Chapter 72

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

The Boy’s Growth

「No . Don’t run like that . You’re making a lot of noise like a goose waddling about . 」

「An expert makes less sound than a hair dropping on the floor . 」

「You use your knees and ankles as a spring to absorb sound . 」

「Make it so you can use it right away even while walking . 」

Mille’s short sword classes were starting to get serious . Hikaru didn’t study how to attack, but rather how to maneuver in fights .

「The short sword’s weakest and strongest point is the length of its blade . As I’ve explained before, it’s very portable . You can preserve stamina during long travels, climb cliffs and swim rivers easily . 」Mille said .

「So you’re saying the weapon is suited for scouting . 」

「The best scouts don’t even bring weapons . They just use their eyes and ears, and then focus on running with all they’ve got . 」

「I see… Do assault teams use short swords, then?」

「Yup . Climbing walls under the cover of night, kill enemies, and steal their weapons . It makes sense to use short swords in such missions . They can just use the stolen weapons afterwards . 」

「I don’t plan to enter the army, but thanks for the info . 」

「Oh? You want to be an adventurer?」

Building C was now neat and tidy, with a small blackboard and three desks and chairs .

「Yeah, something like that . 」

「If you want to be an adventurer, I suggest you use long swords or long spears . Or so I’d like to say, but short swords can actually be handy . 」

「Like how you can swing them around in a narrow passage inside dungeons?」

「If you already know all this, do you even need to come to my lectures?」

「Having a third party verify my theories is helpful . Besides, I’m an overly-theoretical guy . I want to learn directly how to move about . 」

「Hmm…」

Hikaru was practicing how to fight at the back of the building . Footwork, how to draw your weapon, shifting one’s center of gravity, among others . Mille had the ability to effectively organize her knowledge and experience . All Hikaru had to do was absorb whatever was explained to him .

「We’ll end here today . 」

「O-Okay . Thank you . 」

After moving about for two full hours, Hikaru couldn’t move anymore . He lay outstretched on the ground . Sweat soaked his whole body, stinging his eyes . He wiped the sweat off with his sleeves . While Scholarzard was a country situated in the north, it was summer . The sunlight was too strong .

「Why do you insist on using short swords?」Mille asked .

She was seated on a folding chair under the shade . Legs crossed, Hikaru could see under her skirt, but as usual he didn’t feel anything at all .

I guess it’s true what they say . It’s arousing when you can just almost see it .

Yellow was the color of her underwear today .

「Because… my fighting style is suited for covert stuff . 」

「You’re kidding, right? You’re a complete amateur the way you carry yourself . 」

Hikaru was well aware that even though he had points on Strength and Power Burst, he still moved like a complete amateur . And that was exactly why this class would help greatly . Even a novice like Hikaru could go about unnoticed by a master with the help of his Stealth . He was certain that if he mastered actual stealth movement, he could further improve his Stealth skill .

「Did you study under someone?」Hikaru asked .

「Yeah . Where I’m from, Jarazack, there’s a clear division of duties . Men fight while women support . 」

「Wait, you’re from Jarazack?」

「Yes . Is there something wrong about that?」

「Well, you’re not hairy…」

「Only the men are hairy . 」

Is that so…

「Magic, scouting, long-range fighting; those are the roles of the women . Men from Jarazack all have brawn for brains . Charging straight into enemy lines while swinging their weapons is all they know . 」

「Oh… Today I learned . 」

Hikaru recalled the woman escorting the historian and heir to the ancient Poelnxinia dynasty Gafrasti, Aglaia van Houtens . She had an incredible six points on Instinct .

「Do you know Aglaia van Houtens?」

「The prime minister’s cousin? I heard she’s a strange one . If I recall correctly, she apparently uses magic sourced from an evil god . 」

「Is she skilled?」

「No idea . I studied healing magic . I despised accursed magic . 」

Healing magic users were evil god haters .

「Did you get to know the prime minister through Aglaia van Houtens?」she asked .

「………」

「Don’t just lay there smiling!」

「Are covert types rare these days?」Hikaru asked .

「There’s very few people who use short swords as their main weapon . But there are plenty of people who learn it since it’s useful for night raids . 」

「So it’s basically used as a back-up weapon . 」

Right now I just want to learn how short sword wielders carried themselves . I don’t have plans to put more points on Short Sword at the moment . I already maxed my Throwing as well .

Mille cleared her throat before speaking again .

「Anyway, we’re done for the day, right?」

「I know . 」

Slowly, Hikaru got up to his feet . They had an agreement . First Mille would not binge drink . So far so good . That was partly because of Hikaru’s meddling . But if she didn’t drink, her stress would pile up so he allowed her to drink as long as she was within his sight .

「All right . I’m gonna change . Meet me at the usual place . 」he said .

「Okay!」she cheerfully exclaimed, raising her hand .

Hikaru returned home, took a bath to get rid off the sweat, changed, and headed out to the business district . He arrived at a somewhat hidden tavern that Mille came across . It had a rather straightforward name – Three Cheers for Booze . There was only one menu during the day, and the place wasn’t too crowded or empty .

「Hello . 」

「Oh, Hikaru!」the manager greeted him .

「Hurry up, Hikaru!」Mille said, already seated on the counter .

The other customers stirred .

「Hey, is that the one?」

「Yeah . The kid who tamed Princess Drunkard . 」

「I’ve never seen such a happy Mille before . 」

Hikaru almost sighed in exasperation .

She’s happy because of the booze, not me .

He made his way to the other side of the counter, right beside the manager . Mille watched him with a smile .

「Master, what’s on the menu today?」Hikaru asked the manager .

「It’s seafood pasta . I feel awkward you calling me Master . 」

「Come on . It sounds cool . 」Mille said .

「This is a shabby pub . Just Manager is fine . 」

「Despite its small size, it’s full at night . The food is delicious and you have different kinds of drinks . You seldom find taverns like this . Then again I haven’t really travelled the whole world . Hmm, this one’s good . 」

Hikaru took an opened bottle of white wine from the fridge run by magic . He removed the cap and took a whiff of its refreshing aroma . Drinking it as it is would surely leave one craving for more . It had low alcohol content as well .

「Master, does this taste dry?」

「Yeah . I like it, but a lot of our customers don’t . 」

「Do you have crème de cassis?」

「Crème de cassis?」

「It’s made from soaking blackcurrants in alcohol, then adding sugar afterwards . 」

「We have something like that, though it’s made by soaking black plantberries in sugar and alcohol, not blackcurrants . 」

The manager took some out on a plate, and Hikaru tasted them . He could feel the heat from the alcohol on his tongue .

「It has a little too much sugar and alcohol . But the flavor is just fine . 」

As always Mille watched him with a smile as he was getting ready behind the counter . By the side, the manager prepared Hikaru and Mille’s pasta . Once again the place was buzzing .

「Hey, what’s that kid doing behind the counter with the manager?」

「You don’t know? He works as a bartender during the day . 」

「But the man doesn’t feel satisfied unless he does everything . 」

「Apparently the “highballs” that’ve been popular at night lately was the kid’s idea . 」

「Seriously?」

In the meantime, Hikaru finished making the cocktail . The master was done as well, serving the pasta on wooden platters .

「Today we’re serving Kir, a cocktail made from crème de cassis topped up with white wine . Since we didn’t have blackcurrants for the cassis, we had to make do with black plantberries instead . 」

「Here’s your seafood pasta . 」

「Yaaaay!」

Mille went straight for the silver cup, overjoyed like a grade school student . She didn’t even bother taking the pasta . Frowning, the master placed the platter on the counter .

「Wine glasses would’ve been great . 」

「Whoa, now . Glass-made things are expensive! People here will only break them once they’re drunk . 」

「That’s a good point . 」

Hikaru returned to the customer side of the counter .

「Hmm~! It’s cold and delicious! I can taste the aroma and sweetness of the fruit in my mouth!」

「Master, today’s pasta is perfect as well . 」

「Why, thank you . 」

Hikaru had nothing but respect to the man who served him such delicious meals . It was very delectable . The pasta that Pasta Magic served back in Pond was great as well, but it took advantage of the quality of the ingredients and as such, it was expensive .

This tavern was different . Hikaru could feel the ingenuity of the master . It was a tad bit salty perhaps because there were plenty of manual laborers around . While the garlic came strong, it didn’t overpower the flavor of the seafood . Just the perfect balance . And it only cost 50 gilans . Too cheap, but not enough to put the place in the red .

「More! 」Mille said .

「You remember our agreement, right? Only three glasses . 」

「I know! More!」

「Yeah, I hear you . 」

Hikaru stopped eating his pasta and was about to get down his seat .

「Wait, Hikaru . I can do this . Please let me . 」the master said .

「Okay, it’s all yours . 」

The master mixed wine and crème de cassis skillfully . Hikaru made a deal with the manager . In exchange for free drinks during lunch, he would teach him how to make cocktails . Ale and strong drinks sold well at night, but the other liquors and wine were left untouched . The manager was more than happy to agree with the terms .

As always only the stronger cocktails sold well, but other cocktails that women could enjoy gradually started selling as well . More women came and Three Cheers for Booze was starting to become livelier .

While they made cocktails in this world, they only used one kind of alcohol and diluted it with fruit juice . The idea of mixing alcohol and alcohol was a new concept to them .

「Whoo! Yum!」

「Please eat your pasta too, Professor . I made Kir since it goes well with the dish . 」

「So this is called Kir?」

「Yes . It’s named after its creator . If you use sparkling wine instead of white wine, it’s called a Kir Royale . 」

「Hmm~! This pasta is great too! Perfect after a day of working hard!」

「…Working hard, eh? Yeah, right . 」

You were just sitting around while giving out instructions, Hikaru thought .

「Hey, Master! Give us some of that Kir as well!」

「One each for us too!」

「Coming right up . How much should I charge per glass?」The manager thought about it for a bit . 「Thirty gilans will do, I guess . 」

「Damn, that’s cheap!」Hikaru blurted out .

「Hahaha . You won’t last long in this industry if you charge too much . You should keep that in mind too, Hikaru . 」the manager said .

「………」

Hikaru liked the guy more and more . He wasn’t really much of a businessman . Then again if he was, he wouldn’t let Mille, someone who doesn’t pay, drink in his tavern .

They were enjoying their meal when suddenly the door burst open, revealing Mikhail Jarazack stepping inside .

「Oh, you’re really here!」the hairy man said .