Chapter 35

"Alright, let's take a break for now."

"Understood."

When Yurii lowered her wooden sword and gave the instruction, Matilda also lowered her foot, which she had raised while wearing her combat boots.

The location was the courtyard of Noein's mansion. About two weeks ago, Matilda had consulted with Yurii, saying, "To protect Lord Noein, I want to learn a more practical way of fighting." Since then, Yurii had been instructing her almost daily.

This was possible because the lapis lazuli ore mining work was on hiatus during the winter, when there was less work.

"How was my fighting just now?"

"It was the best so far. However, you still tend to focus on 'attacking the opponent.' As I said before, what you need to learn is the art of guarding Lord Noein. The most important thing is not to give the opponent a chance to get behind you. If they break through, their sword will be directly aimed at Lord Noein."

"Understood."

Matilda listened to Yurii with a serious expression.

"Therefore, don't try to take the initiative and defeat the opponent. Your role in an emergency is to prevent the enemy from getting close to Lord Noein until other retainers can provide support. It's better to defeat the opponent, but it's not worth leaving Lord Noein's side to do so."

"...I understand. I'll try to completely avoid thinking about attacking."

"Yes, in your case, it's better to be that extreme."

Matilda's fighting style, which relied on her innate talents and instincts as a beast person, tended to be more offensive. However, she had more than enough technical and physical abilities, so Yurii's role was only to adjust her combat style to be more suitable for guarding.

Fortunately, she was a quick learner, and at this rate, she would reach a level where she could be Noein's dedicated guard by the time winter ended.

"Let's take a short break and then have another mock battle."

"Understood, thank you."

...

"Don't be too tense, relax more. Otherwise, your tension will be transmitted to the horse."

"Umm, okay..."

After teaching Matilda how to fight, Yurii was now teaching Noein how to ride a horse. This had become part of his recent routine.

The Arquvist barony had only draft horses for pulling carts until just before winter, but they had finally managed to purchase a warhorse. It was a problematic situation for a noble territory to have no horses suitable for mounted combat, but this issue was finally resolved.

However, a new problem arose: "Noein's inability to ride a horse."

Noein had been confined to a separate house in his family's estate since childhood, so it was understandable that he couldn't ride a horse. However, it was unacceptable for a current lord to be unable to ride a horse.

Being a lord meant being a military leader and a commander on the battlefield. Although Noein could use golems to fight, he would still need to ride a horse for marching and other occasions where it was necessary to ride in front of people from outside the territory.

Therefore, Yurii, who had experience in mounted combat as a mercenary leader, was teaching Noein how to ride a horse.

Both Noein and Matilda were learning from Yurii, but unlike the excellent Matilda, Noein was not a quick learner. He was intelligent, but his fundamental motor skills were poor.

Still, thanks to his understanding, he had improved significantly from the beginning. Yurii thought that at this rate, Noein would be able to handle a regular march and perform the minimum necessary riding for ceremonial occasions.

"Ah, I feel bad for the horse with me riding like this."

"Don't worry, we'll use the horse regularly. I, Pense, Radley, and Bart will ride it for work."

To avoid keeping the warhorse in the stable without use, Yurii and other retainers who could ride, such as Pense, Radley, and Bart, planned to use the horse for their work.

Noein looked somewhat conflicted, knowing that the retainers who would borrow the horse were much better riders than he was.

...

Pense didn't have the charisma to lead a large group of soldiers like Yurii, nor the robust and combat-oriented physique like Radley, nor the charming appearance like Bart. He wasn't as good at taking care of others as Mai.

On the other hand, he wasn't particularly bad at anything. He could handle combat, give instructions to subordinates, interact with people, and do office work to a reasonable extent.

Therefore, he was responsible for a wide range of tasks, including maintaining order within the territory and supervising the corvée labor of the residents. Before winter, he had also handled the reception of refugees at the checkpoint at the entrance to the capital, Noeina.

Recognizing his versatility, he was now in a position similar to deputy leader of the retainers, second only to Yurii.

"Pense, there's a fight over the order of using the well. Please come."

"Alright, I'll be right there."

When called by the residents, he would go to the scene as a law enforcement officer to mediate and prevent the situation from escalating to a point where Lord Noein would have to make a judgment.

"Pense, should we set up the wooden fence in this direction?"

"Ah, it would be better to build it a bit more in this direction."

"Understood, I'll do that."

On corvée labor days, he would supervise the residents at the site.

"Hey Rick, you should swing your spear like this."

"Understood, thank you, Pense."

To prepare for emergencies such as bandit attacks, he also served as an instructor for the regular training of the male residents.

He didn't have any outstanding skills or talents, but he had become an indispensable middle manager for the smooth operation of the Arquvist territory. That was Pense.

...

"--- So, even with the spring wheat harvest, we still can't achieve self-sufficiency within the territory, right?"

"That's right. However, if we combine it with the next spring planting of potatoes, which will yield a sufficient amount for food, we might achieve complete self-sufficiency next year."

At the end of the table in Noein's mansion's living room, Edgar was discussing with Anna.

Originally, Edgar, who had learned to manage a village as the heir to a village headman's family and was now in charge of agriculture in the Arquvist territory, would discuss the current state of the farmland with Anna, who was in charge of finance.

"That's good. Lord Noein will surely be pleased."

"Yes, achieving sufficient food production in the second year of development is remarkable. This is thanks to the potatoes."

"It's also thanks to your efforts as the agriculture officer, Edgar."

"Ah, no, I'm just... But it's encouraging to hear that."

"Hehe, that's good."

Edgar found it easy to talk to her.

Originally from a village headman's family and now a retainer, he was in a position similar to a subordinate to the other farmers. They had received different educations, so he couldn't be too casual with them and it was difficult to become friends.

He got along well with the former mercenary retainers, including Yurii, but their vastly different life experiences meant they had few common topics.

On the other hand, he found it easy to talk to Anna. They had both grown up in peaceful worlds, were in the same position as retainers, and had similar levels of education.

Naturally, this discussion time had become one of Edgar's favorite moments, and from what he could see, Anna seemed to enjoy this time as well.

On this day, he enjoyed their discussion and, feeling a bit reluctant to leave, Edgar finally departed from the mansion.