Swordsmaster Fox-girl

Uh oh….

I’ve fucked up. 

“So you’re my new attendant?”

Standing before me was the same girl that I’d ratted out the day before. Since she wasn’t constantly moving like before, I could see the red furry ears on her head and a wolf swishing behind her.

She looked like she would tear me apart at any moment.

Of course, as a professional maid, I couldn’t let her pry through my emotions.

“Indeed, I am apologetic for the happenings of yesterday, my lady. I had not even expected you to be a noble.”

My words contained a sharp jab in it, but it seemed that this girl was too dumb to know.

“...Pick up a sword. You’re my sparring partner for today.”

Nevermind, she knew. I should’ve never tried to provoke her like that.

Luckily, someone came to my rescue. It was the same bald instructor from before. He kindly tapped his cane on the ground to attract the girl’s attention. 

“Erika, my dear disciple, our lesson is already over.”

“But—”

“No buts. Rest is also of utmost importance.”

Erika hissed and roughly threw her sword into the ground. She then left without another word.

‘What a br—’

“You must be thinking her a brat.”

“W-What? How could I think ill of my master?”

‘Shit! Is this guy a mind reader?’

“Ohoho, even a toddler could tell if they looked at your face.”

I suppressed the urge to touch my own face and bowed to the man.

“May I ask who you are?”

“Huhuh, it seems like there exists someone who doesn’t know me.”

‘Just get to it already, old geezer.’

“The name’s Gustav, but you may know me as the sole Swordmaster of this world.”

‘Oi, I’m standing right here!’

But of course, this guy didn’t know about me. Still, a Swordmaster? Very impressive.

The first prerequisite of becoming a Swordmaster was reaching 6-star.

Next, one must attain Strength, Gentleness, and Precision.

The last requirement was to devote one’s life to a single sword.

That last requirement was why there were so few Swordmaster despite swords being the most common weapon among strong people.

‘It makes even less sense now that I think about it. How could the Viscount afford to hire a Swordmaster as a tutor? Are they perhaps friends? Then, why is the Viscount ruling over such a poor territory?’

“Laddie, what are you thinking about?”

I quickly erased my thoughts and answered.

“N-Nothing!”

“Well, keep it to yourself if you must, but shouldn’t you be somewhere right now?”

I widened my eyes in realization. Bowing to Gustav one more time, I rushed out of the training ground.

—

-

—

 

“Tch, so much for a personal attendant. You’re late.”

A room so wide that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a banquet hall. Though, looking at the soft carpets so haphazardly placed on the floor like that, I was sure that it wasn’t an actual banquet hall. 

In such a room, Erika stood beside a wooden dummy imbued with magic.

Standing a distance away from her was a maid who wore an emotionless face. In her hands were several towels, and on a desk next to her was a tray of teacups.

Erika waltzed over to the desk and placed the tray on my head.

Despite being quite shorter-than-average myself, I still had the advantage of age. So, I proved to be too tall for Erika to reach the top of my head..

“Bend your knees.”

I could only oblige. Soon, the tray was placed on my head.

“This is your punishment. Stand here until my dancing lesson is over and don’t spill a drop.”

Well, it was an easy punishment. I just had to—

“And no touching the tray. Balance it with your head only.”

Nevermind…. Why did I have to provoke this brat? Fuck you, past Esther.

As I was complaining to my past self, Erika walked over to the dummy again and injected her Mana into it. 

The dummy moved. It held its hands out as if inviting for a dance.

As soon as Erika accepted its hands, classical music played out of nowhere. Her dance was a gentle and slow one. Yet, beads of sweat couldn’t help but form on her face.

She failed only after 25 moves. The dummy stopped moving and announced as much.

“Move #25. Error: Left foot 34 degrees. Correct range: 35 to 40 degrees.”

‘Hoh, how interesting.’

I didn’t know that a dummy could be like this. If only I had something like this to practice my swords on….

“Arghhh! It’s just one degree off. Why!!”

“Nothing. Less. Than. Perfection. Is. Acceptable.”

Erika kicked the dummy’s leg, but it only made her own leg hurt. Scowling, she motioned for the other maid to come over and took a towel out of her hands to wipe her own face.

“Open the window. It’s stuffy.”

“Yes, master.”

The maid opened the window behind her and took back her towels.

As the young miss approached the dummy again, the maid also returned to her spot.

“...?”

Did she, though? I could’ve sworn she was some more feet away from me.

“Arghhh! You fucking piece of scrap! Just pass me already!”

“Not. Possible—Please. Finish. Move #45. Before. Leaving.”

“Grrr…. Maid, towel!”

The maid handed over the towel once more. And when she returned, she’d moved closer to me.

After five more instances of this, the maid was right beside me. I turned to my side to look and spotted metal gleaming in the towel.

“...!”

It was a knife, and the maid quickly took it out to stab me.

I briefly glanced at Erika before doing anything else. The dance that she was practicing was a common one among nobles, and since I was forced to learn it back in Leinfall, I knew each and every move with my heart.

‘She’s on the 36th move. That means she’ll have her back turned toward me for a few seconds.’

Seeing that it was probably safe to act, I stared at the maid coldly.

“[Star’s Retaliation]”

With my prosthetic arm as a weapon, I parried the strike and returned it to its sender. But since I didn’t want to reach my kill limit just yet, I only broke the dagger with it.

I quickly grabbed the maid by her waist and spun around. Spotting an open window, I threw her through it.

The tray atop my head shook. It was about to fall. Luckily, as long as Erika didn’t see, I could use my hands to adjust it.

But then came another problem: my counter had torn up a deep gash on the floor. I quickly pulled over a nearby carpet to cover it.

All of that happened in a little less than 5 seconds.

Erika messed up again and smacked the dummy. She turned around, only to see me holding both the towels in my hands and the tray on my head.

“Huh? Where did the other maid go?”

“Viscount Rindell has called for her. I will take her place as your towel handler.”

“Tch…. Fine. I permit you to move from your spot.”

I took careful steps toward Erika. I wouldn’t want to spill any drop of tea, after a—

But then I felt my foot sinking into the carpet. ‘The gash! It—’

But it was too late. I fell. Wanting to hide the gash, I created a platform using [Star Steps] and filled it. 

I must applaud my past self for having done so since Erika soon strode over to me, standing right above the gash.

‘Damnit, move! Do you have any idea how taxing it is to maintain the platform for more than a split second!?’

As if adding insult to injury, the tea had too much spice added to it. Some of it even got into my eyes, so of course I couldn’t help but tear up and sniffle a bit.

“You’re… crying?”

I lifted my teary face up to meet her face. I wanted to answer, but the sensation of Aura and Mana being constantly drained from my body was too much, so all I could let out was a whimper.

Erika’s face softened. She looked at me with a pitiful gaze.

But that didn’t fucking matter if she didn’t move away. I could feel my consciousness slipping fast. I had to move her before anything else.

So, I pushed her legs away with my head and laid sprawled on the floor. Unless Erika stomped on my body, she wouldn’t feel the gash at all.

“P-Please—”

‘Stay with me!’

If I fell unconscious here without Erika by my side, who knows what would happen? I do! The other maids would not miss this chance and kill me.

So, with the last of my strength, I clung onto her foot with my arms. What came out of my mouth was an incoherent mess.

“I… just want to… be with…. you. P-Please....”