Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Training
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The next day.
I called Albert to the backyard of the mansion.
"Master. Did you sleep well?"
Seeing me, Albert greeted me politely and stood at strict attention before me.
Albert, who had become my disciple.
He had subtly relied on Liliana's favor to stay overnight at the mansion.
Albert's face was bright.
His skin glistened with oil, likely from eating well and sleeping comfortably.
'Not to my liking.'
He was enjoying happiness far beyond his station.
What was most outrageous was his vibe of planning to settle down here permanently.
I couldn't tolerate that.
But I had brought Ailin to the mansion under the pretext of disciple training, so kicking out Albert, who had now become my disciple, lacked justification.
That said, I had no intention of letting him live a lifestyle unsuited to his status.
Now was the time to shatter Albert's happiness.
"Albert, first training."
"Yes! Master!"
Thinking I was about to impart teachings, Albert's face filled with ecstasy.
"A comfortable life is poison to a half-baked swordsman like you! You need to whip yourself into shape."
Poison, indeed. I used to work out a bit myself back in the day.
Normally, when you're not exercising, the answer is to eat well and rest well.
A good environment even makes workouts more effective.
But this world had no such knowledge, so the master's words were absolute truth.
And these were the words of a Sword Master, no less.
He'd believe me even if I said bread was made from soybeans.
"Is that so..."
Albert listened to my words with a serious expression.
"I pondered all night on what kind of training to give you."
A little while ago, actually...
"M-Master."
Albert's eyes grew misty.
Seeing that made me feel like I might vomit up yesterday's meal.
"I plan to have you undergo a training method that dominated an era."
"Wh-What might that be?"
Anticipation colored Albert's face.
"Have you heard of the Hungry Spirit?"
"H-Hungry Spirit?"
"That's right. The Hungry Spirit. See that over there—what is it?"
"Th-The forest..."
"Exactly. The forest."
The area behind the mansion was somewhat cleared around my save point with the giant tree, but the rest was filled with trees so dense you could call it a forest.
It was called the backyard, but it was nearly the size of a decent park.
I pulled an axe from my inventory and tossed it to Albert.
"Th-This is?"
"An axe. Use it to chop down trees in the forest and build a house over there to live in."
"A h-house, you say?"
I followed up by tossing him a tent.
"A tent. Live in that while you build the house."
The tent was a shame to waste, but it was necessary to block any chance of him sneaking back into the mansion for a roof over his head.
I'd have preferred to give him an army-issue A-frame tent, but of course I didn't have anything that uncomfortable on hand.
Should've grabbed one before coming to this world.
"Living in a fancy mansion like this will make a swordsman like you—who still has much growing to do—grow indolent. It's against the Hungry Spirit. A novice who hasn't even become a Sword Master must always push himself more harshly."
I blabbered on plausibly at length.
"Master, this is training too, isn't it."
As expected, Albert nodded in firm agreement, his eyes burning with resolve.
"That's right, you catch on quick. Remember it well. From now on, all your training will begin with the Hungry Spirit and end with the Hungry Spirit."
"Yes! Master! Hungry Spirit! I'll remember!"
Lunchtime.
Albert was nowhere to be seen.
He was probably diligently building his house with the axe I'd given him.
More motivated than I'd expected.
The impromptu training method was working better than hoped.
The maids Albert had brought yesterday carried food from the kitchen and set it on the table.
Hiring the maids had made life in the mansion far more comfortable.
The food tasted pretty good too.
To serve meals like this after just one day—they were more capable than I'd thought.
And pretty, to boot.
But something was missing.
I knew exactly what it was.
Their outfits.
They were dressed in plain, country-girl clothes.
Maids need outfits that suit the role.
"Marie, I'm appointing you head maid. Go buy some pretty maid uniforms in black and white for them to wear."
Maid outfits are classic black and white.
"Yes, understood, Master."
"Master, shouldn't we bring some food to Albert?"
Ailin, who was eating beside me, glanced at me cautiously as she asked.
She seemed worried about Albert skipping meals to build his house.
"Hmm..."
I didn't want to.
But I had to.
Couldn't look petty in front of Ailin.
Then a brilliant idea struck—like using dog shit as medicine.
You shouldn't use dog shit as medicine, but...
It wasn't for me to eat anyway.
"Liliana."
"What?"
"You have those, right?"
"Those?"
"The pills you eat instead of meals."
Liliana's convenient pills she bragged about before were about to come in handy in an unexpected way.
"Yeah, I have them."
"I need them. You owe me plenty, so you won't say no, right?"
"Giving them is no big deal... Hm? No way? You're devilishly clever in these twisted ways."
"Hand them over quick. High-class food like this is poison to Hungry Spirit training. What if he comes crawling back hungry? It's all~ for Albert's training."
"Geez..."
Liliana handed over the pill pouch with an incredulous look.
I passed it straight to Ailin.
"Master, wh-what's this?"
"Meal replacement pills. One's enough for a full day. Take them to Albert. This amount should last a month."
"A m-month?"
"Yeah. A great mage's masterpiece. See how precious it is that this tiny amount lasts a month? Make sure to tell him one pill per day."
"Yes..."
It really was valuable.
Back in my original world, they'd sell like hotcakes.
Perfect for people too busy to eat or for military use.
This must be what they mean by giving an extra rice cake to someone you hate.
I was sitting in the mansion's office.
It was more like a library room in the mansion.
Liliana had said I could use anywhere except her lab, so I was making free use of it.
I'd heard before that there was a deep-floor teleport in the labyrinth.
I planned to use it to head to the deepest floor that adventurers had cleared.
The key was the party skill.
I needed to check how party skills worked in the labyrinth.
And test Ignis's performance too.
"Marie, do you know where the info broker is?"
-Slurp. Slurp.
"Pha... Yes, I know."
Her voice came from under the desk.
Marie was kneeling under the desk.
Her left hand gently massaged my balls while her right hand stroked my shaft.
-Slap slap.
After answering my question, Marie parted her lips wide again and engulfed my cock.
-Slurp. Slurp.
"Mm... I'd like info on the deepest floors of the labyrinth that have been cleared so far."
"Pha... For labyrinth info, the Adventurers' Guild would be better."
"Then go there. I'm leaving it to you, Marie."
I gave Marie her orders and relaxed in the plush office chair, enjoying the pleasure she provided.
"Un-ho, you here?"
Luna's voice came from outside.
"Mm...?! Y-Yeah, here."
The silver-haired beauty entered the study.
Even with Luna there, Marie didn't stop the fellatio, slowly stimulating me to avoid detection.
"Mm... Luna, what's up?"
"When are you planning to enter the labyrinth?"
Luna seemed preoccupied with the labyrinth.
'Well... she did follow me because of that.'
She'd seen the weird monsters there and wanted to investigate more.
"Labyrinth? Thinking around tomorrow. Gonna gather some info casually today before heading in."
"I see. Got it. Guess I should prepare too."
As Luna turned to leave the study, she tilted her head and spoke up.
"Um..."
"Yeah?"
"Doesn't... something smell weird...?"
".........Weird smell?"
"It's like a scent I know but... can't quite place."
-Startled.
"My imagination? I'll tell Aila we're going to the labyrinth."
"Y-Yeah."
Once Luna left, I shot my load refreshingly into Marie's mouth.
-Gulp. Gulp.
-Swallow. Swallow.
Marie neatly swallowed the semen spurting from my tip, as familiar with it as ever.
"Phew... That was good. Marie."
Marie emerged from under the desk and bowed her head.
"Thank you, Master. I'll go gather the labyrinth info."
"Yeah, good work. Oh, and don't forget the maid outfits."
That mattered more than the info.
"Understood, Master. I won't forget."