Chapter 276 (2/2)

「…Maybe they meant more to me than I thought.」

She lowered her gaze to below the window as she tried to understand herself.

In the Demon King Castle’s back garden was Gordy in her golem form like always.

She was looking a little more mossy than usual, perhaps because it might have been a while.

It was likely that Ichika would be polishing her up tomorrow.

Moving her eyes away from Gordy a little, she laid eyes on a beautiful vineyard.

The Beastia Aulokk was here taking care of it yesterday as punishment, but he didn’t appear to be here tonight.

「…Oh, it looks like he’s doing it tonight as well.」

After shifting her gaze even more, she saw the master of the castle, Vermudol, swinging his sword.

Seeing a magic-user trying to learn swordsmanship would normally be something that anyone would laugh at.

But for some reason, there were many who were well versed in the sword in this country.

If they were to actually study and learn the fundamentals, there would be no doubt they’d be leagues better than the average swordsman.

Considering the abilities of Vermudol’s sword, he might be able to go a little further. In that case, it would be more than enough to serve as close-range protection.

After all, there was only one situation where he would ever have to resort to using his sword.

And that would be when an opponent capable of breaking his powerful unrivaled Attack Guard appears.

He was most likely training with his sword right now so that he wouldn’t be powerless if he were ever to run into a situation like that.

The fact that he was choosing to use Gordy’s defensive swordsmanship style was all the more proof of that.

「……」

Ykslaas turned her eyes to the sword that was laying in the corner of her room.

The Black Rose Sword. Ykslaas’s beloved sword.

It was nothing compared to the Lufir Sword that the blacksmith freak Margaret had, but it was a perfect sword for a Magic Swordsman. Ykslaas picked up the sword and left the room.

Heading down the stairs that descended down to the hallway, she opened the door that led to the back garden. Vermudol, having just finished his sword practice swings, turned around noticing her.

「Ykslaas. What is it? It’s the middle of the night.」

「I don’t want to hear that from you. You’re seriously a workaholic. When do you even sleep?」

「I need to move my body or else it’ll get rusty. I’m in no position to allow that to happen.」

Ykslaas shrugged in hearing his response.

「Besides, I can’t sleep unless I move my body a bit. I believe it’s necessary for my body.」

「I will stop you if you begin to overexert yourself, however.」

Ichika appeared out of nowhere and handed Vermudol some cloth to wipe off his sweat, to which Vermudol accepted and immediately began wiping his face.

After taking back the cloth, Ichika seemingly instantly disappeared. Vermudol nodded with a 「Like she said.」

「…I have a lot of things I want to say, but whatever. I already knew that your private life was filled with all kinds of problems, anyway.」

「That’s not a very nice thing to say… Well, not like I can really argue against you.」

Ykslaas let out a deep sigh as Vermudol quickly averted his gaze.

「Anyway, seeing as you were swinging your sword, this is perfect timing. How about you help out with my practice for a bit?」

「Me?」

「Oh, are you not comfortable with me being your practice partner?」

「It’s not that I’m not comfortable, but…」

Vermudol glanced towards the door as he murmured.

Ykslaas followed his gaze, and then nodded with understanding.

「It’s because Nino’s watching, huh?」

「Yes, she’s watching. I told her to stay put because I was going to be practicing on my own… but she always comes straight to me when she hears the sound of swords in hopes of joining in. By that point, any need to slightly move my body around for a bit completely goes out the door.」

「Don’t you think that’s probably because you ignore her too much? You need to communicate more.」

「That wasn’t my intention, but…」

Upon Vermudol murmuring 「I feel like I’ve been communicating more than enough…」, Ykslaas lightly poked at his arm.

「Geez, that’s exactly why she’s always showing up. Just count the number of times you’ve ever been the one to approach her.」

「…Is that how it is?」

「Yep. You better remember that.」

Vermudol nodded with a 「Hmm」 and returned his sword into its scabbard.

「All right, I understand. I’ll work on it.」

「…I’m telling you this just in case, but I’m serious about that.」

「I know.」

After confirming Vermudol’s answer, Ykslaas turned around.

While her back was turned, Vermudol called out to her.

「…As per your advice, I’ll go ahead and ask you something right now.」

「Oh, what is it?」

Upon turning around, she saw that Vermudol was looking at her with a serious gaze.

「Did something happen to you? I can see it on your face.」