02

The sky visible through the window was a flawless blue without a single cloud, and that alone lifted one’s spirits.

Ains firmly suppressed his urge to go for a walk and headed toward the garden.

Even when Ains—who had produced nothing of value—passed by them, the maids here stopped their cleaning and bowed deeply.

“T-today I’m going to properly watch over Laika!”

Perhaps this was Ains’s way of appealing that he, too, was being useful.

The maid, who had not asked anything, simply replied,

“Please enjoy your time.”

Even after that, Ains hurried past every maid he encountered. Before he realized it, he had broken into a run, and in no time at all he reached the garden.

It must have been wooden swords. A light clack echoed repeatedly around the area.

Closing into striking distance, Laika unleashed a basic overhead swing.

Sophia lightly deflected it and swept her blade sideways.

Laika’s side was wide open after swinging from overhead, and she received Sophia’s counter while holding her sword in one hand.

But her stance was poor. She could not fully block Sophia’s strike, which carried power all the way to the tip, and the plain wooden sword slipped from Laika’s hand.

“Your overhead strike has improved considerably. However, that two-handed swing leaves a decisive opening afterward,”

Sophia said to Laika, who was on one knee, catching her breath.

“For that reason, I do not recommend using it when your opponent can fully assume a defensive stance. As you just experienced, if it is deflected, the result afterward is obvious.”

As she added,

“Of course, this would not be the same for a swordsman who overwhelms through sheer power.”

Sophia picked up the wooden sword that had rolled onto the grass.

“L-let’s do it one more time!”

Laika took the wooden sword from Sophia and used it to push herself back to her feet.

“No. For now, let us take a break. If we continue before the basic forms have fully sunk into your body, Lady Laika, you will instead end up developing bad habits.”

“…If that’s what you say, Sophia-san, then I suppose so.”

Laika’s shoes and pants were covered in dirt and grass, while there was not a speck of it on Sophia’s lower body.

There were no signs of trampled ground around Sophia either, making it clear that she had not taken a single step from her spot while suppressing Laika.

“You two were really getting into it,”

Ains’s unusually light voice cut in between them.

“This is Ains-sama. Good morning,”

Sophia immediately lowered her sword and bowed as she greeted him.

“Good morning. As expected of a knight. Your advice to Laika was logical and appropriate,”

Ains said, crossing his arms and nodding deeply in approval.

“Huff, huff… Oh, Ains. Aren’t you going out for a walk today?”

“T-today I thought I’d hold back a bit.”

“Oh really? Isn’t it just that you feel awkward now?”

“Ghk—”

Wiping the sweat running down her face with her sleeve, Laika looked at Ains with a mischievous grin.

“N-no! I also dabble in swordsmanship, so I was thinking of teaching Laika what swordplay truly is—”

“Someone without a sword at their waist talking about swordsmanship? …Well, the maids’ stares finally got scary, didn’t they? ‘That Ains kid won’t grow into a decent adult,’ everyone’s probably whispering behind your back—”

“T-they say things like that?!”

Flustered, Ains talked over Laika.

“—Even if they don’t say it, they might be thinking it. At least, I am,”

Laika added casually.

Gah—Ains was visibly pierced by her words.

“Lady Laika, that sounds as though Ains-sama has done nothing but idle away these past few days. Ains-sama is far more exalted than that. He discovers insights each day that lead to the advancement of magic and sorcery!”

“Right, Ains-sama!”

Sophia said proudly as she turned to him.

“Stop… please, Sophia. Have mercy. That’s just kicking me while I’m down,”

Ains muttered with slumped shoulders, prompting Sophia to tilt her head in confusion.

“Well, you do have the skill to cut down an Armor Bear. I’m a little curious, so maybe I should have you teach me,”

Laika said.

“Leave it to me!”

Ains declared, thumping his chest.

“But my body’s tired, so I need to rest it, right? Isn’t that so, Sophia-san?”

“Yes. Swordsmanship is not simply a matter of swinging your blade,”

Sophia replied.

To that, Laika said.

“See, Ains? Ahhh, what a shame. I was really hoping to learn what swordsmanship truly is from you.”

She was deliberately putting on an act and grinning.

“Grrr… Sophia, don’t stop me! At least let me show the maids here that I can be useful! If I don’t, they’ll really start gossiping that I’m some hopeless case who can’t even eat bread without dropping crumbs on the tablecloth!”

“They wouldn’t gossip about something that petty. Though you were aware of the mess you leave after meals. I thought you were doing it on purpose.”

“Ains-sama simply eats bread in a manly fashion! It is the bread that cannot keep up. The one at fault is the bread!”

“Sophia-san, that’s a bit too much,”

Laika said, shrugging her shoulders at how overly indulgent Sophia was toward Ains.

“Then, Ains-sama. May I receive your instruction? The combined use of magic power control that you spoke of when you fought the Armor Bear.”

“Oh, that. Sure,”

Ains stepped closer to Laika and took the wooden sword from her.