Chapter 14 – Shifts

#014.

“Forgive me for being late!”

When I went out to the entrance of the mansion, there were already several servants, knights, and members of the Duke’s family.

A large gate was wide open in front of it, and the princess stood with a splendid quadrupedal carriage.

“Please come a little earlier next time.”

Lucas just turned his head slightly and said so.

As we proceeded like that, Nia stopped and whispered softly.

“Young master. Go. I’ll be here.”

When I looked around, I saw that the situation was right.

The servants lined up in front of the garden fountain, bowing their heads.

Nia was also sitting next to him, looking at me.

“Then see you later.”
“Yes. Young master.”

After a brief conversation, the knights headed for the princess along the road surrounded by them.

“Princess. Sorry for the delay. Please kindly forgive me..”

When I apologized politely, Lucas’s eyebrows slightly straightened.

You probably didn’t expect to show such a perfect example in a week.

“No. It’s okay. Thanks to you, I was fine.”
“…Then I’m glad.”

‘How are you? What do you mean?’

Thinking of that, I glanced at the princess’s face, and she was looking at Eris with a strange smile.

Could she have been talking about Eris and me?

‘I wonder what he said..’

I hope it wasn’t just gossip.

After being forgiven by the princess and stepping back, he started talking to Lucas.

Eris and her eyes met as she stared at the scene indifferently.

-Good morning sister!-

Poof!

‘What?’

I smiled wide and greeted her with her lips, but Eris ignored it without pretending to see it.

Are you being timid and paying attention to the people around you?

But considering that it wasn’t like this when the princess was around…

‘You’re very close with the princess..’

I thought she wasn’t very close because she used extremely honorific titles all the time, but for Eris, she seems to only do that to her close friends.

Then, after talking with Lucas, the princess called Eris.

“Then Eris. See you in six months.”
“Yes. Princess. Please take a look.”
“Princess Lai. I will look forward to meeting Young master later. Let’s go.”

After a brief exchange of glances with me, the princess climbed into her quadruped carriage.

Tack-Tack-

After all, it was the carriage the princess rode in, so she moved, but there was no noise at all.

At most, there is only the sound of the earth and the sound of horses hooves.

I was seeing the princess off until she was completely out of sight, but Lucas saw me.

“Okay. He had already heard that he was learning the swordsmanship of the knights. It was amazing.”
“Thank you. Be careful.”

When he used an extremely respectful title and was courteous as if he were treating others, Lucas’ eyes lit up.

“Your courtesy is also excellent. Don’t keep looking forward to it.”

Tuk tuk-

Lucas patted me on the shoulder and headed towards the mansion, leaving Eris and I alone.

Eris looked back and forth between Lucas and me and whispered softly.

“Then see you later. Lie.”

Tumble- Tumble-

Then, he disappeared after Lucas.

When the princess’s send-off was completely over, the knights left to do their own work, and the servants began to clean up.

“Young master. Are you okay?”

Is he worried about being ignored by Lucas and Eris?

Nia came running and looked at my body here and there as if it was a pity.

‘I can’t miss this opportunity.’

Nia, who thought I was going to die over something like this, laughed.

It’s better if you think about it that way.

“Sister. Are you leaving now too?”
“…Yes. I’m going to pack up right now and leave.”
“I don’t think I can see you off because I have morning training.”
“I’m fine.”
“Then, good job, sister!”

I tried to pretend to cheer her up and pulled Nia right up to her eye level with me and kissed her on the lips.

Side!

“Ah! Do, Bocchan..!”

It was only a short kiss from her, but my kiss made Nia blush and startle her.

At the same time, the servants who were cleaning up around them started whispering.

I took the whispers from her right ear and channeled them into her left ear.

“Don’t get hurt. If someone bothers you, tell me! I’ll give you a hard time! Understand?”
“Yes. Young master. I’ll be back soon.”

Nia looked at her surroundings for a moment, then smiled and folded the corners of her eyes, as if taking my words as childishness.

‘As expected, it’s pretty.’

I think my maid is the prettiest in the world right now.

“Then I’ll go!”
“Yes. Young master. When you return to your room, another maid will be there.”
“Huh. See you later!”

After exchanging her greetings with Nia, she entered her mansion to change into her robes.

Just as I was about to move through the main entrance to my room, I heard an elderly voice behind me.

“Young master. Hello?”
“What..? Who are you..”
“My name is Haydn, the general butler of this mansion. She should have said hello beforehand, but now she’s visiting. Please forgive me…”

I shook my head and replied to the old man’s apology, which was neither too much nor too little.

“No. Are you okay. But if you are the general butler, will you manage the entire mansion?”
“Heh heh… No. I just put the workers in the right places.”
“I see..”

I know what you mean, but I can’t picture it clearly in my head.

‘Ah… What does it have to do with me.’

It was obvious that we would end up meeting each other anyway, so I lightly brushed it off my head.

“Then please take care of me. Haydn.”
“Yes. Young master. Please call me if you have any problems later.”

He nodded his head to face Haydn who bowed again and started moving.

“Is it because you are a duke? Even the butler isn’t ordinary…”

I’m still too weak to figure it out exactly, but the butler seems very strong too.

Of course, he’s weaker than Hughes, but compared to me, he’s vastly different.

If you take off that old man’s clothes, your whole body will be full of ragged muscles.

“Ah.. I need to change clothes quickly.”

After thinking about it for a while, when I arrived at the room, I saw a maid waiting for me.

“Young master. I will meet you for a week from today. I look forward to.”

The woman I introduced as Betty was a pretty maid.

But..

‘How small!’

Not my taste.

Still, there was no need to blush at each other, so they smiled brightly and held out their hands.

“Huh. Please take good care of me. Betty!”
“Yes. Young master. Then I will wait on you right away.”
“Okay.”

I opened the door and went inside and quickly changed into training clothes while being attended by Betty.

And after a brief talk, we went straight to the gymnasium.

“Young master. You are here. Then, let’s simply go around the gymnasium first!”

Hughes, who was waiting, greeted me warmly, filled me with magic tools, and started walking around the gym together.

‘I don’t mind this much now..’

Breathing really made a big difference.

Just a while ago, when I invested karma in my physical ability, it was enough to break 100m in about 3 to 4 seconds, but now it was about 2 to 3 seconds.

Of course, I invested a little more than then, but it was still a huge difference.

‘If I’m this good, how fast is Hughus?’

Of course, I have the special power of status window, but Hughes is much stronger than me.

Maybe as fast as any sports car?

‘Then why is Lucas moving at the speed of light?’

Food-

I burst into laughter at the thought of such an absurd thought.

The speed of light would be absolutely impossible for humans.

“Young master. Great. As expected, his confident smile that he can’t stand this much! I will go faster!”
“What? Hey! Yaaa!!”

Seeing my laughter, Hughes got the illusion that he was on his own and started to run away, increasing his speed even more.

Hughes called urgently but did not pretend to hear.

‘Isn’t that bastard doing that on purpose?’

Not once or twice, so I naturally became suspicious.

***

“Then, Bocchan. See you tomorrow!”
“Whoa whoo-“

It was too much trouble to answer, so I waved his hand outstretched and the Hughes left the gymnasium.

‘I turned around…’

I don’t know what kind of guy’s swordsmanship is like this.

You just have to swing the sword strongly, why twist your feet and squeeze your muscles..

“My arm hurts..”

The strain on his arm muscles seemed like they would tear off at any moment.

‘Let’s eat quickly..’

I don’t have time to stay like this in order to be with Eris for even one more minute and one second!

I went back to my room, suppressing the muscle pain in my body.

“Young master. Would you like to wash up right away?”
“No. I will be training in the evening for a week, so I just need to eat.”
“Then I will prepare the meal right away.”

Whether it’s because they were originally educated that way, or if it’s just that Nia and Betty have that kind of personality, they were calm and showed little emotion.

‘Perhaps to be educated..’

In fact, she was the type to reveal her true feelings after getting to know Nia.

After finishing the meal like that, she headed straight to the gymnasium.

When I entered her, I saw the back of Eris standing still in the display case where the weapons were hung.

“Sister Eris..?”
“Ah, you’re here. Then she goes straight to her personal training room. Are you fine?”
“Huh. Sister.”

Eris nodded vigorously at Eris, who was watching her cautiously, and snuggled up next to her.

“…”

Then, as Eris moved her steps, she glanced at her blade and adjusted her distance so that her shoulders would not collide.

‘I subtly keep her distance..’

She said she wanted to be close, but it felt like she wouldn’t allow it beyond a certain distance.

When she thought about it, she was only at the level of being close to the princess, but she wasn’t completely friends.

‘It must be difficult..’

She thought 6 months would be enough for her but she was my mistake.

That’s it, it was relatively easy because she accurately attacked her weakness of being a younger fiancé.

It’s arrogance for such a guy to be so confident that he can seduce a woman unconditionally within six months of her time.

“Sister! What did your sister do today?”
“Huh..? I… I practiced today.”
“Training?”
“Yes… There is a separate training ground for the Knights. I usually train there.”
“Oh, I see?”

Somehow I thought I couldn’t see it normally, but I thought it was at the Knights’ gymnasium…

‘Why didn’t I know…’

It’s a knights uniform from the basic outfit, but I couldn’t understand why I only noticed it now.

I didn’t ask Nia on purpose, but there are side effects like this.

‘If you get caught, it’s a bit…’

I don’t know what her reaction would be if she found out I was trying to seduce Eris.

I’ll have to hide it well from now on.

“Lie.”

She was lost in thought for a moment. She looked up at Eris’ voice and was already in front of the training room.

“Oh sorry!”

Following Eris into her personal training room, she saw a large space the size of a fairly decent dojo.

There were weapons hanging on the wall to her right, and Eris took her two wooden swords right there.

“Uh? Sister. How did you know I was using a longsword?”
“Because I saw the sword you were holding the other day.”
“Amazing!”
“Huh? Uh.. Yes.”

I deliberately exaggeratedly praised him with something insignificant in order to talk to him somehow, but Eris just showed a confused expression.

‘Isn’t this it?’

It felt like something went back to two weeks ago, before I became close with Nia.

Would it be correct to say that we start from scratch?

“Ruler. Receive.”
“Thank you.”

After receiving and holding the wooden sword, Eris stepped aside and said.

“Would you like to start with knights swordsmanship? I think you should see it first.”
“Okay!”

I took a seat right in front of Eris and raised her concentration.

At first glance, Eris is the serious and sincere type of swordsmanship.

If she gets caught here for nothing, pretending to be clumsy, that day is the end.

“Whoa— sum!”

Pay attention to your breathing and increase your concentration. The moment I felt it, I lowered my sword.

Wedge liquid-

The swiftly swung sword furiously cut through the air and made an eerie sound.

As the sword was swung rapidly in succession, the sword split in all directions at such a speed that ordinary people could only see afterimages.

For ordinary people, one sword, one sword, is so powerful that it pulverizes bones at once!

After spreading the swordsmanship up to the part I had learned, I stopped to catch my breath, and Eris nodded her head and opened her mouth.

“As expected, I think it would be difficult for me to teach the knights swordsmanship.”
“Huh? Why?”

So is this the end?

‘Can’t it?’

Eris continued her words just as she was about to blow up her chance like this.

“If I taught you swordsmanship, you might get into a bad habit. Hugus is observing you closely and teaching you delicately.”
“Okay..?”

I thought he was happy by harassing me every day, but in fact, was Hughes also having complicated thoughts inside?

‘I don’t think so…’

Eris’ words did not dispel her doubts.

“First of all, since I knew that we had made some progress… Let’s fight.”
“Dalian?”
“Huh. It also requires practice when using it in real combat. I think it’s possible to adapt the swordsmanship I’ve already learned to practice.”
“But..”

Hearing those words, I hesitated while muttering sullenly, and Eris tilted her head and expressed her doubts.

‘And! Cute.’

Basically, he showed little emotional expression and was expressionless, so his tilting his head rather acted as a reversal charm.

“What’s going on?”
“But I don’t want to hit my sister?”

When I spoke cautiously, acting out her worried eyes, Eris blankly looked at me for a moment and smiled lightly.

The admirable, but dumbfounded, and cute look in his eyes let me know that my intention was right.

‘The sense of distance has decreased.’

It was an action I came up with hastily after seeing how they kept a certain distance earlier, but it worked well.

As we get closer like this, we have to move forward.

When you’re so lost in thought

Shuk- Pang!

I thought Eris’s hand was moving, and in an instant, it brushed my cheek.

“What?”

Looking to her side, Eris’s wooden sword was approaching before she knew it.

“Lie. Don’t worry about that. Is your sister… Strong?”

It seems that the pride in swordsmanship is great.

It was definitely a great feat.

I nodded and thought.

‘It’s fucking pretty.’

Her elated appearance was cute and pretty.