Swordsmanship Practice

Hilde's talent for swordsmanship really was impressive.

Even under Paul's bizarre "go by feel" teaching style, she still improved at a tremendous pace. Setting aside Hilde's innate superhuman strength, the more important factor was her attitude toward swordsmanship.

Rudeus was diligent too, but in the end, his diligence was the kind that came from effort.

Hilde, on the other hand, approached swordsmanship with a lighter attitude, one closer to enjoyment.

It was a difference in stamina.

As for Hilde's innate superhuman strength, Paul had also asked Roxy about it. After all, it was absurd for a little child to have that much power. On the surface, it did not seem like a bad thing, but... what if?

However, Roxy was uncertain about it too.

This sort of innate, unusual constitution was something that should appear in so-called "Miko," but according to Roxy, the "Miko of Superhuman Strength" was a prince of the Shirone Kingdom. Besides, Hilde had not reached the level of a Miko. She was simply a little stronger than ordinary infants and a little sturdier in body, that was all.

There probably would not be anything abnormal in the short term.

But once she grew a little older, it would be better to have her properly examined...

Time continued to flow onward.

Not long after their fifth birthday, Rudeus and Hilde reached graduation.

Before they knew it, two years had passed just like that.

Over these two years, Rudeus had already mastered most advanced magic, and according to Roxy's evaluation, the current Rudeus could even cast Saint-tier water magic smoothly.

In other words, he could already be said to possess the ability of a Water Saint-tier magician.

A five-year-old Water Saint-tier magician. Just thinking about it was frightening.

As for Hilde, she remained at advanced magic.

She had learned most intermediate magic and a small portion of advanced magic, then had no intention of continuing any higher.

For one thing, the amount of mana required to use Saint-tier magic was several times, even over ten times, that of advanced magic. Although Hilde had plenty of mana as well, it was not to the point where she could use Saint-tier magic casually.

For another, Hilde had already decided to specialize in the path of swordsmanship. Magic only needed to serve as support.

There were not many chances to use advanced magic, and Saint-tier magic was more often used on a strategic level, so it did not hold much meaning for her.

Roxy had said so as well.

In actual combat, there was basically no use for Saint-tier magic.

Even silent-cast Saint-tier magic had no timing in which to be used. At most, what could be used was intermediate or advanced magic.

Compared to continuing to learn higher-tier magic, she was more inclined to incorporate the intermediate magic she had already mastered into combat and genuinely raise her fighting strength.

As for advanced magic, it was enough to use it for emergencies under specific circumstances.

In this world, there existed so-called magic swordsmen, swordsmen who could use magic as support.

But Hilde felt that she probably did not count as that type.

On the day of graduation.

Roxy was going to take the two of them to a relatively distant open area and cast the Water Saint-tier magic "Cumulonimbus" as the exam topic. The one taking the exam was Rudeus, while Hilde was only watching.

Although she had no intention of learning Saint-tier magic, it would not hurt to at least see it.

Hilde had no objections.

The one who had objections was Rudeus. The guy was lingering at the front door, refusing to go out.

"You can't be serious. How old are you, and you're still scared to go outside?" Hilde really had no idea what to do about this part of Rudeus. This was not the first time she had discussed the issue with him.

But every discussion had ended without results.

Rudeus stayed silent. He looked at the doorway that symbolized the outside world. Once he crossed it, it would mean going outside.

The outside world...

The earthy smell of rain, the rusty smell of blood—one terrible memory after another surged into his mind like a tide, making it hard to breathe and impossible to take a step.

He knew perfectly well that he could not go on like this forever, yet he still could not take that step...

"It's all right. Let me handle it."

The one who stepped forward at that moment was Roxy.

She lifted Rudeus onto the horse. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed the hem of Roxy's clothes. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that they had already reached the outside world.

That solved it?

Hilde stared wide-eyed at Rudeus, who was sitting steadily behind Roxy and looking around in every direction.

...Badass.

If she had known it would be this simple, she should have just knocked Rudeus out and dragged him outside.

Sure enough, the old saying was right. When children did not listen, it was usually because they had been spoiled. One beating would fix it.

...Forget it. Rudeus seemed to like Roxy quite a bit.

Hilde did not think of Rudeus's dependence on Roxy as romantic affection between a man and a woman. She only felt it was at the level of affection between teacher and student.

Afterward, under Roxy's lead, the three of them arrived at a secluded clearing, where she demonstrated the Water Saint-tier spell "Cumulonimbus." This spell formed a massive storm, with thunder, lightning, and rainfall. A so-called Saint-tier spell was a mighty power capable of altering the climate and environment within a hundred li.

Once Roxy finished her demonstration, it was Rudeus's turn to reproduce it.

There was nothing difficult about it.

Though it was his first time using a Water Saint-tier spell, Rudeus's true skill had long since met the mark. On top of that, with his absurdly high total mana capacity, he succeeded with ease.

Fierce winds swept the dark clouds together overhead into a huge tornado, and torrential rain poured down. Everything within sight was enveloped by the spell's power. The three of them hurried into the earthen fort Roxy had prepared in advance, to avoid getting drenched.

The spell had to be maintained for about an hour, so they would have to stay here for the duration.

"What an absurd amount of mana." Watching Rudeus maintain the spell with considerable ease, Hilde couldn't help but comment.

Ever since discovering the rule that exhausting one's mana and then recovering it would increase the total amount, Rudeus had gone through that process almost every day. Though Hilde had also tried it alongside him, judging from the results, Rudeus's mana had increased far more than Hilde's.

If they had to compare, Rudeus's mana was about a 10, while Hilde's was only around 2 or 3, and the proportional gap would probably continue to widen.

It really was a little disheartening...

An hour later, the rain passed and the sky cleared.

The three of them crawled out of the earthen fort and looked at the clear, azure sky washed clean by the heavy rain. Their moods seemed to open up all at once as well.

"Congratulations, Rudy."

Roxy said with a smile, "Starting today, you're a Water Saint-tier magician."

"Congrats, congrats."

Hilde also stood to the side, smiling as she applauded.

For some reason, the scene turned strangely bizarre.

The moment of parting quietly arrived.

That night, Roxy packed her luggage, and at daybreak the next morning, she set out.

The whole family came to see her off.

Though it had only been a relationship of employer and employee, over the long time they had spent together, Roxy had also come to be regarded as a member of this household. Paul and Zenith both liked Roxy very much.

"Roxy, are you really not considering staying?" Zenith tried to persuade her.

Roxy smiled and shook her head.

These two years had been just as precious to her. Through spending time with Rudeus and Hilde, she could feel that she had truly grown, both in her standards as a teacher and in her attitude toward life.

In a certain sense, she had to thank this family.

This experience would be something she regarded as a treasure for life, worth remembering forever.

Rudeus excitedly hugged Roxy. His respect for Roxy was difficult to describe in words. If possible, he also wanted Roxy to stay forever, but he understood even more clearly that this definitely would not be the best choice for Roxy.

Roxy rubbed Rudeus's head, her childish face filled with gentleness.

Hilde watched from the side, feeling that standing here made her somewhat redundant.

In the end, however, Roxy opened her arms toward Hilde as well. "Come on, Hilde. You too."

"...Fine."

Hilde sighed and hugged her too.

Mm...

Roxy's body was small, fragrant, soft, and squishy...

Hilde didn't know whether it was an illusion, but she actually sensed a trace of maternal radiance from Roxy.

So that was it.

Was this the strength of a loli mother?

It really was something a person could get addicted to if they weren't careful.

In the end, Roxy waved her sleeve and took not a single cloud with her, gradually growing farther and farther away under everyone's gaze.

Night.

Hilde woke from her sleep.

Rudeus was not in bed, and rustling sounds came from beneath it.

She lowered her head and looked, only to find Rudeus with half his rear end sticking out, doing who knew what.

"Rudeus, could you be a little quieter?" Hilde said.

"..."

Rudeus, who was under the bed doing who knew what, paused for a moment, then continued burrowing farther under the bed.

"Fine, you're not planning on coming out, are you?"

Hilde grabbed his leg.

As a result, Rudeus began struggling with all his might.

So Hilde kept pulling harder, and finally managed to drag Rudeus out.

To be honest, the way Rudeus kept thrashing made her feel like she was trying to catch a porcupine.

And when she saw Rudeus's face, she froze completely.

On Rudeus's face...

There was actually a pair of white panties?!

"Ah, this is... cosplay! That's right, I'm just cosplaying!" Rudeus forced himself to explain.

Hilde froze. Even after things had come this far, he was still trying to struggle. His desire to survive was truly powerful. "So what exactly are you cosplaying as, the SOX Cult?"

"No, Kamen Rider."

"..."

Hilde fell silent.

Rudeus had tried very hard to explain, but in the face of such decisive evidence, any explanation sounded like an excuse... no, it was one in the first place!

Hilde noticed that there were faint crease marks around the crotch area of the panties. Clearly, this was not a brand-new pair, but one that had already been worn and had yet to be washed.

Judging by the size of the panties, they were neither Zenith's nor Lilia's, and even less likely to be her own.

The answer was obvious.

"..."

With only the panties between them, the two looked at each other, and the room fell into a strange silence for a moment.

Hilde wanted to speak, then stopped, then wanted to speak again.

In the end, she sighed helplessly.

"You're set for life."