Surrendering myself to the clattering and shaking carriage, I peered out the window. The scenery didn’t really change as we traveled. Gently sloping plains continued alongside the road, and I caught glimpses of mountains far off in the distance. Once in a while, a river or the like freshened up the scene, but this road was a little too long to be admiring a nearly constant view. Beaden was as rural as rural got. We were able to live normal lives, and we didn’t want for anything, but you definitely couldn’t call it lively. As such, the land from the edge of the village to the beginning of the capital’s urban sprawl was nothing but identical backcountry emptiness.
“It’s been a while since I’ve visited the capital,” I mumbled out of the corner of my mouth, immediately bored by the view.
Allusia sharply picked up on my quiet remark. “You’ll have many more opportunities to do so from now on.”
She was sitting next to me, and to be honest, her profile was very picturesque. She had long silver hair and almond-shaped eyes. Her noble features made her seem like a statue that’d come to life. Compared to my last memory of her, she was far more womanly and composed...though that phrasing minimized how much she’d really grown. She’d always had good looks, but now, she was an astounding beauty. I wasn’t going to have any wicked thoughts about my former pupil, though.
My mind turned to the Liberion Order. They were famous for having an extremely strict selection test for recruits. Even living out in the sticks, I knew about it, so that just went to show how prestigious the knights were.
The order was the symbol of Liberis, so naturally, they had plenty of history and social standing. They were also the greatest military force under the kingdom’s command, and taking into consideration their immense skill, they served as a deterrent in the nation’s diplomatic strategy.
In terms of simple martial might, skilled mercenaries or remarkable adventurers were around the same level, but those groups weren’t under the jurisdiction of the kingdom. There were also those who favored Liberis and might help the country out in a pinch, but they couldn’t necessarily be relied on in a time of emergency.
A Liberion knight had a wide range of official duties, from maintaining public order in the city to subjugating large monsters. They were tremendously popular among the citizens. A large number of those who’d knocked on our dojo’s door had done so aiming to join the order. Though, I didn’t know how many of those had successfully gotten in.
Anyway, half the reason a bumpkin like me was so well-informed about this stuff was that publicity about the Liberion Order had reached as far as the backcountry. The other half of my knowledge had come from Allusia’s letters. Each and every time I received a large bundle of paper from her, I questioned where she found the time to write so much. After all, she was the order’s commander.
Because it was a hugely important organization to the country, its commander needed to have outstanding abilities, popularity, and character to suit the position. Was Allusia a woman befitting of such a heroic reputation?
“So, um, about what Mordea mentioned...” Allusia said, perhaps reading the intent of my earlier mumblings.
“Aah, he was just fooling around. Don’t worry about it.” Mordea was my dad’s name. He was in the latter half of his sixties but was still very energetic in both body and mind. His lower back had been bothering him every now and then, though.
The trip to the capital was actually fairly lengthy—it took the carriage half a day just to get there. Even if this was a day off for the dojo, I couldn’t suddenly leave the house for that long, so I’d explained the situation to my dad. There was no point in lying, so Allusia had accompanied me to go over the details, but...
“Ha ha ha ha! Well isn’t that an honor?! Go find yourself a wife in the city while you’re at it. How about that fine beauty right next to you?”
So he’d said. He really lacked any sense of tact whatsoever. Even now, I was truly astonished at how he’d managed to bag my mom with a sense of humor like that. I knew he was worried about me living as a bachelor at my age, but trying to pair me with Allusia was pretty questionable. In terms of looks, status, and abilities, she far exceeded me in every way.
“I see... He was fooling around? I don’t really...” Allusia mumbled.
“Hm? You say something?”
“No. Don’t mind me.”
“That so? Seriously, sorry about my old man.”
After apologizing for my family’s shameful behavior, I once more directed my gaze to the scenery. Not to condone anything my dad said, but this was a rare trip out to Baltrain. It was probably fine for me to let loose to a certain extent.
Setting aside having a fateful romantic encounter or anything like that, it was probably best to buy my parents a souvenir or two. While I was at it, it didn’t sound like a bad idea to acquire a nice sword. I no longer had any opportunities to swing a sword aside from training, but it was still ideal to have a quality weapon. It wasn’t like I had any other real hobbies, and as a boring old man in his forties who’d only ever lived for the sword, I had nobody besides my family to buy gifts for. So, you could say I had no reason to spend money on anything else—no point in tucking away more money in my pocket than I needed.
“Oh yeah, what’re we doing once we reach the capital?” I asked.
“First, I’ll introduce you to the members of the order. After that, we’ll work out your schedule for coming in and teaching lessons. Then, if we have the time, I think I’d like you to watch a little of our training.”
“Got it. My old man will get noisy about this visit, so if we have the time, I’d like to get him a—”
She cut me off. “Let’s work out those details immediately after we arrive. I’ll guide you to the stores.”
“S-Sure.” It felt like she was answering my questions before I could even ask them. Kinda scary...
I was a little nervous at the opportunity to see the knights’ training so soon, but their skill wasn’t something I could get a handle on until I got there and took a look for myself. There was no stopping the hands of the clock, nor was there any way of turning them back. Leaving all future problems to the future me, I decided to focus on the fun stuff.
This was a rare opportunity to be accompanied by a tremendous beauty, one who was practically wasted on me. Honestly speaking, there were the slightest—well, actually, tremendous—hints of some pretty shady things going on, as I still wasn’t convinced that I qualified for the special instructor position. But regardless, she was my cute former pupil.
“Speaking of souvenirs, does Mordea like anything in particular?” Allusia asked.
“Yeah. Despite his age, my old man has quite the taste for steamed buns, so...”
And like that, until our carriage arrived in Baltrain, I indulged myself in meaningless banter with Allusia.