Ch.286286. As expected, lovers’ quarrels are the most entertaining.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“No matter how busy you are, you need to eat properly and exercise regularly.”

“I understand.”

“Don’t drink too much late at night, and since you could get hurt, practice with wooden swords rather than real ones!”

“…Yes.”

“The Forest of Miracles and the Academy… Perhaps it’s time to comfortably review what you’ve accomplished rather than taking on additional work?”

“…You’re right. Now I really must be going.”

After leaving behind Elaria Alphonse’s nagging, I boarded the carriage to find Clara and Jawil Wilson already seated on the sofa, rising and bowing as I entered.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“You’re here…?”

Clara and Jawil Wilson sat side by side with awkward expressions.

Taking a seat on the opposite sofa, I spoke.

“Jawil Wilson.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What were you two doing?”

At that, Jawil Wilson turned pale and showed both his palms.

“S-surely you don’t think we were doing something inappropriate in the carriage? Young master, you misunderstand!”

“That’s not what I meant. I was asking what you two did during the two days at Alphonse territory. Why are you so flustered?”

I tilted my head, and Jawil Wilson sighed deeply with an expression that said ‘I’ve been had.’

“…We just ate and looked around various places in Alphonse territory.”

“With Clara?”

“Yes.”

“Must have been a nice time. While someone else was being tormented by family members and couldn’t even sleep properly.”

“You couldn’t sleep?”

Haah…

Every evening, I firmly blocked Miria Alphonse from entering my room when she claimed she was scared and wanted to sleep together.

When I locked the door, she tried to come in through the window, and when I closed the window, she imitated her mother Elaria Alphonse’s voice to trick me into opening the door.

Pure madness.

I shook my head, struggling to dispel the nightmarish moments of those two days.

“Anyway, what did you two do? Yesterday I noticed you left in the morning and only returned in the evening.”

“D-didn’t I tell you? We looked around various places in Alphonse territory.”

“While you were there, it might have been nice to visit the Dream Hill of Alphonse territory.”

Clara startled and spoke up.

“Dream Hill?”

“It’s a place with a legend that if loving couples visit there, their love will last forever. It’s quite famous in Alphonse territory.”

“Ah…”

Whether they had already visited Dream Hill or not, Jawil Wilson and Clara’s faces turned bright red.

I leaned back on the carriage sofa with a smirk.

“Well, isn’t someone feeling lonely?”

As I muttered quietly, Jawil Wilson hastily changed the subject.

“D-did Padericks meet with the woman successfully?”

“Father told me they did meet. I don’t know the details yet. Padericks left for Lake territory last night, so we didn’t have much chance to talk.”

Even though Padericks had only been away from Lake territory for a few days, there was so much work that operations were nearly paralyzed.

It felt like a moment when work needed to be better distributed.

“…I see.”

“Besides, it’s not polite for a third party to pry too much into someone else’s romantic affairs, is it?”

“Then why did you—”

“What?”

“N-nothing.”

Jawil Wilson quickly waved his hands dismissively, then suddenly turned his gaze toward the carriage window.

“Wow, the Western Continent has amazing scenery.”

“We’re still in the Eastern Continent.”

“…Haha, the Eastern Continent certainly has many beautiful places.”

Ignoring Jawil Wilson’s nonsense, I closed my eyes briefly, only to have Clara cautiously speak up.

“Young master, will you not be training on the way to the Western Continent?”

“There’s a lot to do once we reach the Western Continent, so you two should train together.”

“With Jawil Wilson…?”

“Why, can’t you raise a sword against someone you love?”

“…That’s not it. I just don’t think training with Jawil Wilson alone would be helpful.”

“Haah…”

Screech-!

Just then, the carriage came to a stop.

The coachman knocked and opened the carriage door.

Clunk-!

“Young master.”

“What is it?”

“Since this is my first time traveling to the Western Continent, may I check the map for a moment?”

“Let’s take a break to let the horses recover their strength as well.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

With a short sigh, I grabbed a wooden sword and stepped out of the carriage, then nodded at Clara and Jawil Wilson.

“You two grab wooden swords and get out of the carriage too.”

I positioned Clara and Jawil Wilson facing each other and stood between them with my arms crossed.

“Jawil Wilson.”

“Yes, sir.”

“It seems Clara thinks training with you isn’t helpful?”

“Of course, it’s because my skills are inferior to yours, young master.”

“No, I think it’s because you’ve been going too easy on Clara.”

As Jawil Wilson looked flustered at my words, Clara spoke with a stern expression.

“…You went easy on me?”

“Did you think you could match Jawil Wilson without using magic?”

“W-well no, but I thought Jawil Wilson was giving his best…”

Jawil Wilson hastily interjected.

“I-I did try my best.”

“You’re saying that as the deputy commander of the knights, you barely outmatched a magician who wasn’t even using magic?”

As I lowered my voice and rested the wooden sword on my shoulder, Jawil Wilson took a step forward, looking frightened.

“Young master, please calm down!! No matter what, I can’t use my full strength against someone weaker than—”

Jawil Wilson’s voice trailed off as he sensed the chilly atmosphere, and he slowly turned his head toward Clara.

“…Jawil Wilson, are you saying you went easy on me because I’m weak?”

“N-no, I’m not saying I went easy on you because you’re weak, I just adjusted my strength—”

“Adjusting your strength means you went easy on me.”

Unable to say anything more, Jawil Wilson hung his head.

Meanwhile, Clara still looked thoroughly angry.

I sighed briefly as I looked back and forth between them.

“Instead of wasting time on useless conversation, shouldn’t you two have a sparring match?”

Clara gripped her wooden sword tightly.

However, Jawil Wilson looked like his mind was half gone.

“Hey, Jawil Wilson.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you don’t do it properly this time, I’ll show you and Clara a training session unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before, so look forward to it.”

Finally, Jawil Wilson seemed to come to his senses and widened his eyes.

Then he slowly raised his head toward Clara.

“Clara, are you sure you won’t regret this?”

“Of course not.”

Jawil Wilson gripped his wooden sword firmly and charged toward Clara.

Watching them with satisfaction, I smirked and said in a low voice.

“Indeed, lovers’ quarrels are the most entertaining.”

*

Knock knock-!

“Oh, come in.”

In an inn located in Grey territory in the Western Continent.

No sooner had I unpacked in my room than Jawil Wilson entered and poured out his complaints.

“Young master, you’ve gone too far.”

“Why, what now?”

“Do you really want things to work out between Clara and me?”

“Well, couples should figure things out themselves.”

“Do you remember Clara’s expression after training? She wouldn’t speak a word to me with that hardened face.”

“That’s because she felt her skills were still lacking.”

Jawil Wilson pounded his chest with an aggrieved expression.

“Clara has such strong pride, why did you have to be so honest?”

I paused while unpacking and half-sat on the bed.

“If you knew she had such strong pride, why did you hold back during the sparring?”

“T-that was because I was afraid Clara might get hurt…”

“Clara is a woman serious enough about training to ask me directly for sparring. What do you think would happen if she found out later that you were holding back?”

“…I hadn’t thought that far.”

“It might actually be better that you showed your true skills now. Clara will also learn a lot from today’s sparring with you.”

Jawil Wilson fidgeted with his fingers, looking small despite his large frame.

“Should I go apologize to Clara now?”

“No need, just leave it alone and it will resolve itself.”

“I tried talking to Clara in the carriage earlier, but she wouldn’t even respond, as you saw.”

“She must be in shock.”

“…Shock?”

I smiled faintly at Jawil Wilson, who still wore a puzzled expression.

“Clara probably knew you had improved since your days in Pandera territory, but she couldn’t have expected you to be this strong.”

“Ah… that makes sense. I’ve never really shown her my proper swordsmanship.”

“It’s probably for the best. Having realized her own lack of skill, she’ll grow faster.”

Knock knock-!

Just then, another knock sounded at the door.

I turned my head toward it.

“Come in.”

Creeak-!

As the door opened, Clara appeared, awkwardly scratching her head.

Then she looked at Jawil Wilson and spoke.

“Jawil Wilson, could you help me with sparring again…?”