Ritzy Still Surprises Me To This Day (Bonus Chapter)

The family, servants, and Savior were waving goodbye to Ritzy as he set off for war. Once Ritzy was out of sight, the servants returned to work and the family went back home.

Currently, Savior was standing with Elizabeth and praying for Ritzy's fortune. Both of them were the most worried about Ritzy's safety.

Elizabeth,

"Please have mercy on my child, he still a young boy. Please be benevolent to the boy, war god".

Savior,

"Please have Ritzy return unscathed, blood god".

After Savior his prayers, Savior spoke to Elizabeth.

"Let's go back inside, unfortunately, Ritzy is left in the god's hands so we can't do anything anymore".

Elizabeth,

"He is my only child, let me pray a little while longer".

Another dozen minutes have passed and Elizabeth was finally finished with her prayers,

"Let's go back inside, I'm finished with my prayers".

Back inside Elizabeth was serving Savior some tea.

"Mr. Savior, please be honest with me, what are your thoughts on Ritzy's capabilities?".

Savior,

"Your son is a very well off man in the skills department, but since your question is so broad, I can't give you an accurate answer. Probably if the question has a more specific thing in mind, I can perhaps answer the question to your satisfaction".

Elizabeth,

"Hmmm, ok. What are your thoughts on Ritzy in combat or survivability?".

Savior,

"Ritzy is a very brilliant child so he will always find a way to be triumphant. He is also a very capable magician so he should be able to gain great merit on the battlefield. His magic skills are very versatile because of his blessing so he should be able to adapt to any situation".

Elizabeth,

"That is nice to hear but aren't magicians incapable of close combat? I remember my husband boasting about how weak magicians were".

Savior,

"Yes and no, magicians are typically horrible at close combat which your husband exploited in the battlefield, but the way I taught Ritzy was completely different. In reality, I was gonna be replaced sooner but then I proved it was best for Ritzy to be under my care.

Elizabeth,

"What do you mean?".

Savior,

"I practice in close combat magical arts so, in reality, I'm a very capable magician in close-quarter combat. Since what I mastered was close-quarter magic, it was what I taught Ritzy as well".

"At first, Christopher wanted me because I specialize in unique magic arts so he thought I was the best choice for learning Ritzy's blessing. As time went on, I trained Ritzy and exposed him to many aspects of magic and combat. He learned from flame magic to ice magic to conjuring. He showed great aptitude for everything".

"Though, one day Christopher told me that he wanted to stop our magic training so he can have someone teach Ritzy close-quarter combat. In response, I invited him to one of our sparring sessions that I have with Ritzy. When he saw that Ritzy was a skilled melee fighter, he dropped the idea of finding a replacement. That's how I was able to stay as Ritzy's instructor for more than ten years".

Elizabeth,

"That is good, now my worries have eased a bit".

"Know all I have to worry is about Ritzy bringing back a wife because of one of the war banquets. With him being a kind young man and powerful magician, women will easily fall for him. Don't even get me started on all the qualities he has for a perfect husband. Just thinking about it makes me feel all the women being heartbroken because I taught him the handkerchief trick, a woman's thoughts in the perfect man, and dancing skills".

"Wait, no, I forgot to teach him any dancing skills. Did you teach him some ballroom skills?".

Savior,

"No, I didn't teach him any dancing skills. Wait, did you teach him everything in noble etiquette, rules, etc... because I didn't".

Elizabeth,

"What do you mean that you didn't teach Ritzy about how a proper noble should act!?! He is your student, you should've taught him!".

Savior,

"I believed he already knew about etiquette. He was always kind and respectable, and the only time he wasn't was when it wasn't necessary".

"I believed he was too proficient with his words. I remember when we went out into the woods so I could teach him to hunt, we meet a traveling merchant family".

"They were making an emergency trip to their grandfather who was the head of the merchant family. I believe the merchants were called Blue Moon".

"Since I knew that they wouldn't most likely survive the trip because of the many dangers in the forest, I offered them my service so they could travel safely through the forest. Naturally, I made Ritzy learn the basics of traveling while we helped them".

'As we helped them in the journey, I was utterly surprised by Ritzy. At first, I believed he learned some great conversation skills when he learned noble etiquette, but now I know I was wrong. He is a genius in the art of conversation".

"On the journey, he began talking to the daughter of the merchant parents. It seemed nice at first because he gave a proper greeting and held a stable conversation. Then I became a bit suspicious when the conversation started lasting for an hour and the girl was showing a whole range of emotions during the conversation".

"Curious, I started eavesdropping to see what kind of conversation they were having. While listening, I was left surprised and in awe. Ritzy was admirably entertaining this girl. He knew when to listen, he knew when to praise the girl, and he knew when it was best to provide a story to entertain the girl. Seeing him, made me think maybe I should ask you for information about who taught him".

'From that point on, I never believed I should teach him about noble etiquette, but instead for him to teach me about conversation skills".

Elizabeth,

"That's similar to what I believed as well".

"I remember when Ritzy greeted one of our fellow marquees families. That day he gave one of the best compliments I have ever heard".

"At first, he was silent and looked like he tried to be unnoticeable. I was a bit mad because he wasn't following proper etiquette in greeting the guests. Also, I was a bit embarrassed because the marquees pointed out how Ritzy didn't greet him or compliment his wife's beauty".

"That moment he stopped trying to hide and went with full confidence to the marquess and gave an amazing speech of how great their family was, but what surprised me more was what he did next. He approached the marquees' wife and complimented her beauty on a whole new level".

"He said,'Your so beautiful, I forgot how to give a proper greeting'. That line left me speechless".

"From that moment on, I believed that you taught him some of the best conversation skills in the world, and naturally also already provided him some noble etiquette training. Who would've guessed he learned this himself".

Savior,

"Huh, it seems like Ritzy is still surprising me to this day".

"Well, that isn't important right now. Right now we need to send someone to go teach him some etiquette in the meantime and help him hide the fact that he hasn't had etiquette training".

Elizabeth,

"That is true, though at least the family's honor should be safe for now since Ritzy has skill in his words and the Knight Captain Alter has had experience dealing with different nobles".

"So all that we have to worry about now is who we should send, and how we'll send them".

Savior,

"For safe transport, we can send him or her through the merchant convoy that's arriving tomorrow. The convoy is heading to resupply the army's food so the person should receive great protection if they travel with them, but the real question is who can we send?".

Elizabeth,

"Wait, I know who. I remembered that the people who made our coaches and repairs them are also the people who crafted the nation's war machines for our past wars with the beastkin or anyone else. Luckily their son is the one in charge of going to the battlefield from time to time to go repair the machines. We should visit them and ask their son to teach Ritzy".

"Since they have such a major role in the nation's past wars, the son should've been taught noble etiquette. This means we can easily hide the fact that our family forgot to teach Ritzy about noble etiquette".

Savior,

"That a great idea, now all we have to do is see if the boy is capable of the job and pray from there that the boy arrives in time before somebody finds out this secret".