Estimated reading time: 6–7 minutes
Chapter 12
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To be honest, my life with the clumsy girl – Eris – is fun.
「A master and disciple must share the same room!」
That was Eris’s insistence.
Despite her clumsiness, she displays a strange stubbornness. In the end, I find myself living in the same room as her.
Her forcefulness knows no bounds. We spend not only our training time together, but also most of our daily life.
You, who have always correctly guessed my misfortunes with an 「Ah, I see,」 might be thinking, ‘Aha, this time you finally did the deed with a beautiful girl?’
You, who have always hit the nail on the head with my misfortunes.
This time, you are mistaken.
Fuhahaha! This time, it’s your loss!!
Of course, nothing improper happened (tears of blood).
Well, there were a few instances where I misunderstood that I could make a move without being complained at, due to her defenselessness.
No, that’s not quite right. Rather than a few instances, now that I think about it, her defenselessness was on par with her lack of defensive power.
For example, even when eating meals, she comes at me with 「Ahhh~n!」
She kept insisting that feeding me is a disciple’s duty.
When I refused, saying 「I can eat on my own!」
「Am I a failure as a disciple…? Master, I am a sword saint dropout who can’t even wield the Holy Sword. If I, who can’t even properly do an ‘Ahhh~n’ for my master, am such a failure of a disciple, then what value do I even have…?」
「Okay, okay, I get it. Ahhhn! I want you to feed me! Ahhh~n!」
「Ahhh~n.」
Eris opened her mouth wide with a smile.
「I’m the one feeding you!? Since when does the master feed their disciple!?」
That sort of thing happened, and…
For example, when I’m taking a bath,
I hear the sound of the door sliding open, along with Eris’s voice.
「Master~! Your Eris has come without permission to accompany you~! Please do wash my back~!」
「I’m the one washing your back!? Isn’t it usually the opposite!? What’s with your master-disciple concept!!」
That kind of thing also happened.
Additionally, for example, when I went out for a walk to enjoy the night breeze,
I heard her footsteps tottering behind me.
「Master, I’ll accompany you.」
「It’s just a normal walk. There’s nothing particularly enjoyable about it.」
「I don’t mind at all! As long as I can be by Master’s side, every day is enjoyable!」
「Is that so?」
She says it without any hesitation.
Faced with her pure affection, I give an evasive answer.
「Even so, Master! The moon is beautiful, isn’t it!」
Is she saying that on purpose!?
「It’s just a coincidence, right?」
Is this that? The one that Natsume Soseki, who’s got one foot in the door of being a clichéd expression from being overused, said?
Eris tilts her head with an innocent expression, saying 「Hm? What is?」
「And the stars are beautiful too.」
Ah, that’s a relief. It’s the type that just slipped out by chance.
「In the future, I’d like the eldest son to inherit the position of Knight Commander of the Yamada Familia, after all!」
「That’s not going to happen!!」
I mean, what’s the Yamada Familia!?
Whose eldest son are you talking about!?
And so, she’s usually dignified, but becomes clumsy only when she’s next to me.
Living with her like that was warm and peaceful, and it gradually but surely healed my jaded heart.
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Of course, she never slacked off in our original goal of training.
I can still vividly remember that day.
We were in the usual guild training ground, and I was overseeing her training.
「Hey, hey, look at those movements.」
「What do you mean look, they’re too fast to see.」
「The fact that you can’t see them means you can see.」
「What’s that supposed to mean?」
「More importantly, how long has she been at it?」
「Apparently she starts as soon as the training ground opens.」
「So it’s been 11 hours already? Surely she takes breaks-」
「Actually, I heard she doesn’t. When she gets tired, she just drinks a potion and continues training without stopping. I’ve never seen anyone use potions like that before.」
「Previously, an S-rank adventurer who came to this guild watched their training and was rolling his eyes back.」
「Yeah, I definitely heard him complaining in the tavern, saying ‘If I have to train that much to reach the top, then there’s no way I can do it even if it kills me.’」
The buzzing spectation of other adventurers like that was an everyday occurrence, so I was used to it.
Unconcerned, I simply continued swinging my sword at Eris.
The sound of wooden swords clashing echoed incessantly.
Kakakaka – the interval between the sounds gradually narrowed.
The only things that could be heard were the sounds of sword fighting and our breathing.
Her extraordinary concentration and the mental fortitude to sustain it were what made this situation possible.
That place was a world belonging to just the two of us.
She was a natural-born sword saint.
The more she swung, the faster her sword speed became.
The more she swung, the more refined her swordsmanship became.
She was on the verge of grasping something.
Breaking through the shell of the egg she had struggled and agonized over,
And awakening as a hero, as the strongest swordsman in history.
I knew that time was near.
For the finishing touch of today’s training, taking her fatigue into account, I unleashed a strike one level above her limit.
Perhaps her vision was blurred from fatigue, or perhaps it was simply a lack of ability.
The wooden sword she brought up to meet mine was fatally lacking in reaction speed.
I had intended to stop just before hitting her.
But her eyes weren’t dead.
At this rate, her sword, lacking in both power and speed, would be repelled by the impact without even becoming a blade-lock, and would crash into her own body.
But I had a conviction.
The moment she would reach the rank of 《Hero》was-
Slickly – her sword deflected mine like rippling water.
It was that very instant.
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