Chapter 7
"A-are you sure you've got the right person?"
"N-no! I couldn't possibly mistake you!"
All I could manage was to ask if she had mistaken me for someone else. But Risandera wouldn't back down; she hurried over to me.
What should I do? I seriously don't remember her.
Since she called me Sensei, she must have studied under someone, but I couldn't remember ever teaching swordsmanship to a lively, attractive woman like her.
It was probably—no, definitely—a case of mistaken identity. Beryl wasn't exactly an uncommon name, so she must be confusing me with someone else.
And anyway, the pressure of being accosted up close by a top-tier Black-rank adventurer was insane. Her face was so close. At this rate, I might collapse.
"I'm sorry, but I don't recall ever meeting a woman like you."
"Y-you mean... you don't remember me...?"
Her blazing eyes, tinged with confusion and something close to despair, pierced me.
No, don't look at me like that. If I don't remember you, I don't remember you.
"...It's been twenty years... No, but still!"
Risandera murmured, her shoulders slumping.
Twenty years... That was a long time ago. I'd only just started teaching at the dojo as its master back then.
So she must have studied under someone a long time ago. Back then, I was so focused on teaching that I hardly noticed anything else.
As I thought about it, Risandera grabbed me firmly by the shoulders and spoke in a low voice, her expression desperate.
"Sensei, it's me. Surena Risandera. Do you remember taking in a destitute little girl long ago and teaching her swordsmanship?"
"Hmm...?"
A destitute little girl...? Surena...?
"Oh!"
Could it be...
Just as she'd said, it was nearly twenty years ago.
One day, while making my rounds around the village, I found a small child who had made it there covered in injuries and dragging her feet.
There were no adults in sight, just the child.
It was clearly a serious situation, so I took her in. But we never managed to find anyone who could take her in, and she ended up staying with us for a while.
My dojo had a decent number of students even back in my old man's day, and we lived comfortably enough, so caring for one child wasn't a problem.
We couldn't exactly abandon a child, and since I had no children of my own, my parents doted on her, too.
She was probably the child of a merchant or a traveler, or someone like that.
From her injuries, it was clear she hadn't gotten them in a fight. She'd been attacked by a monster or a wild animal.
In times like these, and in a place this rural, that wasn't exactly rare, even if it didn't happen all the time.
She'd been withdrawn for quite a while, so I thought she might feel better if I let her train with the other children at the dojo. Back then, she was so quiet that when I asked her name, all she ever said was, "Surena."
But swordsmanship seemed to catch her interest, and I remember how faithfully she followed my instructions and practiced diligently.
I hadn't planned on training her seriously, but she'd lost her parents and had no family, so she probably had nothing else to devote herself to. Watching her train so earnestly, as if trying to shake off the sadness of her past, moved me to tears, too.
She stayed with us for about three years, I think.
When my old man went to the capital, he spoke with the relevant authorities. After she was adopted, I could only hope she was living well.
This all happened long before Allucia started coming to my dojo.
"Could you be... that Surena?"
"Yes! I'm Surena, the girl you took in and taught swordsmanship!"
When I said that, her face lit up, and she answered energetically.
Seriously? You never know how things are connected in this world.
"Wow, you've changed so much. Since coming here, I've met a few of my students, including Allucia, but you've changed the most by far."
I thought she'd been living a quiet life in the capital, so I never imagined she'd become an adventurer who traveled the world. This old man was shocked.
And back then, she was such a quiet girl, the sort who seemed perfectly suited to admiring flowers in the garden. Seeing her now looking every bit the lioness only made my surprise greater.
"I wanted to come tell you, but after I started working as an adventurer, I never really got the chance... This reunion was entirely unexpected."
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm just glad to see you're doing well."
The pressure radiating from the woman in front of me was still there, but now that I knew she was that Surena, I felt a lot more at ease.
By the way, could you let go of my shoulders already?
"But why are you in Baltrain, Sensei?"
"Ah, well—"
"Risandera. Sensei has been appointed special instructor for the Leberio Knights as of today, and he'll be helping train the knights. So let go of him. Right now."
There she went, cutting in before I could finish again. That Allucia!
I mean, what she said was accurate, so I guess that's fine.
"Sensei, with the Leberio Knights...?"
"That's right. I even have the appointment letter bearing the king's seal."
The hand gripping my shoulder tightened. Ow, ow, ow. As you'd expect of a Black-rank adventurer, she was freakishly strong. Actually, could you let go already?
The souvenir shop was instantly enveloped in a threatening atmosphere, mostly thanks to Surena. I'm so sorry, shopkeeper. Well, it wasn't my fault, but I felt like I had to apologize somehow.
"...Tch. It has the royal seal, huh. Doesn't look like a fake."
"What would I gain by lying?"
"S-Surena, could you let go of me?"
This was getting bad in more ways than one. Besides, she'd been standing way too close for a while now. Surena was a striking beauty with a rather manly air, but right now I felt like a small animal being glared at by a ferocious monster.
"O-oh. Sorry, Sensei. I got carried away."
At long last, Surena let go of my shoulders.
Well, I could understand how shocking it must be to see someone again after a long time, only for them not to remember you. But, to put it bluntly, she'd changed so much that it was hard to recognize her as the same person at a glance.
"Sensei, since you're in the capital, you should definitely stop by the Adventurers' Guild, too. I can pull a few strings for you, or even show you around myself."
"No, Sensei will be looking around town with me, so there's no need for you to come along, Risandera."
"What? Sensei's become a special instructor for the Knights, hasn't he? We'll be seeing each other from now on, so surely I, having just reunited with him after all these years, should—"
"No. Sensei hasn't been to the capital in a long time and doesn't know his way around, so it's only natural for us, the Knights based here in the capital, to show him around."
Allucia and Surena started arguing without even stopping to breathe.
Somebody help me.