After attending the tea party with the young lady.
“Puppy, next is here!”
“This time, this tea party…”
“Let’s go shopping!”
The young lady had an endless list of places to visit.
She kept dragging me all around the capital, taking me from one event to another—shopping, tea parties, and all sorts of gatherings.
It was hard to believe she had spent so much time cooped up in the mansion before.
It seemed that after attending the academy and seeing more of the world, she had finally opened up to these kinds of activities.
Well, it was certainly better than being a frog in a well.
“Haa…”
That was fine when Lowell was around.
But following her around like this was exhausting.
That’s why, on the days when the young lady had lessons, I used the time to just bask in the sun.
It had been a while since I could do this.
Lying still, I gazed up at the vast blue sky.
Honestly, even though the Kaine Mountain investigation had been physically painful and exhausting, it was less mentally draining.
Following the young lady around, meeting all sorts of people—mostly nobles and high-ranking figures—meant I had to constantly mind my words and actions, which wore me out.
I wished Lowell would return soon.
Come to think of it, that old man had been away for quite a while. And yet, the mansion was running smoothly. Was his job really that important?
Well, considering how much time he spent brooding in his office, he must have had something else to do.
“What are you doing lying here?”
As I rested alone in the garden, a shadow fell over my vision, and a familiar figure appeared.
“What do you want?”
It was Darren.
The moment I saw his face, I frowned instinctively.
“Hey, why the scowl?”
“Just feeling annoyed.”
Usually, when I was lying around like this, the only ones who would come over were Sienna or the maids.
Having this old man shove his face in was just irritating.
“Living a comfortable life, huh?”
“You trying to start something?”
I sat up.
“These days have been hell for me.”
“Oh, come on. You’re famous in the capital now.”
“….”
Darren wasn’t wrong.
Lately, after following the young lady around, I had become a bit of a known figure.
“They’re calling you the ‘Loyal Hound of Lady Boyd’, right?”
Yeah. I even got a nickname.
Not sure what’s so ‘loyal’ about me.
I had a feeling the ‘hound’ part came from the way the young lady called me.
“Nicknames don’t usually stick so quickly, but I guess having a good-looking face helps.”
“So why are you here?”
“No patience as usual.”
Darren smirked and tossed me a wooden training sword.
“Spar with me?”
I caught the sword midair and raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
Now, that was something I liked to hear.
After all, following the young lady around had been frustrating.
This was perfect timing.
“What about Kaiden?”
“He’s already at the training grounds.”
“Nice. Let’s go.”
And so, I headed to the training grounds with Darren.
*
After arriving at the training grounds—
“It really has been a while since our last spar.”
“Yeah. We used to do this all the time.”
Facing off against Darren and Kaiden again after so long felt refreshing.
“So, who do you want to go up against first?”
These two always seemed close.
What was it again?
They grew up in the same orphanage, right?
No wonder their teamwork was so seamless.
“Both of you at once.”
“Are you sure?”
“Let’s see.”
Last time, I had recklessly tried to fight both of them and got thoroughly beaten.
But since then, I had learned a lot.
During the Kaine Mountain investigation, I had experienced real cooperative combat.
I had also seen how Alden dismantled a two-on-one attack.
And over the past few months, I had been training hard at the mansion.
I figured it was worth trying again.
“Alright, I’ll go in first.”
The moment I finished speaking, Darren lunged at me, and Kaiden followed close behind.
A textbook pincer attack—
Leading with the bigger fighter to pressure the opponent.
I pulled out a training hand axe I had prepared at my waist and hurled it.
“You little—!”
Thunk!
The wooden axe flew fast, but Darren easily deflected it and closed the distance in an instant.
I swung my wooden training sword.
Whoosh!
I dodged Darren’s downward strike by twisting my body to the side and immediately pulled out another training hand axe with my left hand, throwing it at the approaching Kaiden.
At the same time, I gathered strength in my right arm and swung my wooden sword at Darren, who quickly raised his own to block.
“This guy…”
“You think you can overpower me?”
We locked blades, pushing against each other.
Grit.
“Tsk…!”
I managed to press down hard enough to force Darren backward, but—
Whoosh.
Unfortunately, I was still dealing with a coordinated attack, so I had no choice but to disengage and pivot away.
Crash!
Kaiden landed exactly where I had been a second ago, his wooden sword smashing down into the ground.
Thud!
I used the momentum of my turn to kick him.
“Hah…”
I hit him, but there was barely any impact. Did he guard with his arm at the last second?
I was curious about how he had blocked it, but there was no time to think—
Darren, clearly frustrated from being overpowered earlier, charged at me even more aggressively.
Boom!
The impact pushed me back, but I held my ground, planting my feet firmly and grabbing Darren’s body instead.
And then—
Crash!!
“Ugh!”
I lifted him completely off the ground and slammed him down before immediately raising my sword to block Kaiden’s follow-up attack.
“No room to breathe, huh?”
“You monster!”
This was completely different from fighting devil worshippers—
Their attacks weren’t just aggressive; they were relentless.
Well, I guess it was time to get serious.
‘Guard.’
I felt a shift in the air behind me.
Immediately, I activated Vision Guard—
A defensive aura technique of the Boyd family that bursts outward like a Rush when an attack is blocked.
I wasn’t fully proficient in it yet.
But I had practiced enough to use it in battle.
Boom!!
“Gah…!”
Darren, who had gotten up and tried to ambush me, was sent flying back by the force of my counter.
Then, I used Track.
Now that aura techniques were coming into play, this was a real fight.
Sure enough, Kaiden appeared in front of me, using Fleet to close the distance before swinging his sword.
Perfect angle.
I wanted to save Fleet for later, so—
I infused my wooden sword with aura.
‘Rush.’
Baang-!!
Just like how Alden had knocked back the Royal Knights before—
I exploded the Rush technique in the direction of Kaiden’s charge.
“Urgh…!”
Kaiden was unable to withstand the force and was sent flying backward, his Fleet breaking in the process.
“…That actually worked?”
“What the hell is this guy….”
Kaiden, usually composed, looked at me in shock.
I was a little surprised myself.
So this was how battles between aura users worked.
I had thought of it as a simple rock-paper-scissors system, but it was much more intricate than that.
“Seems easy enough. You got anything else?”
“We’re not done yet.”
I had gotten a little cocky,
but a voice came from behind me.
Right—Darren, who had been knocked back by Vision Guard, was still in the fight.
Whoosh!
Sensing movement behind me, I turned just in time to avoid his attack.
Swoosh.
I lowered my stance, keeping my eyes on Darren as he lunged forward.
Judging by his expression, he was irritated.
Well, I hadn’t been hit even once yet, so it made sense.
His wooden sword began to swell with aura—
Was he using Rush?
I immediately leaped backward to avoid the attack.
However—
Fwoosh!
Darren extended his stride, covering the distance in a single bound.
He wasn’t planning to let me escape.
In that case—
‘Vision Fleet.’
Might as well try everything today.
Using Vision Fleet, I left behind an afterimage and slipped behind Darren’s back.
Just as I was about to strike Darren’s back to force a surrender—
Thud!
Instead of hitting his back, I felt as if I had struck a solid wall. The force of impact reverberated from the hilt of my weapon.
“…Ah.”
“You fell for it.”
And then—
BOOM!
Darren’s Vision Rush exploded.
…Right. I wasn’t the only one who had learned secret techniques.
I went tumbling across the ground a few times before the spar finally ended.
“Ow! Please be more careful next time!”
We all got scolded by the healer after heading to the infirmary together.
“Why do you guys spar so recklessly?!”
“…It’s because of Rush.”
Everything else was fine, but Rush was hard to control, so injuries were inevitable.
Even I had a few bruises here and there, and Darren and Kaiden were in the same condition.
“Haa! Seriously! Take care of your bodies!”
That’s how we ended up getting nagged by the healer—someone I hadn’t seen in a while.
“Well, at least you must have been bored with nothing to do recently, right?”
“…Are you joking?”
“…Never mind.”
I made a dumb comment and instantly regretted it.
Well, in any case—
“Take care of yourselves, all of you!”
Fortunately, none of us were injured badly enough to need extended rest, so we just had to get some bandages before leaving the infirmary.
“We really should be more careful.”
“We got too caught up in the fight.”
Darren and Kaiden seemed to be reflecting on the scolding.
“Yeah, you guys should’ve been more careful.”
They were supposed to be escorting the young lady, yet they had the nerve to spar so recklessly. Were they even thinking straight?
I, on the other hand, had the day off since the young lady wasn’t going out today.
“You little—”
“Well, take care, you two.”
I stretched my limbs, feeling refreshed after a good fight.
Leaving Darren and Kaiden behind, I headed back to the garden.
Since the young lady had lessons tomorrow as well, I planned to enjoy another peaceful day of rest.
Or so I thought—
“Ah, Sir Rain.”
Just as I was leaving the mansion, a maid called out to me.
“What is it?”
“A letter has arrived for you.”
“A letter?”
Who would send me a letter?
“Here you go. It came through the Mercenary Guild.”
“…Oh.”
The moment I took the letter, I realized who had sent it.
It must have been from that guild staff member I silenced with the Boyd family’s seal.
I recalled telling him to send me a letter when Jevan arrived in the capital.
Sure enough, upon opening it—
[Jevan has returned.]
As expected, it had the content I had been waiting for.
Finally. That bastard was back.
Took him long enough.
“I’ll be heading out for a bit.”
“Huh? Oh, alright.”
Without delay, I went back to my room, changed into casual clothes, and strapped my sword to my waist.
“Are you having a good time?”
Just as I was about to leave the mansion, I ran into Sienna, who was returning from a walk.
“Going somewhere, Rain?”
“Yeah. Just meeting an acquaintance.”
“Must be someone close. You look happy.”
“…Not exactly.”
Did I really look happy?
More than that, I just felt relieved.
After spending so much time dealing with nobles, it felt good to go back to the world of mercenaries.
This was where I belonged.
And so, with light steps, I headed toward the Mercenary Guild.
