Chapter 29
└ [Mom..?]
└ [First the physical hit, now a mental one]
└ [Is this a sniper shot aimed at us readers?]
└ [Sweetie~ You’re not reading a novel on your phone again instead of studying, right?^^]
└ [I was studying earlier—I’m just taking a short break~~]
“Studying.”
A word that easily evokes negative emotions.
Even the fairies, who seemed to live surprisingly human-like lives, immediately began relating the topic to their own experiences as if they too were sick of studying.
Of course, Damien was no exception—his rebelliousness kicked in right away.
“S-Studying has nothing to do with this.”
“It’s all related.”
I didn’t bring up studying for nothing.
I came fully prepared for this conversation, expecting this kind of reaction.
“Damien. Just now, you had no idea what your opponent was thinking. You need to use your head first. Swinging your sword comes after.”
“How do you expect me to think before swinging in an actual fight…?”
“Of course, there won’t always be time to think in every situation. That’s why you need to train your body to think ahead and act. Once you build up enough experience, it’ll be ingrained in your muscles and come out reflexively!”
In other words, since Damien lacks both experience and instinct right now, he needs to strengthen his brain first.
“Rose, are you saying you beat me because you studied a lot?”
“Absolutely.”
I did study a lot.
I had to—otherwise, I’d have been thrown out of the Torto family.
‘Although… I didn’t exactly win because of studying…’
Damien still looked confused, likely struggling to fully understand everything I said.
Honestly, it didn’t matter if he didn’t grasp every word. What mattered was that he was listening.
To help him focus, I summed it all up clearly:
“So, basically, it’s because you didn’t study.”
Since Damien had come to me early in the morning, even after our intense sparring session, there was still time left for lessons.
“D-Damien! What brings you here—I mean, are you here to attend class…?”
“Starting today, Damien’s going to pay attention in class.”
“Oh my goodness! Thank you!”
The private tutor, who was once again alone in the annex, was so moved by her student’s return that her eyes welled up with tears.
She had already packed her things and was just about to leave the mansion, so this return was a godsend.
The moment she heard Damien would be attending class, she crumpled up the sheet of paper in front of her and tossed it in the trash.
‘Was that… a résumé?’
Had she been dismissed from the duke’s house without results, she would’ve had a hard time getting hired elsewhere…
Bringing Damien here first was the right move.
Of course, just because he returned to class on his own didn’t mean his attitude toward lessons had improved overnight.
“…Why do we need to learn history?”
The moment he opened the textbook, Damien voiced his doubt.
‘I get it—you don’t want to study.’
I’d expected him to say that, which is why I was ready.
“To understand this country’s swordsmanship, you need to know its history. History books also cover many wars and knights.”
“She’s right! In the Develoah Empire, there were founding heroes, including the very first knight of the empire—”
The tutor, catching on quickly, began pulling out content that might interest Damien.
She was desperate, but she was good at her job.
‘I probably don’t need to worry too much on this front.’
└ [I was waiting for the childcare arc and turns out Rose is raising Damien..]
└ [Damien childcare LOL]
└ [So this is a childcare story, huh?]
So this is the kind of “childcare story” the fairies were hoping for?
Come to think of it, helping him grow properly is kind of like raising a child…
└ [Hey–– I got scammed by the keyword]
For some reason, the fairies were calling me a scammer, but the childcare route didn’t end here.
“This is it for today’s lesson. Thank you for listening, Damien. Now, tomorrow we’ll…”
“Damien. You’ll be studying again tomorrow, right?”
“…Yeah!”
└ [He listens so well]
└ [You said weaklings don’t obey, but he listens to Rose, so she must be strong LOL]
└ [He really keeps his word like a man]
└ [He’s dumb but honest, I like it]
After barely making it through the lesson, I led Damien to the garden.
“Grandpa Benjamin—!”
“Ah, Grandmaster…!”
So he’s the Grandmaster since he taught the Duke himself.
Anyway, Grandpa Benjamin, who had made time for me these past few days, turned around and greeted me with a nod.
He seemed curious as to why I brought Damien with me today, so I explained the purpose of our visit.
“Could you teach Damien swordsmanship instead of me now?”
No matter how you look at it, his level doesn’t seem right for a young master.
Having trained under Grandpa myself, I knew he was great at teaching even young kids, so I came here to ask him.
But before Grandpa could answer, Damien spoke up first.
“But the Grandmaster doesn’t teach swordsmanship.”
“…What?”
He taught me when I asked, though?
└ [He must’ve seen talent in the heroine]
└ [Worried he’d turn into an assassin, maybe..]
Fairies were quick to credit me with talent I didn’t have.
‘Maybe he only accepted my request because it was a one-time thing?’
Damien, having been here longer, probably knew Grandpa Benjamin better than I did.
I started to wonder—did I make a selfish request without knowing he’d stopped teaching altogether?
I looked at Grandpa, but… he also looked confused.
“Um, Damien… did Grandpa Benjamin say that was the reason he turned you down?”
“Of course he didn’t say it outright. But we swordsmen can talk with our blades!”
└ [Yeah no, you didn’t talk]
Agreed.
As if to reenact that “conversation,” Grandpa Benjamin picked up a stick—the same kind he’d used to train me—and handed one to Damien.
“You want to test me again and see how far I’ve come…?”
With a serious face, Damien accepted the stick. And a moment later…
└ [Thud]
Well, not surprising.
Still, he didn’t look nearly as shocked as when he lost to me.
“To show such an overwhelming difference in skill… Understood. I will return after more training!”
“W-Wait! Damien?!”
Once again, Damien ran off on his own…
‘So basically… he thinks Grandpa kicked him out after showing him the gap in their skills, right?’
└ [This is what happens without a translator present]
└ [How did Grandpa Benjamin survive this long with all this misunderstanding lol]
└ [He’s probably running back to those knights again LOL]
└ [Now I get why he turns out to be such a loser later]
Grandpa Benjamin met my gaze and just shrugged.
He wanted to teach—but couldn’t because of a communication error.
“…Personally, I think Damien should work on fixing his weak spots—uh, gaps in his skills.”
└ [That subtle diss LOL]
Grandpa nodded in agreement.
Though it looked like he started nodding right when I said “weak”…
Though a sword lesson with the Grandmaster had been arranged, the student ran off before hearing a word of it.
Where did he go, I wondered, and sure enough…
“Damien? He’s at the knight’s training ground, as always.”
Following the servant’s direction, I found Damien chatting with the knights of the mansion.
└ [Please don’t learn swordsmanship from them]
Still, for Damien, there really weren’t many other places to learn.
He probably came here wanting to pick up anything he could.
Understanding his situation, I approached to share the good news—but to my surprise, Damien had changed the subject.
“Did you all study a lot as kids to get into the Royal Knights?”
“Uh… studying…?”
The knights’ expressions clearly screamed “What does that have to do with anything?”
‘No, no, no!’
I just barely got him to start studying! Don’t ruin this!
“What do you mean, studying? Where I came from, we didn’t even have a school—let alone people who could read or write–.”
“H-Hello!”
