73 — Episode 73

The next day.

I had heard that Lord Goral would be returning to the mansion today.

After spending the morning at the forge, I was studying in the library again today.

“Family crests, house precepts… memorizing all of it is tough, huh.”

I was thinking about the many noble families in this country.

Each family has its history, and their crests and precepts are based on that.

And if you remember them, you can tell at a glance which house someone belongs to.

So it’s not a loss to memorize them—in fact, remembering them lets you decide how to behave toward someone.

If you know a family’s precepts, you can use them as a basis for conversation topics.

From the other person’s perspective, they might be pleased if you remember their family’s precepts.

If you can casually bring these up in conversation and expand the topic, you’ll be well on your way to fitting in with the nobility.

“Indeed… it was hard.”

“Have you already memorized everything, Alicia?”

“Mostly, yes—I remember most of it.”

“Impressive…”

“I’ve been taught since I was little. Feiku, you have been forging since you were young too, right?”

“…Well, yeah.”

Things you’ve done since childhood are said to be easier to remember, so maybe that’s part of it.

That said, I couldn’t use that as an excuse not to learn.

I looked again at the sheet listing the family crests and precepts.

“It might be easier to remember crests and precepts if you look at them in light of the family’s background.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

The Barnast family’s crest and precept were exactly that way.

The Barnast crest showed a man with his hand on the sword at his waist, with a sword-and-shield symbol in front of him.

And their precept was, “Hone the blade; become the blade.”

The founder of the Barnast family was a blacksmith who supplied swords to the nation and also fought himself.

So that’s apparently how their crest and precept came to be.

That’s how crests and precepts were formed, it seemed.

This wasn’t unique to the Barnasts; most noble houses were like that.

Nobles place great importance on pride and dignity.

I hadn’t thought about it much before, but from now on I was in a position where I had to care about it.

I stared at the paper, murmuring to myself to memorize it.

While I was studying like that for a while,

a sudden cool touch pressed against my cheek.

“Huh!? What is it, Alicia!?”

“Faik, you’ve been going nonstop for about an hour. Take a break.”

She must have prepared it sometime; she pressed a cold glass to my cheek.

It seemed to contain chilled tea.

I put the paper I was holding down on the desk.

Had it really been that long? Yet I didn’t feel like I had remembered much.

I didn’t think I could learn anything more by continuing to cram, so I decided to take a break.

I might worry Alicia, too.

Alicia, who had been sitting in the chair next to me, scooted her chair a little.

She leaned in, and our shoulders touched.

“Alicia…? What’s wrong?”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Ah, yeah.”

I couldn’t really connect the meaning of those words with this physical closeness, though.

“…Is it bad if I just stick close to you for no reason?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Good.”

Smiling happily, Alicia continued speaking.

“Just being alone together like this and being able to relax makes me happy. You don’t have to force yourself to study so much, you know? My father says it’s fine too.”

“…Well, I’ll do it within a reasonable limit.”

“Okay.”

Even so…

I found my gaze drifting to Alicia’s clothes.

Today Alicia was dressed more lightly than usual.

This continent usually has distinct seasons, but today the temperature had risen like a summer day.

Thanks to magic, the mansion’s interior stays comfortably the same almost all year round, but step outside and it’s swelteringly hot.

Alicia being different than usual made my heart race a little, but I needed to focus on studying now.

After about ten minutes of rest, I turned my eyes back to the paper in front of me.

“Alicia, shall we move on to the next lesson?”

“Yeah. Then let’s try the fill-in-the-blank questions about the crests and precepts from earlier.”

“O-okay.”

I still didn’t know how many I’d be able to get right.

Looking at the handwritten questions Alicia and Refy had prepared, I steeled myself.

I worked through the problems they gave me, and Alicia leaned over to peek at my answers.

A quiet time filled only with the scratch of the pen. It felt pleasant.

When I finished the questions, I checked the memorization sheet and the problems and went over the answers.

“So I got about half of them right…”

“Yeah. If you remembered this much, that’s great. I think your memory is pretty good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Good, good.”

“Aren’t you kind of treating me like a child?”

“Good boy, good boy.”

Alicia smiled teasingly… Well, it didn’t feel bad, I guess.

“Alicia seems like she’d make a caring mother, doesn’t she?”

Being able to teach someone so earnestly like this is a kind of talent.

As I thought that while sipping my drink,

“Ehh!?”

Alicia suddenly let out a surprised noise, and I noticed it a moment later.

…If she’s a good mother, that would mean children with me, wouldn’t it.

No wonder she reacted like that.

Alicia’s face turned bright red, and I felt embarrassed too.

For now, I think the studying is progressing smoothly… I think.