He was radiating an air of openness to questions, but there was very little information gained. However, Arnold sounded as if he meant it, rather than flubbing a response.

I really can’t hear what I want to hear in this posture… No, I shouldn’t have been in this position to begin with!!!

She came to her senses and couldn’t bear to stay again. However, against Rishe’s resistance afterwards, Arnold didn’t let her down until the end.

“Ri-Rishe-sama!?”

When they arrived at her room in the detached palace, her maidservant Elise, who greeted her, squealed. She was normally poker faced, but when she saw Arnold carrying Rishe, her mouth dropped open.

“Elise!!”

“Rishe-sama!”

She was lowered onto a chair and clung to Elise, who rushed over to her. Seeing her exhaustion, Arnold said, “Rest a while longer. Don’t do anything reckless until you can feel your limbs again.”

The reason I’m reeling now isn’t because of the sparring!

She screamed deep inside, but couldn’t blurt it out. Arnold said he had some official business to attend to and went straight back to the main castle.

Immediately after Arnold was out of sight, the knights who didn’t usually enter Rishe’s room spontaneously rushed over to her.

“Are you alright, Rieshe-sama?!!”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you! We couldn’t help in every sense of the word!!!”

‘No, no… I understand where you two are coming from.”

They were, for one thing, sporting the same disbelieving looks similar to those people they had crossed paths with on their way. For that alone, I would like to thank them.

One of the knights continued, “Nevertheless, we’re sorry.”“Are you hurt? Uhm, I mean, I’m not referring to what happened earlier, but to your training with His Highness.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

Arnold didn’t inflict a single wound on Rishe as he guaranteed. After all was said and done, that was owing to his sword’s ability.

The knight patted his chest in relief.

“I’m glad to hear that. When we heard that His Highness Arnold was going to give Rishe-sama special training, we were truly surprised.

“It was the safest form of special training His Highness had ever undertaken.”

I knew it, today’s sparring was only part of the multiple training regimen.

Arnold still has a plan. Realizing this, Rishe closed her eyes.

It’s no longer necessary for me to coach the maidservants every morning. The field isn’t quite stable yet, but I can check on it twice a day and it’ll be fine. My business with the Aria Trading Company is also awaiting the Chairman at the moment. There’s a lot of work to be done on the other ‘preparations’, but it will be more difficult to get moving once we start in earnest, so the time to move is now.

With a renewed commitment, Rishe looked at Elise.

“I’m sorry for startling you earlier, Elise. Have you received a package from the Aria Trading Company?”

“Yes, Rishe-sama. I brought it to you.”

Elise nodded and pointed to a wooden box in the corner of the room.

After I get some more rest, I need to get moving. Thanks to the sparring, I’ve recovered my body’s instincts a bit.

Rishe clasped her hands tightly together.Strengthening my body for my longevity plan, now it’s time to get serious!

****

On that day, about 20 trainees had been gathered in the Fifth Training Ground in the Royal Palace.

They were young men standing on the border between youth and boys. Dressed in brand-new training clothes, they listened to the knight’s instructions nervously.

“– The above training is scheduled for 10 days. As I said before, this training is for you guys before you join the Order. This is a part of a nobleman’s education and also a place to select the best talent from the common people, so keep that in mind.”

The knight said, scanning the few faces lined up at the spot.

“Whether you’re the son of a nobleman or from a favela, you’ll be valued equally here. I wish you all the best in your development.

“Hai!!!”

“… Hmm. You there”

The knight instructor looked at a brown-haired boy in the back row and called.

“I say Lucius, your response is quite good. It’s coming from your stomach, a voice that would sound good in a battlefield.”

“Ha! Thank you!”

――Rishe, who was called by the name of a man “Lucius”, replied vigorously.

She applied makeup to change the look of her face, wore a short boyish wig, and stood straight with her body wrapped in a cloth to hide the roundness of her chest.