Master’s Smile

C96 – Sword Master

After Neena-san-…no, Princess Neena introduced herself, I was all smiles, but inwardly I was in turmoil.

A-A princess…?

A princess, who occupies a position close to the most prominent rank in the kingdom, and I, a master of a dark guild that is probably the most hated by the public behind the scenes.

People that would never normally meet were now here, facing each other.

“……?”

And it was Ritter, who belonged to the kingdom knights on one side and Yelquchira on the other, who created the situation.

She was tilting her head, curious at the fact that I was watching her.

Kuh… I couldn’t get angry!

“Now then, would you care to introduce yourself?”

Princess Neena stared at me fixedly.

Her eyes were not as wary to think that I was suspicious, but it had a strong gaze of assessing me.

Ugh… my stomach hurts….

Still, there was no way I could ignore a princess’s order, so I tried to introduce myself with a pseudonym, when suddenly….

“Master.”

“Hmm?”

Ritter introduced me, with a name I had warned her not to call me.

…How should I say this…? I feel like my life expectancy has been in a constant downfall in just one day, or rather, just in a few hours.

Princess Neena was also tilting her head, wondering what in the world Ritter was talking about.

N-Not good! Worst case scenario, I could teleport Ritter alone to the guild headquarters…, no, it would look suspicious if I did that.

As I was groaning about what to do, Princess Neena raised her voice.

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“Aah! So this is the man Ritter always talks about!?”

“Mm.”

Ritter nodded at Princess Neena’s confirmation.

A-Always…?

To think she had been calling me “Master” many times in spite of all my warnings, Ritter is such a silly…, or rather, a pure child.

Taking that into account, hearing that she was always talking about me also seems outrageous….

“I know about you. I hear you are Ritter’s sword master.”

I’m not, though?

It looks like Ritter was not a thoughtless fool either.

Instead of introducing me as a master of a dark guild, she referred to me as her sword master?

…Though, the problem is just that, Ritter’s swordsmanship would certainly be stronger than mine.

I haven’t even held a sword for quite some time, you know?

“Moreover, I have heard that you’re a hero who helps the weak and crushes the strong.”

Princess Neena said so with a smile.

My reputation is being mistaken a lot!?

I don’t remember helping the weak, and I don’t even remember defeating anyone that strong either.

If I have to compare, Yuuto and Maho, who had gone back to the other world, were much more hero-like than me.

“Master is very cool. He saved me and is very important to me.”

Ritter, with a blank expression and slightly blushed pouting cheeks, fiddled with my body using her finger.

No, it was true that I helped you in the past…, but wasn’t it just me creating a chance for Ritter to mostly do it by yourself?

“Hou… seems like Ritter does have a lot of faith in you. If you’re Ritter’s mentor, then I’d like to have a little spar with you….”

Cold sweat dripped from my face as I maintained my smile from Princess Neena’s belligerent look.

No, like I said, I haven’t held a sword lately….

From what I’ve seen, Princess Neena’s sword skills looked stronger than an average knight despite her being a princess.

If I’m not careful, I will be bisected easily.

As I was searching for the right words to decline, Ritter opened her mouth.

“Impossible. If you couldn’t beat me, then you would never be able to defeat Master.”

“Hou…?”

W-Why did you have to taunt her!?

Princess Neena, as I could tell even from just talking to her for a bit, seems to have a lot of pride and hates losing.

If you say something like that to her….

“I’m not going to let you beat me forever. You, who don’t seem to usually train very hard, and I, who are always training. It’s obvious which one of us is growing stronger, isn’t it?”

“That would never happen. I’m stronger.”

Princess Neena gave Ritter a sharp gaze while she herself gave the princess an emotionless stare.

H-Hiiiee…. The air is heavy.

The maid, who was waiting for Princess Neena to hand the towel back, was also shivering a little….

However, this tense situation ended when Princess Neena let the atmosphere fizzle out.

“I’m tempted to have a go now…, but I’ve been summoned to the royal castle so I must leave soon. Ritter, come with me.”

I sighed in relief.

From what I can see, Ritter is stronger than Princess Neena.

No matter how close she was to her, I wonder what punishment Ritter would receive if she were to beat up the first princess of the kingdom….

Though, I would do my best to protect her if that were to happen!

But still, if Princess Neena had some business to attend to at the royal castle, then I should go home now.

Even though it was a rare chance for Ritter to invite me to go out with her, unfortunately, I think that’s it for today.

Maybe I should be the one to ask her out next time?

That was what I was thinking, but then….

“Master too, we’ll go together.”

I let out a strained laugh from what Ritter just said as she hugged my arm.

Ha-ha-ha, Ritter shouldn’t be selfish, okay?

How can an outsider like me follow the first princess into the royal castle?

I’ll just stay quiet and do the paperwork at the guild headquarters instead.

“Don’t want to. Together.”

But even after my persuasion, Ritter stubbornly refused to let go of my arm.

…Well, it’s true that the reason for us going out was because she wanted me to see her working.

Even I would like to see how Ritter works, too…, but being inside the royal castle, as one would expect, it’s no good.

“Let’s see your work another time, okay…?”, even when I said that, Ritter looked up at me with a small pout on her cheeks.

Ah, not those puppy eyes! It will make me tempted to comply!

As I was somehow trying to restrain the selfish Ritter, Princess Neena uttered an outrageous remark.

“No, it’s fine, isn’t it? I’ll allow it.”

Eeehh….

“I’ll allow it”, you said…. No matter how much Princess Neena approves, how can an outsider who is not even a kingdom knight enter the royal castle?

Only very few people who are really necessary and important to the kingdom are allowed inside the royal castle.

“Up to two members of a royal entourage are allowed to enter the castle as escorts. All I have to do is simply add you to mine. Until now, it has only been Ritter.”

W-Wow…, so it’s that kind of system….

But is Princess Neena okay with it?

It hasn’t even been an hour since you met me, and I suddenly became a member of your entourage….

“Ritter is someone I trust. There’s nothing to worry about. Besides, are you planning to do me any harm?”

I shook my head with a bitter smile as Princess Neena threw a mischievous smile at me.

…Ritter, you’re being trusted too much.

“Then, there’s no problem. If I may add more to say, it would certainly be an advantage to have a mentor who had trained a knight as good as Ritter in my faction, you see.”

Princess Neena smiled and I realized that there was no escaping it anymore.

I cast a side glance at Ritter, who was nodding her head in satisfaction beside me.