We are both out of breath, especially me, but we are recovering quickly, unusually quickly in fact. But she looks and... smells as good as she did before we started. While I'm sweating like crazy.
'Stop sniffing people, it's rude. I'm not a pervert... well, maybe a little, but not that kind.'
The sweat makes my clothes stick to my body even more, but at least it doesn't feel uncomfortable, it seems to be true that these clothes are made for training. I still want to take a long bath...
'Oh yes, I can't forget something important.'
I slightly bow my body and head, while putting my legs and palms together, then I say.
"Thank you for the fight"
It is one of the few customs adopted from the empire, to be respectful to your opponent.
"The pleasure was mine," she returns the gesture. "I half expected you to be more... temperamental, with what you did earlier"
"Uh... that was an exception. Besides, well, someone told me a long time ago that I should be respectful before, during and after a fight of this kind”
"And why is that?"
"Well... Imagine if I had been all rude and snooty, if I lost, it would be super humiliating and embarrassing. So it's best to stay in control"
"... O-oh, yeah, I guess it would be,” she averts her gaze... I don't have to be good at reading people to know that that has happened to her before.
"Haha," oops, it slipped out.
"Anyway. We'll definitely going to repeat it again," Sherianna tells me. Eh...
"Maybe another time," Nicole interjects, suddenly appearing.
"Oh... Right, it's not a good time. You know, if you ever go to Carian, visit the castle and let's have a rematch, I trust those facilities, so we could allow magic next time, what do you say?"
"Well... If the opportunity arises," I'm done with this, so I don't really feel like it, but... It was fun, before the fight I was just worried about how I was going to turn her down no matter how bad I looked.
But now I'm glad I agreed, I learned a lot, should I do more things that I normally find annoying...? It could be good for me, it depends, maybe.
“I'll be waiting for you, take this, your reward”
She pulls out a small bag with, ah, gold coins! I refrain from taking them, mom's teachings come back.
“I can't accept so much money for having done so little”
"But I promised you a reward?"
"That is too much"
"I have paper money, I carry coins too, just in case, but they're heavy, they're more of a hindrance, you know? You'll be doing me a favor if you take them"
"..."
"Besides, if you think it's too much, let's have a rematch in Carian, you can use some of the money as passage"
"..."
I look at the bag, I estimate that there are about... 50 coins? I don't know how much a ticket to Carian costs, but the most expensive ticket I've seen at the train station is 5 silver coins. With this, I could go to Carian at least a hundred times...
But she keeps insisting, it wouldn't be polite to keep refusing her. But it's a lot of money... I don't know what to do. I look at Nicole.
"Mh? She's a duchess, remember? Some of them carry millions of carions as pocket money”
"..."
“I'm not that type, but it's true that this is no big deal, you can take it, don't worry”
My hypothetical part-time worker's wallet wants to scream at such injustice. But if they insist, I guess I can let my greedy side take over~.
“I'll be sure to take a ride sometime then, thank you so much,” I say, taking the bag.
I forcefully suppress the part of me that wants to scream about how incredibly annoying this thing I just committed to is going to be. I feel like it's one of those things that sounds good in the heat of the moment, but when the time comes to actually do it, it's going to be annoying as hell.
'But it will be good for me, I think I could travel to another kingdom for the first time! Didn't I say I wanted to travel? Maybe a change of scenery will do me some good to advance too...'
"Take this too"
She offers me a dagger covered by a beautiful black leather sheath. My first impulse is to refuse, but she beats me to it.
“You'll need this to be let into the castle, if you go as a visitor, they only let you see the front gardens”
"... Okay, thank you very much"
I feel uncomfortable again... We were having an unexpectedly nice chat, but she started giving me stuff and ruined it a bit... I want to go home. This is the last thing I'll accept, if she tries to give me anything else, I'm out of here.
I draw the dagger curiously... Oh... My annoyance disappears, it's very pretty! It's crystal, similar to the one her spear uses, but this one is pink, and has a shape like a spathiphyllum flower, more elongated, with visible layers that become thinner and sharper the closer to the edge they are.
The handle is a combination of some white metal and more crystal, joined in such a way that they appear to be part of a single piece. And it has a little shiny stamp, which I assume is the symbol of her house, the drawing of a bow with lots of wings around it.
I love it, I've never used daggers before, but I want to learn just so I can use this one. It looks like a beautiful jewel in the shape of a dagger.
"It's so pretty... What material is it made of?"
"I'm glad you like it, the blade is pink malachite and the handle is carbon steel, a new metal alloy, both specialties of my duchy. Show this to anyone in the castle and they should let you pass"
"I'll take very good care of it, uh, wait, how do you take care of this?"
"It's enchanted, it stands on its own, just pour magic on it from time to time and keep it clean"
"I will"
“I'm not worried about it being stolen, but it would be troublesome if you lose it, so take good care of it please”
"Yes"
Is it rude of me to hand it to Nicole immediately after she told me that? I hope not, but I don't have any pockets to put it in right now, so there's nothing I can do about it.
"It'll work without a problem at Belltree Castle, there might be one or two guards who doesn't recognize it at Carian Palace, but they should recognize the seal"
"... Forgive my ignorance, but where is that? And, castles have names?"
"Uh... Yes, Belltree Castle is the one in the city of the same name, it's the capital of my duchy"
"Belltree, I'll try to remember it," I would promise, but I'm not a liar, I rarely remember the names of cities, I hope Nicole remembers, oh, I could ask, I guess, she's famous.
"Carian Palace is obviously the castle of the city of Carian, which bears the same name as the kingdom, it's the capital of the country, simple isn't it?"
"Yes, oh, what is the name of this castle then?" I ask Nicole, even though the conversation is pleasant, I'm getting more and more anxious and my mind is filling up again with useless thoughts... like 'did I say that in the right tone?', 'Am I talking too fast?', 'Am I being too casual?', ‘Should I apologize for mistreating her spear…?’
But I suppress them forcefully, it's a pleasant conversation, one of the longest I've had these past few years, I won't let my bad habits interfere now.
"The crystal palace," Ilona answers instead.
"... I'm not surprised. What is the difference between a castle and a palace?”
I think I'm asking too many questions, I could look into it later, but I'm nervous so the words just come out of my mouth, how strange, I hope no one minds.
“Uh... I'm not sure, but usually palaces are more luxurious than a castle, so maybe a castle is for defending a city and a palace is for showing off.” Sherianna replies.
"I see, um, sorry if I ask too many questions... Wait, if this has your stamp on it, aren't you worried I'll do something bad with it?”
"Hahaha! You know, it's not on the same level as you, but I trust my instincts, I know I don't have to worry about it"
"G-good..." That was a compliment, wasn't it? Mmm...
"Well, I'll wait for you, I'll leave you to your business, ladies, Lieutenant, soldiers", she interrupts my thoughts and leaves. Hey. Should I say goodbye? I think I should.
We made plans for a rematch, but we never said goodbye properly. Yes, I have to.
But it's been a few seconds since she spoke, would it look weird? I hope not-
'Stop thinking so much and just do it, you idiot!'
"I-I'll see you there, Sherianna!"
Uh... AAAAAAAHHHH! THAT WAS DEFINITELY TOO CASUAL! To make matters worse, now I'm blushing really hard, again. Do I look like a maiden in love or something? I hope not, it's just embarrassment for speaking without thinking, believe me!
I haven't even seen her face, although she smells really nice, and she's friendly, easy to talk to and... Eh... I think I'm thinking too much, more and more I want to go home to sleep.
I think as I see her waving at me and leaving the garden.
But I'd better finish all the things I have to do so that I can relax as much as possible when I finally get home, there's still a lot of time left of the day.
"S-so... What does the Dark Brotherhood want me to do?"
I ask Ilona, doing my best to ignore the two smirks and mocking looks I get.
"Before that..."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
We turned to him, Lieutenant? That he hit an approaching soldier and now he's pushing him to the ground?
"AAHH! Simon, son of a b-"
"Instructor Riley to you, bastard, what are you doing out of formation?"
Ow ow, please stop, even it hurts me to see it, the arm isn't made to bend like that...
"Instructor Riley, requesting a moment with the esteemed guest! Aahhh I'm going to kill you- I mean, please, esteemed instructor!"
Me? I don't know him... A human with shiny black hair and light blue eyes, with traces of a shaved beard and mustache. Very dirty, like most people here.
Even lying on the floor with one knee on his back, you can tell he's quite tall and muscular, though not as much as Dad.
The instructor was about to speak, but falls silent when Ilona speaks to me. "Do you know him?"
"Uh... I can't fully see him, would it be possible to let him stand up?" that's technically almost a lie, I can see him quite well, especially since he keeps giving me looks asking for help. Sorry, Mom. But that arm is about to give out, I can't stand it any longer.
The instructor agrees, clearly reluctantly... Huh, if I remember correctly, military men sometimes have more authority than most nobles, but he agreed without a problem, how curious.
I don't want to have much to do with a bunch of half-naked dirty men, so I hope they don't make a big deal about what happened today...
The young man gets up quickly and rushes over to me, mumbling.
"My name is Alfonse, I will reward you I promise, for now, please pretend to know me"
This guy is really suspicious, we better go.
"I'm sorry, but..." He cuts me off, comes even closer, invades my personal space and makes me want to hold my nose, he stinks.
"Oh, you smell good- cof, look, I have some darkness magic as well, I can teach you amazing tricks if you agree to rescue- to visit me from time to time"
Mmm... 'He's lying,' yes, obviously, and I didn't miss what he was about to say, let's ignore that.
"Um, I don't think you can teach me much, sir..." Please stop talking to me. I take one step back; he takes two steps forward.
"Sir...!? Never mind, did I say teach you? I meant, if you teach me, I'll pay you... Oh no, I can't pay you, but I promise I'll reward you, save me!"
"Save you?"
"All right, look, I'm sick of the army, but my empty wallet forces me to stay, I beg you, just come and ask for me, after what you just did, no instructor here would refuse such a simple request from you"
"I think I'll go now, have a good day, sir"
"I'm 25 years old... Oh wait, the darkness magic thing wasn't a lie, I can use it, look"
In his hand appears a, uh, breeze? Black color. You call that darkness magic? Wait, that's rude, calm down.
"See? We could compare notes"
"..."
Although he obviously just wants to use me to skip training, I'm actually kind of curious to see regular darkness magic, Sarisa said that my magic looks different from what she has seen before.
And I just said that I shouldn't just turn down opportunities that seem annoying, right? Mmm, well, I can at least come once, and if it's too annoying, stop, right?
Screw it, let's do it before I come to my senses and change my mind.
“I know you're not telling me the whole truth, but I could use this as an excuse as well to come see Maureen, so that's fine, I'll look you up if I stop by”
Oh, I forgot, I should introduce myself, but I've already been introduced by Ilona before... why can't I stop thinking useless things? AAAHHHH! Why am I talking to another stranger!?
‘Enough already.’
My tired mind does nothing but complain... It's kind of pathetic of me, I realize.
No use complaining, I'll be able to do it as much as I want when I finish this annoying errand I haven't heard anything about yet. For now, I have to concentrate on the conversation.
"Huh? Really? I was about to get on my knees- never mind, I thank you like you have no idea. you see, I want to resign from the army, but I have to hold out for a few more months or I won't get paid"
"You have a good physique, aren't there less demanding jobs?"
"None with such good pay"
"... So, it's about money?" I want to take it back all of a sudden.
“Don't look at me like that, I had every intention of serving the kingdom just like my father, but did you see how they treat us? F*ck the kingdom"
Is it okay for him to say that in front of his instructor? He looks really angry... Even though he's kind of far away, I'm sure he can hear it. But that's his problem. He continues.
"But if I go home now, it will be at the cost of my salary, disappointing my father, and being the laughing stock of my siblings"
Hmm... Could I teach him to use darkness like I do? I'm sure not, but there might be something useful for him that doesn't require much magic, huh... Mmm....
"Let me try something, just imagine your tiredness disappearing, okay?"
"Uh, okay?"
"You're already imagining it?"
"I've been wishing for it since my first day in this castle"
"Well, think about it now as well"
I put my hand on his chest and push my own magic into him, slowly, visibly. I hear a few gasps, but I ignore them for now.
I think about my magic as if it were the instructor itself, who, by the way, is still staring at Alfonse with an increasingly frightening look.
I recall what I know that could be useful, having my magic teaching his how to recover.
Give his muscles back their full ability to contract, stretch and relax, but not fully regenerate, or he won't get stronger.
Improve oxygenation in his body, help him improve protein intake and production, vitamins... And other boring details.
His magic obediently follows mine.
"I hope you're paying attention"
"I've never been more attentive in my life. Oh, yes, the magic, right? I can feel it moving too"
Mm? there's something strange about his comment... Oh. Concentrating on him a bit, I see that he's looking at my body, almost without caring to hide it.
Eh... Which reminds me of what I'm wearing, how sweaty I am, and how close I am to him.
...
Ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore.
My face feels hot, but it must be my imagination, yes, obviously.
I see and feel my magic withdrawing on its own again, I pay attention to his own. It's too easy, it's also darkness magic currently, and it moves in a familiar way.
It finally stops.
"Huh? It stopped... Did I do it wrong?"
"No, it's finished, mmm, try to do push-ups please"
"... Okay"
He does them with a face full of betrayal, very slowly, until his expression changes and he does them the fastest I've seen so far, hehe. He looks like he's in good shape despite all his complaining. Or maybe he can complain so much because he has energy to spare? I don't know.
"Unbelievable! I could barely stand up before, and now look at me! 46, 48, 50!"
"Can you do it again by yourself?"
"Let me see... Yes, it feels the same"
"Good for you, now you can work out all day", I give him a smile.
"..."
"I'm so glad to hear that." Says the instructor, I forgot his name.
"... I'm dying of exhaustion, Simon, what happened before must have been a miracle"
"Get back into formation"
"But Simon-"
"SOLDIER, GET BACK INTO FORMATION!" Ugh, please don't shout, I think I can see the windows vibrating.
"YES, INSTRUCTOR!"
And off he goes... He didn't even say thank you, although I guess we were interrupted, so that's okay. He seems like a weird but friendly guy. I see a lot of scary looks directed at him from the other soldiers... Is it because of me? I don't think so, whatever it is, I think he brought it on himself.
But... huh, I am very glad I taught him something and he learned how to do it right, it's a good feeling... A very good and pleasant feeling. Is that how old people feel when they teach young people? I don't know. Before, I only accepted to get a change of scenery and have more opportunities to visit the kitten, but now I'm also looking forward to coming to see if I can teach him something.
How about...? No, I'd better leave it for that time. For now, I will just worry about how am I going to complete this annoying mission as soon as possible.
But first... I'm hungry.
Nicole and Ilona are waiting for me while I change, I just cleaned myself with magic, nothing beats a nice hot bath, but I'm not very comfortable with doing that outside, so this will do for now.
I look at the clothes I just took off... For some reason that I don't understand, I feel like I shouldn't leave them here under any circumstances, I wonder why... Oh well, I have to admit that I like them quite a bit, maybe I'll wear them again when I go for another walk in the morning, if it's not too cold. I confirm with Ilona that no one will be bothered if I take it with me. I fold it up and off I go.
At times like this, I kind of regret not having a handbag with me... It would come in handy. I mean, I have a few, but I don't really like them, the thin strap is annoying, and some people are very critical about it for some reason, their comments are even more annoying. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to it, but I prefer a small backpack if I need to carry stuff.
I guess I just haven't found anything I like yet, should I look for a pretty handbag later? It's payday...
Too bad I didn't bring anything today, so my hands will have to do.
Anyway, the three of us leave the yard and head for a field kitchen, whatever it is, while Ilona tells me the details.
"It's quite simple, you see, we want you to break into the Verra family estate and steal- and... Confiscate any documents that seem important"
"... You want me to raid a mansion?"