Chapter 172

Disciple

“You’re here . Come closer . ”

We were invited to attend an audience in the Imperial Palace .

The people that were invited included me, and for some reason, Alea as well .

We didn’t have any sort of formalwear for Alea, so we had to ask the same shop we went to during our dress shopping trip to prepare something for us on a rush order .

Yep, my daughter is cute .

Claire-sama also came with us, but she was in the waiting room .

She wasn’t invited to attend the audience, so we planned to meet up with each other later .

Dorothea was seated in her throne, with the old man, Joseph, standing by her side .

“I’ve heard that there were general signs of improvements in our cuisine . You did well, Rei . ”

“Well, the chefs in the Empire were excellent to begin with . All I did was give them an opportunity to prove themselves . ”

In fact, I didn’t actually do that much .

All I did was persuade Dorothea, instigate a cooking competition, and send Alea out to train young and prospective chefs .

I also helped out with other trivial duties, but it was no big deal .

“Let me offer you a reward . What do you want?”

“I told Hilda about this already, but I would like you to offer your protection for the entire Bauer student exchange group from the threat of the demons . ”

“Hmm . Could you ask for something more specific?

“Think about it, Your Majesty . It’ll only be one part of your national defense, right?”

“That’s true . I understand . I’ll think about it . ”

“Is that all you wanted to talk about with us?”

We already finished discussing the rewards, and I wanted to go home as soon as possible to flirt with Claire-sama .

“Well, wait up . I want to offer Alea a reward as well . What would you like?”

“Eh…… . ?”

When the Empress posed the question to her, Alea had a puzzled look on her face .

“The people that received your guidance all said the same thing . Thanks to you, they feel like they’ve regained their pride . ”

“Everyone did……?”

According to Dorothea, this was what happened .

At first, they were all reluctant to be taught by such a young little girl, but as time went on, those opinions changed .

“I think we were probably corrupted by the status quo . ”

Although becoming a chef at the Ministry of Cooking was considered one of the highest ranks in the field, a chef was still a chef .

The position, in general, was considered incredibly low .

Even if they were proud of their own skills, the reality was, they were dissatisfied with how unreasonably undervalued they were .

“But Alea-sensei taught us that wasn’t the case . ”

The words Alea left them with while they were under her guidance seemed to touch their hearts .

―― “Being able to make delicious meals is like magic . All of you chefs are such amazing people . ”

As I mentioned before, a lot of chefs were people that couldn’t make it to the military .

Within that group of people, there were a lot of people with insufficient aptitude for magic, much like Alea .

To them, hearing those words from Alea, who also couldn’t use magic, touched their hearts .

“Alea-sensei gave us a reason to feel proud of ourselves . If you have to offer recognition to somebody, if you can, please honor her . ”

That was what they said .

“The consensus was they all wanted you to receive some type of reward . You should accept it . ”

“Y-Yes!”

Alea looked happy as she replied cheerfully .

Alea, you’ve really come a long way .

It was almost as if that night we all wept together after finding out about her lack of magical aptitude was nothing but a distant memory .

“Alright, so what would you like?”

“Can I ask for anything?”

“Try me . ”

“Well…… In that case, I want to become as amazing as a quad-caster, just like Mei . ”

I was startled when I heard Alea’s request .

Even if she never said it aloud, in the end, she still felt inferior on the inside .

“Hmm, I see . That sounds difficult . ”

“Is it impossible?”

“As the Empress, I would never back down on my word . Rest assured . I will train you . ”

“!?”

When I heard Dorothea’s words, I could hardly believe my ears .

The Empress was willing to train Alea personally?

Basically, the God of the Sword was about to take on a disciple?

“The Empress offering her personal guidance to someone from another country is unheard of!”

The old man admonished her .

Well, that was to be expected .

Alea was a citizen of Bauer – a nation that had long been at war with the Empire up until recent .

“You heard what I said . ”

“Stop with your shenanigans . Please be more aware of your position!”

“Old man, do you think the Empress you’re desperately trying to reprimand right now is so narrow-minded that I’d lie to a child?”

“Please stop creating things that other people can use against you!”

“If you’re so worried about it, then you protect me, old man . ”

The old man fell completely silent .

To be able to protect somebody that wields a nickname like the “God of the Sword”, you would need to be just as strong as a demon .

“Starting from tomorrow…… . No, let’s start right away . Come with me . ”

“Yes!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Umm…… Actually, uh, wait a minute, could you wait a moment, Your Majesty!?”

“What, you too?”

“Alea’s just a little girl whose body isn’t even 10 years old yet!?”

After watching her train with Rod-sama, I knew that she had the aptitude for it, but no matter how you look at it, having her be trained by an enemy, who I didn’t even fully trust, was worrying to me .

“I’ll have one of my subordinates apply some strength-enhancing magic on her . I’ll also arrange for her recovery . ”

“But――”

“Even though this is something your daughter wanted, what do you think will happen if you don’t respect her wishes?”

No, I don’t want to be told that by somebody who doesn’t even respect Philine’s, her own daughter’s, wishes―― is what I wanted to say, but I kept those words to myself .

“Your daughter, however small she may be, has already unsheathed her blade . ”

I was anxious .

But even so, this was what Alea wished for .

Plus, if Alea continued to pursue the path of becoming a swordswoman, there was no better way to improve her current environment .

I was conflicted .

“Rei-okaasama, please consider this request from me . ”

“Alea……”

“I want to become stronger, just like you and Claire-okaasama . ”

Upon seeing that dedication in her eyes and the strong determination within her, I made up my mind .

“I understand . Please take care of her . ”

“Yep, leave her to me . Oh, right . Philine was looking for you, Rei Taylor . It seems like she’s got something she wants to talk to you about . Go and find her . ”

“I understand . Alea, give it your best . ”

“Yes!”

After saying that, Alea left with Dorothea .

“…… You’ve got your fair share of hardships, huh, Joseph-san . ”

“If that’s how you truly feel, you should’ve stopped Her Majesty . ”

“No, being able to study under the God of the Sword is a once in a lifetime opportunity, after all . ”

“It could be a trap, you know?”

“Knowing Her Majesty, I doubt it . ”

“…… Haah, that’s true . ”

“Good grief,” the old man said as he rubbed his eyes .

“Could you tell me where Philine-sama’s room is?”

“I’ll have someone guide you there . Please wait a bit . ”

“Alright . Thank you very much . ”

I also left the audience chamber .

◆◇◆◇◆

“It seems like we keep running into each other lately, doesn’t it?”

“That doesn’t make me happy at all . ”

The guide that the old man called for me was none other than Hilda .

I don’t think anybody could blame me for how exhausted I looked for now .

“Your position in the Empire has risen again, huh . ”

Hilda said, amused .

It seemed that she was already aware of the guidance Alea was receiving from Dorothea .

“This time, it was something Alea achieved herself . ”

“And that same Alea is the daughter you adopted, right? So it’s practically the same thing . ”

Well, it’s true that I was Alea’s guardian .

“Well, it’s probably best if I stop saying such unnecessary things to you . I wouldn’t want you to come to dislike me even more . ”

“Haah . ”

It wasn’t like I hated Hilda or anything, but I also wasn’t fond of her .

Although, she was difficult to deal with because of how similar we were to one another .

“You’re heading to Philine-sama’s room, right? I’ll lead you here . ”

Hilda said as she took the lead and started walking .

“According to the rumors, apparently you’re like some kind of prophet that can predict the future, right, Rei Taylor?”

“I’m not able to do something like that . ”

Most likely, she heard that from somebody that infiltrated Bauer during the revolution, but this was something I could not reveal .

“In that case, what about that thing you said to me the other day? ‘Don’t you think you’re trying a bit too hard in your ambitions?’, was it?”

Ah, shoot .

I did say something like that .

At the time, I was just trying to rein her in a little bit, but I ended up saying something unnecessary .

“I just have a bit of insight . ”

“That would be a big deal if that were true . And it seems like your prophecies aren’t completely perfect either . ”

Hmm?

What did she mean by that?

“We’re here . ”

Hilda stood in front of the room .

Apparently, this was Philine’s room .

“I’ll take my leave here . ”

“Thank you very much . ”

After seeing Hilda off, I knocked on the door .

“… . . Yes . ”

“It’s Rei . I heard that you wanted to talk to me about something . ”

“Please enter . ”

“Excuse me . ”

I opened the door and went inside .

The door didn’t seem to be locked at all .

Isn’t this a bit too careless?

For some reason, the room was a bit dark .

The lights were dimmed down as much as possible, and it was practically impossible to see the back of the room .

“Philine-sama?”

“I’m in the back, Rei . ”

I proceeded to follow the direction of the voice .

What is this?

Somehow, I had a bad feeling about it .

“Rei……”

Philine was in the bedroom .

She was standing right in front of her bed, with her back turned to me .

“What’s happening? You’ve even got the lights turned off and everything . ”

“I just didn’t want to be seen . ”

“?”

“Right now… . . I probably have a terrible look on my face . ”

In the next moment, Philine-sama jumped towards me .

“!? Philine……sama……!”

She pinned me down and had me in the mount position as she proceeded to strangle me .

“…… . Please die…… Rei Taylor . ”