.
“Ugh….”
Friede, who had been lying next to me, murmured softly, unable to wake from her dreamland like I had.
‘What time is it…?’
I turned my head to look out the window.
Outside was dark, with a faint crescent moon shining. It was still a long way until dawn.
Should I go back to sleep…?
No, before that, I need to get a drink of water.
Maybe it was because I had sweated a lot from training; my throat was very dry, and I thought I could only fall back asleep after sipping something.
I carefully got up, trying not to wake Friede, and tiptoed down the hallway.
But as it turned out, I didn’t need to be so careful.
As I glanced at Lord Veloren’s room while passing, I noticed a faint light trickling out from the slightly ajar door.
Is she still awake?
How unexpected. Given how much she favored a regular lifestyle, I thought she’d be deep in sleep by now.
Curious about what she might be doing up at this hour, I quietly approached her door and peeked in.
“Huuh….”
A soft sigh. Lord Veloren was leaning on the sofa with a small candle lit on the table.
She was dressed in a translucent nightgown that revealed her body’s silhouette.
In the fingertips she lifted toward her face, she held a clear glass filled with a light golden liquid.
It’s alcohol.
Perhaps she couldn’t sleep. Lord Veloren lay on the sofa, drinking, in her casual pajamas.
Seeing three empty bottles on the table, it seemed she had either a strong drink or had been indulging quite a bit.
I watched her silently for a moment before turning to walk away down the hallway.
I didn’t feel like interrupting her. It would be awkward for both of us to speak to someone dressed like that while drinking at this hour.
Moreover, her expression was so somber that I felt hesitant to disturb her.
“Fernhilde….”
A sighing whisper echoed softly through the corridor I just passed, fading into the darkness.
Something in my chest twisted uncomfortably.
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