celebration preparations

"I said! I want him to be my personal butler. Do as I command you, you stupid maid"

"But, young lady, you can't have a personal butler before you turn five."

The pink-haired little girl was alarmed because she knew her father's butler was right, but she persisted. After all, she was just a little girl visiting a town run by her father to learn something from him.

"Ahhahhhhhh, I don't care, I'm turning five tomorrow. Go and find that swordsman if you don't want me to report you to my father."

The tall old butler, wearing a black butler's suit, with white hair and a crescent-shaped white moustache, pretended to reluctantly accept his young mistress's order, got out of his carriage, wrote a letter to his master reporting what had happened here, and handed the letter to a small bird. ( Please check the character illustrations - butler Alphenzo )

After sending the letter, the old butler, his hair all gray, called some servants to him.

"Go and inquire about the swordsman named Yuto that our young lady mentioned."

"Yes, sir."

When all the servants had disappeared, the old butler said to himself.

"This is the first time I have seen our young lady behave so childishly. I hope this man has no bad character or great past so that I can fulfill my young lady's wish."

After a deep sigh, the old butler got into the carriage and told the driver to get moving.

"Where are we going?"

"Have you already forgotten why we are here, young lady? You were commissioned by your father to attend the 517th anniversary celebrations. Before the celebration, you are required to have a brief formal meeting with Mr. Aric Blackwood, who runs the town."

"What am I supposed to say to an old man?"

"We don't need to say anything, young lady, just accept the compliments. After all, this is your first duty as an Ironblood."

"There seems to be nothing to do. Sigh, he can't do anything in this family without me. My dad is lucky to have a gorgeous girl like me. You sent someone to investigate who I told you to, didn't you?"

The old butler heard the little girl sitting across from him praising him as she tossed her cherry blossom hair back with the back of her hand, and he regulated his breathing so as not to have a heart attack from the tsundere girl's adorable demeanor.

"As you ordered, Shizune-sama."

"Hmmh, if it wasn't for him, I'd be dead."

Suddenly feeling wronged, Butler realized for a moment how much the girl in front of him resembled her father, and despite knowing it was unnecessary, he protested against the little girl's words.

"Please don't exaggerate so much, young lady, exaggerations are unbecoming of a nobleman, and that gentleman found you only a few minutes before we did."

"Oh, am I exaggerating? Do you know what those men could have done to me in a few minutes? Your tongue is too long, Alphenzo."

"My apologies, young lady, but if the situation was really as dangerous as you say, you could have used your magic necklace"

"Do you think you're in a position to advise me, Alphenzo?"

In fact, this butler was really in a position to advise him. In this world, a personal butler was considered almost equal to the nobleman he served and had the same authority, because when a nobleman chose a personal butler for himself, they lived together as husband and wife for the rest of their lives. Even officially, the butler and the earl's daughter were of equal nobility, but the little girl didn't know that, and even if she did, it wouldn't make any difference.

A butler would not patronize his master's daughter, regardless of her noble title, because being a butler required much more courtesy than being a noble. In fact, a master could dismiss his personal butler, so the butler's nobility would not be considered as high as that of his master's daughter, but that is a topic for another time...

"I apologize, sir."

" Tch "

The old butler, looking at the little girl who was pouting and turning her head to take in the view, was certainly happy, at least.

-------- a few minutes later

A carriage pulled by four white horses with a gold-plated shield symbol stopped in front of the biggest building in the small town. This building was known to the people as the presidential building, which was responsible for the administration of the town, and unlike the other buildings in the town, it was built using cement.

The carriage stopped in front of the gate for a few minutes, but no one got out, until an elderly but stern-looking man came running out of the building in a hurry.

The broad-chested man with a few strands of white hair mixed in with his brown hair wiped his sweat and ran to the carriage door. When the man named Aric opened the door and saw a girl with pink hair, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"What, you look relieved, Mr. Aric"

"Ah...ha...ha...ha, no way. I'm just happy. You must be the famous Miss Shizune Vi Ironblood. thank you for blessing our town with your beauty"

Remembering his time in the capital, Aric gently crouched down on one knee, extended his right hand towards the little girl and helped her down from the carriage.

Shizune smiled happily and got out of the carriage while the old butler behind her massaged the veins in her forehead and looked at the nobleman named Aric with murderous intent, because the etiquette that Aric used was used against adult women. of course Aric was unaware of this as he had lived and aged as a soldier

"Ahh...ha..ha..ha..ha..ha, now you have managed to catch my eye Mr. Aric. I'll remember to tell my father about you when I get back to the city."

Suddenly receiving praise, Aric probably thought that the little girl liked his words and was happy

"Thank you, Shizune-sama"

---------

"Heh, so you're saying that if I don't finish in the top three and I manage to come fourth or fifth, I'll be awarded 10 silver coins as a consolation prize?"

"Yes, that's what I said, but it's almost impossible for you."

"Don't worry about that. What can I buy with these 10 silver coins? For example, how many kilos of lion's mane fruit can I buy?"

"So you don't know the value of money. Let me tell you something else you can do with 10 silver coins. You need at least 30 silver coins to get from here to Ironstals, the nearest city."

"How far is this city?"

"A journey of about 10 days"

"Really?"

A ten-day trip to the nearest city? Or are we going on foot?

"Yes."

"Not a bad amount."

"The sum of your father's and my monthly salaries is 12 silver coins"

"Then it's a very good amount"

"Yes, it is. Now, if you are ready, I will explain to you what swordsmanship means; swordsmanship means using a sword to cut your enemies. Patience and hard work will be your indispensable companions if you want to become a stronger swordsman."

As I was listening to what I thought was nonsense advice, a system screen unexpectedly appeared in front of me

[ Your understanding of the sword grows...

- the sword emperor's invisible sword mastery - lvl 3 --> lvl 5 ]

Suddenly a new technique of swordsmanship appeared in my head. I also understood why the bandits could not stop my sword when I was fighting them.

Thanks to the information that appeared in my head, I gained a lot of knowledge about how to hide my sword from the enemy's view by using light reflections.

What interrupted my solitary time with my own thoughts was my father's friend tapping me on the shoulder.

"Hoy are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

"Then take this sword and try to do what I told you to do."

Is it too late to admit I wasn't listening?