CH 216

Words : 1065 Updated : Sep 25th, 2025

Mr. Ekenhart Was Going To Visit “…Ha… Father is always so impulsive.” “It would have been nice to know a little earlier.” “Well, it is not a great emergency… But I suppose as the duke, he wanted to deal with the store as soon as possible?” Ms. Claire and Tilura sighed with exasperation. Mr. Ekenhart looked like he had a strong sense of justice, and so perhaps he could no longer wait, and had come to directly deal with the malicious store that harmed his people. And considering the glass sphere that had spread the disease, and the wine…it was probably the right thing to do. Especially since they were connected to a count. …Of course, that was little consolation to the people who had to prepare for his arrival. “…I will have to tell father when he arrives…” Ms. Claire was muttering to herself with a look of resolve. Though, Mr. Ekenhart was likely to laugh and brush it aside… Or maybe because she was his daughter, he would listen. In any case, if Mr. Ekenhart was coming tomorrow, we needed to be ready. However, there wasn’t actually anything for me to do. I suppose since he was the person who taught me to use a sword, I should continue to train. “All right, I’m going to do some sword training.” Perhaps Tilura was thinking the same thing, as she stood up enthusiastically. I nodded at Ms. Claire’s words and then we went out to the back garden. “I want to surprise my father when he sees me!” “Hahaha. Even an amateur like me can see how much you have improved, so I’m sure you’ll have no trouble doing that.” “Wuff.” “Kyau.” The reason that Tilura was so excited was because she wanted to surprise Mr. Ekenhart. It was a rather childish motive, but that aside, I thought she had improved enough to do just that. As I laughed and replied, Leo and Sherry agreed with me. “But I still can’t land a blow on Leo…” “Well… Leo is…” Mr. Ekenhart had talked about it the last time he was here. How we would be a full-fledged fighter if we could hit Leo… However, neither Tilura or I had ever been able to land a single blow. She dodged as if she were playing with us. …Which made me think… If someone was able to land a blow on Leo when she was as serious as she was against actual monsters, then that person wouldn’t just be full-fledged, but a master swordsman… “Well, if Mr. Ekenhart has any complaints, we’ll ask him to demonstrate it first.” “Demonstrate?” “To see if Mr. Ekenhart can hit Leo… And if he can, how he does it…” “Wuff-wuff.” “That’s a good idea!” I felt bad towards Mr. Ekenhart, but…neither I or Tilura could imagine him hitting Leo with his sword. Though, that had as much to do with me still being a beginner, as it did with Leo being too fast. But Mr. Ekenhart was a master, so if we could see how he approached it, perhaps it would be easier to visualize. Leo was nodding as if to say that facing off against Mr. Ekenhart was of no concern to her, and Tilura looked amused. After that, I focused more than usual on my training. The servants were very busy with preparing the house for their master, and since Milina was helping them, there was no studying of medicine today. I had already given the herbs for Ractos to Nick today, and since I made extra, there would be enough for tomorrow as well. So I really had nothing to do now but train with Tilura. “Phew. So, Mr. Ekenhart is coming tomorrow…” “Wuff?” In fact, I was so focused that Ms. Lyra had to come to stop me. But when it was over, and after dinner and my nightly sword swinging, I retired to my room to rest and think about tomorrow. Due to my diligent training, I had been able to deal with Nick and was able to move well enough during the orc attack. I would have to thank Mr. Ekenhart for teaching me… Without him, I would could have been killed. But even as I felt that I had become stronger, I also knew that I would never reach his level. I knew that already, but the more I trained, the more obvious it became. “I hope he won’t be angry…” I had been injured because I froze during the fight with the orcs. And Mr. Ekenhart had taught me that I must never stop moving during a battle. Well, I did know that he would mostly be pleased that I was safe now, but I was still curious as to how he would react as a swordsman. “Well, there’s no point in thinking about that now. We’ll find out tomorrow. Right, Leo?” “Wuff-wuff. I petted Leo, who sat next to me, in order to stop thinking about it. “Hmm, Leo… You’re quite dirty…” “…Wuff. Wuffu?” I realized it while petting her and looking more closely. Her fur was usually so pretty and glistened in a silvery color. But it looked dull now, and my hands got tangled and stuck in them easily. Leo barked a little hesitantly in reply. As if to say, ‘Surely this isn’t that bad?’ “…It’s because you’ve been running around… It’s no wonder you’re dirty. All right, it’s time to take a bath so you can be clean!” “Wuff… Wuff-wuff!” She had gone to Range village, fought monsters…and slept outside. And so it could not be helped. I thought of this as I declared that she would need to take a bath. But Leo then moved away from me with incredible speed and shook her head violently. …That was a stronger reaction than usual… “Leo. Do you hate baths that much?” “Wuff! Wuff!” Leo nodded affirmatively and barked. Hmm. I suppose it was about time that I asked her about this. After all, I was lucky enough to be able to have something similar to a conversation with her. Perhaps if I learned why she hated baths, there would be something I could do to improve things. And then she might not hate them so much anymore.

CH 216

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