Published at 18th of December 2022 3:33 pm

Chapter 273: Putting One's All Into Ad Libbing

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

After I finish eating the delicious sandwiches, the training continued shortly after that.

It’s tiring doing activities on an unfamiliar beach, physically and mentally.

We are going to devote our time today to accumulating experience by sparring with a wooden sword on the beach. And just like the theme for today, we’re solely continuing our sparring even in the afternoon.

And each time a match end, Nord-tousan and Egar-san will point out something about our fight and then we’ll practice it and do trial and error in our sparring match.

The most I can do during the match is to fight Eric and Sylvio-niisan, who are close to me in terms of ability.

As for Luna-san and Eleonora-neesan, it’s impossible to try fighting them if they don’t go easy on me.

Well, they matched my skill in terms of practicing here, but the two of them took advantage of my skills and toyed around with me.

At first, Luna-san was bewildered when she fought against me, but after a few matches, my cheap techniques can’t get through her, and now she beat me often, as for Eleonora-neesan - maybe she follows Egar-san’s advice - use taijutsu when she fights against me, without using a sword.

I wonder how many times have I been rolled around on the ground after they lightly swept me to the ground with their wooden swords when they saw a chance, being grabbed and flung away with one hand, being stepped on, or being pushed around?

But fortunately, this place is a beach with soft sand, so I don’t get any injury but it was quite humiliating to be rolled over so many times, and it was painful for my body to be covered in sand all over.

I can still endure it since Eric and Sylvio-niisan are also experiencing the same thing as me, but if it were me alone then my heart would probably have been broken by now.

And so we continue practicing like that for a few more hours.

I was finally exhausted.

「Can’t do it anymore!」

I swung the wooden sword too much my arms are heavy. And maybe it's because of the unfamiliar sand pits, my feet feel awfully heavy. I can feel a painful tingling sensation spreading through my legs even just by standing alone, honestly, it’s hard for me to stand up straight.

「It’s so pathetic of you to whine Alfried」

When I sit down on the ground exhausted, Eric says that to me while practice-swinging his sword.

「I’m not someone with a physically strong body to begin with」

「And that’s why, you should stand up and build up your strength right now」

「I can’t even do that so now I’m sitting down」

Eric is practicing on the beach every day so he may be used to this, but this is my first time practicing here.

Though the sand is soft and it softens the impact, they entangle my legs so I can’t stand firmly on the ground.

I need to use more muscle strength than usual compared to the usual ground when I stamp on the ground. It’s like moving around while having a lead hanging around your body, so to speak. And so it’s natural that it makes me - who is not used to this place - get tired quickly.

While I was grumbling as I sit down, Egar-san and Nord-tousan come toward me.

Could it be, these two want to tell me that I have to keep practicing? I really hate it when people say something like that to me.

It’s better to show my limit here to them with my attitude rather than saying anything. I send a blank look toward them as though to keep these two in check.

「Are you all right? I know it must be tough but――uoohh!?」

Immediately after that, Egar-san exclaims in surprise for some reason, while Nord-tousan’s shoulder trembles.

「No, Nord-dono. Alfried-kun’s eyes are pretty terrible.....」

「O, originally, he was a child with little stamina so it might be better to let him rest now after all」

Egar-san and Nord-tousan are whispering to each other in small voices.

Maybe they will judge whether I will have to continue the practice or not depending on the feeling of exhaustion I showed with my whole body. I wish you let me take a break or finish here.

When I look at the two of them as if to protest, they look at me, perhaps they already came to a decision.

「……cough, it’s the first time you are on the beach so it must be quite difficult for you. It’s fun for Alfried to rest」

「Th, that’s right. The sunlight and the temperature are hot after all, so you can rest now」

Oooohhhh! Maybe they understand my inner thoughts, Egar-san and Nord-tousan gave me generous treatment.

We shouldn’t build up exhaustion after all. So I should resort to using my whole body and words.

I learned it in my previous life. If you’re tired then complain that you’re exhausted. If you're at your limit then talk about it properly and get some rest. For a human, there is nothing more important than their own body.

「Un, okay. Well then, I will rest in the shade」

I reply while desperately enduring the impulse where I almost grin, and I walk with a gait as if my body also appears at its limit.

Actually, my body is tired, but now that I’m exempt from the sword practice, my heart feels as light as a feather. If I were to be affected by the state of my mind and do something like skipping as I walk then I might be forced back.

Can’t be too giddy now and let my mind goes blank.

I slowly walk on the sandy ground while controlling my mind.

And after taking my time walking, I finally arrived at the shade where the sheet is.

「Haa.....finally can res――」

「Please clean up all the sand on your body first if you want to get on the sheets」

「…………」

I sighed and was trying to throw my body down on the sheets, but then Elna-kaasan said that to me again.

◆

Finding even returning to the sea to clean the sand has become too troublesome to me, I am not too hung up on using seawater since we’re at the beach and removed the sand using the Water magic as usual.

Anyhow, seawater makes my skin sticky. Rather than appreciate the feeling of the sea, my body just wants to rest right now.

「Can I lie down now?」

When I ask her after cleaning off the sand on my body, Elna-kaasan looks at me from top to bottom, and then she nods

「……very well」

「Ha haa, then excuse me」

「Ufufu, what was that, you guys」

Perhaps she found the exchange between Elna-kaasan and me to be interesting, Natasha-san unintentionally laugh.

「It’s our usual exchange, right」

「Un」

「What a curious exchange despite being a mother and her child」

Since Elna-kaasan speaks solemnly like a queen, I just behaved like her retainer and played along.

But, maybe Natasha-san found it to be curious, she looked at us and was laughing happily.

I won’t be bothered by it if it was just the two of us, but when someone laughs at us like this it now makes me think that I’ve done something embarrassing.

Elna-kaasan’s blushed a little, perhaps she’s also felt the same way.

「Even so, Al is already exhausted?」

Then Elna-kaasan brings up another subject, guess she wants her to forget our embarrassing exchange from before.

「Eh? The exchange from before is over already?」

However, Natasha-san daringly sticks to our previous exchange.

「……it’s embarrassing so it’s over」

「Eeehー, I wanted to see a little more of your exchanges」

When Elna-kaasan embarrassedly answered her question, Natasha-san look disappointed.

Everyone in Sylford’s house is basically the serious type after all.

Eric is a stiff guy, and I don’t think that Luna-san will be having that kind of exchange with her. As for the head of the family - Egar-san - he is a little playful person so there may be this kind of exchange between them, but I guess the joking exchange between parent and child like us is a fresh experience for her.

「And so, knight Alfried. Why have you returned here? The other knights are still fighting on the battlefield, yes?」

While I was thinking that kind of thing, instead of Elna-kaasan, it was Natasha-san who asks me something absurd.

Even when I’m a little surprised at the sudden situation, Natasha-san will be deeply hurt if I ignore her here.

I recall the words she just said and desperately recollect the words that Natasha-san wants to hear.

A queen and a knight, huh? I’ve read a lot of books about that back in the mansion. So I will pick up some lines from them and use them to match my current situation.

「Ha’, while this is truly shameful of me, I took an arrow to my knee that made me unable to swing my sword properly, so I withdrew from the front under commanding officer Nord’s instructions. However, I also didn’t return with nothing. I brought back a map that described the opponent’s power structure on the battlefield」

I got down on one knee, and pick up the long and narrow seaweed that got stuck to my body before and hand it over to her like a scroll.

This is Alfried’s performance and ad-libbing by putting in all of his efforts.

When I was wondering how Natasha-san would answer in response to this, I heard her suddenly burst into laughter.

「Pffftt fufufu, that’s amazing Alfried-kun! It’s as though you are someone from the troupe!」

When I raise my face, Natasha-san had unexpectedly given up her previous role.

Even though someone had desperately answered her absurd question and acted with passion, I think it was terrible of her to laugh at that person.

Becoming extremely embarrassed, I throw out the unrolled seaweed far away.

「Aahh, the power structure map!」

「It’s not a power map. It’s just seaweed!」

After I say that, I sit down on the edge of the sheet and lie down, as though the performance was over just like that.

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