Chapter 9
"Well then, Sensei. Until next time."
"Yeah. Thanks for today, Allucia."
At the carriage stop in the capital, Baltrain.
After thanking the Knight Commander who'd accompanied me all day, I climbed into the carriage.
After stopping by the blacksmith Allucia recommended, Surena had wanted to take me to a smith with ties to the Adventurers' Guild, but we couldn't make it.
The sun was sinking, and if it sank any farther, the carriages would stop running.
Though the area around the capital was relatively safe, traveling for hours along the roads at night still carried considerable risk. Normally, anyone traveling at night would hire guards.
If you skimped on guards, you could be attacked by bandits, wild animals, or, worst of all, monsters. That's how dangerous nighttime was.
This carriage was bound for Bidden Village, and Allucia had used her influence to arrange it for me, but even so, having it travel through the night with guards would have cost far too much.
I couldn't impose on her that much, and hiring guards myself would have cost a pretty penny, so I decided against it.
Surena had been sorry to part with me, but the Adventurers' Guild had apparently called for her. We'd said goodbye just after I tested the sword.
"The Guild really knows how to work people... Well, Sensei, I'll be off. Please stop by the Guild next time you're in the capital. I plan to stay here for a while."
"All right. You take care too, Surena."
I recalled what she'd said as we parted.
The Adventurers' Guild, huh? That's a place I have absolutely no connection to.
In a rural place like Bidden Village, there was never any reason to hire adventurers, and my students and I could handle the occasional beast or monster.
And my old man was there, too.
Still, if Surena was there, maybe I could stop by.
Besides, some of my students might have become adventurers. I'd add that to my plans next time I visited the capital.
"All right, thank you."
"Of course. It's a bit of a long journey, so please make yourself comfortable."
I spoke to the driver, then leaned back against the side of the carriage.
Normally, no one would take a carriage to some backwater village at this hour. So I practically had the carriage to myself.
Unlike on the trip here, passing the time alone was a little too boring.
And it wasn't like I could enjoy the scenery as I had during the day.
...Maybe I'll sleep.
At times like this, the best thing to do was skip ahead.
Once I'd made up my mind and closed my eyes, my consciousness quickly melted into a drowsy haze, perhaps thanks to the day's exhaustion.
"—Hey, passenger. Hey, we're at Bidden Village."
"...Mmm... Oh, we've arrived?"
My shoulder was shaken gently, and my consciousness slowly came back into focus.
After the driver woke me, I looked outside. The sun had completely set, so quite some time must have passed since I fell asleep.
Whew, I'd really slept. Oh well.
"Sorry, and thank you."
"Not at all. You must've been tired. Take care."
The moment I stepped out of the carriage, the village felt strangely nostalgic, even though I hadn't been gone for a full day.
Going to the capital had been an event in itself, but then I'd unexpectedly run into Allucia, Kurni, and Surena one after another.
I was happy to see them, of course, but visiting an unfamiliar place and seeing people I hadn't met in ages had probably been mentally exhausting.
"Now, I'd better head straight home... Hmm?"
Bidden Village was a country backwater.
At this hour, after sunset, there were more houses without lights than with them. The shops were closed, too; at most, the lodging house might still be open.
But I noticed a light spilling from my family home—the swordsmanship dojo—a little farther along the road.
"That's unusual. Do we have a visitor?"
Setting aside the living quarters, it was unusual to see a light in the dojo at this hour. Surely my old man wasn't still swinging his sword late into the night.
Curious, I quickened my pace toward the dojo.
"I'm home! Is anyone here?"
"There you are. You're finally back."
"Sensei! It's been a long time!"
"Hello. Thank you for all you've done for my husband."
Since this was my dojo now, I figured there was no need to stand on ceremony, so I opened the door and stepped inside.
There sat my old man, cross-legged, and a young man sitting formally with his back straight.
Beside the young man sat a mild-mannered woman, holding a tiny baby.
"...Landrid, is that you? It's been a while."
"Yes! You haven't changed a bit either, Sensei!"
I set aside the question of who the woman was for now and addressed the young man.
He answered with lively enthusiasm.
He had an intelligent-looking face and distinctive short-cropped blond hair.
He wasn't exactly muscular, but his well-balanced build, with the muscles needed to swing a sword, was unmistakably that of a swordsman.
He—Landrid Patrollock—had trained at this dojo, too.
I remembered him being just shy of thirty. He was the very picture of a fine young man, and he had a decent knack for the sword.
At our dojo, where most of the students were children and young people, he had also served as one of the senior students.
He was one of the students I'd given a sword as a parting gift.
But after training at our dojo for about six years, he'd said he was going to become an adventurer and headed for the capital, Baltrain. There shouldn't have been any reason for him to come all the way to Bidden Village.
"...And who might this be?"
"Oh, let me introduce you. This is my wife, Fanary, and my son, Jayne."
"I'm Fanary Patrollock. Thank you for taking such good care of my husband."
"It's very kind of you. I'm Beryl."
At Landrid's introduction, Fanary bowed her head.
Seriously? Landrid, you got married?
Though he was already well into adulthood, it still came as a bit of a shock to learn that a student much younger than me had gotten married and even had a child.
"So, what brings you here today?"
I didn't think they'd come just to tell me they'd gotten married or had a child.
If that were the case, they would've invited me or come by when they got married. I couldn't figure out why they'd come to the village now.
"Well, actually, ever since Jayne was born, I've been thinking of retiring from adventuring."
"I see... I can't say I don't understand how you feel."
Landrid was a Platinum-rank adventurer.
Platinum rank put him above the middle tier, even among adventurers.
The general view was that reaching Gold rank made you a full-fledged adventurer, and anything beyond that depended on factors like talent and luck. Of course, you couldn't reach Platinum on luck alone. It was proof he'd worked harder than most.
I couldn't help thinking it was a shame.
Still, an adventurer's profession was always fraught with danger.
It had its allure, but the risks were just as great.
He'd chosen his family over his dream, I supposed.
"It's your choice. I won't tell you what to do, and I'm not in a position to. Just make sure you have no regrets."
"Yes!"
After glancing briefly toward Fanary, he answered energetically.
Mm, it seemed he had no regrets. That's good.
"What will you do from now on?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you. I'm planning to move to Bidden Village. I owe much of who I am to you, Sensei, so I came to pay my respects."
"Goodness."
This place was about as backwater as it got, but it was a good place for a family to live in peace. There was enough work to get by, and they wouldn't go hungry.
"By the way, I heard from the Great Master that you've become an instructor for the Leberio Knights. Congratulations!"
"O-oh. Thank you."
I still hadn't gotten used to the idea of being a special instructor, so I stumbled over my reply.
By the way, "the Great Master" was what he called my old man. Even now, he occasionally taught at the dojo when I had to be away on errands.
Ever since he handed the dojo's signboard over to me, he hadn't been sticking his nose in, which was a big help. He might have absolutely no tact when it came to me, but he knew not to overstep otherwise.
"Beryl, I was talking with Landrid before you got back."
"Hmm? About what?"
My old man, who'd stayed quiet since the greetings, finally spoke.
His voice and expression seemed almost cheerful. Even as his son, I couldn't help thinking he was still young at heart.
But whenever my old man made that face, he was usually up to no good. What on earth had they been discussing?
"I've decided to have Landrid take over this dojo."
"Huh?"
Huh?
"You stay in Baltrain and see your duties through."
"What?"
What?
"And while you're at it, don't come back until you've found yourself a wife. Hurry up and let me see some grandchildren."
"Huh?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaat????"