Chapter 12 – 03. Kingdom of Ulstro – Squire Life (3)

“How is Valdes?”

While I was working, I suddenly remembered and asked Elsa.

“We’re doing well. He has such a good personality that he quickly became close with the other kids.”

“Really? You too?”

“…Yes.”

Elza was embarrassed with a somewhat reddish face.

I thought it was strange, but Mercedes let it go. She thought it was because a good-looking boy entered her life circle.

The servant he brought in before Valdes had a bad personality compared to his talent his, to the extent that he was kicked out after breaking into his bedroom his.

‘Was he the son of a count? No, that’s not important.’

I shook off the useless thoughts that came to my mind.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t done anything for a week.”

It’s already been a week since Valdes joined as a squire, but she was busy with work and hadn’t taught him anything. In fact, she has lived a life of neglect.

She had to deal with not only her job her as the vice-captain of the knights, but also her job her as a princess.

Her queen her is considerate of her, and compared to her her normal routine her, she is relaxed, but recently she has been busy with cleaning up her warrior prayer festival and wrapping up the martial arts tournament.

“I’m focusing on my fitness by myself, so you shouldn’t worry too much.”

“Physical training? Hmm. Are you aware of your weaknesses?”

I remembered the image of him I saw at the martial arts competition.

Physical fitness that seems to be a chronic problem. On the other hand, his swordsmanship was very good.

In my personal judgment, if the match did not continue from the round of 16, but only a single match between Ethylene and Valdez, it would be a draw. Or I thought Valdez would have won.

“It’s almost done, but I’ll have to take a look before I go on a mission. Where is Valdes now?”

“Probably he’s at the training ground. He said he sometimes helps Amy and Glette with their training.”

“Valdez?”

It was unexpected.

No matter how strong he is, his own skills and teaching others are completely different.

Her servants were somehow competent and proud. If Valdez hadn’t taught well, he wouldn’t have been helped. But looking at Elza’s expression now, it seemed like that had happened several times.

“It’s fun.”

Mercedes moves to the training ground with an interesting face. Elsa followed her with her tense face.

“Me, Mercedes-sama?”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you angry?”

At that, Mercedes laughed. It was an absurd misunderstanding.

“No way. It’s just because it’s amazing.”

“Yes…”

When she arrived at the exclusive training ground, it was as Elsa said.

Valdez’s whole body was sweaty as if he had just been training. And in that state, she was teaching Glatt the swordsmanship.

“Ah, knight! Are you here!”

Amy, who was the first to spot her, greeted her, and the other two also followed her and bowed her heads.

“Yes, everyone is eager. Keep doing what you’re doing. Valdes, you should come this way.”

“Ah yes.”

“I’ve been busy for a while. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you. Now that I have time, I’ll take a look. For now… Hmm.”

Mercedes was lost in thought for a moment.

‘How should I teach Valdes?’

He is different from other breeds. He is already at a level among knights.

First of all, there were not many places to fault with the swordsmanship. Besides, she wasn’t aspiring to be an instructor, so she wasn’t used to teaching others.

When she was in a martial arts tournament, she had the idea that she wanted to teach him, but that’s what she came up with because she thought it wouldn’t come true. When her imagination she became reality, she felt helpless.

“Mr. Mercedes?”

“… Come to think of it, you teach other children?”

At her puzzled voice calling her own her, she decided to take some more time to organize her thoughts her.

“Oh, that, not to the point of teaching… I just helped a little.”

“Hmm.”

“Really. Just a few things we can see and we’ve figured out how to fix them.”

“Okay?”

I didn’t mean to scold him, but Valdez kept saying no, so it seemed difficult to continue the story any further.

“Okay. So first… Shall we try light sparring?”

“Ah yes!”

The two of them tried to go to a corner so as not to interfere with the other servants’ training, but they desperately said it was okay and moved on.

And I watched the two without training. It seemed like he was expecting a lot of things with his eyes shining. Mercedes didn’t bother stopping them. There was a lot to be gained by watching the match of the talented people.

“A player does not yield.”

“All right.”

With those words, Valdez’s appearance changed 180 degrees.

‘Also….’

It was a little difficult to breathe because it was after doing physical training, but the momentum was sharp and did not die.

‘If it’s just momentum, I don’t think I’ll be pushed. Or maybe….’

Could it be because of the swordsman he learned?

Just as I was thinking about that, Valdez quickly stabbed me with a sword.

A sharp blade aimed precisely at the neck of his. However, compared to the speed, it was too straight. Her sword collided with that of Valdez. Even without mana, it was surprisingly powerful.

But at that moment, Valdes’ sword rode her and slid down.

It was such a smooth movement that you couldn’t even hear the scraping of the iron.

“!!”

The sword, which was pointed above her, was aimed at her stomach in her in an instant.

“Whoops!”

Jjoong!!

Mercedes unknowingly infused a little mana into her body her, and without even preparing to gather strength, she repelled his sword her.

“Whoa.”

Valdes calmly swung the sword without panic even though the sword bounced.

The sound of iron colliding with iron resonated throughout the stretching training ground.

Visor! Chaeeng! Chaechaeng!!

A clash of bold yet calm, rough yet delicate swordsmanship.

“Somehow… Aren’t they similar?”

Elsa, who was watching their sparring, suddenly threw words.

“… Huh? Really?”

“What happened?”

Glette and Amy agreed. Small movements are different, but large movements generally have many similarities.

It was hard to believe that he had learned swordsmanship from the same person. It was like watching the swordsmanship of a school that was a little far away.

It wasn’t just them who were surprised.

‘What is this?’

Valdes also didn’t show it on the outside, but on the inside he was greatly surprised.

‘No matter how I look at it, it seems like they’re copying my sword… There’s something else strange about that. Who the hell did you learn it from?’

The warrior Pedro had no disciples, but that didn’t mean he didn’t teach anyone the sword.

There were quite a few people who just gave a little advice, a few moves, and a few sword techniques. It’s embarrassing to call him a disciple, but it’s too much to say that he simply helped.

Serenia Barnstead, the leader of the Knights of Pedro, was a typical example.

Serenia was in charge of Beatrice’s escort knight eighteen years ago. And Beatrice often moved with Pedro. She couldn’t get to where it was really dangerous, but she liked Pedro and often tried to stay with him whenever possible.

Thanks to this, Pedro could see Serenia often, and she often looked after her swordsmanship her. Likewise, there were many things for her to see Pedro’s swordsmanship in her.

For this reason, Valdez proudly used a swordsmanship similar to that of Pedro. The retired mercenary who raised him could make an excuse that he learned a few sword skills from Pedro during his active duty his.

‘I don’t really remember her except Serenia… Could it be that Serenia taught this way? Then she’s a bit disappointed….’

The two fiercely exchanged swords for about 10 minutes.

“… I guess this is enough.”

Haha. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Good job… Whoa.”

Elsa hurriedly ran over and handed the two a water bottle.

With the exception of the morning and evening hours, Elsa and Amy basically took turns doing the work of the servants. Today is Elza’s day.

Valdez gulped down the water as if he was very tired.

“Oops!”

While Elsa wiped Mercedes’ sweat with her towel, Amy wiped Valdez.

“Oh, drinking cold water in such a hurry will give you a headache!”

Haha…”

“…”

Amy who wipes the boy’s sweat with her own hands, and even Elza who glances at her with her eyes saying that she is envious of such Amy. The unusual appearance of the two servants caught Mercedes’ eyes.

‘Have we become this close already?’

They seemed more friendly than she thought. It was the same for Glat, who was a little stiff and shy. She was naturally coming to the side.

The four servants look friendly except for themselves.

For some reason, I was a little jealous.

“… Enough everyone. I have to talk to Valdez, so let each one do his job.”

“Ah yes!”

Elsa, nervous at Mercedes’ voice her, hurriedly scattered Amy and Glette. Amy, a little dull, didn’t notice it, but she was putting on a wistful expression, and Glette hurriedly ran away to the training scarecrow in the corner.

“Didn’t you say you learned that swordsmanship from the mercenary who raised you?”

“Ah, yes. That… I didn’t believe it, but when Master got drunk, he boasted that he learned the sword from the hero. Maybe…”

He nodded his head at the boy’s cautious question.

“Yes, maybe that’s right. The hero is a very benevolent person, and when he has free time, he is said to have taught many people.”

“Ah…”

‘It’s beautiful.’

He was just doing it to reduce the casualties of the war and to win as much as possible. The stronger the others are, the easier it will be for him to fight, and the fewer the civilian casualties.

He did not consider it to the extent of being benevolent.

Still, he couldn’t show it off, so he exaggerated his admiration.

“As expected, the hero was amazing! Then, Mercedes-sama too?”

“… No. I am not.”

“Yes?”

“The knight commander, Serenia-nim, took some lessons from the hero, but my swordsmanship teacher was someone else. My swordsmanship was just… I copied those people.”

Valdes’ eyes twinkled.

‘Indeed. Mercedes seems to respect Pedro more than I thought.’

“Ah, that’s why the skin and the inside look different.”

“…What?”

Mercedes glared at him with sharp eyes. Valdez showed a slightly withdrawn appearance, but continued to speak steadfastly.

“I-I don’t know if I can say this… But Mercedes-sama’s swordsmanship was somewhat strange. It felt a bit foreign and inefficient, as if the core and shell were different. So… Ah! It felt like I was forced to mend clothes that didn’t fit!

“…”

At his words her, Mercedes opened his lips slightly and put on a dazed expression.

“Uh… Are you mad?”

“… Ah. No. No. That… I was a little surprised.

Mercedes was so surprised that she forgot to even talk to him in her usual hard tone of her.

She belatedly corrected her words her, but her throat her was already red. It wasn’t because she was sparring. Obviously, Valdez had personally seen what was fine until just now.

‘It’s cuter than I thought.’

“Um… Can you tell me what advice you gave to the other kids?”

“Yes? Ah, so…”

Valdez recited the advice he had given Elza, Amy, and Glette over the past week.

Swordsmanship, stamina, footwork, posture, attitude, tricks, etc. Valdez’s words were longer than Mercedes thought. At first she listened silently, her face filled with surprise. The quantity was quantity, but the quality was high.

‘Every single thing is correct.’

In particular, he picked up on details that he might have missed.

“…… I think it was roughly like this.”

“Amazing… Snow. Yes, snow.”

Mercedes found the reason in his eyes her.

It was understandable that he avoided and blocked Ethylene’s attack with minimal movement even when his physical strength her was low. If you have eyes that can analyze this much, you can fully understand.

‘… Obviously the captain said so. The warrior said that the ‘eyes’ were particularly good,’

One of the things that the hero himself picked as his greatest strength were those eyes.

In the minute gap of time between superhuman level strongmen. A transcendental eye capable of analyzing an opponent and grasping an attack.

Finding common ground with the hero again, she felt thrilled.

Electricity seemed to go through her whole body.

“… Come follow me to my room.”

“Yes.”

Mercedes called him with a more serious attitude. The story I’m going to tell you from now on was embarrassing and important to say in front of others.

“Elsa, you’re training here. …No, take a break from work today and come after dinner. And I’ll take Valdés with you.”

“Yes, yes! I see!”

“Let’s go.”

Valdez’s expression of her, following her, was full of interest.

Back in her room her, Mercedes immediately locked her door. She and she sat Valdés on the sofa by her table, and she herself sat across from her.

“Continuing the story from before. … As you said, my swordsmanship is an imitation of Hero Pedro’s. “

‘Indeed….’

“To be honest. I want to recreate the sword of the warrior. It’s not an imitation that others halfway changed, but the real Pedro sword.”

If so, I understood.

Perhaps she looked for the correct answer on her own after seeing countless people’s swordsmanship. As if she were looking at and analyzing several pieces of literature. But no one knows the answer. Not to mention, even the commander of the knights couldn’t follow Pedro’s sword exactly.

You can only check if it is correct or not by just looking at it. At least she believes in this and restores the sword, but of course there are limits.

In the first place, even Pedro himself doesn’t know the answer. Because he went through war and fight and modified his sword his in real time. While his sword his was gradually evolving, of course, the parts taught were different depending on the time period, and there were many missing parts in the middle, not systematically taught.

In a word, the answer is invisible because the fabrics of different materials are connected little by little.

So, it had to be clothes that didn’t fit.

‘By the way, who gave the name Pedro Sword?’

He had never given his sword a name. It was a little bit, but it felt unfair. What a meaningless name.

“From what I’ve seen, your swordsmanship seems to be more similar to that of the warrior than I thought. Please. Please restore the warrior’s sword with me.”

Valdez paused for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

“Okay. I’m also interested in the hero. That, and…”

“Yes?”

“Hehe, I’m glad to be able to help Mercedes-sama.”

“…”

Seeing that naive yet bashful face, Mercedes froze for an instant. Then he felt his face grow hot and panicked and hurriedly kicked him out of the room.

He was fed up with that cute figure, laughed, and moved his feet back to the training ground.

‘Swordsmanship restoration…. It will be a little different from the original plan, but this will be fun too.’