Chapter 17
✠
“Hehehe! Die! Take this! Yah! Yah!”
“Y-Young Master! Aaaagh!”
Romdio, the infamous troublemaker of the Gillette Count’s family, had started to take an interest in sword training ever since his instructor had been replaced.
The new instructor believed strongly in practical, real-combat training. Thanks to that policy, Romdio was currently “training” by grabbing a wooden sword and beating the servants senseless.
The feeling of knocking down the servants lined up before him one by one made him feel as though he had already become the strongest knight on the continent.
“Hehehehe! This is my sword! Try taking it!”
“Aigo, Young Master! Spare me! Please!”
“Hmph, what a weakling! You’re no match for me either! Next! Come on, next!”
“Ugh… finally done…”
The young servants who had been pretending to die suddenly sprang to their feet and ran away.
They were given wooden swords as well in the name of fairness, but how could servants dare to strike a noble young master?
All they could do was act out a convincing defeat, boost the young master’s ego, and quickly get through their turn.
Panting heavily, Romdio looked around for something to drink.
On a small table nearby, instead of water, there were various tonic potions prepared for him.
“Ptoo! Ugh, that’s bitter!”
Romdio spat it out and looked around again, eager to relieve some more stress.
“Next… huh? You?”
“Y-Young Master. P-Please take care of me.”
The moment Romdio saw the timid pink-haired boy standing before him, his grip tightened around the wooden sword.
Prinz Rodellein.
Romdio had never liked him.
How dare a mere servant boy who existed only to be beaten be smarter and better looking than him?
Even his name was Prinz! It sounded more noble than Romdio’s own title as a young viscount.
“I’m coming!”
“Y-Young Master! Ah—!”
Filled with malice, Romdio swung the wooden sword with all his strength.
Prinz instinctively dodged.
CRACK!
Perhaps because of the potion he had just drunk, the attack carried terrifying power.
If I get hit by that, I’m in serious trouble!
Prinz abandoned his plan of taking a few light hits like the other servants.
But he also couldn’t attack the young master, so all he could do was block weakly or dodge.
Enraged, Romdio forgot about his weak arms and swung the sword even more aggressively.
The watching servants gulped nervously.
And the so-called instructor, who should have stepped in, was completely neglecting his duty and doing something else.
Romdio snarled.
“You rat! Is dodging the only thing you can do?!”
“Huh? B-But I can’t attack you, Young Master…”
“Hey! Who told you to attack me?! You’re supposed to get hit! Why won’t you get hit?! It won’t end unless you do!”
Judging by the murderous look in his eyes, Prinz felt that if he got hit, he might actually die.
“You little… So that’s how you want to play it?”
“Y-Young Master…”
At that moment, Romdio’s pettiness shone brightly.
“Gasp! Look! Your little sister is on the railing over there!”
“Huh? Where—?!”
“Kihihit! Got you!”
“Ah—!”
Before such a cheap trick, the innocent Prinz fell for it completely.
Once he started getting hit, the pain paralyzed his body, preventing him from dodging. The vicious cycle continued.
“Ugh…!”
Even while being beaten mercilessly, Prinz never let go of his wooden sword.
The servants glanced nervously toward the instructor, urging him silently to stop it.
But the instructor still didn’t care.
Instead—
Someone else appeared.
“Kihit! Die! Just die—!”
“What kind of undignified behavior is this, Brother?!”
“Hic! B-Bianca!”
Romdio’s wooden sword slipped from his hand and flew through the air.
It stabbed into the ground near Ailet’s feet.
Ailet crouched beside Prinz, whose back was curled as he struggled to breathe.
“Oppa, are you okay?”
“…A-Ailet?”
“Sorry I’m late.”
“……”
He should have said, Why are you apologizing?
But hearing the trembling voice of his sister trying so hard not to cry made Prinz lose his timing.
Meanwhile, Bianca stood in front of the Rodellein siblings like a shield, confronting Romdio and the sword instructor.
“How long are you going to behave like a child who doesn’t understand the difference between right and wrong?”
“W-What did I do?! This is all sword training!”
“Training? Then perhaps the new instructor would like to explain. Is your teaching method to allow a noble to unilaterally beat a servant who cannot fight back?”
“M-Miss… T-This is simply to help the Young Master develop interest in swordsmanship…!”
“If swordsmanship involves harming people, it would be better if he never developed interest in it at all. I will report this matter to Mother.”
“Hey, Bianca!”
“M-Miss!”
Romdio and the instructor looked ready to grab the hem of Bianca’s dress to stop her.
“Ailet, take Prinz and get him treated first.”
“Yes, Miss. …Oppa, can you walk?”
“Y-Yeah…”
Prinz’s legs trembled, but somehow they moved.
As Ailet supported him and walked past Romdio, she shot him a cold glare.
Their eyes met.
Romdio flinched before shouting angrily.
“W-What! It was a fair duel! What did I do wrong?!”
“……”
“Hey! Why are you leaving without saying anything?! Hey! Tch— I was going to make you my subordinate, but forget it!”
Ignoring the nonsense, Ailet walked away with Prinz.
✠
I was furious.
This wasn’t just kids fighting—it was violence.
Troublemakers like him were truly a menace to society.
“A-Ailet.”
“What?”
“I think… I can walk on my own now. I’m actually pretty tough, so it doesn’t hurt that mu—ow!”
“Let’s just keep walking like this, Oppa.”
“O-Okay…”
“……”
“A-Are you mad at me by any chance?”
“What?”
“You’ve been quiet…”
“I’m not mad at you.”
So stop trying so hard to talk to me.
If I keep answering, I feel like I’ll start crying again.
I took Prinz to Dad’s laboratory. It was nearby, and alchemists were practically as good as doctors.
But—
Where did he go when a kid is hurt like this?!
Later I found out Dad had gone out because a useless herb merchant guild had caused trouble again.
“Dad’s not here? That’s good. At least we won’t worry him. Hehe.”
“……”
Seeing him smiling brightly with a battered face made my anger boil.
“Wait here.”
I immediately began alchemy fueled by rage.
An ordinary healing ointment wouldn’t be enough for Prinz’s bruised body.
Luckily, I had herbs harvested from the dungeon farm, so potion ingredients were plentiful.
“You’re making medicine? I hate bitter stuff…”
“You need medicine to heal faster. Don’t complain, Oppa.”
“Yeees…”
With my skills, making a basic healing potion was as easy as cooking instant ramen.
I threw in plenty of ingredients, boiled, steamed, and squeezed them until the flask filled with liquid.
[System: “Extremely concentrated healing potion bitter enough to numb the tongue” has been created.]
I must have refined it with too many ingredients.
[System: Congratulations! You have gained enough proficiency to level up. Alchemy Lv.8 awakened.]
[New passive skills obtained: “Greatly Enhanced Alchemy Effect Lv.5”, “Creative Inspiration Lv.1”.]
I even leveled up in the process.
Creative Inspiration? What’s that?
I should check later after giving Prinz the potion… Wait.
Suddenly, a jar of candies on Dad’s desk caught my eye.
Since Prinz hated bitter things, I wanted to add something before making him drink it.
Like syrup medicine for kids.
I grabbed a few candies and some dried herbs lying around the lab.
After repeated heating and distillation, I mixed the resulting purple liquid into the potion.
BOOM!
“Ailet! Are you okay?!”
“Cough, cough… I’m fine. Anyway, it’s done. Drink it.”
“T-This is medicine? Th-The color is black. That’s suspicious…”
“It’s the result of my hard work. Drink it.”
“Ugh!”
Prinz pressed the flask to his lips, making a miserable face. He held his breath and gulped it down quickly.
But halfway through—
“Huh? This tastes good!”
“Really?”
“Yeah! It tastes like grapes! Like juice!”
The bruises faded and the swelling disappeared. The potion’s original healing effect worked perfectly.
“Wow, delicious medicine! If we sell this, it’ll sell like crazy!”
“Really? Then we can pay your academy tuition with it.”
“Huh?”
I suddenly grabbed Prinz’s hand.
“Oppa, while making the potion, I thought about something.”
“O-Oh?”
“I think revenge should be done personally.”
“…Revenge?”
The ominous word made Prinz flinch.
But I wasn’t looking at his face.
I was staring at the inverted triangle icon floating above his head.
[Target: “Prinz Rodellein”]
He possesses swordsmanship potential capable of awakening aura.
Whether he becomes a Sword Master admired across the continent depends on your decision.
A guaranteed success investment for only 11,000,000 Cash!
Use 11,000,000 Cash to <Gift>.
