Da Vinci delivered a report to Hess, who was about to leave the Hideout.
“A prison break?”
“Yes! It appears that one target held at the Hideout beyond the mountain has escaped.”
“What is the extent of the damage?”
“Bold as he was, he raided the Hideout vault and fled with jewels!”
That bastard had nerve.
“Arrest everyone responsible and transport them here.”
“Yes!”
“The escapee will not have gotten far.”
“The pursuit team has already struck his right arm with a Magic Arrow, so his injury is probably severe.”
“Good. Inform everyone. In particular, check every suspicious person with an injured right arm.”
***
After finishing his duties at the Hideout, Hess became Henrik and hurried toward the village.
‘Lloyd’s swordsmanship training starts now. He needs a lot of energy, so I can’t let him have another meal like yesterday’s.’
Just as Henrik arrived, Ben was beginning some odd jobs outside the inn.
“Ben, I brought this in case it helps.”
“Henrik, you have arrived. Is this…a book?”
It was the Dark Order makeshift cookbook.
Of course, Henrik had torn off its cover and damaged it here and there so that no one could recognize it as a Dark Order item.
“It’s a makeshift—no, a good cookbook with simple, surprisingly tasty recipes. How about starting with this?”
It was written very kindly so that anyone could follow it. Even Ben should be able to make something edible.
“Oh…! Understood. Henrik believes in my talent!”
‘…How did this become that sort of conversation?’
“Of course.”
“Ha ha, thank you. But how should I describe these recipes?”
“Pardon?”
“Sometimes guests ask because they say it is so delicious.”
That only happened when Margaret had cooked it.
“Hmm…. Just say it’s cooking you’ve done your whole life. That you fed your family with it, something like that.”
“Margaret is my only family.”
“Maybe you fed your parents and siblings in the past. A domestic image works well, you know?”
“I see! Understood.”
Come to think of it, Ben did so many odd jobs that the muscles in his arms were a work of art.
“Show off your arm muscles too. As though they are cooking muscles.”
“Oh ho, understood. But, um….”
“Hmm?”
“How do you… know that a guest is enjoying the food?”
Ben’s confidence had completely hit rock bottom.
“They will say that it is delicious, won’t they?”
“They might only say that to be polite….”
“Hmm, when I eat something delicious, my hands shake.”
“Your hands shake when it is delicious?”
“But those physical traits differ from person to person….”
Ben fell into thought for a long time as he listened to Henrik, then opened his mouth with an “Ah!” as though he had forgotten something important.
“There was something truly important after all. What should I do for a guest who enjoys my food?”
This man was so desperate that Henrik found him somewhat pitiful.
“If a cook has made delicious food, then he has fulfilled his duty. The guest may even want to repay you.”
“Repay me…? The guest, to me?”
“Of course. Hmm, for example….”
It was doubtful that such a thing would ever happen, but—
“If a guest truly likes the food, how about telling them they may pay only as much as they thought it was delicious?”
“Pay as much as it was delicious…?”
“That’s right. If it was not good, they will pay only a little. But if it was truly delicious, they will probably pay generously.”
“Oh, oh! Understood! I will remember that! Then I will go cook right away…!”
Ben hurried into the inn and nearly collided with Lloyd, who was coming toward him.
Ben’s reflexes let him avoid Lloyd, but he kicked Lucy instead.
As a result, only Lloyd came outside the inn, while Lucy chased Ben back inside with a SCREECH—!
“Why’s that man acting like that this early in the morning?”
“Ben’s taking on a new challenge starting today. Just like you.”
Henrik picked up a Wooden Sword and held it out with the handle pointed toward Lloyd.
“Take it.”
As though he had been waiting for it, Lloyd gripped the Wooden Sword.
“How is it, Lloyd?”
“How is what?”
“The feeling of holding it.”
“What is special about a wooden sword?”
“You only think that because you don’t know better. A Woodcraft Artisan made this. It’s a masterpiece, and it was expensive.”
“Hmph. Even if a wooden sword is a masterpiece, does someone really make something like this and sell it for a high price?”
“The Woodcraft Artisan who made it died recently.”
“…….”
Lloyd began turning the Wooden Sword this way and that as he inspected it.
“…Perhaps it really is different because a Woodcraft Artisan made it.”
“Isn’t it?”
“It looks like good wood was used, too….”
“It was made with ordinary wood.”
“…Anyway, I will use it well, masterpiece.”
Whenever he had a spare moment, Henrik had been looking through the Dark Order swordsmanship manual and doing image training.
‘Even by merely reading the book, it feels as though my muscles are recovering the memories they had lost.’
I can’t teach anything at a remarkable level, but it’s enough to teach Lloyd, who is still a fledgling.
Whether it is swordsmanship or archery, raising Lloyd to greater heights will be the work of other Fortuitous Opportunities anyway.
***
Ben tried making the stew from the cookbook Henrik had given him.
‘I did it…! I followed the book exactly. This will be edible!’
He could not contain his excitement.
However, Ben’s shocking cooking skill had already become known throughout the village.
The guests all planned to visit the inn after Margaret returned, so no one came.
And so time passed endlessly.
‘I need to let a guest taste it quickly, before the food gets cold…!’
Just as Ben’s anxiety reached its height, a guest came into the inn with what seemed to be a severe injury to his right arm, which was wrapped thickly in bandages.
“Welcome!”
“…There are no customers.”
The guest had entered only after confirming that the inn was deserted in the first place.
He wanted to avoid being seen by other people as much as possible.
“You are not from our village, are you? I have never seen you before. Welcome!”
“…I am only passing through. A meal, please.”
Moving as though his right arm gave him great difficulty, the guest barely managed to sit down.
In truth, he had crossed mountains and rivers all night, walking and running without rest to reach this place.
‘Haa…. I can finally breathe now that I’m sitting down.’
But his relief lasted only a moment. The guest tightened the vigilance he had almost let go of.
‘I cannot let down my guard. I do not know where a Dark Order operative lying in wait might be hiding and waiting for me.’
The guest slipped his left hand into his pocket and checked that the jewels he had gained by raiding the vault were still there.
Meanwhile, Ben swiftly brought out the finished dish.
“Here! Please try it!”
“Thank you… Urk.”
Before the guest could think of anything, his sense of smell reacted first.
‘This scent…!’
When he saw the guest’s expression twist, Ben did not know what to do.
“D-does the dish not please you? That cannot be. I definitely made it correctly….”
When the guest sensed that his panicked appearance had unsettled the innkeeper, he immediately composed himself as though nothing were wrong.
“Ah, no. It smells wonderful.”
“Doesn’t it? What a relief, ha ha.”
The food certainly did not smell bad. That had not been what shocked the guest in the first place.
‘This scent…. It is that distinctive scent I smelled every day while imprisoned by the Dark Order.’
The guest calmed his legs, which had begun trembling on their own, and devised a way to deal with the situation.
‘…Is this cook an undercover member of the Dark Order?’
If so, I must act calmly…. If I show agitation, he will think me suspicious. I should behave as naturally as possible.
“The scent is good, so I expect the taste will be good too. Shall I try it….”
The guest scooped up a large spoonful of stew and put it in his mouth.
‘……The taste is the same too. It cannot be a coincidence.’
“How is it! Does it taste as good as it smells?”
“It does. It is delicious….”
The food really did taste fine, but the guest no longer wanted to put it in his mouth.
‘What is going on?’
If this is the Dark Order I know, information about my escape will already have been shared among its members.
They would be desperate to catch me. Yet this man was…?
“You are an excellent cook…. Do you have some sort of secret?”
“Ha ha, I would not call it a secret. It is simply….”
At that moment, Ben remembered what Henrik had told him.
“It is simply cooking I have done my whole life, ha ha. I fed my family with this!”
As he spoke, Ben raised both clenched fists and showed off his muscles.
‘Family…! As I thought, he is certainly a cook for the organization. What is this situation?’
As the guest’s hands shook with fear, tears of satisfaction flowed through Ben’s heart at the sight.
“Guest…! Is the food delicious?”
“I-it certainly is.”
Now Ben recalled Henrik’s final advice and approached the honor a skilled cook rightfully deserved.
“Then please pay only as much as you wish for the food!”
“…What?”
“Pay as much as the food was delicious!”
At those words, the guest finally understood what was happening.
‘…So that is it.’
This cook had known his identity from the beginning.
He had openly served food made according to the organization’s recipes and revealed that he belonged to the Dark Order.
The food itself had been a threat.
‘If I want to live, hand over all the jewels…. Is that it?’
He must have known that the guest had stolen the jewels and fled as well. That was what he had wanted from the beginning.
The guest had met someone who chose money over loyalty to the organization. In a sense, that was very much like the Dark Order, too.
It was fortunate for him. He could at least save his life.
‘It is agonizing to hand over all the jewels I barely managed to bring out, but….’
In any event, the man would already know how many jewels he had. If he tried to hold some back, his head would be severed.
‘Hand over everything and at least save my life.’
The guest rose from his seat and took out every jewel from his pocket with his left hand, which was at least intact.
“J-jewels…! You are giving me this many? This is not such expensive food…. Besides, you have not even finished eating….”
“It is already enough.”
The guest looked down at the stew, of which plenty still remained.
‘If I had not noticed this man’s covert offer, I cannot guarantee what would have happened afterward.’
This stew, in this small bowl, had held my life.
“It was a stew I will never forget. I will be going now….”
The guest left the inn just like that.
“Guest…thank you….”
Looking at the jewels left all alone on the table, Ben recalled what he had said to Henrik.
― “Henrik, you are a person who makes dreams come true.” ―
DRIP. DRIP.
Ben’s tears fell onto the jewels.
“Henrik…thank you…. Thank you….”
***
“Now, watch me and do exactly the same.”
Henrik held a matching Wooden Sword and demonstrated the movements by swinging it first.
“Easy.”
“Good. Next, like this.”
After demonstrating the movements one by one, Henrik soon moved on to a continuous sequence.
“Hup! Hup! Haaah! Like this.”
“……Easy.”
“It is good that you are following along, but could you give a battle cry as well?”
“What use is that?”
“It can intimidate your opponent, and making a sound also helps you put more power into it.”
“I understand what you mean, but for some reason, doing these movements makes me not want to make a sound.”
His instincts were annoyingly good.
Lloyd was right. Dark Order swordsmanship, specialized for surprise attacks from the beginning, did not suit battle cries.
…And yet, in the novel, Lloyd swung his sword while letting out battle cries.
“Anyway, add a battle cry whenever you feel like it.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Now, the next movement is like this.”
His stamina had definitely improved. He was good at following the movements.
“Good. That concludes the basic movements.”
“Easy. Hurry up and move on.”
“You want to try hitting a training dummy at least, is that it?”
“…We are starting with only a training dummy?”
“It is not only a training dummy. It is still too early for you even to use a training dummy.”
Henrik moved to sit beneath the shade of a tree, then called out to Lloyd.
“From now on, repeat the basic movements. Begin.”
“…The ones from earlier?”
“Yes. Repeat them until I tell you to stop. Begin!”
“Haa….”
Lloyd already looked bored, but he decided to follow Henrik’s training method for the time being.
‘Training him is not particularly difficult right now, but….’
Once he gains a certain amount of strength, raising him will become more difficult instead.
He will increasingly resist his master’s control and keep trying to throw himself into dangerous real battles.
‘Well, that is for later. I only need to raise him through the early stages.’
For a long time afterward, Lloyd repeated the basic movements.
During that time, Henrik leaned against the tree and Lucy leaned against Henrik, each repeatedly falling asleep and waking up.
After a great deal of time had passed,
“Meow.”
“…Hm?”
Lucy was the first to notice something strange.
“Meow, meow, meow.”
“Do you have something to say? Say it quietly.”
Lucy climbed onto Henrik’s shoulder, brought his mouth close to Henrik’s ear, and spoke.
“Is the swordsmanship you are teaching supposed to be like that?”
“What do you mean… Hm?”
Only then did Henrik notice it.
The Wooden Sword in Lloyd’s hand was gradually turning black.