CH 16

Gilbert showed a puzzled look as it was difficult to answer.

“From now on, think of the Young Madam as a straw doll.”

Instead of pointing out Kellerhan’s faults, he directed what had to be done from now on.

“A straw doll that crumbles if you give it even a little force, breaks if you force it to move, and dies if you don’t take care of it.”

“…I got it.” Kellerhan said in a complicated voice. “But she can’t quit training.”

“That’s right. Even the Young Madam has to protect herself in case of emergency.”

Gilbert was silent for a moment, as if he was lost in thought.

“If I leave it to the Captain, this incident will happen again, so I will plan the training schedule while considering Young Madam’s physical strength.”

“Alright. Please do.”

It’s the first time I’ve heard of Kellerhan using the word ‘please’ to someone.

Gilbert seems to have enough common sense, so I won’t fall over from running too hard in the future.

A sense of relief came rushing in with drowsiness, and I gladly surrendered myself to the waves.

***

On the next day, I woke up and was eating breakfast Magda brought when Kellerhan and Yuta came to visit.

“Are you all right?” Yuta came closer and asked.

I chewed and swallowed the sweet pancake in my mouth and nodded.

“My body stings a little, but I feel much better than yesterday.”

“Thankfully.” Yuta sighed in relief.

“Don’t worry about us and eat your breakfast.” Kellerhan said, slumping over on an extra chair in my room.

Yuta hesitated and took a seat across from me.

As I finished eating the pancakes, I observed Kellerhan and Yuta. Both of them were in comfortable clothes.

“Excuse me…”

I emptied the glass of milk and carefully called out Kellerhan.

“Hm?”

“Am I going to do another one today? Training.”

“Ah.”

At the word ‘training’, Kellerhan put on a complicated expression. He wiped his lips with one hand, crossed his legs and opened his mouth.

“You have to. But today will be a little different. Like yesterday…”

After interrupting the conversation, he looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then scratched the back of the head with an expression of, “This is not right,” and continued.

“I’ll not be as ignorant as I was yesterday.”

That’s a relief.

It wasn’t a dream that yesterday a guy named Gilbert came to my room and said he would make me a training schedule.

With a sigh of relief, I put the sweet and sour fruit jelly prepared for dessert in my mouth.

“Have you eaten it all? Then let’s go right away.”

Kellerhan looked at the empty plate in front of me and stood up.

Yuta and I followed Kellerhan to the vacant lot we saw yesterday.

He had me and Yuta stand side by side in front of him and brought three wooden swords.

“I’m going to slowly build up your basic stamina, and I’ll teach you practical skills first.”

Kellerhan threw a wooden sword, and Yuta picked up his wooden sword very naturally and skillfully.

“Isabella, here.”

Yuta handed me the wooden sword he had just received, then he again took the wooden sword that Kellerhan had thrown and held it in his hand.

Having received the wooden sword from Yuta, I awkwardly fiddled with the handle.

It was the first time I ever touched a weapon in my life.

The wooden sword was a bit lacking for a full-fledged weapon, but it felt intimidating enough to me, who had never held anything sharper than a fork and knife for a meal in my life.

And it was very heavy.

It seemed light when Kellerhan held and tossed it, but in my hand, it was as heavy as five thick books.

“Stay still. Since I will teach you how to lift it.” He said as he saw me whining and trying to straighten the wooden sword.

“First, look at Yuta demonstrating.”

When I looked at Yuta upon Kellerhan’s words, his face blushed and he bowed his head.

Yuta knows how to wield a wooden sword?

He looks delicate like a doll and weak like a glass ornament, though?

It suddenly occurred to me that I had never looked closely at Yuta’s hand.

When I looked down and looked at Yuta’s hand, it was only then that I saw calluses engraved into his hands. And even small wounds.

I felt weird.

Of course, Yuta was also a member of the Barmuth family, so he would have learned to defend his own body…

To put it bluntly, how does it feel to have a glimpse of someone you thought was a gentle and kind puppy ​​skillfully hunting prey in a place without you?

“Yuta? Hurry up do it.”

Kellerhan urged him, and Yuta took a long breath and raised his wooden sword in one breath.

I observed Yuta’s behavior closely.

Put strength on your arms and don’t bend your wrist.

There seemed to be a certain trick, but I don’t know just by looking at it.

As I was about to ask for another show, I heard Kellerhan’s voice.

“Now Isabella, it’s your turn.”

With a firm remark, I clumsily imitated Yuta and raised my wooden sword.

“Hm.”

He didn’t seem to like something, but he didn’t speak his mind.

“Next is the stab.”

As if Kellerhan was performing a trick, he swung his wooden sword in his hand, threw it into the air, and grabbed it agilely. While I was blankly watching him wield the wooden sword, he tapped the floor with the wooden sword as if he had come to his senses.

“Originally, I had to teach you to strike, but Isabella, you don’t have enough strength, so it will be difficult to raise the sword above your head. The most effective attack you can make is to stab your opponent with a straight sword.”

Kellerhan explained at length.

I listened, trying not to miss a single word he had to say.

“The first step is not to hold the sword, but to develop the strength to lift the sword, but we don’t have time…”

Kellerhan looked at my twinkling eyes and coughed a little, then explained a little more about the sword.

Listening to the theory like this, it was nice to remember hearing various interesting stories from my parents in the old days.

But the good times were soon over.

Kellehan started teaching me how to handle a wooden sword in earnest.

“Yuta.”

This time too, Kellerhan called Yuta to give the demonstration first.

Yuta glanced at the target Kellerhan had brought (a sloppy doll made of wood, straw and rope), then he threw down his wooden sword.

Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound was heard, and the center of the target was hollowed out.

Kellerhan nodded his head satisfiedly, and he asked me.

“Did you see it?”

Nope, I didn’t see it.

To be honest, I don’t even know what just happened.

All I’ve seen is Yuta staring at his target, and the next moment, there’s a hole in the center of the target.

“Try to follow him.”

With a heart of ‘let’s try it first’, I raised my wooden sword. And with a clumsy posture, I threw it towards the target.

“Ah…!”

However, the moment the wooden sword hit the target, an unexpected shock was applied to the wrist.

I couldn’t stand the shock and lost the wooden sword, and the fallen sword rolled over and over to Kellerhan’s feet.

I’m in big trouble. What if he gets mad?

Kellerhan would never in his life see a person as incompetent as me.

His fighting power alone made him the leader of Gottfried Knights, where the most outstanding people in the Empire gather.

To him, my clumsy movements would seem terribly frustrating.

Besides, he has a very fiery temper, so it’s no wonder he gets angry.

I closed my eyes as I waited for the scolding that fell over my head.

It was then.

“It’s okay.”

Kellerhan’s voice was more calm than ever.

“Isabella, open your eyes.”

When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Kellerhan picking up my wooden sword and holding it out.

I took the wooden sword from him with trembling hands.

My wrists were tingling so I bit the inside of my lips to keep from showing it off, yet Kellerhan’s expression turned harsh.

As expected, he’s angry, isn’t he?

The moment I shrank my shoulders with that thought, Kellerhan took the wooden sword again.

“Gosh. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone whose wrist goes out with just one stab.”

He knelt in front of me on one knee and grabbed my wrist while looking at it. As I let out a short groan, Kellerhan’s expression grew even worse.

“I-I apologize.”

Even in the midst of a frenzy, I apologized, wondering what to do if he got angry. But somehow, Kellerhan seemed even more angry when he heard my apology.

“Isabella.” He spoke in a low, subdued voice. “You aren’t my subordinate. So there’s no way I’ll scold you.”

I raised my head in surprise.

And my eyes met with Kellerhan, who still had a grim expression on his face, but his eyes were full of worries and concerns about me.

Feeling a bit confused, I quickly lowered my head.

Kellerhan put a bandage on my wrist that the magicians had invented.

With this bandage on, the tingling in my wrists would go away within a few hours.

After finishing the treatment, Kellerhan released my hand. He opened his mouth as he slowly stepped back.

“…I’m sorry.”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

Sorry, he said?

Did Kellerhan just say sorry to me?

I thought he was the kind of person who never said he was sorry to anyone. But contrary to my prejudice, Kellerhan is a man who knows how to apologize when he has to.

“Even after suffering so much yesterday, I still don’t know you well, so I made you go through this.”

Kellerhan sighed and ruffled his hair.

“Take a rest today. I’ll somehow figure out a way by tomorrow.”

Kellehan tapped me on the shoulder and had Yuta take me to my room.

“Wrist, does it hurt a lot?”

Yuta was restless even though I said it was okay, and he watched my condition for several dozen minutes by my side.

“I will tell Father. That training is too much.”

“Yes? It’s fine.”

I shook my head at Yuta’s words.

How disrespectful would it seem if that busy Kellerhan tried to make time for it, and I said that I wouldn’t do it in just two days.

“But you…!” Yuta carefully grabbed my bandaged hand and widened his blue eyes. “You might get hurt again.”

His eyes were filled with other worries, similar to what Kellerhan had expressed.

If Kellerhan is worried about how far I can go with the training, I feel like Yuta is more directly concerned about me.

“I don’t want Isabella to hurt. Hm?” He was stubborn unlike the usual Yuta.

I smiled and clenched his hand.

“Young Lord.”

Yuta shut his mouth and looked at me.

I said in as calm a voice as possible to calm him.

“I’m really fine. Rather…”

“Rather?”

“I rather want to work harder.”

At my words, Yuta tilted his head.