First Meeting (4)
The night training sessions with Yuki had now stretched into their seventh day. This bizarre double life of mine had settled into a rhythm far more stable than I’d expected.
Or at least, that’s what I wanted to believe.
Yet there was one person who posed the greatest threat to my carefully crafted “frail young master” act. I’d assumed her interest would fizzle out after a day or two, but her stubbornness had completely surpassed my predictions.
It was deep into the night, with the moon hidden behind thick clouds. I moved silently through the forest, careful not to snap a single twig underfoot as I headed toward our secret training spot.
Exactly three minutes after leaving the house, I realized Kara was tailing me. Her stealth skills were, frankly, abysmal.
Rustle!
Crash!
Huff… huff…
She sounded like an entire wild boar charging after me. At this rate, even the forest predators would probably flee in terror.
…Should I just lose her?
I considered it, but the memory of that relentlessly determined look in her eyes told me that leaving things unresolved would definitely disrupt my peaceful village life.
Today I learned a valuable lesson once again. The scariest thing in this world isn’t ghosts or wild boars. It’s the unshakable obsession of an absolute idiot.
Rustle. Snap.
……Kara, please.
The heavy footsteps coming from behind made no attempt at concealment. She probably thought she was keeping a safe distance.
She’d even gone so far as to wear all-black “stealth” clothing, but her presence burned as brightly as the forge fire in her father’s smithy.
“Haa… how scary. The forest at night really isn’t a place for a man like me.”
The moment I muttered those words loud enough for her to hear, the bushes behind me shook violently. I could practically hear Kara grinding her teeth and thinking, Don’t give me that crap, Ian!
This is just too much. I pretended not to notice and continued toward the clearing where we’d agreed to meet.
“Whew, my legs feel especially heavy today.”
At my painfully wooden monologue, Kara—who was hiding behind a distant tree—flinched again. The tree was far too thin to conceal her massive frame. Her left shoulder and right hip were both sticking out.
When I finally reached the clearing, I saw Yuki already waiting, her hair bathed in moonlight. She had her sword drawn.
“You’ve got quite the tail, Ian.”
Yuki murmured quietly. Her gaze was fixed on Kara, who was currently crouched behind a large boulder thirty meters away, wiggling her backside.
“Want me to get rid of her?”
Yuki drew her practice iron sword with a terrifyingly casual tone. Has this woman lost her mind? A noble lady talking like some back-alley thug.
“This is right next to the village… and that idiot is a friend from the same town.”
“I don’t have a hobby of befriending commoners, you know?”
“…Sigh. Then please cooperate with my peaceful lifestyle. We have a contract, remember?”
“Then what do you want to do? That girl is drooling while staring at you from behind that rock.”
Just as Yuki said, Kara was holding her breath with her mouth hanging wide open. I leaned close to Yuki’s ear and whispered.
“Change of plans. We’re going with the ‘Arrogant Noble Lady and Pitiful Sandbag Boy’ scenario. My lady, please feel free to violate me to your heart’s content.”
“……Violate?”
Yuki’s eyes sparkled with sudden interest. The smile that curved her lips was deeper than usual—and somehow dangerous.
“That sounds fun.”
Ah, did I make a mistake? I kind of want to cancel.
…Is it too late to back out?
Finally… I finally caught them in the act!
Kara’s heart was pounding so hard she thought it might explode. The secret midnight rendezvous between the village’s most beautiful boy, Ian, and the arrogant noble lady, Yuki.
At last, she would uncover the true identity of the “Boar Slayer” Ian she had witnessed that day!
But.
Contrary to her expectations, the scene unfolding before her eyes was completely different from what she had imagined.
“Aaaagh! It hurts, my lady! Please go easier on me…!”
Ian’s scream rang out. Kara couldn’t believe her eyes.
Ian kept stumbling and falling, while Yuki looked down at him with an expression that practically screamed pathetic before yanking him back to his feet. To anyone watching, it looked like the noble lady was training—no, practically tormenting—a frail boy.
Huh…? This isn’t right…?
Kara fell into complete confusion. When he had fought the boar, he definitely hadn’t been like this. But the Ian in front of her now looked like a paper doll that would collapse in the slightest breeze.
“Be quiet, Ian. Have you forgotten our contract where you agreed to help with my training? Why are you being such a baby about this!”
“But… that sword is really scary… I just want to stay home and read books… ugh!”
When Yuki gave Ian’s chest a light shove, he toppled backward again like a paper doll.
Thud—!
In the center of the clearing, Lady Yuki roughly grabbed Ian by the scruff of his neck and hauled him upright.
“Get up! Are you getting up or not?! There’s no one else in this village I can torment to my heart’s content except you. Whether you fall or not is none of my concern!”
“My lady, you really are a complete psychopath. Sob.”
Ian crawled across the ground, squeezing out a few tears (which were actually just spit). Yuki swung her practice iron sword above his head, cutting through the air with sharp whooshes.
Swoosh—! Swish—!
“I-I-I’m s-so s-scared… sob sob.”
Kara froze with her mouth agape inside the bushes. The “hidden master” Ian she had been expecting was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a pitiful boy being tormented every night as a sandbag by a wicked noble lady with a terrible personality.
……Ah.
Despite Ian’s wooden acting, to Kara—who had already fallen into the swamp of shock—he looked like the very embodiment of a tragic protagonist.
“Aigoo, I’m going to die……”
“Stop whining!”
Yuki grabbed the collar of the fallen Ian and forcibly pulled him up. In the process, one of Ian’s shirt buttons came undone, leaving him panting pathetically in a disheveled state.
“Please, I just want to stop for today.”
“Shut your mouth! Say one more useless thing and tomorrow I’ll bring my real sword!”
Yuki swung her blade again, kicking up dirt at Ian’s feet. Ian pleaded in a tearful voice.
Ian…… I’m sorry…… I misunderstood you and thought you were a monster……
In Kara’s mind, the boar incident from that day began to reconstruct itself.
That’s right. It must have been Lady Yuki who killed the boar. Did she use Ian as a shield?!
“My lady… I really don’t have any strength left in my arms… Please just let me go home…”
“No. You’re my toy. You’re not allowed to leave until I’m satisfied.”
The sight of Yuki lifting Ian’s chin and looking down at him arrogantly appeared, in Kara’s eyes, to be nothing less than the image of a villain.
Kara felt like her heart was being torn apart with guilt. She had suspected him and followed him, yet Ian had been enduring this hellish life all along.
Unable to watch any longer, Kara bit her lip and wiped away her tears. She made up her mind. She had to tell the village and rescue Ian. But the other party was a noble.
If she acted rashly, Ian’s life might be in danger.
I’m… I’m such a terrible person… tormenting Ian like this…
Large tears welled up in Kara’s eyes. To think that Ian had been suffering this kind of verbal abuse and being used as a sandbag in the forest every night.
As the righteous blacksmith’s daughter of the village, this was a tragedy she simply could not tolerate.
Wait for me, Ian. I will definitely save you from that witch’s grasp!
Kara quietly—very quietly—wiped her tears and slipped out of the forest.
The moment Kara’s presence completely disappeared, I, who had been sprawled on the ground, lazily lifted my head.
“…Has she gone?”
“Yeah. She was sobbing her eyes out as she left.”
Yuki lowered her sword and offered me a hand. The villainous expression she’d worn just moments ago had vanished, replaced by a strangely delighted face.
“But my lady, that kick to my backside earlier… that had some personal feelings behind it, didn’t it? It actually hurt quite a bit.”
“You’re imagining things. It was simply part of the training.”
Yuki deliberately avoided my gaze as she brushed the dirt off my clothes. Her hand lingered on my shoulder a little longer than necessary.
“More importantly, you really have no talent for acting, do you? ‘I-I-I’m s-so s-scared… sob sob’? Pfft!”
“And you, my lady, seemed quite sincere when you grabbed my collar earlier. Do you have some pent-up resentment toward me?”
There’s quite a bit of dirt on my clothes. I might need to do laundry again. I brushed the dirt off while asking in a cynical tone.
Yuki lowered her sword and stared at me intently. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. Then she whispered, so softly I could barely hear it.
“……Earlier, Ian. You were… a little… cute.”
“Pardon?”
“N-nothing! Forget it! Stop talking nonsense and let’s start again. The flow got interrupted because of Kara.”
“…Well. I suppose that’s true.”
“By the way, Ian. Aren’t you worried about what that girl might say when she gets back to the village?”
“Actually, this worked out perfectly. Now the villagers will see me as a ‘pitiful victim suffering under the noble lady.’ My reputation will only improve.”
“……That’s a little annoying.”
Yuki pouted but raised her sword again. Perhaps out of embarrassment, she swung it harder than usual. I lightly twirled a tree branch and deflected her heavy attacks.
“My lady, that last attack was too emotional. Efficiency dropped by about fifteen percent.”
“Shut up! It’s your fault!”
Looks like I’ll have to push her a bit harder today. Her concentration is all over the place.
“Lower body! Put more strength into your lower body. Can’t you see the tip of the blade is shaking?”
“I get it already! Stop jabbing me with that branch…!”
She can still endure this much. Where does she get off throwing a tantrum?