CH 8

Chapter 8: My Day Off with Jend

Henry: “Oh yeah, I heard from Cyril that there’s someone you’re interested in?”

Jend: “Sheesh, that girl…”

I parry his blow to the side. Each of his swings carry a lot of weight and power, but I’m still managing to deflect and redirect his swings.

Jend: “Ah well, yeah, I guess it’s nothing to hide. The topic just never came up.”

I counter and swing the blunt end of my spear at Jend, but he receives the blow on his shoulder protector. He didn’t take damage by I swing through to push him back and widen our distance between each other.

With him farther away, I thrust and jab my spear. Jend jumps back using the momentum from the blow before, and distances himself away from the spear’s reach.

Henry: “So, what, ugh, kind of, person, is she?!”

Jend: “She’s, hmph, a beauty!”

I chase him down and swing at his sides in a wide arc. Jend blocks the swing which had quite a bit of momentum behind it with a defensive sword stance.

Dang, he’s sturdy.

Henry: “I’d like, to meet her, one day.”

Jend: “That’s, too bad. She lives, in another town.”

Our light banter continues as we pick up the speed and our swings grow more frequent and intense.

Of course, we’re not playing around or going easy on each other.

We’re both quite serious in trying to win.

I’m using a wooden sword with a cloth tied to the end, but it could still cause serious injuries with a solid hit. We are talking while training, but none of us are taking this lightly.

During an expedition, the communication between adventurers in the same party is one of the most important factors that will determine your chance of success. It is critical to understand when you’re party is sending out a warning or requesting assistance from the party - stuff like that.

So though we are in serious combat, being able to communicate while you fight is an important skill to develop.

Of course, you need to go through some serious training or this would not be possible. Breathing will get harder, and while you swing, your teeth and jaws are usually clenched.

But for those who can fight while pumping magic throughout their body, this becomes easier.

Henry: “There.”

Jend: “Crap!”

Weaving through his defenses, my spear thrust stops before it reaches Jend’s throat, and we both pause to let the moment pass.

Jend: “I surrender.”

Henry: “Good work.”

Today, we had 10 bouts - I won 7 and lost 3. I managed to win overall, and I’m glad to have done so as the veteran between the two.

Jend: “Aw man. I thought, I had this one in the bag when I got two consecutive wins on the 5th and 6th round—…”

Henry: “We’re 6 years apart, so I’m not going to lose to you that easily.”

I say that, but Jend will probably exceed me in about one year if we’re strictly using just weapons. I have to admit that he has more talent than me.

His sword skills will exceed me, but there are certain tactics and magic you can employ on the field to even out the odds, and I could squeeze out desperate wins with strategy, but winning like that can be frustrating.

Henry: “Jend, here’s your towel.”

Jend: “Oh, thanks.”

We hung two towels on a nearby tree, and I throw his to him.

This is Jend’s house’s yard.

I actually had a tough time finding a good training spot.

Of course, I can keep on going on expeditions to keep my instincts sharp, but if all it took was real combat to maintain your strength, no one would be having any trouble. It’s important to practice the basics and forms of your art, because small changes and bad habits will add up and cause your fighting style to degrade or regress.

There are a few adventurers with natural born talent that sharpen their fangs by only fighting enemies, but that is more of an exception to the rule.

Of course, in a town like this, there’s no reason I have to maintain or improve my skills with the level of enemies here, but this was something that was ingrained in me from an early age.

Of course, I could use the church’s training yard, but the paperwork gets really annoying, really fast.

But I can’t just be swinging my spear around in a random location, so I asked Jend where he trains at.

He brought me to the yard of his house.

He’s the son of a wealthy merchant so his house and yard were enormous and spacious.

Henry: “Hey Jend, I haven’t properly thanked you for letting me borrow your yard for training. It’s close to where I’m staying, and honestly, it was a huge help.”

Jend: “I’m the one that should be thanking you. My master is too busy, and so I could only exercise and do sword swings alone. Now I have a training partner who I can spar with, AND he’s a higher skill level than I am for now.”

I guess it is a win-win situation. And he added “for now” so he definitely doesn’t like losing, but as a fighter, that’s perfectly normal.

Jend: “Mrs. Kiyo! Could you bring us some refreshments? For two please!”

Kiyo: “Of course young master. Right away.”

One of the servants was passing by and Jend asks for drinks.

Jend: “Don’t you think I’m a little old to be called *’young master’?”

Henry: “Haha, chill out, man.”

I didn’t know what else to say, and just left it at that.

From my experience, to an elderly woman like that, Jend will forever remain as her young master.

Henry: “Oh, tell me more about this girl. You said she’s not from Flowtier, and she’s pretty, but what kind of girl is she?”

Jend: “Man, you are not dropping the subject.”

Henry: “Of course, it’s too interesting to drop now.”

If he was dumped, I wouldn’t breach the subject, but otherwise, who you like and who you prefer is a fun conversation topic. It’s not just women who like gossiping about romance stuff.

Jend: “Well, I guess even if I don’t say anything, you’ll hear it from Cyril later, so I’ll tell you.”

Henry: “Yup, yup. Go ahead.”

Jend: “She’s two year older. She lives in the capital. Her family is in the lineage of knights, and until about 4 years ago, she visited here about twice a year to stay at her family’s vacation home.”

A knight, huh…

And her family owns a vacation home? Then they must be up there in the military ranks. Even common knights would have a difficult time buying a second home with their pay. This area is a tourist attraction, is a good distance from the frontlines so it’s safe, so overall, buying land here wouldn’t be cheap.

Jend: “And honestly, we were pretty little so there’s a lot I can’t remember, but we somehow connected, got to know each other, and it was her, Cyril, and myself, and we would play together with the 3 of us whenever she came by.

Henry: “And then you fell for her?”

Jend: “Yeah”

Dang. He’s not even a little embarrassed to say it. He’s not much fun to tease.

Henry: “Wait, so she hasn’t been coming here recently?”

Jend: “I heard they sold their vacation home, but I’ve heard no rumors about any misfortune that befell her family.”

Jend is calm about many things, but I could tell this really concerned and bothered him.

Jend: “Well, if it’s Feris, she can take of herself, and even if something did happen, if I’m not strong enough, I can’t be of any help, so it’s training and expeditions right now.”

Henry: “...you’re the type that becomes the MC of an adventure story, huh.”

Jend: “What? What are you saying?”

But even if you’re not strong, I think there are things you can still do.

I’ll keep an eye out for any guard duties headed towards the capital.

Jend: “Hey, it’s not fair that I’m the only one sharing. What about you, Henry?”

Henry: “Me?”

Jend: “Yeah, you were a Heroic Warrior-Rank Adventurer at the frontlines. There must have been at least 1 or 2 girls you were interested in, no?”

Hmmmm… Girls I was interested in…?

Henry: “Not really…”

Jend: “What? Really?”

Henry: “All the female adventurers associated with me were armed to the teeth and dangerous, so it was hard to develop those kinds of feelings. Yeah, there were some girls that were nice, but they all had boyfriends.”

Jend: “Anyone that was not an adventurer?”

Henry: “The girls in town weren’t interested in dating someone who might die any day from now on the frontlines.”

Of course, there were some girls still interested, but those girls were only interested in the REALLY good-looking adventurers out of all of us.

I’m not conceited enough to think that I’m part of that group. I can’t even read anthologies...

Jend: “So you never went out with anyone? Well, not like I have any experience either but…”

Henry: “Well, it’s not like I didn’t go to the brothels sometimes”

The only things to do outside of killing demonic creatures were drinking, gambling, and buying women.

But I’m more of the drinking and eating kind so I don’t have a ton of experience with the last one.

There were some who would invest their life-savings in one particular call girl… so I guess that’s the same thing as putting all your money into alcohol.

Jend: “Oh… the b-brothels… huh?”

Henry: “You interested? Want to go to one?”

In Flowtier, those kinds of businesses are limited to a very particular area of the city.

I did look around to see where it was. What? Is that bad? It’s not like I have NO interest in that area of life, just some.

Jend: “HEY! Don’t be pulling me down with you. I’m pretty well-known around these parts, so it could lead to a scandal!”

Henry: “Oh, so you we just have to NOT get caught then? I can ask a Thief-Class to disguise you so no one would recognize you.”

All you have to do is change your hairstyle and put on a bit of makeup, and you will look and feel like a different person. It’s something you never know until you try it.

Jend: “No! Stop inviting me! I’m not going!”

Henry: “Rela---x, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Jend: “STOP!”

Our banter continued until Mrs. Kiyo brought the tea.

・・・

Jend: “Ugh! You are the worst! Do you know how much trouble it was to explain what happened to Mrs. Kiyo?”

Apparently, Mrs. Kiyo overheard and was mumbling something like, “The Young Master will one day grow up too, I guess,” and was looking somewhere far off in the sky.

Henry: “Hey, my bad.”

Jend: “Geesh. I’m only buying the first round, got it?”

Henry: “Yup. Thanks.”

Afterwards, we both washed off our sweat, and Jend and I visited a local tavern.

Jend was a regular here, and the Tavern Keeper came out to greet us jovially.

Henry: “Hey, what’s good here?”

Jend: “Everything’s good here, but you should try the fish.”

You should always listen to the regulars of the restaurant when making a decision.

Now that I think about it, Flowtier is far north on the continent, but it’s actually close to the ocean too. You can take a carriage for about a day to the port city. They must be importing the fish from there.

Henry: “Alrighty then. I’ll get the fish stew and ale.”

Jend: “I’ll have the ale as well, and whatever the chef recommends.”

Henry: “I’ll leave it to you.”

Jend orders the food without looking at the menu, and the ale immediately came with the appetizers.

The appetizer is steamed vegetables and looks delicious.

Henry: “Alright, cheers”

Jend: “Cheers, thanks for the training.”

We both drink the ale.

Ale after a hard day’s workout is really the best~! And all the stores around here bring out the Flowtier Ale. I’m so happy.

Jend: “Man, you really like this ale, huh?”

Henry: “Yeah~~... Someone who grew up here wouldn’t understand.”

In Ligaleo, Flowtier Ale was always double, if not more than the price of regular ale.

I pick at the steamed vegetables. Nice, they have some seasonings that have been absorbed into the vegetable.

Jend: “What are we doing for the next expedition? I’m bored of Kobalts, and as for me, I think we’re ready to move to the next level.”

Henry: “You think so? We can try hunting Wild Bears. I fought them once already around these parts, and I didn’t think they were that strong.”

Jend: “Well, you and Cyril both have high attack power, so I’m sure a Wild Bear makes a good target practice. Wild Bears are known for their toughness and endurance.”

They are large with a tenacity to survive and are covered in thick fur that won’t allow regular sharp edges to pierce them.

Blade of the Fire God Style and boo~~m, and Magic spell boo~~m, and it would be over. They’re easy prey for these two.

Jend: “Then maybe we’ll go after Giant Spiders…”

Henry: “Oh, let’s not. With our group, we’ll definitely get caught off guard.”

Giant Spiders make spider nests just like regular spiders, and they are a patiently-wait-for-prey strategists. They don’t move and are great at hiding. Without being extra cautious, it’s hard to locate them.

Of course, I can play the scout and sniff them out but…

Henry: “Well, let’s just take it a step at a time. Wild Bears are annoying in larger numbers. They actually have a high attack power, so you need to avoid their nails.”

Jend: “I see. Yeah, let’s do that. Oh, the food’s here.”

We pick at the food and drink some more. We share stories about our adventures, what kinds of girls we like, and local news, and overall we had a great time.

This is nice having a guy friend that you can talk to about anything.

I hope we can continue to get along.

It was a strong hope and desire that welled up inside me that night.

************************ CHONKY NOTES

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*Young Master - (botchan; obotchama) (お坊ちゃん; お坊っちゃま) ー A title or affectionate name used for typically smaller children of the wealthy. Servants who have served the ‘young master’ from infancy typically will call them so until they take over the family. The word infers a certain degree of entitlement and status, but can sound like a sarcastic or clinical insult - inferring that someone is spoiled rotten and snobby.