CH 102

For the time being, I still had to ask her if she would teach me. If she turned me down, then there was nothing I could do about that. I would just have to ask another person. If it was bugging her as she said… then there was a good chance that she would accept.

“Thank you for explaining. I understand why you were watching me now, Kirty-san. There’s one thing I’d like to request of you… would you be willing to hear me out?” (Lewin)

“A request? It depends on what it’s about…” (Kirty)

“Actually, I myself am aware of what you said about my swordsmanship being lacking, and I have been searching for someone to mentor me in my sword skills for a while now. So about that, I was wondering if you would be willing to instruct me in swordsmanship, just in the morning… what do you think, Kirty-san?” (Lewin)

When I said that, a smile blossomed like a flower across Kirty’s face. But just a few moments later, she coughed to clear her throat as she changed her expression to look troubled. The corners of her mouth were slightly raised though, so she didn’t seem all that distraught.

“…I-I cannot. I have been entrusted with upholding my glory as the Captain of the Knights of the Royal Order. I am too busy to offer you guidance, but if you really insist—” (Kirty)

“I see, so that’s how it is… I’m sorry for requesting too much.” (Lewin)

In the end… it might have been too forward to ask for her mentorship on our very first meeting. Given the atmosphere, I thought that there was a chance she would be willing to teach me, but I guess not.

“….Huh? Hey, wait a minute. What are you giving up so easily for?!” (Kirty)

“Eh? Well, I do think that it might have been too impudent for me to ask someone to mentor me in sword skills the very first time we met, but I could always ask an adventurer to teach me, so I’m not giving up!” (Lewin)

When I told her that, she started looking really flustered again. This woman… she was amusing, but she seemed kind of crazy. Her facial expressions were so expressive and it never got old to me, but I had no idea what she was getting all flurried about.

“W-w-wait! I never said I wouldn’t teach you!” (Kirty)

“Eh?! Just a moment ago, you said it wasn’t possible, didn’t you…? Er…in that case, you’ll teach me swordsmanship then, Kirty-san?” (Lewin)

“Hold on a second! Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’ll give you guidance in swordsmanship, but I have one condition.” (Kirty)

“A condition…? Ah! If it’s about money, I have some!”

“How could I accept money from a child? I’m the Captain of the Knights of the Royal Order, you know?” Kirty proclaimed with brimming confidence. Perhaps it was part of her strong conviction as a Knight of the Royal Order, but I thought she looked cool as she resolutely declared that.

“In that case, what would that condition be?” (Lewin)

“….P-please don’t tell anyone that I was… stalking you…” (Kirty)

….Alright. I’m gonna have to take back what I said just now about her looking cool.

Her blushing face as she shyly looked downwards was way too cute, and the majestic countenance she was showing just a moment ago as a Knight of the Royal Order was nowhere to be seen. I mean, even without that promise, I never had any plans to tell anyone about that. In the first place, I never felt like I was being stalked, and in the beginning, I was the one who was following her with my eyes as she jogged by.

“Even without that condition, I wasn’t planning to tell anyone, you know? You can rest assured,” I said with a smile. When Kirty heard that, she patted her chest as she breathed as a sigh of relief. Did it have something to do with maintaining her dignity as a Captain after all…?

“Is that so… I was prepared to be threatened or blackmailed for it… The fact that you’re not an assh*le saves me a lot of trouble.” (Kirty)

“Then in that case, from now on I’ll help you with your swordsmanship as promised! Would it be alright to meet every morning in front of the inn at the usual time?” (Kirty)

“Yes! I’m looking forward to working with you, Kirty-san!” (Lewin)

“Fufu, this would make you my first apprentice. Come to think of it, we never properly introduced ourselves. As you already know, my name is Iris Kirty. I serve the Knights of the Royal Order as the Captain of the First Division. I am the youngest in the organization at 27 years old, and I am the first female Captain of the Knights of the Royal Order.” (Kirty)

Oooh!! Her position was incredible. The youngest and the first female Captain. Because of the way we handled the situation at first, she somehow ended up with the image of a weirdo in my mind, but Kirty was actually a pretty amazing person, wasn’t she?

I might have been… pretty lucky. She was an influential person, and since she had been watching me practicing with my sword for the last four months, she should already know what I need to fix. I had great expectations for her coaching tomorrow!

“That’s a really incredible position! For you to be the youngest and the first female Captain, that’s so amazing!” (Lewin)

“Well, it comes with a considerable amount of pressure… Well, enough about me. How about you introduce yourself too?” (Kirty)

“Ah, yes! My name is Lewin. I make a living by gathering plants and herbs, and I’m currently training hard so I can be self-reliant.” (Lewin)

“Lewin… that’s a good name. Anyway… your method of making money seems extremely unusual. I want to hear about how you’re able to make a living by collecting plants and herbs some time, but I think we have to wrap it up here for now.” (Kirty)

“That’s true. We’ve been talking quite a while now, so let’s call it here for today.” (Lewin)

“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a long time. I got pretty flustered, but I’m glad that you approached me to talk today. Also, thank you for letting me into your place. I’m going to make sure to properly teach you, starting tomorrow!” (Kirty)

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it!” (Lewin)

In this way, I managed to successfully get Kirty, a Captain from the Knights of the Royal Order, to teach me swordsmanship. She was a little weird, but she was by no means a bad person, and her skills were probably perfect. It was a rather strange way of meeting, but now that we had formed a connection, I planned to cherish it.