* * *
“Did something like that happen?”
After hearing the story of Phillip’s meeting with Master Otem, Privia fell into thought with a serious look on her face.
“Did the Heir of the Moonlight Sword have any obligations?”
“If there was such a thing, would I have left you alone? My oath is only to see that the moonlight sword is properly inherited.”
“Then why did Master Otem tell me that?”
“How do I know? Dragons don’t know everything. Well, Otem, he has lived a life full of regrets, so I just think he might want to ask his heir for something.”
“What kind of person is he?”
“Ohtem guy? He wasn’t as good as you, but he was the most handsome among humans born in his generation. In those days, it was rare for a guy to take his sword.”
“If you’re from the same generation, isn’t there Master Solvein, also known as the ‘Sword Saint’?”
As Philip knew, the strongest swordsman a thousand years ago was Master Solvein. Privia tilted her head, as if asking what she was talking about in response to Philip’s question.
“Solvein? He’s pretty good too. However, he had never defeated Otem in his life. In the first place, he was the one who enjoyed the glory that did not fit his fountain. Compared to the talent he had, he had an undeserved duty, and fortunately, he had good luck, so it’s good to see how he managed to do it.”
Judging from Privia’s way of speaking, she seemed to have maintained a somewhat close relationship with the masters of the sword.
“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about obligations. In the first place, those bastards aren’t in a position to force their heirs to do something like that. Let’s talk about this later.”
“yes. I know what By the way, Privia-sama. I have one last question I want to ask you.”
“What is it?”
Philip asked a sincere question as he looked at Privia, who was lying on the sofa in the living room.
“Are you not going home?”
As if asking what she was talking about, Privia blinked her eyes wide and tilted her head.
“Where do you mean my home is?”
During the past week, Philip hadn’t seen her go anywhere else. He ate and slept at this villa all day, and in his spare time he would watch the daughter of Roro of the Wolang tribe or Tania of the Black Myo tribe play.
It was truly a sample of a wealthy unemployed man.
‘You mean you won’t go out.’
He didn’t want to provoke Privia, so Philip nodded his head saying he knew first.
“Stop talking nonsense, go and talk with the shaman from the Wolang tribe. The girl is quite useful, so you should be able to coax her into doing this and that.”
“You mean Shenli?”
“okay. That little boy.”
“Is there a lot she is good at?”
“You are good at cleaning. I also cook quite a bit. If I leave it to clean my nest often, the results are not bad.”
“… Mmm. okay.”
If you were a shaman of the Wolang tribe, you could say that she was an ancient priest and had a high status. At least Philip thought so.
Philip, who succeeded in smuggling Shen-Li, the Yulang tribe’s shaman, took care of letting her stay with Ro-Ro, and the sisters he hadn’t seen in a while showed off their friendship by sticking around all day.
“I understand for now. Get some rest.”
‘You use the drawing room as if it were your own. Now that this has happened, should I give you a bigger room?’
Philip sighed and left the drawing room. There were too many women in the house, so I had the illusion that the hallway was covered with negative air like fog.
“Miyah… .”
Phillip, who was walking thoughtlessly down the hallway, suddenly heard a pitiful cry and looked down. The black kitten was wet and shivering like a rat in the rain.
“It never rained today, how did you get so wet? Tania?”
“Miyayaan… .”
Tania cried pitifully and jumped at Philip. While holding her, Philip suddenly smelled a strange smell.
‘Isn’t this the smell of saliva?’
Then a fluffy ball of silver hair ran toward him. She was the daughter of Rapo and Roro of the Wolang tribe.
‘Did you say your name was Latia?’
The chubby torso and the way he moved his short limbs hard couldn’t have been so cute. However, Tania trembled as if she was afraid.
“He, tell him to go… .”
Tania only occasionally spoke human words, and most of the communication was resolved through cat cries and gestures.
“Why?”
“You keep chasing after me and licking me… .”
“It must be because I like you.”
Philip gestured to Latia.
“yes!”
The little puppy ran toward Philip, wagging his tail enthusiastically. As he held Latia with the other arm holding Tania, he felt warm body heat.
“Haaagh!”
When Latia stuck out her tongue and tried to lick herself, Tania bared her teeth and straightened her fur. Perhaps, if Latia hadn’t been a baby yet, Tania’s chin would have gone back to Tania’s front paw.
‘Come to think of it, there are more pets in the house. Two dogs and one cat.’
Even thinking that they were all females made Philip suddenly dizzy. Of course, they were all beasts, that is, people, but it seemed that the animal form was more comfortable to live with.
Philip took the two baby animals and headed to the room given to Roro.
“Sorry for the late greeting. little master. I just wanted to say thank you so much for saving my brother.”
Roro greeted Philip extremely politely. She changed into human form and was enjoying refreshments with her sister, Shen-Li, a Yue-Lang priestess.
“If it hadn’t been for Master, I would have been turned to stone until the end of the world. I had a dream like that last night too.”
“It would be better to quickly forget the bad memories. Get some rest and clear your mind.”
Philip spoke softly, and Shenri shook her head.
“The owner of the Yulang tribe is busy, how can I feel comfortable? If you ask me to do anything, I will do it with all my life!”
When Shenley, who seemed to be at least the age of Johnny’s, said that, Philip sighed. I wondered if she was too young to do things like work, but when I thought about it, the maids who worked at the villa were only a few years older than her.
“Anything is fine, so you can do what you want to do. now… … yes.”
Philip held out the baby animals in his arms to her.
“I’ll take care of these kids. I have some work to do.”
“Leave it to me!”
Shenri replied bravely. Philip nodded and left the room. Now it was time to watch Lua’s swordsmanship and Camilla’s physical training.
* * *
Philip, who spent a fleeting holiday like honey, headed to the warehouse building outside the academy to guide club activities.
The travel department students had gathered in the conference room in advance. The children, who met often and made friends in their own way, seemed to have become quite friendly now, and even seemed to be able to joke with each other.
“How is life at the academy? princess?”
“… it’s hard. Lady Murella.”
Princess Camilla was dying these days. It was to the point where he regretted applying for admission to the swordsmanship faculty. It was a difficult process for her to the extent that she couldn’t afford to take care of things like dignity or image.
Like the other children, she ran around the plaza sweating profusely, and in the midst of training her body with something like a specially designed metal block to increase her muscles, her princess-like appearance had disappeared to some extent.
It was the same in this morning’s strength training. Unlike the first year students, who were already trained to some extent, she had no foundation, so she had to work hard to keep up with the course.
‘I can’t move my arm… .’
She had to get help from Lua because it was difficult to change her training uniform into a school uniform, and she was seriously thinking about whether she should change her school.
“Just following the class is great. Camilla.”
Phillip quietly appeared and cheered Camilla.
“… really?”
“It is a course tailored to children who have already been trained for several months. It’s really great that you’re following me somehow. Maybe after a month or two, I’ll relax.”
When Philip appeared in the room, the children stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
“Today, I called you to announce the next destination.”
After the last visit to Mirage Forest, there was a long vacation, so the children waited with anticipation for Philip to open his mouth.
“The next destination… … Hardin Hot Springs.”
Hardin Hot Spring was a famous tourist destination due to its setting. The thermal waters that spring there had a special effect, which was none other than to remove the negative effects being applied to the body.
Of course, Philip wasn’t cursed. It was not such an effect, but simply a travel destination for the purpose of recovering from fatigue and healing.
I was thinking of doing it as a benchmark for a large public bath that will be built someday.
‘I have to use the lake fairy somehow.’
“What is a hot spring?”
From noble mtl dot com
When Lua, who did not know the existence of the hot spring itself, tilted her head, Johnnys kindly explained.
“It’s where the hot water comes out, but it’s a bit different from other ordinary water. If you immerse yourself in it, your skin will glow. You will like it too.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t been there for several years. It was a really nice place.”
Camilla also added words. Cheryl, who had never even been near a hot spring, glistened with anticipation. As a commoner, she had no ties to such tourist destinations in her entire life.
Two boys, Hayley Baroun and Stephen Bray, who had been quietly silent, exchanged glances.
‘… I don’t really want to go. But I can’t help it.’
‘I don’t think it’s a place that can help with swordsmanship, but it won’t be safe if I express my opinion here.’
The two were quite quick-witted, so they still chose to keep their mouths shut.
“Does anyone have a place they want to go to or a place they really want to see?”
Philip asked for their opinions.
“I like it.”
“me too.”
“I really wanted to go there… .”
Camilla, Janis, and Cheryl agreed, and Lua had no idea about the hot springs, but when the older sisters said they were going, she nodded.
“Then, the next destination was Hardin Hot Springs. It’s a place where you have to go by carriage for half a day, so you’ll have to leave the night before, so it’s good to prepare in advance.”
After saying that, Philip moved the children away so they could talk freely.
“… i want to go too Spa.”
Then he ran into Professor Felicia Oswald. she declared, staring at Philip with glowing eyes.
“huh?”
“Take me to the hot springs too. Why are you trying to rest? I also want to rest.”
“What, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
When Philip asked a question to Felicia, who was suddenly in a crowd, she held on to Philip’s collar as if she was saddened by the world.
“I have a meeting with other academy faculty this weekend? Even on our side, each department requires two professors to attend, and our esteemed head professor wants to take me?”
“I can’t go. why?”
“I’m no different from the head professor’s doll there. You have to laugh all day long and tune in to the rhythm of the head professor boasting, ‘There is such a young and pretty professor at our academy~ He’s so kind and listens to me very well!’
It was terrifying to hear.
“You mean to get me out of there? How am I?”
“Either you say you need a professor to help you because you’re going out for the first time, or you just silently kidnap them anyway, huh? If you help me this time, I will do your favor.”
Philip thought for a moment and then nodded. It was because I hated it so much that if I didn’t help it, the sediment would last for quite a while.
Even if you pretend to try, there is something to be said.
“I’ll try to talk as much as possible. Don’t blame me even if it doesn’t work.”
“… Thanks, my brother.”
Felicia was moved to tears.
‘How much do you hate doing that?’
Philip had no choice but to go straight to the head professor at that burdensome response.
The head professor frowned at Philip’s visit.
“You need Felicia? why?”
“This time, our travel department decided on a trip to Hardin Hot Springs, but it was because we needed someone to lead the female students.”
“Diana Frenhal or Christine… No, wouldn’t it be better to take Instructor Ophelia?”
“Instructor Prenhal is likely to be noticed by the children, and if he took Instructor Ophelia, wouldn’t there be a scandal later? I like going with my family, Professor Oswald, in many ways.”
“no. He has to attend the meeting with me.”
At the head professor’s knife-like refusal, Philip had no choice but to call the head professor in a low voice.
“professor. If you don’t yield this time, you won’t be able to talk to your sister for at least a month. The poison is now very close.”
At that, the head professor was startled as well.
“… Really?”
“yes. As the curriculum changed, there was a lot of free time, but hasn’t your sister ever had a proper rest time? If you concede once this time, you will be able to roll harder for two months.”
The head professor, who was slowly weighing the profit and loss, nodded as if he couldn’t help it.
“Thanks for the advice. Have a drink soon.”
“no. professor.”