It seems the person called White Warrior was the strongest one here.
Judging by how I could pass the skill test just by easily subduing him.
“I never thought I’d meet such a distinguished person like you here, teacher.”
Being called a teacher just for exerting a bit of strength. Not bad.
I received So Jung-yang’s polite greeting while glancing at Sowol.
Unlike others, despite having seen my power earlier, I couldn’t feel any gaze of respect from Sowol.
But well, I’m not particularly interested in respect either.
It’s enough to have a cool relationship where we give what we need to give and take what we need to take.
“It seems you don’t have a place to stay yet… Why don’t you stay at our house for the time being?”
“Hahaha. Thank you.”
Providing room and board. Even better.
Now, I don’t need to waste time on unnecessary things.
I gestured to Sowol, and after hesitating for a moment, perhaps due to So Jung-yang’s gaze, she approached me with a sullen expression.
“I understand that you don’t acknowledge me, but I don’t think you’ll deny what your father has decided.”
As if proving that she’s not yet the arrogant villainess she’ll become in 10 years, Sowol nodded.
Anyway, it seems she does pay attention to So Jung-yang’s mood.
I smiled at her and held out my hand.
“Let’s do well together from now on.”
Sowol grasped my hand, bowed slightly, and left.
So Jung-yang, who clicked his tongue a few times at her behavior, bowed to me.
“Perhaps because I’ve raised her too indulgently, my daughter is a bit rude. I hope you can understand that point a little, teacher. If only she had her mother…”
“Don’t worry. I am not so shallow that I’d get angry over such things.”
“That’s truly fortunate. Today’s events aside… if you’re okay with it, would you like to have a drink?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m planning to start lessons in earnest from tomorrow… let’s save the drinking for another time.”
“Ahem. I understand. Then… Hey! Show the teacher to his quarters!!”
The place was quite nice.
It was spacious, about the size of an average family home, filled with precious things.
This must be proof of how powerful the Eastern Trading Company is.
Sitting in what looked like an expensive chair, I thought about how to conduct the lessons.
Should I start with the Spartan method? Or should I go easy on her?
While I was pondering this and that, I heard a knock on the door.
“It’s me.”
It was Sowol. She entered with a sullen expression, sat down, and stared at me.
“Why are you staring like that?”
“Mister. You were more impressive than I thought.”
“Mister? You should call me master.”
“But I don’t think you’re worthy of acknowledgment yet.”
When you say it like that, I have nothing to say.
But honestly, I don’t care much about things like respect, so it doesn’t matter what you do.
“Fine. As long as you accept my teachings well and grow, I don’t care whether you treat me as your master or not.”
“I’m glad we understand each other. Then, I’d like to talk about the lessons in earnest… I have no intention of learning about what some old sage said or how people should live. I don’t want to hear such old-fashioned stories.”
I thought as much.
“What I want to learn is how to fight.”
“Won’t the future head of the Eastern Trading Company have no need to fight directly?”
“There are plenty of enemies who attack the company. Having the power to protect oneself from them is never enough. And…”
Sowol grinned and stroked her slender chin.
“I’m pretty, aren’t I?”
“……”
“I’m pretty, aren’t I?”
“Why are you saying it twice?”
“Because it’s important. Anyway, I’ve heard there are plenty of guys in the world who start taking off their pants as soon as they see something pretty. I need the strength to protect myself from such lowly creatures.”
“That’s true.”
Regardless of what’s inside, she is a lovely girl on the outside.
Of course, she’ll grow up to be beautiful too.
To prepare for what will happen then, it’s certainly right to have some basic combat ability.
“Alright. For now, I’ll focus on teaching you about combat-related things. In exchange, take care of the scholarly aspects yourself. If you can’t do it properly, we’ll focus on that instead.”
“That sounds good. So… how are you going to teach?”
“Basically, I’m thinking of lessons focused on practical experience. I’ll assess your current skill level and then work you hard.”
“Skill level…”
The girl’s hand moved as she sat. It was about the same speed as the man called White Warrior earlier.
A sharp needle hidden in her sleeve aimed at me, and I moved my hand to deflect it, then grabbed her wrist and threw her towards the bed.
“Ugh…!”
“Is this your full strength?”
“Unfortunately, yes. My father has only provided me with scholarly teachers so far.”
“Is that so? For that, your hand movements are quite good. Did you learn separately from someone?”
“I trained on my own.”
Oh, really? For that, her hand movements are unusually sharp and swift. Indeed, overflowing talent. Not bad.
“Good. This will be fun to teach. Then, look forward to tomorrow.”
It’s going to be a very enjoyable lesson.
.
.
.
The next morning. Before the sun had even risen, I went to Sowol’s room. When I opened the door, I saw Sowol sleeping soundly.
“Yap.”
“Ugh?!”
After deliberately making some noise, I threw what I was holding in my hand.
Sowol, who seemed to have come to her senses upon hearing me, hurriedly rolled her body, and the thing that flew past stuck right next to where she had been lying.
“What are you doing?!”
Sowol, who had jumped up from her place, glared at me with fire in her eyes.
Go ahead and glare. See if I bat an eye.
“It’s training to hone your basic senses. I’m going to wake you up like this every morning from now on.”
“…Are you trying to kill me?”
“It would be quite funny if you died from being hit by jerky.”
Only then did Sowol see what was stuck in the bed.
A piece of red dried meat.
As I said, it was jerky.
“Don’t let your guard down just because it’s jerky. It’ll hurt if it hits you. And that’s your breakfast. Eat it and follow me.”
Sowol frowned but didn’t grumble.
She just picked up the jerky and started chewing on it while trying to change her clothes.
I went outside to wait for Sowol, and as soon as she came out, I immediately dragged her to the mountain near the village.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Sowol looked quite exhausted.
Perhaps because we were climbing a high mountain?
Despite this, the fact that she didn’t complain at all made it seem like she definitely had the intention to grow.
Panting and emitting a sweaty odor, she followed my steps to the mountain’s summit. Only then did she collapse on the ground, and after checking Sowol’s condition, I said,
“We’re going to climb the mountain every morning.”
“…Every day?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to become strong? For that, basic physical strength is essential. When you can climb the mountain without your breath becoming rough even once, the mountain climbing lessons will end.”
“…It won’t be easy.”
“Did you think becoming strong was easy? Eh. Let’s see… Since it’s the first day today…”
I threw her the wooden sword I had brought.
While Sowol was wondering about it, I slowly cut through the air with my wooden sword.
“One hundred downward strikes. One hundred horizontal strikes. One hundred thrusts. When you finish this, we’ll move on to the next lesson.”
“…Isn’t this too simple?”
“Oh, is it?”
I quickly performed a horizontal strike with the wooden sword.
-Swish!!
The tree where the wooden sword had passed was cut. Seeing this, Sowol closed her mouth, and I pointed at the cut tree.
“Try it. If you can do it to this extent, I’ll consider this lesson passed, and we’ll move on.”
“…You said a hundred times, right?”
Only then did Sowol start striking without complaint.
As I watched her, I turned around.
Teaching materials are essential for practical lessons.
As I entered a suitable place in the forest, a goblin appeared—a vicious creature with green skin and an old man’s face.
As soon as it saw me, it screeched and charged at me with an old dagger. I kicked it unconscious and returned to the summit.
“Phew… What’s that?”
“Teaching material.”
I threw the unconscious goblin on the ground.
When it landed, the goblin somehow regained consciousness. The goblin got up, looked around, and then started trembling when it saw me.
“Keeek! Kik!”
“Keek! Ki! Keeeeek! K!”
“Keeeeeek….!!”
“…What did you just do?”
“Goblin language.”
“No, that’s not it. Why did that thing’s expression change? And why is it pointing its knife at me?”
I smiled at the puzzled Sowol.
“I told it to kill you if it wants to live.”
“Keeeeek!!”
There’s nothing stronger in living beings than the desire to survive.
Stimulated by that, the goblin, filled with hatred and fear, rushed at Sowol.
For her, who was tired from doing a hundred downward strikes, horizontal strikes, and thrusts, catching one goblin would not be easy.
Moreover, catching a goblin trying its best after being cornered would be even more difficult.
But she needs to do at least this much before we can proceed to the next lesson.
“Ugh?!”
Sowol started narrowly avoiding the goblin’s desperate attacks.
Was she that startled by the sudden exercise?
“Just avoiding like that won’t end this, you know?”
“I know…!”
After dodging for a while,
Her eyes flashed ominously, and I saw her swing the wooden sword at the goblin’s neck, breaking its neck.
“Oh….”
Indeed, her talent is top-notch.