Quite a bit of time had passed since I was kicked out of Crete’s office.
It felt like about a week.
I felt much more at ease after the long-awaited break.
‘…Every day felt like a war back when I was in Sytan.’
No problems arose at Bares’ mansion, nor were there any instances where blood was shed.
I wished this peace could last forever.
However, there was one problem.
Actually, maybe not a problem.
I watched Anna diligently swinging a wooden sword in front of me.
When Rene wasn’t calling for me, I had nothing else to do, so I often watched Anna train.
And so, we started talking to each other, and we formed a decent relationship.
I thought Crete or Rene would say something about me being close to Anna, but they didn’t.
‘…They did say they haven’t seen each other more than five times in total.’
Rene’s reaction was indifferent when I explained I was currently spending time with Anna.
Rene had no interest in the position of the head of the family, and she didn’t pay attention to Anna because he was always cooped up in his room.
You might think this is some messed up family, but if you think about it, aren’t there quite a few families like that if you look around?
I think it’s easier to think of Rene and Anna’s relationship like that.
Anyway,
‘He’s working hard.’
I continued to watch Anna swinging the wooden sword.
Anna, with his slender physique and androgynous name.
It was a fitting combination.
The problem was that he didn’t seem used to using his body. I wouldn’t know why he was swinging the wooden sword.
What was it again?
‘Crete told him to.’
Crete suddenly called Anna, who had been confined to his room and made him swing a wooden sword.
Even Anna didn’t know the reason, but he said he had no choice but to obey because of Crete’s unique aura.
That was what I didn’t understand.
Anna still hadn’t learned Sword Lacquer yet…
As I frowned, trying to figure out Crete’s intentions,
“Ah…!”
Thud!
Anna let out a short scream and lost his grip on the wooden sword.
Drops of blood dripped onto the wooden sword that had fallen to the floor.
His palm was torn.
I rushed over to Anna and asked,
“Are you alright?”
“I’m not, but I’m going to keep going. Don’t stop me.”
“…It’s best to stop. Your skills won’t improve like this.”
I tried to persuade Anna to stop training, but his attitude was firm.
I couldn’t help but sigh.
Crete.
He said he told Anna to improve his skills as soon as possible.
But I couldn’t help but view that opinion negatively.
“Mr. Anna, you…”
“What about me?”
“…It’s nothing.”
I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
I couldn’t tell someone who was trying so hard that their palm tore that they had no talent.
Ha.
What should I do?
Anna’s talent in martial arts was, to put it nicely, average.
To be honest, he was untalented.
He possessed talent that was below average.
‘I don’t think he’s properly learned the mana breathing method.’
The amount of mana he possessed wasn’t that great either.
I could sense the unique mana of the Bares, but that was all.
On top of that, he didn’t even have a talent for magic.
In fact, I thought it would be better for Anna to focus on his studies rather than learning the sword.
Anna is the next head of the Bares.
Although his talent in martial arts was lacking, Anna’s mind was sharp.
‘He only read books in his room, but he was the second most knowledgeable person after Samuel.’
But,
‘…Why?’
The reason Crete called the next head of the family, Anna, and made him learn martial arts.
I couldn’t figure it out, and it gave me a headache.
Why was he tormenting a child who had been reading books in his room?
Ugh.
I let out a sigh and opened my mouth to speak to Anna.
“I think it’s best to stop here for today.”
“No, I’m going to do more.”
Anna stubbornly refused my words.
He couldn’t easily let go of his training because he thought Crete had expectations for him.
But if he continued training any longer today, he could really get hurt.
That’s why I decided to stop Anna no matter what.
If Anna got hurt, it would be me and the other servants who would suffer the consequences…
“Mr. Anna, I’ll teach you swordsmanship properly later, so please stop here for today. If you get hurt, you won’t be able to train for a while, and you won’t even be able to do simple movements for a few days.”
“…Alright.”
Thud.
Anna nodded his head and sat down on the ground.
Slide.
I handed him a flask filled with water.
The flask I had brought with me during the invasion of the Human Realm could hold a lot of water.
I also had sandbags, but I didn’t use them because I didn’t really need them.
Gulp, gulp.
Anna took the flask from me and started to drink water.
After drinking for a while, Anna straightened the flask and wiped the water from her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Phew, that’s refreshing!”
“Hydration is essential during exercise. Otherwise…”
“I know, I know. Stop nagging.”
“…”
I stared silently at Anna, who cut me off.
What should I say…?
He was similar to Rene, but also different.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and then got up.
I had to take care of Rene as well as Anna.
‘I feel like I’ve become the exclusive servant of the Bares siblings…’
Actually, it wasn’t just a feeling, it was the truth.
Crete had secured the protection of his son and daughter for free.
And if something like Anna getting hurt today happened, he would yell at me.
‘If he cherishes his children so much, he should take care of them himself.’
I didn’t understand why he left Rene, and I didn’t understand why he was suddenly making Anna train.
Did he get some strange idea in his head?
Anyway,
“I’ll be going now.”
“Yeah, take good care of my sister.”
“…I don’t know what you mean by ‘take good care’, but I’ll try my best.”
“Good attitude. And really, teach me swordsmanship tomorrow!”
“Alright.”
Since I promised, I had no choice but to teach him, even if it was just the basics.
The problem was, I wasn’t very good with longswords, so I wasn’t sure how it would go.
Maybe I should tell him in advance to switch to daggers.
But Rene used a longsword, so I couldn’t tell him to give up on swordsmanship altogether.
I thought it might be a good idea to teach him some practical combat skills.
Anyway, I moved my feet and headed for Rene’s room.
I had an important ‘proposal’ to make to Rene today.
* * *
With an awkward smile, I entered Rene’s room.
Rene, who was sitting on the bed, stared at me and opened her mouth.
“It’s unusual for you to come looking for me first.”
“…”
I couldn’t help but scratch the back of my head at Rene’s words.
The reason I came to see Rene today wasn’t entirely pure.
I opened my mouth with difficulty.
“…There’s a place I’d like you to go with me.”
“Where?”
“Well, I recently found a secret realm, and since it’s an intermediate to high-level secret realm, I need your help.”
I spoke as gently as possible to appease Rene.
I wanted to finally visit the secret realm that Kyle had found.
I didn’t know what the rewards would be, but I was sure there would be something valuable.
It was common knowledge that secret realms that were difficult to clear or located in remote areas had amazing rewards.
However, Rene might find it annoying or difficult, so I tried to be as careful as possible with my words.
But,
“Okay.”
“If you don’t want to, I can go alone… Huh, really?”
I was surprised when Rene readily agreed to my proposal.
She’s really coming with me?
I thought persuading Rene would be the most difficult task, so I was wondering what to do.
I had decided to go with Kyle, but he wasn’t exactly a great fighter, even if he was exaggerating.
But with Rene, it was a different story.
With her, whose skills were similar to mine, it would be much easier.
As I stood there dumbfounded, Rene tilted her head.
“Why, don’t you want me to come?”
“No, I was just so happy that I was at a loss for words.”
“…Smooth talker.”
Although it was an obvious lie, Rene didn’t seem offended and twitched the two horns on her head.
Phew.
I let out a sigh of relief and told Rene the brief schedule.
“We’re planning to visit the day after tomorrow morning, but do you have any other plans?”
“Nope.”
“That’s good to hear. Then I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
After setting a schedule with Rene,
I was about to leave.
“When you talked to Dad.”
Rene spoke to me as I was about to leave.
Feeling the atmosphere grow heavy, I nodded my head.
“Are you talking about our conversation the other day?”
“Yeah, you didn’t explain it then.”
Rene was asking if Crete had explained why he was leaving her.
So, I nodded.
“Yes, the Lord didn’t tell me. He said I’d find out when the time was right.”
“…Right.”
Rene nodded her head as if she understood.
Then, she closed her eyes, lost in thought.
…She seemed to be thinking about something, so I decided not to disturb her.
Slide.
Click.
I quietly left Rene’s room and closed the door.
As I walked down the hallway, I became lost in thought.
Rene, Crete, and Anna.
What secret were they hiding?
And what was Crete planning?
For some reason…
‘This uneasy feeling won’t go away.’
…It seemed like I wouldn’t be sleeping peacefully for a while.
Access 5 advance chapters with the ‘Position Exchange I’ Tier ($10), or 10 advance chapters with ‘Eye of Arrogance’ Tier ($18), or 20 advance chapters with ‘Sword Lacquer’ Tier ($35), or 30 advance chapters with ‘Fighting Spirit’ Tier ($50)
Bonus chapter on reaching milestones.
Join our discord server for latest release updates and novel discussions.