Ch.131131. At the Training Ground (1)

Even after revealing my identity to Sione, nothing changed in our daily life. She treated me as she always had, and I continued to treat her the same way.

The only difference was that we had a few more topics to discuss. Of course, these topics were about me. Thanks to consistently answering her questions, Sione had heard quite a lot about me.

Today was another bright morning, and I was in the middle of a casual conversation with Sione.

Knock knock.

In the midst of our routine, a visitor arrived.

‘Sione…’

She had properly changed out of her pajamas and was dressed appropriately, but…

She showed no reaction to the knocking, just hiding under her blanket. Judging by how she was just staring at the door, she had no intention of checking who had come.

I had no choice. I couldn’t leave the visitor standing outside indefinitely. I’d have to check myself.

“I’ll go see who it is.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

I tidied myself up a bit as I walked. This should be presentable enough for any visitor.

I opened the door to greet our guest.

There stood a familiar face I hadn’t seen in a while.

Siabel Sianella. The woman who had fiercely led knights against monsters from atop the wall had come to visit.

“Lady Siabel? What brings you here?”

Her ears perked up!

When I mentioned Siabel’s name, Sione listened intently. She slowly unwrapped herself from her blanket and began to leave the bed.

A normal servant would have probably just ignored it, but it seemed her sister’s visit had caught her attention.

“There’s only one reason to visit a disciple.”

Siabel raised the corner of her mouth in a grin.

As she spoke, shrugging her shoulders lightly, I examined her attire.

‘Not formal wear.’

Within the mansion, people typically wore formal attire rather than comfortable clothing. However, she was wearing loose-fitting clothes instead. She often wore such clothes at the training grounds.

That wasn’t all. Her long hair was also tied back in a ponytail. Except for the lack of protective gear over her clothes, she looked exactly as she did when fiercely crossing swords with Diolia.

‘…It seems she intends to teach me swordsmanship.’

Well, Siabel had mentioned before that she wanted to take me as her disciple. Sione had also nodded at the idea of her teaching me swordsmanship.

I was supposed to start learning right after the festival. But thanks to those damned demon worshippers and their mess that turned the estate upside down, that plan had been completely ruined.

Now that some time had passed and the estate had stabilized, it seemed she finally had the leisure to come for this purpose.

“Sister.”

Sione, who had gotten up from the bed and approached behind me, called out to Siabel.

Siabel waved to her sister and offered a simple greeting.

“Sione, your eyes.”

“…Eyes?”

Siabel made a gesture of rubbing her eyes.

“Looks like you were sleeping until just now.”

“Ah…!”

She quickly rubbed her eyes and then, without being told, started fixing her hair.

Sione smoothed down her hair and cleared her throat with a “hmm hmm.” It was an adorable reaction to hide her embarrassment.

“Sister, when you say you’ve come for your disciple, does that mean you’ll start teaching Ray swordsmanship today?”

“Yes. If possible, I’d like to start teaching today or tomorrow. Is it alright if I take him for a while?”

“Hmm… there’s no problem, but…”

Sione’s gaze shifted from Siabel to me.

“Ray, it might be quite difficult. Are you sure you want to learn swordsmanship from my sister?”

Her tone was concerned, but her eyes didn’t show a trace of worry.

Since Sione had heard about my swordsmanship skills several times, she seemed to be asking this to reconfirm whether I thought I could learn anything from Siabel, rather than out of concern for the difficulty. Of course, that was just my interpretation.

I answered Sione according to my thoughts.

“Yes, as it’s a good opportunity to refine my swordsmanship, I’d like to request your sister’s instruction if possible.”

It was somewhat sincere.

For me, the sword is merely a secondary weapon. Since my proficiency with it is quite lower than with the bow, there’s no harm in learning. Rather than deeply studying swordsmanship, I’ve mostly developed my skills through practical experience.

‘Siabel was truly monstrous in our previous duel.’

A duel of pure swordsmanship without mana.

In that duel, her vicious and demonic techniques had thoroughly exhausted me as the match went on. Her pure swordsmanship skills were already proven.

Siabel, who had wielded a sword for years, would be able to identify and correct my shortcomings.

‘At least I have nothing to lose by crossing swords with her.’

Every duel is experience, and facing that unpleasant sword would keep the awareness I gained on the wall from dulling and falling dormant again.

So I was willing to cross swords with Siabel.

“If you say so…”

Sione, seemingly recognizing my firm resolve, nodded readily.

After confirming my intention, Sione turned back to Siabel.

“Then, sister, may I come along and watch?”

Siabel smiled and stroked Sione’s head as she asked with a tilted head. Naturally, Sione’s neatly arranged hair became disheveled under her sister’s touch.

“Of course. Are you worried about Ray?”

“Well—”

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan to teach him too harshly. Just a few duels and then some proper training sword techniques.”

“I understand, sister.”

“Good.”

“Sister… I understand, but could you stop with my hair…”

Siabel finally stopped messing up Sione’s hair.

“Ugh…”

Sione grumbled quietly as she fixed her disheveled hair.

Tap tap tap! Sione lightly tapped her feet, retrieved a small comb from somewhere, and returned while slowly combing her hair.

Her eyes held a hint of mild resentment. Siabel seemed pleased with this reaction, stepping back with a satisfied smile.

“Well then, let’s go. Ray, I’ve prepared a sword for you to use.”

After saying this, Siabel hummed a clear, cheerful tune as she led the way.

Sione and I followed her silently, like children following the Pied Piper.

In that silence, Sione seemed to want to play a prank on Siabel for messing with her hair.

She repeatedly reached for Siabel’s tightly bound hair, only to withdraw her hand.

“Sione, are you trying to play with my hair?”

“No, that’s…”

In the end, Sione was caught by Siabel and had her hair thoroughly messed up again.

* * *

Since she said she would teach swordsmanship, I thought we might go to the training grounds.

But Siabel led Sione and me past the training grounds to a more secluded area.

Sione was looking around as if it had been a long time since she’d been this way, seemingly lost in nostalgia. I was the only one questioning our destination, not knowing what lay at the end of this unfamiliar path.

“Lady Siabel, haven’t we already passed the training grounds?”

“Yes, we have.”

“May I ask why we continue in this direction?”

“That’s—”

Siabel slowed her pace as she answered.

“I received permission to use Mother’s private training area. We’ll be training there.”

If it’s her mother’s private training area, it must be where Ainel trains separately.

Even when I first came to the Count’s family and followed Ainel around, I never saw her practicing with a sword. And when I was learning the geography of this place, I wasn’t given much explanation about this outermost area of the mansion, and the person in charge of my education didn’t seem inclined to explain.

I felt a bit of anticipation at the thought of seeing a new place in the Count’s residence that I had become so familiar with.

Just then, Sione carefully spoke up.

“Mother’s private training area…? Sister, that place, after what happened to Mother—”

Siabel narrowed her eyes and glanced at me as Sione continued speaking.

Then, before Sione could finish, she turned and stroked her hair again.

“No need to worry. Mother has given her permission.”

“…I understand.”

“Good, good.”

After making me thoroughly curious, Siabel and Sione simply walked in silence.

I also moved quietly, going along with the somewhat subdued atmosphere.

Soon after, a building came into view.

It was a knights’ training room with a ceiling. It was spacious enough for one knight to train with a sword, and just the right size for two knights to cross swords.

Though it was clean and well-maintained, the training room seemed to have been unused for quite some time, as there were no other traces of people.

“I plan to teach you swordsmanship here about three times a week. I’ve prepared your blunted sword and other protective gear over there, so check them.”

“Understood.”

As Siabel instructed, I checked the sword and protective gear, and did some light stretching.

By the time my body started to feel energized, Siabel and I put on our protective gear.

Sione’s role was simply to watch from a distance.

“Now, let me gauge your skill.”

“My skill… didn’t you already assess that in our previous duel?”

“No, not pure swordsmanship. I mean your ability when actively using mana.”

Siabel grinned as she said this.

It was the most definite smile I had seen from her today. I could feel her deep amusement, interest, and palpable expectation.

“Ray, you said you could imbue your sword with magic just as you do with arrowheads.”

Siabel Sianella, who had been brave and cool-headed on the wall, and warm yet friendly in front of Sione and me.

Using her sword as a support, she stood slightly askew and smiled like a mischievous little devil.

“Can you show me now?”