Ch.8080. At the Training Ground (1)

Once again, I spent a long time traveling by carriage.

I sat in the carriage as it moved endlessly forward, simply passing the time by watching the scenery flow by outside.

Finally, at the western edge of the kingdom, the large and majestic walls—the pride of the County of Sianella—began to appear in the distance.

As expected, Sione was sitting on the floor of the carriage in a comfortable position, blankly staring outside.

She too seemed overjoyed by the fact that she had finally returned to the territory where she was born and raised.

“Finally…!”

She suddenly rose from the carriage floor where she had been resting all day and took a seat beside me.

Sione pressed her cheek against the window to look at the walls, completely disregarding my presence right next to her.

After some time passed like this.

Still showing no sign of moving away from my side, she adjusted her position and looked at her bow placed at one side of the carriage.

The bow she received from Ainel.

It was the same in that it was a recurve bow made of the same wood.

But with the elasticity of the bow limbs and the increased draw weight.

And due to insufficient practice time, Sione had not yet fully adapted to that bow.

Looking at her new bow with a satisfied smile, she scratched her head and said:

“I think I’ll be quite busy once we return to the Count’s residence.”

We’ve already experienced enough troublesome and cumbersome things during our carriage journey.

Now that we’re returning to the Count’s residence, when we should be resting as much as possible, she’s saying she’ll be busy again.

Even if it was just an absent-minded mutter, I couldn’t let it pass quietly.

“Busy with what?”

At my question, Sione looked down at her long, slender fingers and replied:

“It’s been too long since I properly shot my bow due to unsuitable places and situations. That’s probably why my feel for it seems a bit off lately. Once we return to the Count’s residence, I plan to spend most of my time at the shooting range for a while.”

Sione revealed a surprisingly admirable thought.

I stroked her platinum hair as if already accustomed to doing so.

As she enjoyed my touch like a cat enjoying its owner’s petting, I offered her some words of encouragement.

“You say your feel is off, but you’ve shown considerable skill whenever small monsters attacked the carriage.”

During our carriage journey, whenever things got boring, numerous monsters—especially goblins—would invariably lurk around the carriage.

Each time, Sione would be the first to step forward and shoot arrows at the monsters.

Contrary to her words, Sione didn’t show any decline in skill at those times. Rather, she showed continuous improvement.

‘She even accurately hit the heads of moving goblins occasionally.’

Most of her arrows hit the goblins’ bodies without fail.

She demonstrated remarkable accuracy, occasionally piercing the heads of goblins that were thrashing about wildly. Considering how she had missed shots at goblins when we first headed to the Beltrin Mountains, this was tremendous progress.

Pleased with my words, Sione squared her shoulders proudly.

“I appreciate the kind words. But I’m far from satisfied with just this much. At the very least… I should try to surpass my teacher.”

“By teacher, do you mean me?”

“Of course. Who else would be my archery teacher if not you, Ray?”

“…It won’t be easy.”

“We’ll see who’s better when we try. Just wait a little. I may not beat you, but it won’t take long before I reach a level comparable to yours.”

“Ah….”

Well… they say it’s good to dream big.

Moreover…

To somehow save this world that will be toyed with by demons, we might need tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people with skills beyond mine.

I quietly nodded at Sione’s words.

“…I’ll support you.”

Satisfied with my response, Sione nodded firmly.

I thought she would now return to her designated spot, crawling back into the warm blanket on the floor to roll around and lie down again.

But Sione remained seated beside me, staring intently at my profile.

Her gaze, which lingered for a while, felt unusually intense today.

The moment I turned my head to see why she was acting this way—

“Besides—”

Sione smiled brightly as if she had been waiting for me to look at her.

Then she hugged one of my arms and leaned against my shoulder.

A gentle, refined voice flowed from her small lips, which curved upward in a soft line.

“Don’t you remember something you promised me before?”

“A promise…?”

“Hmm, surely you haven’t forgotten. Well, it’s fine. I remember it clearly.”

Sione puffed her cheeks, pretending to be upset.

She met my eyes.

Her blue eyes seemed to shine brighter and more vividly than usual today.

“Didn’t you say that if I could infuse Mana into arrowheads like an Expert knight, you would offer your lips to me first?”

“……”

“Judging by your expression, you seem to remember now.”

Little devil.

Sione created an atmosphere that was infinitely playful yet, in some way, extremely serious.

“…Wait just a little longer.”

Sione gently placed her index finger on my lips.

“I’ll definitely claim it.”

I stared blankly at Sione after her bold declaration.

Then I quietly stroked her head and nothing more.

* * *

The long carriage journey finally ended. We arrived at the Count’s residence, a place that had become all too familiar.

Upon arriving at the Count’s residence, Sione, Ainel, and everyone else who had shared the long journey returned to their own quarters to reorganize themselves.

Of course, I was no exception. I returned to my assigned room to unpack and tidy myself up.

‘I’ll just throw the sword I got from Eunice over here… and the newly acquired bow is precious, so I’ll put it here…’

After roughly organizing everything, I took a simple bath and changed into clean clothes instead of my wrinkled and dirty ones.

I checked my appearance in the full-length mirror in the room, tidied my hair, and took a short rest.

By the time Sione would have finished bathing and changing her clothes,

I gradually left my room and headed toward my master’s room.

Even as I walked toward her room, I slowly scanned my surroundings.

“…It’s been a while.”

The familiar structure and scenery of the residence.

As I walked, reminiscing about these familiar sights, I spotted another familiar figure in the distance.

Her hair was the same platinum color as my master’s, and the clothes she wore were not the kind that servants or knights of the residence would wear.

This meant that woman had the Sianella name.

Ainel had said she would be holed up in her office for a while due to accumulated work. Sione would obviously be waiting for me in her room in this situation—

That woman wearing beautiful embroidered formal attire that gave me a sense of déjà vu could only be one person.

‘Siabel Sianella.’

The second person after Sione to notice my ability to use magic.

None other than my master’s older sister, Siabel Sianella.

As I recognized her, Siabel seemed to recognize me as well.

Her eyes glanced in my direction, and then without hesitation, she turned her body.

“…Ray.”

As Siabel whispered my name quietly, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

She changed direction and slowly began walking toward me.

As the distance between Siabel and me narrowed, I could see her more clearly.

Indeed… Siabel was true to herself.

That confident gait befitting an Expert knight.

The dignity of a noble lady of the Count’s family evident in her every small gesture.

And…

That friendly atmosphere revealing considerable interest in me.

Siabel looked exactly the same as the last time I saw her before we parted.

Siabel and I exchanged simple greetings, asking about each other’s well-being.

Despite not having spoken for a long time, it wasn’t awkward or unfamiliar.

After all, I was merely exchanging formal conversation as her subordinate, and she as my superior.

The problem started now.

It began when Lady Siabel Sianella, who had been conversing well enough, let out a small laugh and said:

“Well, let’s put aside these stuffy greetings… since we don’t have much time. Let’s move on to more interesting topics.”

“By interesting topics, you mean…”

“Did you deliver my message to Aria Allenar properly?”

Saying this, Siabel waited for my answer with an expression of utmost anticipation.

Yes, if she’s asking if I delivered it well, I certainly did.

I conveyed Siabel’s message to Lady Aria, the daughter of a Marquis, word for word without missing anything.

Although Aria had first ordered me to relay Siabel’s message exactly, it took considerable mental effort to directly convey Siabel’s nerve-grating words to her.

Thinking about the evening banquet, I nodded while trying to hide my discomfort as much as possible.

“Yes, I conveyed your message to Lady Aria Allenar exactly as you said, without missing a single word.”

“Oho.”

At my words, Siabel let out a small laugh as if she had heard something extremely amusing.

“Then… you must have seen that bitch Aria’s frustrated face up close. I’d like to know how she reacted.”

At Siabel’s words, I recalled Aria’s reaction when she heard her message.

Clearly, she seemed to be holding back her anger at Siabel’s provocation at first.

But in the end, unable to contain her frustration, she gritted her teeth and expressed intense irritation toward Siabel.

“…Lady Aria Allenar was very upset. And—”

Aria Allenar didn’t just end with being upset.

“…Lady Aria Allenar requested that I relay her message to you as well.”

As if unwilling to lose, she also asked me to convey her words to Siabel.

Siabel’s eyes began to shine with even more interest at the mention of Aria’s message.

“A message from Aria.”

Siabel crossed her arms with an expectant expression and said:

“Can you tell me? Of course… without missing a single word.”

What on earth did I do in my past life to end up in this situation as soon as I returned to the Count’s residence?

Unable to resist the expectation evident in Siabel’s expression, I conveyed Aria’s message to her exactly as she had told me.

“Lady Aria Allenar said…”

Taking a deep breath first.

“This winter, the northern spearwoman will come to utterly destroy that knight bitch who spends every day swinging her sword around…”

As I relayed Aria’s message, Siabel’s eyebrows twitched.

“So get ready to be crushed by my hands like the northern bear coming down to your territory, as you said… is what she told me.”

Siabel merely gave a cold smile at Aria’s continued message.

…Seriously, if they’re going to do this, they should just exchange letters.

Why involve a person in the middle and make my heart race like this?