Chapter 7: The knights leave the village

"I'm impressed you knew the young lady's name, but don't call her that."

"I'm sorry ... but ...."

Puzzled, Ren crossed his arms. Knowing it was impolite in front of Knight Captain Weiss, he couldn't resist and began to think.

(Why? The Klausels aren't barons in a frontier region!)

I remembered what I knew from my game days. The Klausel family is an old and distinguished family with a mansion in a territory near the imperial capital.

That's why Ren was calm when he heard that the lord was a baron.

Looking back, it was probably a mistake not to ask Roy the name of the baron's family.

But, to make an excuse, he thought it was certain that the baron of the parochial family was not the birthplace of the saint, so he did not pay attention to it.

"Weiss-sama!"

Ren asked in a panicked voice.

"Wasn't the Klausel family's territory much closer to the imperial capital?"

"What's with the sudden panic?"

"I'm sorry! It's very important to me!"

"I see... but I'm impressed. You seem to be well educated. It's true that the Klausel family's territory is also located near the capital."

Ren blinked repeatedly as if he was rushing himto continue.

"Last year, the Klausel family was given lands near the capital as well. The emperor has been exceptionally kind to the Klausel family in celebration of the birth of their daughter, the White Saint, and also as a reward for the wealth of the family's lands. The territory, however, is only the size of a town, I hear."

"....I see."

In other words, Lithia Klausel, who was the first character Ren should have avoided, is the daughter of a baron, a parochial parent of the Ashton family.

This is a situation that is both unexpected and unforeseen.

(There was no such information in the game: .... But that's OK. It's not the worst story yet....)

Ren is still a child and has not even met Lithia Klausel.

It's okay then. Ren thought.

(It's just a matter of me not killing her in the first place and if I don't leave this village, that's all that matters.)

"You'll have to pay your respects to the master and the lady sooner or later."

"—-Eh?"

"Did Master Roy not tell you about this? There is a long-standing tradition that the next head of the family, even if he's a knight, must meet the family of the superior. When you grow up, I'm sure you'll go to greet the two of them."

Ren would have preferred to avoid that as well, but it seems he can't refuse.

(But don't worry ... I'm just going to say hello. ...)

I wanted to shelve it for now. I'll think about it someday when the time comes.

"By the way, I heard that Weiss-sama is the head of the baron's knighthood,—-."

I opened my mouth to change the subject, just to put my mind at ease.

"Mm, what about it?"

"I apologize for the suddenness of the matter. The actuality that a person of a knight captain is coming to a village so far away seems unusual..."

"That's right. Of course, it's not my intention to leave the house for a long period of time —- but as I said before, the master is very concerned about this incident."

Therefore, even a heavyweight like Weiss left the mansion.

If the monster that's the cause of the disturbance is found, it can also be immediately defeated.

"And when it comes to D-ranked monsters, my men are more than capable of handling them."

"I see. ... Certainly..."

"Hmm? Certainly?"

"No, it's nothing."

The reason why Ren muttered those meaningful words was because he remembered the rating of the monsters in the legend of the seven heroes.

The ranks of the monsters are basically determined by the "guild", a neutral organization that spans the globe. The evaluation criteria vary, but the main factor is how much of a threat they are to people.

Rank S is the highest, and G is the lowest.

Among them, the D rank is the same as the boss at the beginning of the Legend of the Seven Heroes.

(Maybe my father is stronger than Weiss-sama's men ....)

But I don't know if I can defeat a D-rank monster.

In the Legend of the Seven Heroes, they fought with a party of four, so I wasn't sure if Roy could win by himself.

If I had known this would happen, I probably should have started training earlier.

A frustrated Ren couldn't help but murmur.

"I guess there won't be any training today….."

I said it casually.

"By training, do you mean the training you say you're doing with Master Roy?"

"Um…"

"Oh, I heard about it from your mother. Every afternoon, you train with Roy-dono after he has finished hunting, do you not?"

Ren nodded and replied, "Yes".

"Well, I suppose you're saying ... it's been canceled because of our sudden arrival."

"No! That's not why —-"

"Good."

Weiss clapped his hands next to Ren, who was about to make a hasty statement.

"What is it?"

"What is it!? I, Weiss would be disgraced if I didn't help with the hunt and even ruined the training of the heir."

"... are you going to train with me?"

Weiss immediately nodded.

The fact that it seemed to come out of thin air made Ren happy.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to borrow a sword for training."

"Yes! I have a wooden sword in storage that my father usually uses!"

"Then I will borrow it. If your equipment is also in the warehouse, then I'll just get ready and get started."

Ren changed his first person to "I"(Ore) after all this time.

Weiss smiled at this desperate appearance and walked behind Ren, who said he would lead the way to the warehouse.

—-After a dozen or so minutes, just before the training began.

"Weiss-sama. Could I be permitted to watch?"

One of Weiss's men came over and asked. Weiss politely asks for Ren's permission before granting it.

"Go ahead, attackt like you always do in training."

(... okay)

Ren, holding up the wooden magic sword, did some light flexibility exercises and then held it up.

His body is light.

"Here I come —-!"

Ren steps toward Weiss, who is waiting for him. As he always does with Roy, he closed the distance like the wind with an unreserved step.

"Ha—-!"

"Mu—!"

Weiss's subordinates let out a surprised voice.

And Weiss also raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Haaaahhhh!"

Weiss then caught Ren's sword attack, and said.

"Great... your physical strength and swordsmanship are perfect ...!"

He spoke in praise, my cheeks relaxed.

The unscheduled training continued.

Until just before evening, when Weiss, who had been teaching him, began to practice with increasing enthusiasm.

****************************************

—- I was able to learn from this training today.

The first time I saw him, I thought he was a great guy, but he was even stronger than my father, who I thought was far superior to him, and I was proud of his swordsmanship.

And ....

"I'm learning again….. and it's paying off big time…..!"

After continuing with this unusual training until he collapsed, he witnessed it in the evening on his bed in his room.

The Magic Sword Summoning Technique (Level 2: 56/1000).

When Ren saw that his proficiency had increased by "10" all at once, he came to understand one more thing.

The stronger the opponent, the easier it would be to increase the level of proficiency. He couldn't hide his surprise at the fivefold increase, but it was proof that Weiss was that strong.

Realizing this, Ren was fighting muscle aches on the bed and his cheeks were torn open with joy that he couldn't hide.

******************************

The next morning, shortly after sunrise.

Weiss and his party finished breakfast and immediately prepared to return to the baron's house.

They mounted their horses just as it became completely light outside.

"Roy-dono. I'm so sorry for the sudden visit. Thank you for the warm welcome you gave me on such short notice."

"No, it was helpful that you taught my son."

"But please be careful. Roy-dono may have the duty to protect this village as a knight, but if Roy-dono dies, it will be for nothing."

"I understand. I will uphold my duty to the House of Ashton and protect myself as well."

"Do so. That's exactly what the master wants for the House of Ashton. —-Well, I think it's time for us to go home."

Weiss thanked him for the last time and ordered his men to ride away.

The Ashtons, including Ren, watched his back as he rode away. To avoid any rudeness, they watched the group outside the house for several minutes until they were out of sight.

—-After that, the group left the village and rode their horses toward the baron's estate.

They rode over hills, through forests, and sometimes along shallow rivers.

After a while, the sun had set, and there were no human settlements in the area except for the village where the Ashtons lived.

Therefore, the group was preparing to camp for the night.

"Weiss-san"

Weiss's subordinate opened his mouth.

"What is it?"

"Nothing much, but I heard that you were giving a lesson to the son of the Ashton family yesterday."

"I heard that too!"

"How was Roy's pride and joy?"

Some of his subordinates opened their mouths and joined the conversation.

But they didn't seem to be expecting much.

Even though Roy was teaching swordsmanship, everyone knew that Roy was self taught.

"It's a pity he doesn't have a professional swordsmanship teacher."

"Roy-dono usually teaches, but I don't think he's very good at teaching."

Weiss nodded his head and said, "Hmm?"

"You seem to be mistaken, but that boy is strong."

Weiss's subordinates are taken aback by these unexpected words.

However, only Weiss' subordinate who had seen Weiss and Ren's training was different.

"He was an amazing boy."

The subordinate, remembering Ren's appearance, said with a bubbling voice,

"Huh… Is it true?"

"What's the use of lying? Weiss-san, wasn't that boy a gem?"

"He is still in his infancy, but he was indeed a gem. And that boy is smart. He absorbed what I taught him in no time, and he was a hard worker who never gave up."

It was the first time.

The same was true for Lithia, the saint.

"I honestly want him to be a member of the Knights of Klausel."

"You want ...?"

"Captain! He's only a seven year old boy!"

"What did you say? You can't beat that seven-year-old boy. After all, that boy is more powerful than the young lady."

Nonsense, they thought.

It's impossible, they thought.

Weiss's men shared this thought in unison, but they couldn't dismiss it as idle talk. The reason is that Weiss, a knight they respected and never doubted his ability, had said so.

"….. but it will be difficult to bring him with us."

Roy is the only one who can fight in that village.

Eventually, Ren will be the only one. That is why it would be difficult to take him back to the Klausel family.

Weiss, who was thinking about it, returns to the main topic here.

"But even if that boy were there, reinforcements should be rushed."

His men nodded with a mysterious look on their faces.

"If it's a G-rank little boa, no matter how many of them appear, he'll not be left behind. And even if he's dealing with F-ranked Little Boars, he should be able to handle about five of them at the same time."

"Haa!"

"But if the rank is E, it's a different story. This monster is of rank D."

"—- Captain?"

"What's wrong?"

"I just remembered, didn't Roy-dono defeat a D-rank monster by himself before?"

"Mm-hmm. It was before his wife was pregnant, right?"

If that is the case, it would be okay this time as well, the subordinate wanted to say.

However, Weiss's expression did not clear up. On the contrary, his expression became even darker.

The campfire prepared for the encampment illuminated his face.

"Still, I'm not optimistic. I'm sorry, but that thing is not just a D-rank."

The subordinate who had just voiced his doubts nodded his head with a huff.

"I had forgotten about it. It was a unique monster with an alien power, wasn't it?"

"So we must hurry. We must send a force to the territory as soon as possible."

Weiss looked up at the sky in the direction of the Ashton family mansion and closed his eyes.

He prayed that no new victims would arise before the knights sent by the baron arrived in the villages.