Chapter 15 (2/2)

If he took a step in the wrong direction, it would end up as a personality that was unbefitting of a n.o.ble, but the villagers were careful, and around people from other villages or travellers, they would properly attach ‘-sama‘ to his name, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

There was something to worry about when it came to children, but to begin with, not many people came to the village, so for now there didn’t seem to be anything that would cause trouble.

After that, Patrick organised his luggage and left them in his room, and gave Luru a few books that he had brought with him.

Each time Patrick came back from the capital, he would bring Luru books as souvenirs like this.

Luru remembered that when he asked Patrick why he brought these even though books were expensive, Patrick had replied that he had a friend with a large book collection, and because that friend often bought books, he could get them at a cheaper price.

Perhaps because they were obtained through that channel, they were slightly old editions and sometimes pages would be missing, but even so it was a good source of information, and was no problem to Luru.

Whilst eating the lunch that Medea and Iris had made, everybody sat together and chatted.

Patrick knew a lot, so he would speak about the conditions of the capital, but the contents were simplified things that a child of Luru’s age could understand, so even the detailed conversations were appropriate for a child of his age, and it seemed difficult to talk about things beyond this, so Luru felt that he was lacking information.

This was why he wanted to do the deal with Gran and Yuumis, and while thinking that it really was a good idea, Luru had a chat with his father for the first time in a while.

The conversations he had with his father had interesting contents, but as expected, it was quite different from the perspective of an adventurer, and though he could grasp the atmosphere of the capital from it, his father didn’t often speak of things like international relations.

Even when he did talk about it on occasion, they were mostly rumours or very general information, and rather than seeing these things himself, they were things he heard from others or knowledge he had learned from books.

The reason he didn’t speak about things in detail was because Luru had the appearance of a seven year old, so it might have been inevitable, but as expected, Luru felt a little disappointed about this.

Unlike adventurers, Patrick couldn’t just freely cross over to other countries, and as a knight who had sworn allegiance to the kingdom, he couldn’t touch on subjects that were cla.s.sified and wouldn’t thoughtlessly speak about these things.

So in general, you could say that his father had the exact opposite character of carefree adventurers.

While they were having their meal, Patrick heard from Medea once again about adopting Iris, and readily agreed with a nod.

It was likely that after having a chat with Iris and making sure there was nothing wrong with her character, he judged that there were no problems.

As for the paperwork, they decided to have him hand in the forms when he returned to the capital.

The story about how the adventurers came to the village also came up.

While talking about that, Medea told Patrick about how Luru went to the ruins, but he wasn’t that angry, and it ended with him telling Luru not to try anything excessive.

And then, the most important topic came up.

Luru quietly began to talk.

“Also… Dad[/Tousan]. There’s something I need to talk about.”

It seems that Patrick sensed that something was up about Luru’s formal att.i.tude, for his cheerful smile turned into a serious expression as he watched Luru.

“What is it?”

“I want to become an adventurer when I turn 14… Would that be alright?”

Without any pretences, Luru immediately cut to the point, and Patrick smiled at that.

“…That’s fine. Though we’re lower cla.s.s, we’re still n.o.bles so it isn’t as though there aren’t problems, but… That can just be solved by adopting a son from a relative. We’re still young too, so there’s the possibility of having a younger brother for you. But… Luru.”

When Luru was wondering if Patrick would accept without issue, Patrick’s words trailed off, and Luru’s was not so bad at guessing that he couldn’t tell what Patrick wanted to say.

Luru slowly nodded, and waited for his father’s words.

“Yeah.”

“The adventurer occupation is easier said than done. So I’m thinking of giving you a challenge to complete.”

“A… challenge, huh…?”

Just what kind of challenge would Patrick be giving him?

Luru could somehow guess.

While his father was gentle, his real character was that of a knight.

A challenge that a knight would give.

It went without saying.

Patrick spoke.

“Yes… Until your fourteenth birthday, you have to get me to acknowledge your swordsmans.h.i.+p. If you can’t do that, even if you become an adventurer, you’ll just die, you see… Is that fine?”

Having said that, Patrick’s eyes blazed and housed a strong will different to the kind smile up until now.

Luru could feel an intensity from Patrick that was in no way inferior to the warriors that challenged him back when he was a demon king.

So Luru answered.

He understood that he couldn’t refuse; it was the same both today, and in the past.

“Yeah… I got it. Until my fourteenth birthday, I’ll show you that I can become a swordsman you can acknowledge, Dad[/Tousan].”

Whilst receiving Patrick’s intensity, Luru declared this without hesitation, and Patrick smiled once again.

However, that smile was as expected not his gentle one… but the very smile that a warrior gave having found a worthy opponent.

“As expected of my son. Now then, since that’s decided, it’ll be special training for you tomorrow, okay? I have confidence that you’ll become stronger.”

Having said that, his father’s expression returned to normal.

In the end, could Luru become strong enough to defeat Patrick?

Patrick was strong.

He was certainly not this country’s strongest, but his skill was guaranteed.

Why?

It was because his occupation was none other than the sword instructor of the Royal Knight Order, known as the strongest in the country.

If you wanted the Kingdom of Lezaad’s strongest, you would normally say it was the Head Knight of the Royal Knight Order, or the Head Magician of the court mages.

However, in swordsmans.h.i.+p alone, there was probably n.o.body in the country who could beat Patrick.

In swordsmans.h.i.+p, his talent was beyond a level that anybody could follow.

His strength was enough that you could declare this.

Sensing that he could become an adventurer with a normal level of determination, he quickly tidied the lunch table, and headed to the garden with a wooden practice sword in hand.

From now on, each day would be intense training.

Otherwise, something like beating Patrick would be beyond a dream.

So Luru thought.

Patrick uses ‘boku‘（僕） to refer to himself which is both humble, and not so formal. I suppose it’s to highlight his soft and gentle atmosphere.

‘Whilst receiving Patrick’s intensity‘ 威迫 means ‘making somebody obey by threat, by showing your power’. So it means ‘threat’ if translated, but it’s not really the threat you’d normally think of（脅迫） so I did it as ‘intensity’.

~Whilst being forced accepting Patrick’s terms (because of his intensity)~

‘beyond a dream‘ 夢のまた夢 means ‘a dream within a dream’. So like, a super far-fetched dream. Beyond your wildest dreams. An empty dream. That kind of thing.

/Chapter 15 END

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