Chapter 42

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Butler's Sword Lessons
-----------------------------------------------------------------

* * *

On the first day of her swordsmanship lessons, Butler Sebas brought her a light iron sword to help her get a feel for a real blade.

Marin swung it with great enthusiasm, only to spend the next two days bedridden with muscle pain.

Three days later, she dragged herself out to the training ground, looking pale as a ghost.

Butler Sebas handed her a wooden practice sword, his face full of regret. It was the sort of thing children used when they first started learning the sword.

Marin swung it even harder than she had on the first day. She wanted to prove to him that she could do it.

And once again, she couldn't get out of bed for two days.

With a crestfallen expression, she headed to the quiet clearing behind the main building, hidden by shrubbery. That was her training ground for sword practice.

She spotted Butler Sebas's back as he stood in the center of the training ground. Marin couldn't bring herself to call out to him and instead dropped her gaze to the ground.

She tapped the dirt with her low-heeled black slippers, sending up puffs of dust.

"Miss Marin, come on in."

Sensing her presence, Butler Sebas turned around and greeted her kindly.

"Good day, Master."

Ever since she'd started learning swordsmanship, she called him "Master" while in the training ground.

When Marin still didn't lift her head after greeting him, the butler called out to her again.

"Miss Marin?"

"Are you... regretting agreeing to teach me?"

Marin mumbled, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground.

She'd wanted to make sure Butler Sebas wouldn't regret it, but here she was, making him regret it after just a week. It upset her.

"Hahaha!"

The butler burst into laughter.

Startled by his unexpected reaction, Marin peeked up at him.

"Yes, I do regret it."

Butler Sebas said in a voice strained from holding back his laughter.

Ugh, straight to the gut.

Marin drooped her head again, her face sullen.

"I regret starting off with the wrong approach to teaching you. I had no idea about your stamina, Miss Marin."

As he said this, Butler Sebas gazed at her fondly, as if she were endearing.

"So you're not regretting teaching me?"

When Marin hesitantly asked in a small voice, he shook his head with a benevolent expression.

"Of course not. It was my request, after all. Do you regret it, Miss Marin?"

"No. I'm just pathetic about my own poor stamina."

"Then shall we continue?"

"Yes! Please take care of me."

Marin replied brightly, her face clearing up.

If her master wasn't giving up first, she couldn't either.

"Miss Marin, let's use this today."

Butler Sebas held out a wooden sword like a switch. From its rough, hand-carved shape, it looked like he'd made it himself.

"Did you make this yourself?"

"Yes. It seems holding anything heavy is still too much for you."

"I'm sorry."

Marin hurriedly apologized, her face apologetic.

"No, Miss Marin. This is my failing as your master. I got ahead of myself."

***

"......"

Marin had nothing to say, so she gave an awkward smile. She'd been shocked by her own stamina—what must he think?

Daily stamina and exercise were one thing, and exercise and swordsmanship seemed like another entirely.

"So from today, we'll change the plan. One lap around this training ground today, two laps tomorrow, three the day after—increasing by one lap each day."

"Will that build my stamina?"

"It will. Trust me."

Butler Sebas smiled gently, exuding the aura of a seasoned veteran.

"Yes!"

Marin looked at him with sparkling eyes full of admiration.

"Today, do one lap, then swing this new sword from above down 100 times."

"Yes. But may I ask something?"

Marin voiced the question she'd been curious about since starting her sword lessons.

"Of course."

"Why aren't you teaching me dagger techniques? Daggers are easy to conceal, and not as heavy as longswords, so they seem like they'd be easier for me to learn."

Butler Sebas grinned and took a large step toward her.

His tall frame loomed so close that she could touch him if she stretched out her hand, and a wave of pressure hit her.

"This is dagger range. You have to be up close to swing a dagger. A longsword keeps you at twice this distance. It naturally gives you more mental leeway."

As Butler Sebas stepped back while speaking, her field of vision brightened, and her surroundings came into clearer view.

"Wow! You're right."

Experiencing it firsthand made it sink in even more.

"Someone like His Grace the Duke wouldn't care about distance, but even regular knights consider it vital. For someone unfamiliar with the sword, that distance is essential."

"Yes."

Marin answered crisply, like an obedient student.

"Even if I teach you the sword, Miss Marin, you won't wield it like a real knight. But—and I hope it never happens—if you face an enemy, buying just enough time for the duke's knights to rush to your aid would be incredibly useful."

"Yes."

Marin nodded vigorously, lost in thought.

Buying time. That was a very important goal.

Of course, if she left the duke's household, the duke's knights wouldn't come to her rescue.

She'd have to handle it alone.

If she ran into bandits, buying enough time to escape from them.

Even that would be a huge accomplishment.

"Shall we begin, then?"

"Yes!"

* * *

Gripping the switch-like wooden sword with both hands, Marin assumed her stance and swung it precisely up and down.

Her pink lips were gritted, and her face was covered in sweat from the practice.

The shabby navy dress she wore looked like something a maid might own—goodness knows where she'd gotten it.

Though the garment was rumpled with dirt and sweat, her diligent form seemed to shine.

She'd followed along without a single complaint of fatigue in the previous sessions, so he hadn't realized until she'd collapsed the next day.

This time, though, the sword was as light as a feather by his standards, so it should be better than last time. He just worried she might push through stubbornly again.

"Miss Marin, shall we take a break?"

"I still have thirty reps left."

Marin turned only her head, keeping her sword grip.

"Are you sure you're okay? It's better to feel a little strain than overdo it and collapse like last time."

"Hmm... Then ten more. I think I can do it."

"Alright."

"Butler! Butler!"

At that moment, a young knight came running toward him from afar.

***

"What is it?"

"His Grace the Duke... he's arriving soon."

"What?"

Butler Sebas asked in surprise.

Marin froze mid-swing.

The duke was coming already? What about the funeral? The aftermath?

How had he covered that vast distance so quickly?

Did he turn around right after reaching the south or something?

Marin eavesdropped on their conversation while her mind raced with questions.

"He's crossing the bridge right now..."

Butler Sebas cut off the young knight mid-sentence.

"Let's go. Oh, Miss Marin."

He turned back to her.

"Go on ahead. I'll follow."

"Yes."

Butler Sebas took off running with the young knight. He was clearly a white-haired old man, yet he outpaced the younger man.

The two vanished from sight in an instant.

Marin set the wooden sword the butler had given her behind the training ground's shrubbery and started running. All the servants had to go out to greet His Grace the Duke before he arrived.

"Huff. Huff. Huff. I'm dying."

After circling the clearing and swinging the sword, her stamina was spent. Her legs felt like they had extra weights attached and wouldn't move as she wanted.

Her mind was way ahead, but her body crawled like a turtle.

A maid walking briskly beside her glanced over and pulled ahead.

Accepting reality, Marin trudged along.

By the time she finally reached the main gate of Duke’s Castle, the duke's carriage was already there.