Chapter 19 – Desiring Strength

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This is one of the projects my Patrons picked as replacement for Allrounders, which has been completed. As I’m currently stocking up, you can see this as an announcement chapter, stating my willingness to pick this series up for the remaining 3.25 LN volumes that are available.

However, just as I told my Patrons straight out, I will tell you guys, too. This pick-up comes with strings attached. I don’t need another dead weight, so if no one reads, likes, and financially supports this series, I’ll simply cut it off then and there. There’s enough other novels out there.

So, if you wish this series to be translated to the current end of its LN content, spread the word and support the series. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. 😉

― Over and out, Shasu ―

“So what do you think of the children, Masaru-sama?” Sati asked me while massaging my feet as I was soaking in the bath.

I had Syrah-chan support my upper body by placing my head on her chest. That state of floating in the hot water with all strength gone from my body was pure bliss. It was extremely soothing for my battered body.

“Hmm, let’s see…”

In the first place, it’s not like we’re already at the stage where I could ask for loyalty or some such. I just made the children, who had gathered a second time after getting permission from their guardians, into adventurer apprentices.

“I think it will take some time.”

Recently I’ve started to believe that Sati’s case might have been a miracle.

Although they experienced some bad things, the children have guardians and friends caring about them. That’s completely different from Sati who was sold off into slavery by her parents.

“The children wish to become strong because they want to take back their motherland with their own hands, right? Whether they’d become loyal to me under such circumstances is, well…”

Taking back Hiragis and thus saving them for real will come later. Right now I think it’d be asking too much to expect their loyalty.

“The wish of wanting to become strong and loyalty towards His Lordship are two different pairs of shoes, I believe,” said Syrah-chan while peering into my face from above.

She probably has an idea about it.

“Though, I don’t think that the approach is wrong. Maybe one of them will take a liking to me.”

I supplied them with goods and also showed them various things. And they got quite attached in proportion.

“Well, whatever their divine blessings might be, there’s no loss in training them, I’d say.”

Tomorrow I’ll spare as much time for the children as I can. Ellie should be taking care of all the business related to the adventurer guild, so I have plenty of time.

Once the tasks for the guild are done, it’ll be necessary to first build additional houses for the beastkin. That alone is nothing we will finish within a day and Syrah-chan likely doesn’t want to miss her training either. It sounds like a lot of work, but I’ll simply do my best while it’s bright outside. And once night falls, I will enjoy myself like this.

“Come to think of it, Sati, about our duel today…”

I tried to ask her about what had bugged me today during the day. I had won by Sati stepping on a stone, but was that an intentional blunder in order to yield victory to me or was it pure coincidence?

“Making such stupid mistake is sooo embarrassing,” Sati cried out and then dove her face into the water with bubbles emerging.

“Ah, then it was really just a simple mistake, huh…?”

Sati lifted her face and tilted her head, looking as if she didn’t quite comprehend my question.

“His Lordship is asking whether you might have lost on purpose, Elder Sister,” Syrah-chan stated boldly from behind.

Sati became truly startled by this.

“If Masaru-sama tells me to make a serious effort, then I will always give it my utmost. Not once have I cut any corners!”

“It meant that I won at that point and stepping on a stone is a mistake that isn’t very like you, Sati, so I just thought it was a possibility. No, forget it, sorry for saying strange things, Sati.”

It’s definitely unthinkable that Sati wouldn’t obey my command to get serious and she’s not the type who would fake doing it on her own call.

“To begin with, Masaru-sama, you’re much stronger than me, so it wouldn’t be strange for me to lose a lot more either,” added Sati while looking slightly displeased.

“No, not at all. When it comes to swordsmanship, you’re better than me, aren’t you?”

I think I have a win rate of around 30% in sword fights. No matter how much Sati might be overestimating me, the numbers don’t lie about her strength.

“Masaru-sama, you should definitely be stronger than me in swordsmanship as well. Even during times of being serious, you don’t show your genuine, raw strength, do you?”

“She has a point. I won’t say that you’re going easy on her, Your Lordship, but if you compare it to the time of the tournament, it’s completely different from when you pour all your fighting spirit into a battle.”

That’s because I won’t become as desperate during training sessions as I was during the tournament. We already had this conversation about me supposedly being much stronger when I get serious before.

But, being able to release your full power under normal circumstances is also a part of one’s strength. If I rouse my spirits to the maximum, I might become somewhat stronger too, but I’m no one who can release his full power so readily and as such I cannot accept Sati’s opinion that I’m stronger.

“Sati, even you don’t use as much of your power as you did during the tournament, despite me telling you to come at me for real, right?”

Even for Sati, our bouts don’t count as a tournament. I won’t say she’s cutting corners, but she shouldn’t be going at full strength either.

“Whenever I fight seriously, I use all my strength.”

Hmm, okay. Then again, recently I’ve seen no difference in her strength and movements compared to her fights at the tournament.

“What about stopping the blade before it hits then?”

Sati has a tendency to not come at me too hard. Stopping before you hit your opponent is clearly going easy on them, isn’t it?

“Aren’t there occasions where I hit you too as of late? Besides, you’d also block my attacks, wouldn’t you?”

That’s true. Since I’ve told her to just hit me without forcibly trying to stop her blade, I’ve been getting hit whenever I couldn’t fully stop her blows. Logically I’ll stop attacks whenever I can. We’re playing on the same terms here, I guess.

“After the tournament, Sergeant-dono told me that it would be difficult for him to predict who would win if Masaru-sama and I fought. He also said that we simply had no luck with the tournament pairings, and that it’d have been fairly possible for you, Masaru-sama, to win the championship.”

If I could have avoided Lazard-san, I might have had a chance to win the tournament. But even then the most formidable enemies Sati and Franceska would remain. However, if I could have crushed these two as well, only that giant called Bolzora would have been in my way, I suppose.

But, Sati’s and my strengths are equal, no? Certainly, if you ask whether I normally use my full strength, I must admit that I don’t, but…me being able to fight Sati decently comes from me having practiced with her all the time, resulting in us sharing the techniques we learned. I can cope with her movements because I’ve grown accustomed to them, and even so, I still only win once in every three or four matches. It takes all my effort to just hang on somehow so that our abilities don’t grow too far apart.

“Sergeant-dono said that you should train yourself more, Masaru-sama. Then people like me wouldn’t be able to win against you anymore.”

Be it Sergeant or Sati, I’m frequently told to train more, but since the number of people has increased most recently, my training amount has remarkably grown as well. I think I’m going at it quite well.

“Lately I’ve been doing it fairly seriously.”

“Indeed. That’s why it’s become truly difficult to not be left in the lurch.”

Ah, I’ve been always telling Sati to become stronger than me, haven’t I? Let alone from not being able to open up a gap in skill with me who used to train little, we remained at roughly the same ability level. If you consider that fact, it must have been quite harsh on her, indeed.

“Somehow I feel sorry. I’ve told you something unreasonable. It’s okay to not push yourself too much, if it seems too reckless, okay?”

“No, I will also do my best and become much stronger, but it’s fine if you always remain stronger than me, too.”

For Sati it is desirable for me to be stronger than her, but since she was told by me to become stronger than I am, she must have been in a fairly conflicted mental state.

But, if Sati was the only one saying it, I could see it as favoritism, but Sergeant has said something similar, too.

『The next time we meet, I want you to have surpassed me』

Him having said so at our parting…means he’s truly expecting it? Does that mean Sati has been calmly assessing that my swordsmanship might actually be superior, instead of simply saying it out of favoritism or worship?

“How about you duel Fran-sama once more, but this time at peak condition? You should be able to be more than a match if you fight seriously, Masaru-sama.”

“That’s a great idea. That match left me displeased.”

As Syrah says, magic was used while moving, so I didn’t have a serious fight, where we only used swords, against Franceska yet. I do hate pain though.

But, assuming we go ahead with this, will I be able to fight seriously against Franceska as an opponent when I’m not serious against Sati?

Thinking back on it, it’s been only two times that I can confidently claim to have been truly serious. Those were my fights against Sergeant and Lazard-san. In both cases, I was quite cornered.

“You got a point. It’d be okay to give it at least one try.”

“You will definitely win!”

“You think so? I believe it’s going to be close.”

I wonder how to become serious.

“I have no doubt that you are the strongest, even in swordsmanship, Masaru-sama. I would never ever lie to you!”

Yep, as I thought, this is clearly worship.

■　■　■　■　■　■　■　■　■　■　■　■

———- End of Part 1 ———-

On the next day, we joined everyone, who had stayed over at the fortress, at our new home which we built in the refugee camp. While at it, it was decided that Ann would cook Tilika’s request for a fish dish for breakfast.

“How about we stay here tonight?” I asked Ellie.

If everyone is present, it’s very likely that someone as plain as me will be overlooked, despite me adding Blessings to the beastkin, so I had my friends restrain themselves yesterday, but I think it should be alright by now.

Only Ellie, Franceska, Will, and I were currently in this room, which combined living and dining room into one, as Ann and the others were preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

I made sure for the house to not stand out by keeping its exterior the same as the other five row houses built by the beastkin, and instead I made it as big as two row houses. I also added a basement to be used as a teleportation destination in secrecy. Everyone had their own private rooms in this house, but I couldn’t make them too big since I had already designed the dining/living room and bath to be fairly large.

I also had the workers add an entrance door in a hurry, but the rooms still lack their own respective doors, but this shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

“That makes sense. Let’s move in here once we’re done with our work.”

Last night, everyone got one room at the guild’s lodging house. The five women had squeezed themselves inside that small room while Will had apparently spent the night in the big common room together with the other adventurers.

Will had been dragged along to yesterday’s training session, too, but just when I was sure he’d be dead tired, I found him to be in an awfully good mood for some reason.

“Haha, I mean I’ve just gotten really strong, man.”

It looks like he and Franceska had dominated the guild’s training ground yesterday. I suppose they pulled off the same thing Sati always does.

Among us he’s competing for the position of being the weakest and even if he logically understands that he’s become stronger, it’s something else if you try it out and actually experience it for yourself.

“Don’t get carried away. That training ground simply didn’t have any strong fighters.”

However, Franceska’s admonition is reasonable, too. There might be strong adventurers around, but a training ground has a different purpose and it’s not unusual for even instructors to not be strong enough to take on a level 5 swordsman.

“Still, are you really okay to stand out so much Will?”

Well, I suppose it should be fine since he’s hiding his face by wearing full armor. But, Franceska also found out that Will is a pampered noble brat who ran away from home. Since they’re always acting together, it seems he couldn’t avoid telling her about it. After all, it’s super fishy if you never show your face in places with people.

“I’ve been ridiculed for wearing tattered armor, so I just…”

If you wear a battered armor without even trying to mend it properly, it’s only natural for people to make fun of you, I’d say.

“In reality, you see, he just tried to stop ’em makin’ passes at Fran, hehe,” Ellie explained with a broad grin on her face.

And then things apparently proceeded to him being teased for his worn-out armor.

“They sure don’t care for their lives if they try to make a move on Fran.”

But, this whole arc doesn’t seem to be as romantic as Ellie believes it to be. Franceska can easily handle the likes of local riff-raff adventurers, and Will probably stopped them out of genuine concern for those adventurers.

“Will, give it a rest and exchange this old, musky rag for a new armor. You could buy a good set with the money you earned during our travels, right?” Franceska said.

However, she doesn’t look like she pays him much attention, so it doesn’t seem like Will got much of a chance with her. Of course, she isn’t interested in me at all either. She seriously appears to have no interests outside of sword training.

“Ah, I’ve prepared a new one. I’ll fetch it later.”

“For real!?”

“We’re going to eat breakfast first.”

Will apparently wanted me to take it out right away, but breakfast was getting close to being ready. Today’s menu consisted of the small fish, which I had caught with magic, having been grilled with salt, and a soup that contained cut and trimmed fish meat.

“Grilled fish tastes great,” exclaimed Tilika.

She’s right. Grilled fish is pretty decent, indeed. The soup is…okay. Because river fish tastes bland, the soup’s taste is just as bland.

“We’ll use the armor fish for dinner.”

Tilika nodded at my words. I’ve asked the beastkin to dismantle the huge armor fish for us.

I wonder what kind of menu we should use it for. It can be eaten raw as well, right? If I remember correctly, parasites will be killed off if you freeze the fish, but assuming that’s wrong, we’ve still got healing magic, don’t we?

When I asked the others, “Parasites? I can’t really answer that.”

Ann doesn’t seem to know much about this either.

“I’ve never eaten fish raw. Is it tasty?” Tilika asked, appearing curious.

“It’s pretty decent if you’re used to it, but if it’s infested with the parasites I mentioned just now, you’ll become sick.”

I think it’s usually limited to a stomach ache, but does that also apply to this world? The parasites here might be different from the ones on Earth, and meddling with things based on knowledge from vague memories without knowing the means of treatment has become slightly scary.

“You’ll obviously spoil your stomach if you eat it raw, so give it a rest.”

Unfortunately it looks like I have to unfortunately give up on sushi. It wouldn’t be funny if several of us fell ill for many days during this busy time.

Don’t pull such a face, Tilika. I’m sad as well.

“Umm, so you see…it’s a topic change, but…,” Ann started off next.

“Mmh?”

“It’s been on my mind since yesterday. I think I’ll stay back here. They’re lacking healers all over the place.”

In reality, healers are direly sought after everywhere, but this place seems to be in an especially wretched situation because of the huge number of refugees.

“Also I was planning to build a proper orphanage since they don’t have that.”

Naturally since it’s originally a fortress. Even if they might have a temple, it’s unrealistic to expect an orphanage. So far as it goes, the temple has been taking care of the orphans thus far, but they lack funds, facilities, and hands. Moreover, the whole foreign settlement seems like it’s going to starve further down the line, and that’s not just limited to the children, but even includes the adults.

“Either way, I don’t train in swordsmanship and there’s nothing for me to do at Ellie’s home either.”

It’ll be fine if she teleports to Ellie’s home when finding an opportunity.

“If that’s what you wish to do, Ann, I’ll support you.”

I’ll be quite worried if she remains back here all alone, but as it’s planned for her to live at the temple during that time, she’ll be protected by the great number of priests and temple knights over there. I also intend to frequently come back here to check on the beastkin’s situation, so it’ll probably be fine.

“Okay. Once we finish the business with my family, we plan to come back here right away.”

The problem is the sword training, but since Hiragis will set things straight in the worst case, it’ll be fine to take it slow.

“That and the provisioning of game; a truly marvelous mindset. I’ll also invest some money into the orphanage, even if it won’t be too much.”

Franceska said that she’d donate half of her 100,000 gold she had with her as travel and living expenses. I think that’d be around 5 million Yen. It’s quite a hefty sum, but I think I’ll stay silent about us paying more than 50,000 gold.

“Thanks, Fran. That’s a huge help,” Ann thanked her friend honestly.

Right now every gold counts, and if she’s got 50,000 of them, there’s a lot she’ll be able to do.

“I’m not going to use money on training anyway, so it’s cool.”

She apparently arranged to rely on the local lord at the Hamlet of Swords. We were also invited by her to rely on the lord’s generosity, but building a house on some open plot is much more comfortable. It’s a three days’ travel with a Halilia spirit to reach the hamlet. If you hurry two, so a roundtrip would take four days at the least. Granted that she comes back to meet Ann and the beastkin, it’s still a distance that would cause people to raise their eyebrows if she did it too often.

She possibly thought that she might be able to keep her journey to the Hamlet of Swords a secret, but she’s famous as a swordswoman, so she’d be quickly busted if she acted carelessly. Maybe it’d be good to have the advance guards all stay in the hamlet instead while I’d stay here for real.

In that case, I’d just need to go hunting with Hiragis while taking the mage faction with me, and secretly earn some experience for Will and Syrah-chan. If I take them with me through teleport after spotting good targets, us all leaving for one hour would be more than plenty.

However, if I did that, Franceska would definitely get in the way. She’d do her training in the same place. And it’s not like us frequently sneaking away wouldn’t be discovered sooner or later.

It’s great that we managed to somehow win that girl over as a full ally, but even so…

I think we’ve become pretty close with each other, but it’s not to the extent that I could expect her to definitely stay silent if I tell her my secrets. Considering her earlier talk with Will, who has been with me for a long time, it doesn’t seem like she harbors any romantic feelings whatsoever.

“What’s up, Masaru? Is there something on me…ahhh!? Even if you make passes at me, I’ll never marry you!”

I don’t believe I’ve stared so hard, but my thoughts were exposed. Whatever you might say, Franceska is a beauty. It’s not like I’m trying to seduce her or anything, but Franceska seems to regard me as quite the playboy and thus reminds me of her disinterest like this every once in a while.

“Which reminds me, I’ve been wondering whether we could have a serious duel limited to the usage of swords alone at some point during our travels,” I said as I recalled what we talked about yesterday.

I thought Franceska would immediately leap on something like this, but she seemed to hesitate. Did she get somewhat overwhelmed due to the magic war?

“Well, if you don’t have any interest, I won’t force you.”

I mean, I don’t really want to do it either.

“The pace at which you people…become strong is abnormal,” Franceska said without answering me.

Sati won during the tournament, but her last attack was something close to a surprise attack. No matter how you look at it, back then Franceska was the stronger one of the two, but nowadays they’re about equal. But, that’s not only because Sati grew in strength but for the most part because her body got used to her stats and skills, allowing her to handle her abilities much smoother.

“Our mock battles have become a truly great training for me, Fran.”

The training out on the road was a nice experience. I must thank Franceska. Thanks to the training with her, who has pooled all her efforts into improving her swordsmanship, I’ve been filling the lack of experience that had worried me. After all, there are limits to what I can achieve by just training with Sati.

“It’s the same for me as well. I feel it was a good idea for me to be somewhat unreasonable and ask to accompany you guys.”

If she had gone ahead alone, we’d have forestalled her by more than a month and would be training in the Hamlet of Swords right now. It’d also mean that we’d be able to get ahead in growth by a month. I’m sure that would have been a nightmare for Franceska.

“Are we going to do it according to the tournament rules?”

I nodded.

“Very well. I’ll clear away all my grudges over having been forced to bite dirt thanks to that blasted magic of yours.”

It sounds like she’s fairly upset over having been blown away with magic many times.

I know that you’ve been quite frustrated about that, but look…different from swords, there’s no way to stop a spell before it hits, and it’s been you who kept challenging me to battle, right…?

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