453 Chapter 453: Sensei (2/2)

”You'll be going to the dojo too, right?”

Dad glanced back at me in an almost lazy manner, shifting his gaze from the holographic screen.

”Me? Well, I guess. I need to work my muscles. Can't spend the whole day watching anime, after all. It's not healthy.”

Geez, I couldn't believe he actually said that without any sense of irony. I was sure that Dad did some training on his own now and then to keep himself in shape, but all I had seen of him so far was him lounging on the couch and watching anime. Obviously that wasn't all he did, or he would never be able to accomplish all the missions he carried out so far.

Honestly, I had no idea how he did it. Well, it was none of my business. I just needed to focus on the training today.

After spending a couple of hours reading the ice magic grimoires and tomes I had borrowed from the library, and practicing some of the spells, I then proceeded to the dojo and practiced some more. Within moments, the wooden interior of the dojo was coated in a thick layer of ice. Twirling my swords about, I tried to remember the moves that Charles Lacroix unleashd against me, and shadow-dueled against him.

That guy was honestly the most powerful opponent I had ever met.

”Sensei?”

A crack resounded across the dojo as someone tried to open the door, which was frozen shut. I sheepishly hurried over and sliced through the ice with my swords, and then sheathed them. Pulling the door open, I welcomed an apprehensive Melina into the dojo.

”Welcome, Melina! This is the Huang family's dojo. We'll be training here today!”

”I will be counting on you!” Melina bowed almost ninety degrees at the waist, her golden blond hair falling on either side of her head and veiling her cute face. She then straightened up, and then cupped her hands. ”Please, Sensei!”

Yeah, of course she wanted to begin as quickly as possible. I glanced around and caught sight of Dad. Waving to him, I beckoned for him to come over, but Dad didn't approach.

”Uh, Dad?”

”She's your student, Richie. Of course you're going to have to train her on your own.”

Damn. Dad saw through my plan. He was chuckling as he folded his arms, watching my dismayed expression in amusement. Dad knew me too well, and had anticipated that I might try to palm the teaching duty off to him.

”You're the one who agreed to this on my behalf, you have some responsibility too!” I complained. Dad snorted.

”It's for your own good, Richie! You're going to take over this dojo one day! So the best time to begin learning how to be an instructor is now!”

Damn him…

”Um…am I causing trouble?” Melina glanced up, her eyes wide in anxiety. I gulped and quickly shook my head.

”No. I was hoping my dad would join us, but seems like he just wants to slack off. We'll be doing the training on our own today.”

Hoping that she wouldn't see through my lies, I strode over to the rack and grabbed a wooden sword. Spinning around, I tossed the shinai to Melina. She caught hold of the bamboo sword and stared at it for a moment before holding it in both hands.

”Yay! Swordsmanship!” she cheered. I wondered inwardly why she was so enthusiastic. ”I'm finally going to learn swordsmanship!”

Oh, right. Back in her household, her cousin, Kureha, and all her relatives refused to teach her swordsmanship. They claimed that she didn't have the talent for it, despite her clear gifts in magic. I partly wondered if some sort of family politics were involved – perhaps they didn't want her, the daughter of Duke Franklin, to learn swordsmanship because they were afraid that she would indisputably succeed as the true heir. No one would be able to challenge her position or status then.

However, Duke Franklin obviously wouldn't allow such nonsense to hold him back from teaching Melina himself. So there might be some truth to the rumors. Whatever the case, I was about to find out, so I decided to begin right away and run her through the basic kata and stances. Reviewing the lessons that Dad drilled into me over the last five years, I took a deep breath and pushed my glasses up my nose. Smiling to provide Melina some amount of comfort, I tilted my head in a friendly manner.

”All right, let's start!”

”Osu!”

And so we began.