CH 235

Words : 970 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

Getting Carried Away Was Part Of the Plan “Well then, on His Grace’s behalf… The truth is, Mr. Takumi. I knew that the man would become enraged and attack us.” “…What?” For a second, I didn’t quite understand what Sebastian meant. He knew that Wood would become violent… I had just assumed that Sebastian was too absorbed that he didn’t realize that he was going too far. “When you headed to Range village, I told you that I would be investigating in this town, did I not?” “Yes. And we came here…” “From that day, I started to look into Mr. Wood and those related to him. Obviously, I couldn’t investigate everything, but there were several reports about Wood’s personality. About his short temper…in particular.” “Ah.” When heading to Range village, I had stopped at this village with Sebastian and Leo. And he had indeed told me that he was going to look into this store… Apparently, he had gotten quite a grasp on Wood’s personality in doing so. “Did you not think it strange? That I was saying much more than I needed to him…” “…I did think you were going a little far…” But I had just assumed that Sebastian was enjoying it so much that he could not stop himself. Considering how capable Sebastian was, he could have gotten the job done quickly, and had Phillip and the guards arrest him without causing such a scene. That would have been more typical of Sebastian… “But I wanted him to become angry and attack us.” “Why? Surely you could have arrested him regardless?” Mr. Ekenhart was standing by, and Barsler was confined to his home. Wood could have been taken on the spot. “You wish to know why I had him attack us…” “I will tell you that.” Mr. Ekenhart suddenly interrupted Sebastian. Ah, Sebastian looked quite disappointed… He loved to explain things. “Due to Sebastian’s information gathering, we were able to learn about Wood and those around him. And that included those soldier-like men that were here.” “Is that so?” “Aye. They would pretend to be soldiers and sometimes threaten the customers…though, they were mostly here for security… In any case, they were really just thugs from this town, or Barsler’s lands.” “Thugs…” Indeed, the way they talked and handled their swords had been very unrefined. But in appearance, they looked similar to Phillip and Johanna, and wore metal armor. So I had assumed that they must be Count Barsler’s soldiers. That at least explained why I had been able to deal with them so easily. It also helped that I had taken performance enhancing herbs, and that we were fighting in a narrow space where they didn’t want to damage anything. “And so we knew that these thugs would not be able to fight with any skill. They just looked intimidating, that’s all. And so I told Sebastian to make them attack.” “…But why?” It did not seem necessary for our purpose. Without the fight, things would have been cleaned up so much sooner and simpler. “…I’m sorry, Mr. Takumi. I wanted to test you. To be precise, I saw it as part of your training… After seeing how far you have come in your training yesterday, I was sure that you would not lose.” “Uh… Is that why the training was so hard yesterday…?” “Of course. So I could determine if you would be fine here.” So he wanted me to fight the unskilled thugs so that I could gain some experience… It was just part of my training then? “You fought monsters…orcs in order to save Range village, yes?” “Yes.” “And that was the result of my training and Sebastian’s teaching. However, humans and monsters are different.” “Different…” “In general, monsters do not think much. They just attack. Though, there are exceptions. However, humans think and then act. And they often attack in large groups. And so I wanted you to have experience with fighting multiple humans.” “…I see. But it would have been nice if you told me…” “That would have defeated the purpose. Humans always look for an opening so they can attack you when your guard is down. Sometimes monsters do that too… But I wanted to see if you could stop humans that attacked you suddenly.” I was in the palm of Mr. Ekenhart’s hand then? Had I known in advance, I might have become too defensive. And he wanted to see if I could react to a sudden burst of violence. Hmm. As humans and monsters were different, I had to gain experience… I understood that, but I still wasn’t satisfied. “In the future, Mr. Takumi, if you are ever targeted by those who mean no good, you will be able to defend yourself. That is what I wanted!” “But father, it is much too soon! Mr. Takumi has not been training for very long! And yet, you put him in such danger…” “…Well, that is true… But he has shown much growth. Especially with that orc battle… And I think those recovery herbs he takes must also help…” Ms. Claire had been listening quietly with a look of displeasure up until now, but her anger towards her father suddenly exploded. Mr. Ekenhart was already at a disadvantage, especially after the matter with Ms. Anne the other day, but he still tried to make excuses. But he was right about the herbs. Every time I felt that my muscles were sore, I would take the herbs and recover immediately. Thanks to that, I was able to train a lot. And grow that much faster… Well, perhaps. I didn’t actually feel like I had grown that much.

CH 235

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