Can I Maintain My Sanity?

…After I chased after Miss Eve who had left the room to clear up the misunderstanding, Riel brought up something else that was enough to surprise me.

“That training—I’d like to participate too. Would that be okay?”

“…Huh?”

I was so shocked that a stupid sound escaped my mouth.

Training in a cold forest, staying there for a week.

Plus, Princess Aine’s training was so hard that the fatigue was no joke.

For Riel, who wasn’t particularly physically trained, to undergo such training?

Honestly, it was difficult to approve.

But Riel’s determination, and her eyes, showed she was serious.

“Why…?”

“Well… when I was attacked before, you got badly hurt while protecting me.”

“Riel, that wasn’t your fault!”

I tried to say that, but Riel wouldn’t back down.

“No, it’s because I wasn’t careful that I couldn’t avoid it, and you took the hit instead.”

“That’s not true!”

Even as I said that, I couldn’t honestly deny it in my heart.

Since I had enough time and distance to take the hit while using magic instead, if Riel had tried to dodge, she probably could have.

Looking at Riel’s eyes, I felt I couldn’t persuade her to change her mind, so I looked at Miss Eve.

Since Miss Eve cared so much for Riel, maybe she could persuade her?

That’s what I thought as I tried to leave it to Miss Eve, but…

“Riel, are you serious?”

“Yes. I told you before, sister. I want to become stronger.”

Miss Eve sighed deeply and spoke as if she’d given up.

“…I’ll look after you, but it will still be very tough.”

“I know. I don’t intend to push myself too far.”

…It seems that even Miss Eve couldn’t break Riel’s resolve.

After Riel declared that she would also participate in the training, we went to inform Princess Aine.

Fortunately, Princess Aine was in her usual guest room after talking with my father, so it didn’t take long to find her.

And permission for Riel’s participation in the training was granted more easily than expected.

However, Riel had barely received any training outside the academy curriculum.

Therefore, under Princess Aine’s judgment that it would be difficult to immediately put her into full training, a separate schedule was arranged.

The one who took charge of Riel’s training was none other than her sister, Miss Eve.

This was a result of the judgment that Miss Eve would know Riel better, and that Miss Eve, who was very serious about work, wouldn’t go easy on her sister.

So after three days, we headed to the snowy mountains within the Count’s territory to train with Princess Aine’s subordinates.

But the composition was different from usual with additional members.

First, there was Riel who insisted on receiving training.

Then Senior Iris, who was recommended to join this training and came along.

Lilu, who came along to protect Riel and the World Tree seed she possessed.

And perhaps the most unexpected was this child’s presence.

“Is it really okay for you to come along?”

“Yes, I already told my family… and I’m worried about Riel.”

Emilia Silbright said with a cheerful smile.

When Emilia heard that Riel would leave the mansion for a week-long training, she requested to accompany her.

Of course, Emilia wouldn’t be training as well, but instead would help support by assisting the cooks with preparing meals for the members or helping the medics.

With Princess Aine’s permission, Emilia came along to the snowy mountains.

And as the training officially began, Emilia performed her role excellently.

I didn’t know before, but she was very good at cooking, and her quick sensitivity and proactive behavior made her popular among the members.

And bringing the timeline back to the present.

When I arrived at the campsite after finishing my running training, Riel had already left with Miss Eve for other training.

“Welcome back, Kyo.”

“Emilia, was everything all right at the campsite?”

“Yes, Lilu was here with me too.”

Following Emilia’s gaze, I saw Lilu taking a break while drinking hot cocoa from a cup.

While the members were training, Lilu was in charge of guarding the campsite where the non-combatants remained.

“Lilu, being an elf, takes a surprisingly short time to patrol the forest.”

“I see, I should go say hello.”

As I approached Lilu, she turned her gaze to me.

“Thank you for your hard work, Lilu.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not really much work.”

Lilu spoke casually as if it was nothing.

“How was your patrol?”

“Hmm? Really nothing special. Just some wildlife and a few weak magical beasts. Less eventful than the royal capital even.”

“…The royal capital?”

Come to think of it, after we first arrived at the royal capital, Lilu didn’t show herself for several days.

I assumed she was busy finding a place to settle, but I wonder if something happened?

“Did something happen in the royal capital?”

“Yes, there were a lot of fairies there.”

“What?!”

This was also the first time I’d heard about this.

Well, I guess it can’t be helped since fairies aren’t visible to ordinary people.

“Once I knew they were the Saint’s minions, I shot and killed as many as I could see.”

“…So that’s why I didn’t see you after we arrived at the capital.”

“Yes, some of them escaped, but it took quite a while.”

Lilu put her cup down on the table after finishing her cocoa.

“Compared to that, there are no fairies at all in this area.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“No, it’s actually rare to find places with absolutely no fairies. Usually, even in rural corners, there’s at least one or two.”

Is that so?

Well, since fairies themselves are rare beings to see, I wouldn’t know about that.

“At first I thought it might be the work of the elves living here, but when I asked, they said the fairies disappeared some time ago.”

“That’s… strange.”

“Right? But I don’t know the cause either.”

Lilu, who had been frowning in thought for a moment, looked up.

“Well, it’s better without them, so why worry about it?”

“That’s true.”

“The knight order members have returned too, so I’m going to get some sleep. I’m not used to the cold after all.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

As Lilu entered the barracks, the members who had finished training began to gather under the campsite tent.

Now it was just a matter of waiting for mealtime while taking a short break.

As I sat down in a suitable spot to wait, Eve and Riel also returned to the campsite.

“Oh, everyone’s back.”

“Phew… we’re back.”

Unlike Miss Eve, who showed no signs of fatigue, Riel’s face was a bit tired.

She was receiving combat training from Miss Eve, if I remember correctly.

According to Miss Eve, Riel’s physical aptitude wasn’t bad.

“Good work, Riel.”

“Mmhmm.”

Riel sat down in the empty spot beside me as she replied.

“How was Miss Eve’s training?”

“Well, we focused mainly on training to avoid attacks.”

That makes sense for Riel.

For Riel, who could fire off magic freely based on her massive amount of mana, it would be more helpful to learn evasion rather than attack in combat training.

“Was your body okay?”

“Yes. The training was just dodging thrown balls, so apart from being tired, it wasn’t too bad.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

Actually, when Riel said she would join the training in these snowy mountains, I was a bit worried, but it seems I don’t need to worry too much.

“Mmm~”

“Huh? Um, Riel?”

My mind suddenly cleared when Riel suddenly clung to me and buried her face in my chest.

“Riel? I’m really sweaty right now…”

“Mmm, it’s fine. It’s not bad.”

“No, there’s no way…”

“…It’s not bad.”

…No matter what, it’s troublesome when she presses her face closer in a place with so many people.

Fortunately, most of the knight order members weren’t interested in us.

But still, it’s a bit embarrassing when she even starts sniffing like that.

After having a high-calorie meal served by Emilia and the cooks, we entered the afternoon training.

Starting with simple basic training, then swordsmanship, magic, and sparring.

Then after dinner, we began evening training again.

Training alternating with short breaks like this.

We would be doing this training for a whole week.

Although Riel was on a different schedule with one-on-one training with Miss Eve, her expression was full of fatigue every time she returned.

One day, I was so exhausted from the evening training that I fell asleep without seeing Riel return.

I was very concerned about Riel, but fatigue wouldn’t let me go, so I just fell asleep.

And the next morning.

“?!??”

I almost fainted with a silent scream when I saw Riel inside my sleeping bag.

I wonder how I didn’t wake up when we were squeezed so tightly together in this small sleeping bag.

…No, more importantly, I need to get away quickly.

Since the sleeping bag isn’t that big, having two people in it means we’re extremely close.

It’s very awkward because my lower body is starting to react.

As I was struggling to get my body out of the sleeping bag…

“Are you awake?”

“?!”

I heard Riel’s voice by my ear.

“Uh… yeah. But Riel… what exactly is this situation…”

“Well, since I couldn’t recharge from you yesterday, I wanted to cuddle a bit, but I guess I fell asleep because it was too comfortable.”

“…What?”

“Hehe.”

Saying that, Riel slipped out of the sleeping bag.

…Thank goodness.

If it had been any later, my lower body would have reacted strongly and made the atmosphere awkward.

“Then I’ll go wash up first! Take your time coming out!”

“Uh… yeah. Sure.”

What should I do?

It’s good that Riel has become brighter, but beyond just becoming brighter, something… ahem…

I’m already worried whether I’ll be able to maintain my sanity.