Chapter 30
Chapter 30
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Archery Lessons and the Road Ahead
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After the party ended and I returned home, I felt the sensation of time, which had been frozen, starting to flow again.
At 15 years old, getting involved in national affairs in this manner was unexpected even for me.
Fortunately, the main storyline hadn't been derailed.
The Three Lions War ended in Crossing's victory, dealing a severe blow to Bekavia.
I couldn't tell exactly how much greater the scale of victory was compared to the original game story, which left some unease.
'There's only one major event coming up ahead.'
It was the war symbolizing the continent's struggle for hegemony, serving as the game's prologue.
The Chimera War was the only one.
I'd originally thought I wouldn't be involved, but now that my identity as Wade had surfaced, I figured there'd be some impact in one form or another.
'I don't know the exact year, but at least the Chimera War took place in spring.'
Whether that was next spring or the one after, I didn't know, but preparations were essential.
Knock knock! A calm knocking sound.
"Young master, it's Ymir. I'm back."
"That was pretty quick. Come in."
Upon returning to the estate, I'd immediately given Ymir one instruction.
It was to scout middle academies for my transfer.
The Julia Academy I currently attended was in Duke Helian's territory, so even if it took time, I planned to move elsewhere.
"So, how was it? Rainpole."
"Yes, it was a city with complicated circumstances, just as you said, young master."
Rainpole was a mid-sized city located at the border between Crossing and Caliper.
It had the peculiar trait of a border line running through the city itself, which made its layout unique.
Before Crossing and Caliper formed their alliance, up to 10,000 soldiers had been stationed within the city.
That alliance marked the start of its development, and the academy there was jointly operated by Crossing and Caliper.
"However, they said there's a specific time set for transferring academies."
"I know. I'll have to attend Julia until this year. That's enough. Thanks, Ymir."
That settled the academy matter.
"By the way, wasn't Master around that area? Did you meet?"
"No, she seemed too busy to meet."
"Hmm. As expected, she's swamped. I was hoping for some martial arts lessons if time allowed, but it doesn't look like it'll happen."
"If it's martial arts instruction, aren't you already getting it from Eonia...?"
"Well, Eo babies me too much. You're the same, Ymir."
Master Iliya's style was relentless, while Eo... how should I put it? She treated me like royalty, nothing but praise, so there was no tension in learning.
"Well, she's not bad at teaching, so no helping it. How's Eo doing otherwise? She seems diligent with the housework."
Since joining under Ymir after the party incident, Eo had been handling household chores with utmost sincerity, like a devoted servant.
"She's doing splendidly. To the point where I have nothing to teach her."
"Haha, that good?"
She had some extraordinary knack for manual work; she picked it up incredibly fast. Since she took over the chores, not a speck of dust remained in the estate, and the garden rivaled those of high nobility in artistry.
'Handiwork, huh...'
There was one thing nagging at me.
To verify it, I'd asked Ymir to prepare one piece of training equipment.
*
*
*
With future events in mind, I planned to add one more weapon to my arsenal.
'Learning archery would allow for versatile use.'
For example, tying cloths of various colors to arrows and shooting them to signal officers far away at a glance.
In my case, I preferred detailed, precise instructions through a thorough intelligence network, even if it took time.
Otherwise, units that didn't fully grasp tactical orders would veer off in unintended directions.
'Back then, it worked because they were elite officers under Juras...'
Whether ordinary officers could execute such tactics was questionable.
Simply put, Eonia was decent at straightforward charges but hopeless at tactical execution. She lacked any independent judgment.
Left alone, she'd chant her double, triple, quadruple charges and end up isolated.
So for Eo, I'd decided to command her directly via arrow signals.
For the training, I'd set up a bow, arrows from the storeroom, and a practice target in the open space outside the estate.
After handling territory business until lunch, I headed to the training ground, but there was already someone there.
"Hmph! A bow, of all things. A weapon for cowards, that's what it is. Must be Iliya who brought it."
Eo grumbled at the sight of the bow and target.
She didn't suspect I'd brought it to learn archery and was harshly criticizing it.
This reflected the eastern continent's view of archery.
It was at least respected in northern Bekavia and western nations, but not in Caliper or other eastern ones.
To Eo, the incarnation of chivalry, archery was indeed for cowards, as she'd said.
"Who's a coward?"
"...Pardon?"
"I brought this to learn myself. Wanna say that again?"
"Eek!?"
Eo broke into a cold sweat and started making excuses.
"B-Bows are the epitome of efficient weaponry!"
"Not sure I've ever heard bows called efficient weapons."
If anything, they were inefficient.
Easily blocked by shields, costly, and their lethality dropped sharply if they missed vitals—that was the bow.
"That's punishment for your loose tongue. You're learning with me."
"Y-Yes! Of course!"
Truth be told, I just planned to learn the basics, while Eo was the one I'd make learn seriously.
"Eo, this your first time with a bow too?"
"Yes."
"That's odd. Didn't Valkyrie martial arts cover all weapons?"
According to her, she could handle swords and shields, spears, halberds, even maces and blunt weapons.
It was strange that bows weren't included.
"Master said there's no need to learn bows. Probably because they clash with chivalry."
"Hmm? Let me say it again—we're learning starting now. So does that mean I'm acting against chivalry?"
"Th-That's not..."
"Anyway, let's get to it."
With the quiver on my back, I faced the target.
Ymir acted as instructor.
"Take a stance like this, draw the string, aim at the target, and release based on your feel."
Ymir shot plainly.
Pew! Thunk! The arrow hit the target's outer edge.
I'd assumed she'd naturally hit center, so it was surprising.
When I asked, Ymir replied.
"I'm confident in throwing, but I've never specialized in bows."
Then whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! She hurled daggers at invisible speeds in succession.
The daggers formed a circle in the target's center, then thunk! The final one pierced the circle's middle, embedding dead center.
Incredible precision, but what baffled me more was where all those daggers came from on her slender frame.
"Mind if I check, Ymir?"
"Y-Young master...!?"
Pat pat. I checked her waist, but no daggers.
Mysterious as ever.
Anyway, I began learning archery in earnest.
'Progress is so-so.'
Thunk! Thunk! Thanks to my martial arts experience, I formed a shot group within an hour, but results varied with wind, and I couldn't aim center reliably.
Hitting moving targets seemed impossible.
'I'm learning archery for efficient tactical signaling anyway, so this should suffice for now.'
With occasional practice, I'd have decent skill within a year.
I heard elective archery was available at upper academies, so I'd enroll there.
More importantly.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Eo's arrows piercing center nonstop.
Eo hit the target flawlessly, like it was nothing.
"Impressive..."
Her talent was visibly prodigious.
I recalled an ancient tome from my Salleon family butler lessons.
'Kuravel Holy Kingdom is tied to high elves. And Valkyries...'
They were traditionally half-elves, symbols of human-elf friendship.
Elves had vanished gradually after Pensilon Empire's fall, impossible to see now, making true half-elf Eonia perhaps the last true Valkyrie.
No wonder she handled bows this well.
Elves were master archers in this world too.
'That explains it.'
Now I understood why her master said no need to learn bows.
She was naturally gifted, no training required.
"You're really good. You could teach me."
"Really? Hehehe...!"
Eo, thrilled by the praise, got hyped and kept shooting.
Even as her excitement peaked, potentially harming accuracy, it only sharpened.
Soon, she infused aura and shattered the target.
'Called it a coward's tool earlier. Now she's all fired up.'
Now she sought more praise, showing off seated shots, shooting while running, arcing shots, extreme long-range—pure showmanship.
I seriously considered appointing her as archer unit commander.
*
*
*
Four months after the party, the year I turned 16.
The twins were born safely, filling the house with energy.
My workload grew too, as Father began serious retirement preparations.
Likely because Max had found a fiancée at Duke Helian's party and gotten engaged.
Max's fiancée was the daughter of Count Pelton.
Matching with a family two ranks above ours was no small burden.
In noble engagements, matching betrothal gifts' prestige was paramount.
Mismatches often led to broken engagements.
That's why wide rank gaps made marriages practically impossible.
"I'm really sorry, little bro! I'll repay this debt someday!"
Max bowed his head in apology.
Even pooling his savings and our parents' failed to match the gifts' prestige, so I'd loaned the money.
"It's fine. Have you found servants?"
"We got the estate, but... no servants yet."
Normally, retiring parents would hand over the territory and let the heir branch off, but with newborns, Max was branching separately.
Thus, new servants for his estate were needed, and that was proving tricky.
"They want at least six servants... No idea how to find them."
Surprisingly, maintaining servants wasn't cheap.
Hiring was easy; upkeep was the issue.
"Heard people get them from slave auctions lately. Thought about that? Purchase cost upfront, but maintenance is low."
"You're talking about the one Juras set up in Alpenserd. But that auction's entry fee is steep for 'charity.' If serious about slaves, I'd have to go to Crossing, and I doubt I have time."
"Hmm..."
Then I remembered two letters from Master.
One from Juras: she'd arrange a royal audience, so visit the capital soon.
The other: someone insisting on meeting Wade.
That someone was undoubtedly Lutger Rosenberg.
I'd told him to wait in Rainpole while scouting the academy transfer.
'Might as well check the slave auction too.'
With time to spare, I decided to head to Crossing with Ymir and Eonia.