Chapter 28

The wheat harvest has begun, and people are bustling about. They are busily harvesting wheat and other crops, and it seems like the whole family is enjoying the harvest. A portion of this will be paid as taxes, but the people's smiles are bright. It seems to be a bountiful harvest this year, and the villagers have some leeway.

Even if it's not a bountiful harvest, we have enough food stored for emergencies, so we're fine. In times of poor harvest, we can distribute this and manage as long as we can grow crops again.

Now, everyone is busy with the harvest, but apparently, there will be a harvest festival in five days.

It seems that this festival is held every year when the harvest has settled down. For three days starting from that day, the village of Coirat will be in a festive mood, and all the villagers will gather. This year, with the increase in immigrants, it's going to be quite lively.

There will also be a Reversi tournament and a Shogi tournament, and I've been invited.

From the Slowlett family, Baltor will be serving food to the villagers, so he's now busy with the maids' help. It must be quite a task to prepare food for hundreds of people.

This time, it seems that guests from outside will also be coming, so they can't serve subpar food.

Baltor must be having a tough time.

While thinking this, I'm spending my time comfortably in my room. The room gets warm when I use fire magic to make a flame float, so it's nice and cozy. I'll put it out when the room gets too warm, though.

However, I'm not sure if it's because my body got used to the summer or if it's just a particularly cold autumn day, but I feel a bit chilly.

That's why I'm wearing two pairs of long pants today. This should be fine. It's just right.

"Al. It's time for sword practice."

While I was lounging comfortably in my room, my older sister, Elinora, came in without knocking. In manga, this is a standard scene where the protagonist is caught by the heroine, but we don't have a heroine in our house.

"Eh. It's cold today, so I'll pass."

"No way. You won't improve if you don't practice properly."

"What about the preparations for the harvest festival? What about welcoming the guests?"

"It'll be fine. Even if it's not, we'll still practice."

"Eh..."

I pouted and showed my displeasure to Elinora.

"If you don't stop that annoying face right now, I'll correct it by force."

"I'll change and come right away!"

I saluted, trying to look stern.

Even if my face is already low-ranked, if it gets corrected... Wait, will I become handsome? No, no! That's not it. Probably my face will just swell. Alfrid, don't go down the wrong path.

"Hurry up. I'm going with Silvio first."

I took off one pair of long pants and changed into a pair that's easy to move in and can get dirty. It's a bit chilly today, but this should be fine, right?

When I went out to the courtyard, a slightly cold air was flowing. The leaves that had fallen from the trees rustled and danced in the wind like foam.

Their lonely appearance seemed to signal the end of summer.

"Al. What are you spacing out for? It's a bit cold today, so we'll warm up thoroughly."

"Okay."

Called by Elinora, I ran over to where the wooden swords were. To my surprise, Elinora and Silvio were in short sleeves and shorts. They must be crazy...

Is this like when elementary school boys, in the dead of winter, wear short sleeves and shorts to show off their toughness?

When girls ask, "Aren't you cold?" they proudly say, "I'm not cold!" to impress them and gain popularity, right?

"Elinora, are you not cold? What about you, Silvio?"

"Are you not cold, what do you mean?"

"It's fine because we'll warm up once we start moving."

Silvio, while stretching, answered with a cheerful smile. I ignored Elinora's words. I felt like I'd fall into a trap if I answered. I've become smarter.

"What do you mean by that?"

Stop it, that line sounds yandere.

"Are you ready? Let's run around the mansion a bit."

"Yes! Father Nord!"

Father Nord! You came at just the right time. You look so bright today.

"Al is unusually energetic. Let's run while he's energetic."

"Wait a moment."

"Elinora, it might be better to ask Al with a sword."

"That's true."

What are you saying, Silvio! I was so shocked that I called him by his first name.

I prayed desperately that Elinora would forget, and ran around the mansion.

Once my body was warmed up, we started our usual sword swinging practice.

I've been practicing with a wooden sword for about five months, and recently, the sound of cutting through the air has improved a bit. However, according to Father Nord, I'm still using too much arm strength. Moving the body is difficult.

Next to me, Silvio was swinging his wooden sword with precise and beautiful movements. His strikes were more powerful and sounded better. Silvio must be thinking about some principles while practicing, as I've heard from Father Nord before.

In the back, Elinora was swinging her wooden sword. It wasn't as fast or sharp as I expected.

Did she read my thoughts from my gaze? She pouted and then focused on a leaf floating in front of her.

"Hah!"

She swung her wooden sword while letting out a short cry.

...Huh? Did she do something?

The leaf she hit was cut into eight pieces, with vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines.

What? Why is it cut four times when she only swung once? I only heard the sound of the swing once.

I don't understand.

Seeing my surprised face, Elinora put on a smug expression.

Elinora is a scary kid...

Are you saying that if you anger her while she's holding a wooden sword, she'll use that technique and cut four times?

"Elinora, this is just practice. I told you not to use that technique for fun, right?"

"...Sorry."

"Next time, there will be a punishment."

Elinora is unusually honest. Does martial arts make even demons behave? Feeling a sense of awe, I swung my wooden sword.

"Al, try to focus a bit more."

"Sorry."

I think there are a lot of psychics in this village.

After finishing the sword swinging, we moved on to sparring. Today, I managed to avoid pairing with Elinora and Father Nord, so my opponent was Silvio.

I need to get back at him for his unnecessary comment earlier.

"Al, sparring isn't something you do with such an evil face, you know?"

"Really? Then I'll attack first."

I took a short breath and closed the distance with Silvio. I used the forms I learned from Father Nord to launch a series of attacks. Even if he dodges or blocks, I can continue the attack using the momentum.

"Al, you've improved."

"Silvio, you're still good at blocking."

"Sparring with Elinora is essential... to survive."

"That's true."

"Father, Al's attacks on Elinora are impressive."

People can become strong to survive. I feel like I can't spar with Elinora without using magic. Maybe I'll challenge her next time.

"You're really good. That block was a good reference."

"Hehe, you should ask Father properly."

"Eh, no way. It'll turn into a sparring session."

If we talk too much, Father Nord will get angry, so I'll keep it to a minimum.

Silvio is still good at setting his stance. He's like a Silvio Barrier.

"...Al, I can hear you, you know?"

The sound of wooden swords clashing, cutting through the air, and the soil being kicked up by movement continued intermittently from our location.

From a distance, it sounded like wooden swords were breaking.

That's not the sound of wooden swords, is it? On closer inspection, both of them were channeling magic into their wooden swords.

Elinora has the fire attribute but isn't good at magic. She can probably only cast three Fireballs, which are effective against Wind Wolves and Goblins. I've been told that magic power increases by using it up from a young age, but she doesn't do it every day. Is she practicing when I don't know?

Father Nord has the wind attribute, but I've never seen him use magic. I wonder how he uses it. He still channels magic, though.

I don't want to get involved in their sparring.

"Silvio, let's switch roles."

"Okay."

We continued practicing at the edge to avoid getting caught in their sparring.

After practice, I was sweating, so I went to the mansion's bath and used water magic to fill it and fire magic to heat the water.

Elinora can use fire magic, and Mother Elna can use water magic, so they can boil water together. However, since I can use both without any trouble, it's become my daily task.

Besides, I can't trust Elinora's fire magic. Last winter, when she boiled water, I didn't trust it, so I put ice in the water, and it melted.

Sizzle! Crack! It was quite hot. Thanks to that, I had to cool the water myself and boil it again. I caught a cold because I was naked during that time.

As a form of revenge, I once told Elinora that the bath was ready and let her in.

It was a cold bath, though.

While smirking, I went up the stairs, and soon, I heard a cute scream.

I laughed, thinking, "Serves you right," but Elinora immediately attacked me, guided by my laughter. She was only wearing a cloth. It was the first time I saw a woman's skin and found it scary.

Well, Elinora is used to wearing thin clothes, so she doesn't think much of it. She often undresses in front of me and comes into my room in her underwear to borrow clothes.

Of course, those clothes never come back and become Elinora's. I've seen her wearing my clothes quite often, so she must like them.

Now, it's Silvio's turn. He said something unnecessary, after all.

Thinking this, I headed to the bath.

I filled it with water, washed the cloth and soap, and then filled it again.

Hmm, Silvio seems cautious, so I'll make a large ice block and melt it with fire to create steam, like in cooking shows where they use dry ice to create steam.

If I do it too close, I'll burn myself, so I'll set up a larger ice block and melt it from a distance with fire magic.

Steam immediately filled the air. It felt warm when I got close, as if the bath was filled with hot water.

The preparations are complete. All that's left is to get him in.

I found Silvio in the hallway on the first floor.

"Silvio, the first bath is yours."

I smiled and invited him to the Arctic sea of a bath.

"Thank you, I'll go in right away."

I smiled and returned to my room. He probably went to get his clothes.

By the way, I didn't lie. No one said the water was hot; I just said it was the first bath.

Now, enter the Arctic sea!

I followed Silvio and went up to the second floor. Peeking into his room, I saw him calmly taking clothes from the shelf.

Looking forward to what's about to happen, I waited in the room.

"Humming happily♪ This is going to be fun."

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

"Huh?"

"What? I thought it was hot water because of the steam!"

Even without straining my ears, Elinora's angry voice reached my room.

What the heck! I didn't know if he finished practice, but normally, you bring your clothes before entering the bath!

Elinora came running up the stairs.

Each step felt like it was taking away my remaining life, and she was probably taking two steps at a time.

Peeking out of my room, I saw a ghost in a cloth.

The moment our eyes met, a chill ran down my spine. It felt like my heart was being squeezed by a hand.

Why is her whole body red even though she was in a cold bath?

Elinora glared at me with a look of fury and started running.

Shaking with fear, I tried to close the door.

Damn! Why is my body shaking at a time like this! Is it because of the sweat on my hands? The doorknob slipped, and the door opened even more.

Aaaaah! What did I do by inviting a ghost!

"I win if I close the door. I win if I close the door. I win if I close the door. I win if I close the door."

I tried to calm myself with self-hypnosis and closed the door. The sound of the ghost's footsteps was no longer audible. Every second counts. Life is a race against time!

Close. Close quickly! My door, close!

Okay! Closed...

"I win if I close the door..."

"I win if I strangle Al, right?"

The door didn't close; the ghost's foot was in the way.

That day, I felt like I saw my life flash before my eyes.

Thank you.