The Wife's Name Is… "Sa-moe"?
“…Hah.”
The real monster was here.
Ode stared straight at the dagger she had aimed straight at my knee.
My knee was, of course, her one and only weakness.
Because of the wound I had given it, she had been forced into retirement.
“Seeing it for yourself, then?”
Luke had finally appeared, stepping quietly behind me.
At first I had thought, *What kind of nonsense is this? Attacking my student?* But now…
“I admit it. She’s a monster. I thought she was hiding something, but no—there aren’t many people who could even notice this.”
Not just anyone. Luke himself had asked me to teach her, so talent or not, I had always meant to help. But after seeing her in person…
“I get why you were making such a fuss. I thought you were just lying to make me take a look.”
There really was a monster right in front of me.
“If you want to see my face, just ask. No need to lie.”
“…Hmph. Anyway. She’s an interesting kid. For a short while, she even seemed to be using the world around her.”
“That… is unexpected.”
I had told her she was 5th Realm, but Luke was 9th, and Ode herself was already an 8th Realm monster.
Simply training my body could only get me to 1st Realm entry. To utilize the world, you needed at least 3rd Realm, usually 4th. The result was more than encouraging.
“Ah. That makes me remember—why did you say 5th Realm?”
Even in front of me, Ode had never shown it, but the point still confused her.
She wasn’t some kid. She had to be past her prime. *This must be…*
“Kurhm! Hmph!”
“…That’s weird?”
“Of course it is. I only mentioned 5th Realm because there’s a reason.”
Luke’s eyes grew distant and bittersweet as he said it, as if he were remembering something far away.
“Genius talent is not made of wealth and glory—mountainous piles of gold, names praised by all. Those are things one should enjoy.”
But.
“I’ve seen the tragic ends of too many geniuses.”
Now, in this era called war.
Since Luke had lived through it himself…
“Death does not come to those who never lowered their guard. But those who possess talent and are better than others think, ‘If I fall, more people will live.’ They reached that conclusion.”
The ones who went to war were not fighting for money or fame.
For yesterday’s neighbor you said hello to. For your precious wife. For the child you love more than your own life.
They raised their blades knowing they would die.
So naturally, they reached that conclusion.
Luke wasn’t ignorant of what they felt either. He had thought the same, and he had done it.
The fact that he was still alive now was pure luck.
So.
“I hope he never did that. Not a hero who dies for the country, but an ordinary man who was mourned by later generations. That would have been better.”
“…You’ve become a total dad. Want to make a baby?”
“What… shut up.”
“Ehehe, you’re shy. I’m definitely going to beat Er’s eldest daughter to it…”
“Considering I’ve kept this old body together, do you really think that’s possible?”
“What’s wrong with that? Even old, you’re you. And anyway, you’re not even the real you, are you?”
“Ugh…”
Luke put a hand to his forehead as if he were troubled. Ode stepped forward and whispered right into his ear.
“And if you really meant to fight and survive, you wouldn’t have called me. You would have taught them swordsmanship, footwork, and observation skills. Not washing dishes, cooking, and cleaning. Not as a student, but as a wife.”
Besides, there was already precedent?
“…I only teach them how to survive on their own.”
“Of course. So then, the baby?”
“……”
Luke gently laid me on the bed and pulled the blanket over the unconscious me.
The room had artifacts that blocked sound—thankfully.
***
“…Huh? Why is Master so thin?”
“Ugh… there’s something like that.”
The next day, Luke and the woman who had attacked me yesterday sat at the same table eating breakfast.
“Healthy, energetic morning! If you ask my name, it’s Ode.”
“You’re copying weird things again. Where on earth did you pick up such strange speech?”
“Korea, you wouldn’t know.”
“I’ll get there someday.”
Since yesterday I had roughly guessed, seeing her so normal now only confirmed it.
This was the second teacher Luke had spoken of.
“Ode-nim? Ode-sa? The new teacher Master mentioned…”
“Sa-moe.”
“…?”
“A teacher’s wife is called Sa-moe.”
“…………Yes?”
At that, I looked up at Luke.
A wrinkled but healthy, muscular sixty-year-old man. I turned to Ode.
A young woman in her early twenties—maybe late teens, with a lively, perky figure.
“…Eh.”
“Don’t look at me like that. Even if I seem that young, I’m actually thirty… gah!”
“Luke~?”
“Ah, never mind.”
Hmm.
…Let’s leave that aside.
“Anyway. Since I’ll be teaching you, call me Sabeu, Master, or whatever—but Sa-moe.”
“Yes!”
“Why are you so stiff? Training will start after breakfast, then a little break.”
“Yes!”
I quickly grabbed the sandwich that looked like mine and swallowed it fast.
If I wanted to avoid throwing up during training, I had to eat and digest quickly.
“How long have you been starving that child?”
“I feed her properly every meal.”
I finished breakfast in a hurry and, a moment later…
“Master said he had excellent stamina and muscles.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Well, that’ll be obvious soon enough. Shall I start with footwork?”
Ode slowly circled behind me, her back to me.
“……?”
Something felt off.
A sense of wrongness, I guess.
Even though she was walking normally, I sensed something bizarre.
“Have you noticed? Silent Step. In Luke’s style, it’s called Mumeonbo.”
Ah.
Only when she suddenly reached out to pat my head did I realize the reason for the eerie feeling.
My footsteps made no sound.
No—my presence had vanished entirely.
“First, let’s learn this.”
Unlike Luke, who had only made me run endlessly, Ode’s lessons looked like they would actually be fun.
***
I had thought that, once.
“Ugh!”
“Pp. Two laps running!”
Ode, blindfolded, spread two fingers.
“Erai.”
All she asked was simple: teach the basics of Silent Step, then use them to attack me however she could.
I thought it was worth trying.
“Pp. Three laps!”
They kept catching me every time I tried to approach. I couldn’t see ahead and I couldn’t leave the blindfolded circle, yet I couldn’t succeed even once.
Maybe because the floor was sand.
Ode was doing perfectly fine.
“Pp. For now, that’s enough. Time for lunch, right?”
“Huu, yes.”
After training, when I returned, Luke was already setting the table.
“See? Boys should cook and do chores at home.”
“…?”
Now that I thought about it, Master had been acting strangely these days.
Doing housework himself. I finished eating as fast as I could and stuffed the rice down my throat without even tasting it, then hurried off to continue training.
“Kyaa!”
“Kuhk!”
Master smacked the back of my head.
“What?!”
“It’s my turn! You ate a whole meal without even tasting it!”
“Ugh, I was in a hurry to eat and get back to training.”
“No. At least not on the table I set.”
Damn it. No choice.
If I ate like before, I’d get another smack. If I ate less, I’d be hungry again in no time.
I had no choice but to chew and swallow as fast as I could.
“Chew it properly.”
Ah.
***
Time flew by.
Over two years, Ode taught me Silent Step, stealth, wall-climbing, throwing, using terrain, and hand-to-hand combat.
And when she could no longer claim perfection, but she had at least acquired everything…
“Ode will be gone for a while.”
“What?”
Suddenly the teacher vanished.
“I can handle mana.”
“Yes. She uses it for stealth and wall-climbing, too.”
My eyes and movements were decent, but mana talent was average, she said.
That was why she had only trained my body.
“But, that alone feels like a waste.”
Luke smiled faintly.
“The total amount is small, but your efficiency is good. You recycle things, too. Having surplus mana is fine, but excess is a loss. So… ah, here she comes.”
“Huh? Who?”
“Guess who. Introduce yourself. This person here.”
My third teacher.
The new Sabeu was a woman with long, soft brown hair and a gentle face.
Her eyes were languid and her expression relaxed as she approached slowly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m called Jaden.”
“Yes, Sabeu-nim.”
I immediately called her Sabeu.
Luke had said she was the new teacher.
But.
“Huhu… please call me Sa-moe.”
“……Yes?”
Sa-moe… I already had one of those.
What was this? I turned to Luke.
“……”
He simply nodded.
At that moment the woman spoke again.
“Ah. I would also like to be called Sa-moe. Jaden.”
…A reason had appeared to grow stronger.
***
The third teacher, or rather the second Sa-moe, was a mage named Eri.
A name I had heard only occasionally from Ode.
“Jaden, what do you think magic is?”
“Um… using mana to do various things?”
“Huhu, that’s not entirely wrong. The greatest strength of magic is its versatility. Before you face your opponent, they might use fire magic, or earth magic to harden their stance, or even buff themselves and charge in.”
Eri’s explanation was purely theoretical.
“Jaden said you can exploit weaknesses, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, shall I show you?”
“…Head, heart, nose, Achilles tendon, back of the head, spine, temple, bronchi, artery, and… stomach? Navel?”
“Huhu. That’s terrifying. More than I imagined. Probably all of it is right. Especially the last one. Here, right?”
“Yes.”
“This is where mana is stored. Jaden has one, too, right?”
“Yes. Master Ode taught me.”
“Danjeon, circle, mana heart. Many names, but as long as they all mean storing mana, it’s the same. And my circle is already broken.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll just say it had value. That’s also why I have so many weaknesses. I no longer have any way to protect myself.”
“Ah…”
“Don’t make that face. You know what? Luke is weak to guilt and sympathy.”
…Not really.
They said if you don’t listen, he’ll make you see your never-met grandfather.
But something about this felt like it would genuinely hurt her feelings, so I nodded along.
“Anyway. The reason I brought this up is to explain that it will be difficult for me to be your teacher.”
Eri sat up straighter and looked straight into my eyes.
“What I can teach you is theoretical knowledge and a little advice. That’s all I have left, since I can no longer use magic.”
“That’s enough.”
“Huuu… I’m sure there was no blood mixing, right?”
“Huh?”
“Huhu, no. Ah, by the way, Jaden—how do you feel about your little brother?”
Suddenly, Eri asked something completely out of the blue.
“…Huh? Um, in the past I probably would have had trouble. You might be hungry right now, and your safety isn’t guaranteed.”
But.
Now.
It was embarrassing.
But.
If I was with these people…
“I think it’s not so bad. They take good care of me.”
“……Huhu. I see.”
“…Huh?”
Eri gave a strange laugh, taught me a few more magic spells, and left.
The bedroom door stayed closed.
***
*Bang!*
“——!”
“…Master, why are you doing this again?”
“It’s strawberries today.”
Half a year and a few more months had passed.
For some reason, Ode had been locked in her room and not coming out, while Luke kept dashing out of the house looking for all kinds of fruit and other foods.
No—not looking, but *having been doing* lately.
“Is she sick?”
“Uhm… she might be in pain.”
“I hope she gets better soon.”
“Yes. I hope she gives birth soon.”
“…?”
“Come on. Ready to start today?”
Magic was hard to understand, but the fun of learning was endless.
And if I reached out, fire came out?
I didn’t need the simple spells, but I could still show off a little and chant.
How wonderful.
Eri taught me all kinds of 1st and 2nd Realm magic and chanting-free magic.
It felt like laying the foundation, and I looked forward to what came next.
And after a few days of that.
A baby’s crying sounded from the bedroom.
……Huh?