Chapter 81: Night Training

That’s right, I couldn’t find a suspicious person. But the prickly feeling I felt on my skin made it clear someone was staring over here. Someone was monitoring us without a doubt.

“If we’re done here, let’s go home? Everyone’s waiting.” “Well, that’s true. I got the information I wanted… gotta share it with the others, also, gonna have to get Maria or Maxwell to send out a talking familiar.”

Upon my recommendation, she started hurrying home with me following right after, but the pursuer’s gaze never came unstuck from us. And yet, I couldn’t identify them. There’s a high probability they have a similar concealment Gift as me. It’s probably impossible to nullify without the use of detection-type gifts or magic.

“Well, that’s obvious since they managed to avoid alerting the Treants. That being the case, going home like this would be a problem,” I muttered under my breath.

At this rate, returning home will clue them in on the Six Heroes working on this case. If they find out then they’ll surely try escaping the city, just like those kidnappers were trying to do.

“Cortina, c’mere.” “Hm? Where we going? “Umm… Number one.” “Ah, got it. You did drink a lot of tea after all.”

We ducked into a nearby cafe and ordered a tea set in a seat near the back and hurried into the restroom together. As expected I couldn’t feel the piercing gaze on me anymore. Well, it’s more accurate to say the pursuer couldn’t chase us into the middle of a cafe.

Even with a covert gift, you can’t fully hide from the view of a large crowd of people. This particular pursuer would’ve been found out the moment they walked into the cafe while observing us, so it seems they hesitated in front of the shop.

“Cortina. Change out immediately.” “Ah, got it. Everything’s fine now.”

I couldn’t change out my clothes so I just took off the wig. Cortina took her hat and jacket off. I threw on Cortina’s jacket over my dress to disguise myself. The formal-looking jacket and my long blue-silver hair should’ve helped me give off a different impression.

Cortina gave off a very different impression just by taking off her hat and jacket. When we left the restroom we were pierced by a different kind of gaze. But of course, next to me was the super famous celebrity Cortina. Naturally, everyone in town knew about Cortina so they didn’t make a big deal out of it but they still couldn’t help noticing her.

I took the lead in choosing a table near the back of the store so we couldn’t be peeked on from outside. We undid our disguises inside so even if our pursuer came in now, he shouldn’t be able to recognize us.

In any case, no one else has come in since. Incidentally, Cortina and I went to town on the cakes.1 Sweets… As it so happens, I liked them even in my previous life.

That night, I put my covert Gift to its fullest use to slip out of the house. Just to make sure, I checked the circumference of the house for any suspicious individuals.

“Hmm, was it really this easy to shake them off?”

That said, it could also be because the villain figured keeping up the chase and getting involved with Cortina was a bad idea. Regardless I’ve got a prior appointment so I headed off to the lumberyard. Cloud was waiting there for me with a piece of wood. I made sure to conceal my face and hair so he wouldn’t be able to identify me.

“Sorry for the wait! Were you here long?” “Nah, I just got here… this conversation feels weird.” “Shaddap. We’re starting your training immediately.”

Having been waiting, Cloud finished up some warm-ups with his piece of wood. But I can see his arms trembling slightly, perhaps it’s a little too heavy.

“Ready? The key to using a sword effectively is to equip one that’s suited to your body.”

Prick! I feel like something’s stabbing into the back of my head. Mentally that is.

“A heavy weapon will just place a large burden on your body. It’s also a detriment that you can’t fight for extended periods. My advice is to first choose something lighter that’s easy for you to hold.” “I see.”

I feel like a second boomerang is smacking into the back of my head, but I’m not saying anything wrong here.

Maintaining the frontlines also means securing the safety of the rearguard and that’s the vanguard’s main job. If lugging a heavy weapon leaves you tired out as soon as the battle starts then you can’t accomplish that role.

First, he’ll need to get a weapon suited to his body, only then can he stand at the starting line. Luckily we’re in a lumberyard, if it’s a piece of wood, well, we’re just crawling around in them. We look around and get him a suitable one and square off against each other.

“To maintain the frontlines means to remain standing. In other words…” “Haaaa!” “When there’s hardly any difference between you and your opponent, going on the attack is a poor choice. You should prioritize defending instead.”

HIs posture broke after swinging his piece of wood down and at that moment I lightly struck his side.

“Yeowch!?” “Launching an attack leads to a gap. So hold yourself back to avoid that and wait for your opponent to create one instead.” “G- got it.”

We crossed planks repeatedly, each time sharing some instruction.

Being raised in an orphanage, I never had anyone I could call ‘master’, I taught myself bit by bit through countless fights. I tried to convey that knowledge to this boy through words.

Up till now, I hadn’t taken an official apprentice, but I wonder if this is the feeling Lyell had when he taught me swordsmanship.

When I tried teaching Cortina stealth it didn’t feel like teaching an apprentice, I don’t really get it.

“Don’t limit yourself to using swords as weapons. We’re using this piece of wood like a sword, but it’s still just a piece of wood. When the time comes, use what’s handy.

I swung the piece of wood around and started holding it like a staff. As Cloud had been so focused on using the wood as a sword, he couldn’t respond to the sudden change and lost his means of attack. Taking advantage of that, I struck at his hand causing him to drop his weapon.

Swords aren’t the only weapons. There are axes, hammers, staves, and bows as well. Finding a weapon that suits you is an important part of becoming strong. Thanks to my Gift, it was easy to use thread as a weapon, but Cloud who doesn’t have that advantage will require a lot of trial and error.

“Got it? What I’m teaching you is how to fight. Ways of defeating monsters and evildoers. You’re forbidden from using what you learn to harm the other kids.” “Huh?” “I understand you’re being bullied. However, what I’m showing you goes beyond that level. These are skills to defend yourself by killing your enemy.” “That’s…” “You don’t want to kill them do you?” “Yeah…”

Childish bullying can be merciless. Being able to calmly laugh off causing a serious injury as a simple bit of mischief. However, if he kills the others he’ll instantly be an evildoer. Even if it’s self-defense, he’ll be marked as the one in the wrong because he’s a half-demon. It seems Cloud understands that, so he doesn’t have that kind of hostility in him. And so from now on, I’ll teach him how to defend himself, techniques that will be useful once he leaves the orphanage. I’ll train him.

And thus, I, or you could say the existence known as Reid, would leave behind a bit of ourselves.