My thoughts were naturally shifting to the accusations against him being true, but everything was just hypothetical. Attacking celebrities would cause quite the uproar, and Joshua was unlikely to get out of it unscathed. I bet he isn’t actually harming people. And if he is, he’s good at keeping things quiet.
“It’s best to be careful...but it doesn’t seem like there’s any point to actively doing more than that,” I concluded.
“Seems so. There is no proof Ebenrain has committed any crimes.”
Nobody was going to convict him for weird rumors going around. Well, maybe some bigwigs over in the empire would, but I didn’t know much about that stuff.
I was somewhat relieved. Joshua hadn’t clearly fallen off the path. I was glad he hadn’t become a homicidal maniac who attacked anyone he perceived as strong.
It was a little weird for me to worry about him at all. Still, if anything did happen, I couldn’t completely shirk responsibility for it, since I hadn’t nipped this tendency in the bud when I’d been his instructor. I could at least assume he’d drawn a clear line. Otherwise, he would never have risen to being a black rank.
“Besides... Misty, was it?” I added. “He’s got a skilled assistant, so it’s probably fine.”
“I know almost nothing about her, though... I can only pray that’s the case.”
The woman accompanying Joshua had been taciturn, so I hadn’t gleaned much about her inner thoughts. Still, she hadn’t seemed like a villain, and Joshua hadn’t either. He simply has too much spirit. If he’d grown capable of controlling that, then he wasn’t going to end up committing any crimes. Just as Surena had said, we could only pray that didn’t happen.
“Sorry, things got a little weird,” I said.
“No, I should be the one apologizing. I’m the one who brought it up...”
“It’s fine—don’t worry about it. It’s understandable to be concerned.”
This was supposed to be a fun chat to celebrate Surena returning safely and accomplishing her goal, but things had gotten somewhat grave when she’d mentioned Joshua. It wasn’t Surena’s fault for bringing it up, though—she couldn’t have asked me while Joshua was around, and it made sense for her to be curious. If anything, it was good she’d asked about it when it was just her and me around. This wasn’t the kind of information we should be spreading, after all.
Suddenly, the house’s princess returned, and our conversation about Joshua came to an end. This isn’t a topic Mewi should be privy to. It’s best to shift the focus to her.
“I’m back,” she said.
“Mm, welcome home,” I greeted her.
She then turned her gaze to our houseguest. “Ah...Ms...Surena.”
“Hello. Sorry for intruding.”
“Hi...”
The two had gotten a little closer, but Mewi still wasn’t quite sure how to act. Still, I hadn’t missed the clear relief on Mewi’s face when she’d spotted Surena. Mewi was really worried about her too. I’m glad she can see that Surena is okay.
“Mewi, want some tea?” I asked.
“Mm.”
“You got it.”
Having lived together for quite a while now, Mewi no longer showed any restraint with me. There’d been a level of aloofness between us at first since we’d been strangers living under one roof. However, she now recognized this place as her home, which I was grateful for. Though...that had amplified her habit of leaving clothes and stuff carelessly all over the place, but that was a separate problem.
“Here,” I said, placing a cup before her. “Careful, it’s hot.”
“Mm.”
With that, we were now all seated around the table.
Mewi took a sip of her tea, then glanced at Surena and muttered, “Uh... I’m glad you’re...um, safe.”
“Heh, thank you. Well, to tell the truth, Master Beryl saved me.”
Mewi showing concern for Surena meant that she had grown as a person and that much of her thorniness was gone. I hope she continues on this path of opening her heart to others.
“So Mewi, now that you have a goal in mind for the future, how’s your training going?” Surena asked.
“Ummm... Good, I guess...?”
“Ha ha. It’s hard to tell how much progress you’ve made on your own.”
Their conversation continued on from there. I found no reason to cut in, so the old man at the table just listened quietly. Surena acted quite differently in front of Mewi compared to when she spoke to Allucia or Lucy. This is a pretty rare sight.
These two had clashed at first—Mewi had still been wary of strangers, while Surena had exuded some crazy pressure for no good reason. Things would’ve gone a lot smoother if Surena hadn’t done that. But that poor impression seemed to have been overwritten now, leading to this point. That’s not all, though...
“Master, how does her progress look to you?” Surena asked.
“Hm? Not bad, though I don’t get anything about magic. She’s building up muscle little by little, and her swordplay is getting keener.”
Surena turned back to Mewi. “So he says.”
“Hmph...”
I was confident I could offer immediate impressions of any of my pupils, not just Mewi. How could I claim to be an instructor if I couldn’t? It did vary somewhat depending on the pupil, though. I was sure I could talk about Mewi for quite some time, but nobody here was asking for that, so it was fine to stick to the general outline. I wouldn’t be saying anything untrue, after all.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know much about magic either...” Surena continued. “But I know about swordsmanship and the way of life that comes from it. If anything ever troubles you, I can give you advice, though that might be unnecessary with Master Beryl around.”
“Sure... That might...be helpful...”
As I listened to them, something suddenly came to mind: Surena sees Mewi as family. She clearly treated Allucia and Lucy as strangers, but her stance here was different. If anything, it was much like when she talked to me, though it was slightly different since Mewi was a child. Still, there was a general atmosphere of closeness. If she didn’t see Mewi as family, she would’ve never offered advice. I absolutely couldn’t imagine Surena saying the same things to Allucia.
So, faced with this attitude, Mewi was having problems grasping how she should behave around Surena. She was surely bewildered by the shift from the inexplicable pressure to inexplicable friendship. However, it wasn’t my place to spell it out for her. If Mewi ended up at a complete loss, maybe giving her some advice would be fine, but this was a lesson in developing human relationships, so I wanted her to try her best on her own.
“Ficelle, Lucy, and Surena are all teachers in life to you,” I told her. “You can always rely on them—and on me too, of course.”
“Mm...”