Chapter 11

After about half a year had passed.

I turned twelve on my birthday.

In this culture, you age not by counting the years but by the day you were born. Just like New Year's Day was a day of celebration in my previous life, birthdays are celebrated here.

But I didn't get any of that.

Luft and Glay would have lavish meals and receive gifts on their birthdays, but I felt a bit left out.

Being a bastard is tough. Not that it matters much.

“...”

I thought this as I sat at the breakfast table.

Despite the whole family being present, only the clinking of cutlery could be heard at the quiet dining table. It was as if the silence was to avoid mentioning that yesterday was my birthday, which was a bit amusing.

Not that there was anything special to talk about.

Nothing much has changed recently.

If I had to say something, it would be that Glay is getting riled up about going to the magic academy.

He's fifteen now, and it's about time he decides his future. Unlike Luft, who can inherit the family, Glay, who can't, plans to take the entrance exam for the Imperial Magic Academy's advanced department in the spring and pursue a career as a magic researcher. He's been saying this for a few years.

But he just talks a lot; he doesn't do any special studying or magic practice.

I don't know what the advanced department's exam is like, but is that okay, Glay?

Is this the time to be quietly gnawing on bread?

"Today I'll be showing my face at the town council. I'll be back by sunset, so I'll leave it to you."

"Yes, be careful."

When Father Blaise said this, the foster mother quietly replied.

As if that was the signal, the breakfast table soon dispersed.

I see.

Come to think of it, there was no tutor today.

What should I do, then?

****

I walked from the mansion's garden to the annex.

I needed to talk to Eifa and had asked a maid where she was. She was cleaning the guest annex.

I wanted to check on the familiar and also give her a little warning.

"Hey Seika! Wait up!"

As I approached the annex, I was suddenly called out. I turned around to see two figures.

"Brother Glay. Brother Luft too. What's up?"

"Seika! From today, I'll be teaching you swordsmanship. Be grateful!"

Huh? What's this all of a sudden?

Looking closely, both of them were holding practice wooden swords.

Glay shouted loudly at me, who was tilting my head in confusion.

"You're twelve now, right? Have you thought about what you'll do after you leave the house?"

"Um... not really."

"How long do you plan to be so spaced out? You can't inherit the house, you know! Let me tell you, the prestigious Lamproug family won't keep a powerless bastard around forever!"

You can't inherit the house either, yet you act like the head of the family.

"Besides, in your case, you can't even pursue the path of magic research like me. So, the only option left is to join the military... That's why, from today, we'll be training you. Be grateful."

"...Seika, as you know, we're learning swordsmanship from the squire Theo. I think we can teach you a bit. Of course, if you want to."

Luft took over.

Hmm, swordsmanship.

I guess Glay just wants to beat me up, but I can go along with it for a bit.

"Sure. Where should we do it?"

"Here is fine."

Glay threw a wooden sword at my feet.

"Swinging the sword around isn't fun, right? Let's go straight to a mock battle."

"Glay, hold on a bit..."

"I'm leaving the house in the spring. I'll teach you as much as I can until then."

Ignoring Glay's cocky stance, I picked up the wooden sword.

It's been decades since I last practiced swordsmanship.

The style I learned was with a katana, while this is a one-handed straight sword, but I can probably apply some of it.

"Yeah, I don't want to do more swinging. Brother Luft, can you be the referee?"

Saying this, I held the wooden sword in a ready position.

"...Glay, go easy. Then, begin."

I decided to take a defensive stance.

I pointed the tip of the sword at Glay's eyes and waited for his move.

...Hmm, he's being surprisingly cautious.

We exchanged a few blows, but he only used feints and didn't launch a serious attack.

"Glay, what's wrong? Aren't you going to attack like usual?"

"Shut up. This guy... has no openings..."

Fine.

If he won't, then I'll...

"Luft-sama! Luft-sama―――!!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out, and both Glay and I lowered our swords.

A servant, out of breath, was running towards Luft.

"What's wrong! What happened?"

"That... a large monster appeared near the city."

Luft's expression changed.

"A monster!? What happened! Any casualties?"

"Luckily, a gentleman used fire magic to repel it, so nothing serious happened."

"Good. Then..."

"But the monster fled back into the forest. If it escapes along the mountains, it might head this way! Therefore, the gentleman advised us not to leave the mansion for the next few days."

At that moment,

I sensed a huge presence and turned my attention to the ritual.

"It's coming, Brother Luft."

"Seika? What...?"

The sound of a large object hitting the ground.

And then.

A massive shadow suddenly appeared and crashed into the wall of the nearby annex with a loud noise.

"What...!?"

A red-black shadow embedded in the annex.

The giant body, covered in slime, slowly raised its head.

It was a giant salamander.

"E, Elder Nute!? And what's with its size!?"

Its length must be about three zhang (about nine meters).

Its flat head was as tall as a person.

It looked like a whale. The lord of the mountain?

"U, Uwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh