EFWM 05

Chapter 5

“Ah, finally asking now, my disciple. What’s your name?”

“It’s Erica.”

“Erica! That’s a flower’s name. There’s a domain in the South where Erica flowers bloom in full.”

They could stop by there on their way to see the ocean.

Peczenik smiled warmly for the first time in a while.

“Erica.”

“Yes.”

“Was there anything you wanted to do once you left the count’s estate?”

“……”

“Maybe something you wanted to eat? I’m sure you saw the fancy food from afar in the mansion.”

“……”

When Erica didn’t respond, Peczenik gave various suggestions out of pity for the poor child.

He explained what kinds of sweet-smelling foods existed and said he’d take her to a restaurant to try them.

He figured there probably wasn’t much else she would want to do.

After all, the dreams of a young maid from a count’s mansion would be very limited.

“Um…”

Erica hesitated, then finally spoke.

“Can I grow my hair long?”

“……?”

What did she mean by that?

Peczenik didn’t quite understand right away and asked again.

“You mean… you want to grow your hair out?”

“Yes.”

That really was what she meant? Slightly taken aback, Peczenik rubbed his lips.

Was she a girl with a strong sense of beauty? It was an unexpected question, but not a troubling one.

“You don’t need my permission for that. You have a cute face, so any hairstyle will suit you.”

Actually, her current rat-bitten bob was already quite cute.

He wasn’t sure what hairstyles young girls were into these days, but he gave her an objective opinion.

“Yes.”

Erica bit her lip, then bowed her head deeply.

“I’ll grow it just long enough that it won’t get in the way of sword training.”

She even thanked him politely for allowing it.

At the Count’s Estate.

In Erica’s shabby corner of a room, a thin pair of scissors was often thrown aside.

The Countess constantly cut Erica’s hair short, not wanting her to look like a noble lady.

To Erica, the scissors that flashed near her face were nothing short of terrifying.

She would have preferred to be beaten.

‘But now… not anymore.’

Erica’s heart pounded.

She held back the tears she had suppressed all this time.

Outside the carriage window, a landscape spread out before her. Goosebumps ran down her arm.

It was a shiver—a thrill.

She had truly escaped that hell.

The journey by carriage was long.

When she asked where they were going, he only said, “To the South.”

‘South… Where exactly is that?’

Erica gazed out the window.

The scenery flew past. The same trees, the same sky—yet everything looked new to her, experiencing the outside world for the first time.

When night fell, they camped. Other times, they stopped at adventurer inns for meals.

And then she would get back in the carriage and resume watching the world go by.

“Erica.”

“Yes?”

Peczenik would occasionally speak to her, asking questions.

Most were easy for Erica to answer—but not all.

“Did you see Count Heraith often?”

“……”

Erica sucked in a shallow breath. Any mention of the count’s estate gave her cold sweats.

She was afraid someone would discover she wasn’t just a maid, but actually the count’s daughter. Even while answering, the fear made her vision darken.

“No… He was always busy. Or, well, that’s what I heard.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. He doesn’t run Teneurha alone, but he works like a man possessed. I doubt there’s anyone else that work-obsessed in the world.”

Peczenik recalled the count’s dull, stone-like face and continued questioning.

“Have you ever seen him practicing swordsmanship?”

“……”

Erica rolled her eyes, thinking carefully, then shook her head.

She really hadn’t.

She had secretly watched her brother Eric training once, but never saw her father wield a sword.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Yeah, that guy’s not the type to let the maids watch him train.”

Peczenik pulled a knife from his bag.

“Then I guess you’ve never seen this either?”

The smooth blade gleamed.

Wuuung—!

It emitted a faint hum.

A glowing blue aura burst from it, shimmering so brightly it was almost hypnotic.

“Wow!”

Erica gasped in awe, and Peczenik explained.

“This is called ‘Aura.’”

“Ori…?”

“No, Aura.”

“Aura…”

It was beautiful.

He mentioned how it was the condensation of immense power, the mark of a Swordmaster, and other complicated things—but Erica barely heard any of it.

She felt like she was being pulled into that dazzling blue light.

She held her breath. She couldn’t even hear herself breathe.

That tiny glow seemed to press down on the entire space inside the carriage.

How could such a thing exist? She half-wondered if Peczenik had stolen moonlight from the night sky.

“When I was a kid and first produced Aura, I felt like I owned the whole world. It was only half a hand’s length, but I rolled around in excitement like a madman.”

“……”

Erica grew tense.

It seemed incredibly difficult.

Could she ever make something like that? What if she never managed it?

What if she had no talent?

‘What if he gets disappointed in me?’

Even after decades of training, most people died without ever producing Aura.

Geniuses like Peczenik, who awakened Aura at a young age, were rarer than ten in a generation.

“Do you think I can… do it?”

“Who knows? If it happens, it happens. It’s something that just kind of comes to you.”

Fwoosh—

The blue glow disappeared from the blade, like a flame being snuffed out.

“That’s not your goal.”

Peczenik sheathed the knife.

“From now on, I’ll teach you everything I know. You just focus on learning.”

Thunk. He tossed the knife.

Startled, Erica caught it with both hands.

“If you live like that, you’ll find it. The most exciting thing in the world. That’s your goal now.”

“…Something exciting?”

“Something that makes your heart pound, takes your breath away, and brings you to tears from the thrill.”

“Does such a thing… really exist in the world?”

“There’s so much of it!”

Peczenik laughed heartily.

There were so many fun things in the world—why had he been stuck doing clown work?

He was talking to himself more than to Erica.

At some point, the knight’s life had become a treadmill of monotony.

Though the capital was as vast as the sky, there weren’t many things he could do while carrying the name of Teneurha on his shoulders.

Looking back, there were fun times too.

But there were far more times that weren’t. That was the problem.

He’d endured boredom for far too long.

There were so many things he had given up and lost along the way. The more he thought about it, the more twisted his life seemed.

Peczenik leaned his chin against the window frame again.

He looked outside.

He watched the clouds drifting freely across the sky.

“From now on, I’m going to do fun things. Anything’s fine—I’ll do it all.”

“Okay!”

Even though he was talking to himself, Erica responded brightly.

“If you’re up for it, you should too. You’re my disciple, after all.”

“Yes!”

Erica answered once more, smiling so brightly her teeth showed.

She wanted to ask, “Why did you make ‘let’s live happily’ sound so complicated?”—but she held it in.

It wasn’t until they became closer as teacher and student that they’d start teasing each other like that.

* * *

“Mercenary corps?”

Peczenik had formed a mercenary group.

“Yeah. Sounds fun, right?”

It was clearly impulsive, but he pretended it was all part of the plan.

Just the way he’d casually registered both of them as mercenaries and created the group said it all.

“What’s a mercenary?”

“It’s an awesome job where you get paid and go on adventures.”

“Wow!”

And just like that, young Erica became a founding member.