Chapter 18 \nPeople who donât learn their lessons\nThe day after Rumba came to the mansion, my swordplay training began early in the morning.
When I was about to leave sparring with Eleanora-neesan to Rumba, I was caught by Nord-tousan.
âAl, letâs train with dad. If you hear stories of dadâs past, youâll want to swing the sword.â
It didnât feel like the usual refreshing smile, but it was a somewhat black smile. You know, right? Trainingâs with wooden swords, you know?
Anyhow, now I am sparring. Of course Iâm disadvantageous. I canât even scratch Nord-tousan.
He blocked, parried, and sometimes even tripped me over to the ground.
âWait, Nord-tousan! Tripping me, arenât you being too harsh today?!â
ââŠâŠThatâs not true. Now, come at me.â
Gunununu. Itâs about yesterday, right? Heâs angry about that, right?
Inside my head, I assumed that the training was strict because of what happened yesterday.
Iâm just training with Nord-tousan, but I lost count of how many times I did deep kisses to the floor!
Not mature, not mature at all, Nord-tousan.
âDear~ Good luck~. Come on Al, get up!â
From inside the mansion, Elna-kaasan shouted. Isnât that weird? Shouldnât she be saying the reverse?
After that we faced off many times and I received sincere blows to the head with a wooden sword every time.
I wonder how many of my precious brain cells died today.
âNow, this is the last. Hang in there.â
âYes!â
Alright! Iâll be free with this. Eleanora-neesan was completely focused on intensely assailing Rumba. I can relax today!
âCome hit me. If you donât youâll get hit in the head again?â
Nord-tousan smiled and provoked me as if to put some energy into me.
I see. Then, Iâll do the same.
âNord-tousan, no matter how many times you hit my head, I wonât forget that youâre the Dragon Slayer?â
ââŠâŠâ
Huh? Thatâs weirdâ. Werenât we provoking each other? Thereâs no responseâ.
As I stared at Nord-tousan, he grew faint for a moment. When I came to, the wavering blue sky came into my sight for some reason.
It didnât hurt.
ââŠâŠThat guy is stupidâŠâŠâ
It felt like Rumba said something but I canât hear well. Thatâs weird?
Ahâ, the skyâs blue again today.
While looking at the clear blue sky, my consciousness faded into darkness.
.
.
âAh, Alâs up!â
When I opened my eyes, I found Eleanora-neesan looking at me with a worried expression.
Huh? Where is this? Who am I?My name is Alfried. Original name Inaka YuujiâŠâŠ Yup, Iâve got my memories.\nâOi, ojou-chan, donât shake him like that. Let him rest today.â
âAlright.â
âThough, the right to take him out tomorrow is mine since I won.â
âKiiâ! Frustrating! Why canât I land a single hit!?â
Rumba laughed heartily and exited the room.
âAl, hereâs some food and water. If you canât have it, Iâll feed you.â
âI can eat on my own.â
âTch.â
âEh?â
Eh? Did she just click her tongue? Isnât that unimaginable for a girl?
âNnn, nothing! If you canât eat on your own, call me!â
Eleanora-neesan made a smile like a blooming flower and emphasised, if you canât eat on your own!
Thereâs no need for the ahân. Because if I allow it once, Eleanora-neesan will barge in every time.
âYeah, itâs not that bad. Just a concussion.â
âReally? I donât know what you said, but it happened because you made Nord-tousan angryââ
By the way, the previous âNothing!â translates as this with the Womanese dictionary.
âNothing!â = âNo, Iâm actually displeased, but itâs alright for now.â
Thatâs what it is. There are other terms in the Womanese dictionary.
âYeah, probably.â = âOf course not.â
âThis one or that one, which clothes is better?â = âYou know the answer, right? Of course? This one, right? Right?â
âI donât mind.â = âI do mind.â
âCan you wait a bit?â = âIâm telling you this, maidens need time. It takes more time, okay?â
I recommend everyone to review this dictionary before meeting, or going out with women.
In my experience, the most dangerous one was âItâs okay!â When I replied, âReally? Alright,â afterwards, she complained a lot about me the next day.
They say humility is the virtue of Japanese people, but this is. No, she just let out her rage later. Not humble at all.
âThen, Iâll get going.â
âYeah, thank you, Eleanora-neesan.â
Eleanora-neesan waved to me who was lying down and exited the room.
âWeakened Al is cute tooâ! I wanted to ahân with himââ
âŠâŠEleanora-neesan, I can hear everything.
.
That day, I relaxed and rolled around in bed.
.
.
.
.
The next day, Rumba came from the morning and said, âYouâre alright now! Letâs go outside!â \nAnd forcefully dragged me to the village.
He wanted me to give a tour of the village. Mn, alright then. Iâll teach him the good points of Coryatt Village!
I walked down the usual path form the house.
âThere are lots of wheat in this are. Around autumn, these green wheats should turn into a beautiful golden shade.â
âRight right. These wheats welcome the people coming to the village and see them off.â
ââŠâŠLike a mother.â
âMaybe.â
Thinking like that, the wheats felt larger, kinder. There are lots of mothers in this village.
By the way, today too, ojisan (Roland) wasnât at the wheat field.
Oniisan, grandpa, and grandma are doing work here and there it seems.
âThen, why donât we go to the square. There will be various people there.â
âOhâ, right. Triela did say that thereâs a lot of bartering at the square.â
.
The closer we got to the square, the more concentrated the huts got. In this village, newcomers donât have to live at the outskirts, but the rule seems to be that they have to build their huts or houses some distance from the centre. There are cases where people build houses near the centre for work.
Thus, near the centre the houses are those of the oldest settled people, those of people with restaurants like Celia-san (I definitely did not say that sheâs the strongest), or those of people with occupations like Elman-san.
âHehâ, thereâs quite a bit. There might have been more people if this was closer to the capital.â
Looking at Elman-sanâs furniture and vegetables and wild greens that are available only here, he occasionally asked questions.
Rumba looks hearty and rough, but he looks at the fine details and thoroughly investigates new things. Seeing those sides, it does make me think that he is an adventurer.
It seems like he became famished like that because he was giving food to starving children on the way.
So there are such impoverished regions on the way here.
.
âAl! Iâm hungry! Letâs go have some food!â
âThen, letâs go to Celia-sanâs restaurant. Do you have money?â
âLeave it to me! I brought a gold coin today!â
Rumba proudly held up a shining gold coin with two fingers and showed it off.
âWe barely use gold coins here. It might trouble you if you use a gold coin, you know? Are you planning on eating that much?â
âWhat!â
âNo, well, if itâs Celia-sanâs restaurant I think you should be alright. It seems like sheâs earning a lot recently too.â
ââŠâŠWhy is a village restaurant earning a lot.â
âYouâll know when you get there.â
Soon we could see a restaurant with âCeliaâs Restaurantâ written on it.
âLooks pretty big.â
âRestaurants in other villages were quite small.â
âThereâs a reason why it expanded.â
I said that and opened the door with a wry smile.
âAh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I lost again! My egg roll!â
The person who screamed was that ojisan. So you were here.
He probably did a match of Reversi or shogi with a dish at stake. He really doesnât learn.
\nâFuâŠâŠ then youâll have to pass.â
What do you mean âfuâ ojisan.
âRolandâs still coming every day.â
The proprietress of the restaurant, Celia-san, came up next to me.
âIf thereâs this much people already during the daytime, it must even more amazing at night.â
âReally. Itâs rowdier because they also drink at night. Fights happen too. If a fight breaks out, someone frail like me canât do anything.â
âHa?â
âWhat do you mean, âHa?ââ
Eh? What did this person say? Sheâs stronger than her husband the militia captain.
âNo no, I was just thinking about people fighting. Aha, ahaha.â
Relieved at my word, the pressure directed towards me disappeared. Is she a pirate king or something?
âSo, when that happens, my husband kicks their asses!â
As if she were shadow-boxing, she shot a right straight. at the part âkicks their assesâ.
Amazing posture. Even a heavyweight boxer would go home crying.
âAnd then Celia-san kicks his ass! Right?â
I mimicked her and shot a right straight. Nope, my right arm wonât be enough to aim for the world.
âRight right. If he ogles women a bit or skips work Iâll kick his ass! Wait, Alfried-sama? Can you please come with me?â
When I nodded twice with a smile, Celia-san grabbed my hand and dragged me to the kitchen.
Eh? Isnât this dangerous?
The men looked at me pitifully. Stop! Donât look at me like that.
After that, I was hit on the head with a ladle with a dokon! and was forced to wash the dishes.
While I was washing the dishes, Celia-sanâs daughter Karlaâs sympathetic gaze pierced my cheek.
âYou donât learn either,â the gaze said.
.
.
.
âHey, Roland. I think this every time, but is he an idiot? He did the same thing yesterday at the mansion with his father.â
âAhâ, everyone knows that. Though, this egg roll, the frying pan for that, Reversi and shogi were thought up by himâŠâŠâ
âWell, they say that the difference between a genius and a fool is paper-thin.â
âWell, he is one of the seven mysteries of this village after all.â
âThat guy! Heheheh, funny. What are some of the other mysteries?â
âThereâs a luxurious stone house that was built secretly, you know? Everyone says that the spirits build them though.â
âHaa? Al said that he built that though?â
âThen, that mystery is also because of him!â
âWhat other mysteries are there?â
âWell, Rumba, letâs have some drinks first.â