“Come what may, we need to train our soldiers!” That was father’s philosophy.
I happened to agree with it. After all, it would be nice if I could one day visit Routou whenever I wanted to again, since that was where my past life met his end. Unbelievably enough, that huge peach tree was still alive, in bloom.
As my thoughts wandered, Hakurei managed to corner all three soldiers against the ramparts with nothing more than her sword techniques. It seemed that she’d gotten in quite a bit of training during the six months I was away.
I knew my expression was softening against my will at the sight of her, and I resumed my reading while sitting in the shade of the tent. I was in the middle of reading historical records about the Tou Empire, from the time it unified the lands under the heavens to its eventual fall.
“The Twin Stars Vanquish Gyou Country in a Single Battle.” That’s right. That’s right!
I could only remember bits and pieces of it. We’d managed to cross the Nanamyaku Mountains and succeeded in our assault on the enemy’s capital. Eifuu had been the one to come up with the plan, and I had been the one to carry it out. It was a critical victory in—
“Ahem!”
From behind me, an old man loudly and deliberately cleared his throat.
“Young master, if you don’t pay close attention, Lady Hakurei will get mad at you later. She’s already unhappy with you for spending half a year in the city! She spent that entire time training at Lord Chou’s orders.”
“Raigen... Don’t say such scary things. I even wrote letters to her, didn’t I? Granted... I only wrote them once a month...”
“Oh yes? If I recall, you initially promised to write home once every two weeks.”
While still trying to come up with excuses, I placed a pretty feather that Hakurei gave me in between the pages of my history book. I hadn’t even noticed the approach of the large, white-haired, and white-bearded man. Raigen was not only father’s deputy commander, but he also served as protector to me and Hakurei.
“Yeah, well. You know, I was busy with my own things...” As I spoke, I looked back down to the training ground.
The soldiers were cheering Hakurei on as she attacked, moving as if she were dancing. The flash of her sword caught the sunlight, as did her long silver hair, and both shimmered like jewels.
It was a given that between a sword and a spear, the latter had the advantage thanks to its superior reach—plus, even if they weren’t well trained, she was up against three opponents. In the majority of situations, quantity would win against quality. However...
“Too slow!”
Spinning on the spot, Hakurei parried all of the spears thrust towards her with ease. She was quick to turn the tables on them. Backed into a corner, the three looked shocked at what had happened, speechless.
“Ohhh!” I couldn’t help but clap my hands and offer my honest praise. “She’s really improved over these last six months!”
“Yes, she has,” Raigen said. “Lately, there have been bandits and the like appearing close to Keiyou’s borders and the young miss has been quite concerned about them...actually, no.” He rubbed at his white beard, his gaze softening. “She’s likely showing off for your sake, young master.”
What a weird thing to say. Seems like both Gramps and the other people working for the Chou family have misunderstood my relationship with Hakurei. Yeah, it’s true that ever since I came back from the city, she’s been monopolizing basically all my time, but...
I ran my hands through my own black hair, messing it up. At the same moment, the beautiful, silver-haired girl on the practice grounds before me was delivering the final blow to the three soldiers. Their spears flew through the air along with their cries of dismay.
“Ah!”
“Gah!”
“W-We lose!”
“Stop!” As soon as the cornered soldiers’ spears landed tip-first in the ground, the young captain raised his left arm. “Lady Hakurei is the winner!”
The air was filled with the loud cheering of the audience, but the little princess’s chilly expression didn’t change an inch, nor did she put away her weapon. Instead she looked up, met my eyes, and smiled.
I have...a really bad feeling about this.
“Now then, Sekiei. It’s your turn.”
My bad feeling was right on the mark, then. She even made sure to call my name out in front of everyone.
I held my history book up higher and tried to reject her invitation by pretending that I didn’t hear anything. Too bad then that a practice sword, still in its sheath, was placed right onto my table. My head shot up and I saw the old white-haired, white-bearded general staring down at me with a wide smile on his face.
“Young master, please use this. The edge has been removed, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Wha— G-Gramps, I thought I could at least count on you to be on my side!”
“Oh, I’m on someone’s side, all right. In this case, it’s Lady Hakurei’s.”
“Y-You traitor!!!”
Despite my yell, I could hear the approaching footsteps of a young girl. They were light, as if she was in a good mood, but perhaps they only sounded that way because my ears weren’t working.
Hakurei reached out and placed a pale hand on my shoulder. “Remember what father said. ‘Come what may, we need to train our soldiers’—so come when I call for you, jeez.” The last few words came out in a hiss.
“All right...” Forced to submit to the princess’s intimidation tactics, I slowly staggered to my feet, pretending to wipe tears away from my eyes. Together we walked to the middle of the training ground. Immediately, the officers and men started to jeer.
“Young master, this is punishment for playing around in the city!”
“Leaving Lady Hakurei here and going to the city all by yourself is surely a serious crime.”
“Thanks for all the yummy food, though!”
“That wasn’t him. That was thanks to the city’s Ou Commerce Guild...”
Unfortunately, no one in the crowd was willing to stand on my side. How cruel! Already some distance away from me and ready for the mock battle to start, Hakurei tossed her long silver hair, a prim look on her face. The crimson ribbon I’d gifted her before I went to the city flowed with the movement.