บท 129: The Mentor and His Apprentice
The next morning, Sebastian opened his eyes and got out of bed.
"Balanos… Right, she was going back to her tree for the next couple of weeks."
Sebastian moved. He changed his clothes and freshened up in the bathroom which was in the same room.
After finishing his morning routine, he opened the door and walked out.
"Ah, Mister, good morning!"
"...Ainslie."
"J-jeez, you don't have to glare at me that hard."
"Everyone at the restaurant thought that I was cheating on you with another woman, and neither of you two even bothered to explain it…"
Sebastian sighed.
Last night, Sebastian was treating Serena out for dinner at a normal restaurant. However, in the middle of their meal, Ainslie suddenly walked in with fake tears in her eyes, that were indiscernible by regular people, and cried in front of Sebastian and Serena.
Sebastian was too dumbfounded to defuse the situation and hoped that Serena would be the one to do so, however, she only made it worse by making misleading statements.
The worst part was that, he wasn't wearing a mask, and he was fairly well-known among the restaurant's vicinity so it didn't take long for his fake story to spread through the area.
"Just when I thought I'd be nice and treat you two to dinner, you two pull that play and ruin my reputation…"
"I wasn't treated yesterday!"
"But I did take you out to eat a few days before that"
"I don't remember that!"
Sebastian sighed and continued walking. Ainslie followed behind him like a duckling following its mother.
Like his apprenticeship to Euphea in the past, Ainslie was someone in his former position. Sebastian would do missions while teaching Ainslie.
He had gotten out of apprenticeship two years ago, and had been working with Ainslie since then. Coincidentally, she had just joined Blue Rose when Sebastian finished his training period, and so, as fate would have it, she was assigned to him.
If Sebastian were to describe Ainslie with one word, it would be 'cheeky'. Though she did have her cute moments, she was typically always finding ways to mess with him.
Serena, who joined a little bit before Ainslie, could be described with two, 'acting mature'. There were girls like Euphea who acted mature unconsciously, but Serena was just as childish as Ainslie.
However, the two of them were only three or so years younger than Sebastian.
On his eighteenth birthday, he left Aurum with Blue Rose's 3rd squad.
With their help, he was able to evade the four major households without any trouble. He knew that the Blue Rose that he joined was one without many Inheritors, but he didn't know that there were many people on par with the four major households in Blue Rose's other branches.
Now, he was already twenty-two. Though it had only been four years, he felt as if he had been through hell and back.
Wisteria told him that he was more mature and less expressive while Euphea told him that he always seemed to be tired.
Sebastian took a deep breath and exhaled. Ainslie, who was following him, looked at him strangely.
"When will you get rid of that habit of yours? Suddenly exhaling for everyone to hear is kind of weird."
"And when will you get rid of that stuffed animal?"
"Hey, Mr. Fluffles isn't just any stuffed animal!"
"You're right, he's practically just a torn apart stuffed rabbit now."
"Grrr…"
Two years ago, Ainslie had troubles sleeping. As someone who always brought her to missions, they typically slept close to each other. Being tired of her always crawling onto his side and hugging him, he bought her a stuffed animal.
Unfortunately, the stuffed animal was found by an animal and torn apart. Though she tried to repair it, it ended up even worse than when they found it.
"Hey, Mister, what are we going to be doing today?"
"I'm going to visit a shop, I had a few things I ordered."
"Oooh~ I'll come too!"
Being used to her whims, Sebastian simply shrugged and walked to the shop with Ainslie in tow.
"You know, for a wanted man, you sure are bold not wearing anything to hide your face. The posters have finally made their way here."
Ainslie pointed at a wanted poster that hey had just passed by. Although they were far from Aurora, there were still wanted posters of him here and there.
"I'm taking extra measures."
"What kind?"
Sebastian approached a random guy passing by and asked him, "Hey, what color is my hair?"
"Huh? Brown…"
"Thank you."
Leaving the confused passerby, Sebastian and Ainslie walked ahead.
"I see it as black though…"
"It only works on those with energy lower than mine."
"Then, wouldn't people passing by notice the difference?"
"If they can avoid my senses, yes."
"Hooh~ Mister really is a jack of all trades."
"Sometimes, I can't tell if you're mocking me or praising me."
"Jeez, it's obviously the latter~"
As they continued their light banter, they arrived in front of the shop that they had planned to go to.
"Welcome~"
As the door chime sounded, a voice greeted them.
"Pine, it's me."
"Oh, young master! Are you here for your orders?"
"Yeah, are they finished?"
"Just about."
Pine dropped the crate he was carrying and wiped the sweat on his forehead with his forearm.
"Sherry, can you bring them out?"
"Got it~"
From the back of the shop, Sherry's voice echoed. About a minute later, while Pine was chatting with Sebastian, Sherry stepped out.
"Young master, welcome~ Here's your order."
"Thank you."
Sebastian approached Sherry and took the claymore from her hands.
"It's not like you to be ordering such large weapons, what are you going to use it for?"
Sherry was a bit out of breath from carrying the weapon, but she still asked.
"I'm training myself in heavy weaponry this time."
"Ehhh… You're already finished with dual sabers?"
"And a variety of other things, yes."
Pine chuckled and leaned on the door frame.
"It's just like the young master to always exceed our expectations. By the way, who are you?"
"Ah, I'm Mister's new lover~"
"?!"
"Puuu!"
Pine stumbled, and Sherry spat out the water that she was drinking.
"Ainslie…"
"Sorry, sorry~ My name's Ainslie, I'm currently working under Mister."
Pine regained his footing before he managed to fall.
"I-I see… I was just surprised, please don't mind my reaction."
"It's okay~ I already know how much Mister absolutely loves his fiancée after all."
Ainslie walked deeper into the shop and looked around.
"Are you guys new here?"
"In this area, we've only set up shop two weeks ago. We were originally from Aurora with young master and followed him four years ago."
"Ehh~ How come I've never met you two?"
"That's because you're troublesome and I don't want them to have to deal with you…"
"How cruel! Even though you have such a cute junior!"
Sebastian sighed and faced Pine.
"Don't mind her, it's just her personality to always be messing around. Have you heard anything from Kathrina?"
"Oh, last she told me, they were setting up a few branches in the neighboring country. It might take a few more months to set up one here, though."
"That's fine, I won't be staying here for long anyway. In a couple of months, I'll be moving back to another branch."
"Eh?! That's the first I've heard of this!"
Ainslie jumped and confronted Sebastian.
"You'll be coming with me, there's no need to get all worried that you'd have to do missions on your own."
"Isn't that bad too?! You're going back to the 3rd squad too, aren't you?! Those crazy psychopaths that fight each other as if it's a life or death battle!"
"..."
Sebastian couldn't deny her words and simply made a nod while whispering, "you have a point…"
"By the way, young master, I've heard that the wanted posters have spread this far already."
Sherry approached Pine and began wiping his sweat using a towel as she asked.
"It isn't a problem, I've already taken countermeasures. Though, I did come here today to warn you about that too. If anybody tries to find me, as long as they don't have the tattoo, don't tell them my name."
"So we're using that other name again?"
"Yeah."
"Got it~"
Sherry finished wiping off Pine's sweat and stood at his side.
"You two are still quite the lovebirds…"
"As if you weren't like us before…"
Sebastian backed off with raised hands.
"I'll be going now."
"See you~"
"Bye."
…
"Hey Mister, do we really have to train again…?"
Ainslie groaned.
"You keep on moaning about this every time… If you want to become stronger, you have to train constantly. Talent isn't enough, hard work is necessary too."
"I know, I know…"
Ainslie begrudgingly picked up the wooden spear at her feet and took a stance.
"Spread your legs out more and straighten your back."
"Lightning God, First Form: Death Throes."
"Death Throes."
Sebastian mirrored her movements.
The two attacks canceled each other out but not before creating an explosion of sound.
"If you had met my master before me, I'm certain she'd be way more strict with me."
"Why? Because I'm better than you when you first started?"
"No, because she wouldn't want me to move as sloppily as you."
"Jeez!"
Ainslie swung her spear. Sebastian took half a step back to dodge but Ainslie was relentless. She moved one leg forward and then stabbed out with her spear multiple times.
However, none of the attacks had managed to hit their mark. Sebastian dodged them all with minimal movements before leaping backward.
"Your eyes are cheating!"
"I'm not using my abilities right now."
"Then, close your eyes!"
Sebastian chuckled and closed his eyes.
Ainslie ran forward and thrust her spear. Before they could hit Sebastian however, he moved a step to the side, and then, as smooth as flowing water, struck Ainslie's stomach with the side of his spear.
"Geh…"
Ainslie staggered. Though Sebastian's blow hadn't contained any domineering force, her momentum had still managed to hurt her.
"Y-you… You definitely used your abilities there!"
Sebastian covered his mouth with one hand to try and contain his smile.
"No, I'm just used to this type of training. You wouldn't want to be put under Wisteria's training program, you'd want to eat dirt rather than do it again."
"Eh?! Wait, she's putting me under a training program in a few months!"
"...I'll treat you to whatever you want in that time."
"Wait, I'm happy that you'll treat me but, please tell me you're joking!"
It was just a regular day for the apprentice and the mentor, a peaceful day. A day that Ainslie would miss once she undergoes Wisteria's training.
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