chapter_0052

Chapter 51 : A relationship that’s half like cat and dog

Two days passed quickly.

As I was briefly going about my daily routine as usual, the promised day arrived before I knew it.

Ruina, Elia, and I were currently waiting for Nella at the kingdom’s annex.

Or, to be more precise, we were inside the annex, at the training grounds used by the Shardena Knights, watching their training while waiting for Nella.

“Haa! Haa!”

“Your voice is too quiet! Louder!!”

“One, two! One, two!”

If you were to ask why we were here instead of waiting at the mansion, the reason was simple.

Zenre, who had called to congratulate Elia on passing her mercenary test, heard our story and said she wanted to join us.

“A dragon, you say?! If possible, I’d like to come along as well. Would that be okay?”

“Sigh… Are you really okay with being such an irresponsible knight commander?”

“The knights don’t have much to do anyway, so there are plenty of others who can handle the work. Besides, I’m starting to consider retirement at this point. I should make sure things run smoothly without me.”

“You’re still young, and you’re already thinking about retirement…?”

Zenre, eager to join in on a dragon hunt for the first time in a while, asked for our permission to come along.

Having already served as knight commander for twenty years, she claimed that something like this didn’t even require approval from the administration.

After all, the current king, Enoch, who held more power than the administrative department, was practically Zenre’s friend, so there was no chance of any trouble.

Even so, I couldn’t help but click my tongue at Zenre’s talk of retirement, but in the end, I agreed.

When I asked Nella separately, she also said she was fine with it, and there was no real downside to Zenre coming along.

If anything, it was a good thing, so I allowed her company.

And so, here we were.

As we sat side by side on a bench, watching the knights train, Zenre approached us with a tray full of refreshments.

“Recently, we’ve had a lot of new recruits joining the knights, so we’ve been holding group training sessions often. Thanks to that, the training ground is constantly covered in sand and dust.”

“The recruits are training so hard, yet you don’t need to train?”

“Ahaha! What would I be doing training with the recruits at my age? If anything, I’d be lucky if I didn’t get called reckless for it, Master.”

Zenre said this as she placed the refreshments on the table in front of us.

It was true—Zenre had already turned forty-one this year, stepping into her forties.

But despite her age, she still looked just as young as she did in her mid-to-late twenties.

Though there were some faint signs of aging, she still had no wrinkles and maintained a strong, healthy physique.

Her youthful appearance, which seemed impossible to explain with just the word “baby-faced,” was all thanks to the mana within her body, trained beyond comparison to others.

“As long as you train your mana well, you can live longer and age more slowly than others.”

Mana was the source of life itself.

By training mana, which circulated through the body like blood from the heart, one could not only gain immense strength but also extend their lifespan by at least ten years and slow down aging significantly.

That was why, even at forty-one, Zenre still looked like a woman in her mid-to-late twenties.

I shrugged as I observed Zenre.

“By the way, are you sure you’re okay with Nella coming today? I thought you didn’t like her much.”

“Well… She’s an annoying pain, but she’s not completely broken as a person, so it’s fine.

As a knight commander, I’ve seen my fair share of real lunatics.”

“Ah, yeah… I know exactly what you mean.”

There were people in the world who appeared normal on the outside but were anything but on the inside.

And surprisingly, a good number of them were nobles rather than commoners.

While some nobles governed with a proper sense of responsibility, there were also those whose deaths in a rebellion would be completely unsurprising.

Having served as the Royal Guard Captain, I had encountered plenty of such nobles myself, so I couldn’t help but agree that Nella was practically a saint in comparison.

‘Well… they probably won’t get into a big fight.’

Back when they were my students, their relationship wasn’t great, and even after growing up, they didn’t exactly get along well.

But they were older now, more mature.

They should be able to handle themselves.

Besides, with Elia present, neither of them would be thoughtless enough to start a fistfight in front of a younger person.

And as if to prove the old saying true—speak of the devil and he shall appear—

A woman carrying a staff suddenly stepped into the training ground where the knights were practicing.

Tap, tap—

A woman with golden-yellow hair, braided like a forsythia flower, and striking crimson eyes.

“Whoa, no way… That’s the Tower Master…!”

“What? Why is the Tower Master here…?”

“I think she mentioned meeting Sir Kael today… Looks like it’s true…!”

At the sight of Nella, the knights in the training ground fell into a brief silence before murmurs spread among them.

Even for the prestigious Shardena Knights, encountering someone as famous as the Tower Master—or even more famous—was enough to leave them stunned.

“Tsk.”

Zenre clicked her tongue quietly, seemingly unimpressed by their reaction.

But no matter how strong the knights were, hearing such a tiny tongue-click was beyond their ability.

Feeling a bit sorry for the knights who would surely suffer later, I turned my gaze toward the center of the commotion—Nella.

“Let’s see… Ah.”

Though she was drawing all the attention in the room, Nella didn’t seem to care.

She scanned the training ground with an indifferent look before quickly spotting us and heading straight in our direction.

The moment she stood before us, she gave a respectful bow to Ruina and me.

“It has been a long time, Master, Lady Ruina.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while, Nella.”

“Mm, long time no see, Nella.”

By year count, it had been a full fifteen years since we last saw each other.

As I returned her greeting with a smile, Nella turned her gaze toward Elia, who was sitting beside us.

“Hmm… So you’re the daughter of Master and Lady Ruina? Hello, little lady.

I am Nella Oracle, the current Tower Master and a magician.”

“Ah, hello! I’m Elia, a mercenary!”

Elia had never seen Nella before.

During the festival where Nella had been present, Elia had simply been enjoying the festivities and hadn’t noticed her.

Not to mention, she had only been five years old at the time.

So, in essence, this was their first proper meeting.

Seeing Elia meeting my students one by one, I felt like she was on a path to meeting all of them eventually.

Maybe I should gather all my students one day and throw a party.

Lost in such idle thoughts, I watched as they exchanged greetings.

Then, Nella turned her gaze toward Zenre, who was standing nearby.

“Heh, it’s been a while, hasn’t it, Zenre?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while, Nella. Are you still stuck in the magic tower, just researching all the time? You look like you’ve put on some belly fat.”

Hearing Zenre’s provocation as a greeting, I unconsciously took a deep breath.

Ruina and Ellia, who were sitting next to me, also inhaled sharply and fell silent.

Only the distant shouts of the knights resuming their training awkwardly filled the background.

Then, Nella, whose eyebrow twitched at Zenre’s provocation, responded with a bright smile.

Or, to be more precise—

“I heard you don’t even do knightly duties anymore and just laze around all day. Haven’t you gained some belly fat? Oh my, wait a second—oh dear, it’s not just belly fat, you’ve got wrinkles too!”

“……”

With an equally big counter-provocation, Nella responded to Zenre.

Of course, neither Nella nor Zenre actually had belly fat or wrinkles.

They were just using the most effective taunts against each other, considering both had now entered their forties.

And because those taunts hit so well, the atmosphere around them gradually grew colder, as if tension might soon escalate into something more serious.

‘Well… at least they’re not pulling swords on each other like in the old days. Should I consider this growth or not…?’

As I watched them with such thoughts, Ruina suddenly stood up to mediate.

“Alright, alright, both of you. My daughter is watching—what are you doing? It’s natural to gain belly fat and wrinkles as you get older, so don’t pick fights over it.”

“……Ahem!”

“……Cough.”

Unfortunately for them, the one saying this was Ruina—who was already well past seventy.

For Zenre and Nella, hearing that from her was actually a bigger hit than each other’s taunts.

As an elf with a long lifespan, Ruina maintained a youthful appearance and a healthy body, looking even younger than both of them.

If another elf had said this, Zenre and Nella would have turned their attacks toward them.

But since it was Ruina—who was my wife, a war hero, and their senior by far—they couldn’t even argue back.

And so, unable to respond, the two quietly let go of their fiery tension like cold water had been poured over them.

“……Apologies, Lady Ruina. We weren’t acting very mature in front of your daughter.”

“I apologize as well, Lady Ruina…”

Yet, despite apologizing to Ruina, they clearly had no intention of apologizing to each other.

After the brief moment of awkwardness passed, Nella adjusted her staff and spoke up.

“Well then, now that we’ve finished our greetings, let’s depart right away. I’ve identified the direction the dragon horde is moving south, so I’ll teleport us to the designated location.”

With those words, she lightly tapped her staff on the ground.

Immediately, a massive magic circle was drawn beneath our feet, and a bright white light filled our vision.

Paahh—!

As the magic circle glowed, our sight was completely engulfed in white.

The next moment, when I blinked my eyes open, a completely different landscape unfolded before us.

No longer the sandy, dusty training grounds of the royal palace—

But a vast, wind-swept plateau.

“Wow, the air is so fresh.”

Crunch.

The sound of Ellia biting into a cookie echoed through the breeze.