Chapter 29
Come to think of it, Ruby had been remarkably dexterous since she was little.
“Oh my, you already know how to do that?”
“Yes!”
From household chores like cooking, sewing, and laundry—
“Heave-ho!”
“Ho ho, you have quite a capable pair of hands.”
“That’s right. I think I can chop firewood better than you now, old man.”
“Indeed, and you’re much better at pruning than the gardener, too.”
To odd jobs like chopping firewood, pruning, starting fires, and maintaining weapons—
Ruby quickly grew accustomed to all of them.
I had long known she was good at that sort of thing.
“One more time.”
“Again?!”
‘Who would have thought she was naturally talented at anything physical?’
Ruby, now exhausted and panting, swung the sword through the air once more.
Shing.
Perhaps it was because she wasn’t using unnecessary force. Or perhaps she had grown accustomed to handling a sword in the meantime.
The sword stroke cleaving through the air was much simpler and cleaner than the first.
She was now so far beyond the territory’s young men that they couldn’t compare.
“Wow….”
“Amazing.”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as the young men began looking at Ruby with admiration rather than jealousy or envy.
‘This is ridiculous.’
I had someone who was good at both housework and combat right beside me, yet I had been grumbling to myself that the territory had no talent.
But I had a grievance, too.
Isn’t it a cliché in web novels for battle maids to be bad at housework?
Who would have thought there could be an all-purpose maid who was good at both housework and combat?
“Aaaah… I really can’t do any more.”
“Now, all you have to do is move the way Ruby just did. Understood?”
When Ruby, drenched in sweat, collapsed onto the ground, Heter said this while pointing at her.
I had followed them because I was worried whether Heter could really teach people well,
“Yes!”
Hearing the young men’s energetic reply, I realized I might as well not have come.
‘Shall I head back, then?’
I no longer felt there was any need for me to stay here.
“Sir Heter. I’m thinking of heading back now, but what will you do with Ruby?”
“Would it be all right if I trained Ruby alongside the others?”
“Of course.”
“My lady?!”
Ruby shouted as though this were unfair, but it couldn’t be helped.
Anyone could easily be hired to do housework as long as one had money, but a knight was a talent one couldn’t acquire even with money.
Of course, since she was starting late, it would be impossible for her to attain true knight-level skill.
Still, it would be enough if she could at least become capable of defending herself in a dangerous situation.
“Ruby, hang in there! I’ll be cheering for you!”
“My lady, you learned swordsmanship from knights when you were little, too! Learn with me!”
“When was that? I can’t do it.”
“You traitor!!!”
Ignoring Ruby’s resentful roar, I returned to the mansion.
Normally, I would have planned to look over some paperwork, but a good idea occurred to me.
She would be too exhausted to do the housework after training and returning home….
‘Should I put in a little effort myself for once?’
***
As the sun began to set, the wind cooled their sweat, and their body temperatures began to drop.
“That’s all for today.”
“Ugh.”
“I nearly died….”
“Ugh… It’s cold. Let’s hurry home.”
The young men, drenched in sweat from head to toe, hurried back to their respective homes.
“Huff, huff….”
“Good work, Ruby.”
“No, why do I have to go through all this….”
Heter handed a water bottle to Ruby, who was lying sprawled on the ground.
“Ugh… My clothes are all dirty, too.”
“From now on, you should change into comfortable clothes before coming.”
“From now on?”
Ruby, who had been drinking water, sprang to her feet and glared at Heter.
“What do you mean? You’re saying this isn’t just for today?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m not doing this anymore!?”
“No. You have to.”
Heter stated this firmly to Ruby, who was refusing to train.
“If I should ever be away, you’ll be the only one who can protect my lady.”
“What?”
My lady. In other words, protect Alice? From whom?
“What do you mean? You’re making it sound as though someone is after my lady.”
She looked at Heter anxiously.
…
There were many people who could be presumed to be targeting Alice.
First among them was Belphegor Friedel, her creditor.
Judging from his conversation with Riao, he would never simply let Alice repay her debt in peace.
If he had been the type to give up easily, he would never have tried to take away the woman his son loved in the first place.
Next was the mage supremacist movement.
Although the mage supremacist and Marquess Drosselmeyer carried out the attack, that mage supremacist’s character made it clear they would surely step forward if something similar happened again.
‘And there are also the people who broke the magical tool that repels magical beasts.’
Of course, they might be connected to Belphegor, but there was no proof to the contrary.
Even based only on what he knew, there were already three forces hostile to Alice.
Besides, beauty has long been a cause of conflict.
If he also considered the people who might harbor evil intentions because they coveted her appearance….
“I will protect Alice. But if I am unavoidably away, something dangerous could happen.”
…
“In that situation, you are the only one who can protect Alice in my place.”
“Phew….”
Ruby let out a deep sigh and brushed the dirt from her clothes.
“Fine, I get it. To be honest, Alice has seemed a little precarious to me since she became head of the household.”
“Thank you. But your manner of speaking….”
“What about it? If you don’t like it, you can speak informally, too.”
…
Although her sudden change in attitude left Heter a little flustered, he had achieved the goal he had set out to accomplish, so it was fine.
After Heter and Ruby reached an agreement and returned to the mansion—
“Hmm?”
A somewhat spicy and pungent aroma tickled their noses.
“What is that smell?”
“Don’t tell me….”
At the scent, Ruby’s complexion turned pale, and she headed toward the mansion’s kitchen.
It was strange that she had run off before he could even ask what was wrong, but Heter followed her for the time being.
When they arrived at the kitchen, the spicy smell had grown stronger, and they could hear something bubbling away.
“Damn it….”
Ruby muttered a curse as she stared at the scene in the kitchen.
What on earth had she seen to make her react like that?
Heter peered into the kitchen as well and saw Alice standing before a mountain of dishes and heaps of chopped vegetables, stirring something diligently in a pot.
“My lady?”
“Oh, you’re done training?”
She had tied her hair back and was wearing an apron. When she heard him call her, she turned around.
Unlike her usual cold and businesslike air, Alice exuded such a warm and homely feeling that Heter felt his heart flutter once again.
‘That’s right.’
“You’re beautiful.”
“Huh?”
When he heard Alice’s shrill voice, Heter realized what he had done.
He had said the opposite of what he had been thinking.
“I’m sorry. I meant to keep that thought in my head, but it came out on its own.”
“I see….”
Seeing Alice nod with an awkward but slightly flushed expression, Heter found the corners of his mouth rising without him realizing it.
“So what were you doing?”
“Oh, I was trying my hand at cooking. Ruby was busy training, so I figured she wouldn’t have the energy to prepare dinner.”
“You, my lady?”
“Why are you making that face? Is it really so surprising that I’m cooking?”
Of course it was surprising.
Why else would he have asked what she was doing rather than what she was making?
It was extremely rare for an ordinary noble to cook for a servant, after all.
‘Well, that’s exactly why I like her.’
Seeing Alice remain so true to herself lifted Heter’s spirits.
“What kind of food did you make? Judging by the way you’re stirring the pot, it’s soup… Huh?”
A moment later, Heter froze when he saw what was boiling in the pot.
Bubble, bubble.
A red liquid boiled like lava inside a black pot.
It seemed to be the source of the spicy smell they had noticed upon entering the mansion.
“Oh, you came at just the right time. Want to taste it?”
“What… exactly is this dish?”
“Yes! It’s a spicy soup to warm you up since you might get cold after sweating! Here!”
Alice scooped up some of the red liquid with a spoon and brought it to Heter’s mouth.
He briefly thought it was fortunate that the spoon hadn’t melted, but although Alice was feeding him herself, Heter’s mouth still refused to open.
“It’s just that I don’t like spicy food….”
Just as Heter was about to refuse the taste test, he caught sight of them.
Alice’s bright, earnest eyes, hoping he would eat her food and tell her it was delicious.
…
In the end, Heter couldn’t stop the soup from entering his mouth.
“Hmm…?”
What was this? The vegetables had a subtle sweetness, the meat was savory, and the various seasonings blended harmoniously. It was sweet and salty, and seemed pretty good… or so he thought, until—
“Ghk!”
“Oh, is it spicy?”
Then a tremendous pain surged in and spread throughout Heter’s mouth.
A knight is no different from a snow worm.
That is to say, even if you can train the outside of your body, it’s difficult to train the inside of your mouth!
“Cough! Cough! Some water…!”
“Oh, wait. That’s strange. Ruby found it terribly spicy before, so I thought I’d made it milder.”
While Heter coughed with his face bright red and Alice hurriedly poured water into a cup, Ruby muttered,
“I’m eating dinner out tonight.”
But despite that, the next morning—
“Here, it’s cold out, so eat up and give it your all at training!”
“Ha ha….”
Unable to refuse her master’s kindness, Ruby had to eat Alice’s soup.
“It’s spiiiiicy!”
“Ruby?!”
I think you can guess the result without my saying anything more.