【6】5
The next early morning.
Knock knock-
While reading a book in the room, I heard a knock.
"Come in."
Creak-
The door opened, and Celia, wearing the simple maid uniform of the Frob family, entered.
"I am Celia, who will be taking care of young Master Leo for a week. Please treat me well."
Seeing Celia greet him with dead fish eyes, Leo lifted his gaze from the book.
"Quite serious, huh?"
"You should take responsibility for your words. It's one of the family's mottos."
Despite her dead fish eyes, her posture was impeccable.
She looked like the ideal maid.
The maid uniform, which combined gray fabric with white frills, suited her very well.
Her black hair shimmered in the sunlight.
As he gazed at her, Celia spoke.
"I understand if you're admiring my beauty, but if you're looking at me with lecherous eyes, I'll get rid of you."
"If you felt uncomfortable, I'll apologize."
Leo clicked his tongue.
"I had a friend who called himself an artist. He excessively praised beauty, and I guess I was unknowingly influenced by him."
'Beauty is always the best. It's eternal. If peace comes to the world, I plan to spend my life spreading beauty!'
Dweno, the great hero of the dwarves, now known as the "God's Blacksmith," seemed much happier when creating art than when making weapons.
Even during his journey to defeat Erebus, he didn't stop creating art.
"You're a good friend who can genuinely praise beauty."
Being born into the Jarding family, one needs the qualities to lead people.
Being charming is one of those qualities.
Seeing Celia puff up with pride at the compliment, Leo propped his chin up.
'Too genuine, almost to the point of being a pervert, he tried to get inspiration by asking Lycinas and Luna to pose as nude models, which was a problem.'
Naturally, old memories surfaced.
'Lycinas, Luna. Your personalities are dirty, but your appearances are unmatched. So, pose as nude models for the sake of art.'
Of course, Lycinas and Luna would never agree to such a request.
'If a pervert can be revered as a great hero, what am I?'
He let out a hollow laugh and looked out the window.
Meanwhile, Celia carefully observed Leo.
She had definitely lost yesterday.
'If I hadn't been careless, I would have won... but that's a foolish thought.'
Her defeat last night was the result of her naivety.
If the fact that she had to work as a maid for a week became known in the main house, she would surely be ridiculed.
'But it's something I have to endure.'
Turning away would only bring greater shame.
'Besides, I'm curious.'
She was curious about how one could put such power into a sword without mastering aura.
"You read in the morning? I thought you would practice sword skills."
Celia had intended to observe his training method.
'Could this book be some special training manual?'
"Morning should be spent leisurely."
He said this and closed the book.
Celia, seeing the title, looked puzzled.
'It's a great hero fairy tale book.'
Celia glanced at Leo's bookshelf.
'All the books are related to great heroes.'
Not just fairy tales.
History books and research papers, etc.
A considerable amount of material had been gathered.
"You seem to have a great interest in great heroes. Well, it's understandable given your background."
Celia was also very interested in great heroes.
"Can I look at your bookshelf?"
"Sure."
Standing in front of the bookshelf, Celia marveled.
"Amazing. Even scholars who study great heroes would be hard-pressed to match this."
The study of great heroes is one of the most active fields of research today.
"There are many books about Kyle."
"Reference materials."
"Indeed. Whether Kyle was a real person is unknown, but there are many opinions that his deeds are real."
"Do you think so too?"
"Of course."
Among the great achievements of the great heroes, those whose origins are unclear are all attributed to Kyle.
'Even if I disappeared from history, I haven't been completely forgotten.'
He felt a sense of pride.
"Perhaps a con artist from later generations tried to claim the ambiguous achievements of the great heroes."
Leo's eyes twitched.
"Does that mean Kyle is a con artist?"
"There's a high probability of that."
Celia shrugged.
This is the general view of the academic community.
"I see. So you think that way."
"What?"
"Shall we have breakfast and then practice?"
Celia's eyes sparkled.
"Can I practice with you if you allow it?"
Celia was curious about the secret of Leo's strength.
"My training might be too difficult to follow."
"Hmph, I, who overcame the Jarding training, can handle it."
Seeing Celia's confident expression, Leo smiled crookedly.
"Is that so?"
Later, she thought.
She should have run away then.
***
Whoosh-!
Thud-!
"Ouch?"
"Your reaction is slow."
Leo's wooden sword knocked Celia's wooden sword away.
Celia, trying to quickly correct her stance, found Leo's movements even faster.
Whoosh-
Thud-
"Ugh-!"
"So, this is what it means to expose your back."
Celia, hit on the shoulder from behind with the wooden sword, writhed in pain on the ground.
After breakfast, Leo's training continued without a break.
As the pain subsided, Celia became angry.
"Young Master Leo! Is this really training?"
To Celia, Leo's training method was closer to torture than conditioning.
He forced her to keep moving, squeezing every bit of strength out of her beyond her limits.
During this process, it was natural that no aura power was used.
She had never heard of such a training method.
Seeing Celia protest, Leo muttered.
"Kids these days are weak."
"What did you say!"
"I told you. My training is tough. Well, if it's too tough, why not give up now?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I can handle this kind of training!"
Celia, whose pride was hurt, became angry.
"Is that so? Shall we start again?"
"Sure!"
'Wait, what? This isn't right!'
Having recklessly challenged, Celia was soon knocked down by the wooden sword and writhed on the ground again.
Without using aura, the gap in their abilities was too great.
'Why! Why can't I win!'
Not only in strength but also in sword skills, she couldn't win.
Yesterday, today.
Her pride was being thoroughly trampled.
'Clearly, aura training methods have developed significantly compared to 5000 years ago.'
Looking down at Celia, who was panting on the ground, Leo marveled.
The techniques for handling aura in the present day had clearly advanced compared to 5000 years ago.
As a result, the average skill level of knights was much higher now.
However, the standard for absolute strength had not changed much.
'If anything, 5000 years ago seems stronger.'
In the present day, with the development of aura training, physical training was being neglected.
Aura is the power that maximizes physical strength.
Ultimately, training the body also strengthens aura.
'With the development of aura techniques, such problems have arisen.'
"Still, you're impressive. I didn't expect you to keep up to this level."
"Don't underestimate me."
"Then, shall we end the afternoon training here? We can do more in the evening."
Celia, who had reached her limit, gritted her teeth.
'I might not have the strength, but I won't lose in sword skills! I will definitely win!'
***
"Don't underestimate me. Damn white-haired guy."
After the evening training.
Celia, with trembling limbs, returned to the mansion.
Leo had already returned to his room.
'Ugh... Is that guy a monster?'
Thinking of Leo, who swung his sword endlessly without tiring, Celia shuddered.
It was only natural that his body was so well-trained from moving like this every day.
'Hehe... At least I didn't lose in sword skills during the evening training!'
Thanks to using all the techniques she could, she didn't lose completely in the evening training.
'Can I become like him if I keep up this training?'
But she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She had vomited five times today alone.
'Thinking about it, it's incredibly embarrassing!'
Celia, with a red face, huffed and sighed.
'I want to take a bath and sleep.'
But she had to prepare Leo's bed first.
After all, she was now Leo's maid.
'I need to make the bed, take a bath, and sleep.'
Celia took a deep breath in front of Leo's room.
She tried to calm her trembling limbs and maintain a composed appearance.
She didn't want to show any weakness.
Knock knock-
"Come in."
Creak-
"Surprisingly, you're still fine."
"Hmph, this is nothing to me."
Celia, with a confident expression.
"You vomited five times, didn't you?"
"I'll prepare your bedding."
Celia ignored Leo's comment and prepared the bed.
"Then, young Master, I'll see you in the morning."
"Hold on. I have a gift for you."
'Gift?'
Surprised by the sudden words, Celia approached Leo.
"Thanks for your hard work today."
Leo smiled and handed her a gift box.
'So, he is grateful.'
Celia felt a knot in her chest loosen.
'Right, as the daughter of the Jarding family, I should be appreciated for serving him.'
Feeling proud, Celia opened the box.
Inside was a simple silver bracelet in a chain form.
She felt a sense of foreboding from the magic power emanating from the bracelet.
"It's a bracelet with a weight enchantment. Wear it during training from tomorrow."
Leo smiled.
Creak- Celia's face stiffened.
"I'm fine without it."
"Isn't it impolite for a maid to refuse a gift from her master?"
"Hey! Are you honestly trying to torment me?! Is that it?! Wearing this and moving around with you today, is that training? It's torture!"
Celia, finally exploding, showed a strong refusal.
"You're weak."
Celia's face flared up.
"Who's weak!"
"I also wear it during training. Well, if you can't, there's nothing I can do."
"Who can't do it? I can wear this thing easily!"
Celia, easily provoked again, declared this and ran out of Leo's room.
She then cursed her foolishness, grabbing her head in front of Leo's door.
'So simple.'
Leo chuckled.
'Who called him a con artist?'
Leo had remembered Celia's comment about Kyle being a con artist from the morning.
A narrow-mindedness unbecoming of a great hero who saved the world.
But of course, Leo felt no shame in his emotions.
'If it were someone else, they would have made me look even worse.'
His friends were even more character-disrupted than he was.
'I'll make it a week of blood.'
Thinking of Celia, who would tremble in pain for a week, Leo smiled savagely.
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