CH 148

“I’m back,” I said.

We were at the stream located slightly outside of Biden Village, having taken a break and rested for a short hour.

Henblitz and I were able to cool our feet, wash our faces, and cleanse our bodies in a refreshing way. Kuruni was soaked all over.

As it was, Kuruni was going to play with water forever until she was hungry or sleepy, so we had her change clothes and offer to head to the dojo.

“Oh, welcome back,” the Old Man said. He’s still moving slowly.

Ever since the Old Man handed over the signboard of the dojo to me and began his retirement, he’s become a lot more mellow. Well, it can be said that he was too sharp until now, but even so, it’s quite a change when you know him when he was in his heyday. Perhaps people who knew him from the old days would be surprised to see the Old Man now.

Even so, he seems to be doing the bare minimum of exercise, and he occasionally comes to watch practice at the dojo. Right now, though, he’s just a lazy old man who says, “I’m hungry,” “my back hurts,” or “I don’t have a grandchild yet.”

“Yeah! That was so refreshing,” Kuruni said, in a really good mood as she entered.

It seems that bathing felt really good for her.

I was having extreme trouble finding a place to point my eyes the entire time she was splashing about.

Kuruni is already too old to be called a girl. She’s already established herself as a knight and should be treated like a fine adult woman.

However, in spite of that, it seems that she is somewhat lacking in awareness, or rather, awareness of her being a woman. While retaining her cuteness, she is attractive enough when seen as an adult woman. She doesn’t really realize it herself, so she’s it’s very troubling to me as a man.

It seems that Sir Henblitz is also struggling with this part of her, and even among the Knights, Kuruni’s lack of modesty is a bit of a problem. Although I want her to notice it somehow, I feel that it is somehow wrong for me to say it out loud, to her face. Tough, isn’t it?

“Mm… welcome, back?”

“Yeah, we’re home,” I said.

And now here was someone who wasn’t there for breakfast. Miu seemed to have woken up while we were out.

It seemed that she still wasn’t able to determine what and where she was in this house, and she sounded so confused. I think she’s probably confused about greeting me at someone else’s house. What a cute girl.

“Did you eat breakfast?” I asked.

“…… I did,” Miu said.

I think she enjoyed breakfast. However, her reaction was rather sluggish, and it looked like her body hadn’t woken up completely yet. Perhaps the fatigue of the trip is still lingering.

Originally, she was not physically strong. She’s not developed yet, so it’s going to take some time for her to get used to it.

“You can sleep a little longer,” I said.

“No… it’s okay,” Miu said.

“I see. Don’t overdo it, though,” I said.

This homecoming was intended to refresh Miu, so it wasn’t very good for her to get exhausted. It would be a problem for her to lead a self-indulgent life, but since the Academy is closed, I would like her to spread her wings elsewhere.

“Old Man, what about Landrid?” I asked.

“Oh, you should be in the dojo around this time,” he replied.

Come to think of it, it’s almost time for the dojo to open. I wonder if they’re doing warm-ups for that.

It was the same for me and the Old Man, but the amount of exercise on the teacher’s side is much less than that of the disciples unless we’re sparring with each other.

If you decide to completely retire, that’s fine, but it’s not enough to keep your body in good shape while working as a dojo master. If you focus only on teaching, your body will only dull.

Even though Landrid has retired as an adventurer, he is a little too young to keep on this decline.

The person himself knows that, so while teaching swordsmanship at the dojo, he must be trying to keep moving as well. I think the will itself is very good.

The training at the Knights is so intense that it can’t be compared to the swordsmanship dojo in the countryside, so I’m relieved in that regard. Sometimes it’s too intense and I don’t have the stamina to keep up myself.

All Knights of Rebelio are basically stamina monsters. Sometimes it feels tough to train with them, but in a case like this one, they turn around and become a reliable ally. No matter how good you are at swordsmanship when it comes to cutting down threats that loom over you like mountains, it’s no use unless you’ve got a solid base of stamina.

“Then let’s go see the dojo,” I said.

“Fine by me, because there are some things that I was concerned about,” Henblitz said.

“It’s so nostalgic!” Kuruni said.

The sun is getting higher, so it’s probably about the time when the serious disciples are coming to the dojo.

When I called out to the two people behind me, they seemed to be looking forward to it. That alone makes me very happy.

To be honest, it’s a swordsmanship dojo in a remote area, so we don’t have an exact time for practice. The timing of the arrival of the disciples is quite random.

Well, even then, it won’t be too late. Both the Old Man’s time and my time, the training hour was generally sometime in the morning. As long as Landrid hasn’t messed around with that area, it shouldn’t have changed.

By the way, our dojo is in a separate building from where we live. Whether the dojo was built first or whether the house was built first remains unknown. There may be some history, but such detailed records do not remain.

My humble guess is that my ancestors, who aspired to be swordsmen, would create a place like a training ground, and people would gather there on their own to ask for their teachings. I wonder if the house was made for them.

Of course, even my Old Man doesn’t seem to understand it at all, so there’s no point in thinking about it.

“Oh.”

When I was moving from my house to the dojo, I heard a faint sound. A voice and the clacks as hard objects collide. In other words, today’s practice has started.

I was a little nervous when I put my hand on the door, even though it was supposed to be the dojo where I was carrying its sign. By this time, I had left this dojo behind.

I hope that my disciples won’t forget me, but what should I do if there are many new children while I’m away, as I expected? Landrid was an excellent adventurer, so it is highly possible that rumors about him have increased the number of people signing up to learn under him.

“Master! Come on in, I’m sure it’s fine,” Kuruni said cheerfully.

“…Yeah, you’re right,” I said.

After I hesitated in front of the door of the dojo for a while, Kuruni spoke up.

She’s really good at cheering people up like this. I don’t know if she is conscious of it, but there are scenes in the past where I was saved by her unending brightness. It’s probably the same after joining the Knights of Rebelio.

For some reason, I feel that she was able to join them even though her sword skills were still developing because of this. If so, it means that the eyes of the upper echelons of the Knights saw Kuruni’s true value. I’m very proud of my eye for talent, too.

“Okay, let’s go. Everyone, we’re coming in,” I said.

It’s not that big of a deal, but I still wait for my feelings to calm down and open the door to the dojo.

As it opened with a rattling noise, on the other side of the door was a space that was too small compared to the training grounds of the Knights, where I could see several disciples and Landrid helping them out.

“Master Beryl!” the students cried.

“Haha, it’s been a while, everyone,” I said.

The students with their wooden swords suddenly gather around me. It’s a happy moment, but I’m a little sorry that I interrupted Landrid’s practice.

From the looks of it, the number of disciples themselves didn’t seem to have changed that much. Or rather, almost everyone was a familiar face.

In the end, many of the students are relatively young.

The reason is relatively simple, there are few people who think about learning swordsmanship again after becoming an adult. Usually, at that age, people should have established their way of making a living, and it’s quite rare for someone to go out of their way to interrupt that and learn swordsmanship from scratch. The only exception is Valder or someone like him.

“Did the people behind you come to watch?” a student asked.

“Hmm, yeah, pretty much,” I said.

I casually answer the questions.

Well, it goes without saying, but there is no child in such a rural village who knows the faces and names of a Rebelio Knight.

It’s been a while since Kuruni left the dojo, so she probably doesn’t know any of these students.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Henblitz said. “I’m Henblitz Draught, Vice-Captain of the Rebelio Knights.”

“Rebelio Knight, Kuruni Krussier!” Kuruni said. “I’m Master’s former apprentice!”

“Knights!? Awesome!”

The place became noisy as the two introduced themselves.

For one thing, even if the faces and names are unknown, the Knight Order is known throughout the kingdom. And the other is because Kuruni is from our dojo.

After all, the fame attached to the Rebelio Knights is amazing. Once again I feel the power of their title.

“I’ll leave the guidance to Landrid,” I said. “These two will be watching.”

“Right!” Landrid said. “But, I’m a little nervous to be watched over by you, Master.”

My disciples are happy that I’m back, albeit temporarily. I’m grateful for that.

However, I have to return to Baltrain once the saber boa matter is settled. This is because there is an important duty as the special instructor over there.

So, for the time being, I will ask Landrid to continue teaching. It wouldn’t be very good to stick my head into his business

“Master and the Knights are watching, so let’s all do our best,” Landrid said.

“Yes!”

With that, the disciples settled down and went back to before. Apparently, he’s trying to show his good side. I couldn’t be happier as a mentor.

“Hmph! Leaving aside Master, the Knights are no big deal!”

And just when I thought that the training would progress in such a good atmosphere, the voice of one person filled the dojo.