Weekend Stroll
The day after Aria returned.
“Long time no see, doggy?”
Thera had shown up at the mansion first thing in the morning.
“What brings you here…?”
“I came to see Aria. Haven’t laid eyes on her since she started at the magic academy.”
“You two haven’t met at all in the meantime?”
That caught me off guard. Someone of Thera’s caliber could probably teach a class at the academy, no?
“Yeah, I’ve got some bad blood with the school administration. Can’t set foot inside.”
Wonder what kind of mess went down.
The young lady of the Astel family—who runs the magic academy, no less—is teaching there, after all.
Sounded like there was some complicated history behind it.
“The young lady is in the mansion. If that’s all, then I’ll be…”
Not particularly curious about the details, I gave Thera a quick bow and turned back toward my doghouse.
I’d only come out because I sensed a powerful presence, but if there was no real business, better to head back and nap.
But no such luck.
Thud.
“We haven’t seen each other in ages, and you’re just gonna bail? That hurts my feelings.”
Thera grabbed my shoulder as I tried to leave.
“...Didn’t you come to see the young lady?”
“Of course I’m here for Aria. But I can see her later.”
With that, Thera glanced sideways at the little doghouse attached to my quarters.
“Speaking of, what’s that? You get a room now?”
“It’s not…”
I was fumbling for how to explain it when—
Having heard the noise from outside, Whitey poked its head out of the doghouse, wriggling into view.
“Oh my.”
Thera let out an uncharacteristically girlish gasp and stared at Whitey, who immediately glued itself to my side the moment it emerged.
“A spiritual beast? Where’d you pick it up?”
“In the Kaine Mountain Range.”
She identified it on sight, huh.
Makes sense—mages of her level have an eye for that sort of thing.
“Hmph, you got lucky.”
Thera scooped Whitey up into her arms.
“Aww, so cute! Hey, doggy, you’ve even been to the Kaine mountains now?”
“Just a casual walk.”
“A walk? You were running a whole mercenary band.”
“...How did you—”
I hadn’t expected Thera, of all people, to bring that up. It threw me.
...Come to think of it, she already knew I was a former champion.
“It’s all the talk among the mercenaries~ I heard it from one I do business with.”
“Word’s spread that far?”
“You know how prickly Jeban is? Guy’s a pro at watching his own back, but you reeled him in just fine.”
“You know Jeban?”
“Dealt with him a few times. Not many mercs operating in the capital area match his level.”
Jeban must be even bigger deal than I thought.
Then again, as a mage, Thera probably hired mercenaries pretty often.
Easier to toss some coin at them than trek into the Kaine mountains yourself, right?
“So, what’s the story there?”
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity about how I’d gotten Jeban under my thumb.
“We had a disagreement, I beat him down, and now he works for me.”
“Huh, he didn’t cut and run? Impressive.”
“Gave him a carrot, too.”
“What kind? Spill—what’d you dangle to hook him?”
“Teaching him Fleet.”
“Hm?”
Thera gave me a puzzled look at the mention of Fleet.
“You sure that’s okay? Isn’t that a knights-only thing?”
“Is there a law against it?”
I was genuinely asking.
Was it forbidden to teach it to non-knights?
“Nah, no law. But people don’t usually share it.”
“It’s not that big a deal. Besides, Jeban was already using aura.”
“For real? Figures he had the talent.”
Teaching Fleet to a merc might be touchier than I’d figured…
But what’s done is done.
And I doubted it’d cause me any real trouble.
I was Boyd family property, in a way.
No one would come after me for it.
Rowell hadn’t batted an eye when he heard about it, either.
If the top aura user I’d ever seen didn’t care, who else could complain?
Let ’em take it up with Rowell if it bothered them.
Anyway…
“Uh, though.”
“Yeah?”
“How long are you gonna hold Whitey?”
I nodded at Thera, who was still cradling the pup aloft.
She was fawning over it hard, but Whitey looked straight-up terrified.
No surprise there—Thera’s eyes were the same ruby shade as Aria’s, and ever since yesterday, Whitey bolted into hiding at the sight of her.
“It’s so cute, I can’t put it down. But Whitey? That’s the name?”
“Yeah, I came up with it.”
“Haha, then you must be Blackie, with that drab hair of yours?”
...What the hell kind of racist jab was that?
Though, to be fair, I’d named it Whitey based on its fur, so who was I to talk?
“What does Aria think? Little girls go nuts for stuff like this.”
“The young lady… yeah, she thinks it’s cute.”
She did seem to adore Whitey, at least…
Problem was the way her eyes had rolled back and glowed when she first saw it—scared the poor thing half to death.
Now it hid whenever she showed up. Go figure.
“Anyway, hand it over. It’s shaking.”
“Oh, really? Thought it was just cold.”
...Master and student, cut from the same cloth.
I took the trembling Whitey back into my arms.
Kyeeng…
It latched onto my shoulder with its underdeveloped claws, clinging for dear life.
Poor thing’s got it rough.
Though, come to think of it, shouldn’t it be scared of me?
I wasn’t sure if I was its parent or what, but I’d straight-up killed its guardian, hadn’t I?
Looking back now, why was there only one adult wolf?
No sign of any others nearby.
And Whitey had seemed brand new, so the one I killed was probably the mother.
Gathering those wolf-type monsters to ambush nearby mercenaries might’ve been part of clearing threats for the pups.
I’d wiped out all the high-level monsters in the area, after all.
Whatever.
I tucked Whitey back inside for another nap and turned to Thera.
“Time to go see the young lady?”
“Yeah, sure.”
She wasn’t letting me off the hook, so I had no choice but to head to the mansion with her.
“Doggy?”
As we stepped inside, there was Aria, descending the stairs.
“Young lady, what’s that?”
“Hm? It’s a leash!”
A sturdy-looking cord dangled from her hand.
Pretty long, too…
“Oh, going for a walk?”
Yeah, looked like it’d clip right onto my collar.
“Exactly! Oh, Master, what brings you here?”
“Just came to see my favorite student. Didn’t you miss me?”
“Yeah, I did!”
“Come here, then.”
While they had their little mentor-protégé reunion, I picked up the other end of the leash and snapped it onto my collar.
Click. Perfect fit. When the hell did she make this?
“Young lady, why the leash, though?”
We didn’t use one for our usual garden strolls, so I had to ask.
“We’re going out today!”
An unexpected declaration from Aria.
Out…?
I scanned the room at her words.
There they were, as always around her.
Yeah.
I shot a glance at the old man trailing slowly behind her.
And just like that—
“We’ll prepare and head out together.”
—Rowell gave the green light.
Guess we’re cleared to go.
The outside world might be a touch risky, but with Rowell along, no issue.
He was the alpha and omega of the young lady’s guard detail.
The mansion without Rowell, or Rowell without the mansion? The latter was overwhelmingly safer.
Anyway.
“Wait right there!”
Aria dashed off to get ready for the outing.
Leaving just me, Thera, and the bodyguard knights—Deron and Caiden, whom I hadn’t seen in a while—in the mansion lobby.
“Been a while, Lane.”
“You two were MIA yesterday when the young lady got back.”
Come to think of it, neither had been around when she returned. Where’d they go?
“Rowell encouraged us to visit family.”
“All in the capital?”
“Nearby orphanage. Both Deron and I came up from there.”
“Ah…”
Another pair of rags-to-riches types.
The Boyd family didn’t seem to care much about origins, as long as you had the skills.
Makes sense—why else would a gladiator like me be lounging in their yard?
“Anyway, let’s spar once the walk’s done.”
Good to see these two again.
Finally, some proper sparring partners back at the mansion.
Though they’d be off to the magic academy again tomorrow.
“Kept up training while we were gone?”
“You might be surprised.”
No flashy results to show, but I’d felt real, tangible growth.
Two life-or-death battles against worthy foes, both victories.
That experience had seeped straight into my bones.
And so.
As I caught up with Deron and Caiden after our long time apart—
“I’m ready!”
—Aria bounded down the stairs with Rowell in tow, all prepped for the outing.
“Let’s go!”
She grabbed the leash connected to my collar with glee and took the lead.
Behind her: Rowell and me, then the bodyguards Deron and Caiden.
And—
“Oh, heading out right now?”
—Thera, tagging along for the mansion visit.
...Were we marching off to war or just taking a stroll?
With this lineup, we basically had a full knight order.
Shaking my head at the sheer overkill, I followed them out of the mansion.